Gentle Touches In The Cold

Rain

Over the shouts of his friends and the coaches, he could hear the rain thundering down onto the roof. The drops fell hard above them and he could feel the breeze biting harshly at his exposed skin from the open door. The match had just ended. This trip would only last two more days before they went back to school and some heavy rain was predicted for those few days.

He did not like the cold but he will have to suck it up for the time being. The team would never let him avoid playing just because it was a little cold.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called over from across the gymnasium as he jogged over to him. His freckled face was pulled into a wide grin. "We won! Isn't that great?"

"I suppose." Tsukishima adjusted his glasses. He moved aside and patted the space next to him. It was an invite for Yamaguchi to sit down and he gladly did so.

Yamaguchi shifted closer just to ruffle Tsukishima's hair, tangling the blond curls even more than they were before. "Tadashi, stop that!"

He just laughed.

Tsukishima swatted his intruding hand away and half-glared at him. It was not serious so the other didn't appear phased. "Sorry Tsukki!"

He responded with a huff and got up to leave, mostly because he noticed a certain senpai of his giving him a smug look from across the gymnasium. The captain of Nekoma never let him catch a break.

"I'm going to go take a bath, are you coming?"

"Oh, yeah! Just gimme a second to talk to Sugawara!" Yamaguchi requested as he got up and started to run towards the setter with a wave.

Despite his reputation of just leaving when people asked him to wait for them, he waited at the door for his friend. Kuroo was still keeping an eye on him for whatever reason, but he did not care enough to make eye contact.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame as Yamaguchi spoke with Sugawara.

After a minute or two, Yamaguchi finished his conversation and ran over to him. "Tsukki! Thanks for waiting. Let's go." And with that, they headed to the main bedroom to fetch some clean clothing and then went to the baths. Yamaguchi filled the silence with idle small talk all the way there while Tsukishima simply listened and gave short replies when necessary.

They were in a large public bathroom with wooden floors and a massive bath in the center of the room. Steam clouds rose up from the water since the heating system was active.

Some benches and counters ran along the walls for people to put their stuff on or just sit.

"Do you think we'll win tomorrow too?" Yamaguchi queried, pulling his shirt over his head and dumping it onto the floor.

"Maybe." Tsukishima put his stuff down on a small chair, taking his glasses off first before pulling his shirt over his head. Unlike Yamaguchi, he folded it up and dropped it next to his other stuff.

"I'm going to be so sore after we finish all our games. I still need to practice though. I'm getting so close to the perfect serve." Yamaguchi finished undressing and slid into the corner of the bath. Some of their other teammates walked into the bathroom as he did this, also discussing the game.

Tsukishima folded his clothes up neatly before sliding in next to his friend while the others put their stuff down.

"Y'know, I don't actually remember how my first volleyball match ended. Do you?"

"I lost spectacularly to Akiteru in a one on one." Tsukishima tossed a sponge at Yamaguchi. He caught it but not without purposefully splashing water at Tsukishima's face. To which he responded by simply rubbing the water out of his eyes.