ONLY ME || Haikyuu x Male

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The downfall of Karasuno wasn't anything involving their skill.

No, their downfall was their final exams.

"So, I think you know what I'm getting at. If you fail any classes, you won't be able to attend any away games. Which obviously extends to the Tokyo training camp." Takeda-sensei looked rather stern while he spoke, but Ren wasn't bothered by the information, even nodding as the teacher talked. What he said was reasonable. Education was crucial, after all.

But then Tanaka and Noya bolted, so maybe his opinion wasn't shared with the rest of the team.

"Hey!" Daichi lurched forward, startling Ren and pointing at the escaping duo. "There's nowhere to run! Ennoshita, grab them!"

"Got it!" Ren watched, appalled, as the black-haired second year wrangled Tanaka and Noya. Was it really such a big deal, not failing courses? He thought that all the material they were learning was pretty easy, and even for those struggling a little like Tanaka and Noya, it wouldn't be hard to catch up if they just put their minds to it.

But Ren was also the top second-year in terms of academics, so maybe his thoughts didn't matter.

In the meantime, chaos was ensuing with the first-years.

"Fail? What counts as a failing grade!?"

"That's your question?!"

"Kageyama isn't breathing!"

Ren sat there, baffled as his team scrambled around, yelling at one another and complaining and pleading for this all to be a joke. Wasn't there a certain grade requirement to be able to be on the volleyball team in the first place? How could they possibly be doing so terribly?

Hinata hurried towards the coach, tripping over himself and falling onto his knees, clasping his hands together. "Please, coach! Can you tutor us? Or help us a little? I'm begging you here!"

The blond man sighed, running his hands over his face. "Hinata, I didn't really want to bring this up, but do I really look like someone who got good grades?"

The first-year gasped and fell forward, face planting on the gym floor. Ren rushed over to make sure he was okay, grabbing the boy's face to check his nose in case it was broken. "Hinata, be careful! Why are you even stressing so much? Your grades can't be that bad, can they?"

Hinata flushed, whether from embarrassment or the closeness in their proximity, Ren didn't know. "Um, I've never gotten a double-digit score on any of my quizzes..."

Ren let his hand drop from the boy's face, his whole body going limp from shock. Never...double-digit...

They're all screwed.

+++++

The second-year hallways were always crowded during break time, with the students milling about and spending time together before class started again. Ren himself quite enjoyed this time, as he got to spend it with some of his other friends, who weren't connected to his personal life or volleyball. Just amiable people he could spend time with. Simple school acquaintances.

He strolled down the hall and chatting with his friend, Bachira. The bob cut boy played on the Karasuno soccer team, and though they weren't in the same class due to Bachira's academics being just a tad bit lower than Ren's, they got along well enough. There was a certain sense of familiarity in the soccer player that Ren didn't quite understand, but he went along with it anyway. After all, Bachira was fun to be around. Who cared if he didn't really understand the guy sometimes?

"Say, Hasegawa, where's your volleyball entourage?" Bachira skipped alongside Ren, his eyes bright and shining with playfulness.

Ren tilted his head. "Entourage? What do you mean?"