Captains: Kuroo Tetsurou × OC

Chapter 11: Phone calls

The training camp went on, and Taiji and her team had gotten close to Karasuno and Fukurodani.

The girls had invited some of the boys over to their room to play truth or dare.

"Tai, you should play join us," Yuko pulled her best friend, "We invited the boys from Karasuno, Fukurodani, and our own boys!"

Taiji raised her eyebrow at her friend, knowing that they had planned something devious for her.

"Besides," Ayoi, a second-year pulled Taiji's sleeve, "Harumi likes that first-year middle blocker from Karasuno!"

"Hinata?" Taiji looked towards the shy first year, her face was pink all over.

Taiji sighed and gave in, "I'm doing this for Harumi, alright?"

A round of glee smiles showed up, and Taiji started to second guess her decision.

~~~

"I still don't know why I agreed to this," Taiji pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat in a circle with others who joined the game.

"We're trying to get Hinata and Harumi together!" Masami clutched her senpai's sleeve, "Do it for her?"

Taiji rolled her eyes, she couldn't say no to her kouhais, and they always took advantage of her soft spot for them.

"Fine fine," Taiji gave in with a sigh, "But no funny business, am I clear?"

"Of course," her teammates gave her glee smiles with mischief, which made the captain groan again.

"We should start now," Akari stated as Bokuto and Akaashi took their seats beside Taiji.

"Where's Kuroo?" Sora questioned the boys beside Taiji, "Wasn't he with you?"

"He's with Kenma," Akaashi confirmed,

Taiji let out a quick breath of relief, the girls couldn't do any damage if he wasn't here. A round of disappointed faces could be seen.

As the game went on, Taiji had totally forgotten all about her Kouhais' devious plans. She was having fun trying to get Harumi to sit with Hinata.

"Hinata, How were the preliminaries?" Taiji tried to make conversation, "I heard from Daichi you did really well with your freak quick,"

"We lost to Seijoh," Hinata's expression darkened for a second, "But we'll beat them next time!"

"Seijoh?" Taiji tilted her head, she recognized that nickname from somewhere, maybe from her childhood friend?

"Isn't Tooru playing for that school?"

"You know Oikawa-san?" Kageyama was interested in the conversation too, "Hinata calls him 'The grand king' for some reason."

Taiji let out a quiet laugh, "I understand why you call him that, Tooru has always been a bit of a drama queen,"

The games continued while Taiji thought about her childhood friend. Her family used to live in the Miyagi prefecture, and she had befriended Oikawa and Iwaizumi when they were in kindergarten. But after her father had fallen ill, her family moved to Tokyo to get better treatment.

"You guys go on, I have to make a call," Taiji excused herself from the circle and made her way to a bench outside. She took her phone out and searched for a contact.

'Trashykawa'

Taiji laughed at the contact name Hajime suggested when they exchanged contacts. It was the day she was about to leave for Tokyo, it was the end of elementary school.

She remembered Oikawa crying with snot all over his face while Iwaizumi was trying not to cry too.

The female captain reminisced about the past. She hadn't been in contact with them for a while, as the three of them had been busy throughout high school. Taiji pressed into the contact and brought the phone up to her ear.

The phone rang for a few seconds, and the other end picked up.

"Tai-chan?"

"How have you been, Tooru?" Taiji could feel her eyes watering, she didn't realize she had been holding her breath.

Sobbing could be heard on the other end, Tooru had always been a crybaby. Taiji swallowed a lump in her throat, unsure what to say.

"I've missed you Tai-chan," Oikawa managed to choke out a sentence, "Iwa-chan misses you too,"

Taiji brought her knees up to her chest and laid her chin on her knee, "I've missed you guys too, but I haven't had time to go back,"

"We've been busy too, maybe you could come and we could have a sleepover at my place, just like old time!" Oikawa suggested

"That would be nice,"

The conversation went on for half an hour as the two talked about everything, what they've been up to, volleyball, and Oikawa was complaining about Iwaizumi and how he was always being harsh on him.

"Without you around, Iwa-chan has been really mean to me!" Oikawa whined, "You have to come back!"

"I don't think I'm the cause, Tooru," Taiji let out a slight laugh, she wondered how her two friends had turned out.

Oikawa was merely a pipsqueak that absolutely adored aliens when she left, but she could tell over the phone that he had matured a lot over the years. The fact that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were both captain and ace didn't surprise her, the two always had the potential.

As for Oikawa, he was completely dumbfounded when Taiji told him she was a captain. Taiji had always been really introverted and shy during elementary school, she only had the two boys as her friends. She had become more confident and stronger than Oikawa could ever imagine.

After Taiji got off the phone, she quietly made her way back to her room, as she had lost track of time and it had already hit midnight. As she was walking up the stairs, she bumped into a certain bedhead captain.

"Taiji, I was just looking for you," Kuroo's eyes widened, "The girls said you left and didn't come back, they were worried,"

"I was on a phone call and lost track of time," Taiji gave an apologetic smile,

"Who were you talking to?" Kuroo felt a slight tug of jealousy. Taiji had a daze in her smile like she was recalling something or someone.

"Just an old friend I lost touch with for a long time,"

The silence engulfed the two after Taiji's sentence, both unsure how to continue the conversation despite racking their brains.

"Are they still playing up there?" Taiji had enough of the silence,

"Yeap, still up with the nonsense when Bokuto's around,"

"I really pity Akaashi," Taiji let out a small laugh, "I bet he really wants to sleep,"

"I think Bokuto let him go after a while,"

Another round of silence covered them, making things even more awkward.

Kuroo's heart was beating like crazy, he wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't damage their relationship any further.

Taiji bit her lip, unsure what to say. She wasn't one to run from her feelings, but with Kuroo it didn't come naturally. She didn't want to go back to her room, but she didn't want to stand around awkwardly.

Taiji hitched her breath, "I'm gonna be a responsible captain and ask them to go to sleep, do you wanna join?"

Kuroo's heart skipped a beat, "I'll pass,"

'Jeez Kuroo how lame are you?', he thought to himself,

Taiji paid no attention to Kuroo's short answer and gave him a smile, she was just glad that they didn't have to stand there like idiots.

"Well then," Taiji waved, "Goodnight."

Kuroo smiled and waved back, unsure how their relationship would go on from here on.