the boy in yellow • teruyama

4

tw: n/a.

•

the week flew by.

yamaguchi kept up with his nighty walks, still taking his dogs out on nights he knew the johzenji boys weren't coming around.  on nights that they did, once the bikers found yamaguchi, he hung onto terushima's bike for the ride. 

on nights yamaguchi knew he wasn't going to meet the boys on their rides, he and the boy in yellow would always talk over the phone before terushima went to bed.  who knew that the fun-loving and wild captain actually had a decent bedtime four days of the week. 

as for yamaguchi's own bedtime, it was nonexistent.  he was found sleeping more often in class or even taking a shorter route on his walks to catch up on sleep.  on weekends, he slept in until noon or one pm to make up for loss of sleep during the week.  his parents were growing worried of his irregular sleep schedule, but being that he was staying on top of his school work, they didn't bring it up.  they knew he was in good hands anyway.

at school, tsukishima returned.  stating he was just really run down the day after prelims, yamaguchi's worry melted away and the team resumed practice for nationals.  the club drew more interest now that they were excelling to a national level, so they even had some visitors during practice; coach ukai wasn't pleased about that though.

kageyama didn't bring up yamaguchi when proposing the idea of the end of the season party to terushima.  it wasn't even going to be for the end of the season, they revamped it to celebrate the teams that were proceeding to nationals; any team could come too, not just miyagi. 

but distance proved a factor, so kageyama and terushima would see who showed to the johzenji gymnasium friday night in a two weeks time.  as captain of the volleyball club, all terushima needed to get was his coach's permission.  that was easy enough, so the gym was clear to use.

so, for the next two weeks until the party's date, everyone kept to themselves and practiced for nationals if they were attending.  for those not, practice was no longer mandatory as their season 'ended'.

for two boys, though, they began to meet to practice the sport they both grew to love.

•••

"damn, yams.  your serves get better every time we meet," terushima compliments, a hand on his hip.  the two practiced behind the shimada mart every night possible when terushima didn't go attend practice.  yamaguchi was there regularly anyway, so he didn't have to go out of his way to see his blond friend. 

"thanks, teru!  your spikes are getting.. better too!" yamaguchi responds enthusiastically, but he had to stop to yawn.  the older player casts a worried look at the other, but doesn't question it.  yamaguchi retrieves his ball before returning to where terushima stood.  "why are you looking at me like that?"

"mm?  oh, nothing.  you've been yawning a lot, that's all.  do you go on walks every night?" the bottle blond asks, watching yamaguchi fixate himself in his serving position before stepping forward.  the float ball sailed over the cheap net, but it passed. 

"yeah.. kinda.  i've had a lot on my mind," yamaguchi mumbles after a yawn again, watching the ball bounce a bit behind the net before it stopped at the fence.  terushima's usually present smile fades. 

"wanna talk about it?"

"nah, not really."

"oh," terushima murmurs, watching yamaguchi come back with the volleyball again.  yamaguchi offers an apologetic look, but terushima waves him off before placing a hand on the olive-haired boy's shoulder.  the latter lowers his arms, as he was about to serve.