Shiratorizawa - Dorm Days

Running Early (Part 2)

"Tendo."
"No."
"Tendo."
"Go away."
"We have practice."
"Not going."
"We're late."
"Can't hear you. Sleeping."
"Tendo."
"Geez!" The redhead threw his pillow across the room at Ushijima in exasperation. "Just go! Tell the coach I'm sick or something."
"Are you sick?"Tendo rolled over to face Ushiwaka.
"You're missing the point here."
Ushiwaka wasn't sure what Tendo was getting at, but he grabbed the gym bag slung over the back of the desk chair and tossed it at the middle blocker. Tendo has closed his eyes again, and the bag hit him square in the stomach.
"Gahhhh!" Tendo winced, then chucked his bag right back across the room.
"Alright, alright, you've made your point. Just give me a minute." Tendo ducked into the washroom and Ushijima glanced around the rest of the room while he waited. The desk was piled with half-finished homework and Tendo's things were strung about the room more chaotically then usual.
The middle blocker emerged a couple minutes later, hair spiked up bit lacking his trademark grin. Ushiwaka noticed large bags under Tendo's eyes, and wondered if the redhead had slept very much the night before. He didn't comment on it though, and soon he and Tendo were hurrying down towards the gym. They were already almost ten minutes late, and he was not looking forward to what the coach would say when they finally got there. As they left the building, they automatically slowed, perhaps realizing that at this point a couple more minutes wouldn't make much difference, they were still screwed. Might as well save their energy for when they got there. They would need it.
They walked in silence, which was unusual. Even with Ushiwaka himself being the silent type, Tendo usually more than made up for it. Today, however, the redhead's gaze was down, and he looked closed off. Nothing like his usual self. Ushiwaka cleared his throat, making a valiant attempt to get a conversation rolling.
"Did you sleep well last night, Tendo?" It was obvious that the middle blocker hadn't, but he probably wouldn't appreciate Ushiwaka pointing it out directly. Or he would just make light of it with a joke. He probably would anyway. Unfortunately, Ushijima's prediction proved accurate, and Tendo brought his gaze up and plastered on that trademark grin again, thought it was a little forced.
"Geez, first Reon, then Semi and now you, Wakatoshi-Kun? Apparently I should start hanging out with Hayato more. So much nagging!" Tendo's eyes had started to twinkle a bit again, which Ushiwaka was glad to see. "Or maybe the second years," Tendo mused, "how do you think Shirabu would react if I showed up outside his room with a copy of that new Ring movie and some popcorn?" Tendo snickered, clearly delighted by this prospect. "You know, that's not a bad idea..." Ushiwaka wasn't sure if he should warn Shirabu or not, but for now he was just glad that his friend was acting more like himself again.
They arrived at the volleyball club gym and headed straight in, not bothering to head to the change rooms. They had both put on their volleyball shoes before leaving to save time. As they entered, they saw that the team was already well into practice. They were working on recieves as one of their coaches spiked ball after ball down at the players, who rotated on and took turns digging it up.
"Tendo! Wakatoshi!" They both flinched and turned to face their head coach who had been watching the practice from the bench at the edge of the gym. He wasn't very tall, but he was certainly intimidating. He wasn't referred to as the demon coach for no reason, unfortunately for Ushiwaka and Tendo.
"Sorry we're late sir." Ushiwaka said, making no excuses. They wouldn't do either of them any good at this point. Tendo just grimaced.
"I'm not even going to ask what took so long. All I know is that if you're going to show up to practice late and expect me to let you play you are sorely mistaken. You two can run laps till we're done with receives, then collect balls while the rest of the team practices their spikes and blocks.
"Yes sir," Ushiwaka replied, abashed, and immediately set off to start their laps around the building. Tendo moaned and followed. Ushiwaka slowed a bit to let Tendo catch up, and the two of them kept pace with each other, running in silence for a bit, sone of that easy camaraderie returned. This time, it was Tendo who spoke up, grinning once again.
"So, Wakatoshi-kun, did you finish that new Jump issue I lent you?"

Hi guys, thanks for being patient with each new update! I hope you guys are enjoying the story. I think the next thing I update with be my TanaKiyo Oneshots, so if you like that ship go check it out! I'll make sure to update this one again pretty soon too though. I always have so much fun writing it.
-lunxpop