Fly (Keishin Ukai) - COMPLETED

15 - Plan

Two weeks had passed, and Yuki still had not jumped despite her and Keishin training every other day after practice. They would always start with jumps, but after many attempts, he would switch to other things such as spiking and receiving. Yuki was starting to lose hope, and Keishin was running out of motivational things to tell her, but he would not dare give up. He remembered seeing her jump for the first time; it was at the Miyagi Prefecture Spring Interhigh Qualifier Final against Shiratorizawa, and he remembered being in awe of her. His grandfather always spoke so highly of her, and at first, Keishin thought nothing of it, but seeing it for himself, he finally understood why his grandfather would praise her so often. He and his friends attended every match that the girls' Karasuno team played in Nationals, and every time, they would all be taken by surprise at the skill the team had, and how Yuki Nishinoya never let her team feel defeated. Even in the back of the stands, the crowd could hear her yelling encouragement to her teammates, whether they were losing by one point or twenty. She never gave up, she always amazed everyone, and that is what made her so loved. Keishin will never forgive himself for not recognising her when they first met.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" She yelled, her hands on her knees as she panted heavily.

"YES, YOU CAN!" Keishin responded.

"I can't..." she shook her head, her eyes becoming wet. She tried to stay positive, but after hundreds of attempts at jumping and failing, a person could only take so much. It was like someone was chopping a tree. No matter how strong or thick the tree was, eventually, if a person kept hitting it in the same place with an axe, ultimately, the tree would fall. "I'm sorry K-Keishin..." she allowed her legs to give out as she fell to the floor and onto her bottom. "I'm s-sorry for wasting your t-time..."

Yuki stared blankly at the wall in front of her. Keishin watched her, his hand rubbing his forehead as he tried to think of what to do. She was so lively and excited when she first heard he was going to help her spike, but now she looked empty, her eyes emotionless and body limp. Maybe his motivational words were not helping, but one thing he knew he could do was not to let her give up. Keishin would be the rock she needed, just like she used to be for Karasuno.

"Get up!" He said bluntly. Yuki faced him; her eyebrows scrunched together. "You've got another thing coming if you think I'm letting you take the easy way out of this. We knew this would not be easy-"

"Yeah but-"

"Yeah but nothing." His bluntness caught Yuki off guard. He walked over and stood in front of her. "I don't care if this takes weeks or months. I'm not stopping until you jump and hit the best spike of your life." A slight blush crept to her cheeks. "I'm in it with you for the long run." He stuck his hand out for her to take. "Now get up, and show me how high you can jump."

Yuki stood at the end of the court with a ball in hand, Keishin standing beside the net. It had become a far too familiar sight that she started to dislike. Every time she stood there, a few moments later, she would feel heartbreak because she could not jump. No matter what she told herself, no matter what she did, she could not jump, so what made this time any different?

"Hey, look at me." Keishin caught her attention. "Stop thinking and try to remember when you were back in high school. You told me you have some memories coming back - try using one of them as a way to push past the mental block."

He was not going to give up, and she promised herself she would not let him down again. She could not give up either.

Yuki closed her eyes.

"That was a pretty good jump," Izumi told Yuki as the two got back into their positions.

"It was okay," Yuki answered with a shrug. "That number 4 is a pain in the ass. I have to try to hit curveballs to avoid her blocks." Izumi laughed. "Why are you laughing?"