117 Returning

"Why must I leave my bed..? It was way too warm.."

Stepping through layers of snow on the sidewalk, Haruto hunched his body closer as he made himself smaller to keep all the heat he had in his jacket from escaping. He held onto the steaming cup he had and warmed his hands from the liquid inside.

"Thankfully I made my coffee fresh this morning. I kinda missed the beans that I used compared to the ones at the camp."

With a gush of air flying towards his face he pulled up the scarf he had with one hand and slowly made his way towards his school for one of the last early morning practices before the winter break.

It was the day after he had come back from the All-Japan Youth Training Camp and he had been enjoying himself with adjusting back into his usual routine.

Such as not having to wake up early for the baths to be open so he had more time to sleep in if he wanted to.

But the biggest change was the presence of Mahiru who seemed a bit more giggly than usual.

Throughout their whole dinner, although she would try her best to hide it, Mahiru would sometimes giggle to herself while she placed some dishes onto his bowl for him to eat.

Seeing her act like that, Haruto greatly accepted it as he was happy to see his beloved girlfriend act all happy when he came home.

Since who wouldn't want that?

"But she sure went overboard with all the food she cooked."

Remembering the boat load of food that came when he sat down, Haruto rubbed his stomach as it was one of the first times that he felt like exploding after eating all of the food she made.

He almost had to tap out but luckily Mahiru said that the leftovers would be used for lunch tomorrow and be given to a person who gave him a surprise visit.

"I didn't think she would come over seeing that she had to go on a trip later that night… Mom is really spoiling Mahiru and I…"

To his surprise Yui had come over to greet him after receiving a text message from Mahiru that he would come back home that day.

On top of visiting him she also gave him a prized souvenir that he didn't think he would see again.

"Did she start a hobby in giving expensive fruit? She gave me two boxes of the mangoes she gave before and a melon that she said was the 'best' speaking from a friend."

He decided to ignore the amount of zeros the price had on the melon's box and chose to focus on its health appearance.

Haruto taking a sip from his cup, he remembered the succulent taste of the mango and his mouth watered just thinking of eating the melon later as they had not opened that one yet.

"I'll ask Mahiru if anything can pair well with the melo–"

"YOU WON'T BEAT ME THIS TIME YOU BASTARD!!?

"LIKE YOU EVER HAD THE CHANCE!!"

–BOOOF

Hearing a few loud shouts before feeling two people bump into him, Haruto's hand slipped and his warm cup fell to the ground while he watched his drink stain the white snow in a dark brown color.

"My warm coffee…" He weakly reached over to the cup and saw how all liquid dropped out.

He coldly narrowed his eyes to see who bumped into him without stopping and noticed the strands of orange and black hair respectively and knew exactly who they were.

"So it was you two…"

The two people in question continued to sprint towards the gate of the school and up the slope to where they raced to the top of the club rooms where they could change.

"Haahh…hahh.. I won didn't you see?"

"No.. I had my feet on the top floor first."

Kageyama and Hinata fell flat onto the metal floor as they tried their best to catch their breaths.

"The floor is cold but it also feels nice.."

"Oi, have you been productive these past few days?"

"...."

Hinata lifted his face off the cold floor and looked at Kageyama who stood up and stretched his arms.

Remembering the past few days, Hinata looked seriously at Kageyama and nodded his head.

"I was."

"That's good. I was wondering if your spot as ball boy would be a waste of time."

"Guh.. so you already know.."

"Haruto told me while dying of laughter when Tsutomu told him what happened." 

"Tsk, that traitor."

Hinata clicked his tongue as remembered when he told Tsutomu not to tell Haruto but all he got back was a sly grin that was all so familiar with him.

"Speaking of him, do you know when Haruto will arrive? He's usually the first one here alongside us."

Hinata looked around and saw nothing but white snow so he began to wonder if Haruto was already in the clubroom changing.

"So you guys finally decided to look for me?"

""!!!!!""

The two felt a sliver of goosebumps reach their spine when they heard a voice near them. The two looked around and saw Haruto standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

He showed them a small smile but they felt a few drops of sweat drip down their face when they saw the quiet expression he gave them.

***

"What the hell are these guys doing…"

"It certainly feels like we're back."

Tanaka had a strange expression when he saw what Haruto, Kageyama and Hinata were doing in front of the club room.

Tsukishima took off the headset he was wearing and placed them in his bag so that he could listen to what the three were saying.

"One more time."

""We say our deepest sorries to the coffee bean farmers and are repenting for what we have done…""

"Good."

Haruto nodded in satisfaction when he saw Kageyama and Hinata kneeling down with their arms held up and repeating what Haruto had told them to say.

"I'm happy to see that everyone is so energetic this morning."

"Maybe a bit too much."

Sugawara laughed to himself while Daichi stepped in to tell everyone to start getting ready for their practice.

The quiet clubroom suddenly turned noisy when an abundance of people filled the room and the mild atmosphere from the prior days turned back to its usual state.

"So did you get better?"

"Who knows."

"Ehh~ come on. I'm curious to see how one of our main blockers improved over their time at camp."

Haruto jogged down the steps with his sweater zipped up while Tsukishima followed along beside him. Despite not sharing anything currently, they already knew that they had gained a lot from their time at their respective camps.

'I wonder just how big of a difference did this monster improve while he played over there.'

Tsukishima's eyes followed Haruto who walked slightly ahead of him and wondered this question in his head.

"Are the spikers you saw over there manageable?"

Hearing this brief sentence from Tsukishima, Haruto instantly knew what he was implying as this was something they would confirm with each other whenever they were up at the net.

"There are a few tough cases and after hearing snippets about some of their members, It might be difficult if we don't set up properly."

"...."

Tsukishima listened carefully to what he had to say as he knew Haruto keenly looked at the players they may face at Nationals during his training camp.

"But I have a few clues on how to handle some of them so all we need to do is improve what we have right now and adjust whenever we face them."

"I see."

"Why are you feeling scared?"

He looked at Haruto who spoke in a teasing tone and saw his sly grin. But he saw that beneath his joking eyes, there was a strong confidence that showed his belief in himself.

"Not really. I will only believe in what I see so there's no use being scared now."

"It looks like our blocker got really confident during his time over there. I wonder what Tsutomu did to have you so confident."

"Please don't remind me…"

Haruto saw a tired look that Tsukishima gave when he heard Tsutomu's name and wondered just what happened to him.

Entering the gym, the light from the winter season flowed through the windows and made the surroundings gradually brighter. As more people began to gather, Ukai also entered and smiled when he saw that the gym's space was filled to how he's used to.

Leading the usual stretches, Ukai looked at the clipboard he had in his hands before he gestured for Kageyama and Sugawara to begin hitting lines to help warm people up.

"I'll work on my ball placement first…."

Watching the set being given to him, Haruto jumped up and rotated his arm to hit down the line. Focusing on his mechanics first before gradually warming up his body.

As he ducked under to grab his ball, he noticed that Hinata was silently watching how the other people were moving when spiking the ball, which was something new.

Waiting for his turn to spike, Haruto also did the same and noticed something new too when he saw the middle hitting their spikes.

'Hmm… his apex could be a bit higher seeing the amount of power he's placing in his footwork…a few notches should work.'

Kageyama tapped his fingers before he jumped upwards and pushed the ball a bit higher than usual which made Tsukishima who was hitting, wrinkle his brows.

He tilted his shoulder a bit higher in order to just reach the ball and spike it. Although it lacked power to face against blockers, it's height was different compared to his usual.

"I won't be matching your usual ones so be sure to spike the ones you can. I'm still testing."

"You don't say.. That's fine with me."

Tsukishima felt his eyebrows continue to wrinkle when he heard Kageyama's blunt words and made his way towards the line to once again wait for his turn.

'Despite not being ready for it, he still jumped with more power than usual.'

Haruto tossed the volleyball in his hands and smiled when he saw the subtle changes some players on the team were showing.

***

I hope you guys had a great Christmas!! I had this chapter on a timer since I was at a place with no wifi but it looked like it didn't work lol. Anyways did any of you guys pull for Ruan Mei? I got her and her lightcone since she's pretty hot. I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.