Together, Always. [Kageyama Tobio]

11. Clockwork and Picture perfect

Being alone occasionally is a boon for everyone whether an introvert, ambivert or extrovert and Tobio was no exception.

Tobio had gotten up extra early and reached school when there were only a handful of students and faculty. He was the first to reach the volleyball gym room. He sat under a window to tie his shoelaces and watched the minuscule dust particles dance which would have been invisible if it weren't for their sunny spotlight. The gym room was silent, so very silent, an absurd thing but all the more soothing. Starting the day at a time when the rest of the world was struggling to pry their eyes open definitely had its perks. The gym room was all his for an entire hour and there was no greater feeling. He stood and stretched, absorbing the warmth of the early morning rays.

Though he would never admit it, he was grateful for his teammates but still, he did prefer staying in solitude from time to time. It gave him time to sort out his thoughts, gave him a break from everyone and everything and most importantly, gave him the opportunity to mega-analyze with his razor-sharp focus. Alone time was especially necessary for him because he was part of a particularly chaotic and loud team and had a childhood friend who was as loud and chaotic. Ah, I can train in peace at last-

"KAGEYAMA!" Two people shouted before rushing up to him and slapping him on the back.

"WHAT?!" Tobio flinched and turned around to discover that his suspicions about his attackers were correct. It was Hinata and Nishinoya.

Tanaka appeared a few seconds later and slapped Tobio on the back as well. "HAHAHA, you don't have to get all tense. We all are happy to see our scary setter and this is just how we greet each other!"

Tobio let out a sigh to calm his racing heart; it took everything in him to get rid of his annoyance. Why shouldn't I get tense? People have been slapping my back a lot these days which could affect my performance in volleyball and my solitude lasted only a few seconds. "I just don't like being surprised like that," was all he said.

"Ah, Kageyama, being mean and boring as usual?" Hinata teased.

"Shut up, moron," Tobio snapped.

Hinata stuck his tongue out at him and flew out of the gym room before Tobio could toss him out instead.

"Are you going to practice serves? I could help you out by being at the receiving end," Nishinoya suggested to the piqued setter.

Liking the suggestion, Tobio was finally starting to feel better. "Yes, that would be great."

"I gotta practice my receives... I'll be at the receiving end too." Tanaka joined in on their practice session.

Hinata joined next- more like forced his way into the practice thanks to Tobio's disapproval. One by one, everyone become part of what was originally going to be a solo practice session. It was just like every day in the gym: the entire chaotic team practising together. Despite his earlier reservations, the first-year setter didn't mind the change in his plans, after all, he wouldn't do this every day if he disliked it.

Serving, receiving, diving, spiking, blocking, tossing and one practice match later, the volleyball players of Karasuno settled down next to the net. Some of them chugged down water, others wiped their sweaty faces and the rest just lay on the floor.

"It's good that all of us arrived early today, we got a lot of work done. Let's get some well-deserved rest before resuming practice. I hope you all keep in mind that rest is very important too..." Wise words were spoken by the captain of the team as always. "This especially applies to you two." He directed pointed looks at their spectacular spiker-setter duo which was answered by a thumbs-up from them.