ONLY ME || Haikyuu x Male

CHAPTER FIVE

Frozen, Ren could only gape at the grinning captain before him. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no words came out. He was seconds away from running when firm hands gripped him on the shoulders, moving him to the side, and the scent of Daichi's ax body spray flooded into his nose.

He'd have to tell the captain to stop using that after the practice match.

"Greetings! I hope you're not bothering our all-rounder here. My name is Daichi Sawamura. I'm the captain of the Karasuno volleyball team." Daichi extended his arm for a handshake, which Kuroo grasped rather tightly.

"Tetsuro Kuroo. Captain of Nekoma. And I'm sure I wasn't bothering him." Kuroo gave Ren a teasing smile, and he let out a small gasp and quickly turned away. "I look forward to having a pleasant match with you."

"Same here."

Though their words were courteous and they were smiling, Ren couldn't help but feel this intensity in the atmosphere and he quietly slipped away, heading back towards the bus. Only, he never quite made it there. Before he could even take five steps, his back hit someone's chest, and he gasped in surprise, whirling around to find Sugawara with his hands up, a look of surprise also on his face.

"Woah! Are you okay, Hasegawa?"

Ren flushed red. He should be the one asking Sugawara that. He'd broken his senpai's leg, and now he'd almost sent both of them toppling to the ground. What was it about his silver-haired senior that seemed to attract so much trouble from him? "Y-yes, I'm okay! Are you?"

Sugawara nodded, letting his hands drop to his sides. "Yeah. But I wasn't talking about bumping into one another. I was referring to those two."

The silver-haired player gestured towards Daichi and Kuroo, who were still going at it. The aura around them seemed to be even scarier than before, and Ren very nearly flinched away from it. "Oh...I'm fine. They're both very...intense. I've never seen Daichi be aggressive like that."

With a laugh, Sugawara gave him repetitive pats on the shoulder, though they were so rough that they felt like slaps. "Hah, yeah! You know about the Battle at the Garbage Dump, don't you? Most of our team is pretty passionate about that, and as captains, they're probably inclined to be even more competitive! Since they're the leaders and all. The alphas of the group!"

Ren winced. "Sugawara-senpai, please never use that term again."

+++++

Nekoma's gym was spacious. Much larger than Karasuno's. Ren was rather used to large gyms, having grown up in Tokyo and playing on a junior high volleyball team. Even the littler kids were spared no expense when it came to their athletics. But while he was accustomed to the sheer size of the place, many of his teammates weren't. He watched, his eyes rounded as Hinata rushed into the gym, awe shining on the ginger's face.

"Wah~This place is huge! Kenma, you are so lucky to have such a giant gym!"

Kenma? Ren turned his head, locking eyes with a pudding-haired boy that was following Hinata, hands shoved into the pockets of a pair of red pants. "Ah, Kenma! I forgot you attended Nekoma."

"It's nice to see you too, Ren."

Hinata gasped, rushing up to him. The little tangerine was moving so fast that he stopped just inches away from Ren. If Hinata'd been any speedier, he would've barreled into him. Ren let out a small sigh of relief. He hadn't been expecting to find out what getting hit by a human cannonball was like today, and he was incredibly glad that he had yet to experience that. "What!? You guys know each other?"

"Our mothers are friends. We never attended the same schools, but she'd invite Kenma over to our house sometimes so that I wouldn't be so alone." Ren replied, watching as Kenma moved closer, following closely behind the first year.

"We got along because we liked the same video games." Kenma didn't return Ren's smile, but he gave him a little nod. He hadn't ever been best friends with the Nekoma boy, but they were well acquainted. They were both on the quieter side, though Kenma was like that because he was introverted and Ren was like that because of his psychosis. Potato potahto.

"Well, I look forward to playing against you, Kenma. I haven't seen you participate in any sort of athletics before." The Nekoma player nodded before hurrying off to his own team, and Hinata dragged Ren away so that they could change and warm up.

"Guys! Hasegawa-senpai is friends with one of the other players!" Most of Karasuno ignored Hinata's shout, causing him to wilt in embarrassment, but Nishinoya worked his way through the crowd of uniform-clad players to reach the two.

"Kozume-san, right?"

"Right."

Nishinoya threw a quick glance at the other team, his eyes narrowed. "Be careful out there today, Ren. There's a lot of people that you know and that you've started to care about on this court. Your condition could get pretty bad if you're not calm."

Ren chewed on his lip. Nishinoya was right. He hadn't quite worked out the triggers for his episodes of psychosis, but he at least knew that they had something to do with the people he loved. Maybe he was extra scared that he might hurt them, and that led to his hallucinations? He wasn't positive, but either way it was a concern, especially for today. But Coach Ukai had promised that if he noticed Ren's psychosis acting up, he'd bench him. And he might not trust himself, but he, at the very least, trusted the coach.

"Don't worry, Yu. I told Ukai to pull me out if anything happens. I'll be okay."

The libero stared at him, those brown eyes boring into his soul. "You better be. I just got you back. I'm not about to lose you again."