An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Haikyuu!!, Free!
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Terushima Yuuji/Misaki Hana
Characters: Terushima Yuuji, Misaki Hana, Ryuugazaki Rei
Additional Tags: Birds of a Feather AU, Older Characters, Rei's only got a bit part but he's such a sweetie, Misaki is Best Prince
Series: Part 13 of Birds of a Feather AU
Summary:
He'd talked of it so much, it'd come true. Or, Terushima thinks he's about to end his and Misaki's fairytale. *An AU oneshot set in my Birds of a Feather AU, but may be read on its own; set during "Opportunity" in the BoaF collection.
A side story in this AU, but it can be read on its own. Follow the Birds of a Feather tag for more.
Fic: "Luck of the Draw" [FFN] [AO3]
Pairings/Characters: Terushima Yuuji/Misaki Hana, Ryugazaki Rei
Rating: K+
Words: ~2,600
Summary: He'd talked of it so much, it'd come true. Or, Terushima thinks he's about to end his and Misaki's fairytale. *An AU oneshot set in my Birds of a Feather AU, but may be read on its own; set during "Opportunity" in the BoaF collection.
He'd been expecting as much when Sugawara called him into his office. Barely a week after that company-wide meeting… Not long before the end of work today… At least Sugawara was the type to handle such a situation well.
Either way, though, Terushima was out of a job. Sugawara had done a nice job of breaking the news to him, all "You're a really hard worker when you get into it" and "In the department, you make the fewest mistakes, actually"…all of which preceded "…but your carelessness in changing your email settings and your haste in opening an obviously bad message has made the company take a hit" and "We felt that it would be wrong to fire you, in light of your strong record, but you will be the first to go." Then the sandy-haired man had stood and shaken his hand, looking so pained as he told Terushima it'd been a pleasure to work with him.
His eyes felt raw, as if he hadn't stopped crying in the men's room to go give Ennoshita the news. But he had, and Ennoshita had been even kinder, sitting with him on the floor of Ennoshita's office, listening to Terushima fill him in. And Ennoshita… Ennoshita had called him a good man, a lucky man, and the brunet's first friend here at Ukai Corp., even though Terushima had started a year after him and had been mentored by Ennoshita. He'd miss Ennoshita a lot, and he felt bad that he and Misaki probably never would take Ennoshita and his significant other out for that double date.
After talking to Ennoshita, it had been a quick thing to do, packing up his desk. He had a couple of notebooks in his desk drawer, the miscellaneous pens and assorted small office supplies in a mini caddy on top of his desk, a twelve-month volleyball-themed calendar made and sold by the Johzenji Alumni Association as a fundraiser for the school's volleyball clubs, and various pictures in free-standing frames on either side of…what now used to be his monitor.
Everything fit in his satchel, for the most part. The pictures—mostly of him and Misaki, one of them with his parents at Christmas, another of them with Bobata and Kuribayashi at the beach the last time the other couple was "on"—he tucked flat into a notebook for protection. The caddy was bulky, so he dumped everything in his bag and carried the empty hunk of plastic under his arm as he took the elevator down to the lobby for the last time.
He would miss this place. From the soon-to-break coffee machine in the fourth-floor break room in Marketing to these concrete walls in the lobby, Terushima would miss it all, because he'd been here for almost four years. Sure, no job lasted forever unless you were really lucky, but…it'd been fun to work at the sporting goods company. Most everyone here came from a sports background, and Terushima had even faced Sugawara and Production's Sawamura on a volleyball court back in high school, led, even, by the now-former company president, Coach Ukai Ikkei. Karasuno High School, a nest of crows…
…that rose from the concrete, Terushima thought in passing as his eyes left the concrete walls and he headed for the exit that led to the parking garage.
"Terushima-san!"
The blond stopped with his hand on the door, and he turned to find Ryugazaki from I.T. standing behind him, a little out of breath. Terushima mustered a grin. "Heya, Ryugazaki. You run all the way up from the basement just for me?"
The run put some healthy color in the glasses guy's cheeks, but he didn't return Terushima's smile. Instead, he frowned. "I just heard from Kobori-san…"
Terushima's eyes widened. Jeez. Word traveled fast in a smallish company. "Yeah… I'm the first one laid off," he said lightheartedly. He recalled the euphemism Former President Ukai had made last week—"involuntary transition"—but he lacked the energy to put a humorous twist on that right now.
"I'm sorry," Ryugazaki said.
"Nah, don't be. It's not your fault."
Ryugazaki tried to take comfort from that. "I just feel that maybe there was something more we in I.T. could've done to prevent this from happening."
Terushima shook his head. "You guys are great, trust me. You recovered my files that I thought had been deleted forever, so you saved me."
"Yes, but you still—"
Terushima clenched his jaw but kept his tone cheery. "Ryugazaki, man, listen. The best thing to do now is keeping anyone from being as stupid as me," he said with a laugh. He heaved a tired sigh. "And…find the ass who bothered to hack us. Just do that."
Ryugazaki studied his face for a moment. Then he relented and pushed his red frames up the bridge of his nose. He bowed to the blond. "I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!" He stood up straight and gave him a sad smile. "Goodbye, Terushima-san."
"Thanks, Ryugazaki." Terushima watched him go, and then he entered the garage where he was alone once more.
Today was not a great day to have parked a level up and at the opposite end of the doors, but Terushima tried to view it as a walk meant to clear his head. He had to stop Sugawara's and Ennoshita's words from spinning around and mixing in his head, and he tried to replace this last scene with Ryugazaki with memories from months ago, when the hack happened and Ryugazaki came upstairs to Marketing to stop it, and the days that followed and Ryugazaki reviewed everything that had happened with Terushima, assuring the blond even back than that these things happened and were not the end of the world. Normally Ryugazaki didn't appear very friendly since he was slow to share his smile, but he had shared it with Terushima. He was a nice guy. Terushima would've liked to become friends with him.
At his car, he unlocked the doors and tossed both caddy and satchel in the backseat. Then he sat down, buckled up, and banged his head against the wheel, making the horn chirp halfheartedly in the mostly vacant lot. The stupid sound echoed, argh.
He pulled his phone out and checked the time. Then he texted his girlfriend, figuring he stood a fair chance of hearing from her:
-hana-chan~ ♡ still at work?
Her response came a minute later:
-In the middle of practice, Yuuji. Think about what you want for dinner.
Of course, food was the last thing on his mind, as he lacked an appetite. But Misaki had told him all he needed to know, so he pulled out of his space and drove down and out of the garage, hanging a left once there was a break in the dregs of rush hour traffic.
Fifteen minutes and several long traffic lights later, Terushima steered into the vacant visitor lot at Shutoku High and headed for the volleyball gym, where he parked near the doors. He left his suit jacket in the backseat, too, and he undid the top button of his shirt. He loosened his tie, as well, to relax, consciously ignoring that he no longer had an Ukai Corp. badge around his neck to tuck away safely in his satchel.
It had begun to drizzle between his leaving Ukai Corp. and reaching Shutoku, so the gym doors were closed. But he jogged to them and slipped inside, spying Misaki off to the side before she noticed him. "Heya," he said simply as he took one large step up to her side.
Misaki did a double-take, her light brown bob swinging around her jaw. She stopped noting something on her clipboard. "Yuuji! What are you doing here?"
He grinned, loving how her eyes sparkled and her thick eyebrows rose in her surprise. "Thought I'd come see my lady in action. Think Shutoku's girls' team might become a top-three contender?" he asked as he put his hands in his pockets.
Misaki's eyes darted to the head coach, her boss, and she ushered her boyfriend a few steps away from the older woman. Then Misaki looked up at him, her brow furrowed. "That's not what I mean. You've never dropped by before."
He shrugged. "I pick you up from work all the time," he reminded her.
One dark eyebrow inched higher than the other, skeptical. "Uh-huh." But her half frown wavered, as if caught between chiding him and asking what had transpired.
"We can talk after," Terushima assured her, catching a stray volleyball with one hand before it hit Misaki. The students clapped at his reflexes, and he gently spiked it back to the libero who was closest. "I just wanted to see you," he mumbled, his eyes on the ball as the girls kept a volley going, but he was loud enough for Misaki to hear.
"…yeah," she caved, the apples of her cheeks rosy, but she didn't hide behind her clipboard. "We've got about half an hour left, so please wait patiently."
"'Patience' is my first name," he quipped.
"No, it's not," she retorted with a light biff to his head with her clipboard, and she returned to the head coach's side after.
Terushima had the funny feeling the head coach had yet to rule out his being a pervert, showing up to the girls' practice like this, but he was on his best behavior. He watched them go through all the same exercises he had at Johzenji at their age. He could tell they had a few good players and one excellent one, namely that libero to whom he'd returned the ball, but he'd definitely seen more talented girls' teams.
That was on Misaki's mind, too, as she grabbed her bag from the coaches' office and shouldered the duffel. "Another day over," she stated as Terushima walked her out. She smiled when he held her door open for her. "But your being here is making it better," she said as she kissed his cheek and got in the passenger seat.
"Until it doesn't," he muttered to himself after he closed her car door and circled around to the driver's side.
"To answer your question," Misaki stated as he rolled out of the lot, "no, I don't think they'll be in the top three. We have some really great athletes, but this team isn't coming together like the one from two years ago. Besides, Shutoku is known for its basketball, not its volleyball." She shook her head and unzipped the collar of her orange track jacket. "One of our freshman wing spikers, Takao, has an older brother who played for Shutoku's boys' basketball team back during the time of the Generation of Miracles—ah, he played with Miyaji-san, you know, the boys' basketball assistant coach who's walked me out to the car a few times?—anyway, she doesn't have any game sense for volleyball. I keep asking Miyaji-san to talk to the girls' basketball coach, because it'd be a waste not to use Takao's skills." She shook her head again, a tad more vehemently this time. "Just not on a volleyball court."
"Mm."
Misaki watched his profile in the city lights. "Yuuji. I'm not usually the chatterbox."
"Mm."
He felt rather than saw her unimpressed expression aimed at him. "Yuuji. Tell me why you showed up tonight, why you're so quiet now."
He flashed his golden brown eyes to her and mustered a smile. He kind of wished he hadn't stopped wearing his piercings all the time; he liked his earrings, but there was something calming about clicking his tongue stud against his teeth while he organized his thoughts. Some people had a metronome; he had a tongue piercing. But about the only thing he could get away with in the corporate world was his bleached hair since he kept it trimmed and smartly styled.
…ah, him in the corporate world. What a joke.
"Yuuji!"
Terushima snapped out of it when he realized the red light had turned green, and he toed the gas. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't say that. Just talk to me."
He waited to continue until their apartment complex was in view. Then he picked a parking spot right beside the building since the drizzle had worked into rain. He turned the key, removed it from the ignition, and glanced at Misaki again. "They let me go."
"Oh." She stared for a minute and eventually moved her eyes to the dashboard.
"Yeah."
"Well…"
He eyed her profile.
"…you've been scared this would happen since February, when the email issue occurred. So…it's a surprise, but it's not a shock."
Terushima whined. "What's the difference?"
She gave him a small smile and patted his cheek. "It means we'll be okay. I've been saving more since February, so it's not much, but it's something." Misaki got out of the car then and waited for him to grab his bag. "We'll be okay," she reminded him over the car's roof. And she grinned as extra assurance.
But he didn't feel so sure. He hadn't been saving—well, not since February. Terushima had squirrelled small amounts away here and there for the past year, and he'd had Kuribayashi's input in picking out something Misaki would like even if it wasn't as good as she deserved, and that little box had been living in his right pants pocket since January, so he'd been replenishing some of the savings he'd spent. And he'd originally planned on surprising Misaki next week on her birthday—
—but there was no way that could happen now.
They hurried to the building as the rain threatened to downpour, and they ran up the stairs to the second floor, Misaki laughing the whole way for some reason mysterious to Terushima. "Uh, Hana-chan…you can't have that much faith in me," he said as they entered their apartment.
She dropped her bag by their shoes and used her partially damp jacket to squeeze some of the moisture from her hair. "Why not?"
"Because I'm freaking out here!"
Misaki took one of the sleeves and patted his head dry with it, smiling contently. "Then freak out. It means you understand the severity of what happened and won't let it happen again."
"Huh?" He gaped at her, feeling like a princess being comforted by a prince—an apt description, because Misaki was so cool in his eyes, and her features were handsome, things that helped make her interesting to him.
She undid his tie and hung it up with her jacket behind the front door. "You're a complete goof, Yuuji. Laziness is an art to you, but I know you don't do things halfheartedly. And you learn from your mistakes. Like in high school, being volleyball captain. In university, sitting down and studying with me instead of asking me out all the time. And now. I'm sure you'll be more careful next time. You're a fast learner, so this won't happen again," she finished firmly.
Terushima still gaped at her, so she stood on tiptoes to kiss him. Then she went to their mail basket beside the TV and dug something out from the bottom.
"And if you're not sure this setting is one you like, then…perhaps a change of venue," Misaki said, passing him the letter.
He skimmed it, the words floating on the page. "From Anabara-sensei?"
She nodded and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "His assistant coach quit, and he wanted to know if I was interested." She beamed at him, a bright smile he'd fallen head over heels for years ago and fell for all over again right now. "I'm used to the boys' teams anyway, and now that you're looking for work—whoa, Yuuji!"
Terushima picked her up in a giant hug, knowing he'd been right to tell Ennoshita once that Misaki kept him grounded and was his rock…knowing maybe he might still someday surprise her and give her the rock in his pocket, because their story was far from over.
:3 They are very cute. Ever since Johzenji appeared, I've wanted to write Terumisa, and Terushima's fun to write in general, but this was just…very sweet. Obviously, the background of the story makes the most sense for those of you who've read Birds of a Feather, in particular "Opportunity," but I like the setup here, esp with Misaki at Shutoku. And yes! She was talking about Takao's little sis and Miyaji Kiyoshi (surprisingly the 2nd "Miyaji" named in BoaF, in case anyone's missed "Moving Mountains"). Speaking of "Moving Mountains," Anabara is down in the dumps on his own there, as I was planning on him inviting Misaki back—I love foreshadowing, I really do. XD And, yes, Ryugazaki is Rei from Free! I think, someday, I'll write a little fic about those late nights he and Terushima spent, trying to sort out the mess, Rei trying to work while Terushima half works, half tries to befriend him. Cuties. Still, I'm sad to see Terushima go…but ofc that doesn't mean he's been booted from BoaF. ;P Esp with a mention of Bobaruna (another guilty pleasure OTP from Johzenji) and him wishing for a double date with Ennoshita, *lol*. This kid. I love Terushima. Bye. XDDDD Lastly, song for this fic: "I Need a Girl" (either version—Korean by Taeyang featuring G-Dragon, or English by JD Relic); it makes a lot of sense for Terumisa in general.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or the AO3 link at the top of the post! The 7th EnnoTana story, "Personal Day," will be posted in the Birds of a Feather collection in a while (there's another bunch of side stories following that one), so please stay tuned! And check out my other [HQ!!] fics if you liked this, too!
~mew
And if you want to support Birds of a Feather, please swing by its FFN and AO3 versions and consider liking and reblogging these posts on my tumblr!
Summary: Like instinct; Terushima was whirlwind, a sudden cluster of unpredictable smiles and laughter invading your life. He was like the personification of that kind of pleasant surprise in your day that made it worth getting up and, he preferred to keep at it just to see Hana’s smile radiating at his direction.
Note: Inspired by the prompts from @terushimaweek ’s Terushima Week.
Day 4: Soulmate AU, Friendship + Day 5: Crossover AU, Training Camp + Day 7: Free Day
From a very young age Terushima Yuuji knew his way of words and facial expressions to create a fun atmosphere. His parents thought it was a gift, he saw it as convenient; either way it spelled for Terushima to have fun with life. It gave him confidence and room to spread his silly jokes as he shifted from elementary school to pranks when he went into middle school and high school. He was a sharp kid that learned how to cultivate his practical skills and academics. In all, it wasn’t hard to see how Terushima became be the type of person to make a whole classroom laugh throughout most of the class time when he raised his voice and poured out some snarky comments in no time. Years of building from his boisterous personality made him bloom. Unlike what most people believed, he was hardly a delinquent; the teachers, like the rest of his peers, enjoyed his side comments because they had layers of genuine questions and opinions that raised healthy debates. His appearance itself was a judgement call for individual freedom and to see the faces of people changing the way he showed his actual intelligence after they doubted him based on appearances alone. Terushima didn’t exactly knew why he liked being impulsive since the moment he was able to walk, it just felt natural to be out there.
There was a genuine need to make crowds laugh and live as if there was a party every day. It felt like a waste to let all the hours in a day to vanish without enjoying them. When he was surrounded by smiles and laughter it felt like he was alive for that purpose. Goofing around was a great pastime for most teens but Terushima thrived in social situations like participating in school sports and small student debates. It landed him into the perfect place of being able to shake and shave off his energy in the best way possible while being in his element as he made countless friends and acquaintances. His course of being friendly, confident and, lively overall gave him perks on winning a solid direction in life. His name became a synonym in the dictionary very shortly during his debut in high school as he made himself open to the general as the fun guy to talk to.
But that didn’t mean he neglected his academics all together. It was the opposite; he loved questioning the status quo of clichés and stereotypes since the day he hit middle school and started to dye his hair. He went on a rampage on sports and dominated the weeks of finals and being a part of the elite in his school’s rankings. He loved how he clashed with many people and still being able to connect to them when he swept them with his laughter and nature ability to enjoy the ride life gave him. He was a class clown, he offered to tutor, Terushima loved to explore the world he lived in with a smile on etched on his lips. And high school didn’t change much, he was still top ranked, he got his tongue pierced and he found himself relatively happy to have joined the volleyball team in Johzenju High in due time. At first, it was a challenge he accepted the way he clashed with his older teammates. His playful side gave him some lectures but, Terushima still acted on impulse and kept on laughing with his own friends.
What was actually funny was how high school became a pinpoint for Terushima gaining a new route of being thankful of having some prior experience from dealing with different people and small fleeting crushes before getting hit by a big one sometime in his second year. It was a little harder this time around because it was subtle, almost too seamless to notice how flustered he got when it came to his retiring third year volleyball manager, Misaki Hana, would make him choke on his well versed tongue and get him paralyzed. After a year and half of knowing her passively as shy door mat he couldn’t deny she was cute. Her frazzled and pink cheeks were adorable enough, and sometimes when he lazily watched her interact with the other third years he liked how she was less shy and smiled with more confidence with them. But that still didn’t result to Terushima into acknowledging that he had a crush on her right off the bat. It wasn’t that simple and vain (but it didn’t hurt that he thought she was cute). Instead, while he was in the middle of a training camp and dying from the summer heats and volleyballs being smacked all around, where was he found himself unable to look away when she passed by lately.
It could have been due to her new fresh trim of her bangs that made him look at her face more, or how he couldn’t help but listen to her and the captain talk about college and learning that she would be moving to the furthest part of Japan that made him instantly drawn to record her soothing voice well into his mind. Either way, it went deep enough that it got him into trying to memorize her small little habits like how she curled her fingers when she was bored or bit the inside of her left cheek when she was in deep thought and on her right side, just before she excitedly squealed about something that she enjoyed and had to share immediately to the captain or first year manager they managed to recruit. He teased and joked around her, he waited for her replies and sometimes he loved the way he noticed her bit her left cheek and caught that glint in her hers as if she was going to retort like some other people he had sass battles throughout school. But before she could Misaki would back away leaving Terushima late into the nights wondering what she tried to say.
It was slightly frustrating how in his gut something told him there was this inner sass and perfect balance he could sync with Misaki persisted every time he thought about her. The training camps were understandably not the best time to ponder why Johzenju’s volleyball third year manger, Misaki was always making Terushima freeze inside his brain and why his throat felt dry around her. Not even after making a conscious effort of trying to get Karasuno manger’s number help him throw away any pesky butterflies he tried not to think about when he settled with his teammates and played on the court freely. And while he played his current favorite sport he was thankful for being able to let his personality to shine freely. His school cheered, he felt alive, and he was sure that in the meantime he was able to pursue his original outlook in life when he went against Karasuno. His body burned, he could feel his own teammates all around him laugh with him as they all tackled the court. It wasn’t enough, not even when Misaki surprised them when she snapped and yelled at them with such raw passion. It was different, yet something more the way she displayed her loyalty to her school and her grievance when they took in the final scores. Terushima didn’t know when it happened, but he didn’t want to complain the way she smiled at him and his teammates as she thanked them for their hard work. She looked incredible, and in that instant he liked the way her smile lighted the whole team and made his heart go crazy.
It was better than compared to the usual smiles and compliments he got from his peers and teachers. It was the next level of happiness that he wanted to accomplish and cherish. It was so powerful that he forgot what mostly happened in the ride back home. What he didn’t forget was how Terushima caught her before walking home from school and talked her all the way until they had to say goodbye at an intersection. That part was ideal to move forward with but, the next day proved harder to give a coherent answer the way his own feelings were jumbled up at two different situations. On one hand his team got eliminated, on the other, he was able to talk to Misaki more freely with new revelations about his fondness toward her.
After snapping at the team, Misaki was in some shape and form able to talk with a little more courage to sass them back after a couple of days later passed; and that only fueled Terushima to seek her out and learn more about her before her time in high school ran out. Confessions aside, he grew more aware of his words posed to her and tried his best to be charming without trying to make everything awkward. By the time the year was finished he learned her favorite spot in school was the library’s bibliography section because that was where no one knew there was a lone small desk there with the perfect amount of sunlight hitting so she could read leisurely to her heart’s content. Or how she after school and volleyball practice she played the piano for fun. Even the smaller details about her made him flustered, like knowing she liked spring the best because of the sudden showers that poured down and making the air smell warm and inviting. Or the color yellow was her favorite because it reminded her of her grandparents’ sunflower garden when she visited them when during her younger summers before going to high school and getting clobbered with tests and volleyball duties.
The calmness of listening to her open up to him made him swell, because there was a small portion of him that was scared of her pushing him away. He knew before in their earliest memories together he was hard to watch over. He disrupted the flow of the team dynamic when he coined their playful approach to volleyball after all, but he was more than thankful that Misaki forgave him in the end and let him become a friend. Like instinct, Terushima used his open and playful side to slowly creep in and see how Misaki reacted the longer they became closer friends. She didn’t shy away too much and quickly landed some under toned replies back in the most random of times to make him laugh out loud and appreciate the world even more. In many ways, he felt like his own confidence smoldered and made Misaki happier. Her shell that she once relied on crumbled from the lack of usage. Her smiles increased tenfold, her banters with him lasted longer and it felt like he would die from overdose of her laughter alone. And he at this point walking shoulder to shoulder while making her laugh until tears spilled out was more than he could have asked.
Terushima didn’t mind being boisterous if it meant making Misaki laugh at his direction.
The harsh words resonate through the hall, filling empty classrooms and the spaces between lockers, not any less subdued by shuffling feet. Then Kazuma leans back his head, laughing at the ceiling, and hums, “That’s what Misaki’s gonna say anyway.”
Terushima yanks off his tie and winds it into a whip-like structure, smacking his teammate with it. “Shut up, no, she won’t.”
“He’s sweating,” Takeharu snickers, prompting chuckles from the rest of the team as he’s the next one to avoid a hit. “He knows it’s true.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why you’re putting on such a show,” Kazuma scoffs, finally wrestling the tie from Terushima’s grasp, and now it’s his turn to dodge. “A leather jacket and some dumb new shoes and whatever else you’re going for isn’t going to impress Misaki.”
“Maybe he’s going for a one-hit K.O. for her heart. You know, since he’s already so lame in her eyes.” Eyes saddening in a horrible imitation, he copies the words they had all overheard in the club room (in Terushima’s defense, he had thought it was empty and the whole team didn’t have their ears pressed to the door). “‘Misaki, I’ve changed! I swear it! I only like you!’”
“I’m pummeling you all at practice,” Terushima grouches, kicking Numajiri right on his bottom so he tumbles into the gym, wheezing over his laughter. “None of you assholes have dates tonight, so you can snuff it.”
“You’re walking on thin ice as it is, buddy,” Kazuma teases, clapping his shoulder on his way in. “I wouldn’t exactly go around bragging.”
“Misaki’s gonna love me,” he states confidently, shrugging off his blazer to prepare for practice. “But you guys aren’t. Get ready for volleyball hell.”
It sets off a round of groans among the first-years, that the senpai have pissed off their volatile captain once again; he doesn’t feel things in his muscles like normal people do, and last time they had run thirty laps that he’d finished in an hour flat, only to look back, full of energy, to find all the juniors collapsed in various distressed states around the gym. It had been a stressful day for Runa especially.
Today is even more so. Their small manager runs from player to player, tissues in hand, water bottles ready, and even flusters to their content captain once, her voice cracking as it often does in his presence, “Um? Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on them?”
“Nonsense!” Terushima bellows, hands on his hips. “We’re Johzenji! We can handle this much!”
His calls of “Right, team?!” are met with groans of agreement. A part of him isn’t even up to mischief at the moment; he simply thrives in this atmosphere, flourishes under grueling practices and new techniques and the sweat clinging his T-shirt to his back. This is what makes volleyball fun, pure and simple.
Hours into practice he’s still lost in the thrill, surrounded by weary, regretful third-years, when Runa’s squeaky voice disrupts his rhythm once again. “S-Senpai! Wh-what are you doing here?”
“Well, I thought I’d come see why I was stood up...”
The familiar voice carries, turning to ice in Terushima’s veins. Fuck. He’s a goner.
“M-Misaki,” he stutters, turning to the sound. Fuck. She’s in a nice skirt of all things. He’s a dead man walking. “Misaki, shit, I can explain. I didn’t stand you up on purpose, I swear—” The sun’s dipped behind rooftops, shading the sky purple, and it makes his excuses a little hard to believe. The team looks on, unanimously amused, as he flails limbs and attempts to talk his way out of this mess he’s created. “It was just, practice, yeah? You know how it is! Gotta get these butts into gear. Were you waiting long—”
“I was,” she replies, her tone clipped. But then her eyes flicker behind him, to weary teammates and volleyballs littering the gym, and back to his frame, to the sweat clinging to his every curve and the beat-up sneakers on his feet. His plans to impress her crumble before his eyes.
Misaki smiles, soft, like her fingers dragging through his limp, soaked hair. “But it’s okay. I like the you who’s really earnest about volleyball.”
Terushima swallows, hard and lumpish.
“What did I say?” Kazuma scoffs, nudging Numajiri and getting an equally hard shove back. “A total joke.”
I can verify you are NOT the only one who ships Terushima and Misaki <3 idk what their ship name is either but I guess it'd be like TeruMisa? Sounds like tiramisu 😹
Ah! I’m so glad I’m not the only one than! I know their both relatively minor characters, but part of me sees Misaki as someone who could totally handle Terushima’s wild side. ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)
