Work Text:
1
Noya hated being suspended from club activities. It was worse than being suspended from school. He hated not being able to play volleyball, to train with his teammates... He hated not being there to support his friends.
He hated fighting with the one person who meant the world to him.
He knew Asahi was crushed. The tall spiker thought it was all his fault they lost to Dateko. It wasn't. They just weren't good enough to beat the Iron Wall, not yet. That's why they needed to train harder, so they'd get better and smash those tall bastards into dust the next time they met at the court!
He'd heard Asahi hadn't been to practice at all during his absence. Part of him wanted to go find the gangster-looking coward and give him a piece of his mind (again), another part wanted to grovel at his feet and beg for forgiveness. A small, tiny, practically nonexistent part of him wanted to kiss the older boy silly before punching his nose in.
He had two and a half weeks of suspension left. After that, if Asahi hadn't returned... Neither would he. He wouldn't play without their ace.
2
Asahi wasn't sure if Noya was still mad at him. It had been a month since they'd both returned to the team, him having to swallow his pride and apologise to everyone for leaving. Sure, Noya had vocally forgiven him and all, but he still felt the libero harboured some resentment.
He just wasn't sure if he was brave enough to ask.
The thing with Noya was that, no matter how much you tried to stop it, he always managed to get under your skin and make a little holiday home there. Or that's how it seemed to him, anyway. Noya had been under his skin since day one, and their fighting had torn the holiday home apart. Now, he was left picking the scab and hoping for a complete renovation. Figuratively.
He watched as Noya dived in to receive one spike after another. He was sure Noya would be counting new bruises tonight, and sore tomorrow. He wished Noya wouldn't do that to himself, but he knew the libero would do anything to keep the ball in play for even a minute longer.
He needed to know if Noya was upset with him.
3
Noya watched Asahi from the corner of his eyes. He was still stretching in the gym (running around, jumping, and diving made his legs jelly enough, he had to stretch properly if he wanted to move at all tomorrow), while Asahi was talking with Suga-san and Daichi-san. The other two third-years seemed to be teasing Asahi about something, while the tallest of the three was getting more flustered by the minute.
He clenched his fist. He was happy Asahi was back in the team, they'd be lost without him... but he'd yelled at him. He'd been disrespectful to his upperclassman, even if neither of them cared about that sort of thing. He wanted to go over and apologise for being such an ass.
Usually he had no trouble telling people exactly how he felt. He liked when everyone knew where they stood with him, because it made teamwork so much easier. Apparently that rule didn't apply to Asahi.
4
Asahi felt a small lump on his throat when Daichi told him to go clean their storage, and to take Noya with him. He was about to protest, but Daichi had put the fear of Team Captain in him with a well-placed glare, and here he was now, tapping Noya on the shoulder and interrupting his animated chat with Tanaka.
”Uh, Noya?”
The short boy whirled around on his heels, giving Asahi his full attention. ”Yeah, Asahi-san?”
Asahi rubbed the back of his neck, well aware that Tanaka was observing the scene with almost too much interest. ”Daichi told me to get you, we're supposed to go clean the storage room,” he shrugged.
Noya blinked before nodding. ”Alright! See you later, Ryuu!” He waved to Tanaka, and strolled towards the storage room.
Asahi was about to follow him, when his arm was grabbed. Puzzled, he looked up to see Tanaka stare at him intensely. It was scary as shit. ”Uh, T-Tanaka?”
”You two might wanna get your shit sorted,” Tanaka growled before letting of his arm.
Asahi blinked. His initial apprehension morphed into genuine confusion. ”What do you mean?”
”Asahi-san! Come on, this place ain't gonna clean itself!” Noya shouted from the storage door, waving his arm.
Asahi gave Tanaka one last questioning look, to which the second-year replied helpfully with a 'I'm watching you'-motion before turning around and walking over to Daichi. Asahi sighed and walked over to Noya. ”Let's get started, then?”
They work in tense silence for fifteen minutes, Asahi clearing the upper shelves and wiping them, Noya taking the lower ones. Then Noya stopped and straightened up, looking at him.
”Asahi-san?”
Asahi stopped rubbing the insistent stain on the shelf and looked back at Noya. ”Yeah?” He asked, dreading the answer slightly.
Noya surprised him by bowing deeply suddenly. ”I'm sorry I've been a huge dick since you came back!”
Asahi's jaw dropped. ”Wh-what?! Noya, no, you haven't--”
”Let me finish!” Noya interrupted, effectively shutting Asahi right up. ”I... I'm sorry I yelled at you when you quit the team. I'm sorry you felt it was your fault we lost to Dateko, and I'm sorry it took me this long to apologise. I just. Um. Yeah. I'm sorry,” he finished.
Asahi was stunned. Noya was still bowing. The realization snapped Asahi out of his daze. ”Noya, please stand up, it's fine,” he hurriedly said, grabbing the smaller boy's shoulders and pulling him back up. ”It's me who should be apologising,” he said with a sigh.
Noya, once he was properly upright again, frowned. ”What? No. What?”
Asahi's cheeks flushed. ”I gave up too easily. It wasn't fair to you guys,” he explained.
The libero stared at him for a while before cracking a smile and slumping on a box. ”We're both idiots.”
Asahi sat down next to him and nudged him with his shoulder. ”You're probably right. It's a wonder we've gotten so far.”
Noya burst out laughing, braching his hands on his knees for support.
Neither of them had the guts to say what they truly wanted. They really were idiots.
5
After a grueling week of practicing like crazy and studying religiously (Ennoshita was a scary ass mofo when he got in the mood), Noya could finally relax. He'd aced (well, not 'aced', more like 'barely passed') all his exams, they'd be going to Tokyo next weekend... He was going to spend the rest of his Thursday relaxing, even if it killed him!
”Noya! Wait up!”
If anyone other than Asahi had called out to him, he would've groaned, possibly pretended not to hear and ran, but alas, it was who it was, so he turned around and watched as the ace ran to him.
Asahi took a moment to get his breathing back in order while Noya waited patiently. Then he straightened up with an embarrassed little smile. ”Sorry, this won't take long,” he started. ”You're probably tired and want to go home.”
Noya shook his head, scratching his head. ”Nah, I'm good! Well, I am tired, but not that tired, you know? So, what's up?”
Asahi's relaxed expression turned into one of nervousness. ”Well, I, um...” He stuttered.
The shorter boy raised an eyebrow before lightly punching Asahi in the stomach. ”Spit it out, Azumane!”
”Do you want to... hang out, sometime?” Asahi managed to speak so quickly Noya almost didn't catch what he said.
”What? Like, play videogames and watch shitty tv -hang out, or...?” He specified carefully, not wanting to get his hopes up for nothing. Playing videogames and stuff was fun, too, but he was pretty sure he wanted to do other... stuff... with Asahi. Also play videogames and stuff with him. But mostly the other stuff.
”Um...” If Asahi's face could get redder, it would. It was as if all the blood in his body had suddenly migrated to his face. ”That stuff too, yeah, but...” He took a breath, visibly psyching himself up. ”I like you. As in, like you -like you. So, hang out, as in a date. Maybe.”
Noya was stunned into silence.
Asahi took his astonishment as rejection. ”Oh crap, did I mess up? I'm sorry, Noya, I shouldn't have said anything, I--”
Noya interrupted him with a hand slapped over his mouth. He had to lean up significantly to succeed in the endeavour, but he did. ”Shut up for a minute there, Asahi-san. Take a deep breath.”
Asahi did as he was told.
Noya nodded. ”Good, there you go,” he could barely contain himself. He removed his hand from Asahi's mouth, patting the taller boy's shoulder with it. ”Now then. Yes. I'd love to hang out with you, in the date-sense of hanging out.”
Asahi's eyes widened. ”Noya--”
”Let's not make this any girlier than it already is, yeah?” Noya interrupted him again, a blush appearing on his cheeks despite his best efforts to keep it away. ”I like you too, okay? So now that we've established that, let's go buy Gari-Gari-kuns and you can come to my house to hang out. Okay?”
The spiker stared at him for a moment, then he smiled softly and nodded. ”Okay.”