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"Hey heeeey! Akaashi, toss!"
Konoha sighed as he landed himself on the floor, looking at the members of his team running around on the court with their eyes fixed on the ball in the air. Komi took a stance, readying himself for a receive as soon as he saw Akaashi complying to the request, hand raising to give what their captain had asked for.
Well, ex-captain. Ex-team of his.
A small smile formed on his lips when Konoha let out another quiet sigh, putting down his bottle the the shiny wooden floor of the gym. It looked like his usual smile — a little mischievous, a little mysterious, a little of everything — but today there was something more into it, if you looked closely.
"Seems like he's back to his usual self."
Konoha turned his head when he heard someone approaching then sitting down beside him. He scoffed. "That depends on what you think his 'usual self' is. Personally I think being constantly annoying is more of him being his 'usual self' than this." There was a beat of a pause, followed by a grin. "But then again this is pretty annoying, too. He's only not annoying when he's not loud."
The girl beside him, Kaori, let out a soft chuckle, amused but bitter and understanding. "You mean never, then?" Konoha smirked.
"Nah, even he can get quiet for like 30 seconds every three months."
They shared another laugh and Konoha drank one, two, three more gulps before he lowered his bottle, eyes observing the room around him, slowly, closely. It was strange, this was the place in school that, whenever they'd been out of the classroom, they'd spent practically every minute in. He knew every inch of this gym; the little bit of reddish smear on one corner of the wall that had at least three different versions of an origin story, the scratch just by the white line that no one knew had been caused by him, that one damn spot on the left side of the court that for some reason was more slippery than the rest of the floor, the one ball still stuck on the ceiling ever since Bokuto had bounced it up there two summers ago.
It was somewhere he'd visited every day, something that was supposed to feel familiar, and it did feel familiar today, but also a bit... strange. It was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, one part of him thought, oh, we were here yesterday, another part oh, we won't be here tomorrow.
"KONOHAAAAA!!"
The loud voice he'd known all too well yelled and snapped him out of his thoughts, and he frowned when he shot a glare at the culprit. "What?!"
"How long have you had a break already!! Onaga wants to play but we're not balanced if you're not playing!!"
"N-no, Bokuto-senpai, I'm fine—"
"You just wanna play with more people, don't you," Konoha sighed, not moving from his seat. "And you were full of tears and snot half an hour ago going all I don't wanna part with you guys wahhhhhhhh."
"WHAAAAT?! I totally didn't sound like that!!! Right, Saru?!"
"Hmm... Maybe a little."
"Whaaaat?!?"
"Don't worry, Bokuto, he's just looking for excuses 'coz he knows he's not gonna win if I'm on the opposing team."
"Komiyan..." Konoha hissed, trying to look unaffected but the frown on his face and the way he moved to stand up said everything. Komi grinned, and Washio's lips formed a small smile, amused. "Prepare to eat your own words."
Bokuto's eyes lighted up, hair somehow seemingly perking up. "That's the spirit, Konoha!!" he said, then turned his body to point at the members on the other side of the net, but Komi in particular. "We're gonna crush you!!" he declared, enthusiastic and ready. Konoha shook his head a little as soon as he got to the court, but when his eyes met Yukie's he couldn't help a fond smirk starting to take form on his lips. Yukie, too, smiled as she waved to all the boys on the court.
"Should we keep score now, then?"
"Absolutely." "Yeah!!!" "Totally!!" "I'm sorry, Shirofuku-san, if it's not too much trouble," were said almost simultaneously from the court, and the two managers exchanged a look and another grin.
It was their last day, their graduation day, and starting tomorrow he wouldn't be on a team with these guys again. Konoha would be lying if he'd said he wasn't feeling at least a little sad, but among two dozens feelings mixed inside him right now, one in particular stood out. One that made him grin even wider as he lowered his body, taking his stance.
"Alright, bring it!!"
He was glad to have spent three years in this gym, with these people, and the only regret he would have was if he lost this match, right now.