Chapter Forty: Illusionary Hero

YAMAGUCHI WOULD NOT SAY HE'S ALL THAT strong. Not on the court and not off of it. Even as a kid, being picked on by others he really couldn't stand up for himself. It wasn't until he caught a glimpse of Tsukishima that first time in junior high that he wanted to be cool. Sure, he envied Tsukishima back then for his ability to simply scare off bullies just with a stare and a few words, but he admired him all the same. Which is why he knows that Tsukishima needed a push in the right direction to remember that. 

Turning off the water at the bathroom sink, Yamaguchi stared himself down in the mirror, a determination shining in his own eyes at the thought of his best friend. He wasn't going to let Tsukishima be lame while they're here at this camp. Yamaguchi needed to remind his friend just how cool he was.

Leaving the bathroom, Yamaguchi rounded the corner to head back to the gym Karasuno was in only to run into Sakura. The orange-haired girl blinked up after almost running into Yamaguchi. He sheepishly smiled at her, "Sakura, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Tadashi," she shook her head, "you gonna keep practicing with everyone?"

"Yea, I just needed a quick break." 

"Ah, I've got to help Yachi with some final chores for the night, then I'm heading to bed." Sakura yawned as the pair started to make their way back towards the gym.

In their quiet walk back, Yamaguchi was dwelling in his thoughts about Tsukishima. "Say, Sakura, have you noticed how… I-I don't know how to say this."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Hm?"

Yamaguchi paused in his steps, causing Sakura to do the same. He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he said, "Tsukki seems to be even more withdrawn these last few days. Or not as involved in practices."

Sakura just scoffed, "Isn't he usually like that?"

"W-well, I guess most of the time. It's just, even now he seems far more… distant."

She pursed her lips, "Maybe I have noticed it. Seems like he's been thinking about something a lot."

Sakura didn't really want to be talking about Tsukishima. He had been getting on her nerves a lot easier now and he seemed to be going out of his way more often to get under her skin. She had a feeling it had to do with the distance that she originally had placed between herself and Shoyo. So he saw a vulnerability in her and decided to attack. Why he always wanted to put her down was beyond her. Though miserable people tended to try and make others miserable with them.

Yamaguchi nodded his head, "I think he's been thinking about why we play. After all, I'm pretty sure he sees this as just a club."

"Well, it is." She stated blandly, which didn't help Yamaguchi's argument. "This team is just a high school club. It's not like your livelihoods are dependent on getting better at volleyball right now." Then she shrugged her shoulders, "Though I see where you're going with this. He certainly isn't passionate like the others or as crazy about volleyball. Everyone here has a goal whether it's to be number one, or to just improve. He doesn't seem to have that drive." Sakura sighed heavily through her nose, "You've known him longer than me, Tadashi. Has there ever been a time where he was excited about volleyball?"

Yamaguchi bit his lip, thinking back to when Tsukshima was in fact outwardly excited about the sport. He knew the reason why he had become disconnected from it, perhaps that was why he was so unenthused about all of this more than ever.

"He was. At one point, he was excited about volleyball." He said, seeing a bit of surprise on Sakura's face. "He didn't used to be this mean." Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, which caused him to cough, "well, he was a bit mean, but back then he at least was a bit more excited about playing."

"What changed?"

Sakura was curious now. She really didn't imagine Tsukishima actually being excited about anything, let alone volleyball. So hearing from Yamaguchi that there was a time where he was, was intriguing. The boy never expressed any emotions besides being rude or sadistic, as far as Sakura has seen. So hearing that there was a time when he wasn't always like that was definitely going to peak her interest. Not to say that she found Tsukishima interesting… it was just different from what she's normally known of him.

Yamaguchi sighed loudly, "He… I don't think I should say. He was lied to when we were younger. Lied to by someone he looked up to and I think it shattered his idea about volleyball." He remembered the moment that it seemed like Tsukishima's world had fallen apart. Yamaguchi knew that while they were in junior high, Tsukishima idolized his older brother. The fact that his brother lied about his spot on Karasuno's volleyball team for so long had destroyed his perception of the game. 

"If there is something bothering him, you should talk to him." Sakura said, bringing him out of his thoughts, "You are the only one who would be able to get through to him, you know. You're his best friend, Tadashi. He'll have to listen to you."

"But what do I say?" Yamaguchi asked her, almost desperately.

"Whatever you think will get through his thick head. I know you'll find the right things to say." She smiled up at him as she remembered their heart-to-heart a long while ago about her own love of photography. "You're good at that." 

At her words, a swell of determination filled Yamaguchi's chest, "Right!" He then turned and ran off, looking for Tsukishima. He had quite a bit that he wanted to say to him now.

---

After parting ways with Yamaguchi, Sakura had headed back into the gym to make sure that Yachi didn't have anything else that she needed help with. Sakura wasn't going to leave her friend with a bunch of chores, she'd certainly feel too guilty. Though the blonde had said that she was all set. It seemed like Yachi was starting to really get a hang of her role as manager. Sakura could say that she was nearly a professional. So with nothing else to really do, Sakura decided it was time to head to bed. 

Well, that was the plan any way. 

"Oh, Hina~!" Sakura groaned as she saw the brown-haired menace skipping over towards her. Yua bounced over to the girl with a wide smile, "what are you up to?"

Sakura sighed, "I'm about to head to bed."

"Boo, that's no fun," she blew a raspberry at her, "Why don't you come with me back to the gym. The guys are practicing together again like yesterday. It would be cool if you came."

Sakura scowled at her, "I don't have a choice here do it?"

"Not at all!" Yua said brightly.

So that's how Sakura found herself watching as the boys from Nekoma and Fukurodani practiced with each other in Gym #3. One of the biggest downsides was that Tsukishima also was there. She supposed that he came here after talking with Yamaguchi. Since Sakura is certain that Yamaguchi had tracked him down to lecture him or whatever. The freckled-boy definitely was on a mission to search for his friend when he left her. She didn't doubt that he gave up so easily.

It also didn't seem like Tsukishima was here on his own volition, from Sakura's observations. These guys really like forcing us to do stuff, she thought to herself. Though she watched them all do some practice spikes and blocks with each other. She noticed something.

While there was no intense fire or anything in Tsukishima's expression, Sakura could just tell that something was different. His golden eyes were sharper and his blocks were growing stronger as he took in the advice that Kuroo gave him. To her, it seemed like whatever Yamaguchi had said to Tsukishima had done something to him. A passionate fire hadn't been lit in Tsukishima, Sakura could tell, but the kindling was set. There just needed to be a spark of some kind. She certainly didn't know what that spark would be or when it would be lit, but she hoped that it was soon. Not for Tsukishima's sake, but for the sake of the team.

"You sure are staring hard," Yua commented as she poked Sakura's cheek, breaking her from her thoughts.

Said girl pushed her hand away, "don't touch me."

"Well, you weren't paying attention when I was saying your name." A sly smirk crawled across Yua's lips, "you seemed to entranced by blondie over there."

Sakura's eyes narrowed at the smug expression, "I'm not entranced."

Yua's smirk had yet to fall, "Oh? So you weren't staring unblinkingly at him for a while?" She shrugged sarcastically, "I suppose I saw wrong then."

"Maybe you did," Sakura growled.

There was a moment of peace as Yua dropped the subject, the two girls now focusing back on the drills the boys were going through. Though Yua really didn't know when to shut her mouth.

"You can admit it, no need to be embarrassed." Yua coyly commented as she sighed dreamily, "I remember my first crush. Ah, it's so heartwarming to see such love blossoming."

"What?!" Sakura exclaimed, "This has nothing to do with a crush! Especially on someone like Tsukishima!"

Yua laughed, "Deny all you want, I know what I saw!"

Scowling, Sakura got up from her spot against the wall and walked away from a laughing Yua. Why that crazy girl thought that Sakura had a crush was beyond her. Come one? Tsukishima!? Why did everyone think that?! First her own club teased her about Tsukishima just about every time she's with them and now Yua was doing it too. It really was going to start getting on her nerves.

Pushing that out of her mind, Sakura watched as Tsukishima made another pretty decent block against Bokuto. Though now there was a different train of thought around Tsukishima that was starting to stew in her head. It infuriated her that Tsukishima was not thinking logically. Isn't he supposed to be smart? She thought to herself. Now while she's used to dealing with volleyball idiots and their logic being askew, this was really annoying her… For some reason. When there was a lull in play, Sakura stood up and walked towards Tsukshima as he took a sip from his water bottle.

"You're not giving yourself enough credit."

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at her sudden words, "Huh?"

Sakura cringed lightly, seemingly regretting having said anything, but knew that there was no going back now. She sighed heavily, "I get it. You think that you're outshined by Shōyō. In some ways, you might be. Though that doesn't detract anything that you do on the court."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, "I don't want to hear this."

"I don't care." Sakura huffed, "Stay if you want, but I'm still going to say it."

"Hn."

She pursed her lips, taking a moment to find her words. She was more than aware of the piercing stare from the tall teen in front of her, though she cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. She started with saying, "Shōyō is a good middle blocker and he's an amazing decoy, though that's more or less his designated role. He's meant to do that, you know. You aren't. You're not a decoy. He's meant to get attention in order to deceive people. This means you have other qualities to how you play that make you just as important to the team. Your skills are more intellectually based." She said, "You plan and think ahead and strategize much more than he would. Your blocks are more powerful and your ability to read a player is nearly unparalleled. Not to mention you're extremely tall, so your height is an advantage. You both are night and day when compared to each other, so stop comparing yourself to him." She said sharply, "You're not going to get anywhere by doing that. You'll just be a complaining, bitchy giant for the rest of your time on the team."

Tsukishima stared at her, his eyes slightly widening. He appeared to be… baffled that she was even trying to comfort him or give him advice, especially about his comparison to her own brother. He didn't think he'd ever see the day that she would be… encouraging him. "I think that's the most I've ever heard you speak."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm leaving now."

With nothing left to say, she just walked off. She wasn't entirely sure why she had to say all that she did to him. Tsukishima gets on her nerves and she dislikes him to a high degree, however, there was a part of her that hated how… self loathing he is. Perhaps she hated it even more that he was being so lethargic over the club and his position in it. She must see his self-pity as stupid, anyone who does pity themselves for something as trivial as this was annoying to her. That must be the reason.

It's not like Tsukishima was going to say 'thank you' or anything to her at her attempt. The last thing that he'd want to do is give her the satisfaction knowing that he did feel… a bit more secure in his position on the team. It wasn't anything too concrete. However, it felt good to know that even someone like Sakura, who arguably doesn't like him at all, complimented him to some degree. He certainly knows that she holds her brother up quite high on a pedestal. Tsukishima found it a bit weird and almost familiar. He did the same thing with his brother. He thought that Akiteru was the best person. His brother was the ace of Karasuno, such an amazing player, the star in Kei's mind. 

Though when he did find out the truth, it broke any sort of trust that he would have. Not only that but it tainted the sport of volleyball completely. Though he knew that wasn't going to happen to Sakura. That certainly caused a bit of jealousy and disdain to bubble up in Tsukishima. Her brother is one of the best players on the team, he is the self-proclaimed next "Little Giant" so it wasn't like she would be let down like he was. He envied that.

So he watched as she said a quick goodbye to Yua and the others, to their disappointment, before heading out of the gym to head to bed. Tsukishima certainly had a lot to think about now after everything that he's heard from those around him.

---

When the next day came, there was another round of games with all of the teams. Currently, Karasuno was up against Fukurōdani and they weren't doing the best, though they weren't doing the worst either. Bokuto used his immense strength to spike the ball through the Karasuno blocks.

"Eek…" Yachi squeaked, "That #4 is really intense again today."

Sakura scoffed, "I think he's just always intense, like he doesn't have an off switch." After spending enough time, forcefully, around Bokuto she knew that he just was never not intense. Though perhaps that's what made him such a good player. He was top five for a reason.

With the score at 11-6 in Fukurōdani's favor, Ukai had a time out called. "Even if you're not able to stop #4's spikes, at least try to touch it," Ukai said to them.

"Right!"

"I see…" Yachi nodded her head as she looked up to Kiyoko, "So even if they aren't able to stop it, if they're able to touch the ball, it reduces the momentum?"

"Right. There are usually two goals in blocking." She started to explain, "There's the soft block that's used in order to make the ball easier to receive, and the kill block that's used to completely shut the ball out."

Yachi shivered, "Kill… as in, killing something?"

"Yes."

"Eek!"

Sakura patted Yachi on the shoulder, calming her down as best she could. "Depending on the scenario, each block has it's advantages." Sakura furter explained, "It takes a skilled blocker to decide what block to use when. I imagine most of the time it's a split second decision to make."

At the back of the group, Tsukishima speaks up, "We don't have to stop it?"

"Well…" Ukai started, "If you're able to actually shut the ball out, there's nothing better."

So they continued on with the next point. However, unlike the last spike that Bokuto used against Karasuno, he seemed to hesitate and instead go with a feint. Something that surprised just about everyone.

"Feint!" Tanaka screamed. Though Bokuto was still able to get the point for his team since Nishinoya was just a little too slow to save the ball.

"Wow, I totally thought they were going to come with a full-on attack there. To think it was actually a feint…" Takeda marveled, "I guess that's what you get with an ace that went to nationals."

Though Sakura could tell, it wasn't what Bokuto originally wanted to do. He was scared off by Tsukishima. Whatever he had learned about blocking was starting to come in handy, especially against a strong player like Bokuto. Sakura watched as her brother and Tsukishima had a short stare down with each other before they moved to get into position again. Even with that small interaction, she could tell that it was a declaration of war between them. She couldn't tell if this challenge was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing that she did know was that a challenge between the two middle blockers would certainly push them to get better than the other.