Haikyuu One-Shots

Shimizu Kiyoko x Fem!Reader - Looking Forward

(A/N: Requested)

Kiyoko loved her position as manager of the volleyball club. She prided herself on it.

She did everything that she could to keep them going strong. She helped the coach with analyzing players and gathering statistical data. She made sure that the equipment stayed clean and stocked in the supply closet. She took care of cleaning up their banner, pumping deflated balls, replacing the netting and anything else that was required. 

But there was one area of management where she didn't excel.

Ever since she was a member of the track team, she had seen players get injured. They ran into hurdles, they had a bad landing, or sometimes just stepped wrong. She had been one of these players herself and had been hurt. But that didn't make it any easier for her to deal with injuries.

If it was minor, then she could easily slap a band-aid on it and call it a day. But when team members collided with each other, got hit with the ball going full force, or even just started bleeding, she couldn't do much. She didn't have the right equipment to deal with these injuries, but they also tended to make her nervous and squeamish.

You, on the other hand, had no such issue. It was how you started helping out the nurse in the first place. One of your friends had injured themselves running through the halls and by the time they made it to the nurse's office, you already had a potential plan of how they could relieve the pain. The nurse was impressed and let you work after school with her as a sort of impromptu club.

Kiyoko met you there when she first became the manager. Since volleyball was one of the sports that involved close contact plays, you weren't surprised by it. 

You were more surprised that the player she brought looked like he should be playing in college already, but you went through your checklist to make sure that he wasn't concussed or experiencing any large amounts of pain. After assuring you that the problem really was his shoulder, and after allowing you to poke and prod at it for the third time (just to make sure he wasn't faking it), he finally got to leave with an ice pack.

Kiyoko took him back to the gym. The next day, she stopped by your classroom to thank you again.

"I'm not good with injuries," she confessed.

"Most people aren't," you assured her. "But that's nothing to worry about. That's why we have nurses and doctors and other medical specialists. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

And she did. She found you every time a player got injured. She asked you questions about what to do in certain situations. When is it okay to move someone with an injury? How do you know if a blow to the head is serious? Can you really tell the difference between a sprain and a break without medical equipment?

You answered every question as well as you could. And you continued to keep up with the players that came to see you.

Some days you walked Kiyoko to her club to check on them. And while you were there, you helped her set out some of the equipment. You talked to the players. You cleaned up when you could. You did everything short of signing the club form to make it official.

It wasn't until you were both about to enter your third year that Kiyoko realized this was a problem. Exams would be coming up, and you would likely be expected to help out more at the nurse's office. She would be busier with the club since they were getting new members.

"Are you sure you don't want to be a manager?" she asked one day you were walking together to the gym.

You chuckled softly. You had expected her to bring this up again. She'd done this at least once a month since you started coming by more often.

"I'm sure."

She frowned. "It wouldn't be that different from what you're doing now."

"Yes, it would."

"What do you mean?"

You smiled. "All I do after school is wait around in the nurse's office. Sometimes I get to walk you to your club. Or sometimes you come and see me while I'm working. If this happened every day, I wouldn't get to look forward to that anymore."

"You look forward to seeing me?"

"Always. Not--not that I'm waiting for your team to get hurt or anything! I wouldn't--"

She laughed. "It's okay. I know what you meant. I feel the same way...about looking forward to seeing you."

"Oh." You cleared your throat. "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

You had already made it out onto the breezeway. The gym door was looming in your path. You took another step and felt something pull your sleeve.

Kiyoko had grabbed a bit of your sleeve in her hand to keep you from walking away. "What if we made a schedule?"

"A schedule?" you repeated.

"Then we'd always have something to look forward to. And...then we'd know we get to see each other."

She couldn't bring herself to meet your gaze then. But you could see her cheeks growing brighter by the second.

"I like that idea."

Her eyes met yours for a brief second before she glanced away again. "W-when are you free?"

"How about Saturday?"

"Saturday?" she repeated.

"Right. We can get together and work out a schedule. Unless you're having practice that day?"

She shook her head.

"Good. I'll see you Saturday, then."

You gently squeezed her hand before heading back into the school building. 

Asahi poked his head out of the gym door. "Hey, Kiyoko? Noya cut himself. Do you think you could take a look at it?"

"I'll be right there."

She wasn't sure when it happened, but...she wasn't so afraid of injuries anymore. Maybe it was a side-effect of spending so much time with you.

She couldn't wait for Saturday. She was definitely looking forward to that.