safeguard || nishinoya yuu

I hummed a sweet tune as I walked by the riverside. Twiddling with my fingers as I walk to the lake the river leads to. ‘Hmm... I already have finished most of my homework, but I still have to work on my English essay..’ I thought with a sheepish grin.

I looked behind me to make sure no one was on my trail. I let out a sigh of relief, “Heh... Looks like I’ve escaped Nii-chan’s watchful eyes... Now,” My eyes shone as I looked at the lake. “It’s time to have some fun..” I licked my bottom lip excitedly.

I placed my bag against a tree. The shade looming over my bag making it sure not to get hot from the sun’s hot rays. As I got closer to the water’s edge I could make out faint noises of water splashing around.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I closed my eyes, using my sense of hearing to depict where the rapid splashing is coming from. “HELP—!” A voice yelped before I heard water gurgling.

My eyes snapped open and widen, my blood running cold as my heart thundered rapidly against my chest. I ran, using my fastest speed to do so, to where the splashing was coming from. My feet being mostly in the air than hitting against the soft soil.

Once I pinpointed out where the splashing was coming from I immediately kicked off my shoes, took a deep breath of air, and dived in. Determined to save the person who was drowning.

‘I need to save him. I don’t care if I drown later on, just let me save him.’ I desperately thought.

The lake’s warm water immediately made contact with my skin. Bubbles rising to the surface as my legs kicked against the water towards the drowning person as my arms led me the way.

Once the person was within arms reach, I wrapped my arm around their waist and my feet immediately kicked upwards towards the surface. The person’s body fell limp against mine.

‘Shoot! I have to hurry! I’m losing oxygen real quick, I also have to perform CPR on this dude!’ I thought, ‘Stay calm, Azumi! You can’t panic now!’ I mentally hissed.

I felt a water lily’s stem wrap around my ankle but I hadn’t paid any mind to it. All my mind was focused on saving this person.

Once we broke the surface, I made my way to the shore. I dragged the limp body onto the ground. Immediately pushing up and down on his chest. When I got nothing I locked my lips with his, desperately trying to inject oxygen into his lungs, performing CPR.

I repeated both steps until he started coughing up some fresh water from the lake. I took a deep breath in as I analyzed the boy’s features. He looked around the same age as me, and we were also approximately the same height.

His chest heaved up and down as I noticed that he had a patch of dirty blond hair that stood out from the rest of his cocoa brown hair. “Azumi!” I heard Nii-chan’s voice yell out.

My already weak legs shakily hoisted me up as my eyes met his. “Nii-chan..” I said.

“What happened here?” He asked worriedly.

“I-I saved this boy from drowning..” I muttered, motioning to the mysterious boy who lay unconscious.

He took a step towards the unconscious boy and me, his eyes widening. “Nishi—!” I tried taking a step towards him but I fell abruptly.

My widen eyes met his as I was dragged hastily back to the lake. I looked down at my ankle to see the water lily’s stem was the thing that was dragging me.

Before I could call out to Nii-chan I was pulled into the water immediately, not giving me time to take up some oxygen. I tried to rip off the thick stem but it was too thick for me to rip.

I heard Nii-chan call my name faintly, the freshwater drowning out the sound. I was quickly losing oxygen as I was also slipping into unconsciousness. My eyelids felt heavy as a bubble emerged from my open mouth, the last of my oxygen slipping from my grasp.

My eyes lids fell closed as I felt someone splash in the lake. Their arms circling my waist before I slipped into unconsciousness.

‘..in return, I promise to take Karasuno to Nationals~!’ Those exact words rang in my mind as a smile graced my lips in pure bliss.

My eyes landed on Tendou and the light in my eyes dimmed. ‘Saying goodbye huh..?’

With a sad smile barely visible on my face, my eyes settled back on Karasuno. They all suddenly turned to me and I just tilted my head in confusion.

Next thing I knew the team was hugging me. Blood immediately pooled to my cheeks. “Azumi! Thanks for your training and advice the team has gotten this far!” Coach Ukai proclaimed.

“Osu!” I replied as I enjoyed the hug.

Once they pulled away, Nii-chan, Suga-senpai, and Daichi-senpai gave me a smirk. I raised an eyebrow as someone tapped on my shoulder, and instinctively I turned.

I was immediately met with a pair of soft lips landing on mine as cheers erupted from the team.

❝As the Safeguard, it’s my absolute duty to make sure no harm comes to you, the team or anyone else!❞

Azumane Azumi, the little sister of Azumane Asahi, gives Karasuno a deeper look at volleyball. Being the former Ace of her Junior High team, Azumi is put back in the spotlight as she re-enters the court. Not as an Ace but as a Libero.

She catches the attention of Karasuno’s current Libero. Training him her ways to defend and also training herself how to react to these new profound emotions for Karasuno’s Libero.

But what she doesn’t know is that he’s slowly falling for her as she slowly falls for him. Azumi being quite timid and quiet while outside of the court and is an energetic and loud player whilst on the court. Nishinoya being loud and boisterous off the court and playing quietly and strategically on the court.

They’re quite opposites, aren’t they? But, opposites do attract. They’re both falling for each other. And they’re falling hard.