Chapter Text
Chapter 20: Flight Lessons
After that scare, Denki remained by his brother's side while they went back to where they would be sleeping. Denki explained softly to the others what happened, and got a pair of quirk blocking socks to wear after his bath.
After the scare, the mood was slightly dull and Denki felt bad for putting the blame of his accidental quirk usage on Asahi. He was speaking with the other first years on how to fix it. They came up with a few ideas like getting him his favourite drink or snack but settled on him just ambushing the other with a hug and apology before bed. Maybe get him lunch the next day during training.
The last to shower were the sisters.
Daichi and Suga had asked if the girls wanted to go first but they didn’t mind waiting. They were unsure until Momo just casually said they share a single bathroom with 4 boys, showering last wasn’t the issue. Plus it meant they could relax a bit longer because they were not holding anyone else up.
After this, they were getting ready for bed, setting up the last of their sleeping bags as well as getting comfortable. They did have those small travel futons to sleep on but some still brought their own gear.
Denki had done just what was discussed and wormed his way into Asahi’s side, scaring the other as he was unsure what to do. Denki started to apologise repeatedly until the giant covered his mouth to stop him. It turned into soft talks and even some laughs and jokes. Noya soon joined them and they started talking about funny situations all three had gone into and how scary the flickering lights were; Denki blamed it on pure coincidence and minor electrical fault. This place does sit empty with cleaners coming once a week outside of use.
It was still kinda scary, but an ‘ at least ’ it wasn’t the disappointed glare of Tamaki-nii, got some giggles and shivers.
They soon were turning off the lights and settling down when Denki had to have the last laugh. “Night night nest buddies~”
He started to giggle when a pillow was slammed into his face from next to him by Ochako, “Denki, brother dear. If you try any more crow and bird theme puns this late again I will be chaining you up outside for the night.”
“Yes boss.”
There were some soft giggles before everyone settled down for the first official night of Goldenweek. It was thankfully very peaceful with all the Yuuei family members wearing quirk cancelling socks. They all felt weird but grateful there were no quirk accidents that night.
The next morning they woke up a bit before the sun, and started silently getting ready for the day. Moving around the teens still sleeping on the floor. Denki made it his mission to get pictures of some of the cuddlers like Noya almost completely rolled over Asahi or Yamaguchi hugging Hinata’s arm. The most surprising one was that Daichi and Suga were cuddling and it looked so cute and sweet that he had to get several shots.
The next awakened was Hinata, who looked around confused, until he regained his bearings on where he was before noticing that the Yuuei family was missing. He crept out the room to look for them and found them further down the hall in a separate room. They seemed to be in the middle of a fight.
It was awesome.
Tamaki-san was sparing against Ochako and Momo, he was moving this way and that, knocking any punch and kick the two girls sent towards him with ease. Moving gracefully around them like he was dancing. Izuku saw him and crept over to the door to open it more, before bringing the ginger in to sit with them, a finger to his lips to tell the other to remain silent.
The fight went on for a bit longer. The girls tried everything, from kicks to punches, and what Shoyo learnt was feints to even deliberately aiming off to make the third-year to dodge into another attack from a different girl. Kageyama soon appeared at the door, opening it a bit loudly causing Ochako to get distracted enough for her brother to throw her into Momo, sending them down into the floor with a thud.
“Ah, sorry.” Kageyama said while walking over slowly to help the girls. They chuckled in pain while waving him off. “Don’t worry, Kageyama. We are unfortunately very used to it.”
“When fighting you need to remain focused and calm, no matter the situation,” Tamaki said while giving the girls their water, “If you get distracted in a life and death fight then it may be your end.”
“Is everyone waking up now?” he asked while facing the first-year but got a shake of the head.
“Not yet senpai, almost everyone is still sleeping,” he said calmly before stretching with a yawn, “I normally rise early to do some jogging in the morning, I was going to get ready when I saw the fight.”
Hinata suddenly jumped to his feet before appearing in front of his setter. “Let's jog together, I wanna see who is faster!”
Hinata didn’t wait for an answer before he was running out the door, Kageyama hot on his heels as they raced to see who could get done first. It was a comforting sight seeing the two ‘almost‘ friends competing over everything in a friendly banter.
Izuku, Denki and Shoto left to join them while Tamaki stayed with the girls as they got their barings back. Momo was the only one on her feet and was stretching the soreness out of her joints. “I guess I can go and get the kitchen ready for the breakfast rush before joining everyone for defence training today. You coming, Ocha?”
The brunette nodded from where she was sitting and doing yoga stretches before offering her hand to the taller one for aid in getting up. Tamaki nodded before leaving with them, seeing the brothers, Hinata and Kageyama putting on their shoes by the door.
“Be careful and watch out for cars!” Tamaki called out before they were gone, only Shoto had the decency to give him a thumbs-up before running after the others. “These brats are going to be the reason I get grey hairs.”
Momo chuckled from next to him, “What do you mean by going to?”
Tamaki instantly reached up to pull some of his dark indigo hair down to look, trying to spot any rouge strands of white, when he heard the girls giggle and realised what he just did. He looked down at the floor before walking to the wall and hid there.
Hiding wasn’t really right, as he was still clearly standing face against the wall in an empty corridor but in his mind he was invisible.
Perfectly invisible and that no one could see his dark red face or ears.
The girls chuckled and stood at the wall with him, bumping shoulders with him before trapping him in a hug on both sides. “Don’t worry, We still love you Tama-nii.”
“Your love will turn me grey faster…” he mumbled before letting them pull him from the wall to continue towards the kitchen. They started by setting out the bowls and plates for the morning crew before the girls went to start waking everyone up. It was 7am and they were behind schedule.
They first woke up the captain and vice, ignoring the elder’s blushes at being caught cuddling before waking up Tanaka and Noya. The reason for this was they seemed the easiest to wake up and the girls could ‘persuade’ them to wake the rest.
It worked too well and Sugawara even had to step in to calm them down afterwards. Apparently being awoken by their precious Valkyries was too much for them.
Momo and Ochako actually liked the new nickname, not that they would tell the chaos duo.
The first-year group returned from their jogging, only Kageyama was out of breath while the rest were chuckling and helping him.
“My, my, is His Majesty out of shape?” Tsukishima teased over a bowl of cereal, chuckling more when Kageyama glared at him.
“They are not human!” He wheezed out while pointing to the group with him, “The jogging turned into a race and they didn’t even seem tired!”
Izuku and Shoto helped him over to a chair to collapse into. They kinda feel bad, they can get more competitive and Shoyo, well being slightly slower than Kageyama, had much more stamina. “Don’t worry Kageyama, We will be working on everyone’s stamina in training. Then you can keep up no problem.”
“I think the track team would have issues keeping up.” He said bitterly before drinking some water that Tamaki had given him, with instructions to take slow sips to avoid getting sick.
Kageyama looked over to the girls once he had caught his breath and was calming down, “Um, sorry, about this morning and all.”
Tanaka and Noya suddenly appeared in front of his face. Expressions angry while they demanded what he did to their Valkyries. Tamaki had to pull them away and force them back into their seats before returning to the dishes he was cleaning.
“Don’t worry Tanaka-senpai, Noya-senpai, it was my fault.” Ochako said while looking up from the plate she was drying, “I got distracted during the morning spar when Kageyama entered the room. Tamaki managed to grab me and toss me into Momo.”
“Toss you into...” Daichi looked concerned, he knows they spar and fight but so far the team has only seen them throw punches and kicks like you’d see at some karate tournament thing. “You tossed your sisters into each other? How hard were you fighting?!”
“We can go all out in a fight, but only against me, I know how to hold back and defend without worrying about doing permanent damage, I can also prevent damage in a fight.” Tamaka said with a shrug of his shoulder before facing the group again. “When you get to actually fighting, it will only be against me, I won’t tolerate you picking fights with each other for fun. You can get seriously hurt when mucking about.”
Tamaki glared at the team and only relaxed when everyone nodded.
“You better finish getting done. The training week has only just begun.”
The long-eared third-year soon left to get done, followed by the rest and very soon they were jogging to the gym.
Takeda was trying to follow or keep pace but was clearly out of shape as the team jogged in order, like a military troop, moving in sync. Ochako jogged behind to keep with Takeda and give him words of encouragement before he gave up and needed aid to walk the last of the way.
Ukai did start laughing when he saw them enter the gym. Takeda was suffering and was shown how to cooldown to avoid too much muscle pain from the strenuous activity. The rest of the team was doing their different activities while also wearing the weights.
All in all, it was a good morning start when Ukai called them together for a talk. “Alright brats, as you know we are on a countdown till the battle against Nekoma.”
Ukai looked around at the team like he was leading them to war, and in a way he was since his old rival was training the cats. “This week will be a whole new kind of hell for you all, and it will only continue to grow till the end of your school days, better get used to it, the road to the top is paved in sweat, blood and tears!”
“You will start with normal physical training for eight till eleven,” he said while looking over his board, “From there till two you will be doing more volleyball training before a run and lunch, after that it’s nothing but matches.”
“Well?” he said while looking back at their unmoving forms, “Get to it!”
The team scurried off and into their preassigned groups. Collecting the weights from Momo before getting to their ‘stations’. Each day the weights were going to get a fraction heavier but it was still mostly unnoticeable.
There was idle talk between the groups while everyone was busy. The adults would walk with Momo and Kiyoko while checking over everyone and paying attention to who was struggling with what to better aid them.
Ochako was mostly on water and cheer duty, laughing and giggling, while providing cool water to everyone. She was most in her element by helping others although not as a hero but a friend. She easily moved around the team without disturbing them and helped where she could.
When they moved onto the volleyball techniques, the same rules as last time applied, getting perfect points equals less punishment drills.
Everyone had a few ups and downs with the tasks. Only those in that specific field got good results like a spiker spiking or libero receiving. The Yuuei family was coming along great in their training and learning. Izuku stuck to Noya like glue and gushed while the libero trained him with his rolling thunder. Ochako made sure to record Izuku doing the tumbling receive as it looked hilarious and cute at the same time.
Soon the team was switching their shoes and going for their run, leaving the teachers behind. Takeda watched them all go, girls as well, after Amajiki said he’d make sure they were safe, “They sure have a lot of energy, even though they have to train during summer vacation.”
“I saw them first-years running this morning. Kageyama looked like he was struggling to keep up, but they were going pretty fast.” Ukai said before having some of his own water. “Of course I also saw how they arrived here like a singular unit. It was kinda impressive but if they start doing those American marching tunes I’m leaving.”
Takeda chuckled while thinking back to that morning, ignoring his own suffering, “Yeah. apparently Hinata has a much longer journey to get to school so it's understandable that he has more stamina, crossing a mountain trail everyday does make you stronger.”
“Mountain trail?” Ukai asked as this was the first time he had heard about it. Takdea explained to him while he continued to sip from his water bottle before choking.
“They fetch him from there and run the way to school? Run?” He asked while gasping for air. When the smaller male next to him nodded he ran his hand down his face with a groan, “What absolute monsters are on this team.”
They lapsed into silence while Ukai got his breathing under control when Takeda asked him about the members playing in the match. Ukai remained quite a bit longer before frowning. “I’m undecided about the setter. In terms of ability, Kageyama is my pick but Sugawara’s experienced and has played with an ace since his first year. However, Kageyama is talented enough to surpass all that experience in no time.”
Ukai looked down at the board he was holding in his other hand. “Momo has already pointed out several things I’ve seen and made notes on how we could use our weapons correctly. She has made ideas and plans to keep Sugawara as the main setter and use Kageyama as a secret weapon or we could train Sugawara to be a setter-spiker, throw him in as the secret weapon.”
Takeda looked at the notes as well, “She is a genius with strategy, no wonder the other coaches were wanting to kidnap her for their teams. She has plans for different combination attacks that utilise all members to play to their strengths while pairing them with others who can cover their weaknesses.”
Ukai nodded, “It’s a good plan, all this training to help build the bonds, Sugawara clearly has the bonds with the team. Having him and kageyama and spiker-setters, connecting to each other and to the team. It might actually be a deadly force.”
The faux blond walked over to the net to pick up a ball that had been left there. “It might be difficult as both setters would naturally like to set but if they can pull off a code or time of who sets when….”
“I think you're also struggling to decide on who to choose as Sugawara is a third-year.” the literature teacher said softly. Watching the back of the coach. “It’s his final year and you were also a setter once.”
“When I was a third-year, I was only a starting setter once.” he said after a moment of silence. “I remember the anguish I felt when I wasn’t picked to play. But as long as I’m the temporary coach now, I can't make my decision on a player’s feelings.”
“No point dwelling, I’ll speak with Momo about her ‘trickster’ plan when they get back.” Ukai said while looking out the still open doors, wondering where the team currently was.
The group was actually heading up a hill at that moment. Izuku was running in front to make sure there were no accidents or cars that missed the running team while Amajiki was running last. The girls were running with him as well. Keeping pace and not going faster than Kiyoko who was enjoying running again. The third-year enjoyed feeling the breeze brush against her face, but couldn’t run for long periods after her hurdle days. Because of that, all the girls had their phones as they were taking a different route that was shorter for the manager’s sake.
Behind Izuku, competing against each other was Kageyama and Hinata. They kept getting faster and faster to beat the other but were still a while behind Izuku, Shoto was also a few feet behind the two with a smile while they kept trying to beat the other.
And then it happened.
Hinata had been yelling and making a noise when running that he missed the turning. Izuku was already far ahead, so he failed to see it and kept going. Kageyama was so busy trying to beat Hinata that he missed the ginger going straight and not turning.
Shoto noticed and sped up to stop the ginger but he realised he wouldn't catch up. The ginger could pull energy from somewhere and drastically increase his speed before slowing down again. It was almost like racing against Iida.
He chased after the ginger while yelling his name but the smaller boy was still yelling as he ran and couldn’t hear a word he said.
After several minutes the ginger started slowing down enough for the dual haired boy to grab his shoulder and pull them both to a stop. “Shoyo!”
Hinata blinked while looking around, not recognising the area at all before looking at the taller boy with a scared expression. “Shoto, where are we?”
“No clue, you took off running that I had to chase you down,” He said while looking back the way they came, “We really need to work on your attention to surroundings, you could have gotten injured badly because you weren't paying attention.”
Shoto looked forward before his eyes widened in surprise, Hinata followed his gaze as he heard a cat meow. Sitting further down the small street they were standing in, was a familiar person, dressed in a red tracksuit with a large white stripe down the trousers legs. There was a type of tabby cat at his feet while he was playing on his phone.
The orangette blinked while taking a step back only to frown when Shoto started walking over to the stranger. He clenched his fists before walking over too. Both their footsteps were silent.
“Hello again, Kuzome-san.” Todoroki greeted once he was close enough, startling the blond into dropping his phone into his lap. Golden cat-like eyes looked up at him and flashed in recognition before swiftly moving to the orangette looking at him with large excited eyes.
“Yuuei-san. Please, I prefer Kenma, it’s nice to see you again.” Kenma said nervously, gaze shifting from the two before going back to his phone.
“Very well, Kenma-san. You can call me Todoroki, you are friends with Denki after all.” the dual haired boy said calmly before holding a hand towards Shoto.
“This is our friend Hinata Shoyo.” he said before looking at the smaller who was suddenly excited about something, “Shoyo, this is someone we met in Tokyo, Kozume Kenma. He and Denki are gamer friends.”
“Eeh, Tokyo!” The ginger asked before kneeling in front of the faux blond. The sudden act scared the boy and Shoto saw a small blush appear on his face. No doubt embarrassed and unsure how to handle Hinata’s energy as he tried to distract himself with his phone.
“Is that thing fun?” He asked with a smile, Todoroki also smiled while letting the ginger talk.
‘ What would Denki say? A wild example of an extrovert adopting an introvert? ’ the dual quirk user thought while watching the two talk.”
“Are you a volleyball player?” he suddenly asked while standing again. Todoroki looked around Kenma and saw the open gym bag that clearly had volleyball shoes sticking out. The shoes themselves clearly explain the ginger’s hyperness.
Kenma confirmed with a soft grunt before looking back at them. “We’re also in the volleyball club.”
Todoroki nodded, “That’s right, and since you’re in red from Tokyo, Can we assume your Nekoma?”
The ginger didn’t realise this until Todoroki said it and gasped while jumping on the spot. “We’re Karasuno! We have a match in a few days!”
The two dual coloured haired boys watched Hinata jump around in excitement as Kenma faced Todoroki. “Um, does that mean Denki and, um, your older brother play too?”
Kenma looked a bit nervous at that and didn’t get to speak before someone was calling out, “Oya old friend.”
The trio jumped again as Denki came to a stop next to them, instantly sitting down next to Kenma who blushed a bit before turning to face his friend.
“Turns out Kenma is Nekoma.” Todoroki said before watching the blond squeal with Hinata. They watched Hinata gush and talk with Kenma before finding out the blond was a second year and he instantly froze in worry over talking casually to a senior.
It was comical enough that it got a chuckle from Kenma as he turned back to his phone. The two Yuuei boys continued to watch Hinata talk to Kenma about the sport while Denki leaned over to watch the other play games on his phone.
They listened softly while Kenma explained that he neither liked or disliked the sport and was mostly dragged into it by his friend.
“Ah, that Kuroo right?” Denki asked before getting a nod from the other. “He seemed to like the idea of using that form to get you to do something physical beyond games.”
Kenma groaned at the reminder of the pole before freezing and looking at Denki and then the interesting ginger. “Don’t worry, he knows me and won’t tell a soul, he’d properly forget in a day or two, just throw some volleyballs at him and presto.”
Kenma rolled his eyes at what his blond ‘friend’ was saying. The ginger laughed before making a zipping motion with his finger against his lips before kneeling down again to rattle on a bit more about the sport and about Kageyama after learning that Kenma was a setter.
Hinata’s impression of their first-year setter was scary as well as on point that it got a small smirk from Kenma. Hinata started doing large body animations while explaining his own position as well as Denki’s and Todoroki’s. Denki noticed how Kenma was actually paying attention, which, after playing with the other for the last few months, was that he didn’t focus on what he didn’t find interesting.
Hinata looked a bit glum as he faced Kenma, “Do you think it’s kind of weird? It’s a position for tall guys.”
“I guess…but I don’t think that.” Kenma said before looking down at his phone again. This got everyone’s attention as they looked towards the nervous Nekoma player. “I get told stuff a lot when I go to matches. They say: ‘The setter position is for the most talented player, so why him?’ because I'm not very athletic to begin with.”
Hinata turned to face him again, “Huh…Then, hey. Is your team good?”
“Shoyo, we’ve seen some of Nekoma’s games from the past 3 years.” Todoroki said while crossing his arms, “They are good, Izuku dedicated a whole book towards them.”
Kenma looked over at the taller boy with a questioning gaze before looking at Hinata, “I heard we were once good but we have fallen into decline. Recently though, I’ve heard we are rather good.”
Todoroki took a step back when he caught the gaze that was directed at Shoyo. It was like a cat toying with a mouse that they just caught. It was predatory, dangerous and filled with some kind of hunger. It was kinda pretty how inhuman his eyes were, something he noticed when they first met, how cat-like they looked.
However nothing was said when Denki noticed a stalking panther approaching. “Hello there Kuroo-san!”
The group turned at once to see the approaching figure, he was tall and still sprouting the strange bedhead that hung over his left eye. He was also dressed in the red Nekoma tracksuit with a black shirt but he was holding his jacket in his hand.
“Hey, hey, it's the lightning blond and his double brother,” Kuroo said with a smile while coming to a stop before the four.
“Why are you two all the way out here? And is your pretty sister around?” Kuroo asked with a smirk before paling, “and please tell me your brother isn’t.”
Denki started laughing before standing, “Don’t worry Kuroo-san, they are both in the area.”
Denki then smirked, “We are Karasuno crows after all.”
The lightning user chuckled when he saw the two cats shiver. He’d never forget those shivers and fear they had the first time. Or the few times Kenma saw Tamaki in the background of their online gaming time. Tamaki only let himself be seen when they weren’t gaming live. If Denki was live, then the door was closed with a large sign, warning others to keep out, so there was no accidental video evidence of them.
“So we are playing you lot then,” Kuroo said after licking his dry lips, remembering the gaze of the panther they met in Tokyo. Denki nodded before they heard someone call out for them, turning they saw Sugawara walking over with a frown on his face.
“Hey Suga-senpai, we met some Nekos!” Hinata said with a happy giggle. The silver haired boy blinked while walking over and greeting the two in red with a bow. “Hello, I’m Sugawara Koshi, Vice-Captain of Karasuno Volleyball club.”
The two bowed in greeting too while Kuroo spoke, “Kuroo Tetsuro, Captain of Nekoma Volleyball club.”
Sugawara chuckled softly while rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m sorry if my underclassmen were bothering you too, we were supposed to be doing a run when they ran off.”
He shot a glare at the three, “Amajiki said something about double punishment drills tonight.”
“Shit!” Denki said before standing and bowing, “I’m really sorry but we gotta run, speak to you later Kenma, Bye Kuroo-san. Hinata, this is your fault, book it!”
Shoto and Denki started running back the way they came, Hinata following soon after he said goodbye to his new friend. Kenma chuckled while he waved back before the ginger turned and raced to catch up with his friends.
Sugawara laughed before facing them, “Sorry about that, they can be a wild bunch but they are good kids.”
Kuroo brushed off his apology, “Don’t worry Crow-chan, we actually met the Yuuei in Tokyo, they're good as long as you avoid the Elf-chan.”
The Nekoma members turned and waved him off before leaving, “See you on the sixth, Mama Crow.”
Sugawara blushed more at the nicknames before waving the two off before leaving to catch up with the trio of first-years.
By the time he caught up they were already back at the gym getting scolded by Tamaki as they did a series of pushups. Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei were also watching them with crossed arms and disappointed faces. They had all run off and they couldn't find the group. Tamaki was worried and even scaled a lamp post, an impressive feat, to look from a high vantage point for the missing chicks.
Sugawara shook his head before getting his water and coming to stop by Daichi, “Met Nekoma’s Captain.”
Daichi choked on air before looking at the other. “Ho-How?”
“Turns out the Yuuei’s met them before, Kaminari is friends with one of them. Nice bunch it seems.” Sugawara said calmly while watching the punishment as they settled for lunch.
“You're angry.” Daichi said while looking at the setter.
Sugawara grinned wickedly as he turned his glare at the captain. “He called me Mama Crow.”
Dachi sighed before chuckling. “The sixth is going to be interesting. A match and a murder.”
The pair chuckled together before going to help the girls with preparing sandwiches for everyone. Denki had already asked them this morning to make tonkotsu ramen for dinner. They’d go shopping for the ingredients after lunch and have the food placed at the camping facility before rejoining them for matches.
After lunch, they were in the next pairings, and Sugawara was paired with Hinata. The setter took Hinata to the far side corner to work.
“Hey Hinata, you always go all out in every practice, don’t you.” Sugawara asked while holding the smaller boy’s legs while he was doing sit ups. The spiker nodded his head with a smile while he continued to do his exercise.
“Yeah but I still need lots more training, I need to find a way to get onto a higher level without relying on Kageyama’s perfect king toss.” Hinata said with a frown, “I’m not skilled enough to really play, I just chase after a ball with no skill, I get that. It just means I need to work harder to stand unsupported.”
Hinata stopped doing sit-ups while frowning. “That.. that didn’t sound right. I want the skill to support my team and not be a single-set with Kageyama.”
Sugawara chuckled before swapping with the smaller so that he could hold down his legs. “I understand fully. You want the strength to stand as a strong player that can support the team that supports you back.”
“I don’t think you have to worry too much,” Sugawara said with his eyes closed. “Momo has made so many plans for everyone to improve. You don’t need to fear being left behind. You, as Kaminari says, will soon soar. I also want to continue playing, standing on the court with my team but I’m lacking in skill against Kageyama but I know I’ll get stronger soon.”
Sugawara opened his eyes while sitting up, reaching over to ruffle the ginger’s hair. Hinata giggled at the touch before helping the taller back to his feet for the lunges exercise.
The two continued talking before joining up for the rest of training. Once more they were doing drills before finally moving onto the match.
“Alright, trying something different. Sugawara and Kageyama, You’ll be playing as spikers on the teams in this match. I wanna test something. Todoroki and Kinoshita, you are playing setters as the next two with high setting skill.” Ukai said, getting surprise sounds from the team besides the Yuuei.
“Momo-san had this idea of training the setters as spikers as well, therefore if one of you touches the ball the other can set. It would also throw off the opponents game if they don’t know who the main setter is, as you both bring powerful skills to the table.” Ukai said while the student coach nodded. “Ideally, the plan was to train everyone in a few different positions for emergency replacement. Today is that test day, the rest of the week would be the main team set up.”
“Therefore, Sugawara, Kageyama are spikers, Todoroki and Kinoshita are setters. Noya and Midoriya are taking a gamble as blockers. Hinata and Ennoshita are Liberos. Don't give me that pout shrimp, think of this as improving your shitty receives. Amajiki and Daichi are blockers too, while Azumane and Yamaguchi are the last for each team. Split and start warming up.” Ukai said while sending each player to their sides of the court. This was a huge gamble but Momo did have several good points, colour-coded with backup reasons, over why having multiple can be a good thing.
So the team was going to suffer a full 5 set match with double punishment drills. Those working around the court and not playing were doing half the winning teams drills. The boy’s paled in horror so badly that Ochako’s cheering and encouragement of joining them didn't lift their moods.
Kaminari collapsed dramatically against Izuku, “Where is Aizawa-sensei and his kinder punishments?”
“You mean expulsion?” the freckled boy asked with a raised eyebrow, watching as the other stood straight again while mumbling a soft nevermind.
The match started and the first few rallies were clear that everyone was mostly out of their comfort zone, but they got the rhythm going soon enough. Hinata struggled the most but Momo promised to set some balls for him for each ‘correct’ receive he manages to pull off. There was also a bribe with some milk for Kageyama as he was unsure of the different positions.
The matches ended at 6pm with team B winning, but just. The largest gap between sets was 4 points. Since the score was so small in difference, everyone did the same amount of double punishment drills before cooling off and returning to the camp.
They relaxed around the room doing small games and exercises to pass time until they could eat.
Sometime before dinner, Sugawara had snuck away. Shoto was worried and quietly followed the setter. He saw him approach Ukai to speak with him.
“We third-years are done after this year.” Sugawara said calmly. Todoroki leaned against the wall while he continued to listen. “That’s why our desire to win is double that of the others. We want the ticket that will take us to our next stage.”
“If it’s Kageyama who deserves that ticket more than me, you should give it to him without a second thought.” Sugawara said without hesitation.
“Daichi, Asahi and I have been playing together since our first year. I’d like to stand on the court with them and play as much as I am able.” there was something in Sugawara’s voice that held something, conviction and power.
“If Kageyama gets tired or if something happens, then I want to fill that void or be a substitute. Momo has plans for me to train with Kageyama, teach him to connect and he can teach me in return.” Todoroki nodded his head in agreement while shoving his hands in his pocket.
“Even if it’s out of pity because I’m a third-year, as long as I get another chance to play in a match, that’s all that matters. I don’t care if I'm not the official setter. I won’t give up my desire to play on the court.” the setter said calmly but his voice betrayed his emotion. “So I want as many chances as possible.”
Todoroki heard enough and started walking away when he heard Suga apologising to Ukai over the whole ambush and impromptu talk. He felt his phone vibrating several times in his pocket and took it out to see texts from the group chat he was in with his friends.
There was even someone from Tokyo who really reminded him of Monoma with his attitude but was generally a nice guy overall. They were checking on him over how his first day of Golden Week was going, and if he was enjoying it.
With a small smile he replied to the handful of messages that were coming in as spam while ignoring the Tokyo boy and the hints to humiliate the Nekoma people in their match. They had been sending him hints since Shoto informed them of the upcoming match with their ‘fated rivals’.
“Shoto, there you are.” He looked up to see Denki from where he was sitting in the back of the group as Noya and Tanaka tried doing some charades game.
“Sorry, just headed to the bathroom.” he said while sitting down and continuing to play around on his device. He was trying to understand the strange meme-joke conversation that was taking place but failing. He understood what a meme was but was still trying to learn the originals. More often than not he was asking what was going on and getting sympathy from the others. Fu-san took pity on him and ‘adopted him’, protecting him from the misunderstandings of the rest of the team’s jokes.
“Still talking with strangers?” the blond asked while peaking at the screen before Shoto closed it. Smirking at the whine the first made at the lack of evidence.
“Him and the rest, there is more than one.” Todoroki said with a shrug before watching Ennoshita and Narita chase Noya and Tanaka for their inappropriate behaviour.
“Are you ever going to introduce us?” Denki asked, resting his hands in his lap while tilting his head.
“Maybe, or maybe not.” was all Shoto said before Denki whined and flumped backwards onto the ground. Ennoshita soon sat by them with a confused smile, having left the crazy duo to the captain’s wrath.
“What’s the drama here then?” He asked while making sure Denki was actually alright and being dramatic.
“Shoto has a bestie he is keeping secret from us. We’ve been trying to find out who for a while but still nothing.” was all the blond said while he wiggled around to get comfortable laying down. Hands acting like a pillow behind his head.
Todoroki noticed Daichi and Asahi enter from the side and called everyone to come eat. Reluctantly he helped the blond stand after he whined again but he got revenge by upsetting his hair.
Dinner was a happy affair of jokes and wonderful food prepared by the teacher and girls. Asahi was glowing with a large smile while eating dinner, his favourite ramen. Kageyama and Shoyo were inhaling the food so fast that it concerned Tamaki enough that the elder scolded them while making sure they had water in case they choke.
There were also some jokes and laughter around the different tables and even a few word games happening among themselves. Just simple things to bond more than just teammates. Tsukishima was the hardest to convince to join but caved eventually to their childish whims.
That night, once everyone was going to sleep, Sugawara was the only one still awake. Momo had seen him as she was struggling to sleep, mind overflowing with ideas and plans. Some were related to school and others to volleyball and a few of their past-future.
When she saw that Sugawara was still awake and writing stuff, she took her own book and pen to lay down next to him. He was most surprised as she suddenly appeared but said nothing as she started her own notes. Sharing his phone light while working on the pages.
Not a word was said and they continued to do their own things well past bedtime before they actually got some sleep.
The next day Ukai presented them with the official team set up while explaining the reasoning and that they needed to learn to connect better. The wing spikers were Daichi, Asahi and Tanaka, Middle blockers were Hinata and Tsukishima. With the setter being Kageyama.
The dark blue haired boy shot a look at Sugawara that gave him a nod in return, but he was still wearing a smirk himself.
“Denki and Todoroki are training as blockers and spikers. Midoriya was libero in case Noya goes down and needs a break. Yamaguchi and Amajiki are going to be pitch servers for emergency use at the time being.” Ukai said while reading over the notes he had.
“Let’s set up everything and get ready.” he said before the team was rushing to set up the net and get the ball trolley for practice.
Ochako was walking with Izuku while watching the team. “I’m kinda sad I can’t play a match with you all this week. Preparing for Nekoma and all.”
Izuku softly bumped her shoulder while helping her carry the scoreboard to the side. “Don’t worry. Afterwards we can have a friendly match, I’ll speak to Daichi-senpai about it. It will be fun!”
“Speak with me about?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Both Izuku and Ochako jumped with a loud squeal, not noticing the third-year was walking behind them while they were caught in their conversion.
“Daichi-senpai! Don’t do that!” the brunette complained, placing her gloved hands over her frantically beating heart. Izuku was doing the same before chuckling, “We were just wanting to ask if on Monday, after Golden Week, if we can have a fun match with the girls. Ocha is having withdraws from actually playing.”
Daichi laughed while reaching over to pat her shoulder “Sure why not, a fun game after this busy week might be a nice change of pace. I’ll inform Suga.”
“Asahi-san!” Noya snapped, getting the trio’s attention as they looked over to see a displeased libero and a scared ace. “I needn’t mention Suga-san of course, but you’re probably feeling sorry for Ennoshita-san and the others, too, aren’t you?”
The guilty third-year froze at being caught, as well as Ennoshita who was standing nearby. The second year was confused and slightly red faced. Not understanding what he just walked into while Noya continued to scold Asahi.
“The strong stand on the court. That’s how it is. The rest are the brains behind us, they might not be playing but they will be helping to the best of their abilities!” he snapped out. Ennoshita nodded his head before facing Asahi.
“Asahi-san. I can’t say I’ve always been a devoted player, hell, me and the other two quit when it got tough but came back.” The timid second-year looked at Asahi with a sad smile. “If I’m helping, even from the bench then I’m happy.”
“See! If they become stronger than the ace in mind and body then they will rightfully steal the regular position out from under you,” Noya said while placing his hands on his hips in a huff. “They'll be mentally more prepared than you because they are the ‘brains on the bench’, as Momo-Chan calls them. So snap out of it Asahi-san!”
“If Noya wasn’t the libero he could be an ace on charisma alone.” Daichi said softly while shaking his head before walking forward to do damage control when Tanaka got in Ennoshita’s face.
When Ennoshita was free and standing with them they asked what he meant. He explained that the training was rather hard right off the bat with the old coach Ukai, and they buckled under the pressure, running away like cowards. Momo’s training started off fun and is building up to that level. It was one of their biggest regrets but by the time they returned, Ukai was already gone. Ennoshita looked out at the match that was going on with a smile and promised that he wasn’t being left behind.
The rest of the day moved swiftly with all the training and the next day was just as busy. There were volleyballs rolling everywhere while Ochako and Momo moved to collect them into the two trolleys, when Kiyoko walked inside with three bags.
The bags contained their official uniforms. Takeda signalled for Ukai to pause the training before calling everyone over. Kiyoko calmly showed them the bags before pulling out a shirt. It was black with orange sides and collar. There were white lines to add detail as well as large bold numbers. However, before anyone could even blink, Izuku and Noya were already dressed in full orange with black sides.
Hinata held up the shirt that bore the number 10, stars in his eyes as he marvelled at the uniform he saw all those years ago on the TV. Hinata then turned to face Noya and Izuku who were standing by him, seeing their different coloured clothing. Noya had the number 4 shirt while Izuku wore a 13. “But only you two are in orange. You stand out.”
Noya smirked, “Of course, After all. I have the leading role.” he said with a cocky smirk. Denki appeared next to him, leaning on his shoulder, while wearing his own black shirt with the number 14. “At least you don't look like a carat like Izu.”
Izuku slumped forward, a sad sigh leaving his head while Yamaguchi patted his shoulder in sympathy. Kageyama rolled his eyes at the group before facing Hinata. “The libero goes on and off the court frequently during a match. They are the only ones that need to be noticeable, hence the inverted colours.”
Hinata then noticed that Kageyama’s number was 9 and looked with a pout at his shirt. “Why is Kageyama higher than me…”
“He does have the most skill currently between us first-years.” Todoroki said while fixing his shirt with the number 15.
Daichi chuckled as he watched the first-years. Tamaki was next to him pulling his own number 16 shirt over his head. “Yeah, I guess you don’t remember that number…”
Hinata looked over at Daichi and Sugawara who had yet to put their shirts on. Sugawara softly elbowed the captain's side while smiling at the ginger, “Well.. it was because you only saw it once on TV, right?”
Seeing her friend confused, Momo walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder with a chuckle. “You’ve actually seen it a few times but I think you were more focused on watching a spiker get past a wall than what he was wearing.”
Daichi nodded, “The Little Giant wore number ten when he went to nationals.”
Momo chuckled before standing straight again once the pieces clicked together in Shoyo’s mind. Which was wise as he started jumping again, showing off just how much stamina he had. The girls then panicked and tried to calm him down while Kiyoko smiled softly. It was missed during all the chaos while she listened to Hinata try to figure out whose idea it was.
And if she happened to find a few wildflowers on her bag at the end of the day then that was her secret.
The team finished getting changed into their uniform to practise in it for a bit. Getting used to the feel of the fabric before starting their match. Meanwhile, Momo and Izuku were on the sidelines with a laptop and writing equipment. They were going to be looking into Nekoma again, the last few matches that had videos and even into the school’s history.
They had done this before, but they were getting a refresher.
Ukai was standing next to them while they worked, observing the team. Takeda walked over to them to speak with the coach about the future match.
“Nekoma must be good if you're this worried about the team connecting,” he said while rolling his green tracksuit sleeves up a bit. “What’s their team like?”
Ukai looked over at him with an almost bored expression. “I don’t know about now, but in the past there was no individual that was eye-catching or good, but man that team had very solid receivers. They connected well and were flexible too. Leaving no holes for you to score past. It was like a cat playing with a toy mouse and you were that mouse.”
“Really living up to that Neko name huh,” Takeda said before looking at his team, almost wincing as he mentally compared the crows to the ‘cats’.
“Tomorrow, you will see just what a Tokyo powerhouse is like.”