For me | Kuroo Tetsuro

Chapter 5

   It was the first day of the Inter-High preliminaries, and Yua was fired up and even bought a new notebook for this year's official matches.

   The first years were slightly nervous but they still seemed pretty confident and Yua wasn't worried about them underperforming at all.

   When they got to the gymnasium they did their usual routine before an official match. The boys were warming up and Yua was making sure all the required essentials were in her duffel bag. She had taken a look at the draw sheet and winced when she read that if they make it to the quarterfinals they'd have to play against last years Inter-High winners, next week.

   Did we have to run into them so early? She thought but shook it off right as she thought it. She couldn't keep this sort of attitude if she wanted to win.

   The first match was always the most relaxed one for Yua because even though it might sound bad they never run into any strong team in the first round.

   Yua noticed that the team and especially Yaku were in great shape today. His receives were on point and he really did live up to Nekoma's slogan 'connect'.

   During the break, Yua made sure that all of them had some sort of snack to replenish their systems and while she was going to fill up their water bottles she ran into few familiar faces.

   "Oh Bokuto-san it's great to see you here," Yua greeted the older boy and saw the rest of his team following him from a distance.

   "Yua-chan it's great seeing you here too!" He replied cheerfully, "You guys won your first match right?"

   "Of course, " she replied smiling, "and I don't even have to ask you about yours."

   "I know right!"

   "Hello Yua-chan," Their third-year manager, chirped from behind him.

   "Yukie-san it's great to see you, ah Miyuki's here as well," she smiled at the first-year who stiffened at her noticing her in front of everyone.

   "I'm going to go check on something, " she said quickly and sprinted away.

   "Miyuki wait- agh she does this every time she sees me," Yua sighed and heard a chuckle which she recognized to be Akaashi's.

   "Okay, I'm going to be taking my leave before Akaashi-kun says anything snarky. All the best guys and see you later!" She quickly said her goodbyes not wanting to hear Akaashi's sarcastic comment that she knew he was thinking of.

   After she was done filling their bottles she headed back to where the team was seated and handed each of them their bottles.

   "Oh I ran into Bokuto-san and the rest of the team," she said finally to the boys.

   "Huh, who's Bokuto?" Lev perked up.

   Does no one tell him anything?

   "He's the captain of the Fukurodani Boys Volleyball Team and he's one of the top 5 aces of the country," Yamamoto explained and continued after seeing Lev's impressed reaction, "Didn't anyone tell you about the joint training camp this summer?"

   "What?! No one tells me anything!" Lev exclaimed and Yua only laughed in return.

   She thought of what the training camp would be like this year now that she wouldn't have her brother nagging her.

   They won their second match that day and they were all happy for a while but on the bus ride back home they all wondered the same thing- how do we beat Itachiyama.

   Yua was going to go home and watch a few of their matches and come up with possible strategies to strengthen their defence. Although she knew it would be more hard for the blockers and Kenma even.

   When the trio was walking home Yua and Kenma both picked up on Kuroo having a different energy around him than usual.

   "Oh, so Miyuki ran away from me again," Yua said trying to lighten the mood.

   "She was probably scared that you were going to embarrass her like how you did during our practice match against Fukurodani," Kenma said nonchalantly.

   "I can't help it," she grinned sheepishly and hoped Kuroo would say something to add to it but he didn't.

   He was quiet the entire walk back home.

   It was finally the second day of the preliminaries. The entire week before they all trained extra hard and were on their level best, and hopefully, they'd play that way in the match as well.

   They had some time before the match so Yua paced about the hall of the gymnasium anxiously because they needed to win this match.

   While she was doing so she saw a certain curly-haired boy and smiled at his presence, "Hi Akaashi-kun."

   "Hello Yua-san, " he greeted her and noticed that she was feeling uneasy, "are you alright?"

   "Yeah, I'm just a bit anxious that's all," she replied scolding herself for letting him see through her so easily.

   "It's normal to be anxious, I am as well. After all, this could be the last tournament for Bokuto-san and the other third years..."

   But Yua didn't pay attention to what he said after that because it was only then that it hit her.

   This could be Kuroo's last match in high school.

   Kuroo might leave the team after Inter-High.

   That's why he was so gloomy.

   If Kuroo-san leaves then who am I supposed to keep in check? She thought nearly panicking until Akaashi snapped her out of it.

   "Yua-san are you alright?" He asked clearly concerned.

   "I- I-  this could be their last official match in high school," she said her eyes widening, "and I didn't even realize."

   His expression softened and he said, "then don't lose."

A/N: ok so now it finally gets better