LET ME DOWN SLOWLY ⸻ sakusa kiyoomi.

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 | youth training camp, day one

ajinomoto national centre, level 2 left wing court !

"WELCOME, AND WELCOME BACK TO the Youth Training Camp. We hope that you will continue to use the skills you have been taught in this camp in your training, and that you will not forget to also teach your teammates. Remember: volleyball is a team sport. There can be star players, there can be aces, but there is never a true winning team unless you have six or seven players who are able to work in sync with each other."

There were two coaches in the court, and fourteen players in total who stood in three rows before them, dressed in the training attire of their various schools. Volleyball shoes flashed various brands of prestige, and the young adults who stood in the court before their coaches stood stock-still, shoulders relaxed and eyes focused readily on the coaches.

"I want everyone to tell me their names, school and position," the coach — Arata Yoshie, retired ace of the renowned volleyball team JT Marvellous — continued, glancing down at the clipboard she held. She was a tall woman with long, wavy black hair tied into a midlength ponytail, the gray roots of her hair showing the age her still youthful face didn't exhibit. "Then we will proceed to do a warmup and a practice match."

She pointed her pen at the girl in the first row, blue eyes glinting expectantly as she straightened her shoulders, bright green eyes fixing onto Coach Arata with respect. "Abe Chizuru," the brunette said, bowing a little. "Setter. Soraya High."

Some of the players from lesser-known schools perked up at the sound of the best girls' volleyball school, their gazes fixing on Abe with newfound interest as they recognised the colouring of her shirt and shorts — light blue shirt and white volleyball shorts — with a clarity and sureness they hadn't harnessed before.

However, Coach Arata didn't display much excitement at the mention of the famed school, as if she had seen far too many Soraya players to act excited anymore. That was very plausible, all in all, as it would just be extremely bizarre for a Sorayan to not be invited to the camp. Instead, she ticked a box on her clipboard, and her sapphire blue eyes moved on to the next girl.

This time it was a girl with long noir hair, a few centimetres taller than Abe. She had vibrant purple eyes the shade of the night sky, and her bangs were clipped away from her face. She was dressed in a black shirt and red shorts. What was most noticeable about her were her hands — filled with callouses and scars from cuts, the long and nimble fingers also rather crooked. The index and middle fingers of her left hand were taped up.

"Yamashiro Fuyumi," she shared, dipping her head. "I'm a middle blocker, from Inarizaki High."

Coach Arata went through the ranks, and in a few minutes, she was almsot done with the third and last row of girls.

"Tsukishima Kina," the pale blonde introduced herself, nodding as a way of greeting to the coach. "A setter, from Ōkamikumo Academy."

The corner of Miho's lips curled up, and the two friends shared a glance with each other as Coach Arata finished marking eveyrone's attendance, finishing off with Rui, who was the second tallest player in the court.

The two coaches were utilised as the group of 14 were divided up into two groups of seven. Kina and Miho were placed in different groups, and Kina had chatted up the noir-haired middle blocker from Inarizaki, who had been placed in the same group as her. Her name had sounded rather familiar to Kina, and she found herself recalling the call with her third-year senpai from Fukurodani with an interested glint to her eye.

They went through warm up, and were left to discuss the players' positions for the full-court game they would be playing in thirty minutes. While Kina didn't know a lot of the players in her group, recognising only Amanai Kanoka and her newfound acquaintance Yamashiro Fuyumi, they all knew her, be it from watching her competitions or reading Volleyball Monthly.