Genius (Kageyama Tobio)

2

Noriko avoided eye contact with the bald boy, catching the sorry glances of the other two boys with him.

"Umm, I'm Hirose Noriko. I was wondering if you guys needed a manager." She smiled somewhat downheartedly, but the boys only looked at her in shock.

"Oh, uhh, we do have a manager, but she's in her third year and I'm sure she'd like the help." The dark-haired one, the captain, if she'd remembered correctly from his interaction with Kageyama and the ginger.

"Oh. Great. Umm, I'm pretty good at volleyball, so I'll try to be as helpful as I can." Noriko did her best to sound optimistic, but it seemed she failed, since the silver-haired one gave her a concerned look.

"Are you ok? Sorry if I'm overstepping." 

Noriko's smile became more genuine, though still not quite happy. "Oh... I just had a bit of an argument with Kageyama before you guys got here. We're friends from middle school."

"That guy had friends?" The baldie snorted.

"Well, I played volleyball with the boys team whenever the girls didn't have practice, so we played together pretty often." Noriko explained as briefly as she could

"If you're that dedicated to the sport, how come you wanna be a manager?" The captain wondered.

Noriko chuckled bitterly. "That's what Kageyama and I were arguing about actually. I broke my wrist and knee pretty severely, so I can't play competitively anymore. I just don't wanna give up volleyball entirely, you know?"

The three boys nodded awkwardly, not knowing what to say, before the captain stepped up. "Well, we're glad to have you. And, we'll kick that first year's ass to make sure he's not a jerk about it."

Noriko actually laughed at that, picturing Kageyama being put in his place by the older boys. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Soon after, the other boys from the team all trickled in (excluding the troublemaker first years who had been banned from the gym) and Noriko was introduced to all of them as well as Kiyoko, the beautiful, third year manager, who explained the duties of the manager briefly.

The two girls, for the duration of practice, helped with spiking exercises and writing notes on the players. The baldie, Noriko had learned his name was Tanaka, kept winking at the two girls and making loud proclamations of love directed towards Kiyoko, who didn't react.

"How do you deal with that without getting annoyed or flustered? I for sure would be constantly blushing, even if I didn't like the guy." Noriko wondered, awed by the older girl's calm demeanor.

"It doesn't bother me. I just don't think about it much, and I'm used to it at this point." Kiyoko replied in her elegant, to-the-point voice.

Noriko's longing eyes went back to the boys playing volleyball and her fingers were itching to play.

"You were a player, right? That's what Daichi said. What position did you play?" Kiyoko wondered.

"Sometimes, I was a wing spiker, but others, depending on the type of team we were facing, I played setter too. It all depended which one we needed more, one of the other girls would fill in for the other position." Noriko explained, her fingers fidgeting faster.

"I recognized your name. I don't pay much attention to girls volleyball, since it's not my job, but I've seen you in a volleyball magazine."

Noriko grimaced, wishing she could hide. "Yeah, I guess it makes sense that you would've seen it."

"I'm sorry if it's a sore subject." Kiyoko put a hand on Noriko's shoulder, shocking her. The girl somehow still seemed somewhat detached from the world even as she was trying to comfort the younger girl.

"Don't be sorry. I have to get used to it eventually, and it's not like it's your fault." 

The two girls fell into silence, only taking notes and helping with practice whenever Daichi asked. At the end of practice, Noriko submitted the notes she'd taken to Kiyoko, whose widened eyes analyzed them.

"These are very detailed. You can tell you're a real player."

Noriko blushed with pride. "I wanna provide something of value to the team, since I can't play anymore."

Kiyoko smiled softly at her, making Tanaka swoon loudly in the distance. "You shouldn't worry about that so much. You're more than an asset, and you're part of the team now."

"Thanks."

Kiyoko patted her shoulder once, then started to gather her stuff to leave. Immediately, Tanaka glued himself to her side. "How did you do that?! You got the great goddess Kiyoko to smile!"

"Oi, get off her! You're gonna scare her away!" Another second year, Ennoshita, pulled Tanaka away from her.

Noriko giggled, hiding her mouth with her hand as she watched their interaction. "Don't worry, there were a lot of different types of characters on the Kitagawa teams, so I'm not overwhelmed by his personality."

"Kitagawa? Isn't that where that angry first year went?" Ennoshita wondered.

Noriko and Tanaka both snorted at the description. "Apparently, she and him are 'friends', but there's no way a jerk like that is friends with a pretty girl like her."

Noriko flushed at being called pretty and rushed to deny it. "Kageyama isn't always a jerk. That only really started third year of middle school, but he can be a pretty good friend even if it doesn't seem like it."

The boys looked at her sceptically. "Yeah, he still doesn't sound great." Tanaka deadpanned, not bothering to filter his words. Noriko laughed again.

"I probably shouldn't laugh since he's my friend, but-" Tanaka cut her off.

"He almost made you cry not even two hours ago, I think it's ok if you laugh at him a little." Tanaka argued vehemently.

The boys in hearing vicinity all shouted a "WHAT?", already protective of their new manager.

Noriko waved her hands in front of herself anxiously to calm them down. "No, it was just a little argument between friends. Don't worry."

"That jerk." Tanaka mumbled. "Don't protect him."

Noriko hit him (gently) upside the head. "Calm down, Tanaka, you literally just met me today."

Tanaka's eyes started shining like stars and his smile lit up the room. "A pretty girl hit me."

Noriko sweatdropped. "How Kiyoko has no reaction to this, I cannot comprehend."

"You get used to him, Hirose." Sugawara said as he walked past with his back, waving goodbye.

"I guess I will." These boys aren't half bad. I don't think I'll mind being their manager at all.