Kageyama's Queen of the School [Kageyama Tobio]

[6] Nekoma Arrives!

It was absolutely amazing --and terrifying-- to see the boys all still have enough energy to practice after their conditioning, especially considering we had made them jog back. Sure enough, their receives were being tested heavily and the grunts and groans from sore muscles meeting volleyballs sounded off the walls, but I couldn't hear any actual complaints at all. When the last serve of the morning finally got sent over the net, Hinata made contact with it and then I blew the whistle to stop them from moving.

"LINE UP!"

Shimizu hauled the giant whiteboard into view behind Ukai.

"Against Nekoma," Ukai flipped the board to show the several markings and black spots he'd made, "we'll go with this starting lineup."

From left to right as front-liners we had Tanaka, Hinata, and Sawamura. A balanced and steady first row to keep Asahi, Kageyama, and Tsukishima, our tallest players, in the back. Nishinoya would be switched in and that would only add more to our structure. Despite myself, I grinned. Ukai had taken in my little pieces of advice with positioning the members.

"This lineup hasn't been playing together that long, so don't think it'll be smooth and easy," Ukai said as he put a hand on his hip, "and it seems like there were a few problems before I even got here."

All eyes turned to Asahi and Nishinoya and they gulped nervously, looking away. I was glad that their little trouble was fixed easily before the match and they could now play as a complete team. Well, not entirely. Coach Ukai was right when he said that this new starting lineup was going to be slightly patchy-- the connections still weren't there yet and how could you play volleyball if you couldn't connect the plays?

"Tomo, I need your help ironing and washing the uniforms for the match," Shimizu said to me as she passed by, bringing be back to reality. I nodded and scurried to catch up with her, tossing my bag and notes into a corner of the gym.

Now, all we had to work on was how to have Tsukishima stop picking on Kageyama.

-

It was Saturday when the match finally turned the corner and reached us all after waiting for what seemed to be forever. The court was set and the boys wore their uniforms nicely --it was apparently destiny for Hinata to have gotten the Little Giant's old jersey number-- and no one seemed to be prouder than Nishinoya, strutting around in the bright orange before we made our way to the sports park to wait for Nekoma. Personally, I really liked the way the jersey's looked.

Since it was only 8 in the morning, Shimizu and I were still half asleep because we had to re-iron the shirts Tanaka, Hinata and Yamaguchi wrinkled, eyes half lidded as we followed the team to the entrance. I yawned and took a seat on the nearby bench.

"Oi... Tomo."

I glanced up and saw Coach Ukai sniffing his sleeve like a dog, alarming me slightly when he shoved it under my nose abruptly. I flinched and he pushed it further into my face.

"You think I stink like tobacco?" he asked quietly. My eyes narrowed in disapproval. "I went and sprayed this with Febreze but--"

"You smell fine," I replied and gently shoved away his arm. He stood silently for a moment before accepting my answer with a grunt. Of course, he would smoke the day before a match, he and my dad lived by the same motto: 'smoking relieves tension'.

Slightly more awake now, I shuffled over to Kageyama. He seemed deep in thought and didn't even notice when I stopped beside him or if he did, he didn't make any movements to acknowledge me. I didn't want to interrupt his strategizing so I kept quiet and glanced briefly at my wristwatch. Even though I wasn't too thrilled about the game, I certainly was sure that he would do great as usual and that I was looking forward to seeing.