Here We Are

Chapter 18: And So It Begins.

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「 Interhigh National Tournament 」
Day 1

Stepping off the bus as they arrive at the gymnasium, Y/N takes a deep breath. It's finally the day. The soft smile on her face is quickly replaced with a deadpanned expression when she hears the twins start bickering behind her.

"Atsumu, Osamu, we are here to represent our school and prefecture in a national tournament. There is no need for your immaturity to ruin the experience for our teammates." Kita scolds, shaking his head at them as they instantly shut up.

"Yes Kita-san..."

"Oh? It's Inarizaki!"

The Nakiusagi team waves at them as they also get off their bus, cheerfully coming over to greet them.

"It's nice to see ya again!" Their captain exclaims, approaching Kita. "I see your team is in good shape?"

"Yes, the team is in top form, we are lookin' forward to our matches."

"Nice!"

Atsumu smirks at Matsumoto as he glares back in irritation. "Oh? I forgot that second place also gets to go to Interhigh~"

"Tch... Watch your back Miya, second place or not, we're gonna win this."

"What a coincidence! We're gonna win too!" Atsumu gasps in fake shock. "How strange! There'll be two winners this time!"

"Stop bein' such a jerk, Atsumu." Y/N rolls her eyes as she grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him back. "Sorry 'bout him, Matsumoto-san, the best way to deal with Atsumu, is to not deal with him at all."

"L/N-chan! It's nice to see you again!" Matsumoto cheers, ignoring Atsumu as he smiles at her.

"Right... Likewise I guess."

"Was there a scheduled pre-game meetup I wasn't aware of?" Itachiyama's captain asks, smiling as he approaches them, his team following behind him. "Or is this a Hyogo-only meetup?"

"Geh-! Acchan... It's Itachiyama-!" Nakiusagi's captain whimpers as he hides behind his Libero, despite the obvious height difference.

"Iizuna, it's nice to see you again." Kita greets him as he nods in acknowledgement. "We happened to cross paths while gettin' off the bus, this interaction was not scheduled."

"Ahh I see. Well regardless, it's nice to see that your team's in good shape, Kita."

"Yours too, Iizuna."

"Miya! L/N-chan! It's been a while!" Komori exclaims as he approaches them, Sakusa reluctantly following behind. "We're looking forward to playing you guys again!"

"They need to win their matches if they want to play us." Sakusa mutters under his breath, much to Atsumu's irritation. 

"Oh yeah? Well the same goes for you y'know." Atsumu scowls. "Don't get ahead of yourself Sakusa, we're gonna beat you Tokyo jerks."

"Don't you love friendly interactions?" Y/N deadpans as Komori laughs.

"Well, they're not wrong~ Anyone can win or lose at anytime~!" He chuckles taking notice of Matsumoto who's still awkwardly standing there. "Ohh! I know you! You're Nakiusagi's Middle Blocker right?"

"Y-yeah..." He mumbles, feeling intimidated under Komori, Sakusa and Atsumu's powerful presence. He subconsciously takes a step back, accidentally bumping into Y/N. "Oh- Sorry L/N-chan!"

"It's fine." She smiles. "There's no need to be intimidated y'know, you're a great player too."

"Huh? Who are you?" Sakusa asks, squinting at Matsumoto who sweats under his piercing stare. "What team are you on? What year are you in? What's your name?"