"...(Y/N)...."
Fear. That's all you could feel as you stared up at Keishin. You honestly didn't know what to say, and your entire body shook as the fear clenched at your heart. Keishin grabbed you by the wrist and dragged you around the corner while you just followed after him numbly, barely even registering what was going on. The rest of the team watched you being pulled away in shock. Were you in some kind of trouble? Had you done something to offend the coach?
The two of you were alone now, you just standing there as he held your arm firmly in his grip. "It is you, isn't it?" He murmured softly.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," you started.
"Stop lying to me, already!" Keishin snapped. You immediately winced, cowering before the larger man. Ah, there it was again -- the reason he took so long to recognize you. When you were younger, you'd had such an incredible presence about you -- a life that shined in your eyes whenever you looked up at him -- but now? It was like that light had dimmed, replaced by an ever-present, thick layer of fear that had caged it in.
"Y-yes, it's me," you whispered, your body shaking like a leaf.
"Care to tell me why you're running around pretending to be a boy?" He asked, much more gently this time.
"I-I have to!" Your voice trembled. "I have to win, and the only way I can do that is with them! Please, Keishin-nii, you can't make me leave!" For the first time since he'd dragged you out here, you met his gaze. Your eyes were shining with tears, your face filled with panic, like you were talking about being forced to give up your life rather than leave a team.
Keishin sighed and crouched down grabbing both of your shoulders. "Listen, munchkin, I don't know why you're doing this, but I'm not gonna make you leave the team." Your face lifted, your eyes suddenly filling with hope. "However... I won't allow you to keep lying to your teammates." Your entire face fell again, and Keishin found his chest clenching at the sight. He couldn't stand that look in your eye. What exactly had happened to turn that bright, happy little girl into this? He frowned and steeled himself. He couldn't back down now. "You know as well as I do that a team is built on trust, and you can't have that so long as you're lying about who you are."
Slowly you nodded. He was right, and you knew it. You'd been lying to them for far too long. Keishin smiled at you softly and brought you in for a hug. You took a shaky breath, clutching at the coach's shirt desperately. You'd missed his hugs more than you realized.
Keishin took your shoulder gently and led you back to the rest of the team, who were already waiting nervously for your return. "Hey, everyone, gather 'round!" He called. Immediately, the team surrounded the two of you, and Keishin nudged you forward a bit.
You took a deep breath, clenching your hands so tightly that your knuckles had turned white. "I-I should introduce myself," you said softly, staring at your feet.
"What?" Hinata laughed nervously, taking a small step forward. "But, (L/N), we already know you--?" Keishin caught his eye and held a hand up, shaking his head slightly. Hinata frowned and backed off, allowing you to keep going.
"M-my name is..." You trailed off for a moment, your body shaking slightly. The team watched in shock as a few drops of water landed on the gym floor. Were you... crying? This had never happened before. You'd always been bright and excited and competitive, and never once had you made them feel like you couldn't handle yourself. Keishin laid a comforting hand on your shoulder, squeezing slightly. You took a deep, shaky breath. "My name is (Y/N) (L/N)... It's nice to officially meet you." You went into a deep bow, not even meeting their eyes.
"Wait, no, that can't be right," Noya chuckled. "(Y/N) is your cousin's name!"
"I-I'm so sorry for l-lying to you all," you continued. "B-but... But I hope you will allow me to continue playing volleyball with you!"
"So, you're really..." Kageyama muttered, trailing off as he stared at you.
"I was... right?" Tsukishima asked softly, almost sounding more surprised than anyone else, despite him having predicted this exact outcome multiple times.
You were still bowing low to the ground, droplet after droplet falling to the ground as you sniffled. Your whole body tensed when a hand landed on your other shoulder. Slowly, Daichi guided you to stand back up straight, a kind smile on his face as you wiped harshly at your tear-stained cheeks. "Of course we want you to keep playing with us," he said calmly. "You're our teammate. We want you to stay with us."
"B-but you'd be ok keeping it a secret during the tournaments and from the school and--" You started rambling, your tears not stopping for a second as they hit the floor over and over again.
"See for yourself," Daichi grinned and moved a bit out of the way to reveal the team standing behind him, all grinning and nodding at you, worried looks painted over each of their faces. Even Tsukishima nodded just a bit, though he was looking away the entire time in an attempt to keep you from seeing how concerned he was. Your eyes welled up, tensing before rushing forward and tackling Daichi in a hug, burying your face in his shirt.
Daichi immediately started blushing, but he didn't have long to enjoy the hug before Suga had joined in and tackled you from the other side, quickly followed by Hinata, Tanaka, and Noya. Soon, the entire team was hugging you, save for Tsukishima, who couldn't be bothered, and Asahi, who felt a little awkward about hugging a girl he'd only met a little over a week ago.
"Th-thank you," you sobbed, clutching Daichi's shirt. "Thank you all so much! I-I can't survive without volleyball... Thank you for allowing me to continue playing with you!"
Can't survive? What did that mean? Diachi's mind suddenly went back to what Tadashi had said earlier and how you'd reacted to losing the practice game. Constantly overworking yourself, being moved to tears out of fear of simply losing the game, was all of this really born out of a simple love for volleyball? Or was there something else that instilled this deep fear within you?
"Alright, kiddos, I think that's enough," Keishin's grumpy voice cut through the crowd as he reached in to break up the group hug. "Hey, munchkin, would you quit hugging all these guys? Gramps'd kill me if he saw this, y'know!" You laughed and wiped at your cheeks, gently letting go of Daichi. The captain felt himself frown a bit as you did -- you were so warm when you were hugging him. He didn't want that warmth to go away so quickly.
You rolled your eyes, shoving the coach gently. "Oh, come on, Keishin-nii, what the old man doesn't know won't kill him!" You teased. The boys' eyes widened. Keishin-nii? Where did that come from? You turned back to the team, a watery smile shining on your face. "Thank you all so much," you said softly. "I really am terribly sorry for lying to you guys, but it's just... I kind of had my back against the wall, and I truly believed that you guys would help me get out of it! You're all such wonderful players, I knew you would be able to help me succeed!"
Keishin frowned at your words. That reminded him, from the very first moment he'd met you, he'd always though that you must have been a prodigy, but the munchkin that he knew was nothing of the sort. Just how much work had you put in to get this good? How many times had you overworked yourself like you tried to today -- like you apparently had after the Seijoh match?
"(L/N)--"
"Ah, you all can just call me (Y/N), by the way," you interrupted with a small smile.
"(Y/N), then. There is still one thing I'd like to know," Tsukishima surveyed you curiously, his eyes scrutinizing your every detail. "Why go through all this? Why not just join the girls' team?"
You immediately tensed at the question, your smile slowly falling from your face. Tsukki narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't have been able to win on the girls' team," you said softly. You lifted your chin slightly, your eyes glinting with an unspoken challenge. "That is simply not an option for me. If I don't win, then I might as well stop breathing."
Tsukishima shivered at your words. Your personality had changed so abruptly. He couldn't recall ever seeing you this serious before. Even when he had played against you in the three-on-three, despite how nervous you had made him, it was an entirely different feeling. Back then, you seemed like you were having fun more than anything else. But now? There was only a cold resoluteness shining in your eyes, and if one looked closely enough, a small glint of fear. It felt like you were promising him that, no matter what happened, you would be mercilessly holding true to your word.
"Alright, I think that's enough, everyone," Daichi interjected in an attempt to calm everybody down. You nodded, your expression suddenly bright again, as though it had never changed.
You felt so much lighter than before, like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders as you walked down the street alongside some of your teammates.
"Wait, so does this mean that you didn't really just move here?" Hinata asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared down at you wide-eyed.
"Hmm?" You lifted your head. "No, I was telling the truth about that. I used to live in Tokyo before this year."
"So you knew Kenma!" Hinata gasped, hopping up to you and grabbing your arm to shake up and down in his over-enthusiasm. "That's why you knew we'd see him again!"
"No, I didn't," you chuckled, rolling your eyes at the little orange's antics. "I knew we'd see him again because I recognized the uniform. My middle school used to know Nekoma pretty well."
"Where did you go to middle school, anyways?" Kageyama asked from your other side.
"I'm not sure if you guys would've heard of it, since it was in a different prefecture, but I went to Teikou Middle," you shrugged, barely even paying attention.
"Teikou Middle?" Kageyama muttered softly, furrowing his brow. "Where have I heard that name before?"
"Hey, you guys are talking about Teikou?" Noya's voice cut in. "That's a powerhouse school in Tokyo! Their girls' team got famous after making it to nationals three years in a row. They were untouchable!"
"No way, seriously?!" Hinata gasped, his eyes widening as he glanced frantically back and forth between you and Noya.
"Yeah! Every member of their team was ridiculously good in their own right, but everyone kept talking about the 'Devil Who Can Stop Time' or something like that," Noya continued excitedly, jumping up and down. "She never did any interviews or anything like that, so there's not a whole lot of information about her out there, but apparently she's so good everyone who played against her couldn't stop talking about her!"
"Devil Who Can Stop..." Kageyama trailed off, slowly turning to face you again. Stopping time sounded way too familiar. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but he couldn't help but think back to that eerie feeling he got whenever your feet left the ground.
"It really wasn't that big a deal," you laughed, blushing a bit as you rubbed the back of your neck in embarrassment. "It was just some silly nickname that one of the girls on my team came up with as a joke once."
"Y-you're kidding," Kageyama breathed. "You mean..."
"You're the Devil Who Can Stop Time?!" Noya screamed, rushing over to you, jumping up and down again. Kageyama stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide as he stared after you. Hinata tilted his head and paused to wait for the taller setter.
"No way," Kageyama muttered softly, staring at where Noya was jumping all around you while you just laughed, clearly rather embarrassed by all his enthusiasm.
"What is it?" Hinata frowned up at him.
"She's... She's really that devil?" Kageyama murmured shakily. "I saw her play once... My coach said to go watch her team play -- said I could learn a lot from them. Watching her play... her technique alone was terrifying...." Kageyama shook his head, forcing himself out of his own stupor. "Anyways, she's a hell of a lot better than you!" He screamed at the little orangette.
"Hey! Kageyama, that's not nice!"