❀
The boys narrowly won the first set: 23 - 25.
So Kano hid during lunch to regroup.
With her bento box salad in its sunflower-patterned furoshiki cloth, she jogged off to find a quiet, secluded spot to eat in peace. Around the back of the club rooms, Kano sunk to the dirt and shimmied her knee pads down to her ankles before unwrapping her meal and digging in.
Her aunt's voice rang in her head, clear as day. "Baby Bundt! What are you missing? What will solve the puzzle?"
But the longer that Kano ruminated over the game - running and rerunning plays in her head like she played every position, like it was her own fault for every problem - the more upset she got. So she gave up. The game was over, and there was nothing she could do about that one... so she just had to focus on the next set. She had to be better, be the best, for her team. And she could only win... no.
They could only win if she chilled out a little.
The sound of stamping feet interrupted her meal planning for the week (she'd been thinking curry rice some night, beef stew in the crockpot on Tuesday... probably tempura veggies for Meatless Monday). A sweaty and wide-eyed Tanaka rounded the side of the building, chest heaving. His whole face lit up at the sight of Kano. "There you are!" He beamed, sauntering over to crouch beside her.
His heart beat a panicked rhythm as Nishinoya's words simmered in his brain, over and over and over.
"You and Kano... it's obvious, Ryu."
"Kano, look-" Tanaka started, hesitated, and tried again, "Listen, I-"
A sigh escaped through her clenched teeth. "Well, which is it?" She muttered, eyeing him cautiously as she placed the lid on her salad and set it beside her. "Look? Or listen?"
He chuckled and ran both hands over his buzz cut, hiding his flushed face in his fingers. "Listen. Definitely listen," Tanaka sighed, "I-I'm really sorry about earlier. I don't have a filter, and it gets me in trouble a lot."
"...I know."
Stiffening, he dragged his gaze from the dirt, up and up until he met her chilling stare. "Y-you do?"
She shrugged. "We've been in the same class for two years, buttmunch. I've tutored you for that long, too. I know how you are." With an idle hand, Kano doodled flowers in the dirt beside her sneakers. "I guess after a month away from you and your nonsense, I forgot how razor-sharp your tongue can be. So... apology accepted. Or whatever."
"My tongue can do other things too, goddess, just you-"
Kano karate-chopped him on the head. "Stop."
"Got it. Hearing you loud and clear."
❀
The second set played totally different from the first.
With Tanaka and Kano back on good terms, the two teams spit trash talk like breathing.
And of course... Tanaka started it.
"Send it right here, princess," he jeered at Kano, wiggling his butt in anticipation as he waited for her jump serve with his arms outstretched, "I can take it."
Kano snorted, then sent her serve to the opposite side of the court, where Hinata was caught totally off guard. "Eat my ass, Tanaka, you fuckface!" She yelled across the court, just after the boys' coach called the girls' point.
"Babe, you know I love it when you talk dirty like that," Tanaka grinned forcibly, "But stop showing off! You gotta let me get some points too! Let me look cool in front of the guys!"
Dribbling the ball a bit to focus, Kano shook her head and made eye contact with Tanaka clear across the gym. "No... I don't think I will," she said, smirking. She switched up her strategy to an overhand serve, sending it just barely over the net, where no one was watching.
Growling, Tanaka stood from his failed dig, helped Nishinoya up too, and grabbed at the net. "You know I hate when you use shitty movie quotes, hot stuff!"
Instead of answering, Kano bounced the retrieved ball a few times, spinning it in her hands, and shot him an innocent smile that could melt the polar ice caps. On top of it, she threw him a wink that stopped his heart... right before serving the ball right into his testicles.
He hit the floor like a sack of potatoes.
The rest of the boys hissed in sympathy, wincing visibly.
"Oh fuck! Tanaka!" Kano screeched, her hands flying over her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I was showboating too hard and-"
Tanaka held up a hand to stop Kano's rambling before slapping it to the wooden floor. "Serve it!" He hissed, raising a shaky thumbs-up, "I'll... I'll be ready, babe!"
Heart pounding with guilt, Kano bit her lip and waited until he moved a little faster before prepping for her serve. She had to admit that it felt good to banter with him again. And she hated being mad at him. And if she had to admit anything else while she lined up her serve...
Ryunosuke Tanaka might legitimately be her only friend at Karasuno.
And... she could do much worse.
❀
The second set was the girls' win: 25 - 22.
So the game was pushed into a third, tiebreaker set... the finale.
During the fifteen minute water break between sets, Kano called home.
Yasuo answered right away. "Abe residence, coolest son speaking," he said smoothly, "May I ask who's calling?"
"It's me, buttmunch," Kano sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she paced out back of the gym and tried to keep cool. Sun screamed down, undeterred by clouds or inclement weather of any kind, turning Kano's asphalt-dark hair to molten lava under its piercing rays. "How's mom doing? She need anything? I can stop on my way home-"
"She's fine, you dingus," Yasuo chided, "Now go away. You're distracting me from expertly commentating on Yoshi and Yukio's Super Smash Bros tournament."
Rolling her eyes, Kano said the only thing that came to mind: "Who's winning?"
"It's tied. Yosh thought - for some idiotic reason - that he'd switch it up and play as Pit for a while, during which Yukes totally obliterated him," Yasuo explained tiredly. Kano heard the fridge open and close in the background. "Now they're arguing over who gets to be Kirby and who gets to be Samus while I grab refreshments."
"Uh, no one's maining Peach?" Kano teased, "I'm disappointed."
Yasuo laughed. "You're the only person I know who can win with Peach, you nerd. That doesn't mean she's any good."
"Excuse me, I think you want to take that back about my sweet baby angel," Kano gaped, leaning against the side of the gym as she shook her head, "Peach is amazing and flawless and-"
"Talking about yourself again, goddess?"
Kano popped her head up at the new voice, finding Tanaka smirking at her from a few feet away. "Um, Yasuo, I gotta go. Text or call if you need anything."
"Wait wait wait! Was that your boyfri-"
She hung up before he could finish his question, but she could feel the impending interrogation awaiting her at home and the gossip already buzzing around the Abe household. "Tanaka, I hope for the sake of your team and this next match that there was a good reason for you to interrupt my phone call," Kano said, raising a brow at him and crossing her arms.
"Well sure," Tanaka pouted and shrugged, his hands down the front of his pants due to his lack of pockets, "I just wanted to interrupt your conversation with your boyfriend." He tried way too hard to look innocent and inconspicuous.
Kano's face fell, staring at her friend with the most unimpressed expression that she could muster up. It was obvious that Tanaka missed the beginning of the conversation, otherwise he would have clearly heard her ask about her mother. So she pushed his buttons for being the world's worst eavesdropper. "So what if it was my boyfriend? You jealous?"
He clicked his tongue and stared at the dirt, scuffing his sneaker through the sand. What was the appropriate response in this situation? Agree? Disagree? Change the topic entirely? Drop dead? "N-no... Not jealous. I mean, who'd date you, you weirdo?"
Fuck. Tanaka wanted to take the words back as soon as they left his mouth. But after the morning they'd already experienced, he didn't know what to say to make it better... and settled on silence in hopes that it would fix things better than words could.
Opposite him and completely thrown off kilter, Kano squinted at Tanaka through the sunshine. Was he being honest? Because those words from his mouth sounded strangely like the boy's from math class in middle school.
Except, the Ryunosuke Tanaka she knew flirted constantly, 24/7, year after year... and the one time that Kano gives him shit for it... he denies it?
He really avoided a golden opportunity to flirt with her more?
And he never dissed her or teased her like that, even if he was just joking about the "weirdo" comment. It sounded wrong leaving his mouth, like someone else made him say it, controlling him via remote.
...Something wasn't adding up. But Kano didn't know what yet.
"I must have served into your balls harder than I thought," she finally sighed, punching him in the shoulder as she tilted her head back toward the gym. "You're being weird. Maybe I cut off the blood flow to your main brain or something."
She began to walk off, ponytail swinging behind her, and Tanaka chuckled as he jogged after her, anxiety dissipating immediately. "You are so right, princess. My brain's all sortsa fucked up after watching you totally wipe the floor with us for the last set," he agreed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the front doors of the gym.
"Well get used to it," Kano smirked, bumping his hip with hers and looping her arm over his shoulders to yank on his ear childishly, "Because I'm about to do it again." Before he could retaliate, she sprinted out from under his grip, giggling as he reached for her and chased her into the gym.
The rest of the teams watched on as Kano and Tanaka horsed around, karate chopping each other and racing out of each other's grasp in a storm of laughter. Nishinoya and Reika met eyes across the gym, and when Nishinoya went over to get the scoop on why Reika and Kano were being weird, all she did was slip Noya a rather large sum of money and murmur to him before wandering off to warm up.
"They'll be dating before summer."
Noya watched Reika walk off before turning his gaze on the money in his palm. "You severely underestimate Ryu's ability to ignore his feelings, Sato. He's been doing it for two years already. Who's to say he couldn't do it for a few more months?"
❀
During the first timeout of the third set, the girls decided to switch things up.
Captain Sudou swapped Kano out so she could act as coach for the team and suggested swapping out the older girls for some of the younger ones so they could practice against the boys. Without hesitation, Kano agreed.
A fresh-faced first year took Kano's spot on the court, beaming at the boys with a mouthful of braces and confidence. But Tanaka noticed Kano's absence immediately. "Hey, hot lips! What's going on? We didn't discuss this!" he shouted, ducking his head under the net to stare daggers at her.
"Last I checked, I don't have to run any of my diabolical plans past you, Tanaka," Kano replied without even glancing his way, watching as a different first year got ready to serve. "Focus on your own problems, friend."
"You are my problem, Kano!" he yelled back, "And did you just admit that we're friends? Guys, look! I'm moving up-"
The ball beaned him in the face. Sighing as she face-palmed, Kano paced the length of the wall where the girls sat, trying not to race over and check on him or give him any more excuses to flirt with her. "One of those days, huh?" she muttered.
"You have no idea," the boys' coach answered bluntly, arms propped on his hips as he stood at the side of the net, shaking his head.
Kano hadn't realized she spoke loudly enough to be heard. "Oh, uh, sorry. I was talking to myself. I'm Kano Abe, by the way," she said, bowing slightly to the coach.
"Don't bow, that's weird," the blond laughed, waving her off. They watched as the boys regained control of the ball and Kageyama served it beautifully over the net. "I know who you are. All the kids are calling you The Dark Horse already," he said, never taking his eyes off of the ball, "Heard you were trained by an Olympic athlete. True?"
A scoff fell from Kano's lips before she could stop it. "I mean, I guess? My aunt went to the Olympics twice for sand volleyball, and she is the one who taught me how to play, but I wouldn't say she trained me. That's a bit of a stretch," she explained.
"Mmm," the boys' coach hummed, nodding as he listened to her explanation, noting a point for the girls with a wave of his hand. "Stretch or not, you're good, kid. You guys beat us, and that's commendable. Hope you know that."
The coach walked away, leaving Kano chewing the inside of her cheek and thinking over what he'd said. She still never got his name, but he had a point. Coachless and adrift, the girls volleyball club managed to beat the boys team, who had a way better track record than them...
Something caught flame in Kano's chest, electric and persistent. Maybe with her on the team, the girls had a chance to win against real teams. Maybe with her help, she could make the girls volleyball team something special.
Maybe... just maybe... she could have fun on the court again.
And maybe senior year wouldn't be so bad.