Haruka POV
(Last Day of training Camp)
Time goes by fast and before I knew it, it was the last day of the training camp. I've been playing with Fukurodani's boys' volleyball team this entire week.
My team was really nice about letting me play with the guys still because I didn't get the opportunity to go to the girls' volleyball training camp like they did, but...
The third years were sort of creepy asking me to take pictures of all the boys in the volleyball camp.
I sigh. Of course I'm not going to do that, but just how they think scares me at times. There are girls desperate for boys... And I am an unlucky one to know girls like those, especially because they're on my team.
"Akaashi~ Who're we playing next?" Bokuto loudly asks Keiji.
"Karasuno," Keiji answers.
Karasuno... So we're going to be playing against Natsuki and Tomoyo's team. The team with surprisingly only 3 wins and 61 losses...
"Karasuno, huh..." Sarukui, Komi, Konoha mumble.
"Huh?" Bokuto questions, surprised by his team's response to Karasuno.
"Well, you know, they're kind of a troublesome team to play against," Konoha complains.
"Yeah, you never know what they're going to do," Komi adds.
That's right... The people on their team, especially Hinata, are definitely full of surprises.
"That's true, but we should observe their gameplay and take note of it to our own gameplay," I point out.
"You didn't seem so interested in them before," Keiji states surprised. "What's with the sudden change?" Keiji says with his usual teasing smile.
I cross my arms. "Well, people change their opinions," I huff as I glance over to our upcoming opponents. "They actually have another assistant coach that's actually a top player, Natsuki Tsukiyomi."
Konoha's and Komi's ears wiggle hearing the name of another girl and they look over to the coaches and managers of Karasuno. They both notice a pretty black haired girl that they didn't recognize among Karasuno's team.
"Another beautiful girl. Karasuno is so lucky having such a variety of women," Komi says as he clenches his fist in jealousy. "I hope she's single."
"I know, right? Why couldn't they give us some?" Konoha adds. "No wonder why they have so much energy to keep going."
"I agree," Sakarui says. "Still, they look like they're pretty tired even with all those girls they're surrounded by so--Huwa?!" Sakarui blurts out when he looks over to Karasuno.
Our whole entire team stares at Karasuno's team in shock.
"Meaty meat, meat, meaty meat!" Tanaka sings in joy as he dances to some kind of meat chant.
"Put'em together, and you get meat and meat!" Hinata chants along with him.
"Meaty meat meat!" Nishinoya happily sings.
"Hurray for meat! Super energy! Yaay! Yaay!" Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka cheer with an awkward Kageyama going along with them. "Hooray for meat! Energy times hundred! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Meat is god! Meat is god!!!" They chant putting their hands up and down.
"What the?! What are they doing?? They're scary!" I flinch.
They're acting like a train and are cheering for meat. Not to mention they're praising meat gods... Fukurodani is actually a normal school when you compare them to Karasuno.
"I agree... They're freaking me out!" Konoha adds in complete shock seeing the obsessive meat lovers of Karasuno.
What the hell is going on in their minds right now???
(Fukurodani v.s. Karasuno practice match)
Seeing Tsukishima's block and Hinata's spike in a real practice match against their team definitely shows how much they learned in this camp. Their skills grew tremendously and the team itself is full of surprises.
The match continues. Karasuno's third year ace serves the volleyball and Konoha barely receives it.
Keiji immediately runs to the ball and I head over to the net. "Haruka!" Keiji tosses the ball to me and I immediately spike the volleyball down.
"A quick set from there?!" Karasuno's club advisor blurts out surprised.
"Even if the pass was iffy, they still had the guts to come at us with a quick," Their coach crosses his arms. "Their setter is good. Quick and aggressive. Their spiker is also good. Flexible and strong."
I nod my head proudly overhearing their words and tap Keiji's shoulder.
"Hey Keiji, did you hear what Karasuno's coach said about us?" I grin and Keiji glances over to Karasuno's side.
"...Quite an impressive combination even though they aren't actually in a team together, they must have a close relationship together to play this well together," Their coach crosses his arms.
"I heard that," Keiji chuckles and I blush.
"N-Not that!" I deny and playfully push him to get him to stop laughing but he doesn't.
I smile. Even though I'm denying it, I admit I'm happy to hear that Keiji and I make a good combination even though I'm not actually on the boys' volleyball team.
Keiji POV
The match continues with both sides not giving up and I notice Bokuto in particular was starting to get all riled up.
"Server up Bokuto!"
"With my wicked-awesome serving, I'll put us way ahead!" Bokuto declares.
"Bokuto-san, remember to stay cool and focused," I advise.
"I am focused!" Bokuto shouts as he stomps to the serving line.
Bokuto serves the volleyball and almost hits Konoha's head.
Haruka sweatdrops. "He's not focused at all."
"Dammit! Sorry you guys! I'm so sorry! I totally screwed up!" Bokuto dramatically apologizes on his knees.
"Easy, easy," Sarukui soothes.
"Yeah... How about you take a deep breath and relax for a second?" Komi adds.
"I thought I was going to lose my head," Konoha mumbles with a pale face.
The match goes on and Bokuto receives the volleyball. "Give it to me!"
I stare at the volleyball as it comes down for me to toss.
When setting the volleyball to an overly wound up Bokuto, there are three different things that could happen...
A. He makes the point count --> Everything is okay.
B. He screws up and/or gets blocked --> Probable chance he will feel even worse
C. You set the volleyball to someone else --> High probability he'll sulk
I glance over to Haruka and sigh. It would probably be easier to toss it to her to spike. Haruka gets riled up, but not in the way that Bokuto gets riled up. As much as I would love to pass it to Haruka... "C" is the biggest pain in the butt.
"Bokuto-san!" I call out to him.
Bokuto jumps into the air. "HRAAAAAH!" he shouts.
"Triple block!" Our opponents block Bokuto's spike.
The volleyball comes back to our side once again and Komi receives it.
"Give it to me again Akaashi!!!" Bokuto shouts and I frown.
"..." I feel like something bad is going to happen if I toss it to him again rather than to someone else, but I don't want to bother with him sulking because of me. "Here you go!" I toss the volleyball to him.
"Yeah!" Bokuto runs towards the volleyball.
"One... Two... We'll block him this time!!" Our opponents shout.
Bokuto spikes the volleyball and it hits the rim of the net.
"Geh!" I frown and watch the volleyball roll to our side.
The worst scenario has happened.
"Whoa! Karasuno actually took the lead. Isn't this their first time taking the lead against Fukurodani this whole week?" Someone questions out loud.
"Umm.. Did they manage to block him?" Yachi from Karasuno asks.
"No, from the looks of it, the volleyball didn't cross the net. That was the spiker's error," The other manager, Shimizu, answers.
Our entire team stares at Bokuto.
"Oh, could this mean...?" Konoha questions.
"Aw man... Is this happening now...?" Sarukui sighs.
"Seriously? Isn't it a bit early?" Komi questions.
"Wow, already?" Onaga questions.
"It's early," Washio thinks.
"Oh boy..." Haruka sweatdrops.
"Akaashi..." Bokuto says in a serious tone.
Crap. Here it comes...
"Don't toss the ball to me anymore!" Bokuto dramatically declares.
"There it is! Bokuto's emo mode!" We all silently think to ourselves with a deadpan look.
"..." I silently stare at him. "Okay."
"Huh?" Bokuto questions not turning around.
"Since the ball won't be coming to you, please use this time to pull yourself together," I advise him and jog back to my position.
"Are you sure you want to leave him in that state?" Haruka asks me as she looks back at Bokuto who has a confused look on her face.
"It's fine, he'll get it over after some time," I answer.
"I can see why you're the vice captain for this team," Haruka sweatdrops.
The match continues on and just as Bokuto asked for, none of us gave the volleyball to him. Bokuto, on the other hand, was awkwardly around us wanting to receive and spike, but couldn't do anything.
Our opponents probably thought that they could take advantage of this moment, but are probably now surprised that our team isn't fazed by this at all. Our team doesn't only depend on Bokuto, we can play for ourselves.
Komi receives the ball and I notice Karasuno's setter analyzing me as the ball comes down towards me.
He's probably expecting me to toss it to a spiker. The tip of my lips turn up. A setter doesn't just toss.
I dump the volleyball out of nowhere surprising them.
"A setter dump!" Someone cries out and the volleyball falls to their side.
A vein pops on Tsukishima and Kageyama's heads.
"Fukurodani's taken back the lead and they did it without their ace touching the ball once!" Someone shouts.
I glance over and see Bokuto pout. It's near the end of the practice match, if that's the case then...
"Amazing, your team is totally used to Bokuto's mood swings," Haruka mumbles and the tips of my lips turn up.
"Of course," I tell her and she sweatdrops.
"I'm glad we're not opponents in a real match," Haruka mumbles.
The match continues on and with the team's skills, we are able to reach set point with the score being Fukurodani - 24, Karasuno - 22.
"One more point!" Kaori and Yukie cheer.
Karasuno serves the volleyball and Sarukui receives it.
I get in position and toss the volleyball to Haruka.
Haruka spikes it, but her spike gets blocked by Tsukishima.
"Tch," Haruka clicks her tongue getting blocked.
Kuroo taught him well. He's been improving quite faster than I expected.
Their server serves again and Komi receives it.
I glance over to Tsukishima who's watching Haruka's movements. I think Karasuno figured out what kind of team we are, and this is the time when their attention is away from Bokuto.
I get in position and have the ball in my hands. Now is also the time when Bokuto gets fidgety wanting to hit the ball. I immediately toss the volleyball to Bokuto, completely surprising Karasuno.
"We'll let you take the glory. So hurry up and get back on your feet, ace!" Our entire team thinks as we watch Bokuto run to the volleyball and spike it down to our opponent's side.
Tsukishima misses his block and I proudly smirk.
Tsukishima grits his teeth pissed when he sees that it's our victory.
The score changes to Fukurodani - 25, Karasuno - 23.
I glance over to Bokuto and turn to the team. "If you would please..."
"Leave it to us," They all nod their heads.
"Whoo! Ace!" Sarukui cheers.
"You're so cool!" Konoha cheers.
"Nothing beats the ace in the end!" Komi cheers.
"Birds of prey!" Kaori cheers.
"You're hair's like a great horned owl!" Yukie cheers.
"Heh... Heh heh heh... Yeah I'm the best! Hey, hey, heeeyy!!!" Bokuto pumps his fist all confidently.
"There he goes again. Bokuto gets depressed easily, but it's just as easy to pump him back up," Yukie comments.
"Yeah, he's as simple minded as they come," Kaori adds. "No wonder he's eternally stuck in the top five hitters in the nation."
I sigh. Kaori is completely right about that. Bokuto has great skills, but his personality... No one can be perfect I guess... Even the top players.
I notice Haruka watching the team in deep thought.
"Hmmm, you seem like you're in deep thought," I point out.
"I guess I am, just thinking about something," Haruka says and I chuckle.
"Thinking about me?" I tease and Haruka blushes.
"N-No! Stop it with that!" Haruka barks embarrassed.
"Sorry, sorry," I laugh.
Haruka pouts. "No, I was just thinking about your team and my own team. You guys work well together, even without Bokuto, you guys are able to pull yourself up and win," Haruka explains. "I feel like before I was really forcing myself to play the role as captain and ace for my team, but what I should've done was help hone the skills of my team as well as myself."
Haruka tightens her hands into a fist. "I want to improve. Not just as an individual, but as a team."
I ruffle her hair. "Of course you will. You have your teammates and us as well."
"You're right. Thanks Keiji," Haruka says with a small, sincere smile.
I gently smile back. "No problem."