"I'm back," I mutter as I kick my shoes off by the door. I hear the rolling of an office chair and watch as my cousin rolls out of her office and into the path in front of me. She drags her feet on the ground, causing her to stop, "Good Evening my child," she clasps her hands in her lap, "I've been expecting you," she wiggles her eyebrows at me.
I roll my eyes with a sigh, "You're so weird," I set my bag by the door. "You know what I'm going to ask so might as well just tell me now," We always go through the routine of her greeting me and then asking how my day is.
"It was eventful if anything," She scoots her chair closer to me, "Do tell," I slump onto the couch, "Well when I got there I got lost and ended up in the third year hall," She snorts loudly. "I refused to ask for help so I was real glad when someone came up to me and asked if I was lost. And he showed me to my class,"
"Alright I'll need a name, birthday, social security number, and a background check," she counts on her fingers. I roll my eyes again, "I got a name and I'll get back to you on the rest. And he was just being nice,"
She hums, "And how was your day?" I continue the unspoken routine that we had every evening. "Almost done with my major project and got assigned like three small one," she talks of her journalism job she landed. Good pay and mostly work from home. She absolutely loves it "Your boss just won't give you a break," I groan.
"I like keeping busy. Anyway, did you check out the gym after school?" I sigh, "I did. But I got caught," she raises an eyebrow. "You make it sound like you were murdering someone,"
"The captain of the boys' volleyball team along with two others apparently saw me practicing. I didn't notice because I had my music playing," I shrug.
"And he asked if I joined the girls team and I told him the issue with that. And this is where it gets interesting. She leans in with her hands under her chin. "He asks if I want to be an assistant coach for their team," She pauses, waiting to know my reply.
"I said yes and tomorrow I'm meeting the actual coach and he'll determine if I make it. Oh and the same guy who showed me to class was also with the captain," She backs up a bit and spins around in her chair.
"I'm glad you could find a way to stay in volleyball. Not only do you like it but it flexes your strategical muscles and you might even get to play with them during practice matches," she adds happily. "Make sure you eat something," she reminds me. " 'Kay," I say as I walk up the steps and to my room.
I set my bag on my desk and turn on my laptop. It loads up and I head to a website with mind games on it. I play a few before heading back downstairs to grab some food. I pick out a bag of chips, a water, and a sandwich. I eat in my room by my laptop and watch a few YouTube videos.
I finish eating and goof off until it is about midnight. I head to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I slip under the pile of blankets and pillows, hair still damp.
~~~
The school day didn't have anything interesting happen. Just avoiding eye contact most of the time. When the day ends, I walk into the gym. I peer in and see a few people warming up and stretching. I search for gray hair and I spot him by the scoreboard.
I skirt the edge of the gym until I reach him. I quietly observe the players practicing. He's talking to the captain when he sees me. "Oh! Good, you came," he trots over to me. "This is our coach," he directs me to a dyed blonde man with a permanent scowl.
I bow, "So you are the girl Daichi said was practicing after hours?" I look down and nod. He rests his hand on his waist, "What I'm going to do is have you play in a practice match and see your thought process on the court," I nod and shift my bag. "You can go change in the bathroom over there," he points to the girls' restroom.
I nod and head to the bathroom. "Why he is so damn intimidating?" I mutter as I change into a black sport bra, black canvas shorts, and a baggy dark purple shirt. I put on black and white sneakers and walk out.
Third POV
"Does she want to be the manager or something?" Kageyama asks. Daichi just shakes his head, "You'll see," his smirk worried him. The said girl walks out of the bathroom with her head slightly down. The team watches her curiously as she paces over nervously.
She sets her bag on the wall and the coach calls for the team to gather around. He asked for her to go ahead and stretch before hand. "Okay, as you can tell there's someone here," the team nods, glancing over to the girl. "We are having a practice match with her in it," this confuses the team. "Daichi has asked me if she could be our assistant coach, said she is very talented. First I want you all to line up so I can test her a little,"
The team hollers in agreement. "You good on stretching?" the coach asks her lazily. She nods and paces over to them. She notices the team standing in a line. "From what you have seen so far, what positions would you say they play?"
The boys look at him confused, "She just got here," one mutters. "I know quite well," the coach nods. "Whenever you're ready," She paces back and fourth analyzing them. They could feel her eyes picking them apart. She starts at one end with Daichi.
The line goes Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Hinata, and Kageyama. She points to the captain, "Defense,"
"Setter,"
"Wing spiker,"
"Wing spiker,"
"Libero,"
"Middle Blocker,"
"Pinch Server,"
"Spiker,"
"Setter,"
Ukai grins and nods at the girl's predictions. They just looked at her astonished. She has been here no more than five minutes. "You got all but one right, the one with the orange hair is a middle blocker," she nods and puts that in the back of her head. Ukai clasps his hands and paces. "What position do you play?" she shrugs. "What? How do you not know the position you play?!" his hands drop to his side.
"When I play, they put me in whatever position they need. But I guess my main position was setter or wing spiker. Sometimes libero," He starts becoming skeptical again. Was she not a starting player? She was also pretty small. The same height of Nishinoya. "Sugawara, Tanaka, Tsukishima, Daichi, and Ennoshita are on her team," The said individuals go over to one side of the court and the remaining players go to the other side.
They each get into their respective positions, leaving Chihiro in the spot Nishinoya would usually be. Her team looks back at her, not sure how they feel about her. The game starts with Asahi's serve. Her eyes follow the ball and she receives it smoothly, directing it to Sugawara for him to set it. He sets it and Tanaka spikes it over just in time.
Now it was her serve. Daichi looks over to her hopefully, wanting her to prove the team's skepticism wrong. She walks backwards a few steps and takes a deep breath. The whistle sounds and she tosses the ball high in the air.
She runs and jumps with her arm cocked back. Only seconds later is the sound of the ball slamming into the ground. Both teams freeze in shock. They could barely even see the ball in motion. A whistle indicates her point. Her ace serves rack up three more points.
Tanaka goes to hit a spike in but Tsukishima's fingertips stop it. The girl dives at the ground a few yards away, keeping the ball up. Eventually, a feint earns the other side a point. She glances down at her bright red knee.
"Knee pads might have been a good idea," she mutters. She shrugs it off and gets ready for the next play.
Eventually she gets into the wing spiker spot and when the time came, Sugawara sends her an odd toss as she is midair. She quickly moves her hand over and aims for an empty corner of the court that scores a point with another deafening slap. Her strength is absurd.
"Sugawara-san," she says between plays. He looks over at her. She had not spoken a word to someone since she got on the court. "Next time we rotate I'll set the ball," his eyes widen but he nods. The next rotation comes and she is ready. She wanted to show off her setting ability
Her magnificent control sets up a perfect toss at optimal spiking height. A textbook perfect curve. The girl that seemed to be less than mediocre at volleyball is nothing as she seems.
~~~
Two of the three sets ended up in Chihiro's team's favor. By the end of the game, her knees and elbows were covered in scabs and bruises. The coach call them back and brings her to the front. He has her stand and the boys sit in a semicircle around the two.
"You really gave us a run for our money," he breaks the silence. Each player nods in agreement. he turns to the team, "What do you guys think? Would she be a good addition to the team?" "Yes!" the girl flinches slightly at the sudden and loud agreement.
"Then guys," he looks at his team. "Welcome..." he pauses for her name. "Moyasu Chihiro,"
"Moyasu Chihiro to the team!" there was loud cheering and the manager hands her a Karasuno jacket.
First POV
I bow lowly, "Thank you for having me," I raise my head and see doofy grins on a majority of there faces. "We should do some icebreakers!" a boy with a shaved head says. The team agrees and they form a circle. I sit beside Sugawara and Asahi since I know them.
They each tell me there name and year. "Before you came here, what team were you on?" Kageyama asks. I tapped my fingers on the floor, "I didn't play high school volleyball but I did play on the U18 team before I came to Miyagi," there is a stunned silence in the air. "Why weren't you playing for a high school team?" I sigh and shift my weight around.
"I was on a high school team, but only for two games. We had to forfeit the second game because I was a violation of rules,"
"The coach on the other team accused me of passing the strength limit that was set in the rules that no one actually saw. The volleyball officials had to test my strength at that point and I did exceed the max number of kilos a female player can lift to be a player,"
"But I could still play for the U18 team so that's what I did. I ended up having to quit the U18 team when I moved here because the team practiced in Tokyo,"
Frowns paint their faces. "You could have easily gone to prestigious school, so why did you come to Karasuno?" Kageyama asks. "For one it's the closest to my house and secondly I didn't want much care for the other schools," They nod, accepting my answer.
"So that must mean you're super strong, right?" Hinata bounces. I rub the back of my neck, "I guess. Strong for a girl at least,"
"Moyasu-san, what class are you in?" Yamaguchi asks. "First year class 5. And I'd prefer if you used my first name," I add. "Why?",
"Uh, I just like my first name more," they nod. They tell me a bit about themselves in return. Their personalities shine strong in each reply. They all have strong personality traits so I wouldn't doubt if there has been a clash between players or two.
I hear a pattering behind me. "Ah Kiyoko-san!" Sugawara says brightly. I turn around to see her holding a package. "This is for you," she holds it out and I stand up. I look in the package and see a pair of black sweatpants and a black varsity jacket with Karasuno on the back and a coach patch. "Put it on!" I hear someone cheer from behind. I unfold the jacket and slide it on. I inspect myself seeing how it would fit. It is slightly baggy but it draped nicely over my figure. I nod approvingly.
I turn to the manager and bow, "Thank you for having me,"
"My pleasure," she said in a quiet voice. I raise my head and she her giving me a friendly smile. I push up my glasses and send her a small smile in return. "Wooaaah! Now we have two cute girls on our team!" Nishinoya beams.
I quickly turn my head, not believing what I heard. "Hah!?" I say louder than I expected. I feel the heat in my face rising. "Yeah!" Tanaka shoots up with his fists in the air. "C-come on, quit messing around" I throw up my defenses. I feel my shoulders tense up and my foot move back a few inches.
The two looked at each other with an eyebrow raise. "Cute girls are no joking matter to these two," Daichi points to them. "What? Have you not been complimented or something?" Sugawara says jokingly I look away, ruffling my hair.
"You've never been complimented before?" Tsukishima's voice rings out. "I mean I have,"
"Family members don't count," he continues. I hold my hands out, "L-let's not talk about this right now!" I feel myself getting more flustered. "Woah! You really haven't been complimented before?" Hinata bounces.
I sigh, "Guess not," I trot over to get my school bag. I am extremely uncomfortable hearing people talk about me. Feels like I'm on top of a pedestal and everyone is staring. "And there's probably a reason," I mumble to myself.
"What?" Hinata asks. I shake my head. "Ah, nothing, I was just thinking of how late it's getting and I should probably get to going home," I point to the exit. They wave goodbye and I get onto the path to my house.
I walk home once again after denying their offers to take me home. I honestly preferred walking home alone. It's usually a time where I just observe the scenery in quiet. Sometimes think. I think back to see if anyone actually has complimented me. My cousin said I was beautiful but that's something relatives tell each other so I'd never know if she was being truthful or not.
People have said commented on my volleyball skills on occasion. But it was never direct. It was usually, "Did you see that spike?" or "How does she do that?" Never direct. Just told to other people and loud enough for me to hear.
I shuffle in the door and my cousin rolls out again. We talk for awhile before I head up stairs to do homework. An hour passes and I hear a knock at my door. "Yeah?" My cousin opens the door and flopped on to my bed which was opposite of my desk. I spin my chair around and see her sitting cross legged on my bed. She waves a white envelope with a grin.
"Government money came in~!" she declares. "So whaddaya wanna spend it on this month?" I look down at my bruise and scraped knees and elbows. "Knee and elbow pads for me maybe some spandex," she nods. The money she got she refused to use to pay for my basic needs except tuition since it is so ungodly expensive. She says she earns plenty. So she uses it to treat the two of us.
"And I could use some new jeans," She stands up. "We can go get your volleyball stuff this weekend," I nod and she happily trots out of my room. She's a strange guardian but I'd never change that about her.