'Simplicity and Fortitude' huh?
The yellow and black banner of Johzenji High School stared back at Mayumi from her position in the spectator stands, and loomed over its own players.
It was the furthest thing from the truth...
These were probably the loudest and flashiest players she has seen all day, and that's saying a lot coming from Mayumi who has been dealing with the Iwa-Oikawa duo. The two had mentioned the team, Seijoh had apparently defeated them in this year's Interhigh during the semifinals. They had to be somewhat good in order to make it that far, right? While she was able to acknowledge their accomplishment in the last tournament - she also has yet to see an actual formation, and they had started the second set of the match.
They were something else, that's for sure. Shinsuke would probably have a headache formed by just now watching them from the sidelines, knowing Atsumu would be drawn in and try to be just as flashy as the Johzenji boys out of spite. Suna... well it would provide good content. This was definitely a change from the country boys that the Inarizaki team had in mind when it came to Miyagi.
Maybe referring to them as 'party boys' would be a better fit.
Mayumi raked her eyes across the Johzenji bench, audibly sighing and worrying the onlookers around her.
They had two managers!
There was a subsequent karate chop on her head, stopping the pity party that she held for herself.
"Mayu-chan! How could you leave us behind?!" It was very easy for Mayumi to get lost in the sea of Oikawa fan-girls.
The players from Aobajohsai were done for the day, winning all their matches with ease. Tomorrow was the semi-finals, ending with the final match to determine the Miyagi representative. Overall their first day was successful, their morale was up too with the addition of a manager helping them out. Bonus - she wasn't an Oikawa fan-girl.
"Did you guys play Karasuno before?"
She wanted to know everything about the school. All the players, their records, stats, everything and anything. Mayumi felt like there were miles apart between her and her cousin, she had no idea that it was Kiyoko's team.
And Tobio-chan?
Could she even be considered as his senpai anymore, much less a friend?
"We beat them at Interhigh a few months ago." Iwaizumi answered her question, unsure if she was wanting to pry more. He saw her face when she took notice of the setter for Karasuno. Their kohai in junior high. How her face fell, almost as if she didn't believe their stories about his final year at Kitagawa Daiichi, where he became a ruler on the court.
"Ne Mayu-chan, do you see that little shrimp up front - he's a middle blocker." Oikawa had too seen the way Mayumi's attitude shifted after seeing Kageyama walk past them.
The brunette was right next to her as he spoke, leaning down on the railings in a similar fashion and pointed his finger to guide her line of vision. He was so close to her, it was just as intoxicating as it was in junior high.
"I saw him switch out a few times with the tall blonde lamppost, what's the deal with that kind of position-"
What the hell-
The orange-haired boy just jumped and soared through the air!
"WHAT."
Mayumi grabbed the closest thing to her, being Oikawa-senpai's arm and shook it back and forth, unable to contain the shock that was running through her body. Her eyes were wide, afraid to blink and miss it again.
"Trashykawa, OI, did you SEE that?"
It was a perfect set, Mayumi knew that Tobio-chan was a genius but this was next level for him - it went right to his hand!
Iwaizumi stepped in to take a hold of the smaller girl, to prevent her from ripping their setter's arm off.
"Just wait until you see what else they are capable of."
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If she had to describe Karasuno after watching their match, it would be adaptable and persistent.
The Johzenji team was completely unorthodox and unpredictable, but it was a strategy in of itself, it just needed to be polished by the players for them to use it to the fullest of their abilities. They were too busy focusing on random things throughout the sets, causing them to lose easy points that eventually cost them the match. The crows managed to pull through and win in two sets, calling their day to a close and awaiting for the semi finals tomorrow.
Mayumi was busy wandering through the corridors of the gym, her memory failing her and she lost sight of the tall boys from Seijoh a while ago when she went to the bathroom.
She was shocked to see a hand suddenly come in front of her face, slamming against the wall by her head and effectively trapping her in. Her heart was pounding, the idea of her being attacked with no help around settled in her mind. She glanced up at the boy who stopped her, recognizing him from one of the matches she saw earlier today, but couldn't remember which team.
"Eyyyy you're even cuter than the Karasuno manager, give me your number."
Wha-
"Cuter than her?" Not Kiyoko. "You must be delusional, there's no way."
He licked his lips, inching closer to her small frame - that's when Mayumi noticed something strange.
His tongue was pierced.
"It only takes a second for you to give me your number."
The top of his hair was blonde, similar to Atsumu yet it was much shorter and slicked back slightly. She preferred the lazy style that Atsumu and Osamu sported rather than this.
"I have people waiting for me, I'm sure you can charm another girl." With her height she was able to make her escape and duck underneath his cage, until he reached and grabbed her arm.
"What if I don't want to charm another girl?"
"That's not my probl- oh that's a cute lunch box." Since Mayumi didn't have her sight blocked by the flirt, she saw the orange-haired boy from Karasuno skip past them with this overly cute lunch box wrapped in yellow cloth, some type of animal and flowers were scattered across it.
The shrimp, as Oikawa and the other Seijoh players dubbed him, finally noticed the two against the wall, Mayumi fixated on the lunchbox and the Johzenji player with a hold on her arm.
"WAAAHH!"
"Why are you getting scared?" Tobio-chan really put up with this kid?
Mayumi tried to get another word in, but the smaller - and faster - boy ran up to her and the flirt, chopping the hand he had on Mayumi's arm and pulling her along with him. He was basically dragging her at the speed they went, her head was having difficulty wrapping around what had just happened in the past few minutes.
Also...
Did she really lose Iwa-chan and Oikawa-senpai??
Terushima Yuuji watched as the puff of smoke that the Karasuno boy and the cute girl left behind dissipated, dejavu of what happened yesterday hitting him.
"Ah~ I didn't even get her name."
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Hinata Shouyo stood by, watching as the girl he just dragged outside the gym was hunched over trying to catch her breath. He wasn't fazed by the physical exertion he just went through, running felt good sometimes. But he felt bad, he just went and grabbed this stranger without even asking her and ran off - making her keep up with him. She must be a manager for another team, or at least had been a spectator of the matches that day - she was definitely not in great physical shape to be keeping up with him.
Yet, given all the reasons he should have ignored what he saw - it made him think of yesterday when Shimizu-senpai had been cornered by that same Terushima-senpai from Johzenji. Just like with his manager, he had to step in and save her. Something about her just propelled him forward without thinking.
"Hey tangerine-kun." Hinata had his he downcasted, but was whipped up to see her in front of him with a slight smile on his face. It reminded him of someone- "Thank you."
"I-I'm so sorry I made you run all of a sudden!" She was still trying to catch her breath, sweat shined over her face and her bands were sticking to her face. That's when Hinata noticed-
"Hey! I'm taller than you!"
An aura that rivaled his captain's anger appeared around the girl, Hinata swallowed hard - realizing he should just keep his mouth shut more often.
"And that's supposed to make you happy, hm? Tangerine-kun, height isn't everything ya know." She was inching closer and closer to him, he could see the depths of hell opening up below him as she made her way towards him.
'This is it, this is where I die.'
"Hey I found the Dumbass, he's over here." He was never more happy to see Kageyama than in that moment, turning around just so the setter could see the panic on his face and hurry up and save him. His teammate was approaching them, any second now the Karasuno decoy would be free from this demon.
"HINATA-BOKE CMON- huh?"
Huh?
"Senpai?"
Who?
"Hi there, Tobio-chan."
The small voice behind him was back, the demon inside was gone. Hinata's eyes darted back and forth between the two, following them like it was a ball during a match.
"WHAT?"
----------------
To say that Mayumi was shocked to see Tobio-chan during her visit, especially so soon, was an understatement. They stood off to the side, the rest of the Karasuno team not too far away as the two former schoolmates caught up with each other. There was an issue though, she didn't know where to start, what questions to ask-
"How's your high school?"
Kageyama couldn't look up from his feet, instead opting to focus on kicking the small rocks that were close by. He asked a dumb question, he doesn't really care about her high school adventures or memories that she made since she moved.
Why is she back, why now?
And Mayumi being Mayumi, saw right through him. Sighing she too started kicking rocks, nudging them closer to his shoes so he would take notice.
"I didn't know my cousin was your team's manager."
"I put it together when we were first introduced to Shimizu-senpai, it's not a common last name and you guys look similar enough." He was babbling at this point, there's so much he couldn't say and tell her since she left. Any chance she gives him to speak, he won't stop talking now.
"Hyogo is nice, my team will most likely be in nationals for Spring High. We made it to nationals for Interhigh too." Mayumi took to glance over at the Karasuno team, some of the players making it obvious that they were trying to eavesdrop. There were two in particular who seem to face a dilemma, not knowing if they should stand by their precious manager or check out the cute new girl that their setter was talking to.
"Tobio-chan, I'm sorry."
Finally he let his eyes met hers for a second, knowing full well what she meant by her apology. She was sorry for leaving him behind, when he most likely needed her the most. He didn't deserve her kindness, even after all these years. She has no idea what kind of player he became.
"Mayumi-senpai, no-"
"King of the court? Don't let such a silly nickname bring you down." So she knew.
"I watched you play against Johzenji, you were amazing, more so than I remembered." She was looking in the distance at his teammates when she spoke. She turned and stared into his eyes, almost looking into his soul - she always knew what to say to him, she was the best manager he could've asked for in junior high.
"I may have to warn my own setter about you - so you better make it to nationals, kay?"
It was never a question, not with that beaming smile she gave him. It felt just like all the motivational speeches she would give him during practice in junior high. Almost like a family member looking out for you.
"That was the plan, Mayumi-boke."
Even though you're no longer my manager, you still reach out and support me.
I'll see you again on the court, facing your team at nationals - just you wait.