"I can't believe we're here!" Akari yelled, "We're actually playing at the nationals!"
Yuko boinked her head, "The opening ceremony is going to start soon."
Taiji stood with Kuroo, looking for some of their friends.
"Karasuno got in right?" Taiji stood on her toes, "Do you see them?"
Taiji could hear a distant 'hey hey hey', indicating that Bokuto was nearby. The two captains went on to look for their friends.
Seeing Karasuno's team, Taiji and Sugawara immediately high-fived and hugged each other, going on to talk about all the headaches their teams have been causing. Daichi and Kuroo went to talk about their own things.
"Did you finally see the real sky tree?" Kuroo teased, "You country bumpkin crows?"
"You got a little taller!" Taiji gave Daichi a slight bump on the shoulder, "Don't mind that idiot, he's just nervous."
Going on to talk with some of the other boys from Karasuno, Taiji could hear people whispering all around her.
"Isn't that Taeko Taiji?"
"I heard she completely destroyed her opponents during the playoffs."
"She's such a whore, talking to all those boys."
"Isn't she dating the captain from Nekoma's boys' team?"
"Didn't her father pass away a few years ago?"
Sugawara put a hand on Taiji's shoulder, "People sure do like to talk about you, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," She barely grinned, "It's always like this."
"TAI-CHAN!" Taiji heard someone yell behind her, "HEY HEY HEY!"
The female captain turned, "Bo-chan!"
The two energetic captains waved at each other and Taiji gave them both pats on the head, "It's great to see you guys again!"
The whispers seemed to quiet down.
The two tall boys had to lean down a little for the female captain to reach their head, making Sugawara laugh.
"How tall are you even?" The cheeky grey-haired boy snickered, "You can't even reach my head."
"I grew a centimeter!" The short girl barked, "I'd whoop your ass but we're in public."
"Doesn't that only make you 169cm?" Akaashi stated plainly, which made the female captain jump.
Bokuto laughed, "THAT'S A NICE NUMBER!"
"Gross, Bo-chan." Taiji urged while she glared at Akaashi, the tall boy smirked in response.
An announcement blared through the speaker, "The ceremony is about to start, all teams must get ready."
Taiji pointed to the boys before returning to her team, "Good luck, I'll be watching you guys!"
"People are so mean to her," Bokuto sighed as they walked back to their team, "Did you hear what they were saying?"
"I did, Bokuto-san," Akaashi raised his eyebrow, "Is that why you suddenly called out to her?"
The owl-head smiled, "Nobody deserves to feel that kind of pressure."
~~~
Stepping into the court, Taiji could feel a burst wind flying by. The opposing team, Sentoku, was already there warming up.
"Oh look," Their captain spat as she noticed Taiji, "If it isn't the princess of the court."
Yuko glared at the girl, "Don't talk about our captain like that!"
"Or what?" She snarked, "Is she going to tell her dead dad?"
Taiji tilted her head and knitted her eyebrows together, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
The captain's ego dropped tenfold, "I'm Hiroki Amaterasu! You completely crushed my team in middle school!"
Taiji's team nearly burst out in laughter at their captain's response to her trash talk. They weren't sure if she was intentionally reacting that way or she genuinely forgot.
"Ah, I see," Taiji's expression turned dark, "I tend to forget whiney bitches, sorry."
Yuko nearly dropped the ball she was holding, the expression on Hiroki's face was priceless.
"How dare you-" Hiroki was about to burst a blood vessel, her face was completely red from embarrassment and anger.
"A word of advice," Taiji smirked, "Grudges tend to make your wrinkles show up faster, so you should probably let some go."
The captain was completely humiliated at this point, some of her teammates told her that she shouldn't have tried to pick a fight with Taiji.
Akari was already rolling on the ground from laughter, earning some weird looks from the people standing around.
"You didn't have to completely destroy her, you know?" Yui patted Taiji's shoulder with a cheeky grin on her face, "She deserved it though."
"I heard that she has a really mean personality," Hina added, "She treats her teammates like they're her servants."
Taiji tilted her head, "How the hell did she even become captain then?"
Ayoi joined the conversation, "I heard someone say she forced all the other third-years to give her the title."
"That's brutal," Sora laughed, "At least you put her in her place, captain."
Taiji grinned, "We'll do that through volleyball."
~~~
"It's not fair!" everyone nearby could hear the third-year scream, "We weren't supposed to lose to her, of all people!"
The referee blew his whistle, indicating that the match was over, the board showing 2:0.
"Hiroki-san," A second-year pulled the screaming captain, "Please don't throw a fit in front of everyone."
Hiroki pushed her kouhai and pointed to Taiji, "This is all YOUR fault, I hate you!"
The captain of Nekoma's team walked to the other side of the court, she gently pushed Hiroki aside and helped the second-year up.
"You okay?" Taiji smiled, ignoring Hiroki screaming behind her, "You took quite a tumble there."
The second-year thanked her, "I'm okay, but why are you helping me?"
"Your name is Yoshiko, right?"
The second-year nodded her head.
"The reason is simple, Yoshiko-san," Taiji grinned, "I'm helping you because you need help."
"But you're our opponent?"
"That doesn't mean that we can't be nice to each other." The female captain started walking back to her team, "It really is just that simple, isn't it?"
Just before walking off the court, Taiji gave the stunned team another glance, "You guys were amazing opponents, I'm proud that I was given the chance to face you."
Coach Lee gave Taiji a smirk, "Always breaking rules, aren't you?"
"I didn't break any rules, " Taiji grinned, "I only helped someone."
"WE HAD THAT SET." Everyone could hear Hiroki screech, "ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS CHASE AFTER THAT BALL, IT"S NOT THAT HARD!"
Yuko peeked over for a moment, "Is she still making a scene?"
"Seems like it," Izanami stretched her arms, "We should just ignore her."
Hiroki noticed Taiji and her team and started to shriek even louder, "OH LOOK, IT'S THE PRINCESS OF THE COURT."
"Would you give it a break?" Taiji snapped, "I get it, you're upset, but that doesn't give you the right to treat your teammates like that!"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING," People started to gather around the teams, "YOU HAVE EVERYTHING, YOUR LIFE IS GREAT, EVERYONE LOVES YOU."
"Stop making a scene," Taiji warned.
"YOUR DAD MUST BE SO PROUD," Hiroki continued, "HE ABSOLUTELY ADORED YOU, DIDN'T HE?"
"Hiroki-san," Taiji sighed, "That's enough."
"MY LIFE IS WAY MORE SHITTIER THAN YOURS."
Taiji lost it, no longer holding back.
"So what if your life is shittier than everyone else?" Taiji tilted her head, "That still isn't an excuse to treat people like they're below you!"
Taiji turned to walk away, but Hiroki ran up to her and pulled her hair, making the captain of Nekoma nearly fall.
Kuroo could see a big crowd in the middle of the room, "What's going on?"
"Please let go, Hiroki-san." A familiar voice rang out, "Stop making a fool of yourself."
Lev nearly jumped up, "Is that Taiji-senpai?"
"It sounded like her," Shibayama added, worry was painted on his face, "Is it happening again?"
Yaku turned to the first-year libero, "What do you mean 'again'?"
"People are always mean to her during matches, they pick fights with her, call her names, all sorts of things," Shibayama started pushing through the crowd, "It was like that in middle school too."
Kuroo followed the first-year, "I remember."
Soon, the two girls came into view, a disgruntled looking girl tightly pulling Taiji's ponytail. Taiji noticed the boys and signaled them to not get involved.
"Why isn't anyone helping her?" Kuroo exasperated, "How long have they been like this?"
Harumi blocked the boys from charging forward, "We were going to, but she told us to let her handle it."
"I get it, you think life is unfair, " Taiji slowly balanced herself, "It still isn't an excuse to treat people like that!"
"Shut up!" Taiji could feel Hiroki's grip loosen, "Shut up, you don't understand anything!"
"I'm sorry that you feel this way," Taiji continued to pull herself out of Hiroki's grip, "But you can't take it out on everyone around you."
The third-year let Taiji go, "I-i..."
Hiroki stormed off, and her teammates gave Taiji a thankful smile.
"Tai!" Kuroo called out, "Are you okay?"
The female captain rubbed her neck as the crowd dispersed, "I'm fine, believe it or not."
Yuko gave Taiji a hug, "That was pretty intense, wasn't it?"
"It was," She laughed, "Can we go eat now? I'm starving."
"I agree," Kai added.
"The Bentos looked delicious!" Yui jumped to their side.
"I know, right?"
~~~
Day 1!!!
I'll be skipping a lot from here on, so I'll miss a few days!
Also, welcome to random meme section
Me: *about to give angsty ending
Also me: *Remember how much suffering I put Taiji through
Me again: *writes less angsty ending