It had been a tradition.
Players would first come at the gym where the Shiratorizawa boys were at, hoping to see.
Who it was or what they were looking for, they would never tell.
And strangely enough, they would just stand there, bow after they managed to catch a glimpse of whatever it is that they want to see and then leave with a satisfied expression on their faces.
You have seen this happened all morning and you have been hesitant to ask.
"Was this place a previous shrine?" You say your thoughts aloud and Tendo almost spewed his drink, with the rest of his teammates looking at you with confused eyes.
That's what she thinks this was all about??? The others practically screamed in their heads.
"Why do you think they come here?" Tendo asks as he wipes the spilled drink off his mouth. And you gave him a fast reply.
"What else?" You returned the question, answering confidently.
"To see Ushijima of course!" You declared proudly.
Tendo and the rest only blinks when they hear you.
"Wakatoshi, you didn't tell me she was like this." The red head puts his hand on their ace's shoulders.
"It was my bad." Ushijima only replied and you raised an eyebrow.
"Was she always like this?"
"I have been told."
So even in Japan, there were totally conversations you were being left out on. You narrow your eyes in irritation. You couldn't even bother to pester them since it was obvious they wouldn't tell anyway.
Your brows furrow and you only went back to business. You watch as the players do a round of serves and receives.
Being in support was okay. It made you move around a lot and be on a lookout, though obviously the work was not as tiring as being an athlete.
But you kinda have a feeling that if Norrie doing this work, she would have already been sprawled to the ground from after a few minutes. That girl can look like she'd done 10 laps of running just by going up one flight of stairs after all. You made a mental note to call her later.
Goshiki Tsutomu jumps up with a smile on his face, feeling particularly good with this spike. You stand there on the side as you watch the current shiratorizawa ace do a decent line shot.
The trajectory of the ball that left his hand hit the line perfectly and he had slammed it with a force that could easily distinguish him from his peers too. So this was the ace.
He fixed his bangs as he finishes, and a smug expression appears on his face as he turns to his teammates for feedback. The approval from his lowerclassmen fired him up until his gaze landed on you.
Oh god.
You look to the left and the right to make sure. But his gaze was intense and you realized you couldn't run off.
You only give him a thumbs up and a smile you've clearly practiced a hundred times as a model made its way on your face.
"Uwaaaa." He says and he looked even more fired up afterwards. You could only scratch the back of your head.
"Whaa~ Tsutomu's in peak condition today too." The others said in awe.
"He's just showing off." Semi says, arms crossed.
Right. Showing off. You pause as the word repeats otself in your head.
Riggght. This was highschool. You tried to chant the statement like a mantra. Your fucked up standards shouldn't leak in this place. It'll be bad since you volunteered for support too.
A thin line appears on your lips and you try to remember these important points. You nod and walked away, bumping into a certain blocker
"What do you think?" Tendo suddenly asks you, his teammates looking at you with the same curious look.
"Of what?" You asked. "Of that play." Tendo's wide eyes look at you as if he's assessing a child's opinion.
And Ushijima Wakatoshi only looks away, knowing how this was gonna go down.
You thought about it. But the first comment you'd probably answer was "It was just a linesh-" you muttered under your breath. But you stopped short.
It was a good thing that they didn't hear. "I... I haven't seen the others play yet so I'm not sure!" You say, panicking.
You smiled awkwardly before they watch as you trail off to fix stuff at the bench, the gazes of the alumni burning your back.
"She doesn't look that surprised, is she?" Semi notices it.
"In watching volleyball plays." He adds and the others realized.
"She must be used to seeing you play then, Wakatoshi." Tendo realizes as he looks at the ace to remind him but the stoic athlete doesn't say anything.
"It always better for lolis- I mean cute girls to always cheer for everyone after all."
"But I've never seen her be in awe here or be amazed by anyone." The red head suddenly pointed the facts, being particularly observant.
The athlete sighs as he realized that his friend was being more curious than normal. But he couldn't blame Tendo after all. Since some of your habits were showing and the blocker always had this tendency to satisfy his curiosity.
"You're thinking too hard. This is just the second day and she still doesn't know everyone, right?"
"It's kind of hard to instantly compliment people you know."
"What if she's just shy?"
"Ohhh. Yeah, yeah. That makes sense too."
Ushijima Wakatoshi only looks at them as they say their thoughts aloud.
If they were fishing for compliments, then Claire Romero wasn't the person to go to.
He could practically read you as you try to remind yourself that this is highschool level since you look very anxious.
"Don't tell me. She's the type to only compliment you then Wakatoshi since she's so used to you." Reon guesses and he stopped short at hearing it.
That was obviously not true.
But come to think of it.
Has he ever been complimented by you before?
Ushijima Wakatoshi thought hard, trying to think of your lines that stuck out to him.
"Average."
"Goliath."
"GOLIATH!"
He couldn't think of anything.
Although there was one thing that stuck out.
"Wakatoshi."
❀
Ahh.
❀
No. No. That was different.
Although he does like hearing it. A lot.
Yes, that was different.
Ahh.
There was something.
He remembers something that could be a compliment.
"You..."
"You... taste nice."
...
"Wakatoshi?" The others suddenly looked at him.
Ushijima Wakatoshi suddenly turned his back on them and picked up a volleyball.
"Where are you going?" Tendo asked, wondering about the sudden silence.
"Spikes."
And they only look at the figure of their ace as he goes back to the court, not noticing that his ears were turning red.
—
"Ohhh. Goliath's spiking!" You beamed as you saw him, realizing that this would be the first time you had seen him practice with an audience.
"Golia...?" The vice-captain, Sagae hears you and you yelp upon realizing you've been heard. "Eek. Nothing. Nothing." You panic.
It was troublesome.
Ushijima Wakatoshi was respected here.
This was an absolute fact.
You were naturally conscious of what to call him. You've always called him Goliath and it was a gut feeling.
But you didn't know why but you feel that it was disrespectful to call him by his pet name when he's here being idolized.
But there was a problem of you being shy at times when you call his name.
So you have been internally practicing to call him by his first name in your head as a result.
"Wh... what do you think of the team, Clara-san?" The vice captain interrupts your thoughts as he asks you. He looked like he had mustered a lot of courage to ask the topic, leaving you with no choice.
You look at them as they practice. What do you think of the team?
You have a perfect answer.
You nod your head in agreement with your thoughts as you realized yesterday and today.
You know what the Shiratorizawa highschool boys volleyball club is. And perfectly well too.
An Ushijima Wakatoshi Fanclub!
The Shiratorizawa boys volleyball club was an Ushijima Wakatoshi fanclub.
"They're... working hard." You nod, your answers stiff but convincing.
The highschool boy only sighed.
"Whaaa. That sounds like something the coach would say."
You sweat uncomfortably before nodding awkwardly and returning to your spot.
Since this wasn't your turf, you were trying your best to be truthful and mindful. It feels wrong to lie and that was probably the vaguest answer you could give.
You haven't interacted with kids in a long time too so you were trying to be nice, even if you have to imitate the greatest actress you know that was your friend Ayaka.
Yeah, you can say some professionals suck in some areas straight to their face but younger athletes were more of a handful to deal with.
They were younger, more promising, but their wings can be broken even before they take flight.
You don't have the luxury to take responsibility for something like that.
You have been practically putting a leash to your usual habits, being mindful of these facts.
Though you realized as you noticed a spiker on the boys' team having difficulty with the rounds.
You could control being truthful. But being privy in sports wasn't something you could get rid of that easily.
"Hey you. Your arms are quite strained when you spike. Did you skip a couple of warm up because you were late?" You asked a member and the surprised boy nods.
You went up to him as you gave him a couple of exercises and stretches to do so, unaware of something else.
Ohh?
Tendo Satori peers in at the site from afar.
It was unusual. You were doing some unusual things, although very subtle at it.
He watches as you finished and he glances at the player you've helped, and how the boy performed better after.
You know stuff. He could confirm it.
Everything you have done was pretty normal— from being a manager and helping when it was needed.
You were a beautiful girl who could take care of people well. It was everyone's first impression.
And it looked too good to be true.
Tendo Satori had always liked watching people, even debunking some of them too. But he knew something was off. You were still being too nice right now.
He still couldn't make out what color you were. And he notices it the first time he saw you...
The curse of the ordinary doesn't seem to cling to you.
The summer camp was a 5-day program. It was enough time. Tendo Satori had been and will be keeping a close eye on you in the meantime.
He notices you as you stop short. You were watching with an expression he had seen for the first time while you were in the camp.
And he looks towards the direction of where you were looking.
Ah. So that was it.
It was Ushijima Wakatoshi's turn to practice spikes.
"Ushijima-san." Semi sets the ball and a high toss was given to the ace.
Ushijima Wakatoshi jumped up, his majestic figure lagging in the air and they could see his arm twist to hit the ball, the force he was using in full emphasis.
As soon as his hand hits it, the ball was blasted to the other side of the court with power rawer than they've seen him use before. And with a power that was a testament all on its own as it screamed of one message.
A monster was here.
It made the red head's eyes lit up.
But Tendo Satori looks at you closely and quickly. People look at Ushijima Wakatoshi in an odd variety of expressions— of awe, admiration, fear...
He was curious.
How would someone like you react?
But to think you were just staring.
He feels a heavy tension settles in the air from looking at your gaze. And he didn't miss the glint in your eyes.
It was something he couldn't read.
He couldn't read your expression yet.
And he was curious. It was as if you were itching to do something but you stopped.
His gaze returned to the former ace, the crowd rendered silent after Ushijima's spikes.
It was still there.
Ushijima Wakatoshi's unyielding figure and the apparent fear and awe it always seemed to imprint on whoever sees him.
Yet you don't seem to think so. In fact, you look like you wanted to say something.
He wonders what it is. He wanted to know.
But his attention suddenly shifts as he senses it and because it was needed.
His eyes turn towards the gym's door.
They're here.
The monster children.
The Shiratorizawa team looks at the challengers on the gym's entrance.
A murder of crows had just arrived on the eagle's nest.