Haikyū!! Teaching & Learning

[furo]

“Uh, excuse me, Shintaku-san?” Called Takeda Ittetsu, Shintaku’s current Modern Literature teacher in second year, who was also her Literature teacher in the last months of school the previous year, “Do you have a minute? I’d like to speak to you.”


The bell had just rung, and he had come across her right exiting her classroom, along with the other huddle of students vacating the room for recess. He had been planning to arrange this conversation with her later, eventually, but now he’d conveniently stumbled upon her earlier in the morning, so he chose to seize the opportunity.


Shintaku only nodded, drawing away from the outflow of students from the classrooms onto the hallways, following after Takeda.


“I wanted to put forth a request for you to consider,” He began, stopping to stand beside one of the picture windows which lined the long corridors. “I’ve heard that you have yet to decide what club activity to take up this year, and having joined the volleyball club in Britain, you haven’t applied for the girls’ volleyball team here.”


“Apart from observing your performance as a student first hand, as your teacher, I’ve also been looking into your academic record closely. I’ve noticed that you are quite self-sufficient, and very committed with the tasks you set your mind to.” It’s not like he hadn’t expressed so with brief remarks during class; that is to say, Takeda-sensei hadn’t just discovered this, and Shintaku was already aware this is what he perceived her as.


She simply smiled subtly and bowed her head.


“As the faculty adviser of Karasuno’s boys’ volleyball team, I’ve come to offer you a position as manager of the team,” A smile bloomed on his face, and pushed his glasses slightly higher across the bridge of his face. “W—well, actually as co-manager, because our manager position is currently occupied by Shimizu-san; I’m sure you’ve heard of her,” Takeda rubbed the back of his neck, hurrying to clarify his mistake. “I’m sure Shimizu-san will come and have a word with you to explain why she’ll be needing an extra hand running errands and managing the team. She asked if I could recommend a student I deemed capable and reliable to be appointed the duty.”


“You don’t need to be so formal, Takeda-sensei,” Koemi remarked, perhaps a bit too bluntly, triggering a tinge of pink to rise to the bespectacled teacher’s cheeks. He fixed his glasses again, rather nervously, stifling an awkward chuckle.


“Aa—hahah, y—you might be right, Shintaku-san,” He agreed, embarrassed at feeling the burning of his cheeks. “Well, we have a couple of new first-years who joined this year, and they seem very committed. All the boys are very devoted to the sport, and we’re hoping we can aim further this year, since Karasuno hasn’t been very prominent these past few years, as you may know.


“You should probably stop by practice after school one of these days, if you’re free, to watch them play and see if you’re fond of the environment,” Takeda suggested, well-meant. Koemi noticed the genuineness in his purpose; he was desperate, but in the best of ways. This brought a small curl to the corners of her lips once more. “I—I’m sure the boys will like you!”


“Thank you, Takeda-sensei. I’ll certainly think about it,” The student concluded, bowing her head.


“A—and remember there is nothing to feel pressured about! You can take as much time as you need to consider it,” He reminded, a tad louder. Koemi giggled at his characteristic overwrought demeanor. There were few to no students who didn’t love Takeda Ittetsu for this frantic deportment of his.


“I will,” She nodded, tiny creases showing themselves alongside her eyes with the smile. “Thank you for taking me into consideration to manage your team, Takeda-sensei,” The student bowed appreciatively. Takeda held out his hands upfront, humbly, insisting she shouldn’t be thanking him, but he should be instead, for having her contemplate his request.


“N—no, thank you Shintaku-san, for your time and regard,” The teacher acknowledged, “Ah, I have to go; can’t be late for class in 1-3. I’ll see you around, Shintaku-san!” He excused himself, bowing briskly as he stepped away, clumsily stumbling onto a few students behind him, and ungainly laughing it away. Shintaku Koemi simply waved him away, suppressing a light giggle.


Soon after, the bell chimed once more, calling upon the assembly of students back into their classrooms for the beginning of third period of the day. It was Monday: Shintaku was way too weary to pay attention in Chemistry class, as dedicated a student she undeniably was, and thus spent most of the lesson meditating Takeda-sensei’s request.

 

[tsuntsuki]

"Journalism is boring," stated Futaba, Riko's best friend.


"Creative writing is boring," replied Riko, raising an eyebrow. "In journalism, you get to go out and see things and report back! But in creative writing you're basically deluding yourself in fantasies and ideas."


"Tch, we're no longer friends, Riko-chan." Futaba stood at the entrance to the creative writing section, and waved to Riko. "I wish it could have ended better, I really do," she murmured dramatically, before disappearing inside.


Riko was about to yell something at her but decided against it, going to the journalism section instead. Time could not be wasted; the head of the journalism department was a cranky third-year named Mashimoto Hachirou or something, and he absolutely despised latecomers. With her pencil and notepad in hand, Riko took her place among the other journalism students. They were few, only five of the students in the writing club went to the journalism section and so, it ended up having to share a room with the poetry kids.


It was actually kind of fun – Hachirou could be yelling at some kid about how he had to scoop out gossip or something, and sad sonnets could be heard from the other side of the spacious room.


This time, he walked in with a determined look on his face and a new haircut – there were no more shaggy blond locks framing his face, and he slammed both of his hands down on the table, inspecting the students.


"We need to get taken more seriously!" he said, eyes narrowing. "People just love poetry, creative writing too, but no! One! Cares! About journalism!" The two new first years seemed to shrink; they obviously hadn't gotten used to his fits. "Now, does anyone have any ideas how to make people care?"


Someone from the other side of the room yelled at him to keep quiet.


One of the first years raised her hand. "Uh... report something?"


"We don't have anything interesting to report about. Can't just go lurking around town for news."


"Maybe the school, then?" The other second year beside Riko spoke up. "We have a lot of clubs. Maybe report on them or something?"


"Excellent idea, whatshisname!" Hachirou clapped. "Uh... which clubs are the most interesting ones? Swimming? Nah, don't think we've got a club for that. Painting? Cooking? Volleyball? Fu--y'know what..." He tore out bits of paper from his notepad, scribbling down names of random clubs that came to mind, and folded them up. "Y'all get to choose a random paper, and that'll be your club to report on. Just work on the members, progress, what the club's been doing, and report back every week. Is that absolutely clear?"


Everyone nodded.


- - -


"Volleyball," murmured Riko, crumpling up the paper since it was pretty much useless now. "So we just... go to these clubs and start taking notes?"


Hachirou nodded, rubbing his eyes from lack of sleep. "Yep, right now. If anyone has any questions, do ask."


The room was silent except for the sound of Shakespeare from the other side.


"Scram."


All the journalism students hurried out.


And Riko, too, made her way to the volleyball club, eyes shining with expectations of something exciting to happen.

 

[furo]

The faculty adviser was not wrong. During lunch break, Shimizu Kiyoko, from third year, walked into class 2-4, spotting Koemi easily and walking over to her. The stares of most students in the classroom tailed the female senior’s moving figure, mostly from the few males mingling in the room, which was no surprise. Koemi had only now discovered how curious she was to hear how Shimizu would express her situation, given how typically soundless and reserved she came out to be. She didn’t recall ever hearing her voice; she supposed she’d just assumed how it sounded.


“Shintaku Koemi?” The manager asked cautiously, as she was standing right in front of the sought girl, voice silvery and modulate, much like Koemi’s speculations.


“That’s me,” Shintaku confirmed, putting her empty bentō into its wrapping and away inside her bag. Shimizu-senpai brought closer the chair of the desk opposite to the younger student, helping herself a seat.


“I came to talk to you about the position Takeda-sensei offered you as co-manager of the boys’ volleyball team, and explain why I will need someone to help me manage the team this year,” She began, keeping a steady and rather monotonous tone.


And she explained just that – nothing more, nothing less.


Shimizu-senpai would be enrolling in a cram school during her last year of high school, to prepare for an entrance examination to a university college of economics in Tokyo. This would mean she would only be able to ensure her attendance to practice in the mornings, but would often be absent to practice after school hours. She hadn’t yet briefed the team on her decision, and she’d determined it was not particularly necessary.


Shintaku empathized with the senior’s situation: that is, having to give up certain activities in order to consolidate studies as a priority; she’d had to skip quite a few volleyball practices back in Manchester when she had private supplementary tutoring to study mathematics. This feel of compassion would subconsciously contribute to Koemi’s positively biased contemplation of accepting the petition.


Given that the second-year asserted that she could thoroughly consider the request, the manager went on ahead to hand the younger student the application form to officially join the team. Had it been somebody other than Shintaku the candidate in question, the gesture may have seemed a bit hasty, but she made nothing out of it. It came off as practical to her, if anything.


- - -


“Tadaima,” The brunette announced as she stepped in, to nobody in particular really, being unaware of who was home, absorbed in her own train of thought. She removed her shoes, leaving them by the genkan. Ridding herself of her bag as she headed towards the kitchen, Koemi realized she was still clutching the two pages clipped together.


Shintaku stared down at the pages, pensive for a moment, then placed them upon the empty breakfast bar tabletop.


“Ah, Koemi, you’re home,” Came greeting a man as he arrived at the base of the stairway in the hallway, who had quite recently walked past the middle age milestone and whose slicked-back hair was the color of weathered oak.


“Hey, Chiyo,” The teenage replied, munching onto a pair of Crunky Popjoys. The older man patted the girl’s head once as he walked by her towards the refrigerator, to pour himself a glass of green iced tea. “Okāsan?” She asked casually with a brief frown.


“She’s out – had to run some errands for work, and I think she said she’d go shopping for groceries, too,” Chiyotanda told her, leaning his back against the kitchen counter, giving Koemi a short sideways glance. He noticed there was something uncommon about her eyes, as if they clung onto a straight indiscernible string in the air right before them, instead of perching their gaze upon a visible object. “How was school?”


“Oh, it was fine,” Shintaku responded vaguely with a slight shrug of her shoulders, a bit out of it. She seemed still deep in thought.


“You sure?” He arched a brow, keeping an eye on her by the corner of his orbs. Not being her father certainly did not signify he didn’t know her as like he was. She hummed in response, nodding her head once. Chiyotanda only then noticed the clipped pages lying patiently upon the breakfast bar. He pointed at them with a questioning frown before he reached out and picked them up, all the while he swallowed his last sips of iced tea. Drawing the pair of reading glasses hook to the collar of his henley and shelving them onto the bridge of his nose, Chiyo took a closer look at the papers.


“A form? What’s it for?” The older man enquired, genuinely curious. Obviously, ‘Karasuno Male Volleyball Team’ was the first thing he had read (logically, for it was stated in capital letters at the heading of the form), but he sought for Koemi’s answer. Besides, Chiyo was rather bemused to wonder what business she would have with the boys’ volleyball team.


“I’ve been asked to join the boys’ volleyball team as co-manager,” The brunette explained, turning her gaze towards the man with weathered oak hair.


“Manager, eh?” Chiyo’s brow furrowed slightly with the hint of a smile; he studied the form more closely again. “It sure is easy to take a liking to volleyball, you already know that,” He added, now giving her a solid smile. “Are you going to join?”


“I’m thinking about it,” She wavered, cocking her head to the side with the most unnoticeable scowl. “I know for sure that I’ll need to invest a lot of my time on it, which doesn’t really trouble me at all. I don’t know why I’m so indecisive,” Koemi sighed quietly, unaware of the frown creasing her expression.


“You said you ‘will’ need to invest your time – that means you know you’re going to do it,” Chiyotanda stated assertively with a contented smirk now shaping his mouth, pleased to express that she could already find the answer in her own words.

 

[tsuntsuki]

"So, how was your day yesterday?" Futaba's voice sounded hoarse and she gritted her teeth; the question was clearly sarcastic.


"It was fun. What about yours?" Riko grinned. They were walking to school together. Yesterday, they were supposed to walk home and eat ice cream on the way, but Riko had been caught up with volleyball and failed to inform Futaba, who ended up waiting for half an hour before leaving.


"You know, you could've just told me you were going to be busy, you asshole."


"Whoops." A small snicker escaped her as she said that.


"Whoops? I'll show you whoops when I shove your entire shoe down your throat, you piece of—"


Riko jumped out of the way, dodging her swing at her face. "Okay, screw you," Futaba murmured, running a hand through her hair. "How was the club?"


"They were..." Riko blinked. Everything had happened so fast over there, it was like they had so much more fun than the journalism club. She clenched her fists in envy, internally cursing everything. But, the people were nice. She didn't talk much to them except Daichi and Sugawara, just stayed in the corner taking notes. "...intense. They were nice and intense, yeah."

—

​

After school was over, Riko made her way to the writing club as usual. Once inside, she took her seat and wondered why no one else was there. Did they really want to get yelled at by Hachirou? Speaking of which, he walked in as soon as she thought that, and fixated her with a glare.


"...the fuck are you doing here, Mizushima?"


"H-huh?" Hachirou was scowling and Riko seemed to shrink with each passing second. "I-I'm in the club, so of course I'd be here—"


She cut herself off upon remembering yesterday's events.


"—oh. Ohhh. Oh shit, Mashimoto-kun, I am so sorry and I forgot and—"


"Just get your ass to the volleyball club." He was apparently a little exhausted, massaging his temples.


Pencil and notepad in hand, Riko fervently nodded before quickly leaving the room. It was always fun to watch Hachirou yell at someone, but never fun when she was the person being yelled at – though she seriously got off easy this time. With a sigh, she paused outside the building, running a hand through her choppy black locks.


Volleyball club it is, then.

 

[furo]

Ittetsu wove his fingers into his short curly hair, and dug his fingers then into his scalp heaving a sigh as he shuffled towards his desk in the faculty room. He didn’t know a pair of pages atop his desk would improve his mood so drastically.


The Literature teacher slumped heavily onto his desk chair before fixing his glasses to peer down at the papers he noticed set down on the desktop.


Karasuno Male Volleyball Team Application Form


Student Full Name: Shintaku Koemi


Grade & Class: Second Year Class 4


Coach / Contact Name (for confirmation and all correspondence): Takeda Ittetsu.


Position: Manager


Contact Number: ...


Takeda’s eyes broadened behind his glass frames and his lips broke onto a bright smile.


“I knew it!”


---


Karasuno’s newly structured team was already halfway through warm-up when Shimizu arrived, bringing along the new manager with her. Shintaku admittedly had to muster up some courage to follow Shimizu-senpai without argument to the gym straight away. Was it because they were all boys? Hardly likely. She wasn’t the type whose heart would miss a beat when interacting with the opposite gender. As a matter of fact, Koemi strongly believed a position as such she had taken was not suited for that type. Shintaku’s initial hesitation was mostly due to the irresolution she put herself through the previous day, and was suddenly struck by the feeling that she hadn’t put enough thorough thought onto the decision before signing up.


Well, there was backing out now, anyway. Shintaku did not allow herself to feel the tiniest bit intimidated, either.


“Ah, Shintaku-san! I’m glad to see you here, already,” smiley Takeda greeted the new member of the team, also acknowledging the senior manager’s arrival with a bow of his head. “How about I introduce you to the team? Come over here.”


The female second-year was motioned by the adviser towards the small crowd of players huddled near the opposite sideline of the court as they warmed up to begin practice.


“Chotto, min’na!” Takeda called out, waving the team over as he approached ushering the brunette beside him. The cluster disseminated and turned to face the faculty adviser. “This is Shintaku Koemi, from second year. She will be the team’s second manager from today forward,” He introduced enthusiastically. Shintaku was rather bewildered at how the huddle of players towered over her, being that she was so short. She had noticed, of course, the male students’ impressive heights this year as she saw them during class and spread among the corridors of the school, but facing a whole cluster of them altogether was quite a different story. She felt like a lonely cottage next to a flashy city of skyscrapers.


Such was the puzzlement that it took her a few moments to recognize the familiar faces among the players.


“Hajimemashite!” She exclaimed courteously, bowing to the group. The attention of most roused.


“Another manager?” a short –surprisingly short –bundle of vigor and orange hair questioned loudly, his cheeks slightly tinged pink with curiosity.


“Taku-chan!”


“Suga-senpai?” Shintaku hadn’t noticed him, probably because of his standing behind an aberrantly tall blond fellow. Yes, she already knew Sugawara Kōshi was in the volleyball team, but she didn’t see him when she approached the players.


“Taku-chan, you didn’t tell me you were going to join our team. This is great!” Sugawara cheered, sporting his distinctive friendly smile, receiving one in return from his kōhai and old friend.

 

[tsuntsuki]

Late, so late, thought Riko as she gave a small knock on the door of the gym – before retracting her hand. What the hell, you don't just knock on gym doors, she scolded herself, there's no chance the people inside are going to hear you. Taking a deep breath, she opened it and stepped inside.


There seemed to be something exciting happening, so no one really noticed her. Grateful for that, Riko was given a few extra seconds to gather herself before rushing towards them.


"Sumimasen!" she said upon reaching Takeda-sensei and Shimizu, bowing a little. "I'm late, I got caught up with something..."


That was a white lie, wasn't it?


Ah... now was not the time to get concerned about things like being a decent human being.


Takeda simply offered her a smile and shook his head. "No, no, don't worry about it!"


"Mizushima-senpai!" The orange ball of sunshine as she had come to refer to him in her head immediately brightened up. "Did you make notes about me yesterday? Waaah, I'll have to play extra hard now to get in the newspaper—"


The taller one beside him – Kageyama, right? – elbowed him to cut him off.


Most of them seemed to be rather excited, or at least pleased by what she'd told them yesterday: she was going to come here and take notes on them, write up a report and send it weekly, and if they showed better progress than the other sports clubs, they'd end up getting two whole pages for themselves in the sports section of the school newspaper.


Riko had tactfully refrained from saying that was if they didn't run out of ink. Sports was not given much priority in the student council, from what she'd heard.


It seemed like Tanaka was about to make an inappropriate comment; Riko immediately began searching her mind for something to say or maybe run and sit in the corner like yesterday before he could do so. But out of the corner of her eye, she catches a glance of someone new – a girl who hadn't been here yesterday. If Riko had seen her around the school before, she certainly didn't remember. "Ah, who are you?" she asked, turning to face her with a curious look on her face.

 

[furo]

“This is Shintaku Koemi, Mizushima-senpai, our new manager! She’s a second year like you!” cried out the ginger one, enthusiastically, as it was usual of him, earning a few silent grunts from his taller setter for being so damn loud.


“You’re a second-year? Why didn’t I see you around last year?” a sturdy boy with a buzzcut, whom Shintaku didn’t quite recognize, asked a bit too vehemently.


“She could’ve transferred here this year, tonchiki,” the tall blond with glasses retorted in a snide tone, crossing his arms over his chest.


“Oii, watch the way you talk to your upperclassmen, Tsukishima-teme!” the buzzcut boy barked with clenched fists and gritted teeth.


“N—no, actually Taku-chan was sent as a transfer student to Britain in her first year of high school,” Sugawara butted in with a slight snicker before the two engaged in further quarrel. “But she did attend the last two months of first year in Karasuno.”


The newly introduced manager was nudged by the sensation that she wasn’t doing much of the talking that corresponded to her, and she was determined to give off an assertive first impression to the team.


“That’s right. Are you in second year, too?” she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.


“U—uh, yeah, class 1! I’m Tanaka Ryūnosuke!” the boy with the shaved head chanted proudly, recovering quickly from his light stammer and jabbing his thumb onto his chest.


“What junior high are you from?” bluntly asked a raven-haired boy with intense eyes, whom she quickly identified to be a first-year she’d stumbled across by the vending machines. His voice was steady and demanding, but Shintaku was not taken aback.


“Rokudan Chūgakkō,” she answered straightforward. “Same as Suga-senpai.”


“A power school,” he mumbled under his breath, casting his gaze aside.


“Do you know anything about volleyball? Have you played before?” The lively ginger pried, giving a step forward and closer to her, his eyes shimmering with curio.


“Well, yes, I played in the volleyball team at my school in England last year,” Shintaku affirmed, nodding her head. The short redhead’s expression lightened up even more.


“What position? I’m Hinata Shōyō, by the way!”


“Ē to, wing spiker, b—but I wasn’t really that goo—”


“Ah, hōntoni?! I’m middle blocker!” He cried out eagerly, gesturing a block with his two arms stretched above his head as he stood on tiptoes. His eyes were a pair of miniature suns of their own. “E—eh, isn’t it funny? With my height, I mean,” he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.


“What do you mean you weren’t that good, Taku-chan?” Sugawara differed, his smile never wavering. “She and I used to play together in junior high. There weren’t enough willing girls to form a female volleyball team, but she would help me practice my tosses during break and after school sometimes, or the coach sometimes let her join a practice match whenever we were short of players! I would say it was you who helped me perfect my toss, Taku-chan.”


Shintaku simpered modestly, waving her hands in front of her briskly so as to disclaim her senpai’s adulation. Before she could express any gratification out loud, Hinata spoke up yet again.


“Suge! You can teach me your spikes, Shintaku-senpai!” He put forth, grinning broadly, his fisted hands twitching with fluttering thrill.


“We need to start practice now, Hinata – I’m sure Shintaku-san would be pleased to teach you some other time,” The captain, Sawamura Daichi, halted the ebullient first-year. “Welcome to the team, Shintaku-san,” Daichi added, smiling warmly. “Ah, and Mizushima-san, you can seat yourself wherever you’d like to take your notes,” He said, turning to the taller second-year female writer.

 

[tsuntsuki]

So far, Riko's notes consisted simply of her personal opinions about the team, something that journalists were not supposed to do – but she had some days before she had to send the report to Hachirou, so why not take things easy?


She had visions of the future in which she'd pull an all nighter on the last day, writing the report.


"Arigato, Sawamura-senpai," she murmured, fiddling with the small notepad in her hand. Glancing at Koemi, she said, "I'm sure you're a great wing spiker, Shintaku-san." This meant another person to take notes on and learn about, right? Perfect, now this was what Riko loved about journalism, learning more and more about something.


The thought that now she had to learn about people, who were even more interesting in her opinion entered her mind and a smile graced her lips.


"Mizushima-senpai, can I see your notes about us?" Hinata asked eagerly. "I want to know how I can improve and be an even better player—"


"That's what coaches are for, Hinata-kun," said Takeda-sensei, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sure Mizushima-san will show them to you someday."


Though she was glad he managed to divert Hinata's attention, Riko wished he hadn't added that last bit. "What Takeda-sensei said. And now I'll just, ah, continue... taking notes..."


Riko stepped away from them all – a concern of hers was that they'd find out she knew jack shit about volleyball. She'd meant to research yesterday, but got caught up with ice cream and homework.


Quickly opening her notepad, she looked at the notes she'd taken hurriedly yesterday. There wasn't much except the 'vibe' she got from each player, and what number they were. Not much since actually watching volleyball was mesmerizing. It was a bit silly considering she was supposed to observe the volleyball team – but she had no clue what the positions of volleyball were.


So her notes on their positions were filled with question marks and phrases like "the guy that throws the ball" and "the guy that hits the ball really hard with his hand". Making a mental note to research on this later, she decided to ask Koemi about this soon.

 

[furo]

The new member bowed properly and voiced her gratitude to the team for welcoming her. The huddle of players scattered to finish warm-ups.


“Why don’t you go help Shimizu set up the net?” Takeda prompted, beckoning Koemi with his hand placed on her shoulder.


“Right, I’m on it,” She smiled and agreed, then setting after her senior to the storage room and helped her haul the net over to the court, unroll it, and fasten the ends onto each side. Next, the new manager proceeded to carry the wheeled baskets with volleyballs towards the court, where the players then began practicing their drills.


Shimizu did not need to instruct her assistant in much more, for instance, preparing the drinks and bringing the towels, for Koemi already had experience with volleyball practices. Shimizu sighed contentedly to herself, feeling a sort of alleviation to be in the knowledge that she had appointed the position as assistant manager to an all-around reliable kōhai, who proved to be very much suited for the task thus far.


“Excuse me, ano…” Koemi motioned towards the dark-haired player who practiced his tosses with Hinata, unsure of his name. She wasn’t within his field of vision as she neared from behind, but he was instantly aware of her approach.


“Kageyama Tobio,” he said, sharply. Shintaku was drawn aback.


“Do you usually wear only one knee pad, Kageyama-san?” She enquired, pointing at his exposed left lower joint. The first-year was also momentarily puzzled that she had paid enough attention to notice, particularly being her first day. He glanced down at his knee as well.


“No. I lost the other one,” he justified, casting his heavy gaze upon her.


“Oh, here, you can use mine.” Shintaku bent down and rolled up the hem of her left leg above her shin, proceeding to doff her black knee pad. Once off, she extended her arm towards Kageyama, whose brow was knitted into a bemused frown.


Hesitant at first, he reached out to grasp the pad being handed to him, but seeing Shintaku’s single encouraging nod, he took it. “Dōmo.” The setter quickly looked away, crouching to slip on the knee pad. Hinata stared, awe-stricken.


“Why do you have those on, Shintaku-senpai?” The short middle blocker asked, arching an eyebrow in query.


“I used to play volleyball, remember?”


“A—ah, yeah, but…”


“I know I’m not going to play, but it doesn’t hurt to stay on the safe side, does it?” She offered a smile, resting her hands on her hips. His wide orbs remained fixated on Koemi, his lips slightly parted.


“Snap out of it, Hinata, we need to perfect our quicks,” Kageyama ordered, already clutching a yellow and blue striped practice ball.


“Excuse me, ano…” Koemi motioned towards the dark-haired player who practiced his tosses with Hinata, unsure of his name. She wasn’t within his field of vision as she neared from behind, but he was instantly aware of her approach.


“Kageyama Tobio,” he said, sharply. Shintaku was drawn aback.


“Do you usually wear only one knee pad, Kageyama-san?” She enquired, pointing at his exposed left lower joint. The first-year was also momentarily puzzled that she had paid enough attention to notice, particularly being her first day. He glanced down at his knee as well.


“No. I lost the other one,” he justified, casting his heavy gaze upon her.


“Oh, here, you can use mine.” Shintaku bent down and rolled up the hem of her left leg above her shin, proceeding to doff her black knee pad. Once off, she extended her arm towards Kageyama, whose brow was knitted into a bemused frown.


Hesitant at first, he reached out to grasp the pad being handed to him, but seeing Shintaku’s single encouraging nod, he took it. “Dōmo.” The setter quickly looked away, crouching to slip on the knee pad. Hinata stared, awe-stricken.


“Why do you have those on, Shintaku-senpai?” The short middle blocker asked, arching an eyebrow in query.


“I used to play volleyball, remember?”


“A—ah, yeah, but…”


“I know I’m not going to play, but it doesn’t hurt to stay on the safe side, does it?” She offered a smile, resting her hands on her hips. His wide orbs remained fixated on Koemi, his lips slightly parted.


“Snap out of it, Hinata, we need to perfect our quicks,” Kageyama ordered, already clutching a yellow and blue striped practice ball.


“Just yesterday I told the boys about a practice match I arranged with another school for next Tuesday,” Takeda’s amiable voice yanked the brunette from her thoughts brewing in her head, once she had drawn away from the practice zone and began handling the drinks and towels. “Aoba Jōsai Kōkō.”


She was paralyzed for a moment. “They’re one of the top four in the prefecture, from what I’ve gathered. We’ve also even seen them in local sports magazines,” The adviser pointed out.


“Ah, yeah…” She knew. “I’ve heard of them,” Koemi said, a bit disheartened.


“The team is going to have to shape up quite a lot for next week,” Takeda’s lips flowered into a gentle smile as he placed a hand upon the second-year’s shoulder, “I’m glad we have one more member to help us out.”


Shintaku half-forced a mild smile in return, glancing at the teacher. The vivid forest green of her eyes had suddenly shed their verve, and Takeda, having a sharp eye for alterations in people’s behavior, noticed this. However, and just for this once, he let it pass, trusting Koemi’s resilience.


Desperate to turn away and escape Takeda’s scope of attention and concern, Koemi took to the figure she could catch at the corner of her eye, closer to the stage ledge. The brunette scanned the court with a glance, making sure no player looked like they needed attendance for at least a moment, and approached the quiet figure huddled up against the furthest end of the gymnasium.


“Mizushima-san,” Shintaku called, forthright, “forgive me, I couldn’t introduce myself properly – someone seemed to have done it for me, and for you as well;” she chuckled briefly, “I’m Shintaku Koemi, from second year. Class 4.” She made a light courteous bow.

 

[tsuntsuki]

Riko's notes about each individual read something like this.

sawamura daichi — captain. kind of scary


sugawara koushi — vice-captain. really nice


ryunosuke tanaka — hits the ball. needs to chill


hinata shoyo — blocker (height...??) very perky


kageyama tobio — intense. throws the ball up up up


tsukishima kei — pisses everyone off. blocker


yamaguchi tadashi — blocker or something ??
​

Clearly, she had focused more on their personalities than the actual things they did in volleyball, something that she, as a journalist, really shouldn't have done. But Riko had a bad habit of doing absolutely nothing to fix her flaws. Regardless – she makes a mental note to focus more on them, and also the other ones whose names she hadn't memorized yet.


Interest perking up as she sees Kageyama and the new girl talking, she quickly scribbles down that Shintaku Koemi, seems to be very helpful. Riko hopes that means she won't mind too much explaining volleyball to her.

karasuno high school will have a match against aoba josai next week.

​

Noting that down, she begins writing more about the Karasuno volleyball club as a team, not just individually, because from her experience Hachirou likes to see the big picture, not details, and her main objective is to satisfy him. Or else she'll get yelled at. And getting yelled at was something she'd only gone through once in her first year, something that she would not like to go through again.


She is brought out from her writing as Koemi calls her name, and looks up at her. With a nod, she stands up. "Ah, don't worry about that – I'm Mizushima Riko, second year from Class 2. Haven't seen you around school." Murmuring 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu', Riko bows quickly before straightening up.

 

[furo]

“You’re in a writing club, I’m assuming? ‘Creative and Directed Composition’ or something like that I think it is, right?” Shintaku asked, narrowing her eyes slightly, trying to recall the precise name of the club. “I’ve always told myself I was going to check it out sometime, to see if it could help me with my History and Literature studies, but it can’t be helped,” She chuckled somewhat shamefaced, rubbing the back of her neck, “I don’t always have the time, is all.”


From the corner of her field of vision, Koemi could catch a lean familiar figure, which she immediately recognized to be that of the vice-captain. He was bending down to pick up the towel he had tossed aside, and was huddled up next to his drink, before his turn to practice sets. Sugawara huffed lightly, wiping the thick beads of sweat from his forehead with his wrist first, then using the towel clutched in his hand.


Shintaku didn’t scuttle to his assistance for two reasons:


a. Leaving Mizushima-san in the middle of the conversation was straight down rude.


b. Things between Sugawara and Shintaku were a tiny bit awkward as of lately.


Sugawara Kōshi and Shintaku Koemi had been friends since somewhere around the middle of Elementary School, and the bond between them had grown to a lovely friendship that lasted until high school, although being separated by grade. Despite anything that stood on the way, the two always managed to find time to spend with each other. Quite contrary to their peers’ belief, the relationship between Koemi and Kōshi did not consist of just buying each other ice-cream and occasionally engaging in flirtatious exchanges, as it was most commonly thought of friendships between boys of girls.


Sugawara always helped Shintaku with her Math, which wasn’t her strong suit, since she was more skilled in social studies and humanities, and Shintaku would take care of her senpai whenever he got sick during allergy season. They would practice volleyball together during breaks and out of school; Shintaku would often stay to watch the boys’ volleyball practice, in which Suga excelled as setter, and he would walk her home safely afterwards –without fail (they lived no farther than two blocks away from each other). We could go on forever listing everything they shared.


Sugawara had certainly missed Koemi while she was away in exchange in Manchester, but for some reason there was that stinging bashful feeling that rendered him more inhibited in interacting with her, and thus refraining him from catching up with her after the comeback. They did meet in several occasions in summer vacation, but it just wasn’t the same. Neither of them failed to perceive this, and they couldn’t have that.


Neither of them knew when or how they were going to sort things out, but Koemi knew for now, that it wasn’t going to happen yet. It took more effort than usual for her to keep her attention away from Suga and look straight at Mizushima.

 

[tsuntsuki]

"Yep, I'm in a writing club," confirmed Riko. "Though not really the 'creative' side of it, I do journalism." If it had been Hachirou in her place, he would have broken something at the mention of 'creative'. Seriously, the guy loathed those "fucking fantasy eating bullshitters" as she had heard him refer to them a while back.


"Aaah, since we're going to be in each other's presence quite often now, you're free to ask me any questions you might have." Saying that, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling a little nervous. "And I also have some questions about volleyball, if you're not too busy."


She didn't get a very know-it-all or condescending vibe from Koemi, so asking was significantly easier than she thought it'd be. Though that was good, but it was very embarrassing to reveal she knew nothing about the sport she had to write about.


It made Riko sound irresponsible and perhaps she was, but she disliked being reminded of that fact.


She felt a small change in the atmosphere, for reasons she couldn't identify. Being a journalist meant staying in the present and trusting facts and logic --but it went unsaid that a journalist needed intuition, that gut feeling and an ability to read the atmphere as well. However, with the fact that that Koemi's eyes remained on her, it was hard to tell what had happened or what was on her mind.

 

[furo]

“Oh, of course, we can find some time during lunch break or after practice,” Shintaku asserted, “I suppose your questions are priority, since you do need them to finish your reports, while my questions about journalism and directed compositions are simple curiosity.” She placed her hands on the shelves of her hips. As glad as Koemi was to make a new acquaintance, especially from her same year, their conversation was soon cut short.


“‘Taku-chan!” hollered the buzzcut boy.


“H—hai!” She jolted; turning quickly towards the dark-haired writer she excused herself “W—we’ll continue our conversation later, Mizushima-san, looks like I’m needed!” and thus, she skipped off and towards where she was summoned.


Most players clustered near one side of the net, apparently receiving instructions from the captain.


“Ah, Shintaku-san. You see, we have to practice our blocks now, and we’re going to try doing that with three sets at a time. We’re short of players whose spikes are ideal enough to provide a good offense to be blocked, mind helping us out?” Daichi-senpai explained.


Koemi shuddered. This situation was the least expected in her duty as manager; she would’ve never thought she’d be requested to provide anything labeled as ‘in-game’ moves. She couldn’t turn them down, however, but perhaps attempt to tactfully evade.


“A—ano, m—my spikes aren’t that good either, Daichi-san, I—I don’t see how I’d be of any hel—”


“What are you talking about, Taku-chan? Your spikes are nearly flawless! I’m sure it’s just lack of practice that makes you think they’re a bit rusty, but they’re definitely going to be helpful!” Sugawara encouraged. He sure knew Koemi like no one else did. The vice-captain’s flattery always flustered her, and he was very well aware of it.


“Un, Shintaku-san! You can impress us with your killer hits – kya! Hyaa!” Hinata cheered on, simulating punches and karate chops into the air, his large eyes gleaming with thrill.

 

[tsuntsuki]

Riko was somewhat impressed with the new girl, blinking a bit. "Yes, that's true," she murmured, "but don't hold back just because of that, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. Being curious is always a good thing, ne?" She seemed like a good addition to the team so far, and she couldn't wait to see her skills in volleyball. Subconsciously, she gripped her pencil a little tighter in her hand.


"I see," she said, nodding a bit as the other girl skipped away. "Later, then!"


She barely managed to stop herself from squealing in excitement. This was going perfect -- now, she'd be able to witness a new player's skills! It honestly reminded her of the day before, in which she'd been so entranced she barely got any notes down.


"Don't worry, Shintaku-san!" Riko found herself stepping forward with an encouraging smile on her face. "I'm sure you can do it!"


A small part of her wondered if she was being superficial, encouraging Koemi because she wanted to see her abilities, and not really because she wanted to boost her self esteem. But she had always been good at overthinking things, so she pushed the unwelcone thoughts out of her mind.


"See, Taku-chan, even our journalist believes in you." Sugawara grinned at the girl. "I'm sure you won't disappoint her, so go ahead!"