~Back In The Game~

~Chapter Twenty~

-Last Time-

"Are you okay, (Y/N)?" She asks

"Yea. They're just a bunch of goofballs." You explain with a chuckle and smile. "But something's missing."

--

"Do you want to go practice with them?" Kiyoko asks.

"N-No! What kind of manager would I be if I neglected my duties? Plus I wouldn't be a very good underclassman to let you do everything." You respond.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup!" You say with an enormous close-eyed smile. "I'm going to go fill the water bottles!"

"Okay." Kiyoko responds with a small smile as she watches you walk away.

As you fill the water bottles, you think about the team. 'Nishinoya only agreed to help Hinata with receiving instead of rejoining the team.'

'I ALREADY TOLD YOU GUYS! IF ASAHI-SAN DOESN'T COME BACK, I'M NOT COMING BACK EITHER!'

'Asahi... If he comes back, then Nishinoya will too. Hmm...' You finish filling the bottles so you pick them up and start heading back to the gym. As you're walking you go back to thinking.

'There's also the need for a coach. I wonder if Takeda-sensei has had any luck finding one.'

You arrive at the gym just in time to hear Hinata ask Nishinoya a question that you've wanted to know the answer to.

"Who's Asahi-san?"

"!! Don't bring that name up!!" Tanaka says nervously.

"He's our Ace. Technically." Noya answers spitefully.

'Technically?' You think.

"Our Ace...?!" Hinata responds before staring at Noya with a blank expression.

"What?" Noya questions.

"Someday... I wanna be the Ace." Hinata says determined.

"Huh?"

"That scrub! Is he still going on about that?!" Kageyama asks angrily.

"Years ago I got to see Karasuno's old ace, The Little Giant, play in the Spring Tournament." Hinata begins to explain. At the mention of the old ace, you smile fondly. "Even since then, I've dreamed of being just like him. That's why I came to Karasuno."

"You wanna be the ace? At your height?" Noya asks.

'I don't think he has a right to judge...' You think.

"THAT'S AWESOME!! I CAN TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THAT! ACES ARE COOL! ANYBODY'D WANT TO BE ONE! GO FOR IT, BRO! YOU CAN TOTALLY DO IT! BE THE ACE SOMEDAY! HECK, YOU'D BE MORE RELIABLE THAN THE ONE WE'VE GOT NOW!" Noya encourages and ends with a laugh. "Mannn, if you're gonna have a goal, everybody makes it the Ace, don't they." He adds a bit defeatedly.

"Yeah! Aces are super-cool!" Hinata exclaims.

"Ace does have a real fine ring to it too. Compared to ace spiker, positions like setter and libero seem really lame."

You look over at Kageyama who has an annoyed and angry look on his face. You swear you can tell he's growling. This makes you giggle. Suga calms the first-year setter down. Your attention is then refocused on Noya and Hinata's conversation as Noya speaks.

"But y'know?" He begins seriously. "In the middle of a close game, the one thing that gets the biggest gasps and cheers out of the crowd isn't a spike. Not even the really cool ones. Nope. It's an awesome save. Height is key in volleyball. Libero might be the only position that shorter players have any chance in. But I don't play the position because I'm short. Even if I was seven feet tall... I'd still be a Libero. Even if you can't attack or block... just making sure the ball doesn't hit the floor means that you aren't losing. And the one position that's best at that...is the Libero." He finishes with a proud smile while pointing at himself with his thumb.