Ａｉｒ_ｈｅａｄ

열 yeol

"Oho!" a voice came. "It's been eight years. What's with the hair, Ukai?"

"...Shut it. You haven't even changed a bit, Naoi." Ukai and Naoi shook hands before turning to Takeda and you, who was beside him. "We are the eternal benchwarming club!" they chorused.

Naoi turned to you. "Long time no see, bird brat."

"Who're you...?" You didn't remember his name, or even meeting him at all. The blond coach snickered from beside him.

"Naoi. You don't remember me? Your grandpa used to take you along to the Neko-Karasu matches before." When you shook your head, he sighed. Suddenly another voice cut in.

"Oooh! If it isn't i! You've got a face like an old man's, same as always! I see [y/n]'s here too!" Now it was your turn to snicker as Keishin greeted the source.

"It's been a while, Nekomata-sensei." You turned to the said coach, bowing slightly.

"Ah! I-I'm Takeda, the one who spoke with you on the phone! Thank you very much for today!" the faculty adviser introduced himself.

"It's all 'cause of those persistent phone calls've yours! There's no way we wouldn't come after that!" the coach teased. You exited the conversation and walked over to your team.

"[y/n]-san!" Hinata excitedly said. "Can you give us any tips on how to beat Nekoma?"

"Ehh...honestly I don't remember much from their playstyle. Just...watch out for their setter." He tilted his head, not quite getting what you meant. "Y'know what, you'll just figure it out as you go along. Now hurry up and join your teammates."

The whistle blew, signaling the start of the practice match. You took note of how pudding boy's serve had a good arc, despite not having much power. Due to a month of no training, Asahi's receive was a bit short, which led to Noya ragging him again. Kageyama was sent to cover it, and in a moment...

*WHOOSH*

All that could be heard was the sound of a volleyball hitting Nekoma's side of the court. Exclamations of shock and awe came from the cats and spectators. Speaking of, when did the spectators arrive...? Oh well.

"...Amazing...that surprised me..." Kenma complimented. But the look in his eyes showed that he was already devising strategies to shut the boy down.

Hinata was used as a decoy the next rally, with the actual spiker being Asahi. The opposing libero tried (and failed) to receive his spike, but he would be able to successfully receive it very soon. You knew that well enough. From the sidelines, Yu gaped in amazement as Coach Nekomata chuckled, saying, "That one was inevitable."

"Something doesn't feel right..." Keishin noted. "It feels like they could be waiting to see how it'll go...like they're observing us or somethin'..."

"Oh...you think so?" Takeda responded.

Eyes never leaving the pudding boy, you reminded, "Shinkei-nii, they're not the cats for no reason."

With the tangerine boy rotating in to the rear guard and Noya switching with Tsukishima, Suga decided it would be a perfect time to explain the libero position to the bespectacled coach. As the man was voicing his own observations to the setter, you were focused on the match. Oh, nice feint there, moonboy.

Nekoma was eventually led to call a timeout to stop the crows' momentum, and most importantly, think up a plan to counter them. When the game resumed, the change was quite apparent. Despite not being able to stop the orange at first, the sandy-blonde libero managed to receive his spike the second time around. The ball was sent straight to Kenma, who performed a two attack. Oh?