~Back In The Game~

~Chapter Thirty-Four~

-Last Time-

"Let's go." Daichi and Kuroo both say to their teams as they walk to their respective sides of the court.

—

"Well, I'll be. They really are goin' at it." An older man says as he enters the gym and sees Karasuno and Nekoma warming up.

"Yo! Onoya-san! Over here!" Takinoue calls as he waves.

"Hello!" Shimada greets.

"Hey there, boys!" Onoya greets.

"How many other people did you tell?" Shimada asks Takinoue.

"Dude, this is the first Dumpster Battle in how many years now? There should be more people coming."

"Don't you have work to do? Not that I can talk." Shimada asks Onoya.

"Ha Ha Ha! It's fine! This is like taking a little time to watch a son's sports festival, that's all."

-On the Court-

Ukai and Takeda are talking when a man walks up behind Ukai.

"Yo!" The man says.

"Hn?" Ukai turns around to see a man with a rectangular-shaped head and a jutted jaw. He has dark, short-cut hair with eyes the same color.

"Ukai! It's been, what, eight years now? And what the heck did you do to your hair?"

"Oh, shut up. You haven't changed a bit...Naoi." Ukai shakes his hand while Takeda watches with a grin, waiting to be introduced.

"We were the eternal bench-warmers!!" Ukai and Naoi turn to announce to Takeda.

"?!" Takeda jolts.

"Though it did give us plenty of chances to watch live games up close," Ukai says.

"Gifted" players might have no idea why "sucky" players can't do what they do or how they feel when they're left out..." Naoi adds.

"...But we sucky players know exactly why sucky players have trouble with stuff and what it feels like to be stuck on the sidelines." Ukai finishes, and he and Naoi look at each other and laugh.

"Well, well. Keishin! I see you still have the same face as your crotchety old coot of a grandpa." A 5'8" tall man with light, blondish-gray hair says.

"!!" Ukai and Takeda look at the man, surprised.

"It's been a while...Nekomata Sensei." Ukai greets.

"Um! I-I'm Takeda. Th-The one who called you. Thank you very much for agreeing to be here today!"

"Well, if you're going to keep ringing our phone off the hook, I'd better get out here to make you stop, right?" Nekomata says with a smile.

"ACK! I'm so sorry, sir!"

"I kid, I kid. Don't worry about it." Nekomata laughs. "We've had some excellent practice games these last three days. I'm looking forward to a fourth."

"Yessir! We'll do our best, sir!"

"...I may not be coaching against your crazy grandpa this time...but don't expect me to go easy on you."

"..." UKai and Takeda are speechless.

"Oh, come on now, Sensei..." You begin, causing the four men to look at you. "...You won't go easy on us? Even for me?"

"Now, if it isn't Little Miss (Y/N)," Nekomata says happily.

"The one and only." You say cheekily. "I was shocked when I heard you came out of retirement..." You and Nekomata start conversing as Takeda looks at you curiously.

"She used to be one of Gramp's students..." Ukai reveals to Takeda.

"Oh..."

"She also used to go with him to the practice games. She would banter with Sensei just like Gramps."

"Now it makes sense," Takeda says, finally connecting the dots. "So that's why she talks to the players the way she does."

"Oh, yeah. She definitely picked that up from Gramps."

-

"Remember. We are blood." Kuroo begins seriously as the rest of the Nekoma players are huddled around him. "Never stop flowing. Keep moving. Keep bringing in the oxygen...so that our "brain"..." He looks at Kenma.

"..." Kenma looks disinterested and almost uncomfortable.

"...Can operate at his best. Let's go!"

"Yeah!!" The players respond, raising their fists.

"Kuroo, can't we please stop that speech thingy? It's embarrassing." Kenma whines.

"Why, what's wrong with it? It's all about establishing the mood, bro!" Yamamoto says.

"It's a great way to get us pumped and ready to play." A boy with jet black hair shaved into a buzz cut says.

"See?" Kuroo looks at Kenma cockily. "C'mon, let's go."

"To be totally blunt..." Daichi begins, addressing his teammates. "We're just a bunch of guys who just met. We're a patchwork, we're rough around the edges, and we're about to play our very first game together as a whole team. We know nothing about our opponents. There's no telling how this game will go. We could find ourselves charging point-blank into a wall." Daichi's facial expression turns to excitement. "But...if we do smack into a wall...that just gives us the chance to climb over it. Let's go!"

"Yeah!!" Karasuno cheers.

"He's better at inspiring speeches than we are," Takeda says quietly. You chuckle.

"The practice game between Nekoma High School and Karasuno High School will now begin!" The Referee announces.

"Thank you for the game!!" Karasuno calls.

"Thanks for the game!!" Nekoma calls.

-Starting Order-

Nekoma:
Kozume(Setter)#5, Fukunaga(Wing Spiker)#6, Kuroo(Middle Blocker)#1/Yaku(Libero)#3

Inuoka(Wing Spiker)#7, Yamamoto(Wing Spiker)#4, Kai(Wing Spiker)#2

Karasuno:
Daichi(Wing Spiker), Hinata(Middle Blocker), Tanaka(Wing Spiker)

Asahi(Wing Spiker), Tsukishima(Middle Blocker)/Noya(Libero), Kageyama(Setter)

"!!Wow, you're short!" A 6'1" boy with short, spiked upwards brown hair says to Hinata as he stands across from him on the opposite side of the net.

"?! H-Hey! Don't underestimate me!!"

"It's okay. I won't. Promise!"

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Tch!!" Kageyama glares at the two, shocking them. 'You could at least do us the favor of dropping your guard a little.' He thinks.

"Y'know..." Kenma begins, catching you and Hinata's attention. "When you asked about our team, I said I thought we're good..."

"?Yeah," Hinata replies.

"But that's not because I'm on it. It's because we're together."

"...?" Hinata deadpans.

'I wonder if they have anybody with a killer serve, like The Great King's. Or maybe they have a mega powerful hitter, like Asahi-san.' Hinata ponders.

'Cheeky Kenma...very good getting in his head.' You think as Kenma prepares to serve.

The whistle blows as Kenma throws the ball into the air. "Server up!" and "Good one!" are heard as the ball flies to the corner of the court on Karasuno's side, toward Asahi.

~To Be Continued~