The Shy Empress

Chapter One; The Empress

Chapter One

"Kashiya-chaaaaan!" Someone called and the door to her classroom was ripped open. Everybody turned to look at the intruder. Kashiya blushed a dark red as she noticed Tanaka and Nishinoya standing in the doorframe, grinning at her. Both of them ran toward her seat and said "Kashiya-chan, you need to play volleyball with us later, okay?" The two second years were really hyped about this.

"E-eto..." The young Azumane was taken aback by their request, not knowing how to react. "Hiyori-chan from the female volleyball team is so nice to lend you her clothes, since you're the same size." Nishinoya said, grinning from one ear to another. "B-but..." "No buts! We want to play with you today to get a good look at what our manager can do!" "After all, you played in Ryoko Junior High!"

Kashiya sighed and then mumbled "Fine..." The two second years started to cheer and high fiver each other, then they said "We will wait in front of your class later so you won't have the chance to escape!" With those words, the hyperactive senpai's left. Everybody stared at either them or at Kashiya, making her even more uneasy than she had been before. With a low sigh she leaned back and looked out of the window. What should she do? She had to talk to her brother.

-

"Kashiya-chaaaan! Hurry up already!" Tanaka and Nishinoya said, eager to get to the gymnasium as quick as possible. They absolutely wanted to see the younger Azumane play. As soon as said girl had finished packing up her things, she was being dragged along by the two second years. Everyone looked at them, either confused or amused. And as if this hadn't been worse enough, she heard someone say "Are the chibi's legs too short and she's too slow, so that you've got to drag her along or what?"

Tanaka and Nishinoya paused, turning around to see Tsukishima standing there with a raised eyebrow, Yamaguchi next to him. Embarrassed, Kashiya began to blush and looked away. "Oi, Tsukishima, we're going to play a game with Kashiya-chan to see how good she is!" Nishinoya said, as if he was completely oblivious to the comment the blond Middle Blocker just said.

"I bet she can't even jump to block, I mean, look at how short she is." Tsukishima continued, but now Tanaka and Nishinoya didn't bother, hurrying away again, continuing to pull Kashiya along with them. As they arrived at the gym, they met Hiyori, who handed Kashiya her sports clothes. "Thanks, Hiyori-san..." Kashiya mumbled and then went to change. In the changing room she met Kiyoko.

"Ah, hey there. I was wondering when you would come." Kiyoko said, smiling gently. She just had finished changing. Kashiya gulped and nodded slowly, going to a locker and then slowly starting to get changed. She was nervous, undressing herself around Kiyoko. And she was even more nervous, about what would happen, once she was in the gym. She had just taken off her shirt, when she noticed that the bandage that was wrapped around her right arm, was loose.

"K-Kiyoko-san? C-Could you please h-help me tighten this...?" She nervously asked and nodded at her arm, at which Kiyoko was staring confused. "Yeah, sure." Kiyoko said and approached the young Azumane, who sat down on a bench so she wouldn't have to stand all the time. Slowly the brunette began unwrapping the bandage and what Kiyoko saw made her gasp. "Kashiya-chan...what happened?" The third year asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Kashiya's arm was burnt, it was a very old wound but it still looked ugly. Ashamed, the younger one's head turned away and she mumbled "I-I would rather not talk about it..." Kiyoko nodded and then silently began to rewrap the bandages. After that, Kashiya continued to change. That's when Kiyoko noticed another few bandages around her waist and her right leg, latter went from her ankle to shortly under her knee. Kiyoko could only guess that those parts were also burnt but she didn't want to push Kashiya further with any questions.

When the young Azumane then had changed, the two managers went into the gym. Kashiya had her track suit on, leaving the jacket open. She didn't want to expose the bandages right away. As soon as they entered the gym, she went over to her big brother. "Asahi-nii...I-I will be playing a match now...Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai wanted me to, so they would get to know what I can do..." She mumbled, fidgeting with her hands. She clearly felt uncomfortable about the upcoming event.

Asahi laid his hands on her shoulder "Hey, if you don't want to, then it's fine!" Kashiya gulped and nodded, but then asked "Do you think they will judge me?" Her brother immediately knew what she meant and responded "Of course they will, but they will know that this could be for our advantage." Kashiya nodded, as then the rest of the team came in. After having built up everything they needed, Coach Ukai then told them all to gather around.

"As I have heard from two certain second years, they want to play a match involving Azumane-chan." Those who didn't know, looked at Coach Ukai and then Kashiya in surprise. "I would say that Azumane-chan should pick her team and then the rest will play against her team. That would only be fair." Coach Ukai nodded at Kashiya, who was getting more and more uncomfortable.

Everybody stepped back to give her some space. Then she began to choose her team "Asahi-nii, Sugawara-san, Nishinoya-san, Enoshita-san," but with the last person she seemed to hesitate. Then she said "Tsukishima-kun." And with that, her team stood. The others went to their side, while Kashiya stayed where she was. Asahi nodded at her encouragingly. As the boys all went to their sides of the court, Kashiya took off her jacket and the sweatpants. With that, her bandages were revealed to everyone.

Some of the others gasped, but she ignored that and pulled her hair into a ponytail. As soon as she stepped onto the court and was handed the ball, she felt like new blood was rushing through her. Her usual shining brown eyes became dull and everyone noticed that there was a complete new aura surrounding her. Kashiya went to the back of the court, this being her turn to serve. When she turned around, she calculated silently if this would be enough space.

Coach Ukai blew the whistle and Kashiya took a deep breath. Then she tossed the ball in the air, taking a few steps, before then jumping to greet the ball with her palm. A loud smack was heard and seconds later, the ball was heard, as it slammed against the floor on the other side of the court. Everyone stared at her in disbelief, except for a few. Coach Ukai even almost forgot to blow the whistle, but then he remembered and blew it. Kiyoko changed the scoreboard. 1 - 0 for team Azumane.

The ball was tossed to Kashiya, who wasn't really fazed by this. It was as if she was a complete new person. She went back, tossed the ball into the air after the whistle blew, taking a few steps again and then jumping, again greeting the ball with a loud smack of her palm. This time, Tanaka tried to get it, but it jumped off of his arms into the out area. Coach Ukai blew the whistle, another point scored for her team. This was repeated, but this time, Tanaka managed to get the ball into the air, calling "Sorry, cover!"

Kageyama ran toward the ball and tossed it to Hinata. "Tsukishima!" Kashiya called and named one jumped to block Hinata's spike, but the ball flew high into the air. Kashiya cursed under her breath and analyzed her side of the court. Sugawara got in position and tossed to Asahi, who spiked it. But he had too much force in this spike, as the ball hit the floor a little bit behind the out line. 2 - 1.

Kashiya took a deep breath, remaining silent. It was Kageyama's turn to serve now. He performed a perfect jump serve, well, almost perfect. Kashiya received the ball neatly, but if someone was paying close attention, then they would've noticed, that the young Azumane flinched slightly. Her brother noticed, but he knew that it would be useless to speak to her about this now. Now, this wasn't the Azumane Kashiya everyone else knew. This was the Empress playing and not the Shy.