The Shy Empress

Chapter Thirteen; Drama

Chapter Thirteen

Kashiya watched as Shiratorizawa began to warm up on the court first. She couldn't see anything suspicious. They didn't seem too much stronger since she last saw them play, meaning her training schedule worked, making her grin. "Chibi-chan, what are you grinning about?" She suddenly heard someone ask.

Looking up from her seat on the bench, she noticed Tsukishima standing in front of her. Her grin turned into a little smile as she said "Remember the training schedule I made? Worked just like I had predicted it to." Tsukishima smirked a little and replied "So it didn't work at all?" Kashiya immediately pouted and mumbled "Don't be so mean."

Tsukishima snickered and then took her hands, gently pulling her up to her feet, but not letting go, so she'd have some hint of safety. She wasn't able to stand for long without her crutches, which she had laid behind the bench so they wouldn't be in anyone's way.

"Remember the promise you made?" The younger Azumane quietly asked and tilted her head a little at him, to which he nodded "Of course. Why would I forget a promise I made to someone so important to me?" A light blush spread on hr cheeks and she averted her gaze, making Tsukishima snicker again.

Suddenly she heard him say "Look who's here..." Looking up, Kashiya noticed his gaze going up to the stands. Kashiya turned around to find out who Tsukishima was looking at and it was no one other than a certain bed headed captain. He stood there in his school uniform, standing beside Saeko, Tanaka's sister, and two other guys who's names Kashiya had forgotten.

"Go." Tsukishima all of a sudden said, not taking his eyes off of Kuroo. "Uh?" Kashiya's head snapped into the middle blockers direction. "I know that you've barely talked. I think you should talk. Unless you don't want to. But I think he came here just because of you." Tsukishima then replied, making Kashiya wander off in thoughts for a little, before saying "All right."

Abruptly, Tsukishima let go of her hands, making her balance go off a little and made her let out a surprised noise. She felt his hands on her waist only seconds later, followed by him chuckling. "Kei!" Kashiya said and hit his chest gently "Don't do that again!" "Can't do anything without me, hmm, chibi-chan?" He teasingly asked and raised an eyebrow at her.

Blushing, she just sat down again to grab the crutches and hovered them over the bench, nearly hitting the middle blocker while doing so. Then she got to her feet and said "Careful Kei, I have crutches and I am not afraid to use them against you." Tsukishima bent down a little to be on eye level with her and still smirked "Are you sure about that?"

Now she blushed even more and didn't say a thing. She just turned away and headed out to head to the stands. She had to talk to Kuroo. She didn't have to go up though, as Kuroo met her halfway. He had his schoolbag hanging over his shoulder and gave her his usual Cheshire Cat smirk.

"Hey there Kitten. What'd y'a do?" He asked and nodded toward the brace around her knee. "Tore my meniscus during practice." She said and then remained silent. She didn't know what to say. Then she asked "Why didn't you call?" "I was busy."

A short pause. Then he said "I see you and glasses came together." "How'd you tell?" "It's kinda obvious. Does the team know?" "Well, until now, only my brother and Tadashi." Kuroo nodded and after another pause he said "I ditched school just to come and watch your match here. I just...think I had to see you."

He stepped closer but Kashiya backed away "Kuroo, I'm over you. It's nice of you that you came, but I'm with Kei now." "Are you really over me?" He asked and laid a hand on her cheek, brushing over it with his thumb gently. Memories came up. Memories she had actually decided to forget. "Kuroo, no."

"You used to call me Tetsu." "That was when we still had contact. Kuroo, you haven't contacted me for weeks, months even and now you expect me to jump into your arms as soon as I see you? That's not how it works." Kashiya said and pushed his hand away.

"But-" "Shiya, they're about...who are you? Get away from her!" Kuroo took a step back, he seemed heartbroken. Then Kashiya turned to the voice. "Aki? What are you doing here? Does Kei know?" Aki as in Akiteru, Kei's older brother. He quickly shook his head "Please don't tell him, he didn't want me to come, anyways, they're about to start. You should get back in there."

Kashiya nodded and looked over to Kuroo. Then she quickly headed back into the gym, not saying a word. As Kashiya entered, she saw that the teams had gathered around their coaches. She headed over to her designated spot, hearing Takeda say "All right, everyone. These are the finals. Since we got this far, let's win and go to nationals!"

Agreeing shouts came from the team. Kashiya smiled as she looked through the round and noticed then, that they hoped for her to say something too, as their assistant coach.

"I uh, I don't have much to say. But what I want to tell you is that I am unbelievably proud of you guys. I'm proud that you made it this far, how much you've evolved. Let's go out there and show them who we really are. Show them that we're not a force to be reckoned with." During the last sentence, she looked at her brother. That was kind of a motivational thing between the siblings.

Moments later, the whistle blew. The crowd began to clap. The boys were lined up on the field, the ones who sat on the benches stood as well. Kashiya had laid her crutches behind the bench and held onto Kiyoko for support every once in a while. Sometimes, Ukai had to deal with being her support, but that was rare.

"We will now begin the Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament, Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers, Boys' Finals, Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School versus Shiratorizawa Academy." A woman announced through speaker. Kashiya was unbelievably nervous, but she was happy. Happy that they made it this far.

The crowd began to applaud. Kashiya watched as Ushijima and Daichi went to shake hands. Then the teams retreated to the back of their sides into their areas [ I don't know what they're called ] as the woman announced "We will now introduce the Karasuno High School starting lineup. #1 Sawamura Daichi."

Daichi came and the four on the bench held up both hands, well, Kashiya at least tried to double high five him, with her lack of balance at the current moment. The crowd cheered as he then jogged onto the court. "#3 Azumane Asahi." Kashiya began to smile wide as her brother came and double high fived him.

"#5 Tanaka Ryunosuke." His high five with Kiyoko was gentle. With Kashiya he used half his strength and with Ukai and Takeda apparently his full, making Kashiya chuckle. As he jogged onto the court, she heard his sister call "Ryu!" That made Tanaka yell "Yeah!"

"#9 Kageyama Tobio." Kageyama used one handed high fives and Kashiya had a feeling that at the current moment, nobody would be able to wipe that smile out of his face. He seemed adorable.

"#10 Hinata Shoyo." Double high fives with everyone, Ukai held his hands extra high. Suddenly, Kashiya had a thought. If Sugawara and Daichi were mother and father of the team, Ukai had to be the grandfather. The way he handled the boys sometimes made her think that way. That made her giggle, earning a short questioning look from Kiyoko, to which she formed the word 'Later'.

"#11 Tsukishima Kei." As Kei passed Kashiya, she believed to see a small smile on the middle blockers lips, making her smile only grow. Then, as fast as that smile had come, as fast it disappeared and he jogged onto the court. That's when she heard Saeko calling "Kei!" Probably to embarrass Akiteru.

"#4, Libero, Nishinoya Yuu." And there he came, the second ball of energy of the team. After high fiving everyone, he jumped into the air like a little kid and yelled "Yeah!" This team was filled with too many energetic little kids.

Then, the coach was announced. "Coach, Takeda Itettsu." The other three on the bench turned toward Takeda, who seemed extremely surprised that he was called out as the coach, before quickly bowing. Ukai next to him smiled at that. Apparently, Takeda'd be the caring grandmother in this part. Again, Kashiya snickered to herself at that.

During the announcement of Shiratorizawa, the cheers were louder, of course. Then the woman said "Ladies and gentlemen, please cheer on both teams and wish them the best. Hinata then jogged to the back and Daichi was up to serve. The whole gym went silent. Tanaka called "Daichi-san, nice serve!"

Then the referee blew the whistle.