The Shy Empress

Chapter Fourteen; Memories

Chapter Fourteen

12

"Cover!" Midori called, the ball flying back into the court. Akane went and set the ball. Kashiya jumped and spiked the ball onto the other side of the court. Point for them.

The girls of Ryoko Junior High cheered. Now their score stood at 19-13 against another school from the neighborhood. Interhigh would be starting soon, so a few practice matches wouldn't hurt anybody.

Saeko slapped Kashiyas back, making her stumble forward slightly. Saeko grinned wide at her best friend and said "Get one more in, Shiya!" Kashiya grinned at the blonde girl and nodded "Hai!"

The match soon came to an end. Ryoko had won both sets. The other team had left and the girls then decided to continue a bit, before they'd clean up.

"Midoriiiiii, receive for me!" Kashiya heard Akira call. "I wanna serve but I need my favorite libero to receive for me!" Akira then added and smiled at named libero.

Midori then sighed and nodded "Alright." She jogged to the other side of the court and got into position. Kashiya watched the duo with a chuckle. "So, captain, what are your plans after today's practice ends?" Chiyuki asked, tossing a ball into the ball cart.

"Well, we finished quite early today, so I thought I'd visit my brother. I also want to finally meet his friends he always tells me of. But since we're both too caught up with our passion for volleyball, we didn't really have the chance yet." Kashiya said.

Chiyuki nodded and smiled at the brunette girl "That sounds nice. I can't wait for the preliminaries to start." Kashiya then smiled wide and nodded "Me neither." "This'll be our chance to shine. Let's kick some Kitagawa Daiichi ass!" Saeko cheered, making the others around her laugh.

From what Kashiya knew, before she joined the club, they somehow were never strong enough to beat that team. But now with Kashiya, they somehow had hope. And that hope and faith they had in the young Azumane, made her smile.

13

"Thank you very much!" Kashiya said, as she held up a new pair of gym shoes.

"I saw how worn down your old ones were so oka-san and I decided to buy you new ones." Asahi said to his little sister. Smiling brightly, she first hugged her brother tight, before hugging her mother just as tight. "Thank you so, so much!"

Their mother smiled at her two volleyball fanatical children. "Good luck tomorrow, my dear." she said and smiled at Kashiya, ruffling her hair gently. "Thank you, we will do our best! I promise you, we will win!"

The next day

"Yeah!" The girls of the Ryoko Junior High volleyball club cheered as Akira had just scored them the point they needed to win the first match of the day. They huddled together, hugging each other, smiling brightly.

Then the ace of their team parted from the group and looked up to the stands. There she saw her brother with his team, Asahi and two of his friends smiling at her. Kashiya raised her fist into the air toward her brother, who returned the gesture. "C'mon Shiya, we gotta go line up!" Saeko said, slapping her back with a bright grin.

"Hai hai!" Kashiya called and rushed to the line at the end of the court. They all bowed to each other, before they rushed to their coach, who said "Now that we beat them, let's advance to our next game, tomorrow. Our opponent will be Yukigaoka Junior High. Rest for today, tomorrow will be a little more challenging."

Then the teams changed and went to get advice from the other coaches. The coach of the other team didn't have much to say, so they headed back to their coach a little earlier than thought, as Murasaki was still talking to the other team. When she was done, the saddened team headed back to their coach.

Kashiya then said "Guys, I'm going up to the stands. My brother's here and they'll play later today." The girls nodded and Murasaki said "Okay, remember that we've got to get up early tomorrow and this goes for everyone of you now. We meet at seven, the match is at nine." They all nodded and then Kashiya parted from the group, the others heading back to the bus.

The young Azumane ran up the stairs and over to her brother, hugging him tightly. "You made it!" The high schooler said with a bright smile and Kashiya giggled "We did! We're up against Yukigaoka tomorrow!" "W-what?" Someone suddenly asked, seemingly shocked.

Kashiya turned and saw a girl, about her age, her track suit had Yukigaoka written on it. "W-we're going against you?" The girl then asked. Kashiya tilted her head a little confused. Was it so wrong to go against her? "Uh, yeah."

"We're doomed..." The girl then mumbled. Then a friend of hers came over and asked "Nami-chan, is everything okay?" "We're going up against that monster tomorrow, Hisoka-senpai! We will lose!" The girl, Nami, said to her senpai, making Kashiya frown. Her eyes held a hint of confusion and also a kind of sadness. Was she really a monster.

"Nami-chan! Don't say that!" "But it's true, she's a monster!" Nami replied a little angrily, before turning around and leaving. Kashiyas happy mood faded in the blink of an eye. "Nii-san...am I a monster?" She quietly asked her brother. "What? No! You're not a monster, Ka-chan!" Asahi quickly said, gently turning his sister to him to look into her eyes.

"If you can't handle some critique, you shouldn't be playing." Someone then suddenly said. Looking up, Kashiya came to face a boy, he looked like he was in his second year. He had black hair and dark eyes and a scary aura around him. His aura just screamed 'ace'. "Excuse me?" Kashiya said, even though she'd heard him loud and clear.

"You heard me. If you can't han-" "I know what you said." Kashiya replied and slowly her hurt expression turned into a glare, directed towards the boy. "Ka-chan..." "Nii-san, I know what I'm doing." Kashiya mumbled. "Watch what you're saying, girl. I'm your superior."

"I don't care." Kashiya simply replied, making a few of the others around them gasp. "K-Ka-chan..." Asahi next to her said and wanted to push her away to stop this from getting worse, but his little sister was unbelievably persistent.

"One day, I'll stand at the top. You just watch me." Kashiya said and then turned away. "Nii-san, I'm taking the train back." she coldly said. Everyone took her voice just like she said it, but her brother could hear the real pain behind it. But sadly, he couldn't follow, as they now had to wait for their match to start.