The Shy Empress

Chapter Seventeen; Joy

Chapter Seventeen

It didn't take long and soon the first set had come to an end. Kashiya sighed at the inevitable. Of course, the first set had been lost already before, but it was still...depressing. She didn't know what else to say to that.

The teams gathered their things and went to change sides. Kashiya and Yamaguchi stayed behind, as she had to struggle a little with the crutches and Yamaguchi wanted to be as nice as to stay with their assistant coach behind. "Something's bothering you, Kashiya-san." he then all of a sudden said.

The brunette girl chuckled as she slowly headed to the other side of the court, nodding at the freckled boy "Bothering is an underestimation. It's driving me crazy." Just as he was about to ask, what it was, Kashiyas interest was picked on by something Tendou and then Ushijima said.

"Karasuno #10 sure is something! So that's what you like about him?" Tendou asked, to which Ushijima said "No. I don't like him. Baseless self-confidence is something I can't stand." Kashiya couldn't hold back a laugh as she saw how pissed Ushijima was. After then motioning Yamaguchi to go ahead, she turned to Ushijima shortly and said "Just how aggravated you are proves that you actually like Hinata."

She snickered as his glare followed her on her way to the bench on the other side. She needed to sit down. Her knee somehow still wasn't used to too much motion. She hated this inability to move.

As she then sat down on the bench and laid the crutches behind the bench, she started to blend out the world around her. She felt drained. She couldn't really explain. Probably because of all this motion after two days of complete rest and now the sudden movements with her knee.

"Shiya, are you alright?" The concerned voice of Sugawara pulled her out of her trance and she looked up at the silver haired setter with a small smile "Yeah, I'm fine." "You sure? You're a little pale..." he said, but Kashiya shrugged it off and again said "I'm fine, Suga." The setter slowly nodded and then reluctantly headed to the back.

The second set started and it was Goshiki who served. Daichi received and then the boys went forward with a synchronized attack and Daichi scored, after Yamagata Hayato couldn't receive properly. The boys cheered at the point they scored and the game went on, the points varying on and off. But the boys were getting used to Ushijima and the team, that was for sure.

That's until Tendou finally came into action, blocking Hinatas spike and saying something to him. "Tch." Kashiya mumbled "His engine's warming up..." The next spike he blocked was the one of Kageyama. "I'm on fire!" The red headed middle blocker then yelled, making Kashiya groan in slight annoyance. "I swear, he's just like Bokuto from Fukurodani, only in Satan."

Ukai snorted at that comment and then replied "Now that you say that, they do seem a little alike. With their passion for the game. But I don't think #5 gets depressed like Bokuto." Kashiya shrugged and replied "I don't care about that. I told them what to do about him. If they don't listen and lose, they'll be running the way back home."

When he noticed how dead serious she was, Ukai gulped and thought to himself to better not get on her wrong side. After a few more actions of Tendou, Ukai called for a time-out. He informed the team about Tendou's guess blocking once more. Kashiya although didn't say a thing. Again, she was too busy with holding a glaring war with Ushijima on the other side.

"Kashiya." Tsukishima all of a sudden ripped her out of her thoughts. Confused, she, along with the others, turned to look at the megane. "Huh?" Kashiya tilted her head a little in confusion. "Stop staring at him. Otherwise I won't be able to keep my promise, if all of your attention is on him and not your boyfriend." With the last words he smirked, making the brunette blush a deep shade of red. It's funny how easy he could throw her off.

Then the whistle blew, signaling the time-out's end and the boys, most of them puzzled and confused, headed back to their positions. Their next point was again scored through a synchronized attack with Hinata hitting the spike. The next thing that probably made Kashiya's day was Tendou jumping into the wrong direction with his guess blocking and yelling "I screwed up!"

Kashiya snickered and again the next point was scored by the little orange ball of energy, giving them a break. And in the blink of an eye, Shiratorizawa's technical time-out came and the boys gathered. Kashiya watched as the boys took a sip of their drinks and relaxed a little for the short time they had.

The next interesting thing to happen was Tsukishima blocking a one-man time differential attack of Tendou. Ukai and Takeda were the proud grandparents of course. The thought of that only made her giggle. It was so unbelievably adorable how they reacted. Well, she wouldn't say adorable but in a way it was.

When Kashiya heard Tendou yell "You piss me off!", she couldn't help but laugh. Tendou was pretty dense sometimes, but somehow at volleyball he lacked nothing. It surprised her, but on the other hand, what else was there to expect for someone being a regular on the Shiratorizawa volleyball team?

The set slowly but surely came to a close and again, Kashiya was at the edge of her seat. If they lost this set, they'd surely be doomed for the rest of the match. After another time-out, the younger Azumane noticed Tsukishima asking if he could set the timing for a three man block. Seriously, he was unbelievably cute when he didn't know what to do with his hands. He may be salty but he can also be shy.

And that's what Tsukishima did. He began to set the timing for the three man blocks and he was good. They perfectly got Ushijima to spike the ball towards Nishinoya.  That gave them the opportunity to score and that's what Tsukishima did. Kashiya at the sidelines couldn't help but smile proudly.

The next point was a service ace by her brother. Although his next serve was received and ended up with Tendou scoring for his team, before yelling "Victoryyyyy!!!" But Ushijima corrected him by telling him that there were still two points left for them to score if they wanted to win this set.

The points went on and on, back and forth and Kashiya got more and more anxious with every point being scored by Shiratorizawa. Lose this set and they're done for.

The current score was 29-29 deuce. Two more points and they'd win the set. And there they got a point — again. But what happened next, surprised probably half of the people in the gym, if not everyone. Shirabu messed up a toss for Ushijima. Instead of it going high, as always, it was a low and short toss.

Kashiya's eyes widened and she smirked devilishly. If her team'd get a point now, they'd win this set. Ushijima spiked and the ball hit the ground with a loud smack. But not on Karasuno's side of the court. Tsukishima had blocked the ball out completely.

For a moment, there was complete silence. Then, the whole gym was filled with cheers and people yelling. Shiratorizawa was shocked. The boys of her team were yelling, surprised, along with Ukai, Takeda and even Shimizu. This was their point to win the set. Everyone was yelling, except Kashiya. Kashiya had tears in her eyes. It took her everything to not jump up and run onto the court to tackle Tsukishima with a hug.

As the team then gathered around the bench, Kashiya jumped up and into a surprised Tsukishima, who then wrapped his arms around her just as tightly as she did around him. She was smiling brightly, whispering "You did it! I'm so proud of you!" She heard him snicker and say "Who are you, my mom?" She pulled away from the hug, still holding onto him "No, but I'm your unbelievably happy girlfriend."

"Do I get a reward?" The megane salt pole then asked and smirked. Kashiya felt her cheeks turn a crimson red but then hit his chest "N-Not now! We've got to change sides!" To that, the blonde only snickered.