Karasuno's little bird

Part 8: I found you

It had been a number of days since your promise to help Daichi, and quite honestly nothing had progressed.

The boy was unusually tepid towards you, he deliberately appearing to ignore your pressing questions about the previous Coach and lost teammates.

"Finish your drills (Y/N)." He would say, dismissively.

Asahi was always quick to remind you not to take it to heart.

"Settle for a bit (Y/N), you'll just aggravate him more." Asahi murmurs.

He has a point.

Begrudgingly you do as you're told, settling next to the boy on the gymnasium floor.

You had spent the better part of two hours digging the wing spikers hits, and your chest heaved it disapproval accordingly.

"Are you ever going to tell me about what happened to this team?" You ask, blunt.

The wing spiker raised a brow, before picking up a nearby water bottle.

"Asahi-San?" You sighed, indicating your patience was fleeting.

The boy took a brief swig from the bottle, swirling the water around his mouth before swallowing.

"Alright." He conceded, allowing himself to fall back flat across the gym floor.

You joined the boy in his practice, laying next to him quietly.

"Ready?" He asked.

You nodded.

The boy mirrored your actions, clearing his throat softly.

"Does it ever strike you as odd how we have very few people on the team?" He began.

You gave it some thought.

Yes, actually.

The amount is below average for a high school team.

"Sure." You replied.

Why is that?

"It's no accident." Asahi sniffed.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the name Ukai? He's been mentioned at some point or another." He continued.

Ukai.

Yes, that name rings a bell.

The former coach was it?

"Well, he was not someone that rewarded laziness or imperfection." Asahi murmurs, his distaste evident.

You nod.

"We had three others before you, all second years, all of them talented in their own right." He admits, voice growing soft.

"Their names are Ennoshita Chikara, Kazuhito Narita, and Hisashi Kinoshita."

You allowed the boy a minute to collect himself.

"Those three were strong together, a clean and well rounded trio."

Asahi paused.

"However, individually they were more unsure and less seasoned."

They were weaker apart.

"Coach Ukai quickly recognized that, and wasted little to no time training them individually."

I can't see why that would be a problem.

"Ukai gave great training, there is no questioning that, but he was extremely hard on those three, especially Ennoshita."