Let's Cheerleader! [Haikyuu story]

Chapter n°21

A/N: This video is for you to imagine how the cheerleaders dance. This is actually my own team in Croatia at the European championship. We stood on the winners' podium.
Tamiko's team does something very similar but with some more cheer stunts and jumps added.
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I wear my cheer jersey and walk to stand in front of a  mirror we got in our small changing room. We can hear noises coming from the hall as the teams warm up and hit the balls against the wall or over the net. I tie my hair up into a ponytail and add a big ribbon in colors of Karasuno High.
"Captain, we are going to stretch outside!" Some girls call out walking out of the room already with their pom-poms in hands. I only wave at them and watch my reflection in the small mirror as I keep my hands and mind busy with my hair. I feel nervous already especially because of the boys. Everything will be fine. They worked harder than anyone else. I smile a bit and head to exit the changing room as well.

"Let's go stretch to the hall Tamiko." Harumi grabs my arm and pulls me with her down the stairs. I giggle a bit and wave with my pom-poms a bit as we pass by many players in different team colors. Walking towards the main hall we pass by ladies' and then boys' toilets. I notice some familiar heads standing by the boys' toilets so I stop and wave at Harumi to go first.
"Shoyo, what are you doing?" I lift one eyebrow at the orange haired boy stading in the middle of small circle formed by tall players. Hinata turns to me and almost jumps into my arms. I smirk a bit and look at the boys standing around.
"Wakatoshi!" I smile at a tall guy in white and purple colors. It's the captain of Shiratorizawa Academy and a top ace among volleyball players. I lift my hand and high five with him.
"Tamiko, hey." He smiles at me back and the atmosphere is suddenly less tense.
"You know him, nee-san?" Hinata stands next to me and looks at me curiously as I return his look.
"Yeah, I used to cheer on Kitagawa-Daiichi a lot so we met during the matches. And he is Tooru's friend too right?" I smile sweetly at Tooru and Wakatoshi teasing them both which is my favourite thing to do when we three meet somewhere. They obviously don't like each other but since they have been like this for a long time I decided to be the funny one in our trio. They both return me a cold face look making me chuckle a bit.
"How are you, Wakatoshi? It seems you are doing well. Good luck during the matches." I always feel so small when I stand next to him although he is actually very kind to me.
"Thanks, take care Tamiko. I'll watch your performance." He smiles a bit casually not surprising me with our short conversation since he has always been a man of few words.
There is also someone else standing with us besides Iwaizumi who stays quiet whole time. I look at white haired male who I remember from the Inter High match. I smile at him a bit as well and then look at Hinata.
"Hey, we should go." I look at the captains still watching us and smile at them again.
"Good luck boys, see ya!" I wave at them with my pom-poms as I already drag Hinata behind me towards the hall where the rest of team probably is.

"Captain, someone said we are going to perform in 10 minutes." A third year girl jogs over to me to tell me the information so I nod and look around. Everyone seems ready and stretched well enough so I call them over.
"Okay girls, we need to do well so we hype up our boys. This is very important so let's do our best okay?" I smile enthusiastically as I speak because I can't help myself but to feel pumped up already.
"WHO IS THE BEST?" I yell into the circle getting a cheerful answer.
"KARASUNO!" The girls yell back at me making me giggle satisfied as we attract the attention of the other fanclubs and even players. I walk with them to check the ground we are going to perform on. I look at the stands checking out all the people who came to support their teams today and it seems pretty crowded up there. I shiver out of nervosity as I spot familiar faces among the people on bleachers. Tooru sees me as well and waves at me smiling showing also thumbs up to support us. I smile back and grab my pom-poms from the ground. It's time.

I stand with my head bent down and arms behind my back. There is silence in the hall as people wait for us to start. I smile thrilled for myself waiting for the music to start playing. The first tone comes out of nowhere and I start dancing energically. We move in sync waving with our pom-poms building up the atmosphere in the gymnasium. As the beats go through my body I start running and jump few handsprings with some other girls. The crowd starts cheering on us but I don't really feel it as the adrenalin pumps in my veins. I enjoy dancing finally again in front of people because the feeling of nervosity and then adrenalin and happiness is addictive. We change formations and I climb up into a stunt standing on top as the captain. I smile widely looking in front of myself without even being forced into smile because I just can't help but to show my teeth off because of the mood. Then I go lower as the bottoms prepare to throw me into the air. I firm up my muscles when I fly through the air so I fall into the arms of the girls.

Forming the final formation the music stops and we keep waving with our pom-poms getting ovations from people on the bleachers. As I keep smiling I breathe heavily because of the pace of the choreo. I always end up spending all my energy on the dance and the moment we finish dancing I'm dead exhausted. We stand up and wave for the last time before clearing the grounds.
"I'm so proud of you girls, it was great!" I manage to yell when we head through the corridors into our changing room. All girls seem satisfied with our performance so they keep chatting and laughing.
"Okay, the boys are playing soon so let's get ready and move to the bleachers!" I call out and take bottle of water. I drink while checking my hairstyle and makeup in the mirror.

"Nee-san! It was so cool! You flew so high!" Hinata's eyes sparkle as he jumps with Noya around me making me laugh out satisfied.
"Oh, thanks Shoyo! You are so cute aren't you?" I ruffle his hair with a grin on my face. We stand with the team at the bleachers talking about the performance and upcoming match. I sit down next to Tobio who seems quiet and focused on filing his nails. I watch him for a second before our peace gets interrupted by someone.
"Tamiko-chan, you were awesome. As expected." Tooru stands above me looking down at me and smiling. He looks at my brother next to me and waves at him.
"Hi, Tobio-chan. Ready for the match?" He sure only jokes around to piss my brother off even before the match which gets on my nerves every time.
"Thanks, Tooru. Aren't you supposed to be with your team?" I smile a bit at him looking up at him. Whole Karasuno is now looking at us as if they sensed the tension building up. He looks back at me and shruggs.
"They are fine. They aren't little kids." With that he winks at my brother and Shoyo who stands nearby. I smirk a bit and sigh standing up.
"Fine, let's go." I grab his arm and drag him away from the team so he doesn't make them feel uncomfortable before the match. I walk close to him hanged into his arm.
"Can't you just cut out this rivarly of yours? It's annoying." I mumble not looking at him because I know his angelic face would melt me.
"Oh? It's just fun, Tamiko-chan. Don't worry." He talks sweetly but as I check his face for a second I can see the evil smirk on his lips. I stop by the entrance to the main hall and stand in front of him.
"Good luck, Tooru." I look at him with a serious expression which he returns me while taking me by my waist.
"A kiss for the luck then?" He leans closer not caring about all the people passing by and looking at us. I watch him approach my face not leaning away. Our lips meet for few seconds as we kiss each other lightly. At that moment I can't help but to imagine how certain person's lips would taste.

"Tamiko! They are starting soon, hurry up!" Harumi calls at me as I return to our spot at the bleachers. I was a bit stunned after the kiss and after I actually imagined Kuroo at Tooru's place so I stayed for a bit downstairs. I wave at Harumi and jog to grab my pom-poms from the seat. I stand on my spot at first stair wait for the referee to blow the whistle which would announce start of the first set against Johzenji.