Captains: Kuroo Tetsurou × OC

Chapter 20: Playoffs

The preliminaries were hard, but Nekoma's teams managed to power through and make it near the end.

As the two teams waited for the bus to the last day of competition, they were all buzzing with anticipation.

"WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Akari jumped up and down with Yamamoto, "WE'RE COMING FOR YOU NATIONALS!!"

Yuko smacked the energetic 2nd-years, telling them not to waste their energy.

Kuroo and Taiji sat on the curb, watching their teams mingle with each other. The two captains soaked in the silence, both knowing that words weren't needed for them to understand each other.

They were both afraid.

Their goal was just barely in their reach, and they didn't want to screw up. One wrong move and all of their efforts would be for nothing.

"We're almost there," Taiji quietly chuckled as she took a sip from her bottle, "I thought I would be more ready by now."

Kuroo laughed at her remark, "I know the feeling."

Taiji stood up from the curb. Facing Kuroo, she outstretched her hand and smiled, "I hope to see you on the winners' side then!"

~~~

As the girls stepped into the gymnasium, the whole atmosphere changed. Everyone turned to watch them as they made their way in.

"Isn't that Nekoma's girls' volleyball team?" Whispers could be heard as they continued walking, "Didn't they almost go to the nationals last year?"

"I heard that their captain this year is that Taeko girl, she's a sadist."

"I bet that they'll be able to go to the nationals this year."

"Isn't Taeko Taiji the daughter of that one professional player that passed away a few years ago?"

The pressure has never been light for the girls, as they were known as 'Nekomata', but that never stopped them.

"Taiji," Yuko lightly tugged at her friend's jacket, "Are you okay? They were saying some pretty brutal things about you."

The female captain flashed an assuring smile to her team, "I'm fine, it's always been like this, hasn't it?"

Being the daughter of a professional player has always been something that poked Taiji on the back. People always had expectations for her to do well, while others weren't as nice.

Stepping into the court, Taiji came face to face with her opposing team from Chiseki High.

As their captain, Monita Asuka, noticed them entering, she broke out into a wide grin and waved at Taiji.

"Taeko-san!" She called, which caught the attention of everyone around the court.

Realizing who was calling her, Taiji waved back at her opponent a similar expression.

"Captain," Masami tapped Taiji's shoulder, "Do you know her?"

"She was my vice-captain during middle school."

The first years raised their eyebrows, "Won't that make it hard to beat them?"

"When we're on the court, all that matters is sportsmanship," Taiji turned to face her kouhais, "Being on the opposite side of the net doesn't delete the fact we weren't teammates once."

"There you go again," Yuko patted Taiji's shoulder, "Being all captain-ish and philosophical while giving speeches."

"Right right." Taiji laughed, "Let's go warm up."