In retrospect, Niko really should have told Oikawa no when he asked her to help the boys practice after school. She'd had her own practice, but when she owed him a favor from a bet she'd lost, she couldn't really say no. It hadn't helped that he'd come over to ask while she was sitting with the girls' volleyball captain and a few players. They'd been all too happy to hand her over, teasing her about spending time with her boyfriends. Her exaggerated eye roll and glare had done nothing to deter them.
She hadn't conceded until her captain had pointed out that it would be good practice for her, and that the girls' team would be fine without her for one practice. And so, she made her way to the gym the boys practiced in after school. Niko had already changed into her training clothes beforehand, so she set her bag on the bleachers before making her way to the huddle of players across the court.
"Niko-chan from the girls' team is here to cheer us on today, so do your best, everyone!" Tōru's voice rang out clearly, the false overly-positive attitude making her roll her eyes. She'd never understand why he put on such a farce all the time. It seemed exhausting to be someone else so often. Coming up behind the captain, she clapped him on the back none-too-lightly, making him stumble forward.
"Not just cheer you on, I'm here to practice with you all, too!" She beamed, nudging between Hajime and Tōru easily, her blonde hair swinging behind her. The wing spiker glanced down at her, the corner of his lips twitching as she pushed their captain out of the way. She quickly shifted her attention to the two first years, the only two she didn't know. "Niko Kobayashi, it's a pleasure to meet you two." Both males flushed brightly, stammering greetings as they shot looks at their senpais. No one else seemed phased to have her there.
Coach Irihata had mercy on the first years, and cut into the discussion to explain. "Kobayashi is a nationally-ranked libero, so playing with and against her will give you all plenty of practice. If you let your guard down, you'll lose." He said, smirking a bit as Niko straightened up and beamed at him for his praise. The first years stared at the girl, amazed by this new information.
The second and third years had been through this before – it wasn't the first time Tōru had roped her into their practice. With introductions and explanations out of the way, she bounced on the heels of her feet and grinned at the team around her.
"I'm so excited to play with you all, and see what's new this year. I hope we can all learn from each other! Let's have fun!" Her energy level was something to be admired, a few of the boys noted. Setup seemed to go quicker because everyone was spurred on by her excitement. Then again, it was also likely that they were simply aiming to impress her.
After the coaches had sorted them into teams, a few of the players groaned. Matsukawa was the first to voice his dissent, brows furrowed as he frowned. "C'mon, that's not fair to put all three of you on the same team. How are we supposed to score any points now?"
On the other side of the net, Niko bounced between Hajime and Tōru, laughing. "You aren't! It's the first time in ages we've gotten to play together, leave us alone you loser." Sticking her tongue out at him, she ignored the way he half-heartedly rolled his eyes and offered her a lazy grin. Shifting her attention to her best friends, she slapped both boys on their backs. "Let's break them!"
"You're sadistic, saying something like that so cheerily." Hajime let out a low grunt as he reprimanded her lightly, rubbing his back where she'd hit him. Niko was quite a bit stronger than she looked. Meanwhile Tōru was bent over dramatically, whining about his poor back and how she was a demon in disguise.
"No worries, once we scramble the teams, I'll be sure to prevent you from scoring any points while I'm on the court ~" She said in a sing-song voice, skipping to her position on the court eagerly.
The whistle blew shortly afterwards, and the game began. The first years had been put on the team against the trio, and quickly learned why the second and third years had been excited for Niko to join them. Every time she was on the court, she became the center of attention. It was unusual for a libero, but no one could keep their eyes off of her. She was lightning, dashing, jumping, and leaping from one end to the other as she received countless balls.
While it was far from the first time she'd played with the boys, it was still a shock to receive some of their spikes. There were plenty of strong female players, but the male body was simply built more powerfully. Niko spent the first few rallies of the match getting used to the pure power behind them. They threw her off balance more than once, and the balls went soaring through the air in wobbly directions.
"Sorry, sorry!" Niko called out each time a receive was off, her brows furrowed together. Gradually, the apologizing happened less and less often as she became re-accustomed to the heavy hitting. As this happened, the atmosphere of the team shifted as well. An ever-evolving libero, she began bracing herself more and using both arms to receive, connecting more balls and keeping them in the air.
The opposing team was rarely able to score when she was playing. As they learned this, they began to avoid spiking or hitting the ball near her. Realizing this, Niko laughed and blew them a kiss, much to their chagrin. Their attempts at thwarting her weren't quite successful, though. Despite their best efforts to avoid her, she continued to derail them alongside Tōru and Hajime.
It really hadn't been fair to put the three players on the same team – that much became obvious when the game ended after two sets. As childhood friends, they were completely in sync with one another's movements. Unlike other players, the three of them didn't need verbal or even hand signals to work fluidly together. The trio's team had won both sets, at 25-20 and 25-17. It wasn't even that the other team wasn't good, it was simply the fact that the three best friends were so in sync with one another that they left little to be desired on the court.
Cheering at their victory, Niko made sure to go around and congratulate everyone for doing a great job. When she made her way to Watari, he grinned and wrapped her in a hug. "It's always fun playing against you, you're a beast on the court." She laughed, squeezing him lightly before she took a step back.
"You're getting better every day! Won't be long 'til you surpass me, grasshopper."
"I can only hope I'm good enough to be called the nation's top libero." He grinned, pointing out a fact that the others had failed to mention to the first years. Nearby, they were openly staring as this information registered with them. The coach had explained she was nationally ranked… but not that high.
"Pfft, nation's top youth libero. And that's only in the women's division, too." Sarcasm dripped from her words. Waving her hand flippantly, Niko rolled her eyes as she parroted what so many people told her. In front of her, Watari frowned and opened his mouth – no doubt to reassure her. "No need, Watari-kun. I know. Those people are idiots. I'm a damn good libero, and if they want to nitpick the details because I've got boobs, they can have fun. I won't let it bother me."
Smiling brightly, Niko leaned forward to quickly press a kiss to his cheek before bounding off to Tōru and Hajime again. Watari stood frozen, blood rushing to his cheeks as his brain tried to process what had just happened. A hand clamped down on his shoulder tightly, breaking him from his stupor.
"Ahhh, that's the first time she's done that to you, isn't it? Don't worry, she's just overly affectionate. She does it to everyone, it's her way of saying thanks usually." Matsukawa's hand squeezed his shoulder as Watari tilted his head towards him. "So don't overthink it too much." With another grin, the middle blocker released him and ambled across the court.
A few minutes later, the teams were scrambled – this time more evenly, luckily. Overall, they ended up playing quite a few matches against one another and ended up practicing well into the evening. The results varied as a whole, but it became obvious pretty quickly to the first years why their senpais looked up to Niko so much.
She was like a sun, bouncing around the gym and lighting everyone up. It was hard not to get hyped up alongside her. She encouraged the team – no matter which side they were on – and pointed out flaws and tricks that would help them. It was as if Niko willed them to improve, and by sheer determination not to disappoint her, everyone did. Bit by bit, step by step, ball by ball.
At the end of the night, after cleanup, she bid the team goodbye – but promised that she would come back for another practice session at some point. Playing with them had been exhilarating. There were new challenges and obstacles that she had to overcome and push past. They helped her grow just as much as she helped them.
"Chibi-chan, wait up." Tōru called out, rushing up next to her. "Your mom will kill us if we let you walk alone." Lips pursing out, Niko pouted lightly. Her mother was insanely overprotective of her. Despite being a legal adult now, and pretty capable of caring for herself, her mother always insisted that she never walk home alone after dark. The two boys always made sure to walk her home, which earned them many, many brownie points in her mother's eyes.
Hajime jogged up and settled on her other side after nudging her with his elbow. "Might as well accept that it's gonna be this way until you're married. Probably even then, though." His brow quirked, and he laughed as her eyes narrowed and she smacked his shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't hit me. It's just the truth."
"Shut up." Despite trying to be serious, her façade was cracking fast. The corners of her lips twitched, then she bit her bottom lip and looked away. He simply waited, lips curling up in a slight smirk. Moments later, she burst into laughter. Reaching out with both hands, she grabbed onto each boy's elbow on either side of her. "C'mon, I wanna take a bath when I get home. I'm exhausted." She was sweaty, and her bangs were clinging to her face, so a bath was just what she needed.
"You're so aggressive, Chibi-chan. How're you gonna get a boyfriend like this?" Tōru looked at her, a grin on his lips as he baited her. Her gaze honed in on him, but with one look at the coy expression on his face, she knew he was just trying to push her buttons. Ineffectively, might she add. Laughing, she tugged him towards her sharply.
"Better to be aggressive and alone than annoying and you."
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Ha, but it's true, Shittykawa."
"Iwa-chan, that's mean!"
The way home, they were all laughing and teasing each other. It was a friendship built over the course of a decade, and something to be envied. By the time Hajime and Tōru had dropped Niko off, they were grinning to themselves. Being around her always had that effect on them.
A/N - I wanted to post the first two chapters, since number one was just a little intro and fairly short. I hope you are all enjoying it so far! Let me know what you think :)
