"C'mon!" Otsune said, dragging Erika and Arisu by the arm. "It's time for the boys' volleyball practice!"
It had been a month since school started, and finally, Otsune was dragging them to spy on "hot" guys.
"Otsune, I actually have art club right now," said Arisu.
"Oh," said Otsune. "Right." She let go of her arm but kept her grip on Erika's arm.
"I have something too-" started Erika.
"No you don't, you told me!" argued Otsune. "I didn't join the art club because this is the only day you're free and art club is today! So, come with me!"
"Ugh, fine…" Erika knew there was no arguing with Otsune once she made up her mind. "Where's the gym?"
"Follow me," said Otsune.
Erika did as she said, very reluctantly. Just to annoy her friend, she complained the whole way. Erika stopped when they arrived at the gym. It was a cool fall day, with a gentle breeze blowing. The gym door was open and she could see boys practicing inside. Otsune walked inside slowly, and sat down on a bench along the wall. Erika followed her and seated herself beside her.
Otsune was looking at the boys, and Erika knew her well enough to know what she was doing - determining their level of "hotness". Erika sighed. Otsune was hopeless.
"Look at that guy," breathed Otsune. "He's so hot."
"Why do you use 'hot' to describe every guy you find attractive?" Erika said, rolling her eyes.
"Because that's what they are!"
Erika sighed. "Which one?" she asked in an annoyed and exasperated voice.
"The one with the black hair," whispered Otsune in reply.
"There's more than one guy with black hair," pointed out Erika.
"The one with the blue eyes," the boy-crazy girl clarified.
Erika looked carefully among the black-haired boys and saw one with blue eyes. He was very serious-looking, with a seemingly permanent scowl etched on his face. From what Erika could tell, he was a setter. And he was good. Very good. He was what you would call a genius setter, a prodigy.
"Hey, can you get that please?" asked a short boy with fiery red hair. He indicated to a ball rolling towards Erika.
She picked it up and handed it back to him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked innocently. When she didn't answer, the boy that Otsune was fawning over came and hit the short boy on the head.
"OW! KAGEYAMA!" he exclaimed in pain.
The prodigy setter, who Erika presumed was Kageyama, glared at him. "Stop bothering people," he told the short boy. "Back to practice."
"Sorry about that," Kageyama grumbled. "Hinata can't help his dumbass nature."
Erika let out a small laugh. "It's fine. He wasn't being rude," she said.
"Gotta go back to practice now," Kageyama said abruptly. With that, he turned around, returning to the current drill.
"If he had asked why we're here, what would you have said?" Otsune asked.
"Uh, personal reasons?"
"Personal reasons?" hissed Otsune. "Seriously?"
Erika shrugged. "Crushing on a boy counts as a 'personal reason'," she said.
Otsune didn't reply. So they continued watching the practice, Otsune with a lovestruck look and Erika with a slightly annoyed look. They were both watching the genius setter, however, their reasons were different. Otsune was gazing because of her, well, crush. But Erika, who played volleyball, was observing his technique.
"Sensei!" a third year called.
Everyone paused what they were doing to look at the door. A young adult stepped through the door.
"Thank you, Sugawara-san," he said to the third year.
He nodded in reply, then turned to face the rest of the group. "This is Takeda-sensei," he said, introducing the newcomer.
"First years, line up," Takeda told them.
Four people did as he said, standing side by side. Erika noticed the setter was among them, surprising her because his skill level was above most people his age.
"Introduce yourselves," Takeda ordered them. "Tell us why you joined this club."
"Tsukishima Kei," said Tsukishima. "I joined because I had nothing else to do. And because Yamaguchi asked me to."
"Yamaguchi Tadashi," introduced Yamaguchi. "I just like volleyball."
"Kageyama Tobio," announced Kageyama. "I wanted to play and win more volleyball, so I joined this team."
"Hinata Shoyo," said the short boy Kageyama had called Hinata. "I joined this team because I want to continue playing volleyball through high school!"
"Second years and third years, introduce yourselves to our new team," Takeda said.
"I'm Tanaka Ryunosuke," said a bald second year. "But call me Tanaka-senpai. I'm a wing spiker."
A short boy with black hair and a blonde tuft of hair laughed. "They'll call me senpai. Nishinoya-senpai," he said proudly.
"Tell them your first name, position, and year too," said Takeda.
"I'm in my second year and my first name is Yuu," Nishinoya said. "I'm the libero! The one man army!"
Everyone rolled their eyes, except for Hinata, who screamed, "So cool!"
"Chikara Ennoshita," said a black-haired player. "I'm a second year and wing spiker."
"I'm also in my second year, and I'm Kinoshita Hisashi," a dirty-blonde haired boy said. "I play wing spiker and pinch server."
"Second year, Narita Kazuhito," said a guy with a shaved head. "Middle blocker."
"Sugawara Koshi," said the third year that introduced Takeda. "Third year, vice captain, and setter."
"Azumane Asahi," said a older-looking guy with brown hair and a goatee. "I'm the ace and a third year."
"Sawamura Daichi, I'll be your team captain this year, so I'm a third year." the last person said.
"And finally, this is our manager, Shimizu Kiyoko," Takeda said. "Now that introductions are finished, let's get started!"
"What about our coach?" asked Tsukishima.
"Oh, um," said Takeda with uncertainty. "Still… Working on that part."
"They don't have a coach?" said Erika aloud. The team didn't hear her, but their manager did, who was sitting beside them.
"Their old coach, Ukai, retired," she explained. "They haven't found a coach since."
"I see," said Erika, frowning. "It's going to be hard to practice without a coach."
Shimizu sighed. "Yes, but they manage on their own. Sort of."
"I can see what you mean by 'sort of'," laughed Erika. "Not the most responsible of boys, aren't they," she commented, watching Tanaka chase Nishinoya around.
"You're right," agreed Shimizu. "Are you just here watching?"
"I'm here because my friend asked me to come," she replied, indicating Otsune. She leaned closer to the manager. "She's got a crush on that setter, Kageyama."
Shimizu seemed surprised, then laughed. "Oh, I see," she said, watching Otsune staring at the black-haired boy. "And you are?"
"Inouye Erika," she said, holding out her hand. "You can call me Erika."
"I'm Shimizu Kiyoko," said the girl. "You can also call me by my first name."
They shook hands.
"So, what year are you in?" asked Erika.
"Third year," answered Kiyoko. "You?"
"First," said Erika.
They continued talking while watching the boys. After a while, they just observed the team and stopped making conversation. Kageyama seemed to gradually get more and more frustrated, screaming at his teammates, in particular Hinata.
"Sorry!" he would reply, bowing.
Then they tried again. And again.
Kiyoko noticed Erika watching them and commented, "They used to be the worst of enemies in middle school. Hinata swore to someday beat Kageyama, the king of the court."
"King of the court?" asked Erika.
"He is the setter, the player that controls the game. His technique is great, but his teamwork is not. He played volleyball like he was the only player on the court. One day, he set, and there was no one there to spike. His tosses were way too reckless and he never thought about the kind of tosses his teammates wanted. It was a lesson for him. When he came to Karasuno, he and Hinata were always fighting. Daichi banned them from the club until they could work together. They have, even though they fight more than occasionally."
"Ah," said Erika after this long explanation. She understood the feeling that she was the only player on the court. After all, she has always been the best player on the team, a setter, and ignored her teammates' abilities. She was even known for it. The Setter Queen, they called her. But it was a name only to mock her, like Kageyama's "King of the Court".
In fact, they were exactly alike.