"Maybe I'll check it out later then."
=oOo=
With one of his hands resting on his hip, Tooru quickly read the contents of the note he was holding up with his other hand in front of his face. One of his eyebrows rose, more out of surprise than actual concern. After a deep breath, he headed back to his team to make an announcement. "Everyone, can I have your attention for a minute?" he called out, waving about the note in the air. The note had been from their coaches who were both unable to attend Friday's afternoon practice due to a meeting and had been delivered to him instead by someone from his class.
"What's that?" Iwaizumi asked as he, followed by several members of the volleyball club, approached Tooru. The setter didn't bother answering and just handed over the note to his best friend. He gave him a few moments to read it while the rest of the members assembled around the two of them, and once he was certain a good number were already paying attention, Tooru relayed their coaches' message.
"So," he began in a chipper tone. "Coach says we're going to have a practice match tomorrow morning, against the girls. It'll be done here, at eleven, and we'll be using our net." The news had come as a surprise for the freshmen, but for the second and third years, their reactions were completely different.
"Oikawa, did you pick a fight with Saruhiko again?" Hanamaki asked from behind the crowd that had formed.
Tooru scoffed. "I did not."
"Don't tell me you bullied Miyamura," Matsukawa called. "Because if you did, you're on your own."
"Why would I ever bully Haru-chan?" the setter shot back. "The two of us are friends."
"You did call her short yesterday," Iwaizumi reminded him.
"Iwa-chan! If anything, Haru-chan was bullying me, me."
"To Oikawa-san's defense, Miyamura-san doesn't actually mind being called short, right Watari?" Yahaba interjected before turning to the team's libero who nodded as a response, albeit a bit surprised that he had been dragged into the discussion.
"Thank you, Yahaba, Watacchi," Tooru gratefully stated, nodding at the two second years before addressing the team as a whole again. "Anyway, coach says to let Kindaichi and Kunimi play." The two freshmen straightened their backs at the mention of their names. "He thinks it'll be good practice for the both of you, and a good opportunity to get used to the team."
"Yes," the two of them responded. "Thank you very much!"
"I'm certain not everyone is familiar with girls' volleyball team," their ace stated, taking over to give the team an idea of who their opponent was. "But just like our team, they belong to the four top performing teams in the prefecture for the girls' division. What's more, they actually managed to represent Miyagi during the last Spring Tournament, and even when their third years had already retired. That should tell you just how strong they are, so don't even think of going easy on them. They'll just eat you alive."
Matsukawa looked up in thought, crossing his arms over his chest and grabbing his chin with one hand. "Come to think of it, what's the score?"
"Nineteen, eighteen, in the girls' favor," Hanamaki answered.
"Score?" Kindaichi echoed. Kunimi, on the other hand, simply raised an eyebrow while maintaining an overall indifferent expression.
Yahaba, who had been standing right next to the two freshmen, nodded and explained. "Oikawa-san and the others have always had this friendly rivalry with the girls' third years since they were in first year, apparently," he told them. "So they take scores whenever they get the chance to play against each other. It doesn't help that their coach and Coach Mizoguchi are pretty competitive too." The second year then heaved a sigh as he shrugged. "It's really just for bragging rights though…"
"But it's still good practice," Watari added, overhearing the conversation between Kindaichi and Yahaba. "We actually give each other pointers and lend each other a hand whenever we can. They're difficult opponents, but they're all really nice."
"Except Saruhiko-san," Yahaba stated.
Watari couldn't help but nod, offering an awkward smile at them. He didn't want to speak ill of any of his seniors, but he couldn't bring himself to defend the girl in question. "Except Saruhiko-san," he repeated.
Kindaichi's eyebrows shot up. "You mean the girl Hanamaki-san mentioned?" he asked.
The second year setter nodded. "She's a third year and the girls' ace," Yahaba informed him. "She's not the easiest person to get along with, but as long as you stay on her good side, she's decent." The brunette then blinked, realizing that there was an easier way to avoid Saruhiko's ire. "If you can't do that, then at the very least get on their libero's good side. Miyamura-san will protect you."
"Miyamura-san?" the first year repeated, remembering that his upperclassmen had mentioned the name as well.
The boys' libero nodded. "The best senpai you could ever ask for."
Yahaba agreed. "An angel that walks the earth."
"But she's a real problem for our spikers whenever we play against them. The girls already have a great defense on their own, but Miyamura-san just won't let the ball drop on their side of the court," Watari added, chuckling a bit having already seen several times just how skilled his fellow libero was. "I guess that's expected though. Miyamura-san was the libero of a powerhouse school in Tokyo back when she was in junior high, and I'm pretty sure her team won Nationals at least once while she was there."
Kunimi, who had been passively listening all the while, then decided to speak up. "It sounds like she was doing great in Tokyo… Why is she all the way out here in Miyagi?"
"I heard from someone that it had something to do with her family…" the libero replied, albeit a bit more quietly, not at all comfortable with talking about his upperclassman's personal life. "…but aside from that, I don't know… Anyway, she's in Iwaizumi-san's class, just in case you need any help with anything. Literally anything. I sometimes ask her to help me out with my English homework."
"Even with studying?" Kindaichi piped, and his two upperclassmen just nodded again.
"An angel," Yahaba repeated.
"Since you guys are on the topic of the girls' players…" Iwaizumi interrupted as he evenly stared at the group of boys that had been actually talking louder than they thought. "I think it'll do some good for Kindaichi and Kunimi to know who we're playing…"
Oikawa threw the second years a peace sign. "We'll leave that to you, Yahaba, Watacchi," the third year sang before clapping his hands together. "That's everything, so you can all go back to practice."
"Y-Yes!" Yahaba and Watari stammered before everyone scattered to continue with their respective training. As for the two, however, they dragged Kindaichi and Kunimi, along with a few other interested freshmen, to one side of the gym and gave them a brief description of the members of the girls' team.
Kobashigawa Ayame, a third year that served as the girls' captain and official setter.
Saotome Saori, a third year that was classmates with the boys' Oikawa Tooru, and was the team's vice-captain as well as one of their middle blockers.
Saruhiko Misaki, a third year that played wing spiker and was considered the girls' ace.
Miyamura Haruka, Iwaizumi's classmate and friend which served as their official libero.
Sawashiro Kotori and Nakamura Chiyo, second year middle blockers.
Ishikawa Reina, a second year setter.
Akesaka Momo and Tanizaki Aoi, second year wing spikers.
Sighing, Yahaba crossed his arms. "Well, that's what's left over from their Spring Tournament lineup, anyway," he told them. "According to Nakamura, they've also got some great first years, and their coach wants to add them to the team. She says their first years have this evaluation today, and she's guessing their coach'll complete their lineup based on the results."
"You know a lot about the girls' team, don't you, Yahaba-san?" Kindaichi couldn't help but say, and the second year just shrugged.
"Nakamura's in my class, and she loves to talk."
=oOo=
Meanwhile, in the second gymnasium, a similar discussion was being held. The freshmen had already finished their basic skills assessment, and after consulting with the girls' regular players, Coach Aranami Hikari had finalized the team's lineup for the next tournament. Aranami called for the club members to gather around and gave them the details about Saturday's practice match with the boys' team.
"And taking into account how the first years performed at today's drills…" their coach continued on as she finished off writing on the wheeled dry erase board she had asked one of the girls to bring out. "I've decided that this will be our official lineup." She then stepped away from the board, revealing a list of names. Aside from the nine ladies that participated in the last Spring Tournament, three more names were listed.
Fujimiya Nozomi, a first year wing spiker.
Andou Sachiko, a first year middle blocker.
Ohara Fumiko, a first year libero.
"For tomorrow's practice match, I want the freshmen to play," the coach added as she gestured to the diagram drawn beside the list of names. The three freshmen in question blinked and took a closer look at the diagram. It was Tanizaki, Andou and Kobashigawa in the front, and Saruhiko, Saotome and Fujimiya at the back, with Ohara as the libero. "I just want to know how you hold up against Oikawa and his team, so don't think about it too hard," she assured them. "Your senpais are going to be there to help you out."
Everyone nodded in understanding, and with that, Aranami let the girls go back to practice. Needless to say, the freshmen were caught off guard by the news, while the older players began murmuring amongst themselves, wondering why a practice match was scheduled out of the blue.
"I bet it was Saruhiko-san again," Tanizaki dryly stated as she pinned a volleyball against her hip with an arm.
"Misaki, did you bully Oikawa again?" Saotome asked, exasperated and not wanting to have to cover for her friend yet again.
"Wha- I did not," Saruhiko huffed as she planted her hands firmly on her hips.
Sawashiro heaved a sigh. "Did you bully any of the guys, Saruhiko-san?"
"If Misaki said she didn't do anything, then she didn't do anything," Kobashigawa said, to their wing spiker's defense.
"But it's not like Ayame-senpai or Saotome-san would challenge the guys," Ishikawa murmured.
"Why aren't I being suspected?" Haruka asked.
"Because no one can pick a fight with you, senpai," Akesaka bluntly told her, and the short third year blinked.
"…Thanks, I guess?"
"But don't you guys take score or something?" Nakamura cut in.
"Well, yeah," Saruhiko grumbled, crossing her arms. "But it doesn't change the fact that we're going to crush those boys."
The vice-captain shook her head. "So it was you."
"Was not."
"But if it wasn't any of us then…?" Ishikawa wondered aloud. The answer that echoed in their minds was all the same as they turned to where their coach was entertaining a club member's question.
'It was Coach Aranami and Coach Mizoguchi wasn't it?'