Cats Have Nine Lives
Chapter 11: Akaashi Keiji
Teru woke up early the next morning to avoid walking into anyone while she headed upstairs. Her alarm started ringing at 6 o'clock and she woke up immediately. As she tried to get up, she felt something heavy on her belly and lower body. When she looked down, she found an arm and a leg over her. She turned to look and found out that Lev was the culprit.
'No wonder it was so damn heavy…!' Sora groaned as she carefully removed his arm and leg, which required quite the effort. Lev, without realizing the trouble he was giving Teru, just continued to snore. 'Huh. Now that I look…' Teru then began staring at Lev. 'As expected of half Russian half Japanese. He's pretty good looking. If he'd shut his runny mouth for more than ten seconds, he'd be so much more popular.'
Then she looked at Kuroo, who was sleeping next to her in a very weird position. He had his face wrapped in a pillow.
'What the fuck?' Teru looked around, trying to get a sense of how on earth he was able to sleep that way. Then she noticed that his hair was back to his crazy rooster hair. Teru snickered to herself and started going through her bag to find clothes to change into. She grabbed her volleyball clothes and toiletries and headed upstairs after checking that no one was walking around in the hallway. She didn't want to put on leg supporters for the entire time, so she put on long training pants over her shorts.
When she came down, people were starting to wake up to get ready.
'Phew. Thank god I woke up early enough.' Teru let out a sigh of relief. When she walked back into the room, Kai and Yaku were already up, opening up the curtains and waking everyone up.
"Oi! Lev! Wake up already! It's 7 o'clock!" Yaku nudged Lev with his foot and shook him.
"Nnngh… Yaku-san…! You won't grow taller if you don't sleep more…!" Lev groaned. At Lev's statement Yaku started kicking him even harder, yelling "Die, Lev! Die!"
Kuroo was sitting up, dozing off a little bit. His hair was back to his "normal" hair.
"Morning." Teru said.
"…Morning… You're up early…" Kuroo replied.
"I guess." Teru then went over to Kenma. "Kenmaaa. Wake up~"
Kenma just groaned and covered himself in blankets. He was not a morning person.
"HEY HEY HEEEEY~!" Then with a loud bang of the door opening Bokuto came yelling through the door, waking everyone up. He was up and ready to start the day; even his hair was gelled up. "WHO'S READY?! TERU MY MAN, YOU'RE DRESSED AND READY TO GO! LET'S GO EAT BREAKFAST! AND PRACTICE A LITTLE BIT BEFORE COACHES SHOW UP!"
"Bokuto shut up. It's fucking seven in the morning." Kuroo groaned.
"Morning Bokuto! Kenma, you better wake up! I'll head out first!" Teru said as she walked out of the room. The two volleyball freaks headed to the cafeteria by themselves. Just as they entered the cafeteria—
"Crap! I forgot to put on my lucky underwear! I'll be right back!" Bokuto suddenly yelped and rushed out of the cafeteria.
'Lucky… underwear…? Wait, then does he have an underwear on right now? Or does he want to switch the one he's wearing?' Teru thought, finding this Bokuto dude slightly weird. Now she was left all alone in a quiet cafeteria. There were a few guys from Ubugawa, but she didn't know any of them. She just walked up to where she picked up the food, and decided to sit alone until Bokuto or Nekoma members came. Because she had arrived earlier than most people, there was no line to get food, which she absolutely loved. Karasuno's manager was handing out food this time.
"Good morning." Teru greeted, smiling. It certainly made her feel more at ease when seeing a girl among a bunch of guys, although that girl had absolutely no idea that Teru was a girl.
"…Good morning." The girl quietly replied.
"Ooh! Japanese style! I haven't had Japanese style breakfast in forever." Teru gleamed upon seeing steamy rice, salmon hot and fresh out of grill, and warm miso soup. Ever since she started living alone, she always either skipped out on breakfast or coped with milk and a tiny piece of bread from the convenience store. "I'd like a lot of eggs please." Teru said and Karasuno's manager smiled and nodded, giving Teru an extra portion of eggs.
Then suddenly, Teru felt chills down her back. Something was looming from behind her. When she turned around she saw Karasuno's libero with a scary, intimidating face, and Hinata, who was hiding behind his back nervously. It seemed like the other Karasuno members weren't there yet—and that meant that there was no one to control a mad dog with his leash loose.
Teru didn't quite understand why Karasuno's libero was making such a scary face. 'Ah, maybe he's not good with strangers! I haven't introduced myself to him and he thinks I'm intimidating, so he's trying to be intimidating too!' Teru thought. 'Man, I should step up and introduce myself! He's such a great player. It'd be awesome to have him practice with me.' Teru thought. She always wanted to make friends with the tiny but ridiculously skilled libero from Karasuno, but the team aura seemed so fierce to her (especially that guy with a goatee; he looked like he could snap her neck with just one hand) that she couldn't quite get a chance to squeeze in to introduce herself to them. Hinata was an exception, of course.
Meanwhile, Karasuno's captain Sawamura Daichi was out to look for the shortest but biggest trouble maker in the team. Then he saw from afar that he was trying to pick a fight with none other than the Ace of Nekoma.
"N-NISHINOYA!" He jumped out of his shoes and hurried over, until—
"Hi. I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Kurobana Teru from Nekoma. You're Karasuno's libero right? Man, you're probably one of the best liberos I've seen! Ah, I didn't get your name, by the way." Teru gleamed. At an unexpected turnout of events and Teru's smiling face, the tiny libero seemed rather taken aback. Sawamura just stood there, smiling nervously. Was this player's goodwill actually a mask to cover his malicious intent? Or was he just like that?
"N-Nishinoya Yuu…" He blurted out.
"Nishinoya, huh? Pleased to meet you!" Teru grabbed his hand and shook energetically, staring at him with sparkling eyes and a smile.
"P-Pleased to meet you. Y-You're quite a player too!" He said as well, remembering that this "pretty-boy who keeps on tempting Kiyoko-san" is actually an excellent player that definitely stands at the top in the camp.
"No, no, but your receives are like whoooooosh. How do I even explain. You're so pro! Although I'm a spiker, I gotta say, I think liberos are the bomb!" Teru shook her head and said again, her eyes sparkling even more upon talking about his receives. At that, Nishinoya let out a shy laughter.
"AHH! And you too! Your receives are fricking awesome too!" Teru said as well to Sawamura who was nervously standing behind Nishinoya and Hinata. "You're the captain right? The one that received my serve on just a third try."
"Y-Yeah. I'm Sawamura Daichi. Nice to meet you." He said, slightly taken aback, but shaking Teru's hand anyway. He thought Teru would be the colder type since she seemed calm and quiet during plays, especially when it's accompanied by her ridiculous skills. She just seemed intimidating because she was good, just like how Bokuto seemed intimidating at first (although he turned out to be a big, dumb meatball).
Meanwhile, in Fukuroudani's room—
"FUCKING BOKUTO! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR IN THE FUCKING LOCKER ROOM!? I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR ASSCRACK THE FIRST THING IN THE DAMN MORNING!"
"You're just jealous of my sexy buns." Bokuto cooed, shaking his naked butt around for everyone to see, only gaining groans and all sorts of cuss words from everyone in the room.
"Bokuto-san, please put it on already." Akaashi groaned.
"Okay!" He put his underwear on, and then his volleyball shorts. "Let's go Akaashi! Teru's waiting downstairs too."
"Ah, Teru-san…" Akaashi trailed off.
'That's weird… I've seen him somewhere before… but where…?' Akaashi thought as he lied in his futon, getting ready to fall asleep. Although he was tired from the rigorous practice and was more than ready to fall asleep, his curiosity kept his eyes open. He then put the blanket over his head and turned on the phone so that the light wouldn't bother the others.
'Kurobana Teru… Kurobana Teru…' He typed Teru's name. 'They're all for the girls' team. No boys' team?' He then clicked on a link which led to a video of the play in which "Kurobana Teru" is in. Then Akaashi found someone that had the same build as the Teru that he knows right now—with a ponytail in spandex, wearing a girls' uniform, playing with the other girls. Since the video was of the entire team recorded from the benches, he couldn't take a closer look at the girl's face. But when a girl wearing number one served, she had almost the exact same serving form as Teru of Nekoma—quick, compact, but powerful.
'No way…!' Akaashi gaped at the monitor. He then started looking for more on her information. She even played for the Junior Olympics team! But as a she, not he! 'No... I can't jump to conclusions so quick. I didn't even get to take a close look at her face.' Akaashi shook his head. 'But Teru-san I know… he's definitely not the masculine type. And he always covers his legs… Why…?'
Akaashi then recalled how Teru actually never revealed her skin the entire day. She never took off her leg supporters, not even once. But when he started to think, he noticed that Teru's curvature and physique was completely different from boys—even Kenma, who was on a skinnier side.
'But where have I seen her…?' Akaashi continued searching. Then he found a link that lead to an article of a club team winning Tokyo championships held during the spring of Akaashi's third year in middle school. He remembered seeing a match where a girl stood out in particular because she was so good in all areas of the court—and was awarded MVP of the tournament. Maybe that's where he remembers her from. 'I went to this event…! My school teammates wanted to see the match…! And even Bokuto-san told me that his club team played in the finals! So how come he doesn't remember?!' He recalled. '…But then again, it's Bokuto-san…' Akaashi looked over to Bokuto, who was snoring and drooling in his sleep. 'There's definitely something fishy about Teru-san… I better look out tomorrow.' Akaashi thought as he finally put his phone down after a long time of searching and reading.
Akaashi walked into the cafeteria with Bokuto, and his gaze immediately landed on Teru, who was chatting and eating with Kuroo. After getting their portion of food, they walked over to the crew and joined them.
"Yo. I'm back. With my lucky undies!" Bokuto said as he put his plates down.
"Good morning." Akaashi greeted.
"Good morning." Teru and Kuroo greeted.
"…Teru-san, aren't you hot in long pants?" Akaashi asked.
"Not really." She replied. "But I'll be taking them off later anyway."
When it was time for practice, Akaashi observed Teru as she took off her long pants. She sat down in the corner and slowly took her pants off while sitting down, revealing her entire legs that no one was able to see the entire time. No one paid close attention in particular except Akaashi—and he noticed that her legs were rather slim and feminine, even compared to Kenma, who was the skinniest one there.
Teru nervously looked around and quickly put on her leg supporters, further bolstering Akaashi's prolonged suspicions. As she was putting her leg supporters on, Kenma made his way over to her.
"…I heard from Kuroo." Kenma said. "About your friend."
"Ah," Teru paused for a bit. "Yeah…" She said. It was all she could say. She couldn't really say anything else in particular.
"But it's a good opportunity for him, right?" Kenma asked. "If he could play volleyball again."
"Yeah." Teru smiled. "I'm really glad."
Kenma just quietly placed his hand on her back carefully and patted it a couple times as his way of encouragement.
"Akaashi!" Bokuto called, snapping Akaashi out of his focus on Teru.
"Yes Bokuto-san."
"We're playing against Nekoma first on their court."
"I see." He replied and headed over to where Nekoma was.
"Yo, Teru, Kenma." Kuroo called as he saw Teru and Kenma walking over together. "We're playing against Fukuroudani first. Formation's the same as the usual. We're serving first."
"Okay." The two nodded.
The Nekoma team got in formation and Teru got ready to serve. She bounced the ball a couple times to get a feel for the ball.
"Here it comes~! Just get it up in the air!" Bokuto said, getting ready.
Akaashi quietly examined Teru. Teru started a couple feet behind the baseline and tossed the ball up high in the air, and jumped. She jumped high and swung her arm with a compact, but powerful punch.
'There's no mistake… although he—or she—jumps way higher, it's the same form.' Akaashi thought.
"Out, out!" A member called and let the ball bounce—however, the ball landed exactly on the line as it top-spinned its way down to the baseline.
"Service ace!" Nekoma members cheered.
"Dammit, sorry!"
"Next one, next one!"
'If I am correct, and he really is a she… skill wise, she's on par even against Bokuto-san who's on a national caliber. So what's she doing, pretending to be a guy? Why did she transfer schools in the first place? And how come she didn't participate in the junior Olympics team that happened just before she transferred?' Akaashi was busy thinking, staring at Teru who was bouncing the ball to serve a second time. 'She's probably the best player in this camp who can cover all areas of the court. So what is she doing here? Plus, does she even know how dangerous it is to be doing this kind of thing?'
The ball went up, and Fukuroudani was able to successfully make an attack—except Teru was already ready, covering Lev's ass in the center back row. She perfectly dove down, with a clean form, and got the ball up.
"Nice receive!"
The two teams played out their best, and even still the score did not seem to settle.
"Damn… that transfer student is too annoying!" One of the Fukuroudani members said as they took a water break.
"He's short but really good. It's so unfair he actually knows how to block too! What the hell."
"You know a player's really good when you start to find him annoying~"
Everyone sighed.
"It's okay! We got this! I'll take 10, no, 20 points!" Bokuto said as he put his water bottle down, all geared up and more than eager to get back on court.
"Bokuto-san, please calm down." Akaashi said, slightly worried.
"I am calm!" He said and stomped over back to the court as Nekoma team made their way to the court as well.
"Uh-oh."
Bokuto's lucky underwear is from *alvinklein and they wrap around his butt perfectly. He also has a nice round butt because he's beefy af
Totally the type to go around naked if public nudity wasn't illegal
Also, to those who get confused by the switching of pronouns he/she, it's probably just my imperfect writing and my imperfect self forgetting to switch time to time because it's just so hard for me to keep track as well. So regard omniscient 3rd view: she and everyone else's view: he, except now Akaashi's kinda onto Teru
