Alright, chapter 21.
Chapter 22 will follow soon.
LilweenGalatrass: Here you have some fluff again!
ShioriShuu: Thank you!
PandaHee: The manga was great! I am following it with the story now as well.
Chapter 21 - A bet
"Sup!" someone shouted and everyone turned to the door.
Hinata was stunned by what he saw. The Shiratorizawa third year's of the volleyball club had come into the gym and all fell silent. It was as if the hero's had just arrived. All the first years looked at them with awe. Many uttered Ushijima's name. Even Hinata seemed to be frozen but Tamiko was used to this. She waved at them.
"Hey, boys." Tamiko greeted them.
The boys greeted her as well, smiling at her. When Tendou spotted her, he went nuts.
"Tamiko-chan!" Tendou cheered and ran over to her.
What followed was a pure reflex that had developed over the last two years. She took a defensive karate stance.
"Get away from me!" she hissed.
Before he could get any closer to her, Semi and Jin grabbed Tendou's collar and pulled him back. He made short choking sound and fell to the ground.
"Satori, leave her be." Jin scolded him.
Within seconds he was back on his feet again.
"But look at her!" Tendou cheered. "She's wearing the coach tracksuit. Oh, how I have dreamed of this."
"I've had that since the start of the year."
The boys all looked at her when it finally sunk in. Their eyes became curious. Soekawa just stood there when tears formed in his eyes.
"Our manager." he sobbed.
"Hang in there, Jin." Semi patted his shoulder.
While Semi was trying to calm the vice captain, little Natsu spotted the grand ace. Overjoyed, she waved vigorously.
"Ah, Ushiwaka!" she cheered.
"Oh, it's the kid." Tendou noted.
Natsu ran towards the grand ace and hugged his leg. Her brother began to panic.
"Natsu!" he screeched.
But the ace wasn't in any way angered or such. He gently patted Natsu's head and greeted her. After a lot of confusion and amazement, Anabara explained why the third years had arrived and all of them were elated to have the opportunity for a practice match against them. Tendou grinned to himself when he noticed the second set of orange hair when Hinata tried to get his sister.
"A wild Karasuno's #10 has appeared!" he bellowed.
Hinata flinched and slowly turned around to the guess monster.
"How 'bout I take you out, right now!" Tendou challenged.
Hinata was about to bite as well when a player asked him to refill the drinking bottles. He took the bottles, bowed to Ushijima and Tendou before he headed to the kitchen with the most awkward pokerface Tamiko had ever seen. She laughed. Both of the boys looked after the little #10 and then Ushijima looked at her, a hint of confusion in his eyes but she just walked up to him and patted his head.
"Good to see you back on your feet again." and walked off.
Tendou had to resist a giggle when he saw Ushijima cover his mouth, partially hiding his pink cheeks. The first years were already too busy with forming teams to witness the flustered grand ace and it was better that way.
"Ah, this is great." Tendou sighed happily. "Tamiko-chan in the coach tracksuit."
Ushijima didn't say anything.
"Wakatoshi-kun, I bet you always wanted to see her in that get-up, right?" he teased. "She looks so athletic but it does look a little tight around the chest, too."
Again, the ace didn't answer but there was a trace of pink on his cheeks and tip of his ears so Tendou just smiled to himself. A flustered Ushijima was a rare sight but it happened more often now and Tendou enjoyed it. And so the training started. The guess monster was glad that Tamiko's presence wasn't affecting Ushijima's play. If anything, he seemed to be in much better shape than in the finals, which was a little terrifying. If it was because of Tamiko or Hinata, it was unclear. Even Tamiko noticed the change.
"He is incredibly focused today."
"Indeed." coach Washijo agreed. "Whichever club gets him will receive a great power boost to their lineup."
"Did he get an offer?" Tamiko asked.
"Numerous." he informed her. "But it will be his decision."
Her eyes wandered over to the ace again. There were probably a lot of offers from very big teams. Ushijima was lucky. He could start earning a lot of money as soon as he graduated. It made her sad. Not only because she would probably never see him again but mainly for the reason that she had a very slim chance of even finding a job. Maybe she could get a full contract with the library but that wasn't certain. Whatever her future had in store for her, she couldn't leave.
"You are thinking about your future, correct?" coach Washijo said after seeing her face.
She looked at him and nodded, her eyes back on the players.
"Your eyes are very valuable. I'm sure the school can employ you as the full time manager of the club." he muttered. "Once you have graduated, of course."
"Really!" she shrieked.
The shriek was so loud that it echoed through the gym. The boys paused in their doing but soon resumed when she apologized. Washijo promised her that he will talk with the principal and toss in a few good words. For the rest of the day she was elated. Her eyes saw a lot more now.
"Hyakuzawa-kun." she said and look up to the tall first-year.
He looked down at her and looked slightly intimidated. It was an amusing sight, a guy who was over 2 metres tall, afraid of a girl who was a dwarf next to him. Then she lightly punched his chest.
"You need to relax. You are not being tested here." she said and smiled. "Your height is already a great weapon in this sport. Now you have the chance to learn from skilled players and hone your skills. Misuse that opportunity."
She also kept a close eye on Hinata as well. To her it seemed as if he was starting to change. When he was back downstairs after hanging up the bibs, he kept a close eye on the young libero. He was skilled. He started to intercept the ball before the spikers even hit it. He was looking at the player, predicting the ball's trajectory. And Hinata saw that. That little movement before when the spikers jumped.
"His perspective is changing." Tamiko grinned to herself.
His one successful catch came from Ushijima's serve. Because of its force it his him in the face but he smiled proudly as he held the ball in his hands.
"Hinata-kun, your nose is bleeding." she told him.
And so the day passed. When the evening approached, the third years were still full of energy and wanted to misuse the fact that Tamiko was in a tracksuit.
"Tamiko!" Semi called out.
She turned around and saw how Semi grinned at her and held the ball over his head, ready to toss it. He waited. A smiled played on her lips and she took off her jacket.
"You do realise that the net is too tall for me." she reminded him.
"Just try it." he laughed.
She smiled and unzipped her jacket. She wore a plain t-shirt underneath and stretched a few times before walking onto the court. Then she ran and jumped. The toss was great and the jump perfectly mimicked. But she didn't hit the ball right. She hit the ball with frightening strength that made everyone flinch but it hit the net. The sound of the ball softly bouncing off the ground echoed through the gym.
"Told you." she sighed. "I just can't jump high enough."
"Maybe you should be a setter instead." Semi suggested. "Or a libero. You're quick enough for that."
"I've told you many times already, I will never go into this sport." she reminded him.
"Tamiko-chan, I feel left out." Tendou whined. "Why does Semi get more attention than I do?"
Tamiko twitched, grabbed the ball and spiked it at him. It hit its mark perfectly and all the boys shuddered. Tendou lay on the ground, curled into a ball of pain.
"Tendou-san, could you keep your nose out of my private life?" she asked, with her threatening smile.
"Y-yes….ma'am." he groaned with pain.
The third years all laughed. Semi picked up the ball and tossed it over to Ushijima, who caught it in his hands.
"Wakatoshi, why don't you spike one of her tosses?" Semi asked.
"What are you doing, Semi?" Tamiko asked.
"It's like when we were little. We always played volleyball together." he said. "Let's make a bet."
He grinned and then turned to the boys.
"Who wants to bet that she can toss a good ball and receive one of Wakatoshi's spikes?" he asked.
The boys and even Tamiko looked at him, shocked to the core.
"Are you crazy?" Jin asked him.
"You know what Wakatoshi's spikes are like!" Yamagata told him. "She will only get hurt."
"I agree. It's too dangerous." Ohira agreed.
"I can give the toss a try." Tamiko offered and walked over to the net. "Are you ready?"
Ushijima looked over to her, unsure about the whole situation but he stepped forward. He tossed the ball over to her while he ran up to the net. She tossed the ball up to him and he spiked it onto the other side. He was surprised.
"Nice kill." the boys cheered.
Ushijima looked over to the ball and then down at Tamiko.
"Nice toss." he told her.
"Thanks." she mumbled.
Semi tried his luck again afterwards and convinced Ushijima to spike at least one ball for her to receive. Tamiko walked over to the other side and stood on the far left of the court. Ushijima tossed the ball up for Semi so set. Watch her, Wakatoshi. Look at what your girl is made of. Semi tossed him the ball and Ushijima spiked it. Ushijima, in his subconscious of trying save her from injuring her again, went for a cross to the edge of the court. That should be impossible for her to get, he was in the balls path in a split second. Her eyes were glued to the ball but her arms weren't stretched before her. When the ball hit her chest, it forced the air out of her lungs but her arms wrapped around the ball. Her solid footing saved her from falling backwards from the force. There was a deathly silence when she dropped the ball, fell to her knees and began to cough violently.
"Tamiko-chan, you have to receive the ball, not catch it." Semi complained.
"Shut up! I would have never received that!" she coughed.
Ushijima hurried towards her. Never in all of their time together have they seen Ushijima with such worry on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine." she told them.
"That was an amazing reaction." Yamagata praised.
"Man, I totally thought he was going to hit a straight." Ohira awed.
"Same here. How the hell did you know it was going to be a cross?" Semi asked.
"What do you think I do when I watch you train?" she asked him back.
"You look for behaviour patterns." he said, a little confused.
"Exactly. I know how he thinks. Don't hit her, right?" she coughed again. "I stood there for a reason. I knew he would spike the ball as far away from me as possible."
The boys gaped at her.
"And he tends to focus on the ball so he didn't see me moving in for his cross after he jumped." she added. "It's a habit of his."
She grinned at him and he moved back a little.
"He can make a variation to the trajectory in the last second but I guess I shocked him." she grinned cheekily.
The boys all laughed and broke out in conversation. Only Ushijima was silent. Amongst the conversation, he stood and left the gym, retreating from what had just happened. The first years, who had watched the entire scenario were amazed.
"Kageyama-san is a amazing as ever." Shibata, one of the Shiratorizawa first years, smiled.
"Ushijima-san was acting strangely, don't you think?" Sagae wondered.
"Who cares." Shibata waved it off. "At least we have a great manager."