Disclaimer: Haikyuu is not my property. It is owned by Haruichi Furudate, Weekly Shōnen Jump, and Shueisha.
Chapter 21 – The Big City Cats
With Asahi-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai rejoining the team after being away, and with the addition of our (Temporary as he liked to put it) Coach, Ukai-san, it felt like the Karasuno Boys' Club finally had all of its pieces. Now all that was left was to make sure they were all working together correctly.
The practice game during Golden Week against the Volleyball club of Michiko's school Nekoma High School would be a great place for a field test run, so to speak.
And the time for that match had come around rather quickly, time flying due to the many practice sessions the team had.
But first came Golden Week, and with it came the club's first training camp of the year!
We all stood in the club's gym, the boys gathered around Coach Ukai and Shimizu-senpai, Takeda-sensei and I standing to the side to watch as he addressed them.
'The practice game against Nekoma takes place in four days. After that, it'll be time for the Inter-High. There's no time, and you guys are full of weak spots.' Coach Ukai told them honestly, 'There's only one thing to do in order for you slobs to win. Practice! Practice! Practice! Keep receiving that ball until you throw up!' he said, and the boys all nodded in agreement, baring determined expressions on their faces.
And with that short talk over with, the afternoon's practice finally began. They started with receiving practice, and Coach Ukai had them keep going until they bumped back up at least 5 balls successfully. After that, he had them all move on to Spiking practice. With a Coach like Ukai-san around, practice seemed to be feeling more and more structured and with every activity, Shimizu-senpai and I were there to assist our Coach.
At the end of practice, everyone gathered together his or her things, which was a bit more than usual this time. After all, it was the start of their training camp and having gotten the permission all sorted out with all of our parents, we'd all be staying together while the boys had an extensive week-long training camp.
I would be staying with Shimizu-senpai as she lived nearby, which was a little nerve-wracking, but exciting. I'd only ever had sleep-overs with my best friend Michiko before this, but Shimizu-senpai and she were completely different from each other so I wasn't sure what to expect.
On the topic of Michiko; ever since I'd had that one video-call with her a few days ago where I'd first talked to her about this training camp and the practice match with her school, she's definitely been keeping some kind of big secret from me, that she refused to let me in on.
I can't say it hadn't been bothering me. Michiko does like her secrets and surprises, but I hate being left out of the loop for something like this.
I pouted to myself, cheeks puffed, as I walked up to the place where the boys would be staying for the training camp. We were all going to make and eat dinner together as a team bonding exercise.
'Eh? What's with that sour expression?' Tsukishima-san's voice surprised me, and I craned my neck up to look at him. He was glancing down at me nonchalantly, hands pocketed. Yamaguchi-san was at his side.
'Oh, was I making a weird face…?' I asked them.
'That's an understatement.' Tsukishima-san responded.
Yamaguchi-san leaned over curiously, 'Is something on your mind? Oh! C-Could it be that you're worried about sleeping in the same building as us guys…?' Yamaguchi-san asked me.
'Ohh, so you're getting ecchi thoughts? Hoping for something to happen?' Tsukishima-san smirked at the thought.
I blushed, 'No way, don't jump to conclusions! I'm actually staying with Shimizu-senpai at her house. It's near to here.' I informed them.
At this, Tsukishima-san seemed to lose a bit of interest, and he sighed.
'Eh, really?' Yamaguchi-san asked.
'Those two air-headed senpai are going to cry when they hear.' Tsukishima-san commented, imagining it, 'Someone else, too,' he added cryptically, and for some reason looked over to an excitable Hinata, who was ooh-ing and ahh-ing a little ways away from us.
Eh? Hinata would cry? Whatever for…? I think he'd be too excited to play volleyball to think about sleeping arrangements.
'Anyway, so was something on your mind? If it wasn't that.' Yamaguchi-san asked.
'Ah, it's not much. Just that my friend Michiko, the one who's going to Nekoma, has been keeping some big secret from me, and it's bothering me that she's keeping me out of the loop. Hey, do you guys ever keep secrets from each other?' I asked the two of them.
'Oh, well…' Yamaguchi-san looked like he didn't want to comment on that.
Tsukishima-san merely shrugged, 'We don't need to know everything about each other, do we?' he said easily.
'Eh? Wh-What does that mean, Tsukki?' Yamaguchi-san blinked at his friend.
'It's a secret, right?' Tsukishima-san drawled, and Yamaguchi-san continued to blink confusedly at the things his friend was saying. I for one, was also rather confused.
Tsukishima-san walked ahead of us, leaving me with Yamaguchi-san.
'That was kind of weird.' I commented.
Yamaguchi-san laughed awkwardly, 'A little. Anyway, maybe your friend is keeping it a secret for a reason, but not a personal one? I don't think you should get too hung up on it, Mogami-san.' He said, giving me a shy smile.
I smiled back and nodded, 'Yeah, we've all gotta focus on making this training camp a productive one, eh?' I agreed, and he nodded too. With that, we went to catch up with everyone inside.
When we got inside, we heard Tsukishima-san up ahead complaining about having to share a room with a bunch of sweaty people.
Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai were scolding him.
'All air within a quarter mile radius of Kiyoko-san and Moeka-chan will never smell bad!' they yelled in unison at the tall blond, who clicked his tongue at his noisy senpai.
'Ah, you guys didn't hear yet? Shimizu lives nearby, so she gets to go home when the day's all done.' Suga-senpai said and the two second-years froze in surprise.
I nodded at that statement, and Yamaguchi-san spoke up, 'Yeah, Mogami-san was just telling Tsukki and I that she's going with senpai as well.' He added.
Nishinoya-senpai and Tanaka-senpai turned to look at where Yamaguchi-san and I were standing, or more specifically, at me. They looked crushed.
I felt kind of bad…
'Sorry, were you guys excited? It's just that when Shimizu-senpai offered it to me, I was happy and couldn't exactly refuse her.' I told them apologetically.
They look at me, teary eyed, and shook their heads.
'It's all right, Moeka-chan! I would have done the same thing!' Nishinoya-senpai admitted.
'Actually, I'm a little jealous.' Tanaka-senpai also admitted.
'Hey, what're you guys admitting to?!' Suga-senpai said exasperatedly. I laughed a little awkwardly at the conversation we were having.
'I'm going ahead.' I said, tucking my head in a bow and leaving the boys to…whatever they were doing. From there, I went towards where the signs said the kitchen was, and joined Shimizu-senpai and Takeda-sensei, who I was assisting in making dinner with, 'Sorry, I'm the last one here…!' I said, taking off my coat and grabbing an apron.
'Not at all. Can you chop these, for me?' Takeda-sensei said, directing me to some vegetables and I nodded.
After a while, the boys filtered into the kitchen, and our second-year senpai cheered up a little when they saw that Shimizu-senpai and I were making them dinner.
They kept hovering around the kitchen, commenting on the smells wafting from the cooking pots. It was a little bit distracting, but sensei, Shimizu-senpai and I all managed to make an appetizing curry for everyone, with enough for leftovers.
We sat down to a delicious meal together as a team, and when it was over, Shimizu-senpai and I bid the boys farewell for the night and made our way towards her house.
Shimizu-senpai must've noticed my nerves creeping up, somehow, and looked to me with a smile;
'There's no need to worry. My parents already know you're coming.' She told me and I looked to her.
'O-Oh, um, was I that obvious…?' I asked.
'Only a little. Would you like to use the bath first, tonight?' she asked me.
'Ehh, can I?' I asked, surprised and she nodded, 'Then, thank you!' I replied. With that little exchange, the rest of the walk to Shimizu-senpai's house, though it was a quiet one, wasn't an uncomfortable one.
As offered to me, I took a bath first after greeting Shimizu-senpai's mother and father and thanking them for their hospitality, and indulged in a relaxing soak.
After toweling myself try and bundling my hair up in a towel wrap, I checked my phone, to see I'd had a missed call from Michiko.
I quickly hit the green phone icon by her contact, and put my phone to my ear. After a few phone dial tones, the call connected, and it sounded pretty noisy wherever Michiko was.
'Hiya, Moeka-chan! I tried calling you just a little while ago, where were you?' Michiko asked me.
'Sorry, I was in the bath. Did you need to talk to me about something?' I asked, and then heard a bunch of guys voices in the background; it sounded like they were asking who Michiko was talking to; 'Eh, Micchan, are you with other people right now? I can call back.' I said, worried that I'd interrupted something.
'No, no, it's totally fine! Just some overly curious strays, don't mind them!' Michiko insisted and I clearly heard a guy's voice.
Ehhh, that's not very nice to say, I think the guy's voice said.
'This is a private conversation~ Okay, I'm leaving the room. Hopefully, they won't follow me.' Michiko said, and I heard a door closing; she must have left the room she was in, 'Anyway, how're things going? Karasuno's training camp just started up, right?' she asked me.
'Yeah, it was the first day today. And after practice, my senpai and our club advisor made curry for everyone. It was super yummy.' I nodded.
'I'll bet it was, with Chez Moeka at the helm~! So are you sharing a bed with Hina—' Michiko began slyly.
'Don't you dare finish that sentence, jeez…!' I sighed out and my friend just giggled at me. She's never gonna stop teasing me about Hinata, is she… 'Actually, I'm staying over at senpai's house, you know, the other manager I've mentioned, Shimizu-senpai. I think we're friends now…!' I said.
After all, Shimizu-senpai didn't strike me as the type of person to invite over just anyone to their house. And we get along well, in my opinion. That was good, wasn't it?
'It's the first time I've ever gone to another girl's house apart from yours.' I added thoughtfully.
'Hey, Moeka-chan?' After calming her giggle-fit down, Michiko asked me, 'Do you miss our sleepovers?' she asked me. I heard the smile in her voice.
I smiled back too, 'Yeah, I really miss it. I really miss seeing you, face to face, too. You're my best friend after all.' I replied.
'I really miss you too. And I'm glad you're making friends over there too. Make a bunch more, ok? We'll definitely see each other again soon!' Michiko said to me.
'Okay.' I said with a light laugh, curling up on my futon lent to me by Shimizu-senpai. Michiko and I continued to chat for another ten minutes, before those guys' voices appeared again and she had to end the call for the night.
I laid back on my futon with now dry hair, briefly wondering about those guys' voices and what my friend was up to, really, before drifting off to sleep for the night.
The next day of the training camp came, and the same structure of practice Ukai-san had arranged were carried out; after they'd finished their drills, they set off to do their running.
A little while later, most of them returned, some of them looking a little concerned. I approached the third-years, and asked them what was going on.
Suga-senpai sweat-dropped a little, 'Hinata got a little too enthusiastic about the run, and just bolted ahead of us. He must have gone off the track we'd set and got lost. This isn't an area we're familiar with after all.' He explained.
'Ehh? Hinata-kun got lost!?' I yelped, surprised. Although, it definitely sounds like something Hinata would do.
'I was just about to go out and look for him. Want to come with? Or are you busy with something?' Suga-senpai asked.
'Ah, no, I'm not busy. I'll help!' I said, and Suga-senpai nodded. We waved the other boys good-bye for now, and set off to search for the wayward Hinata.
He hadn't gotten too far, surely, is what I was thinking to myself as Suga-senpai and I searched the nearby area, calling out for Hinata.
As I investigated another street, Suga-senpai got my attention, saying he'd spotted Hinata.
I followed him down the street, and we saw Hinata up ahead, looking in the opposite direction to us. We ran over to him, calling his name. As we approached him, and he turned to us, I looked down the street to see if I could find what he'd been looking at.
Up ahead of us, as Suga-senpai scolded Hinata for running off, I spotted two guys leaving, wearing red sports jersey. The taller guy had really messily styled black hair, and the shorter one had dyed-blond hair with black roots. The jersey they were wearing though got my attention.
'Eh, who were you talking to just now, Hinata-kun? Those guys over there.' I asked Hinata and he blinked, looking over.
'I dunno who the bigger guy was, he just showed up and then left with Kenma.' He said.
'Kenma?' I repeated curiously.
'Ah, yeah the smaller guy, he plays volleyball too! His name's Kozume Kenma! He said he doesn't really enjoy playing volleyball, but I told him he'd like it more if he got into it.' He said, and looked back at me, 'Why did you wanna know?' he asked me.
'The red jersey's their wearing. They're from Nekoma High School.' I revealed, finally realizing why it was familiar – it sounded like how Michiko had described to me a little while ago. It was red, with white stripes down the pants' sides.
'Ehh, really!?' Hinata gasped, and scrubbed his head, 'Agh, I was talking with our opponents and didn't even know!?' he lamented.
'You didn't see the back of their jacket?' I asked him.
'I didn't get a good angle. He was sitting against the fence the whole time.' Hinata sighed out. I poked the Karasuno symbol on his t-shirt lightly.
'Well, Kozume-san might know that you're from Karasuno.' I said and he looked at the logo.
'Ahh, you're right…! Shoot, I wish I'd asked him more things about his team now…!' Hinata said. Suga-senpai shook his head,
'Well there's no changing that. Let's get back to the others, since there's still a lot more practice to do.' He said, and we nodded, following Suga-senpai back.
Hinata hummed as he walked and I looked at him curiously, 'What's the matter, Hinata-kun?' I asked him.
'It's just Kenma. He said that he didn't like volleyball. That he was just playing it for a high-school club and 'cause his friend wanted him to play it.' He said.
I hummed, finding it familiar, 'It sounds a little like me. Originally, I only started playing volleyball to have something in common with Micchan, and then I kept doing it cause I wanted to help her.' I said.
'Ehh, so did you not enjoy volleyball either then?' Hinata asked, looking shocked.
'Well, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I enjoyed it, but I only really started loving it after…' I paused, and blushed suddenly when I realised what I was about to say.
'Eh? After what?' Hinata urged, leaning in slightly.
I stepped away, feeling a little embarrassed, 'N-No, never mind. What's most important is, now, I love volleyball, okay?' I said with a smile, hoping he'd leave it at that.
'Nnnn…. Well, okay.' Hinata conceded, 'I really hope that Kenma'll love playing volleyball, too, soon.' He said, and I nodded, glad he didn't press it.
I looked to my fingers that were hooked together in front of me, hiding my pink cheeks behind my bangs.
Yeah, that's right. I hadn't really put much thought into it, but I only really started to love Volleyball after I met Hinata.
Over the next two days after that, the training camp cycled through the different training exercises one by one, and yesterday, the last day before the big practice game against Nekoma, Shimizu-senpai and I returned from the dry-cleaners with the boys' official jerseys for playing matches all freshly cleaned.
Kageyama-kun got the 9 jersey, and Tsukishima-san and Yamaguchi-san got the 11 and 12 jerseys respectively.
I remembered the huge ecstatic grin that had spread across Hinata's face when he was given the 10 jersey; the very same jersey that his idol the Small Giant had worn. It was apparently a coincidence, but one that Hinata greatly appreciated.
Thinking back to how excited Hinata had been to get the 10 jersey brought another smile to my face, as we approached the gym for the big match. When we got there, waiting for me was a surprise I wasn't prepared for, but really should have seen coming.
I followed Hinata as he went after Kozume-san at the entrance, 'So you really are in Nekoma?!' he asked the bleach-blond boy.
Demurely, the boy nodded, 'Uh, yeah.' He clarified.
'How come you didn't tell me?' Hinata whined.
'You… never asked me.' Kozume-san shrugged.
'But you said See you later! So you must've known something! Did you see my shirt's logo after all…?' Hinata asked Kozume-san, who mutely nodded.
'Hey, hey, hey!' a new voice suddenly interrupted, and a tall, intimidating guy from Nekoma with a buzzcut approached us, pulling a face much like the ones Tanaka-senpai liked to pull.
I quickly moved to stand behind Hinata, unsure what kind of person this guy was.
'So what business do you have with our Setter…?' the guy asked Hinata, not seeing me. I glanced over to the withdrawn Kozume-san. So he was a Setter, too?
In front of me, Hinata began to back away, frightened of the tall guy, until he bumped into me slightly, and jumped, looking back at me in surprise. I just smiled and sweat-dropped nervously, looking back at him.
He seemed to partially steel himself, and turned back to the tall teammate of Kozume-san, 'N-Nothing!' he tried to respond.
Tanaka-senpai joined the conversation, giving an equally aggressive stance, 'What about you? What business to you have with our middle-blocker and cutie manager…?!' he asked threateningly.
'Cutie manager…?' the buzzcut guy repeated, blinking, and I hesitantly peeked out from my spot behind Hinata. The guy stared at me for a moment, until his cheeks suddenly turned pink without a word.
'Hey, don't get any funny ideas, ok? She's our cutie manager, you damned City Boy!' Tanaka-senpai said, getting partially in front of me, and also pronouncing the English words incorrectly again.
'Ohh, you wanna go?! W-We've also gotten ourselves a cute manager of our own!' the guy shot back defensively.
'Those're fighting words, there! Wanna rumble?!' Tanaka-senpai returned, and Suga-senpai sighed, approaching us.
'You're gonna rumble in the game we're about to play. And give it a rest with that 'City Boy' talk already.' He said.
Another Nekoma player also approached, agreeing with Suga-senpai. He was a smaller guy, with light brown hair, and brown eyes. He admonished his teammate.
'Yamamoto, stop picking fights all the time. It makes you look stupid.' He told the one called Yamamoto, and turned to Suga-senpai to apologise, 'I apologise on behalf of my embarrassing teammate. Sorry about that!' he said with a good-natured smile, different from the scowl he wore when he told off his teammate.
Suga-senpai smiled, 'Not at all. It's embarrassing for us too.' He said, while a dark aura loomed over Tanaka-senpai and Yamamoto-san.
I had been distracted by the conversation of the boys around me, so when someone suddenly hugged me around the waist from behind, I yelped out without restraint, causing everyone to turn to me.
Hinata seemed to brighten up considerably when he saw who was holding me from behind, 'Ayasato-san!' he cried out and I gasped.
'M-Micchan…!?" I asked, trying to turn to look. The one holding me, my friend Michiko, sighed, and laughing, she let go of me.
'Aww, you ruined it, Hinata~ I was gonna ask her Guess Who, ya know?' she said with a joking tone, as I turned to her. And there she was, dressed in a red and white Nekoma jersey, like the rest of the Nekoma team. Seeing me looking at her in wonder, Michiko grinned widely, 'Surprise~?' she said with an asking tone.
I didn't hide my jubilant smile, and I pulled her into a tight hug, to which she gladly returned.
'Oh my god, is this that surprise you wouldn't tell me about…?! Micchan, you…!' I said breathily, squeezing tight.
'Heheh, I knew you'd like it. In truth, it was kinda hard to hold it back. I thought for sure you'd found me out when you called the other night and heard the guys in the background!' Michiko said, and pulled back.
'Oh, so that's what that was! I'll admit I did wonder about that… but what's with this jersey?' I asked her.
She smirked, and put her hands on her hips, 'You're looking at the Manager for the Nekoma Boys' Volleyball team! See, I told you we'd see each other soon, and I was right!' she replied.
'You certainly were. I-I cant believe you…!' I said with a happy laugh, and pulled her into another quick hug, 'I'm so happy to see you again.' I added and she nodded.
'Me too.' She agreed, as the shorter Nekoma guy approached us with Suga-senpai.
'Oh, so was this that friend of yours you were mentioning, Michiko-san? Mogami, right?' he asked my friend, who nodded.
'Yeah! Her name's Mogami Moeka.' Michiko said and the guy nodded; she gestured to him, 'Moeka-chan, this is Yaku Morisuke, third year and the Libero for Nekoma.' She introduced.
'It's a pleasure.' Yaku-san nodded his head to me, and I tucked my head in a bow for greeting.
'A-Another one…!?' the other Nekoma player, Yamamoto-san suddenly shouted, scaring me. We all turned to see him sputtering and pointing as Shimizu-senpai approached the entrance.
'A-Another… female manager…!' he added, wobbling as he stepped backwards. Two other Nekoma players pumped their fists as if in celebration.
'Sweet! They do have a female manager! Yakisoba Bun, Score!' said the smaller one with a middle parting in his black hair, and the taller one with spiked brown hair glanced over to see me.
'Ooh, Shibayama, they have two of them! Do you know what that means!?' he asked his friend excitedly.
'Double-Score!' they cheered together, high-fiving with both hands, while Yamamoto-san started to tear up, and then, he ran away crying.
'Y-You'll pay for this!' he cried as he fled the scene. What an odd guy. And here I was, initially finding him scary… he's a lot like Tanaka-senpai actually.
Beside me, Michiko chuckled mischievously and I looked at her. She leaned in to whisper, 'Actually, I was the one who told Shibayama-kun and Inuoka-kun that Karasuno had two managers.' She revealed herself as a co-conspirator in this apparent bet.
I quietly laughed, 'That's kind of mean to Yamamato-san…!' I told her.
'Hey, he's too easy to get worked up!' Michiko laughed, 'Anyways, we've only got today but let's spend some time together, okay?' she said to me, and I smiled and nodded.
Michiko went out of her way to arrange this short reunion between us, and I don't want to waste it!
Onigiriri: Happy New Year! I'm all recovered from that nasty bug, thank you for all your well wishes! I hope you guys had a nicer new year~ xD
So here it is! Nekoma arrives! Michiko returns!
Let me know how you liked this chapter~?