Hermione hated the orb exercise.

She and Tetsurou were doing it whenever possible, and after two weeks it was getting to the point that whenever she closed her eyes she saw the orb of water swirling in and out. She knew that was the point of the exercise, so it was a good thing, really, but it was still frustrating.

And today was the Tokyo matches to determine which teams would represent the city at Nationals.

Between Tetsurou's nerves and eagerness and that stupid water orb, Hermione hadn't been able to sleep last night until she'd taken a potion and forced them both to get some rest.

Tetsurou had apparated to Tokyo a few minutes ago and was now heading to campus with Kenma, leaving Hermione even more annoyed because of the hollow feeling in her chest.

Just a few more minutes and it would be time to go pick up Malfoy. Then she could go meet with the team and this feeling would fade.

Hermione frowned as anger blossomed across their bond. Why was Tetsurou angry? And so suddenly, too?

Tetsurou?

The damn Miyas are here spying.

Miyas? Why in Merlin's name is one of the five families spying on you? They oppose the Akaashi family, right?

Yeah, but it's not politics this time, sorry. They play volleyball too. One sec, they're coming this way.

Volleyball? There were even more wizards that played this game? Why in Merlin's name were the Japanese wizards so into volleyball? This was getting ridiculous.

She wished Tetsurou would hurry up and explain things, but his irritation was quickly flaring into anger. Hermione drummed her fingers against the table, wondering if she should do something. He had said it wasn't politics this time, but what if it was? How could Tetsurou know why they were approaching him? Sure it was a volleyball tournament, but they could still use it as an opportunity for something else. A tournament would let them know when and where Tetsurou was going to be, so if they were going to attack somehow, it would be the perfect time.

No.

This wasn't the war. This was just a normal volleyball match. Tetsurou was probably angry because they insulted Nekoma. That was it.

Right?

She looked over at the clock. It was already close to when she needed to pick up Malfoy, and she couldn't leave him unsupervised…

Tetsurou's emotions seemed to calm down a little.

Sorry, Mio. I… There was a long pause, and Hermione nervously tapped the edge of her plate while she waited. This isn't the right time to explain everything, but if you see the Miya twins today for some reason, you probably shouldn't let them know you're my soulmate. We don't get along.

What in Merlin's name? Who are the Miya twins? Tetsurou, I'm not going to deny that you're my soulmate just because they don't like you.

It's not that! Just… it would be the politically smart thing to do, ok? You don't have to badmouth me or anything, just don't let them know we're soulmates, if you can. I'll explain later. They're around our age, tall, and identical twins, but they've dyed their hair grey and blonde. It's impossible to mistake them for anyone else.

Grey and blonde? Hermione was still confused, but... Alright, I'll trust you.

Thanks, love. I should go back to the team. They're probably wondering why I'm not back yet from signing us in.

Ok. Try to put this behind you. Whatever "this" was, she knew Tetsurou didn't want this distracting him today.

Right.

She sighed. Tetsurou definitely hadn't sounded confident just then. Hermione glanced over at the clock on the wall; it was a few minutes early, but she might as well wait at the magical transportation center instead of the house. It was closer to Tokyo than Miyagi was, at least.

"You heading out, nee-san?"

Hermione looked over to see Kei yawning on the stairwell, his hair still rumpled from sleeping. "Malfoy should arrive any minute, so yes. You sure you don't want me to come and pick you up so you can see the matches?"

"Positive." Kei sighed. "I've got practice today anyways."

"Alright." She was fairly sure Kei's coach would excuse him to go watch the Tokyo teams and report back, but if Kei didn't want to go, she wouldn't push it.

Hermione took a deep breath, then apparated. Immediately her stomach churned with nausea, but thankfully it settled after a few seconds of sitting on the benches.

Malfoy wasn't anywhere to be seen, but she'd hardly been sitting a minute before the whoosh of a portkey arriving made her look to the right.

She quickly stood up in surprise. "Charlie? And Teddy, too!"

"Awntie!" Teddy was squirming in Charlie's grasp, and she quickly stepped forward to give them both a hug.

Charlie came with Teddy? I thought it was just supposed to be Malfoy today.

Hermione ignored Tetsurou's commentary as she ruffled the top of Teddy's Weasley-red hair that was sticking out above the headband Akaashi had made. "It's good to see you Teddy-bear. Charlie, you didn't tell me you were coming!"

Charlie grinned at her. "Surprise!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes from a few feet away before turning to look around the room.

Hermione scanned Charlie with worry, looking for any sign of injury. "You didn't get burned again and forced to take time off, did you?"

Charlie laughed. "None of that, promise. This little tyke just kept whining about seeing 'oji' again and turning his hair black while hooting like an owl. I decided to give Mom a break and take him to come see the game. I scheduled my day off for yesterday and will have plenty of time to get back to Romania before the night shift since Japan's six hours ahead of us."

"That must have taken a lot of planning, thank you. It's great to see you both." Charlie and Teddy were even wearing t-shirts and jeans—perfect attire for a volleyball match. Malfoy, on the other hand, hadn't bothered to dress down and was wearing tan slacks and a button-up shirt.

Hermione sighed.

It'll be fine, Mio. He's a little overdressed, but it's nothing someone would stare at.

"It's not a problem that we came, is it? I figured if Malfoy was coming, then spectators must be welcome."

What? Oh, he must have misinterpreted her sigh. She smiled at him. "It's fine, I promise. There should actually be a fairly big crowd since the matches need to be held in a city gym and not just one of the highschool ones."

"So these matches are special?"

Hermione nodded. "The top four teams in Tokyo are playing to decide what three teams will represent the city during the national tournament."

Charlie let out a low whistle. "Sounds impressive."

"If you two are finished exchanging pleasantries, can we be on our way already?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sure." It's not like she wasn't eager to get to Tokyo herself. "There's a station not too far from the city gym, so we can take the gate there with no problem, then walk the remaining block or so."

"Sounds great." Charlie grinned at her. "Do we need to pay for tickets? And will there be food like at quidditch matches?"

Weasleys and their food. "It's just a high school game, so no tickets. And there might be food? I don't know." She hadn't seen any food stands or anything like that at Kei's match, but the Tokyo competition would probably be bigger than Miyagi's.

"Of course you would eat something from a food stall." Malfoy sneered at Charlie, then turned to Hermione. "Which gate do we need?"

Someone was eager to get going. Hermione only wished she understood why.

"Over here, it's the one in the middle." Though Tokyo station was always so crowded and confusing… Hermione really hoped the boys didn't get separated from her. It had been difficult enough with just Teddy's pram. "Stay close to me when we leave the room, ok? It's going to be crowded."

She made her way to the gate and stepped through, the hollowness in her chest easing significantly now that she and Tetsurou were in the same city again.

Thank goodness.

She fought against her nausea from the magical transportation and stepped to the side in the small room, making space for Charlie, Malfoy, and Teddy. Once they arrived behind her, Charlie still carrying Teddy so he couldn't wander off, Hermione turned toward the door. "Alright. Now stay close."

"We know, Granger. You've said that already."

Hermione frowned in annoyance. "It's important. We don't have crowds like this in the wizarding world-the closest I've ever seen was the Quidditch World cup, and even that isn't anywhere near this." Both men shifted closer at that, and Charlie held Teddy a little tighter, so hopefully they were actually listening to her now. "So stay close, even when we're out of the station. It wouldn't do for anyone to get lost. Once we reach the gym I'll take you to the stands where you can watch the games."

After the two of them nodded to show they understood, Hermione opened the door.

People were everywhere. It was around nine am, so the morning rush hour wasn't over and the station was packed. Hermione jumped when Charlie's calloused hand grabbed her elbow, but holding onto her was probably for the best.

Hermione watched for an opening, then darted into the crowd, thankfully only needing to follow the flow of traffic. Fighting through to the other side would be practically impossible at this time of day.

As they reached the bakery and turned right, Hermoine took a quick look back to make sure everyone was still behind her. Charlie and Teddy were both staring at everything around them, dazed but enthralled, while Malfoy's expression was completely blank.

Well, at least he wasn't sneering in disgust or anything like that.

Hermione slowly began to edge her way to the left, grabbing the other two by the arms to make sure they made it into the hallway with her. Teddy giggled in delight, clapping his hands as they paused behind a column.

"Merlin, 'Mione, you weren't kidding. There are so many people and shops here!"

She nodded, pointing further down the hallway. "We need to go that way and enter a clothing store just past those lockers."

"Lockers?" Charlie looked down the hallway in confusion, and Hermione groaned.

"The metal boxes on the far wall."

"Right." Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "And we need to go into a store? Are you picking something up?"

"No." Patience. They weren't used to this. "We're underground right now-basically in the station's basement. The escalator to reach the ground level exit is inside that store. The station is built this way so that you have to see store merchandise before you leave. Once you're already inside the store and see something, you're more likely to buy it. Just stick close and don't touch anything, ok?"

"I can't speak for Weasley here, but I do know how to behave in a store, Granger."

Great, now Malfoy was glaring at her.

"Real mature, Malfoy. We weren't that poor." Charlie rolled his eyes as he shifted Teddy in his arms, making the boy clap his hands again."What did you mean by escalator?"

This was ridiculous. If she kept explaining everything there was no way they would ever make it out of here. "Moving stairs. Now come on."

Hermione pushed out into the crowd again, Charlie's hand on her elbow assuring her that he, at least, was still behind her. The crowd was a little thinner in this hallway, but it was still difficult to make it to the other side before they passed the store.

Hermione sighed in relief when they got inside. There were people shopping all around them, but the main aisles were fairly clear. "Keep-"

"Close. We know, Granger. Just go."

She glared at Malfoy as Teddy giggled, reaching for a bright red toy that was on display nearby. Thankfully, Charlie grabbed his hand.

Before Teddy could find anything else, Hermione turned and headed toward the escalators. She stepped on, but when she looked back the two wizards were frozen at the base.

"Get on already!" This was ridiculous. "Just stay on one step and you'll be fine."

"The stairs are moving, though!"

"I told you that's what they did!" Charlie looked doubtfully at the stairs again, but thankfully stepped forward.

And then Malfoy followed, thank Merlin. At this point she was almost at the top already. Hermione quickly stepped off, and about thirty seconds later both wizards followed, stumbling slightly as they stepped off the moving surface. "Was that so hard?"

Charlie stared back at the steps behind them. "How do they move?"

"Electricity. Escalators are quite common." Hermione grinned at their baffled expressions, then quickly pulled them to the side as an older woman was about to reach the top. "Careful! We can't just stand here."

Hermione turned toward the exit, pointing down the left hallway. "We're almost out of the station now, we just need to leave the store and take the first right, then we'll be able to see the exit."

"Merlin, Granger. I thought you said the game was close."

Hermione laughed. "It is, I promise!"

Charlie's hand was already at her elbow when she moved to head down the hallway, and she heard Malfoy mutter something under his breath behind them.

The two stayed close, though, and Hermione could feel Teddy pulling on her hair, so she definitely knew Charlie was right behind her. By the time they reached the exit, Hermione wanted to collapse in relief.

They still had another block to go, but at least it wouldn't be as crowded and it was a straight shot down the sidewalk to the gym.

That being said, she was still incredibly happy to see the same three people were still behind her when they arrived. Tetsurou, we're here.

Great! I'll tell the team you'll be joining us soon. We'll be playing on the left court.

Charlie whistled behind her. "This whole place is as big as a quidditch field."

"Exactly, so please stay close. You can watch Tetsurou's match from over here." She led the way to the far doors, then up the stairs at the back of the risers. Malfoy's expression was blank again, and his movements were stiffer than usual. Was he just uncomfortable around this many muggles? But why was he more stiff now than when he'd been in the station?

"You can sit wherever you want, but the people with the red and black flags are cheering for Tetsurou's team. Sorry I won't be able to sit with you all and explain things, but I'm needed down below." Judging from Tetsurou's thoughts, the team was about ready to finish stretching and make their way to the court. "I'll try to come back up between matches if I can."

"It's no problem, Hermione." Charlie nodded toward the gym, as he shifted Teddy to his other arm. "Isn't that the Akaashi kid and his friend?"

Hermione glanced back at the court. Sure enough, Bokuto was waving at the crowd on the other side while Akaashi held both of their jackets. "Yes. Tetsurou's playing their school first."

Charlie grinned. "That'll make it more interesting. Who do you think will win?"

Hermione bit her lip. Even Tetsurou wasn't confident they would win, though he always acted like he was in front of the team. "I'm honestly not sure. Fukurodani has beaten us more often than we've beaten them, but we have beaten them several times."

"Brilliant. It'll be a good match, then."

"Hopefully." Hermione smiled and nodded at them. "Do you need help finding seats? If not I should go head back to the team."

"Nah, we'll figure it out." Charlie shoved her slightly toward the court. "How hard can it be?"

Right. Because these two had so much experience in the muggle world.

Malfoy was grimacing at the riser seats next to him, Teddy was squirming to run off somewhere, and Charlie was looking around like a kid in a candy shop.

This was going to be a disaster.

At least Hermione wouldn't be next to them to experience any second-hand embarrassment. "Try not to cause a scene."

Malfoy groaned. "Please, Granger. Like that will be a problem when everyone around us is making an idiot of themselves."

Somehow that didn't inspire any hope. "Alright. If you're sure you'll be ok."

"Of course! Go on already." Charlie's easy-going smile was not any more assuring than Malfoy's snark.

Hermione sighed and turned to head toward the gym. She should just put them out of her mind and focus on helping the team. Malfoy and Charlie were adults. They could be discreet about figuring things out.

Hopefully.

Right now she had to focus on helping Tetsurou and Nekoma, though.

Hermione quickly weaved her way through the crowd, following the bond to reach Tetsurou's location. Thankfully the team wasn't that far away since they had been on the way to the gym, and soon she saw their red uniforms.

Hermione walked a little faster, and Tetsurou turned to grin and wave. "Oi, Mio! Glad you could make it. You get your relatives all set up?"

She sighed as she fell into step beside Tetsurou. "They're in the stands, at least. What can I help with?"

Kai smiled at her. "Everything's ready; we're used to handling it all on our own, so it was no problem. I'm glad you were able to see your family for a few minutes."

"Thanks." She felt bad lying to the team about them being family, but Charlie and Teddy basically were, so it wasn't too much of a stretch.

Hermione could feel Tetsurou's nerves building with every step. She reached over and squeezed his hand briefly, but he just gave her a nervous smile before pulling it away and rubbing his hands together as if to warm them up. Hermione frowned. She knew Tetsurou was nervous about these matches and wanted to win so they could go to nationals, but part of her still struggled to understand how much these boys cared about this sport. Hermione supposed she was always nervous before tests no matter how well she'd prepared, but still…

Hermione blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brighter lights hanging over the courts. Everything looked so much bigger from down here.

"Hey, hey, hey!" A loud voice called out across the gym and Bokuto was bounding over to them. "Look who's finally here!" He tackled Tetsurou, who squawked in protest as he almost fell. The team snickered at Tetsurou''s predicament, slowly filing past the two captains and heading to the court.

"Bo! A little warning next time, bro!"

"But it's been forever!"

"It's literally just been a few weeks."

"Which is forever, man!"

Akaashi arrived then, walking up to them at a much calmer pace than his soulmate. "Ohayou, Kuroo-kun, Granger."

Bokuto finally released Tetsurou, stepping back with a huge, eager game. "You ready to play, bro? We're not going to go easy on you."

"I'd never expect you to." Tetsurou smirked at the two other wizards. "We have visitors from Kyoto, Akaashi."

Akaashi froze for a brief second, then his eyes were scanning the stands. "The twins?" Hermione followed his gaze, but didn't see anyone that they might be talking about.

"The very same. They found me this morning to let me know they're the representatives from Hyogo prefecture."

"We didn't expect anything different."

"Maaaaan, I hate those guys." Bokuto groaned, already looking dejected and not even bothering to glance up at the stands. "You two always get so tense around them."

Akaashi frowned, evaluating his soulmate's defeated posture. "You brought them up on purpose, didn't you Kuroo."

"Of course." Tetsurou smirked. "They really are here, though."

Akaashi sighed. "Don't worry about it, Bokutou-san. The only reason they'd come here is to scope us out as teams, not to cause a political incident. That just means they're scared of your spikes, right?"

Immediately Bokuto straightened, grinning again. "Yeah! Why didn't I realize that, Akaashi?! You're the best!" His grin shifted, taking on a sharper edge as he pointed at Tetsurou. "You better be ready! We're not going to let you win this."

Tch. All that work to provoke him into a bad mood and Akaashi ruined it. Leave it to Bokuto's soulmate.

Hermione sighed. Of course that's what Tetsurou had been up to. Why wasn't she surprised? It's not nice to try to mess up your friend's state of mind before the match, Tetsurou.

Bo knows it's his weakness and that I'm going to do whatever it takes to win.

Cheers from both schools began to sound off across the gym. Hermione was surprised to hear trumpets from Fukurodani's side as Tetsurou rolled his shoulders back and held out his hand. "Let's have a good game, Bokuto."

Bokuto grinned back, eyes alight as he gave Tetsurou's hand a firm shake up and down. "Only the best, bro."

And then the two Fukurodani players were heading back to the other side of the gym and Tetsurou was jogging over to the rest of Nekoma, who were already running spiking drills by the net.

Hermione wasn't sure where she was needed, so she made her way over to the bench and was surprised when Nekomata-sensei handed her a clipboard. The paper on top had all the names of the players, along with the English terms for all the spikes each one tended to use.

Notes again.

Well, she could do this much, at least.

Hermione nodded to Nekomata-sensei to let him know she understood, then flipped through the pages underneath. The next page was more focused on receiving skills, then a page for how they did with serving. Kenma-kun had his own page for how often he set to each of the different players and how well he matched up with them.

She was definitely going to be busy trying to take notes on all of this, but she could see how accurate data would be helpful to the team.

Then Nekomata-sensei was blowing his whistle, and the whole team was gathering around.

It was like all of Tetsurou's nerves had disappeared with that one sound.

His voice was calm and confident as he spoke to the other members. All Hermione caught was something about Bokuto, probably about keeping him in check? And then Tetsurou was giving them all a confident grin. His eyes darted over to Kenma and he recited something that sounded suspiciously rehearsed.

Of course it's rehearsed. I say it every match. They love it, though.

As if in agreement, the whole team burst into shouts of affirmation. Hermione smiled at them fondly as Tetsurou turned to her. "Anything to add, manager?"

"Eh?" Hermione bit her lip, looking at the boys uncertainly. Her Japanese still wasn't very good, but she could certainly say a few well-meant phrases… "Ganbate, minna. Eto…Takusan anata wa renshyu shite kimashita." She bit her lip. Had she messed that up? She had probably messed something up. They were all looking at her strangely. "Akiramenaide." Why did Yamamoto have tears in his eyes?

Yamomoto was babbling something now, but Hermione couldn't make out the words, much less piece together what he was saying, despite the fact that he seemed to be talking to her. The rest of the team's reactions weren't helping much, either. Lev was just laughing at Yamamoto and Yaku was scolding Lev. Kenma was wearing his usual put upon expression while Shibayama and Inuoka seemed torn between comforting Yamamoto and staring at her in awe.

Hermione wondered if she would ever understand boys.

Tetsurou slung his arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry about it, love. You did good and made his day, maybe his year." He grinned at her.

"His year?" What in Merlin's name? But she'd just said a few words! She'd probably messed up the grammar! How would that make his year? Tetsurou laughed at her confused expression, then annoyance prickled at the bond as he turned and said something sharply to Yamamoto.

"Tch. As if he doesn't know that you're my girl." Oh. That was why. Hermione laughed. Tetsurou had nothing to worry about, but if it would motivate Yamamoto and the others for the game… "You can tell them I'll bake them something if you win."

"Oya?" Tetsurou smirked at her. "We'll gladly take you up on that. I get the first taste, though." Hermione rolled her eyes as Tetsurou translated. Another cheer ran through the boys.

Yamamoto fell down on his knees, tears streaming from his eyes.

Nekomata-sensei cleared his throat, though, and the players immediately quieted down and turned to him. He only said one or two sentences, but whatever he said must have been a different kind of motivation than her own-each player's grin had suddenly turned vicious.

"Hai, Nekomata-sensei."

Tetsurou squeezed her shoulder, "Watch me? I'll win for you."

"Of course. You'll do your best to win, regardless of whether or not I watch you. Besides, I have to watch. I'm taking notes." She held up the clipboard.

"And I'm sure your eyes will never stray from their duty, love." Hermione rolled her eyes, but before she could respond his hand was trailing down her arm to squeeze her hand, distracting her. He smirked, then turned and led his team onto the court.

When the whistle blew for the first serve, Hermione's shoulders tensed, but Yaku-san received it with ease.

One mark next to Yaku's name.

Kenma set the ball arching through the air before Tetsurou's spike sent it past the Fukurodani's blocker and straight to the ground.

First point Nekoma.

Tetsurou's happiness filled her as she cheered for him. Take that! Nekoma can score by spiking to, you annoying owls!

There was soft laughter beside her, and Hermione turned to see coach Nekomata smiling at her. She hurriedly sat back down. "Gomen!"

"Chigau, chigau. Young energy is good."

Hermione smiled nervously and nodded back at him. She still wasn't sure what to make of Nekomata-sensei. Everyone on the team looked up to the man, especially Tetsurou, but her interactions with him had been few and far between.

The coach nodded back toward the court, and Hermione quickly marked down that Yamamoto's serve had gone over the net and targeted player 3. Unfortunately, Fukurodani had no problem receiving it, and Akaashi set the ball flying to Bokuto, who sent it straight down past the Nekoma blockers, copying Tetsurou's previous quick, but with much, much more force.

The ball went sailing into the second-floor bleachers.

Shit. Bukoto's already on fire today.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The Fukurodani trumpets began blaring to accompany Bukoto's jubilant shout.

No problem. We'll just narrow the path.

Hermione blinked. Narrow the path? So he wasn't going to try to block Bokuto?

Sure enough, Bokuto's next spike went past Tetsurou….

And straight into Yaku's receive.

Bokuto looked strangely happy about losing the point, but Hermione figured she would never understand his mood swings. Akaashi certainly was watching him closely, though.

Hermione made a note on the clipboard about "narrowing the path" as a blocking technique. Now wasn't the time to ask Tetsurou, and she didn't want to distract him by looking into his mind, but she could certainly watch and try to figure out his plan.

Point after point, Bokuto's spikes sailed past the block, but it was almost like… Hermione's eyes narrowed. Tetsurou was doing what Kei-kun had done to Ushijima. Nekoma just had a much better defense, so they didn't need to be as obvious about it or have one person take a clear lead.

Yaku's receive went straight up in an arch and she could have sworn Kenma was going to set to Tetsurou, but the timing was off. Hermione's eyes widened. A back attack with Yamamoto?

The ball hit the court on Fukurodani's side.

"Yeah!" Yamamoto ran over to high-five Kenma, who looked slightly elated, but mostly annoyed at his teammates' energy.

Hermione called out, "Nice kill, Yamamoto-san!" The boy's head swiveled toward her and he looked so excited he might faint. Hermione gave him a thumbs up. She'd seen him practicing those and he wasn't reliable with hitting those in bounds yet, but she was happy he'd managed it today.

"Oi!" Now Kuroo was pouting. "My kill didn't get a shout out!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. He's been working hard on that. Land a back attack yourself and maybe I'll cheer for you.

"Kenma, you've got to send me another one!" Tetsurou turned toward his friend, who was already looking away from him, turning his back on the troublesome scene. "Traitor."

You little minx. I haven't even had the chance for that, yet!

Excuses.

When she sat down, Nekomata sensei was chuckling again, and smiled at her. Well, at least he approved. Or she thought he did?

Slowly but surely, though, the points were tallying up, and Fukurodani was keeping a one or two-point lead. Hermione twirled her hair as her eyes darted between the paper and the players. They needed to change something.

Nekomata-sensei called a time out and the team came over, talking quickly and quietly in Japanese. She handed Tetsurou his towel and water bottle and he gave her a quick grin, but remained focused on Kenma, who was speaking softly. Hermione watched the quiet boy, amused at the disconnect between his calm demeanor and the precise, calculating tone of his voice.

Suddenly Tetsurou smirked and it looked… Slytherin. Darker and more determined than his normal light-hearted, mischievous ones. Hermione swallowed.

His eyes flickered to her own and the smirk widened. "Just wait, love. Some owls are about to be brought down to earth."

"What-?" Hermione let out a strangled question. What was the team planning? And Tetsurou should not be allowed to make that expression. Especially since there was no way to hide how much she liked it.

Tetsurou winked at her, handing her his towel and water bottle. "Promise me a shout out this time?"

Before she could respond, the time-out ended, and the team strode back onto the court, clearly with some plan in mind. Hermione sighed. She kept having to remind herself that her Japanese was getting better, but even now all she had understood were the basic volleyball terms they had used which wasn't nearly enough to be able to follow their conversation.

Wait. Hermione frowned as Tetsurou's voice yelled out a one touch. All this time he'd been either shutting people down completely or narrowing Bokuto's path, so why now…?

They were sending it back to Fukurodani, but it at least wouldn't be Bokuto hitting from a nice set-up…

And then Tetsurou was there, right in front of Bokuto, right where he'd avoided being this whole time.

Hermione swallowed as he blocked the ball, dropping it straight down onto his friend's head.

It thudded to the ground.

Hermione could feel the satisfaction thrumming through Tetsurou, along with some amusement at her own appreciation for his block. "I'll be taking that applause from now on."

"Nice kill!" She was on her feet again, the bleachers roaring behind her. Tetsurou stood there, smirking at Bokuto, his eyes challenging him.

Tetsurou turned his back on his friend, walking back to his position.

I'm just getting started, love.

Hermione swallowed. How could he sound so self-assured, even in her head? Ugh. Stupid Tetsurou.

He turned to smirk at her, but she just stuck out her tongue.

Stupid Tetsurou and his stupid smirk.

Apparently he heard that thought, because he started snickering. He stopped when Kenma nudged his shoulder, though, turning his attention back to the court.

Hermione could tell that Nekoma's block had shifted slightly, but other than that she really could not figure out why Bokuto was slowly becoming frustrated. She just knew that he was.

His shoulders were tense, he was glancing at Akaashi more often… and then one of his spikes went out of bounds. Hermione frowned. Why? Bokuto was better than that. There had only been two blockers.

And was it just her, or was Lev making more mistakes than usual this game?

She flipped through her notepad, looking at the boy's past track record. No… they were…all the same mistakes. She sighed. Hermione knew he was a first year and new to the sport, but his inexperience was obvious compared to the others. For now, Yamamoto was definitely making up for them, at least; his spikes were getting through Fukurodani's blocks more often than she remembered.

Fukurodani was still a point ahead, though, and the score was at 23-24. Match point.

Nekomata sensei called another time out. Though amused by Kemna's exasperation with his kouhai, Hermione was quickly distracted from the Japanese rant by Tetsurou laughing next to her. "What's he saying?"

"He's chewing out Lev for his rookie mistakes and it's the greatest." He grinned at her. "Now, what were you saying earlier about me not doing anything great this game?"

Hermione shrugged. "You're the captain. Of course you're going to make good plays during the game."

"I blocked one of the nation's top spikers!"

Hermione shook her head, "But Tetsurou, I have a cousin who blocked a higher ranked spiker, so I'm afraid you'll have to work a bit harder."

Tetsurou's eyebrow twitched. "I taught that damn brat."

"Did you? I didn't realize."

"He literally calls me senpai."

Hermione blinked and feigned ignorance, "I don't know Japanese. I have no clue what that means."

"You—" The buzzer signaled the end of the time out. He made a strangled noise at the back of his throat. "Just watch." Tetsurou turned back to the court.

"Always, Tetsurou." He gave her a startled look over his shoulder, then rolled his eyes when she held up the clipboard.

Still insisting on that?

Hermione smiled as he turned back to the court, letting him focus on his team as she sat down at her own spot on the bench.

It was Fukurodani's serve, and the server was clearly trying to force Kenma to receive it. It was a nice try, but there was no way Nekoma was going to let their setter receive a serve.

Kenma-kun switched places with Kai-san. Hermione frowned, trying to determine its trajectory.

Tetsurou.

His grin was feral as he jumped up from the back of the court, slamming his hand against the ball. It flew across the net, landing just inside the back of Fukurodani's court.

Hermione jumped up, Tetsturou's satisfaction over the move and her own happiness merging together. "Nice kill, Tetsurou!"

Now the game was at a deuce.

"We're not going to let you have this set that easily, you damn owls." Tetsurou smirked at Bokuto, Akaashi, and the rest of the Fukurodani team as his own team gathered around him, complimenting him on the attack.

Bokuto was glaring at Tetsurou across the net, and even Akaashi looked slightly miffed.

Hermione was glad the set wasn't over, but each successive rally made her skin crawl with anxiety. She quickly shut down her emotional link with Tetsurou as best she could, trying to help him stay focused.

26-25, now. Fukurodani was still leading. Hermione's eyes widened when she realized that after this rally, Lev would serve. Match point and Lev's serve coming up? She almost didn't want to watch, but she knew Tetsurou would never let her hear the end of it if she looked away.

Nekoma was sending the ball back to Fukurodani, who received Lev's fumbled spike flawlessly. Akaashi sent the ball to Bokuto, but…

Tetsurou received it? Hermione blinked. That was… unusual. But it left Kenma free to… send the ball back to Tetsurou? Her soulmate's hand slammed the ball at full force, creating a tingling in her own palm. One of the Fukurodani blockers touched it, but it spiraled out of reach, giving the point to Nekoma.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh in relief as she stood up again to cheer. Bokuto was yelling about the play being ridiculous, while Akaashi was just shaking his head. Tetsurou was laughing and he pounded Kenma on the back.

And now Lev's serve.

Hermione groaned as the ball barely made it over the net, but at least it was in bounds. Akaashi set the ball to one of the other Fukurodani players, but Tetsurou easily blocked that, shutting down the spiker.

He smirked.

Break point: 26-27.

Nekoma was in the lead.

The team rejoiced around him, but on the other side of the net Bokuto kept shooting looks at Akaashi, occasionally saying something, but never loud enough for Hermione to hear.

And it was Bokuto's serve.

Whatever nerves or frustrations he might be having, they certainly weren't apparent from his serve.

It flew over the net, straight at Kenma, once again, but Yaku stepped in front to receive it. Yamamoto sent the ball back with a spike, but Fukurodani picked it up. It was Bokuto's spike against Yaku's receive again, and Yaku once again managed to get the ball up and right above Kenma.

Kenma set to Yamamoto again, and this he managed to blow the spike through the blockers' arms. The ball went careening off to the side.

Nekoma won the first set.

Hermione stood and cheered while Nekomata sensei clapped slowly beside her. One down, one to go, though she knew that would be easier said than done.

A lot easier said than done, since Lev's mistakes were only getting worse. Halfway through the second set Nekomata even substituted him with Inuoka-san, but while that improved their defense drastically, it left most of the offensive power on just Yamamoto, Kai, and Tetsurou, and Fukurodani was able to block more of their spikes.

They lost the second set, 19-25.

Tetsurou was frustrated as ever after that, but he still spoke encouragingly to Lev, who was apparently going back on the court.

Hermione hoped it went well.

The tall Russian must have calmed down a bit, because now he was fitting in with the rest of Nekoma's defense, and they were shutting down and receiving most of Fukurodani's hits—barely any were getting through.

Most of their own serves and spikes seemed to be targeting Akaashi, so Nekoma was reversing the play that Fukurodani had tried to use earlier against them. In addition, Bokuto was slowing down for some reason, and starting to look stressed.

Hermione couldn't figure out why. Was it because of Akaashi being forced to receive everything? That didn't make sense, though. But the Nekoma blockers weren't narrowing the path for him again, and instead they were always in front of the spiker, slowing down his attacks by deflecting the ball in any way they could. Occasionally it went out of bounds and Fukurodani got the point, but most of the time Yaku or someone else was able to receive it.

And then Bokuto turned to Akaashi with a dejected expression, and the coach quickly called time out.

Tetsurou was grinning as she handed him his water bottle. "We've finally got Bo in dejected mode. Not that the rest of his team can't cover for him, but it's one less option they have as a spiker." He shrugged, "Until Akaashi decides it's time to use him again, of course. And with those two, signals aren't necessary, so you never know when that will happen."

Hermione blinked. "Is it really that helpful then, if you still have to keep an eye on him?"

"Of course. Bo's out for at least the next three plays."

And then the whistle was blowing again and Tetsurou was jogging back toward the court.

Hermione looked over at the scoreboard. 16-14 with Nekoma in the lead. If they could use this to pull ahead even further, they would be able to take the match.

Akaashi's first set went as Tetsurou had predicted, but the second set went straight to Bokuto, who hit the ball at a sharp angle, sending it flying diagonally away from the blockers and across the court.

Tetsurou was glaring at him. Damn soulmates. It's impossible to figure out when Akaashi's managed to pull him from his slump because they do it all in their freaking heads!

Hermione winced. That definitely sounded frustrating.

Bokuto scored the next point, and now the teams were tied.

Hermione bit her lip, worried. She wanted them both to go to nationals and sure there was still a chance of that if one of them lost since three Tokyo teams were selected, but she knew how much it would mean to Tetsurou to beat Fukurodani here.

Rally after rally went by, with neither side willing to let the other score, and then Bokuto spiked the ball downward, sending it slamming into the floor directly on the other side of the net.

The entire crowd was cheering for Bokuto, and all Fukurodani needed was one more point and they would win.

Bokuto was spiking again. Tetsurou was there, his arms raised to block it, but he didn't manage to shut it down completely and it spun to the side. Yamamoto lunged to receive it…

But it went out of bounds.

Fukurodani won.

She could feel Tetsurou's frustration boiling under his skin as he told Bokuto and Akaashi good game.

Now there was only one more chance for Nekoma to go to nationals—they had to win the next match. The team seemed determined as they regrouped and gathered their things, but Lev was off to the side, completely dejected. Kenma whispered something to Tetsurou and he sighed.

Tetusurou glanced back at her. "Thanks for taking notes, those will be really helpful. You can go ahead and check in with Weasley and Malfoy, just meet us on the court for the next match, ok?"

Hermione nodded. "You played well, Tetsurou."

He laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck, "Yeah… it's pretty much impossible to beat Bo when he's at the top of his game, but we did our best. Anyway, go on ahead. I've got to deal with this right now." He nodded his head toward Lev and Hermione winced.

Right. Well, it was the captain's job to cheer up his teammates. At least Lev had done better in the third set, even if he'd still made plenty mistakes. Good luck with that.

Hermione handed the clipboard back to Nekomata-sensei, then turned to make her way back up to the stands.

When she reached the British wizards, Charlie was laughing with Teddy, and Malfoy was leaning against the chair next to him, watching the teams clean up the court with a bored expression.

The blonde looked up as she approached. "It's more exciting than whatever they were doing in the gym a few weeks ago, but I still don't understand why our kind would like this."

Hermione sighed. "People enjoy what they enjoy. Just because Tetsurou and the others like this game doesn't mean you have to."

"Awntie!" Teddy reached up for her and Hermione smiled and took the toddler as Malfoy shrugged and looked away, scanning the crowd around them. His posture was ridiculously straight, even more so than usual. At least he wasn't sneering at the boys that were sitting a few seats down, though. Maybe their laughter was annoying him?

Instead of trying to decode Malfoy's strange mood, Hermione looked down at Teddy, gently pulling her hair out from his grasp. "Did you two enjoy the match?"

Teddy made several hooting noises, trying to swing his arms like Bokuto. Hermione laughed. "Bokuto hits the ball really hard, doesn't he Teddy?"

"Hoot!"

She smiled at the toddler. "Did you want Bokuto to win or Kuroo-ojii-san?"

"Hoot hoot!"

Charlie sighed next to her. "He's been hooting the entire time. I take it Bokuto taught him that?"

Hermione nodded. "He went with us to the zoo and showed Teddy all the owls there."

"At least the kid's having fun." Charlie shook his head, then stood up and stretched. "You didn't tell us one match actually meant three rounds, 'Mione."

Oh. "Sorry! I didn't think about it. Sometimes they're just two rounds, though. It's best two out of three."

Charlie nodded. "I assumed it was something like that when the teams switched sides of the court. It's kind of interesting to watch and try to figure out what's going on, but it's pretty easy to tell when people get excited about things, at least."

"There is that. Both teams have a lot of people cheering."

Charlie stretched out his arms, then leaned down to pick up Teddy, who had been trying to climb down from Charlie's seat. "I should probably take him to the loo. Are you able to wait here for a bit?"

Hermione nodded, looking over at the clock on the gym wall. "Tetsurou's next match isn't for half an hour, so I should be fine."

"Thanks." Charlie tickled Teddy as he took him from her, making the little boy squeal. "Come on, Ted-ster, it's time to visit the loo."

Hermione stepped back, letting the two pass her and enter the aisle. "The signs are all in English and Japanese, so you should be able to find it without a problem."

"Thanks! Be back shortly."

And then she was left alone with Malfoy, who was still sitting pensively, hands folded in his lap to avoid touching the chair as he watched the crowd around them. "Granger, I—"

"It's not often we see foreigners at local high school matches. What brings you two here?"

Hermione spun around.

Twins.

Both were wearing black sports jackets similar to her own, and the boys were identical except for their hair: one had died his blonde, the other grey.

Just like Tetsurou had mentioned.

Hermione tried to keep her emotions calm, calling up the memories of swirling water to help her anchor her emotions. She had to let Tetsurou focus, and if she shut the bond down or reacted strangely he would get distracted. But what were the odds that twins who spoke English well would approach her and Malfoy? Not only that, but twins that were tall, involved with volleyball, and had the same color hair as Tetsurou had described?

They had to be the Miya twins.

A/N:

Translation for what Hermione says to the team: "Ganbate, minna. Eto…Takusan anata wa renshyu shite kimashita….Akiramenaide." "Give it your best/Break a leg, everyone. Um… You've practiced a lot.… Don't give up."

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! A big thanks to my sis who has finally watched haikyuu and is willing to help me beta this. We spent a lot of time this past week brainstorming and tweaking things, and I'm excited about where the fic's going :D

You can find me on tumblr at haruhi1020 and if you want to talk about my work, writing, art, or anime in general, we always love to have new people join us on my discord server! PM and we can figure out how to get you an invite while dealing w/ 's hatred of links. The ppl in the server recommend fics to each other, have writing and art challenges, and play games :D You can be active as much or as little as you want. I try to keep ppl informed about upcoming works I'll be posting and there's also some fan art there of some of my work.