Hey everybody! I'm back with another chapter! Thanks for reading and enjoy the story!
By the end of our talk I understood he basics of the game. There were 6 positions and everyone rotated through them and when they were in the back right corner it was their turn to serve. If they made the point they got to go again, if not it turned over to the other team. There are 5 official positions, the middle blocker, the wing spiker, the outside hitter, the libero which is so complicated I still barely understand what that position is, and the setter which Kenma and Akaashi both are. They also taught me how to do an underhand serve. It was pathetic how bad my aim was but the guys were impressed that I was getting it over the net.
Eventually the other players started to trickle in and then the coach arrived. The team was all super nice and the coach was very welcoming too and super grateful that I would be around to help if even just for a short time. They were so used to being without a manager though that they never really asked me for anything or gave me anything to do.
I sat on the sidelines beside the coach and kept score for the scrimmage they played at the end of the practice. Bokuto played too opposite Akaashi even though he's not on the team anymore because it was good for them to be practicing blocking against a crazy good spiker.
The first time I saw Bokuto land a spike and saw Anahori receive it I jumped a bit. It looked like it hurt like heck. His arms were all red and angry looking. He shook them out a bit before continuing. It must have stung. He was new to playing Libero, but he was getting really good at it. One of their third years from last year was their Libero but before he graduated. Onaga said he gave everyone a really tough and scary crash course in receiving since they didn't have a back up and then helped Anahori get good enough at it to play the position in games because he was a back up setter for Akaashi and would get more playing time if he helped out as Libero. I was a little scared of that guy, they said his name was Haruki Komi. Anahori said he made him stand there and let Bokuto aim spikes around him until he stopped flinching and being scared of receiving.
It gave me shivers thinking about how scary that must have been now that I was seen Bokuto's spikes. It made me think of when I was playing basketball in middle school and wanted to get better, but that included not closing my eyes and flinching when I caught a pass, so I had my dad throw basketballs at me until I wasn't scared of taking on to the face anymore. This was definitely worse than taking basketballs to the face. Bokuto is a funny guy but when he gets in the mood to hit a ball, he hits it hard enough to take someone's head off.
By the time practice was over, I was exhausted and I hadn't even done anything. I assume it was more due to the fact I hadn't slept in 36 hours than being exhausted from just watching the guys play. I sat on the bench while the guys had their final chat with their coach. I leaned against the wall behind the bench and put my hands in my sweatshirt pocket, well it wasn't really mine, I stole it from Akaashi who swears he didn't mind at all. It was chilly in the gym and even colder outside.
I felt my eyes start to close as I dozed off.
"-so don't tell her okay? It's supposed to be a surprise." I heard Akaashi explaining. I had no idea what he was talking about. I would ask him later.
I yawned as I sat up and stretched.
"Morning sunshine!" Bokuto yelled from the team huddle.
I said something not so nice back in English and they were all very confused except for the coach who laughed. He must know a bit of English, or at least the swears. Most people learn those first.
"It would seem our new manager isn't a morning person." the coach said and the team laughed.
"Morning?" I shot up. I was scared I'd fallen asleep in the gym and just woken up to their morning practice, but I saw out the window it was still dark out.
"He just means you're grouchy after a nap or when you're tired." Akaashi laughed.
"Yeah, chill out, Ria! You're a little too tightly wound! Now come join the huddle!" Bokuto yelled.
I laughed back and stood up from the bench and felt one of the guys throw their arm around me to pull me into the circle.
"Welcome to the team, Ms. Manager!" They all yelled.
"Glad to be here!" I smiled, "This was going to be a very fun term! I promise to do my best!"
"And we will too, fledgling." Bokuto pat my back and the huddle broke up with a cheer that they were going to crush Nekoma at their next practice game. It was two weeks away. I hoped by them I would be able to fully take over as manager and be of use to the team.