In the stands, students are screaming. At least four people are trying to start a chant, but they're all singing at completely different rates. Five boys in black gakurans screech, "NACCHAAAAAN!" but they fail to get a reaction from the ginger girl on the field, talking to her captain.

(A few Shiratorizawa students whisper amongst each other, wondering if the five in gakurans were even allowed at the game.)

In the upper corner of the bleachers, a flustered Shirabu claws his way out of Goshiki's tentacle-armed embrace. Being the last to arrive at the stands, he's stuck next to their excitable wannabe ace and is paying the price for it.

"God, everyone's so noisy," Shirabu complains, looking back at Hinata's brother and the other Karasuno boys. "Is this what it's like in the cheer section? I need ear plugs."

His comment goes ignored. "HINATAAA!" Goshiki cheers again, waving wildly as Hinata gets back into position. "That was so cool? How did Aone do that? Hinata looks shocked. Look at Dateko, they're terrified!"

"That was all Aone," Semi comments, tapping his lip. "I mean, Hinata scored, but that was a hell of a pass. Aone's some kind of a beast to pull off a kick like that."

"No, no, no," Yunohama argues excitedly, shaking Semi by the shoulder. "Did you see the way Hinata ran for it? Hinata's the one making Aone look good. She had to sprint the whole field to catch up to Aone's pass, it was going too far."

"An assist," Shirabu corrects them absently, resting his chin in his palm and scrolling through his phone. "It's an assist for the teammate that passes to the scorer. There's so few points in this game, they have to give credit to everyone involved just to make up stats," he scoffs. It was kinda funny that a defender and a goalkeeper were able to do what their attacking players couldn't... It almost makes the strikers look bad, Shirabu thinks, eyeing Shiratorizawa's #05, who looked kind of grumpy now. He looks back down at his phone and dismisses the thought.

Still scrolling through his phone, Shirabu misses the looks exchanged behind him.

"Okay….How do you know that?" Semi asks suspiciously, reaching past Yunohama to nudge Shirabu. "I thought you didn't like soccer."

There's the slightest hesitation before Shirabu answers. "It's the most popular sport in the world," he says dryly, pocketing his phone with a sneer. "I know some things about it."

"Sounds fake," Kawanishi deadpans. Shirabu contemplates murder.

"Really, Shirabu," Semi pushes, leaning down with his brow furrowed. "Did you play in junior high or something?"

"Hell no," the younger setter refutes, lip curling in revulsion. "You think I'd ever roll around in grass like that?" He remembers the sliding tackle from Shiratorizawa's #13. She was covered in grass stains now, ugh. Semi just stares harder at him. Shirabu glares back at him, but the gray-haired boy doesn't let up.

Shirabu looks away first.

"My dad likes soccer," he says, growing more disgruntled with every word. "I'll watch with him if I'm not busy."

Semi's mouth opens in a small 'o'. "Really?" He wonders, almost startled by the revelation.

Of their second-year teammates, Kawanishi is by far the quietest, but as it turns out, Semi knows nothing about Shirabu either. At least he sees Kawanishi in the dorms and in study groups—but Shirabu was a commuter student, like Tendou and Hinata. The only way to coerce him into hanging out with the team casually is to lure him over with Ushijima's presence.

Yunohama wails. "Shirabu-kun, why would you keep that to yourself? I've been trying to learn about soccer things all week!" He gripes. "You could've helped me out!"

"We have technology," Shirabu gives him a sardonic look. "Just search it online. It's not complicated."

"It is complicated! They use all these weird terms and nicknames and I don't know any of it," Yuno complains. "Like, what the hell is a CR7? A car model?"

Shirabu's mouth twitches. "CR7 is a nickname for a famous soccer player," he can't help but reply. "It's Spanish or Portuguese or something. I'm not gonna try to pronounce it for your sake."

"Ok, what's tiki-taka?" Yuno presses. He looks ready to take out a notepad and scribbling notes. Semi snorts, finding the word funny.

Shirabu groans. "Go ask Utsugi."

"Ahhh," Yunohama hangs his head. "That's what Hinata said too, but I don't know how to talk to her! She'll just think I'm an idiot. I don't think I can do it. Like, I'm just a second year, why would she even look my way…"

Yuno's teammates automatically begin to tune him out, familiar with his downward spiral of unrequited love at this point. It's hard to believe it's been less than a week since he became aware of Utsugi's existence.

"I'm so proud of Yui!" Tendou shuffles down the bench—squishing Reon into Yuno into Semi—in order to steer the conversation away from Yunohama's pity party. "Did you know that one of the reasons she started playing as a goalie instead of a striker is because she could clear the ball so easily? She's been worried about doing crappy goal kicks since coming back as a starter, but it looks like she kicks even farther now!"

"Why do you remember all that?" Shirabu huffs, growing suspicious. "Don't tell me you're pining after some soccer girl too, what the hell's going on?"

Tendou just blows a raspberry at his junior and calls him a spoilsport, neatly dodging the question.

Semi glares at Shirabu, astonished by his hypocrisy. "Says the guy that knows all the soccer rules. Are you listening to yourself?"

"I know a lot of stuff, about everything," Shirabu replies haughtily. "Who cares?"

"I care," Goshiki interjects, smiling at Tendou encouragingly, "Aone-senpai seems really cool! Hinata really looks up to her!"

"Literally," Yunohama muses. "Man, that Aone is a giant."

Tendou clears his throat loudly. "Yui is the best player they have," he says, grinning sharply at the back of Yunohama's head. Kawanishi is the only one to notice. Then Tendou pats Ushijima's leg to get his attention. "Ne, ne, didn't Yui say something to us about Natsu the other day…?"

"Utsugi and Aone let Natsu play like an attacker while she's on defense," Ushijima answers easily, drawing all eyes to their stoic captain. "Because she'll play any position they need." He pauses thoughtfully, as if he's about to say something poignant, but then he concludes his thought with, "She's very fast for her size."

"Despite the twig legs," Tendou chirps, winking at Goshiki.

Shirabu wonders if he stumbled into an alternate dimension. Ushijima Wakatoshi, discussing soccer strategy? With Tendou and Aone Yui? When did that happen? Did he like Hinata that much? Why?

"It looks like they're marking Hinata now," Goshiki interrupts, his attention back on the game. "Man, she's moving around a lot. She really does like to run, look—"

They watch her break away from Dateko's #07 marking her, moving straight down the sideline. She doesn't call for the ball, but the Dateko girl clearly doesn't want to risk leaving her open and is forced to follow her closely. That ends up widening the gap between players in Dateko's half of the field.

"Oh, hey, look at #05," Semi says suddenly, as a Shiratorizawa player passes to her. Shirabu recognizes her: Yamane Erina, a very popular and loud second-year girl. "She's got so much space to—" The ball rockets towards the goal, skimming past keeper's fingertips."—oh," he wheezes, suddenly wordless.

The crowd roars as Shiratorizawa earns their second goal in the blink of an eye.

"YA-MA-NE! YA-MA-NE!" Students chant the name of the vengeful #05 striker. Yamane Erina screeches right back at the crowd, high-fiving her teammates aggressively; a sharp difference from the shell-shocked look on Natsu's face from her goal.

"That was quick!" Goshiki whistles, cheering again. "I almost missed it! Wow! Go Yamane!"

Shirabu shakes his head. It's only been ten minutes since Hinata's goal. "Dateko is done."

"Eh? But there's still so much time," Goshiki points out, confused. "It's still the first half."

"Two goals in ten minutes is a lot for soccer," Yunohama muses. "Look at the other team. They're crushed. They could make a comeback, but not with the momentum in our favor like this."

"You've got that right," Semi grins. "Utsugi is brutal. She's not letting anyone near her goalie again."


Already? Kimura wonders, watching the light fade from her teammates' eyes. You're already giving up? You're all okay with this?

Yes, Shiratorizawa was the stronger team. They were favored for Nationals, their alumni still play at a professional level, they got invited to every tournament imaginable for high school athletes across the country. So what? So what? This could be Dateko's first step towards qualifying for Nationals. It's happened in the past. They could do it again.

Everyone seemed so excited about it before. But when we get down to it, putting in the effort for every play, why do we fall short?

There's another ten minutes left in the first half. Then, only five minutes. The time flies away, along with their chances of ever getting a goal. Attack after attack. Their defense is tight, but they can only do so much.

As the whistle signals for half-time, Kimura almost wishes they could end it all right there. 2-nil is a painful but respectable loss. But they had another 45 minutes and Dateko was just... treading water.

I'm surrounded by quitters, Kimura realizes, jogging off the field much faster than her teammates. They drag their feet, fiddling with their hair ties or pulling at their socks. They might as well go frolic in the grass, picking daisies. That's how much this game means to them.

"Don't worry too much, ladies," the captain says evenly, patting her face with a towel. "It's only our third game. Plus, this team is favored for—"

Quitters are even worse than losers.

"Don't you say it," Kimura cuts off Captain Noriaki, lifting her head to give her a look full of venom. "Don't you tell me they were bound to win, that we were meant to lose."

"...Kimura," the captain says warningly.

"This game counts, every game counts!" Kimura snaps, dropping her water bottle. "I'm doing my best out there, so where are the strikers? Where are the passing plays? If you're not playing to win, you shouldn't be playing at all!"

Noriaki's eyes blaze.

The coach coughs lightly. "Reo-chan," she calls for Kimura. "Calm down. I know this is upsetting—"

"Coach, I think Kimura needs more than just half-time to cool down. Yuma," Noriaki turns to one of the other first years on the bench. Kimura freezes. No. No way. "You want to be a midfielder too, right? We'll sub you in for Kimura after the whistle, you should get a chance to play."

What?

What? "C-Captain, I can still—"

The captain's chilly gaze lands on Kimura again, her expression placid. "I saw your last few plays. Especially against #21, you're getting sloppy. I told you we don't want a wildcard."


"She was incredible in junior high," Hirao Chika hurriedly explains to her team, huddled around their bench. "Kimura's been able to do that long-throw for a while now, and it's hard to know when she'll do it. Not to mention she's an aggressive player in general. I didn't realize she chose Dateko, or I would've mentioned it sooner!"

"Not a problem. I don't think we need to worry about it," Utsugi murmurs, eyeing the far bench where the opposing team is sitting. Sound carries on an open field like this. Dateko's #07 is yelling at her own coach and captain for benching her.

The other girls follow her gaze and grimace.

"Well that's awkward to watch," Yuika chirps brightly, passing a towel to Sakaguchi. "They look like Natsu and Rumi after the Johzenji game!"

"At least we saved it for after the game," Utsugi clicks her tongue in disapproval. "We're just getting warmed up, and they're falling apart." She's a little put out by this, but if Dateko was losing their shape, Shiratorizawa would do their best to pick them to shreds. I want two more goals in the next half, Rumi thinks to herself.

"Oh," Hirao squeaks, cringing in sympathy as Kimura Reo tries to reject a pinny from a teammate. "I-I guess she hasn't changed much..."

"S-So," Natsu huffs, taking a break from chugging her water, "Should I, uh, expect that #07 to keep following me around, or—" she pants, "Or can I be switched to, I don't know, center midfield?" She plops onto the grass by Ariyoshi. "She blocked my run like three times, ugh. She can't mark me if I'm in the center, right? I should just take center mid—"

"You're on defense," Aone and Utsugi say simultaneously. Natsu groans, falling backwards against Ariyoshi's legs.

"Sorry," Aone adds politely. "You work well with Sakaguchi and Yamane on the wing."

"Yeah," Yamane adds curtly, speaking with a hair tie in her mouth as she fixes her ponytail. It makes her bare her teeth like an animal as she looks at Natsu. "And don't forget to pass to me, Freckles, before you get stuffed by #07. Or whoever replaces her."

"Wha—?" Natsu watches her, suddenly feeling wrong-footed as she touches her freckled cheek in dismay. "Wait. Are you talking about the first goal? You weren't open!"

"I woulda gotten it if you'd passed," Yamane grumbles, tightening her hair tie.

"But I scored," Natsu shoots Aone and Utsugi a helpless look. They do not help. In fact, they suddenly look aged. It wasn't like Erina hadn't scored at all, she scored just minutes after Natsu did."C'mon Yamane-san, what would you have done if I had passed it to you with two defenders on you?"

"I woulda scored!" Yamane declares stubbornly.

Masuya rolls her eyes. Yamane went through the same rant with her in the middle of the Johzenji game, when Masuya scored their only goal. Yamane just likes being the center of attention. "Let it go, Hinata," she advises from her spot on the bench.

"But I sco—Aah!" Natsu squawks as Ariyoshi kicks her off her legs. "Yoshiiii," she whines, "What was that for?"

"Your sweaty back was touching my legs," the first year mutters, dark eyes narrowed. "I'm not your chair. If you're so tired from running away from your mark, sub out."

"I'M NOT TIRED," Natsu leaps to her feet in a flash. "I'M TOTALLY FINE."

Aone hums. "Take it easy," she advises.

Utsugi adds on, "You don't need to be open for every play."

"I'm not tired," Natsu repeats, much more subdued under the scrutiny of Aone and Utsugi. Her legs are still tingly from running, but she's caught her breath now. "I…" The captains continue to stare her down. "Okay. Yeah. Of course, I'll take it slow." She bows.

Ariyoshi squirts her with a water bottle, making Natsu yelp again while their teammates snicker. "What? You needed to cool off." Natsu makes sure to shake out her hair like a dog, flicking water back onto Yoshi and Yokoyama.


The second half is a blur for Natsu. The tricky #07 is subbed off at the first chance Dateko gets, and Natsu is marked differently by a #19. While #19 is just as good at defending, she doesn't keep up with Natsu, and she doesn't do any crazy long throws for her strikers. That was a #07 specialty, it seemed, and without her on the field, the game goes exactly as Utsugi wants.

It's… not as fun without #07. Natsu still makes combination passes to Sakaguchi and Yamane, but she tries to keep Utsugi's advice in mind and doesn't make as many fast runs to avoid the girl marking her. She doesn't really get how she can 'take it easy' in the middle of a match, but she doesn't feel as nervous since #07 isn't playing.

Yamane earns a second goal, and Sugasawa Yuika scores in the 80th minute. Dateko's defense finally falls apart after that, fouling Sakaguchi and giving Shiratorizawa a free kick right at the end of the match. They nearly get a fifth goal that way.

Then the whistle blows, and the Dateko keeper slumps, letting the ball drop from her gloved hands. Game over.

4-0, Shiratorizawa. An indisputable win, just like the coach wanted.

Natsu pants, wiping her face with the corner of her jersey as her teammates howl with joy. Her legs are buzzing as she forces herself into a slow jog towards the bench, letting Iwabuchi and Nakajima throw their arms around her. Yamane howls about how close she came to getting her first hat trick.

The people on the bleachers cheer loudly, and Natsu finally lets herself look past the field to see them. The stands aren't full anymore, but there's a long line of people along the fence now. Shouyou is there with four others in Karasuno uniforms, shouting for her.

"AONE!" The girls on the bench squeal for the goalkeeper. Oga throws herself into Aone's arms, and stays there. Then Nagano leaps for the keeper too, and Aone catches her with her free arm. Sugita cackles and vaults onto Aone's back.

Natsu stares in wonder: Aone is carrying three whole teammates with ease.

"Get off my goalie," Utsugi yells half-heartedly. "We need to line up, come on—"

"RUUUUMIIIII!" Several male voices chorus her name suddenly. The captain goes still as a statue. "R-U-M-I! WE LOVE YOU, RUMI!"

Natsu can't help but burst into laughter with her teammates when they see third years from the boys' soccer team, still wearing their own game uniforms, spelling out 'RUMI' with their bodies like poorly-organized cheerleaders. The English 'R' is backwards. Captain Yoshino is the one directing them, waving his warm-up jacket in a circle and whooping.

Utsugi is mortified.

They switch their positions to roughly spell out 'YUI' next with slightly more success. "YUUUUUUIII! Y-U-I! WE LOVE YOU, YUI!"

Aone is busy trying to carry three teammates all the way to the bench, and doesn't acknowledge them. The captain, on the other hand, stares at the boys along the fence, almost incoherent in her rage. Her face is as red as her ribbon hair tie. "Yoshino! Watanabe! SCRAM!"

Coach Sameshima blocks her from physically chasing the boys off the grass. "Time to thank the referees, Captain," she reminds the third year, steering her around. "You too, Yui-chan."

"Yes ma'am." Aone shakes off all the girls at once, letting them fall in a heap of sweaty limbs. Ariyoshi tries to dump the rest of her water bottle on Sugita, and gets the bottle confiscated by Aone.

"Everyone, quit puttering around and line up!" The coach adds, and eventually all the girls fall in line, though there's some screeching from Ariyoshi when Aone starts to drink from her water.

They bow to the referee and linesmen, and shake hands and exchange high-fives with the opposing team.

Natsu wants to comment on #07's throw-ins when they come across each other, but by the time she comes face to face with Kimura, she loses her edge. Kimura looks so mad. "Good game," she says anyway.

"Was it?" The midfielder replies, her eyes suddenly boring into Natsu.

"You played well!" Natsu insists, coming to a stop in front of Kimura Reo instead of moving onto another player. "I'm Hinata, by the way. You're hard to keep up with! And I don't know how you can do those throws—"

"Yeah, well, it didn't get us anywhere," Kimura interrupts, her jaw clenched. Her eyes dart away to Hirao, standing nearby.

"Not this time, no," Natsu agrees cautiously. "But we'll have to keep an eye out for you, Kimura-san."

Her expression is unreadable. "Next time, Hinata," the Dateko girl says quietly, a stark difference from her smugness from earlier. Natsu would've expected her to blow up again, like she seemed to do during halftime. Instead, she's like a calm pool of water. "Next time, you won't keep up with me at all."

Natsu is alarmed again. "O-Oh?"

Kimura stalks off before Natsu can string together a sentence. Hirao draws near, picking at the hem of her shirt. "She talks big for someone that just lost," Natsu comments, hands on her hips.

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Hirao answers softly. "She's unpredictable."

"But that's what makes her so cool!" Natsu is still staring after #07. Kimura was strange, but Natsu can't deny she had more fun in the first half than the second. "I'm looking forward to playing against her again."

"Me too," Hirao admits. "I mean! Once Aone's graduated, o-of course!"

Natsu pats her back, silently assuring Hirao she won't tell the third years about wanting to replace them. "I get it, Hirao. Once I'm captain, you'll be my main goalie, you know!"

Hirao peers down at her, looking faint.

Utsugi turns to her team, no longer red-faced. "Alright, let's get this over with and thank the idiots that came to watch."

Natsu and her teammates approach the fence, lining up uniformly. Rumi stands at the end, and yells, "THANK YOU FOR COMING!" They bow deeply, echoing the captain's words.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Yoshino and his teammates scream back cheekily. If looks could kill, Rumi would have eliminated at least half of Yoshino's team by now. Natsu doesn't mind them, though. She's actually kind of delighted that Ideguchi was there too, another friend from homeroom.

"You guys didn't show up until the second half!" Someone in the crowd calls them out. "Fake fans!"

"Didn't you lose today, Yoshino?!" Another person adds tauntingly. Natsu is pretty certain it was Tendou who yelled that time, but she can't see him now that everyone is standing and moving around to exit the stands.

"HEY! Who said that?!" Yoshino yells back at the crowd, quickly immersing himself in a shouting match with several other students.

"Nacchan! Nacchan!" Shouyou waves her over. "Great job! You were amazing out there!"

Beaming, Natsu jogs over to him and immediately launches herself at Shouyou. "We won! Shouyou, Shouyou, I—"

"—Scored a goal!" They shout simultaneously, laughing. Shouyou swings her around once before releasing her. She's definitely too sweaty for a longer hug, even from Shouyou who didn't mind it.

"You were great, Nacchan!" Shouyou's buzzcut teammate exclaims, holding up his hands.

"Thank you, Tanaka-san!" Natsu gives him a double high-five, returning his grin. She looks past him to the other two students she recognizes. "Yamaguchi-kun, Kageyama-kun," she greets them. "Thanks for coming!"

"Right. C-Con-Congrats," Kageyama nods tightly.

"You looked really cool, Hinata-san," Yamuguchi adds shyly, holding up a thumbs up. "That goal was amazing."

"Yeah!" Another student interrupts, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He's the only one Natsu doesn't recognize, but he has gelled back hair and a tuft of bleached bangs sticking up from his forehead. He's beaming at Natsu like she's some kind of goddess, though, and it's beginning to fluster her.

"Thanks," Natsu says anyway, high-fiving him. "I'm sorry, I don't recognize you?"

"We've never met!" He exclaims. He points a thumb back at himself. "I'm Nishinoya Yuu, Karasuno's Guardian Angel!"

Guardian Angel…? "Oh!" Natsu perks up, surprising Nishinoya. "The libero! Shouyou mentioned you!"

"Yes!" Nishinoya confirms, delighted. "Just call me Noya, it's nice to meet you Nacchan! You were so freaking cool out there! When your goalie kicked the ball and it went like BAM! And you were already there for it like ZWOOSH and then WHAM!"

Natsu nods excitedly as Noya describes each goal, startled to realize how much he'd been paying attention. He's mainly communicating through sound effects, but she mostly understands what he's saying anyway. "Yeah! And then Kurishima's pass—she's #12, the blonde—that was the deciding factor, she ripped through their defense, it was like threading a needle to get to Sugasawa!"

"That was sick!" Noya agrees.

"It was!" Natsu laughs. "Oh, Yamaguchi-kun," she says suddenly, startling the green-haired boy. "Please thank your mom for me! She drove you all here, ne? It's very kind of you and her."

"O-Oh, yeah, of course, ah," he scrambles to respond, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "She'll be back to pick us up soon. Good game, Nacch—Hinata-san," he catches himself quickly. "Sorry."

She waves away his concern. Shouyou's friends always call her Nacchan because Shouyou never introduces her properly. "Thank you, again! Oh! Hirao got you passes, right? Good, good, ne, Shouyou, have you met my other teammates? Look—ah," Natsu stalls, seeing the Dateko boys approaching her. "Hey! Takanobu's friends!"

"Hinata!" Kogane runs at her with both hands raised for a high-five. "You were so cool!"

"Th-thank you, Kogane-san!" Natsu is pushed back a bit by the force of the high-five, but she tries to take it in stride.

"Congrats," Sakunami adds gently, glancing between her and Shouyou. "You must be her brother?"

"Yeah," Shouyou agrees cautiously, eyeing Kogane skeptically. "Hello…."

"You're on Dateko's team?" Nishinoya cuts in, eyes narrowed. "The volleyball team? What position? I'm a libero. Are you a first year?"

"We both are!" Kogane answers, throwing a too-long arm around Sakunami's shoulder. "You're volleyball players? What school?"

"Karasuno," Tanaka says woodenly. "I guess we'll see you at Interhigh, huh?"

"Only if you make it far enough!" Kogane points out blithely.

"Haaah?!" Nishinoya steps forward, right up to Kogane. "Or maybe you'll be eliminated in the first round, and you'll just watch us from the stands, huh?!"

Natsu pulls her gaze back to Shouyou, shooting him a quizzical look. You said you wouldn't do this, she thinks accusingly.

You didn't saying anything about Dateko teams! It's not my fault! Shouyou thinks back.

"So! Nacchan!" Shouyou says loudly, drawing the attention of the Karasuno boys. "Can I meet your teammates? You were saying something about them?!"

"Oh yeah!" Tanaka straightens up out of the strange hunched stance he's taken. "Let's meet the girls, Noya," he elbows the shorter boy roughly, snapping him out of it. "Who's that pretty girl, #06? And the cool one that slide-tackled a lot!"

Natsu isn't sure this is any better than picking a fight with Dateko boys. Perhaps Tanaka has a death wish.

"Uh, I'm friends with Ariyoshi, the slide-tackle one," Natsu explains hesitantly, throwing Tanaka a look as she leads them back to the field. She specifically does not talk about #06, the 'pretty girl' Tanaka mentioned—Sugasawa Yuika, a third year, is really pretty but she gets very uncomfortable when approached by boys. Ariyoshi was easily annoyed, but Natsu has found that she's friendlier than she looks. "Kogane-san, Sakunami-san, I'll see you later! Say goodbye to Takanobu and Fu-uh, Futabuki? Futakuchi? Crap, I don't remember now."

"Futakuchi," Sakunami supplies kindly. "I'll tell them. Your next Dateko game will be on our campus, right? I'll try to watch you again."

Natsu beams. "Really? That'd be awesome! I'll look for you!"

"Y-yeah," he nods vigorously, and Kogane waves back as Natsu drags her brother to the Shiratorizawa bench.

"So, you already met Hirao, right? In the yellow shirt?" Natsu asks Shouyou. "You got visitor passes, thank god, otherwise Rumi would've kicked you guys out!"

"Actually, Shirabu got us passes," Kageyama says, glancing back at the bleachers. "Shiratorizawa's setter..."

"Eh?" She turns back to look at Shouyou and Kageyama, laughing a little. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope!" Her brother has a pinched look on his face, similar to the look Shirabu makes most of the time. "Shirabu Kenjirou. He's your friend, right?"

"...Yeah, I guess we're friends, but he's..." Natsu shakes her head. "Goshiki must've dragged him over. Shirabu is all like," she presses her fringe down at an angle, imitating Shirabu's bangs, "'Volleyball is the only sport that matters, shut up about soccer, Hinata,' y'know?"

"No, no, no," Shouyou disagrees while Nishinoya laughs. "He was more like, 'I don't even know Hinata Natsu, what's a soccer ball?'" His impression is only slightly more accurate.

"Oh! So you did meet him!" Natsu snickers, covering her mouth. "Don't mind him, he's always crabby. His teammates are nicer, did you see them?"

She turns her attention back to the stands, resolving to find Goshiki and Kawanishi once Shouyou's met her team.

"Ah," Shouyou hums, "I could see some of them in the stands, but I figured you would introduce us?"

"Sure thing," Natsu agrees, distracted. "Oi! Yokoyama, Yoshi—come meet my brother!"

The two first years look up from where they're collecting water bottles. Ariyoshi frowns a bit, but Yokoyama seems intrigued. "Oh, wow, you really do look alike," she comments. "I'm Yokoyama. Thanks for cheering us on, guys."

"So," Yoshi begins ominously, placing the last water bottle in the carrier box. A chill spreads through the air, stealing the levity from them. All eyes turn to Ariyoshi Saori. "Which one of you is the strongest?" She asks the Karasuno boys point-blank.

"Huh?" Yamaguchi blinks at her. Natsu does too.

"I am!" Shouyou, Kageyama, Tanaka, and Nishinoya all shout. Tanaka is the loudest, though.

"Uh huh," she eyes them flatly. Then she pushes the water bottle carrier at Tanaka. Her voice doesn't change, and she doesn't even try for a smile. "Senpai, do you mind carrying this for me then?"

"I DON'T MIND," Tanaka clamors, taking the carrier with gusto. "I-I can carry a lot of things!"

"Hey!" Noya waves his arms, "I can carry stuff too! CALL ME SENPAI TOO."

Natsu slaps her forehead. "Yoshi…"

"That's perfect," Yoshi says cooly, handing him a mesh bag of soccer balls. "There's so much to carry back to the clubhouse. Nice hair," she tacks on, and Nishinoya glows.

"Yours too!" He grins. "It looks cool!"

"Thanks," she replies, flicking the bleached tips of her own hair out of her face. "The clubhouse is at the top of that hill, you see it? You can leave these at the door."

Natsu and Yokoyama shake their heads. They were both accustomed to Yoshi's many tricks to worm her way out of clean-up duties, and there was no way that—

Natsu's jaw drops when Tanaka and Nishinoya sprint for the clubhouse. "Wait, you….! Oh, they're fast." She sighs. "I can't believe this."

"I'm faster than them… Yoshi-san, I can help too," Shouyou lifts his hand again, and Natsu smacks the back of his head. "Ow!"

"Ariyoshi!" Utsugi snaps, looking between her and the boys running up the hill. "Why do they have our stuff? You're supposed to be on clean-up duty."

Yoshi is completely unrepentant when she replies, "I'm just being efficient, Captain."

Utsugi rolls her eyes. "They better not break anything," she huffs.

"Hey, hey, you're Captain Utsugi?" Shouyou perks up, his eyes wide with awe. Utsugi is shorter than him, and Shouyou clearly noticed. "I'm Hinata Shouyou, hi!"

Utsugi blinks at him, and then Natsu, and then back to Shouyou. With all the ferociousness of a fieldmouse, she nods at Natsu's brother. "Hi, Shouyou-kun."

Hang on, why is she so polite? Natsu wonders. She's never polite to me!

"You were great out there today!" Shouyou exclaims, hands gesturing crazily. "You're so strong, even against that #11, who was all like zwoosh! down the field! And then there was that pass to the left side, to the blonde girl, it looked too hard but it landed right where it needed to and…"

Now, Natsu is outraged. He didn't say any of that about Natsu's plays. "Am I invisible now?" She mutters. What's exponentially worse, however, is that Utsugi is letting him speak, listening smugly. Natsu is beginning to question her reality. Both her brother and captain ignore her entirely, chatting like old friends.

"You did play well," Yamaguchi says tentatively, offering her another tentative smile. "I could see you running up and down a lot... Um. Aren't you tired now?"

Oh, Yamaguchi is definitely her favorite Karasuno crow. Natsu grins. "I'm okay! I get a break whenever the ball isn't on my side of the field, so it's fine."

Kageyama shuffles closer, looking equally baffled by how well Shouyou is getting along with Captain Utsugi, and somewhat fearful of the rest of her team milling around. "You and Hinata were just born with some crazy athletic ability, huh," he says flatly, squinting at the painted sidelines on the grass like it offends him. "Why don't you play volleyball?"

"Hm, well," Natsu leans in conspiratorially, "I'm kinda short for a volleyball player."

Yamaguchi snorts, looking back at Shouyou and wondering if sisters were always so ruthless. Natsu looked about the same height as her twin, if not taller.

"But you can jump," Kageyama continues seriously. "And in the women's league, the net is twenty centimeters lower. Physically, you and Hinata are at virtually the same level right now, but your vertical jump would give you an edge."

Natsu stares at him, bewildered. Yamaguchi doesn't look much better. Kageyama continues to watch her in silent anticipation, a small wrinkle forming between his eyebrows.

Shouyou, I thought you were exaggerating when you told me about Kageyama.

"Mm…" she gives herself a moment to really think about how to answer him. Of course, Natsu could go on and on about why soccer is the greatest, and why she's kind of horrified Kageyama would suggest such a thing, but… hm… Kageyama Tobio is a volleyball nerd, according to Shouyou. He wouldn't understand, unless she can explain in terms of, metaphorically speaking, tall nets, squeaky courts, and the smell of salonpas.

It's not hard to figure out what would get the point across to Kageyama the quickest.

"You know," Natsu begins meaningfully, "By that logic, Shouyou should switch to soccer because his height wouldn't be a disadvantage in that sport. Like you said, we've both got the athleticism. Stamina is key in soccer, and Shouyou's got loads of it."

Yamaguchi's jaw drops. Kageyama looks like he might set her on fire. "He—should—not," Kageyama says through gritted teeth. "I would kill him."

Natsu laughs out loud. "Uwahh! I'm joking, lighten up!" She pats him on the back roughly, as if it might jolt him out of his death stare. "See what I mean? You can't just point out stuff like that! Soccer is my sport, it's my favorite thing! 'Why don't you play volleyball?' What a silly question. Because I don't love it as much as soccer!"

"...Ah," Kageyama glares at the grass, saying nothing more. Yamaguchi gives a helpless little chuckle.

"Hinata-san, would your brother really be better at soccer?" Yamaguchi wonders, and his eyes look innocent but Natsu kind of suspects he's egging Kageyama on. "Because—"

"No, he would not," Kageyama cuts him off sternly, as if the mere thought was heresy. "End of discussion."

Natsu cackles again, elbowing the dark-haired boy. "Don't worry! Don't worry! He's never gonna give it up, Kageyama-kun. I think you're stuck with Shouyou forever!"

The setter looks down at Natsu with another frown, but she gets the feeling he's not upset. In fact, Kageyama doesn't look like he'd mind being stuck with Shouyou at all.


A/N: I know, i know! but this chapter was getting too long for my liking, so the shiratorizawa boys will have to wait for the next chapter! don't ask me why utsugi & shouyou are bros now it just happened. utsugi is polite to any boy that isn't from her school i guess?

and again, come holler at me on tumblr / grilledsquids i can talk forever about these characters