Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.
It was early in the morning at Nekoma High, and the campus was mostly empty except for the few teachers and students on campus. Two of those students being in the gym and readying themselves for some one-on-one training before the rest of the team arrived.
"I have to admit, Tetsu-kun. I'm surprised that you wanted to meet up this morning for practice. I figured you would be too tried for this after yesterday."
"Ha-ha-ha. You are so adorable Kago-chan. Yes, while you did try to kill the lot of us, I would never miss the opportunity to work on your receiving skills."
Kagome released a groan of misery at his devious smirk. Receiving was never her strong suit when she played in elementary and junior high school. Then when you add the training that she underwent with Sesshoumaru, she probably got even worse. "This goes against every instinct I was forced to develop last year."
Kuroo snorted in amusement at her complaints. She had great reflexes, but those skills had her moving away from the ball instead of towards it. They've been working a little on her volleyball talents every morning before practice, and on the days that Kenma didn't join them they focused on her defensive skills. Kuroo knew he could only pester Kenma into extra practice so much, or he would mutiny. So, they compromised for just a few mornings a week.
Honestly, he's certain that the only reason Kenma agreed to that much was because one, it was Kagome and her slowly evolving spikes interested him. And two, Kagome bribed him with mini homemade apple pies—whether they were made by her or Higurashi-mama didn't matter, he took that bribe in a heartbeat. How she figured out Kenma's weakness is something that Kuroo will never figure out, but every morning that Kenma was with him when they met on the way to the gym, she gave Kenma a smile and a thank you while handing over the wrapped treat.
Now he's getting sidetracked, moving past his thoughts of how she gained the knowledge she has on Kenma, he brought his attention back to the task at hand. Kagome proved to be able to spike effectively, and much better now than when they were kids, but her receives were abysmal. As in non-existent. Every single time the ball was hit in her direction, she moved out of its path for it to fly by her. It was hilariously baffling to see. She could run towards the ball for a spike with no hesitation, but if the ball flies in her direction she moves away. Slowly they were trying to break her of this habit, and she was getting better. She at least hesitates for a moment now before moving away from the ball. A vast improvement compared to when they started last week.
"Come on, Kago-chan. I'll send the ball right to you. Just keep your arms ready to receive the ball and bounce it back to me."
She released a sigh and grumbled to herself as she got into position. Kuroo lightly hit the ball in her direction and watched as she started to move to the side before catching herself and shifting back to where she needed to be. The ball connected with her arms and bounced off to the right instead returning to him. She stood there for a moment as she looked down at her arms in shock. Lifting her head to look into Kuroo's eyes, she started to glow with joy as she launched herself at him. "I did it!"
He caught her smaller form in a spinning embrace as he laughed at her excitement. "See? I knew you could do it!" Setting her back on the floor and giving her a quick kiss, they got ready to practice some more. As they went through the motions, Kagome did regress a few times, much to her dismay, and dodged the ball instead of receiving it. However, the fact that the majority of their practice saw her refraining from moving out of the balls path was a huge success—a little fact that he had to remind her of as she pouted. Once she is able to fully break herself of that habit, then they could start tackling her returns. It was going to be a long and frustrating process she just knew it.
As the time for the team to arrive drew closer, they called an end to Kagome's perceived torture and began to get the gym ready for practice. While they set the table up by the net, Kagome noticed Kuroo wince slightly as he stood and rotated his shoulder.
Yamamoto led the way as he and several of his teammates headed towards the gym for practice. All of them chatting about various topics and how they barely had enough energy to eat dinner and complete their homework last night. Just as they approached the door to the gym, he heard a yelp come from beyond the doors that brought him to an abrupt stop causing the others to crash into his back.
"Oi! What's the big idea?" Quickly motioning for Yaku and the others be quiet they could hear Kagome and Kuroo's voices from the gym.
"Ow! Take it easy Pocket-Kago-chan!"
"Oh, don't be such a big baby."
"Big baby?! How about I dig my fingers into you and see how you like it!"
"Well this is necessary until you loosen up. Would you stop squirming already?"
"Are you sure you even know what you're doing?"
"Yes! So, take a deep breath and let me work."
The boys crowded the door and their faces turning redder the longer they listened. Kenma had wandered over not long after the team froze and rolled his eyes. Making his way to the front of the group he pushed the door open as the boys scrambled to stop him.
They tumbled into the gym and froze when they saw Kagome kneeling on top of the table with Kuroo leaning against it in a hunched position wincing. Her hands were on his left shoulder looking as if she was massaging it. Glancing over, she smiled at the group and greeted them before refocusing on her task.
Kuroo turned his head and took in the red, stunned faces in confusion until Kenma's quiet voice drifted over to him. "Do you all honestly think that they would be doing anything dirty at school when practice is about to start?" At first Kuroo was baffled until he thought about the conversation that he and Kagome just had and his face began to infuse with color.
Thankfully Kagome didn't seem to hear that comment because Kuroo was certain that she would either die of embarrassment, turn bright red and work them to the bone, or all the above. "Damn perverts," he grumbled under his breath.
"Hmm? What was that?"
He flinched a bit, and this time not because she was working the knot out of his back. "N-No-Nothing!"
Kagome gave him a skeptical look as he peered back at her over his shoulder. "Uh huh…" He gave her an innocent expression that she did not believe for a second. She shook her head and went back to massaging the knot out of existence. Discretely using some of her healing abilities helped a great deal as well. It wasn't like she could have just used her powers right off the bat, he would have noticed—ok, so watching him squirm was slightly entertaining as well. In her mind he deserved it! He refuses to stop calling her pocket sized.
Soon after the team regained their composure, they started their stretches and practice began.
When lunchtime finally rolled around Kuroo was grateful for the break. There was a great deal of panic from his classmates over the looming due date of Matsumoto-sensei's dreaded assignment. Especially after he confirmed Kuroo's worst fears that this project was only part one of three. Then as if that wasn't bad enough, he dropped a lovely little comment that if the report on the origin story did not receive a passing grade, then you would have to redo the assignment on a different legend—And queue major freak out by the masses!
Boy was he ever glad that Kagome's family shrine possessed the entire tale of the Shikon no Tama! Now he gets to sit back and enjoy the show that his classmates kindly put on. Don't get him wrong, he could empathize with the ones that feared that all of their work would be useless. However, he couldn't help but chuckle at the ones who procrastinated. As far as he could tell, they didn't think that the report would be all that difficult and now they were realizing their folly.
Shaking his head while still chuckling, he gathered up his bento before heading out the classroom. As he headed down the hall towards Kenma and Kagome's class, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. Freezing he cringed inwardly as he looked over his shoulder to sadly see an irritatingly familiar sight. He heaved a sigh and partially turned back to the girl.
'Shit. Here we go again…'
Kagome was a little surprised that Kuroo had yet to show up to lead her and Kenma outside for lunch. Figuring that he probably got held up, she and Kenma decided to meet him at his class so that the three of them could go out and sit at the tree that they had essentially claimed. Slowly some of the other boys from the team had begun to join them at their spot and everyone used the time to bond and discuss practice or schoolwork.
As the duo walked down the hallway they stopped when they saw Kuroo up ahead, standing to the side and slightly frowning down at a girl in front of him. The girl seemed to be oblivious to Kuroo's boredom and continued talk about something that they couldn't hear.
"Hm. That must be Kitori-san."
Kagome blinked a few times in confusion and glanced over at the taller boy. "Who?"
"Kitori Yuri, she's a second year. And she's been confessing her feelings to Kuroo since their first year. Kuroo keeps telling her that he doesn't return her feelings, but she keeps trying about once a month."
"Huh. Determined or clueless?"
"Dunno, maybe both." They observed as the girl leaned closer to Kuroo and he stepped back a bit to keep her out of his space. She was a beautiful girl with glossy short brown hair, green eyes, and a figure that drew attention. However, there was a bit of an arrogant air about her from what they could see, and she didn't seem to realize just how much Kuroo didn't want her near him.
"We should probably go save him from her claws."
Kenma smirked slightly at Kagome's description, "Yup."
They walked closer to the duo in time to hear Kuroo's exasperated rejection as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Kitori-san, I still can't accept your feelings. And I'm in a relationship, so please find someone else to focus your attentions on."
"W-Wha—?"
"Tetsu-kun. Are you ready? The others are probably already outside." Kuroo could have jumped for joy when Kagome's voice interrupted the monthly conversation that he was forced to endure. He had tried to be kind to Kitori in the past when he turned her down, but now he's at the end of his rope and tired of the cycle that she created. Ignoring the frown that crossed the girl's face, he turned his head to smile at his best friend and petite girlfriend. Giving a careless goodbye Kitori as she stood frozen in front of him, he walked over to the duo and pulled Kagome's tiny frame into his side while dropping a kiss on her temple. The group then continued their way to the stairs and headed outside, leaving the stunned girl behind.
"Girl troubles, Tetsu-kun?"
"Ugh, don't ask! Maybe she'll leave me the hell alone now."
"If she doesn't, then maybe we can set her up with Watanabe-san." Kuroo slowly grinned at her idea while Kenma blinked in thought. "Huh. That could work."
Setting the conversation aside they joined the team at the base of the tree and sat down for lunch. Kuroo's daily theft of Kagome's food routine was for the most part, ignored by the group—though a few made bets as to whether or not Kagome would finally stab Kuroo's hand with her chopsticks. As their food was nearly all consumed, she surprised everyone when she revealed that her extra bento box contained treats for everyone. Excitedly the boys called out their thanks as they dove in for their share.
After all the food disappeared, some of the boys sprawled out to doze in the afternoon sun—Kuroo being one of them as he claimed Kagome's lap as his pillow once more. Kagome and a few others pulled out books to read, while Kenma once again played a game on his phone. It was a peaceful end to the lunch period, and a now common scene for the other students to see as they passed by.
Naoi was nervous and excited for his first day as the new coach for his old volleyball club. Granted if things panned out, he would only be the head coach for a short while, but he was looking forward to the opportunity. If Coach Nekomata comes out of retirement and returns, then he would gladly step aside for his old coach to take the reins of the team. It would only benefit the team and himself in the long run. Any chance to learn how to improve his skills as a coach is not something that he would be foolish enough to turn down.
He sat down with the Vice Principle to go over the current state of the team. It was surprising to learn that things had been in disarray until the club gained a new manager and she helped clean up the chaos. The Vice Principle spoke highly of the first year, saying that while he could tell that like himself, she was horrified by the mess but instead of running or complaining, she merely got to work.
"Higurashi-san even took on the role of becoming the unofficial conditioning coach until you could arrive since it was determined that there was too much responsibility placed upon the captain." He watched as Naoi blinked in surprise and chuckled. "I heard a few of the members groaning about her being a 'tiny tyrant' as they dragged themselves home for the night."
Naoi barked out a laugh at that, and looked forward to meeting the girl. Anyone who can wrangle a bunch of teenage boys in line is an asset in his book. He looked forward to discussing everything that she's been having the team do. The final bell rang, and he didn't have to wait too long until the spitfire showed up to the staff room. After they were introduced to each other, Kagome lead Naoi to the gym while explaining the conditioning routines that she had put the boys though.
He was a little surprised when she admitted that there was some tension between herself and the team captain. "I won't go into too much detail, but I think a majority of it may be embarrassment. He asked me out before I joined the club and I turned him down. Then by taking over some of the responsibilities from him… well that didn't help much. I will admit that I may not have handled his attitude the best, but hopefully now that you are here, we can all move past it."
"I'm sure we can. Thank you for giving me a heads up about the situation. Also, I would like continue using your training methods and if you think of any more, I would love to hear them."
Kagome looked up at him and smiled. "We can go back to the Sports Center tomorrow for practice if you like. I figure that having the boys' practice there in the sand about twice a week would help them a great deal if you are all right with that."
Releasing a laugh Naoi agreed. He was anxious to see the mayhem of the sand pit that she described with glee as they finally reached the gym doors. Stepping into the gym was a surreal moment for him. It was like going back in time, but seeing a different group of boys instead of his old teammates was quite the juxtaposition. Giving a big smile as the team gathered around to greet him, he felt ready for the crazy journey that he was about to begin.
Author's Note: Ok. This took a lot longer than I thought it would, though I have to say I'm glad I took the extra time with this. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'll try to get back to posting at least one chapter a week. Until next time!