Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.


The days following the tournament were a bit strange for the team. There were no new tortures created for them to suffer through, and the school population was beginning to remember that they had a volleyball team. It was odd and felt like the calm before the storm—at least Kenma was fairly certain that it was. Sitting behind Kagome in class gave him the opportunity to observe her and he was positive that he could see the gears turning in her brain. And not simply because of the math quiz that was coming up.

He really wasn't sure if he wanted to know what she was focusing so hard on, but the curiosity was eating away at him. "Kagome? Are you all right?"

Kagome looked over her shoulder at him and blinked before turning in her chair. "Hm? Oh, I was just thinking about how we can help the team improve." She chuckled as Kenma winced. "In fact, there's something that I wanted to discuss with you Kenma."

Paling a bit, he cautiously looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Well, we are going to make some adjustments to the team's conditioning and practice. But there's something that I'm contemplating for just you—"

"No."

"You haven't even heard me out yet!"

"Whatever torture you are cooking up for me, I want nothing to do with it."

Kagome smirked at his protests. "Honestly, you act like you have much of a choice in this."

Kenma groaned and rested his head on his desk with a thud. "What is it?"

She giggled at his muffled tone before lightly patting his head. "Don't worry, I'm not talking about increasing your physical training beyond what everyone else is going to be doing. I was just thinking about the last match that you guys had…"

Kenma lifted his head slightly and raised a brow. "What about it?"

"Well, I'm sure you noticed the not-so-effective strategy that they had attempted during the game?"

"The whole 'try to target me and break me down' strategy?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. Not the first ones to try that."

"One day we're going to be up against a team that will actually have the skills to pull off a scheme like that."

"True, your point?"

"My point is, is that you have a great strategic and analytic mind, Kenma. And I think we need to build on that."

Kenma stared at the top of his desk for a moment before looking back up at her. "You want to work on coming up with various plans and tactics. That's a good idea, but when do you want to sit down and work on them?"

"That's just it, I'm not the one that can help you with this. I may have been briefly trained by a tactical mastermind, but Maru-sensei wasn't able to teach me much beyond the whole 'never show your full hand' tactic."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Well… there is one person that we know… who is crafty enough to outmaneuver four teams repeatedly…"

Kenma looked at her in confusion and racked his brain to think of the one she was alluding to. Then as he thought about and eliminated people from his suspect list, he froze and his eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yup."


The bell announcing that it was time for lunch rang out, causing all the students to pack away their books and dig out their bentos. Kenma and Kagome glanced at each other in confusion when a certain bed headed giant didn't immediately appear in the doorway of their class to collect them.

"You don't think Kitori-san is trying to confess to him again, do you?"

Kenma cocked his head to the side as he did the math as to how long it had been since her last attempt. "Hmm. It is about that time again."

Kagome snorted in disbelief as the two stood to go save their taller companion. "It's nice to see that I'm not the only one with an oblivious stalker. Probably the only reason why he hasn't teased me about Hojo-san."

Sharing a grin with the shorter girl, they walked down the hall only to freeze in shock. Kuroo was standing ahead of them looking uncomfortable and surrounded by a group of girls with hearts all around them calling for his attention.

"What on earth?"

"He has a fan club?"

"Since when?"

Kenma frowned in thought and remembered some of the others on the team mentioning that they were starting to get more attention from the girls in their classes recently. "I think just recently. Some of the others mentioned that after the tournament that they've been getting noticed more."

"Really? How about you?"

"I'm always with you and Kuroo. Plus, I'm good at hiding."

"True. So, I'm a deterrent, huh?"

"Kagome, everyone in our class knows better than to upset you."

"Wha—?"

"They've seen your reactions to Kuroo when he irritates you. And Tora has a big mouth."

"Talked some about the summer camp?"

"Not a lot of detail. Yaku-san elaborated after Tora commented on his height, much to Tora and Kuroo's dismay."

"You would think with a nickname like 'demon-senpai' that the others would know better than to mention his height."

"They know better now."

"True. Well, should we save our damsel from his adoring fans?"

Kenma's eyes widened as he let out a surprised snort. "If we don't, he might jump out of the window. I'll leave you to rescue him. Also, please call him that once he's been freed. I would like to see his face when you do."

Kagome smiled, handed her bento to Kenma to hold for her, "I do adore that mean streak of yours, Kenma." Then she headed into the small crowd with the grace of a conquering hero. "Tetsu-kun! There you are. Come on, the others are waiting for us."

Kuroo's head snapped to her and he breathed a sigh of relief. Tiny Tyrant to the rescue. As he attempted to extract himself from the love-struck group that refused to leave him alone, the girls began to glare at his petite girlfriend. "Who are you to be so familiar with Kuroo-kun?"

Kagome raised a brow and slightly rolled her eyes before plastering a smile upon her delicate face. "For one, I am the manager of the volleyball team. Two, and most importantly, I'm this Rooster Head's girlfriend. We all appreciate your support of the team, and hope that you will bring that enthusiasm to our next game. Now, if you'll excuse us, my boyfriend and I are expected to have lunch with our group."

Kuroo cackled at the stumped looks on the faces that surrounded him. Taking advantage of the freeze that descended upon the girls, he escaped the group and threw his arms around his savior. Leaning down he softly kissed the serenely amused face in front of him. "Kago-chan! The love of my life! You know you're more than my girlfriend, you're my fiancé!"

"Ah yes, how foolish of me to forget. But then again, you only asked when we were children. I fully expect a proper proposal now that we're older."

"What? Again?!"

"Hmm. You know you might be right. Seven-year-old you was much smoother than you are now. Best to leave the proposal as is."

"Oi!"

After a brief pause, the pair broke into quiet snickers at their banter and the heartbroken girls as they turned and walked over to where Kenma was waiting with a small grin on his face. "Is this going to be a new thing, Kuroo?"

"Kami-sama, I hope not!"

Kagome smiled as she reclaimed the bento that she made for herself and Kuroo. "This is why I told you that I won't help you with your hair."

"But I have a fan club now, so that takes away from part of your argument. So, you'll help me now right?"

"No, the rest of my reasons still remain. Plus, if they could see your face, then they would hound you even worse."

Kuroo shuddered and groaned in fear at that thought as he tucked her smaller form against his side. "I take it back. I don't want to do anything about my hair."

Kenma and Kagome snickered as they all headed outside to meet the rest of the team.

"Good, because I like it as it is. Crazy and all."

Kuroo blushed slightly and hugged her tighter against his side.

Kenma then broke through the comfortable bubble that enshrouded the blissful couple. "You two are seriously nauseating. I'm not sure if I'm going to get cavities or lose my appetite."

"Oi!"


As the boys finished up their stair master and returned to the gym for the rest of practice, they were surprised when Coach Nekomata called Kagome to join Kenma's team. Granted they knew that Kagome was a decent player—only Kenma and Kuroo really had a clue as to what she could do—but she had never played in a practice match with them before.

Kagome raised a brow slightly in her uncle's direction as he looked at her a nodded. It seemed that it was time to increase the intensity. Glancing at Kenma, Yamamoto, Yaku and the others, she smiled. "Just going to say sorry now for not being very good at receiving. I'm still only passable at this point."

The boys smiled in response and assured her that it would be fine, while the opposing team with Kuroo grinned and began to plan their strategy. Kuroo's team—aka the red team—figured that Kagome would be the weakest link and the best one to target for their spikes. He did warn them that while her receives needed work, her spikes were pretty on point.

Kenma was well aware of how Kuroo's team would attempt to strategize and began to plan accordingly. "They're going to aim for Kagome when they attack." Kagome released a huff over that, but she didn't disagree.

"We'll have her back." Yaku smirked in confidence as Yamamoto smiled in agreement. Kagome gave the boys a big smile in thanks for their support.

Kenma nodded and looked at the floor while addressing the group. "We'll need to utilize our receives, then we can use Kagome to help sharpen our attack angle with Tora. Kuroo is aware of some of her moves, but the others will be unprepared." He turned to glance at Kagome in the corner of his eye, "I'm assuming you are still adhering to the rule of never showing your full hand?" The innocent smile that he received was all the confirmation that he needed.

As the players got into position, and Coach Naoi got ready to oversee the match, Coach Nekomata got comfortable on the sidelines to observe the game. The game was interesting for Nekomata to watch as it progressed. Each team seemed to have their own strategies that they were using. Kuroo and his team were focusing on Kagome and her weak receives. Kenma's team were supporting her as best that they could. What was fascinating was that Kagome was hiding her skills to the point that Kuroo was becoming anxious, he kept glancing her way and frowning between plays.

Then Kenma made his move and tossed the ball high, Kagome ran in to spike. The height that she reached with her jump surprised the others and froze them momentarily—just the right amount of hesitation that enabled her to score. One potential weakness exposed and currently being worked on. Can't have the boys freeze in shock every time that they're surprised by something. But of course, that's not the only weakness that they will be working on today. Nekomata watched as the boys adjusted to the surprise of Kagome's jumping ability, and then once they were comfortable, the game shifted once more.

Kagome was waiting patiently. When she saw the shock of her move, she knew it was best to hold off on the main focus of the training that her uncle and Naoi had discussed. Too many surprises in practice could cause problems, and the last thing they needed was someone possibly getting hurt. Not really an outcome one would want for a practice match. So, here she was biding her time and watched the boys become comfortable. Thankfully, it didn't take them too long to adapt—otherwise she would have other concerns about their mental state. Grinning to herself as she rotated back to the front row and got ready to initiate phase two. Now just had to remember that the target was the ground, the players were the obstacles, and the ball was her weapon.


Nekomata watched with some sadness as Kagome seemed to retreat a bit into herself as she prepared and watched as Kenma set the ball up high for her. She closed her eyes, took a breath before opening them and going on the attack. It was when she opened her eyes that the essence of the game changed. Her eyes were blank and intense, and when she spiked the ball, they narrowed with a lethal intensity that froze the opposing side of the net—even her own side to an extent.

They learned that there was hesitation during the tournament that needed to be ironed out. Every player had the ability to give off an aura, or presence, or pressure—call it what you will, it forced others to take notice. And some were stronger than others—especially Aces who are incredibly talented and confident. It was that notice, however, that could cause the opposing team to hesitate or make mistakes. The more the boys were used to being on the receiving end of that pressure, the easier it would be to shake it off and focus.

Now many can't create this on a whim, sometimes it's merely the thrill of the game that calls it out. And not everyone was trained to purposely project it as a survival tactic. Kagome, sadly was trained in this, and by a master—though her ability was different than anything that the boys would face on the court. Her pressure was that of danger and killing intent—forged by the need to survive a war-torn era that had no mercy or sympathy for untrained school girls.

Nekomata's soul raged and cursed the fates that his sweet and innocent little Kagome was forced to learn such a technique. That she was forced to have to take the life-threatening chance in approaching one of the deadliest daiyokai for training and forge herself into a weapon to survive. He may have all the respect in the world for Sesshoumaru-sama, but there's no denying that in those days, he would have sooner killed an untrained miko than train her. Why the old dog didn't follow through with his usual reaction was a mystery that he wasn't sure that even Sesshoumaru-sama knew the answer to—not that he would ever admit that.

Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the now—because nothing could be done about the past. And dwelling on it would not erase that experience for Kagome, no matter how much he wished that he could. Looking to the court he could see that when Kagome released that pressure, the dynamics changed. The side of the net that she focused on froze in panic. Every instinct would be screaming at them that a predator was in the vicinity. That they were mere house cats in the presence of a tiger. Nekomata had to chuckle a bit at the smile on her face after her feet touched the ground and her aura retreated back into her body.

Seeing the shaken looks, he knew then that he would need to pass on some coachlike wisdom so that they could refocus. "Get used to feeling that sort of pressure. You will need to be able to ignore it the next time you are in an official match." The team all looked at him with nervous curiosity. "In the tournament, there were several times that mistakes were made because the opposing players expanded immense pressure that threw you off. Most of that was due to a lack of experience. Kagome-chan has the ability to activate that intensity at will, and therefore help you all become used to it before the next tournament. We'll have her switch teams every set so all sides will have the opportunity to be fully exposed."

Coach Naoi readied the boys to continue the set after they had released some nervous chuckles at Nekomata-sensei's announcement. He was surprised when his old mentor suggested having Kagome step in and play with the team so that she could put pressure on them so they could adapt. He himself rarely got to be on the receiving end of that 'battle' intensity during a match during his high school days. But he knew for certain, that he never wanted to be her opponent after what he felt from just the sidelines.

The next practice sessions were definitely going to be interesting.


Author's Note: Big thanks to everyone who have followed and favored this story. Especially a great big thank you to those who have taken the time to review. I really appreciate it, and I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying this story so far!