Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. There is a scene and dialogue in this chapter that was used and given a twist from the from the Haikyuu! volume 4 manga. I don't own that either.


It was official, the entire team was nervous—and why were they nervous? Well, that would be because the resident Tiny Tyrant was twitchy! The brief moment that they all saw her before they went and got changed was enough to have their hair stand on end. She was chewing her lip, fiddling with her braid, and her foot was rapidly tapping on the ground. When they retreated to the club room the boys immediately converged on both their Captain and Setter.

"Ok, Kagome looks like she about to take a math test! What is going on?!"

Kuroo heaved a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Her old sensei is in town, and he's coming to observe practice today."

"Th-that's not so bad—right? I mean, he's just observing."

Kenma glanced at Yamamoto from the corner of his eye as he finished changing. "He already believes that she is going too easy on us. And given how well he and Nekomata-sensei know each other. Let's hope he doesn't take over for the day."

The silence that descended upon the room was deafening. "…too… easy…?"

"If our training is too easy… what would normal look like?!"

"Yamamoto, shut up and finish getting changed."

"Yes sir..."


Kagome knew that her nerves were showing and that it was making the team anxious. But no matter how hard she tried; she just couldn't calm down. With Sesshoumaru deciding to look in on the team's practice, she was fully aware that the chances of her old sensei deciding to take over the training and unleashing misery were incredibly high—on the other hand, that might not be a bad thing. If Sesshoumaru does what she thinks he'll do, the boys will never whine about her increasing their stair master again.

As the thoughts began to run through her mind, and all of the pros and cons were considered. Kagome could feel herself slowly relaxing and giggles started to emerge. She quickly shook her head and took a deep breath. It would do no good for the boys to learn that she was looking forward to what might come. Besides, it's been over 500 years, maybe Sesshoumaru has relaxed a bit since he trained her? She snorted and shook her head in disbelief. Sesshoumaru not being as strict when it comes to training is pure fantasy. The youkai lived for training and expected perfection out of not only himself, but everyone who trained with him.

Gathering up everything she needed, Kagome headed out with both Nekomata-sensei and Naoi-sensei towards the shrine. When they approached the shrine steps, they were greeted by a stoic Sesshoumaru and Kagome pulled out the now dubbed 'Notebook of Doom' as the team arrived. Coach Nekomata introduced Sesshoumaru to the team and the boys shivered slightly at the Daiyoukai's intimidating form—nothing more unnerving than feeling like you're being watched by a predator. The team got ready to start the five rounds of their stair master when a cold voice crashed over them.

"Only five, miko?"

Kagome groaned mentally and let out a small cough, "We started at three and we've worked up to five. They need to still have energy for practice."

"Hn. They'll do seven then."

The silence was deafening as Kagome stared at her old teacher with a small frown on her delicate face. "Very well."

The boys' eyes widened as it became very clear that their worst fears have come to fruition. The Tiny Tyrant's diabolical sensei has taken control of practice—and judging by the smiles and nods from their Coaches, they were perfectly fine with the arrangement. So, there was no protection from Nekomata-sensei, nor from Naoi-sensei. The only thing that they could hope for is that their favorite manager would have mercy on them and keep her old sensei from killing them.

Now just to keep Kuroo from annoying her, then they might have a chance!


The team completed their rounds combined with Grandpa's ambushes—needless to say that the elder's score is still perfect and the neighborhood, along with Sesshoumaru, were highly entertained by the shrieks of fear and shock that ripped through the air. Moving from the shrine steps to the sports center, Kagome huffed in slight annoyance at the inu-youkai's need to increase the stair master.

"At least he only increased it by two repetitions. I was afraid that he would make them do ten or more."

As the members broke into teams, she joined a side and readied herself for what else could happen. The longer practice continued without input from the 'peanut gallery,' the more she widened her senses. It made no sense for Sesshoumaru to make changes to the warm-up and then stay silent during the game. Making sure to put the pressure on the opposing team here and there, she tried to keep aware of any interference from the stoic sentinel—that's when she felt it.

Suddenly there was an overwhelming feeling of doom that filled the gym. It was a familiar aura for Kagome—but for the boys, this would be far more intense than anything that she unleashed upon them. Gritting her teeth, she cut a look over at the old dog and frowned. This was too much for the team, and completely unnecessary. She never let out her aura to that extent because there was no need to do so. She growled softly was she attempted to counter the power that Sesshoumaru was releasing in order to hopefully lighten the oppressive atmosphere.

Raising a brow at the miko's attempts, "You are coddling them miko." Glancing to the frozen club members he observed them quickly, "You will continue to play with the current pressure. It will be constant, and it will increase with every misstep you make."

The boys' eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets before they attempted to regain control over their bodies. However, the gnawing sense of fear that was trying to eat away at their nerves and their limbs felt like they weighted a ton was difficult to overcome. "Take a deep breath and push through. Focus on the game and your teammates. Remember that you aren't alone when you stand on this court." Looking at their tiny manager—smirking with a nod, they took her words to heart and continued the set.

Nekomata smiled as he watched the events unfold. "The miko has grown into herself."

Chuckling quietly, he agreed with his family's long-time guardian. "She's been a big part as to why the team has grown as quickly as they have."

Naoi looked at them and smiled, "From what I understand, the club was a real mess when she joined. The third years were not exactly team players and treated the rookies poorly. When Kagome became the manager, she worked to correct the issues and filled the role of coach where she could. A lot of the rookies probably would have quit the club if she hadn't come in to help run interference with the upperclassmen."

Sesshoumaru smirked a hair as he watched the team struggle with the weight of his aura. Remembering the days in the past where his foolish half-brother would attempt to pick on the young kit, and the miko 'sitting' him for the offense. "She always disapproved of bullies."

As the sun descended, the boys' volleyball team practically crawled out of the sports center. Sesshoumaru had increase his aura about eight times throughout practice—two of those times were for no reason other than he was a sadist. That and he kept them at practice for an additional four hours. He only allowed them to leave because they had barely any energy left to stand.

Collectively the cats sighed in relief as their freedom was given to them. Never again did they want the Tiny Tyrant's old coach to make an appearance, and they shuddered in fear at the thought of his return.

"Miko, I expect you to continue to push them. You do them no good to hold back."

Kagome frowned and sighed in agreement. The boys didn't die during the training, so she had a lot to learn about exactly where their limits ended. She was so worried about them being injured that she didn't push them as hard as she should have. It wasn't surprising that Sesshoumaru knew how hard to push them, but it was frustrating all the same. "Hai, sensei."

If the team had the strength and energy, they would have cried.


The new school year had started and new members had gleefully joined the club. All of the new rookies showed great promise. Granted it was only the start of their second week, and they were still in the process of observing their current skill level. But with a little work they would be huge asset to the team. One of those rookies was an obnoxiously tall first year named Lev. Kagome snorted as she thought about the 'Titan.' He was honest to a fault and wanted to be the Ace—Yamamoto had a few choice words about that—but he was new to the sport and had a lot to learn. As the cries of the forementioned rookie ripped through the air, Kagome sighed in exasperation. The boy will never live long enough to become the Ace if he kept saying things about Yaku's height.

"The kiddo doesn't learn, eh Kago-chan?"

Kagome looked up at the proud captain and frowned, "You know, you sound like an old man when you talk like that." Kuroo snickered as she shooed him off to rejoin the group for the morning practice.

The day was easy enough, Kagome and Kenma were once again sitting together in class as they worked through their coursework. When it was time for their study hall, Kenma pulled out his newest game while Kagome looked over some paperwork for the club. She wanted to be sure that everything for their new members were filled out correctly before she turned in the forms later on.

As the bell rang to signal the start of the lunch period, Kagome and Kenma gathered up their bentos. "Kenma, I'm going to go drop these forms off. So, I'll meet you all outside."

"Ah."

With a wave the two went their separate ways. Kagome was able to reach the teachers room quickly, and made her way over to Coach Naoi and Nekomata. As she approached, she noticed a small frown on her uncle's face that gave her pause.

"Sensei?"

"Ah, Kagome-chan. Are those the forms?"

"Hai. Ano, is everything all right?"

Nekomata sighed as Naoi glanced over at him. "It's nothing to worry about, Kagome-chan."

"If you're sure…"

"Hai, hai. Go and enjoy your lunch. I'm sure the boys are waiting for you."

Kagome looked at the two coaches before she nodded and headed outside. The two men watched her go before looking over the forms she delivered.

"Nekomata-sensei, what are you going to do about the message that you were left?"

The elder sighed as he sat back in his chair and sadly contemplated situation. "At this point? Nothing. Karasuno is not the team it once was. And without Ukai-sensei at the helm? I fear that our old adversary is gone for good."


Kagome was looking over some schedules in the gym when a loud shriek from outside disturbed her concentration. She rushed outside to see Yamamoto clutching his chest in shock as he stared into club room. Kuroo strolled up beside her with Yaku and Kai in tow.

"What's gotten into him?"

"I don't—"

"What the hell?! Geeze dude! Do something about your hair, would ja!"

Faintly they could hear Kenma's voice drifting out of the room, "What do you mean?"

"You look like that freaky girl in that one horror movie! You're scarin' me!"

The group begin to snicker quietly when Kenma predictably responded with, "Not my problem."

Yamamoto was not to be dissuaded by Kenma's nonchalance and was determined to make a point in his panic and rage. "When you stagger around with your hair like that, everybody looks, y'know! It makes you stick out!"

The silence was enough for Kagome and Kuroo to know that poor Kenma—who hated attention more than anything—was panicking at the idea that he stood out to anyone.

"What a minute! IT WAS YOU WASN'T?! It wasn't a ghost that I saw in the window at Shinzen! It was you!"

"Eh?"

Kagome's eyes widened as she thought back to that night during the training week. Yamamoto was freaked out because he thought he saw a ghost and that fear spread to the boys. It was possible that it was Kenma that had walked by, and knowing him he was looking down at his phone or playing a game when he did. That would cause his eyes to be shadowed by his hair and his face to glow a bit from the light of the device. She began to snicker with Kai and Yaku, as she motioned to the boys to go break up the scene and get ready for practice.

Kuroo groaned at the memory of that night as he like Kagome put the pieces of must have happened together. "Yamamoto, shut up and get changed."

Yamamoto yelped as he realized his upperclassmen were behind him. "Hai, sir."


The next day was a real shocker for Kagome. First, Kenma showed up to school with his hair bleached blond—now that was going to take some getting used to. How on earth he thought that would help him blend in more was a mystery. Well, he would blend in with the team more, but everywhere else? It was probably best not to say anything about that.

The other shock came from Nekomata-sensei. She just stopped by the coaches' desks to go over the possible training schedule for Golden Week. When she arrived, she found her uncle once more contemplating a note on his desk with Coach Naoi also looking at the piece of paper. While she normally tried to keep things formal at school and during practice, she felt this was not the time.

"Uncle Yasu? Are you ok?"

The two men looked up at her and the elder sighed. "I've been getting quite a few calls from a teacher at Karasuno High School, wanting to set up a practice match."

Kagome furrowed her brow as she thought back as to why that name was so familiar to her. "Isn't that the school that you used to have a huge rivalry with?"

"Yes. Their old coach, Ukai, and I would hold practice matches with our teams often. They were our most worthy adversary."

Frowning in confusion, she glanced at coach Naoi. "So, what is the problem?"

"Old man Ukai, briefly came out of retirement. But he fell ill shortly afterwards. I fear that the school will never truly come back to its old strength. And without the old man there, it just isn't the same."

"So, you believe that the team would not be a worthy opponent. And that they will never be again?"

"In a way."

"Demo… How do we know for sure that they don't have a strong team? They could very well be a 'worthy adversary' now, even without your old rival coaching." She watched the indecision cross his face and realized what was truly bothering him. Yes, his old friend and rival was sadly not the coach anymore. But he feared that if the team went in hopes that the old strength was there, that he would be disappointed. Then the legacy that his friend and he built together would truly be gone forever. Narrowing her eyes, she knew that he wanted to go but needed a push. "Well, think of it this way. Say we go and they're not as strong as they used to be. A good practice match against us could help them get where they need to be. Plus, you can then brag to Ukai-sensei on the phone the next time you two talk about how you were the one that helped his team grow stronger."

The shrewd gleam that entered Nekomata's eyes made Naoi stiffen in his seat. With a wide sly grin, the coach looked up at her, "Kagome-chan, we'll have to go over the Golden Week schedule later and discuss travel arrangements. I have a call to make."

Kagome smiled and left the room. It didn't matter how old men became, that competitive streak never truly dies.


Author's Note: I know, it's been a long time. I'm trying to get my brain in gear, but focusing on the current chapter and not future chapters was hard. Now that we'll be in the realm of the anime and manga, hopefully things will be a little quicker in the idea and writing department. Until next time!