CHAPTER ELEVEN: TEAM NEKOMA

"When you put on that jersey, the name on the front is more important then the name on the back."

Rin closed her eyes, squeezing her hands around around the team's clipboard. She could feel a vein threaten to pop, joining the burning sensation that was already smeared on her cheeks.

"R-Rin-hime is in shorts! Shorts!"

"Taketora," Rin growled, opening her eyes and shooting the younger male a glare. His face was about as red as his jacket, and his eyes were wide as he - not so discreetly - stared at her legs. Yamamoto had a hand overing over his mouth, with his free hand pointed towards the girl in amazement. Rin's glare moved over towards Kuroo, who already had his hands up in mock surrender as he made his way over to Yamamoto. The black haired teen immediately slapping Yamamoto upset the head to snap him out of his trance.

"Yamamoto, you seem to be in a good mood today. How about double the work out?"

Yamamoto snapped his gaze away from Rin, immediately turning towards Kuroo before he shrunk back, "S - Sorry."

It took a minute for Yamamoto to cool down, and Rin was still squeezing the clipboard in annoyance. Kuroo had convinced her, somehow, to wear shorts to Monday's practice. So she did, along with a pair of thigh high socks to cover the scar - she was comfortable enough to wear shorts, but definitely not comfortable enough to let everyone see the scar. Not yet.

"You'll get wrinkles in your forehead if you keep worrying, Rin-san."

Rin jumped, quickly turning her head to look at the person who had just spoken.

"Ah," She scratched her cheek awkwardly, forcing a small smile onto her face, "Thanks for the advice, Morisuke."

Yaku chuckled lightly, "You shouldn't take Yamamoto too seriously, his main concern revolves around girls. I think you may be the first girl he's ever been able to utter more than two words to."

Rin gave the libero a deadpanned look, dropping the clipboard on her lap, "All he ever says is 'Rin-hime' and 'untouchable'! I don't think that even counts as a conversation."

Yaku gave Rin a small smile, "He's just excited your here. It's nice to have a manager, especially one as knowledgeable in volleyball as you!"

Rin could feel her cheeks warming up at the compliment and she immediately turned her head away, lifting up the clipboard in her hands to hide the bottom half of her face while she mumbled a weak 'thanks'. Yaku chuckled once more before walking back towards the court, where the boys were finishing up their stretches. Rin let her face cool off while she watched the boys, her eyes darting around from face to face. After the incident with Saruhiko her grandfather had told her that two other third years decided to "resign from the club. Leaving only 2 third years, 3 second years, and 2 first years.

The third years left were quiet, and both were a middle blockers. Twins. The two stood only a couple centimeters taller than Kuroo. Both had short black hair and light grey eyes, their build was good and Rin thought both of their blocks were solid - not perfect, but solid. She could see herself getting along with both Kenta and Katsu. They was quiet and patient, and often listened to her grandfather when the man supplied his advice. They mostly kept to each other, but they worked well with the team. Like Fukunaga, they weren't really talkers.

"Rin-san!"

Rin lifted her head towards the voice, dropping the clipboard down a little so she could question whoever was calling her.

Yaku waved his arm towards the girl, "Could you toss a few of the Volleyballs for us? Kenma says he doesn't feel well."

Rin sighed, setting the clipboard down at her side and standing up. She tugged at the hem of her Nekoma jacket and made her way towards the court while she gave Kenma a sideways glance. The boys sneezed, wiping his nose with the top of his hand - causing the teams libero to start yelling at him to grab a tissue. Kuroo noticed Rin look almost lazy as she drug her feet towards the court, she yawned as she grabbed hold of one of the Volleyballs - ready to hit it over the net when the team was ready. Kuroo tried not to smirk, remembering how she was after their little practice on Saturday, and the text he received from her on Sunday.

- rin~chan ( ˇ෴ˇ ) [11:24 am] i just woke up and im so sore. why am i so sore? i never want to play volleyball again.

- rin~chan ( ˇ෴ˇ ) [11:37am] let's play again after practice.

"Ready?" Rin called, dragging out the word lazily as she looked at the boys. Her grandfather was watching the practice, absolutely beside himself with happiness as he watched Rin serve the ball to the team. Rin snickered a couple times when the boys would mess up, or she would call out soft praises towards a few - mainly towards Fukunaga, Kai and Yaku. The team was beginning to get use to Rin, her and Kuroo butting heads when she would tell him how bad his block was. Or Rin yelling at Yamamoto for whatever it was he did - or said. Sometimes she would even reprimand at Kenma, telling him to get more excited about the game itself. She was slowly becoming more involved, and she was smiling more than she had since the accident.

Rin hit the ball, calling out praises toward Fukunaga after he successfully stopped the ball from dropping on the floor - the first year gave her a solid thumbs up in return. Rin snickered when Yamamoto whined about not hitting the ball hard enough and Rin reached towards another Volleyball, getting ready to serve it over the net once more.

"Saaaa~ Rin! Kuroo-kun! Kozume-kun!"

Rin flinched mid serve, causing the ball to soar towards the net and bounce back towards the floor. She groaned in annoyance, turning to look over her shoulder where Daisuke stood happily, his hands on his hips as he looked around at all the players.

"Huge!"

Daisuke took long, slow strides forward, swinging his arm around Rin's shoulders - causing her to take a step forward so she wouldn't lose her balance. Her brother lifts a single hand to the players, "Yo! Nekomata Daisuke, pleased to meet you!"

Yaku, who holds his own look of surprise, has to hit Yamamoto upside the head so the younger male actually closes his mouth. Kuroo raises a single brow while using the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face and the rest of the team's faces hold a look simliar to Yaku's.

"Nekomata!?"

Ignoring Yamamoto, Daisuke pinches and pull at Rin's cheeks harshly, causing them to redden, "I heard you're all taking good care of Rin~! I just wanted to come by and say thank you! Your first game is next week right?"

Rin slaps her brothers hands away, rubbing her cheeks with her palms while she shoots him a harsh glare.

"First game is next week, that's right," Kuroo crosses his arms, tilting his head as he grins at the taller male, "Are you going to watch?"

"Saaa~ of course!" Daisuke clasps his hands together happily, "Rin has talked about this team nonstop when I called her from America, I have to see how amazing you are for myself!"

"Ri - Rin-hime called us amazing?!"

"Rin actually complimented us?"

"Kuroo, that's rude."

"That was nice of Rin-san to speak so highly of us."

Rin lifted the volleyball to her face so she could hide her burning cheeks, her eyes darting to her brother as she shot him an annoyed glance. Daisuke grinned impishly, it was the type of grin that she thought nearly matched Kuroo's. The type of grin that basically said 'I'm about to annoy the shit out of you'.

"Rin and I just wanted to invite all of you to the Nekomata household this weekend," Daisuke grinned, spreading his arms apart as he spoke, "She'll be making BBQ for the team so you guys can relax before your first big game."

Rin twitched again, but her annoyance was quick to vanish when the boys began to talk with excitement. She tilted her head in their direction, her shoulders and face relaxing. Fukunaga was looking at her with wide sparkling eyes, Yaku was grinning in her direction, Yamamoto looked about ready to burst with excitement. The twins had looked excited the moment Daisuke had mentioned 'BBQ' and Kuroo looked about as pleased as Daisuke did.

Rin sighed, looking over to Daisuke, "You're paying for all the BBQ we have to buy now."

"Rin-hime, thank you!"

"We're looking forward to it, Rin-san!"

"Isn't that nice of the Nekomata siblings~"

Rin shot Kuroo a glare, "Bite me."

"Is that an invitation?"

"I - no - shut up!"

"Again!"

"Rin," Kuroo groaned, "You're gunna hurt yourself if you're not careful. You're still landing funny, stupid."

Rin thumped his chin with the heel of her palm, shooting him a glare. Her hair was pulled back into the tiny pony-tail she had worn a couple of days ago. Kuroo had wrapped her knees after practice and she had made sure to bring the socks her brother bought her. Daisuke and Kenma were sitting on the bench, Kenma on his handheld gaming device and Daisuke sitting with his arms crossed over his chest as he just watched Rin and Kuroo play. Kuroo was only tossing the ball to Rin as she spiked it. It was only their second time practicing and he was already noticing improvement. She was still landing funny, but he assumed that was only because she was landing while trying not to injure her other knee.

"You're talking like Daisuke, it's annoying."

"Are you implying that I'm annoying?!" Daisuke's voice echo'd across the gym.

Rin rolled her eyes and brought her hand to the back of her neck, turning her attention away from Kuroo and towards the Volleyball net, "I just - I just want to be able to do something."

Kuroo raised a brow, "Hah? Do what?"

Rin rubbed her neck again, her cheeks flushing, "I wanted to see if I can still do ... something."

"Why?"

Rin glared in Kuroo's direction, he was grinning down at her with his hands placed on his hips as he slightly leaned forward to hover.

"I wanted to show you how to do something."

Kuroo grinned, tossing his arm around Rin's shoulders and pulling her close to his side, his free hand immediately going to ruffle her hair, "That's so cute! Rin-chan wants to show me one of her cool Volleyball moves!"

"Tetsu - Tetsurou, stop!" Rin's voice came out as a dull whine, her cheeks and the tips of her ears were burning red with embarrassment as she attempted to swat Kuroo's hands away from her head, "I won't show you if you continue to act like an idiot!"

Kuroo's hands left her hair and shoulder and he grinned at her while she attempted to pat down whatever was left of her pony tail.

"R~in! Are you talking about that cool move where you do that fake thing and then you do a high jump and go bam ! And you hit the ball super hard and no one expects it so you get a point?!"

Daisuke's face held a childish excitement and Rin couldn't help but give the 22 year old a deadpanned look. Honestly, the way he described things most of the time, it was hard to believe he went to an Ivy League College in America with a scholarship.

"What did the team calll that again?" Daisuke tapped his lower lip in thought, "Wolf something - right? Or was it dog? No it was definitely wolf. Ah! The Wolf's Leap?"

Rin frowned.

"Wolf's... Leap?" Kuroo tilted his head.

Daisuke grinned, "When Okamiyasha was in a pinch they would always turn to Rin to break them out of it. She'd usually use this move to throw off the other team. A wolf usually leaps towards their prey right? Taking it by surprise?"

Kuroo shrugged, "I guess so."

Daisuke lifted his index finger to point towards Rin, who looked embarrassed, "Rin would use this move and it would usually take the opposite team by surprise and would usually get a point for Okamiyasha."

"The team was making fun of me when they came up with the name," Rin sniffed, crossing her arms, "Mei was always a little brat when she would toss to me half the time."

"Let's try it!" Daisuke stood up from the bench, walking towards Rin and grabbing the ball from her hands, "I know what to do as a tosser."

"Setter," Rin corrected before her eyes widened in realization, "W - Wait! I don't even know if I can do it properly -"

"You won't know unless you try!" Daisuke called, yanking at her jacket and moving her to the correct spot, "Kuroo-kun! Just do your normal blocking or whatever it is you do."

"I can't do it without a team!" Rin fought, "It's near impossible to pull off like this!"

Daisuke huffed, "Then think of it as you explaining it to Kuroo-kun. Come on, I know you want to try it!"

Rin pursed her lips.

Of course she wanted to see if she could still do it, but the action itself might cause some strain on her knee. But, then again, Daisuke knew exactly what move she was talking about and he was pushing her to try it. So, all she had to do was be careful.

"Fine," she sighed, turning her eyes towards her brother so she could quietly muttered under her breath, "Toss it high."

Daisuke grinned and gave Rin a thumbs up before doing the same to Kuroo - who looked more than interested in what she was planning. Rin rubbed the back of her neck before taking a few quick steps towards the net. She bent her knees and made the motion to jump, stopping when she was on her tip toes. Her chin was tilted up towards the volleyball Daisuke had already tossed into the air and she barely noticed that Kuroo had already jumped - ready to block her spike. Her lips twitched upwards and she rested her feet flat against the floor before pushing up to jump into the air - this time her feet fully leaving the ground. Her hand made contact with the ball and flew past the tips of Kuroo's fingers, hitting the floor with a slap.

"Saaa~ you can still do it!"

Rin grinned, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked up at her brother, "I did it!"

Daisuke set his hand on Rin's head, ruffling her hair, "Wasn't as strong as before, and you didn't jump as high - but the fact that you can still do it is more than enough to impress me!"

"What did you just do?" Kuroo huffed, looking at Rin with confusion as he walked under the net over to her.

Rin grinned, scratching her cheek, "You know the most important rule for being a middle blocker, right?"

"Timing."

Rin nodded, agreeing with Kuroo's answer, "Exactly, so throwing off the opposite teams timing would be more than beneficial. Right?"

Kuroo's lips twitched upward, "I get it, I get it. You messed up my timing by faking your jump."

Rin's smile didn't leave her face, "Exactly. Now, follow that up after using an A-quick and the point should be yours."

Rin squeaked when she was roughly pulled towards Kuroo's side, his hand in ruffling her hair again, "Who knew our Rin-chan was such a genius when it came to Volleyball! You're gunna help me practice this so I can use it in games!"

"Oi! When did I agree to that?!"

{AUTHORS CORNER: MORE CHARACTER BONDING I LOVE CHARACTER BONDING. More Nekoma time to come, obviously and then we're gunna dive into the games! Also, more progress on Rin practicing!

Also, I got a job so updates might slow down and they might not and I might just update on weird days. If you wanna talk to me I tend to check my messages on here a lot, and I'm basically always on tumblr - juujisho.}

(HEAD CANON EIGHT: Rin loves to read Shounen and Horror manga when she has nothing else to do.)

[READER QUESTIONS:

1. Would Rin & Oikawa get along?

- Personality wise, no. Although she's p dumb when it comes to boys I think his overly flirtatious nature would be obvious enough for her and she would be like eh no thanks. But if it came down to only Volleyball, yes.

2. I love your story :3 What other sports anime characters do you think Rin would get along with?

- THANK. This question was fun. Let's see, sports anime? I only watch 3 other. Yowapeda, Kurobas and Free!. Hmm. In Yowapeda, Rin would probably get along with Arakita, Fukutomi, Imaizumi, and Kinjou. In Kuroko No Basuke she would probably get along with Kagami, Hyuuga, Aomine, and Kasamatsu. In Free! Rin would probably get along well with Rin and only Rin because everyone else is too much for her tbh. WOWIE. But in Yowapeda she would get along most with Arakita 'cause they're both little wolf shits and complain a lot but are actually really loyal to their friends. In Kurobas she would get along most with Kagami 'cause they're both super dense when it comes to peoples feelings but when it comes to sports they're all in. Rin and Rin would get along 'cause again, they're dedicated little shits when it comes to their designated sport.

ASK ME MORE QUESTIONS.