The next week, Takeda surprised them with another development. They were invited to a training camp over summer break. There was some concern raised about passing classes, though. And a new manager in training was brought in by Kiyoko. Noya rejoined the group, but refused to join the actual team again without Asahi. There was a condition, on top of all the requirements like passing exams, but Takeda promised to take care of it. That Friday, they were in the middle of practice and taking a break.
"Hey, what've you guys been doing about the libero spot?," Noya asked his upperclassmen.
"Ah. Well, we were gonna have Kitsuna fill in but," Daichi trailed off.
"Huh?," Noya glanced over at her, practicing receives while Suga and Hinata practiced some sets and spikes.
"She doesn't really like to throw herself at the floor," Tsukishima butt in, with an astute observation.
They watched for a moment, and were quickly made liars when she went into a dive and roll. She successfully hit the ball back up, and rolled onto her feet with arms right out to the side. It wasn't perfect, but it was definitely a strong mimicry of Noya's Rolling Thunder. Minus the title call, of course.
"Ah! I did it!," Kitsuna beamed. Noya ran over, excited and ready to congratulate her. She went to stand up, but her arm gave way and she fell hard on her knees. Noya tried to help her up, and there was a loud pop from her shoulder. He froze, and so did she.
"Aaaah I'm so sorry!," Noya bowed hard. Kitsuna used her other arm to stand up, and tried to reassure him. Daichi shoved his water bottle at Suga, and marched over.
"Kitsuna," he started it. She winced, and backed away from him.
"Really! It's fine! I swear!"
Daichi reached for her shoulder, but she turned so he missed. That was all he needed to confirm his theory, and another shouting match started between the two. Yachi, the newest addition, panicked on the side until Kiyoko patted her shoulder.
"Sorry. This happens sometimes," Suga apologized and moved over, followed by Tanaka.
"It's fine! Probably just dislocated? Yeah!," Kitsuna tried again.
"You wanna break another one? Huh? You've been slackin' on warmups haven't you?," Daichi shouted at full volume. Just as Takeda returned with someone else in tow. The only person who would react worse than Daichi.
"What! Fuck off, it's only been like, six. D'you know how many bones are in one body?," Kitsuna retorted, with probably the worst possible excuse.
"Seven! And it ain't a game to see if you can break 'em all!," Daichi snapped.
"Break what? The hell's goin' o-Kitsuna? Hey, did you go and get injured right before a match!," Keishin rushed over, and she was trapped.
"You said it was dislocated, yeah? Happens to my sister sometimes. I gotcha," Tanaka moved in, and she swatted his hands away and jumped back. Some other adults wandered in, and Takeda tried introductions for the other bystanders while ordering some of the boys to wrangle Kitsuna.
"Hey Tatsu, grab 'er!," Keishin called back to one of the men.
"Not again," the man who was beckoned over rolled up his sleeves, and several others started chasing her around the gym. Ennoshita was able to grab hold of her from behind, though it wasn't a good hold. Daichi and Suga inched closer in front of her, and she kicked back against Ennoshita, who stumbled backwards and fell. He maintained his hold, however, and Daichi pushed Suga in to hold her still.
"Eh, why me?," Suga wasn't eager to get caught in her flailing, but Daichi just answered with a stern thumbs up and urged him on. Kitsuna launched a volley of kicks at him, but he caught one leg over his shoulder. The other foot rammed into his chest repeatedly, though with shockingly little force. It was starting to hurt from repeated hits, though, and Suga snapped. He grabbed hold of her ankle, leaving her in a rather awkward pose between his and Ennoshita's grip.
"Dude! You could totally see up her shorts right now," Noya noted, with a sparkle in his eye and a goofy grin. Multiple faces went red at that, including Suga's and Kitsuna's. Tanaka took advantage of that distraction to move in and pull the girl's arm out. Hinata spotted Asahi lingering outside, and called out to him just as Tanaka reset Kitsuna's shoulder.
"Hyaaaaaa!"
She let out a horrid wail, shoe connecting hard with Suga's face and sending him reeling. She fell limply against Ennoshita, who was about to collapse. He had endured her basically sitting in his lap for a while now, and her squirming was creating a situation he did not want to address. Asahi panicked outside, and several others rushed over to split up the group and address any sustained injuries. Keishin called out to the timid boy outside, and dragged him into the match.
"Right, you're sittin' this one out," Keishin growled. Kitsuna tried to protest, but was shut up almost immediately. She pouted on the floor of the sidelines, joined by Sugawara and his bloodied nose.
"Wait, what'd she mean six? Six broken bones?," Noya asked before they got started.
"She…used to get into a ton of fights," Daichi explained. It was a half-truth, and a poor cover, but Kitsuna snapped at him anyway.
"Hey! Shut up!"
"Oh, is that embarrassing? Should've thought o' that before then!," Daichi yelled at her. Keishin called order, and the match started. He made her sit on the side with him and Takeda, who fetched a compress for her.
They finished up, just barely winning, and well after another teacher tried to get them to close up shop. Kitsuna was tethered to Keishin, so Daichi got her stuff from the club room and handed it over. She got into the car with her guardian, pouting super hard.
"I'll make an appointment to get that checked. You'll be skippin' the camp if it's not cleared," he stated with conviction that was hard to argue.
"Fine. Wait, can you get one before we go on Saturday?"
"Urk! I'll do my best. You got some guys goin' late, right? You can hitch a ride with them if it comes to that."
"Okay…"
