"Hey, you ready for the pep rally?," Yui asked Daichi that Monday.

"Haha, not really. You?," he asked in turn. Yui rattled off her worries, then slammed her fist into his stomach and slapped her cheeks.

"I'm surprised, though. You really think you guys'll do well?," Yui asked.

"Hm? Yeah, we've got some interesting members this year. How's your team holding up?"

"Oh. We probably could practice more, but it's hard to get the girls in for morning practice. Kitsuna popping in sometimes helps a ton. Isn't that hard on her, doing practice with both teams?," Yui asked, genuinely concerned.

"Huh? I dunno, she seems fine though. Surprised you didn't try harder to get her on your team," Daichi scratched his chin.

"Huh? She was pretty set on not joining a club," Yui recalled. Daichi frowned, and the bell dismissed them. He thanked her for the pep rally program, and headed for the gym. Some of the others were already warmed up and practicing, with Kitsuna hanging to the side with Suga and looking over some papers. She held a ball in her hands, and was struggling with Suga and Kiyoko's explanations again.

"Hey guys," Daichi joined that group, watching the others practice their own moves. They exchanged greetings, and called a break from trying to talk about game stuff with Kitsuna.

"Kitsuna, um," Daichi started when the talking shifted to more Kiyoko and Suga. She looked over at him, tossing the ball that someone called for.

"What's up?"

"Just. I was wondering, are you sure you don't want to go with the girls' team for Prelims?," he asked the question that had been on his mind since talking with Yui and learning about her struggles as captain. Kitsuna thought about it for a few seconds.

"Why do you ask?," she decided to get more clarification, and the other two present turned their attention to the conversation between captain and club member.

"Just. You help them sometimes, go back and forth. I was wondering if you could support them a little more for the tournament," Daichi shifted his feet, uncomfortable now that he actually said it out loud to her.

"Nah."

Kitsuna answered almost immediately, then started to tie her hair up so she could practice more seriously. Daichi's jaw dropped, along with Kiyoko and Suga's. It was already unusual for Daichi to make that kind of request, but the outright refusal without a second thought was even more of a shock. Kitsuna looked at their faces, scrunching up her nose for a minute then dropping her arms to her sides and adjusting her wrist brace.

"Roster's already submitted, anyway. Can't change it now," she gave a good enough reason there, but Daichi wanted to give it one more shot. He put a hand on her shoulder, ready to try one final plea.

"Shit, look out!"

WHAM!

"Hurk!"

Kitsuna took a stray ball straight to the face, stumbling backward. Daichi's lips flattened, and everyone froze. Hinata started shouting his apologies from the court, but otherwise the gym was silent as the ball dropped to the floor between Kitsuna and Daichi. The girl stood there, stunned, then shook her head and regained her balance.

"Hinata, it's fine!," she called out, scooping the ball up off the floor. She poised to throw it back, but a stream of red trickled down from her nose.

"Oh!," Kiyoko exclaimed. She rushed to get a towel, leaving Suga and Daichi there with the bleeding girl.

"Are you sure you're okay?," Suga flew into panic mode again. Instead of getting a smack from Daichi, the captain joined in the freak out. Kiyoko returned with a towel, handing it to Kitsuna and taking the now blood-spattered ball to wash it off. The redheaded girl pressed the cloth to her nose, finally moving again.

"It's fine. I'm gonna sit down for a bit," she pointed to the bench on the sidelines. Daichi nodded, and she took her leave. She sat down and was immediately hounded by Noya and Hinata. Yamaguchi joined, but she shooed them all away and they returned somewhat hesitantly to practice.

"What was that about?," Suga asked Daichi finally, about his persistence in getting Kitsuna to swap teams.

"Well, she was helping them initially. It might help get the others more into it if there's someone with more passion around. Like HInata does for us," Daichi explained his reasoning.

"Is that the only reason?," Suga asked. He was sure there was, and he was sure he knew exactly what it was. Daichi let out a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get that past Sugawara.

"Kitsuna always supported me and Yui, when she could. Going to games, and helping us practice outside of school. I didn't really make a push for her to join our team, like Yui and the girls did. But she's here, even though she may not get much playtime during the tournament. She'd absolutely be a starter for the girls' team," Daichi fessed up. Suga studied his face, then looked across the court at Kitsuna. Kiyoko was with her, checking to see if the flow had stopped and offering her some juice. Kitsuna beamed up at her while they talked, but was also watching the guys pretty closely.

"Well, it's kinda my fault she's even a club member," Suga reminded Daichi.

"Right."

"But she could leave if she wanted to. I don't think anyone would be too upset if she wanted to stop being a benchwarmer or backup player. She's gotta know that, too," Suga shared his honest thoughts. Daichi agreed with what he said, but it did nothing to ease his worries. Suga swatted his arm, pulling him back.

"You got your speech all ready for Friday?," he asked, pointedly changing the subject.

"G'uh, no," Daichi admitted. Suga laughed and told him to go work on that if he had time to spare on other thoughts.