Shape of the Heart – Four-leaf Clover
By Fox McCloude
Disclaimer: The Quintessential Quintuplets and all related characters belong to Haruba Negi. All rights reserved.
Chapter 33: Getting back on your feet
On the way to Asahiyama High…
Two days had passed since Fuutarou and Yotsuba had their little chat to clear things up. At long last, the boy understood what happened and the reason behind the ribbon girl's action. While he was still a bit upset inside (namely, due to the stolen kiss), he couldn't bring himself to hate her for hiding it for so long.
Behind her cheery and full of energy exterior, Yotsuba harbored a lot of personal issues and complexes, which she apparently hadn't been able to overcome. When she was little, it was her obsession for being the best among her sisters, and now, it was her guilt complex over all the trouble she caused trying to escape from it. It seemed to him that she wasn't even clear about what she wanted for herself. Come to think of it, he himself wasn't very clear about his own path in life, and if it wasn't for her, maybe he wouldn't be giving it so much serious thought right now.
At least, now that things had seemingly gone back to normal, relatively speaking, maybe they could try and find their path together.
"Uesugi-saaaaaaan!"
And there she was, timely as ever, coming from behind to greet him with a tackle, at the same hour, in the same place. She'd done it so many times his reflexes had been conditioned, and he knew exactly when to sidestep and grab her by the ribbon to stop her. And so he did.
"You're getting a little rusty with this. Why don't you try something else?" he said after letting her go.
"Hehe, I'd rather say you're improving," she replied.
The boy shrugged, but he couldn't stop her from briefly making him smile. He was glad to see her back as always, although deep down he knew things wouldn't get solved overnight. Even after all, or at least almost all misunderstandings about what happened had been cleared up. For now, acting as usual helped them get things back on the normal track, one step at the time.
After all, he promised he wouldn't pressure, her, at least until she was ready to forgive herself. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to lend a hand on the way out, to help her recover in other areas. Even if some of them weren't his forte, like sports.
…
The morning went by quietly. During the after lunch break, Fuutarou finally found a chance to talk to Maeda and Takeda and tell them a bit of what had transpired in the past few days. Of course, he kept the most important details to himself, but he basically told them that Yotsuba was having issues related to her past, issues she'd been very afraid to talk about to anybody, and while it was hard to make her open up, she finally could be sincere about it. Fuutarou appreciated that both of them understood the meaning of 'private' and decided not to pry any deeper into it.
"She seems to be in a better mood these past few days," Takeda commented. "That's a good thing, she's sorely missed when she's not around to lighten up the place."
"Though she doesn't seem that cheery, not as much as always at least," said Maeda. "Matsui told me she's still not back to 100% at the volleyball team. And they've got an important match this week."
"How important?" an interested Fuutarou asked.
"From what she told me, they're facing the regional champions, the St. Elmore Academy," Maeda replied. "They ranked top 4 last year in the nationals."
"Not just that: their star player, Sanae Hayakawa, is also considered the MVP in the Aichi prefecture," Takeda added. "My cousin has been talking nonstop about her, and how much they want to beat her after last year."
Fuutarou vaguely recalled something about that. Yotsuba hadn't mentioned the player by name, but she did slip up on the rival school's name, which made sense as they were the number ones in the prefecture. Not to mention it was also a private school of high prestige, as far as he knew.
It sounded like they'd have a hard time, Fuutarou thought. They would definitely need Yotsuba if they wanted a chance. While the ribbon girl had picked back the pace in the classroom, the same couldn't be said for the volleyball club. She'd been allowed back in the trainings, but she still wasn't allowed to play, and she'd spent the last few matches as a benchwarmer. A bit disappointing, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it, right?
'Maybe… I could go watch her training. If only to offer her some moral support.'
It wasn't much, but maybe it would serve to motivate her a little bit. Though he'd have to ask for permission to be allowed inside the gym, as he wasn't part of the club.
Right on that moment, Ichika entered and came over to greet them. Fuutarou then remembered something else, as his father had asked him a favor that morning, and he figured Ichika could help them with it.
"Hey there, how's it going?" the pinkette said. "Everything okay here?"
"Everything's fine, Ichika-san," said Maeda. "Hey, congrats on that last role, you were awesome."
"Haha, at least now I didn't get killed, right?" she joked. It became an inside joke to bet on whether Ichika's character would die or survive the plot of the horror movies, and in her latest one she'd made it unharmed to the end. "By the way, Fuutarou-kun, you said you wanted to ask me a favor?"
"Ah yes," he replied. "Turns out, at the photographic studio where my dad works, a flu outbreak struck several of their models and they're a not short-staffed at the moment. And right when they had several sessions for and advertising campaign. I thought you may be interested."
"Hmm, sounds good. Though I don't know if I could make it, since between filming and school, my schedule's pretty tight as is," said Ichika. "But, I could probably tell some of my sisters, if you want to."
"Dad said any help would be welcome," said Fuutarou.
"I'll talk to them after class, to see if they're available. Otherwise, I'll try and make some space in my agenda to help for a bit, is that okay?"
"Thank you, I really appreciate it," he replied.
The bell then rang, and everyone scrambled for their seats, though Maeda and Takeda stood there with him for a moment, giving him intrigued glances.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, just… you two still get along pretty well, even after breaking up," Maeda pointed. Fuutarou simply shrugged.
"Well, I told you already, we didn't break in bad terms. Things just didn't work out," the Uesugi boy replied. He decided he didn't want to talk anymore about that, so he quickly deflected the conversation. "By the way, and since we're at it, any of you guys would be interesting in working as a model at my old man's studio? They do need models of both sexes after all, and you'll get paid for your trouble."
Maeda chuckled. "Hah, don't look at me, bro. I don't have a model's face, but this guy here definitely does." He pointed at Takeda.
"Me? A model?"
"Why not? You're the most popular guy among the girls of our year, and maybe the entire school," said Fuutarou. "I bet they could use someone like you. And if you can't, surely you must know someone who can, right?"
Takeda didn't seem convinced, but they had no time to continue the conversation as the next class was about to start. As for Fuutarou, he'd already done his part by informing them, even if it was just to send one or two pairs of extra hands so they could help at his father's studio.
On the other hand, another thing was occupying his mind at the moment, and that was giving Yotsuba a hand with the volleyball team, even if it wasn't his biggest expertise area.
At the school's gym…
"Okay. C'mon, you can do this."
She'd been telling this herself all the while, but no matter how hard she tried, she still hadn't regained her edge. All the balls she tried to serve ended up striking the net. Because of that, she'd decided she would practice spikes, but that was hard when you had no one to set the ball at the proper height to jump and hit. Now the court was full of balls spread all over, evidencing her failures as a player.
Although she'd managed to convince the coach to get back to practice, she still hadn't gotten back her place as a starter, and the coach didn't seem very inclined to let her play on the matches. Although she'd had solved her external issues, the days she skipped out practice had taken their toll, and now she was having difficulties to get back into shape.
"God, why is this so hard? This had never been a problem for me."
The rest of the club was already long gone, but she'd asked Matsui to let her stay at the gym one or two more hours to keep training, so they left her the keys to close once she was done. Of course, with volleyball being a sport you couldn't play alone, it was much harder to practice that way. But at the time, she didn't see what else she could do.
Especially because an important match was coming. So far, they'd been facing accessible opponents, but their rivals in the next round would be the private academy St. Elmore. And they had the best player in the prefecture, Sanae Hayakawa.
"I need to get back into shape," she said with determination, grabbing another ball. "If I don't… no, I can't stay in the bench watching the others do everything. I have to do something for the team."
"Practicing alone won't help much."
The sudden voice startled her. Turning around she saw Fuutarou leaning against the wall, arms crossed and watching her with a serious expression. When did he enter? And how long had he been there?
"U-Uesugi-san." The girl felt like her hands would be shaking if they weren't holding a ball at the time. "W-what are you doing here?"
"They told me you'd stay a bit more to train," he replied bluntly. "I asked Matsui if I could come and watch you, and she agreed. I have to say… I don't like one bit what I'm seeing."
"Hehehe, that's understandable," she replied. "Aw, truth is, I don't really know what else to do. I thought maybe, if I could work harder than the rest, maybe I could get back in shape to play. I don't wanna be a dead weight who only serves to warm the benches anymore."
"The effort's admirable, but you're directing it the wrong way." The boy approached and took the ball from her hands. "Volleyball can't be played alone. Come on, I'll help you."
"Eh? Do you play?"
"Obviously not, but I can set the ball for you to spike," he said. "Also, I can stand on the other side of the court to receive your serves. It'll be easier to have a target to aim at, don't you think so?"
A target to aim at… yeah, come to think of it, she'd always lacked that. Almost during her entire life, or at least since her mother died, she'd always felt at a loss, wandering aimlessly, without a real goal. Something to focus on…
"Yeah, you're right," she finally admitted. "Sorry for the troubles."
"What are you saying? Come one, help me pick up all those balls, quick," he said.
Both of them picked up the balls to put them back into the metallic basket, which they moved to a side of the net so they'd be in easy reach. With this done, Fuutarou grabbed the first and tossed it upwards. Yotsuba jumped to spike, and Fuutarou realized she was trying to spike with her eyes closed. Naturally, the ball went astray, and the boy grabbed another and tossed it up for her. Again, the girl jumped and tried to spike with her eyes shut. What the hell was she thinking?
"Whoa, whoa, hold a moment," he said. "You're trying to hit the ball with the eyes shut? Who do you think you are, the protagonist of a sports manga?"
"Hehehehe… sorry." Yotsuba scratched behind her neck, clearly embarrassed. "I just got a little nervous, with you here."
"Aw, geez." The boy sighed as he picked up another ball. "C'mon, you need to focus and keep your eyes open. Otherwise you won't hit it."
He was taking back his strict tone, the one he used when he started to work as her tutor. She almost missed it, to be honest, but that somehow helped her shake off the nerves. She retook her position and just to be sure, she slapped her own cheeks a couple times. Fuutarou tossed the ball upwards once more.
"Ei!"
This time she kept her eyes wide open, and was able to spike in the right direction, except for the fact it went a bit too far and the ball fell outside the court's boundaries. But at least it was an improvement.
"Okay, that was better," he replied. "Just aim a bit lower next time."
Yotsuba nodded, and Fuutarou tossed another ball upwards. While it took her a few more attempts, slowly but surely she picked up the pace, spiking harder and lower, until the balls finally started falling in the good zone. She was regaining her edge, and felt happy each time Fuutarou said "Nice!" when she delivered a good spike.
Both of them continued until the basket was completely empty, and after filling it up again, they moved it to the serve zone. This time, Fuutarou stood on the other side of the court to receive the balls. Basically, her goal was to aim where he was. Not as an opposing player, but rather as a target she could focus on.
"Here I go!" she said, setting up a jump serve.
When she struck the ball it went a bit astray, but it passed close enough to Fuutarou so he gave it an approval gesture, before moving to the other side. Naturally, he was testing her to see if she could control the direction of her serves and send the ball where she wanted it to go. She had quite a few misses, particularly with the jump serve, but in general she wasn't doing it too badly, at least compared to her first official matches.
It was weird; Yotsuba thought she would crumble having Fuutarou watching her the whole time as she trained, but she actually felt very relaxed. For the first time in quite a while she wasn't worried about what could go wrong, or making mistakes. She was just doing what she had to do, what she wanted to do.
She wasn't alone. She could rely on him for support.
The fourth Nakano continued until the basket was empty again. Looking out the window, both noticed that time had flown by and the afternoon was falling. They picked the balls up as fast as they could and left the gym, closing the doors and giving the keys to the janitor.
Usually, the two would be quite chatty during their walks home (or rather, she would talk while he listened), but that day she didn't feel particularly talkative. It was understandable, since after all that happened, it was still a bit awkward to retake their conversations like before, and it'd be a while before they could go back to talk as they used to.
However, Fuutarou had still gone through the trouble of coming to see her at the gym, and giving her a hand so she wouldn't have to train alone. They still had a few days before the next match, and while there was no guarantee she'd be allowed to play, it wouldn't hurt to prepare just in case.
"Well, this is as far as I come," he said once they reached the Pentagon building entrance. "See you tomorrow."
"Ah, Uesugi-san, wait," she said. The boy stopped and turned around to see her. "Um… do you think… you could come tomorrow to the gym too? After training, I mean."
"You plan on staying late tomorrow too?" he asked. "But we have a study session scheduled, remember?"
"Ah, that's right." Yotsuba hit herself in the head. How dumb of her.
"Although… I don't think it'll hurt if we start a bit later, and we make up for it during the weekend," he said, placing his hand on his chin. "I can reschedule a bit, but you'll have to tell the rest. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can!" she exclaimed. "Sorry if I cause you inconveniences."
"Oi, don't fret over that," he replied. "I told you, I wanted to be there for you if you needed me, remember?"
Yeah, he'd told her that. Even when she didn't ask for it today, the boy could see she still needed some extra help, and he was willing to give it. Well, now she did ask him to help her tomorrow the same way. Was it wrong to abuse that just a bit more?
"True," she admitted. "In that case, maybe you could help me every day at the gym, at least until the next match? I don't know if I'll be allowed to play, but… I want to be ready, just in case."
"Rest easy. If you keep up that effort, the rest of the ream will notice," he said. "Soon enough, you'll be back to how you were on the Honmoku practice match."
Those words injected a huge dose of confidence in her. It meant so much that he believed in her, she had to hold back the urge to jump on him and grab him in a hug. Even though she didn't think he would mind, both had decided to take things easier for the moment, so that gesture was out of discussion, at least for now.
"Thank you, really," she said. "I'll do my best, I promise."
And with those words, both waved each other goodbye, and he continued his way home as she entered the building, feeling a lot more cheerful than she'd been since the Kyoto trip. It looked like things finally started getting better for her.
City's graveyard…
Just like on every 14th day of the month, Itsuki had gone early to the graveyard to pay her respects to her mother's tomb. However, that day in particular she hadn't been the only one to go to that place.
By the time Yotsuba was awake, Itsuki had already left by herself, like she always did, and the fourth sister ended up going out in such a rush, she didn't finish her toast, instead carrying it in her mouth and eating it on the way out. She ran as fast as she could, hoping she could catch up while she was still there.
Fortunately, when she arrived Itsuki was still in front of their mother's grave, doing her usual prayer. The fourth sister approached, and cleared her throat to get her sister's attention.
"Hm? Yotsuba?" Itsuki said when she opened her eyes and saw her.
"Hey. Do you mind the company?" Yotsuba replied.
Itsuki stepped aside to make room for her so she could kneel too. Normally, the youngest of the Nakanos was the only to come on every 14th of the month, and only on the anniversary proper did all five of them come to pay their respects, but today, Yotsuba felt not only the urge to talk to their mother, but also with Itsuki, as she'd been the most attached to Rena before her death.
"Say, Itsuki?" she asked to break the silence. "How do you think Mom would feel if she were here now?"
Itsuki opened her eyes again to see her sister. She seemed a bit surprised about the sudden question, which was understandable.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"What I'm trying to say is… well, with all that's happened, all the troubles I caused…" Yotsuba was still struggling to stay composed. "Do you think… she'd be mad at me? Even disappointed?"
Itsuki remained silent, as if meditating she answer. The youngest sister stared at the gravestone with their mother's name, and then to the sky briefly, before glancing back at Yotsuba.
"I'm really not sure what to say," Itsuki admitted. "After all, Mom rarely had to discipline us. Shimoda-san told me that she was very strict as a teacher, and knew how to apply an iron fist on troublesome student."
"I would have liked to be taught by her," Yotsuba commented. "Maybe she could have disciplined me better, and stop me from going astray."
"Yotsuba, why are you still worried about this?" Itsuki asked.
Yotsuba glanced at her again, unsure of what to answer. Despite having relieved herself with Fuutarou before, those feelings obviously wouldn't leave overnight. She still felt she needed to talk to her sisters about it, especially now that they'd calmed down after that heated argument from the other day.
"When I made that promise with Uesugi-san, I wanted to be the best to help Mom," she said. "Then she died, and I thought maybe I could keep going the same way to make her proud of me. I know it's no excuse for how I treated you girls, but…"
"Hey, you're not the only one who was affected by Mom's death," Itsuki interrupted. "We all tried to cope with her absence as best as we could. Maybe we should have talked a bit more about it."
Yotsuba agreed with that. Their mother's death affected them so much, it was hard to talk about it, so they tried not to mention it more than necessary. In hindsight, that only widened the gap between them, and contributed to them distancing even more during the years.
"If you want my opinion… I don't think Mom would be angry at you," said Itsuki. "She was never too harsh on us when we made mistakes, and I think if she saw you now, she would be happy that you found your way back."
"I didn't do it alone," Yotsuba remarked. "All of you had to push me so I finally stopped running away from my past."
"But you took the step, and that's what matters," the youngest pointed out. "Speaking of, how are things going at the volleyball club?"
"I've been allowed back in the trainings, but I don't know if I'll be able to play the next match," Yotsuba confessed. "Uesugi-san said he would help me do some after class practice, though he'll have to adjust our study schedules a bit."
"Well, sounds to me that we're going to do extra time on the weekend," Itsuki said, thoughtful.
"Sorry about that," Yotsuba apologized.
"Oh, I'm not complaining, nor I am blaming you," Itsuki replied quickly. "It won't hurt to reinforce what we've done every once in a while, and if it's to help you, even better. And maybe, we can ask Mom for her blessing so you'll be allowed to play again soon."
That sounded good. Both sisters began to pray silently again, and Yotsuba mentally begged her mom to help her. She really wanted to go back to play, she was working really hard to regain her lost edge, and while there was no guarantee they'd allow her to play in the next match, she just wanted to stop being a load for her team. Like she'd been for her family.
'No… you're not a load… you've never been…'
"Hmm?" She could have sworn she heard a voice whispering to her. It sounded like… "Mom?"
"What's the matter?" a puzzled Itsuki asked.
Yotsuba glanced at her sister, and then around, as if trying to make sure there was nobody else nearby. She finally shrugged and said it was nothing. Maybe it was just her imagination, coming from that wish of having her mom around to guide her.
She didn't know if her prayers would be heard, but at least for now she had to keep working. Now she was clear about what she had to do to make her mother proud of her.
Several days after, at the sports dome…
The days went by one after another. Yotsuba continued to work harder than anybody else during trainings, always staying a couple extra hours after everyone else was gone to keep practicing, while Fuutarou kept her company to supervise and help as much as he could. At first, her progress was slow, but she steadily picked up the pace. And both her teammates and the coach noticed.
However, on the day of the match, Coach Kitano decided she wasn't still ready to be back as a starter, and while she was allowed to sit on the bench, the coach said for now the team shouldn't depend on her, and she would only enter in the case of an emergency. So far they'd fared quite well without her, albeit in part because the opponents they'd faced weren't that strong.
Today was different. They were facing the regional champions, and it was soon clear that their star player, Sanae Hayakawa, had very well earned her reputation. Hayakawa was a third year, quite fall for her age (possibly surpassing everyone else present bar Akira), with light hair and sharp eyes. Her presence alone was imposing, and that was felt in the court. From the bench, Yotsuba saw her play, and she had a huge urge to face her. Now she understood why Iruka and Takki were so obsessed with beating her.
Things weren't looking very good right now. Asahiyama had lost the first set by seven points of difference, and now in the second, while they were only three behind, St. Elmore's, or to be more precise, Hayakawa's attacks, were merciless. They'd had to reinforce their defense and thanks to that they'd managed to keep the gap much smaller than before. But St. Elmore was only four points away from winning this set, and if they did, they'd win the match and Asahiyama would be eliminated.
And there was Yotsuba, flattening her rear on the bench while the team suffered. Coach Kitano told her she wouldn't be allowed in unless there was an emergency. Didn't the fact they were losing count as one?
"Point for St. Elmore! Serve change!" the referee announced after Hayakawa scored with a spike, putting the scoreboard 22-18 on St. Elmore's favor and regaining serve for her team.
"Come on, girls, we can still turn it around!" Yotsuba shouted from the bench, seeing she couldn't do anything else. But her legs were shaking: the urge to get into the court was getting harder to contain by the minute.
Yotsuba saw how, while the St. Elmore players rotated and prepared to serve, Kotomi approached Matsui and whispered something to her ear. After a few seconds, the team captain nodded. They seemed to have a plan.
As soon as the referee whistled for the serve, and when the ball came to their side of the court, Matsui received it, raising it as high as possible for Kotomi, with the intent of doing a two-hit attack from the back row. Kotomi leaped high to hit the ball above the three-meter line, which clearly took the St. Elmore players by surprise, as they favored front row attacks close to the net.
The attack was successful and Kotomi scored for them, but it had a cost…
"Aargh!"
Kotomi landed wrong on her foot, and suddenly was on the floor, curled up as she held her ankle while groaning in pain.
"Time out!" Coach Kitano called, while the rest ran to check how Kotomi was. "Ishihara-kun, are you alright?"
"Owowow, it hurts…" Kotomi complained. Matsui and Rin helped her get back up as she limped. The medic officer was called and after taking her shoe and sock off, they realized it was seriously swollen.
"You can't continue like that. Player change!" Coach Kitano ordered. "Nakano-kun, start stretching!"
Yotsuba was left paralyzed when her name was called. And she wasn't the only one: the spectators and the opposing player were also in shock. It was no surprise, after all, with her performance in the first matches and subsequent absence in the following ones, they were probably not expecting much of her.
But then again, the coach did say she would enter in the case of an 'emergency'. And an injured player definitely counted as an emergency.
"Nakano-kun, didn't you hear me?" the coach asked, snapping her out of her trance.
"Eh? Ah, yeah of course!" Yotsuba leaped up from her seat, and began to stretch as they pulled Kotomi out of the court. The medics took her to the infirmary, but not before she could give Yotsuba a few words.
"We're counting on you. Don't let us down."
Yotsuba simply nodded, and after finishing her warmup, and when the timeout ended, they all positioned on the court once more. Now the scoreboard was 22-19, and while they could still turn it around, the fact their rivals were ahead put a lot of pressure on them. Matsui said that from now on they'd try two-hit attacks from the back row whenever they had the chance. That was the plan she'd discussed with Kotomi, but it went south with that bad landing she had.
Now it depended on her. No pressure at all.
"Go!" Rin exclaimed, doing her special drop service. Normally, this tactic would secure them a couple points, since the opposing team would take on average three tries to get the timing and properly receive it.
However, the unthinkable happened: St. Elmore's libero not only found the right timing on the first try, but the setter was able to put the ball perfectly for Hayakawa so she could spike.
"No you won't!" Akira screamed as she positioned to block.
The block was unable to return the spike, but it did raise the ball up high on their side of their court, rather convenient. Matsui asked for it, an in a split second she gave Yotsuba a glance before setting it for her. The fourth Nakano knew exactly what she had to do.
The St. Elmore players were so confident in their offensive, they were neglecting their defense, leaving a rather blatant hole where she could aim. Recalling her trainings with Fuutarou, she pictured for a moment that he was there, in the empty zone, and hit the ball at full force aiming to that spot.
For a moment she almost thought she'd gone overboard, but the referee marked the point for them as the ball fell in a good zone, albeit almost crossing the line. With that, the scoreboard was now 22-20, and while her teammates congratulated her, the St. Elmore players didn't seem fazed. They probably thought it was just a lucky blow, plus they were still ahead on the score.
'No, it wasn't just luck. Come on, you need to trust yourself a bit more,' she said to herself mentally.
Rin served again, and they received it the same way without complications, setting it up for Hayakawa. This time, she spiked so hard Akira was unable to block it, but fortunately Takki anticipated it and dived to the ground to receive it. Matsui set it backwards for Iruka, who scored as well. Now they were just one point behind, and the danger of losing seemed to be slowly fading away.
Rin decided to switch tactics, choosing to do a jump serve aiming at one of the corners. The opposing libero received it again, and once more they set it up for an attack from Hayakawa, who this time aimed to Yotsuba's position. Fortunately, the Nakano received it well despite being caught off-guard, sending it to Matsui so she could raise it up again. Iruka ran to the opposite side of the net to play bait, and right then Yotsuba knew they were doing another feint for a back row attack.
"Gotcha!" she exclaimed as she jumped, deciding the target in a split second before nailing it.
Once again, the ball fell short of hitting outside the boundaries, but the referee once more marked a point for them, and so the scoreboard was now tied. That only gave them strength, to Yotsuba and the rest of the team, now they'd managed to catch up, all they had to do was turn the score around to win this set. The Nakano stared at her hands: for the first time in a while, she felt she could make it. No, they ALL could make it. She was finally helping the team, instead of being a liability.
"We can do this… no, we're going to do it!" she finally exclaimed, unable to contain her energy anymore. "Come on girls, just three more points!"
The scream seemed to infuse the rest of the team with power, as they began to attack fiercely, successfully getting ahead with two points in a row from Yotsuba from the back. Although this seemed to ignite a spark in Hayakawa, who managed to score once to try and stop their momentum, the set concluded 23-25 on Asahiyama's favor, when they did a feint pretending they'd do another back row attack with Yotsuba, Matsui instead passed the ball to Iruka, who scored the set point and tying the match.
"Nice work, everyone!" Coach Kitano congratulated them.
Everyone exchanged high-fives among each other. Before the break, Yotsuba realized one of her shoelaces had untied, so she kneeled to tie it. As she was doing it, someone approached her, and when she looked up, she realized it was Hayakawa.
From below she looked even more imposing, and she couldn't help but gulp when she stared into her eyes. From up close they looked like she could pierce through her with laser beams or something.
"So, you're Nakano," she said. Yotsuba stood up, and even at full height she still fell short. Hayakawa was probably about as tall or perhaps a couple centimeters taller than Fuutarou from her estimation.
"Er, yeah, I am," she replied. She had no idea what the taller girl wanted, but she wouldn't be intimidated.
"I heard Asahiyama had gotten a good player this year," Hayakawa continued. " But when I saw your first matches, I thought they may just be exaggerated rumors."
Yotsuba gulped again. It was no surprise, after all, her first matches were less than stellar, and she caused nothing but woes to her team.
"Well… truth is, I was a bit indisposed," the Nakano replied. "I was having lots of personal issues, so I couldn't concentrate on the game. Or anything, for that matter."
"Hmm, and I must assume you've sorted out those issues already?" Hayakawa inquired, crossing her arms.
"Er… sort of," said Yotsuba. She couldn't say they were 'sorted', but at least she was on her way to at least fix some of them.
"I was starting to believe no team would give us a challenge in the prefecture, but when you came in, the match finally got interesting." She smiled slightly. "You don't have much in height, but I haven't seen many who can jump that way, and with a spike almost a strong as mine."
"Huh… thanks, I guess?" said Yotsuba, unsure if it was a praise or a threat. Hayakawa approached her a little more, and lowered her voice.
"Just so we're clear, I'm not planning on losing this match. But on what's left, I'm hoping you'll make it worth my time."
And without further words, she left with her teammates, leaving a confused Yotsuba standing there for a moment. It took her a few seconds to let the words sink in, and she finally understood Hayakawa saw her as a worthy opponent. A wave of excitement rushed over the Nakano, who immediately returned to the bench with her own teammates, ready for the break before the next set.
"Hey, what did Hayakawa tell you?" Iruka asked.
"Well… she told me to make the rest of the match worth it," Yotsuba replied. Iruka gave a quick glance at Hayakawa, and then Yotsuba again before smiling.
"Great, in that case, let's give her what she's asking for. Remember what I told you, that she made fun of my height and Takki's last year? Well, today is revenge time, so we're counting on you."
"Consider it done!" Yotsuba high-fived with her teammate.
The break time would fly pretty fast. Yotsuba was eager to go back to the court. Athletes would always grow in the face of a strong opponent, and with Hayakawa on the other side, she had to give above her 100% if she wanted to help her team win. And with the reminder of Takki and Iruka's thirst for revenge, she had an extra motivation for it.
…
After the brief rest and change in court, the Asahiyama players took their positions to start. This time, Yotsuba was given the starting serve to open the set, and the Nakano realized Hayakawa was also standing on the back row, despite having focused for most of the match in doing attacks close to the net. Were they planning to do back row attacks as well?
The referee's starting whistle snapped her out of her trance, so throwing the ball upwards she executed a jump serve. Their opponents received it, and the setter prepared the ball for Hayakawa, who indeed executed a back row attack, so hard and accurate that it grazed Yotsuba's hair before she could react.
"Point for St. Elmore!" the referee declared.
"Don't worry, Yotsuba!" said Matsui. "It's just one point!"
Yotsuba wasn't nervous, although that attack actually caught her off-guard- So she could hit from behind too. It seemed like she wanted to beat them at their own game, and sending a challenge. She had to be more cautious now.
When the St. Elmore girls served, the ball once more went to Yotsuba's corner, who received it without issue. Matsui set it for her again, and the Nakano quickly saw a hole in the back row shere she could aim, returning the favor and regaining their serve quickly. Yotsuba gave Hayakawa a glance, who seemed to smirk. The challenge had been accepted.
Unlike the first set, when they were practically crushed, and the second, when they barely managed to stay on the defensive to prevent the gap from widening until Yotsuba entered, this time around both teams unleashed a full offensive. The ball came and go back and forth, and the score gap was virtually non-existent, as for every point they scored, St. Elmore would take it back twofold, and then they did the same, causing the match to escalate more and more.
The tension in the air was rising. Hayakawa rarely failed her attacks, and every time she did Asahiyama had to take the chance to turn around again. Although she'd only played the last third of the second set and now the current one, Yotsuba felt like she'd been the entire match on the court, and she didn't want to think how her teammates would fell, with all that pressure on them.
'They must be exhausted,' she thought. 'All the more reason why I should take advantage of still having energy.'
Things began to get complicated when, out of pure instinct, she jumped trying to block a spike from Hayakawa, putting the scoreboard 22-24. The spike was so hard she almost fell backwards, but fortunately Akira caught her before she was knocked to the floor.
"Oof, thanks," she said.
"Leave the blocking to me," Akira replied. "Last thing we need right now is getting another of our aces injured."
Yotsuba gave a glance to Kotomi in the bench, as she'd returned from the infirmary with her ankle bandaged, and she understood what Akira meant. Hayakawa's spikes were so powerful even her, their best blocker, had trouble to stop them. At most, she'd only been successful in a third of her attempts, but that had saved them several times.
"Match point! Serve for St. Elmore!" the referee declared.
One point, they were just one point away from losing. If they scored now, all would be over. Was this supposed to be her comeback to the courts, a defeat?
No, she couldn't allow that. She wouldn't allow it!
As soon as they served again, Takki received the ball, and Matsui once more set it up for Yotsuba, while Iruka played bait to feint their foes. One of the few advantages they still had was that, unlike St. Elmore, who concentrated almost all their attacks in Hayakawa, they had two spikers to do more combos, and that allowed them to stay on the match. They were successful, and now the scoreboard was 23-24, but the match point danger was still there.
The rotation put Rin in position number one, where she tried once more her special drop serve, as if hoping for a miracle, but they received it and prepared their attack. Akira stood in front of the net to block when Hayakawa was about to spike, barely succeeding at a defensive block as the ball floated above their heads, threatening to fall outside the final line.
"I won't allow it!" Takki shouted.
Rather than do a traditional volleyball diving save, the libero did what Yotsuba could compare to a rare slide tackle/overhead kick mix you'd probably see in soccer, but that saved the ball. Iruka did not wait for the setup, instead jumping immediately to spike it while heading for the net, and scoring for them, tying the board. Now they were in a deuce, so they'd have to score twice in a row in order to win.
"Time out!" Matsui called, and all the players gathered to plan their strategy. "Okay, we've almost done it, but if we can't block Hayakawa's attacks, we won't be able to win."
"I'm surprised she can still go on, considering how she's been shouldering the entire team during the whole match," Akira commented.
"What should I do?" Michiru asked, as she was the one in line for serving. Matsui thought for a moment, before looking at the other side of the court.
"Serves aren't helping us much. Just do the same as usual, and leave the attack to us," Matsui said. "Akira, you can still block, can you?"
"My hands still don't hurt too much," the aforementioned asked. "As long as you girls focus on the attack, I can hold that titan myself."
"You're the only one on our side who's close to her in height," said Matsui. "Jokes aside, we're counting on you. Iruka, Yotsuba, you two focus on the attack. Hit that ball as hard as you can."
"Aye aye, Captain!" both of them exclaimed in unison.
Until now, their strategies had turned out relatively well, but with their current condition it was a high risk. After they served, once more the St. Elmore girls set up an attack for Hayakawa, and Akira readied herself to block.
Or so it seemed: while Akira was preemptively blocking her, the opposing setter prepared the ball backwards for the other spiker, catching them off-guard and scoring. All of them looked in shock, and upon turning around to see Hayakawa, she smiled with satisfaction.
"I'm not the only spiker in this team, don't forget it," she said, before high-fiving with her teammate. "Nice spike, Kurachi."
The Asahiyama players tensed again. They'd made a mistake by focusing so much on Hayakawa, as they'd forgotten the rest. Maybe the St. Elmore girls had done this on purpose the entire match so they'd get used to it, and now they'd pay for it.
"Don't get discouraged, we haven't lost yet!" Iruka screamed.
Yotsuba remained on alert. If Akira had Hayakawa covered, maybe one of them should focus on Kurachi. Maybe she herself should be the one doing so.
As soon as the whistle blew, the serve came from above, easy to receive and set. Matsui sent it to Iruka, who spiked as hard as she could to tie the score, and they rotated again to recover the serve. A quick glance from Matsui told Yotsuba that the next attack, when they did it, would be hers.
'Kurachi or Hayakawa… who's gonna do it?' she wondered as she alternated looks between one and the other.
The attack was given to Hayakawa, and fortunately Akira was able to block defensively, allowing Takki to receive the ball, and Matsui to set it for her. When she leaped to spike Yotsuba found Hayakawa trying to block her, so she delayed the spike one second to bypass her and successfully scored the advantage point they needed. The scoreboard was now 25-26 on Asahiyama's favor. Everyone celebrated immediately; they finally were ahead.
One more point, just one more, and they'd win. Despite that, the St. Elmore players didn't seem discouraged one bit, as with a single point of difference nothing was written. They needed to score to seal the match once and for all. They served again, and the St. Elmore players set the ball for Hayakawa. Yotsuba thought that was her strongest spike in the entire match, as it pierced through Akira's hands. By a miracle Takki managed to dive and receive it. Matsui set it up for Iruka, who spiked immediately, but the opposing libero managed to save it too. The setter raised it up, and instinctively Akira went to block Hayakawa, but the attack wouldn't be hers, but Kurachi's.
"No you won't!"
Yotsuba didn't know what prompted her to move, but despite their attempt to feint, she correctly anticipated Kurachi's attack. Both players' eyes barely crossed with each other with the net separating them, as the Nakano jumped with her hands raised to block the spike. Channeling all her strength and determined to put an end to this match, she forced the ball to go down on the other side of the court. A deadly silence took them all over, until the referee broke it with the whistle.
"Set and match point! 25-27, victory is for Asahiyama!"
They won… they had won. They'd really won the match, against the regional champions. Yotsuba was lost trying to assume what just happened, so she didn't realize until everyone else, including the ones from the bench (except Kotomi), they ran and dogpiled on her to hug her and scream in joy.
"We did it, well done, Yotsuba!"
"Excellent block, it was spectacular!"
"You're the heroine today! You scored the match point for us!"
"What a great comeback!"
Yotsuba took a bit to fully assimilate all, her teammates' screams got louder and more unintelligible, but the sentiment was clear. They'd won the match, and she'd done her part to achieve it. She hadn't experienced this feeling of triumph in a long time, but rather than claim all the credit for herself, she decided to share it.
"No, it wasn't just me. We all did it, together," she said. "Thank you, thank you all for trusting me."
The celebration and congratulations continued for a bit, until they were called to get in line and greet the opposing team with a handshake, as per the custom. When Hayakawa stood in front of her, St. Elmore's ace player didn't seem angry at being defeated. Instead, she looked at them with respect and dignity.
"You're pretty good," she said. "It's a shame you didn't play last year."
"Hehe, well, I had a lot of stuff to do," Yotsuba said, scratching behind her head.
Hayakawa said nothing more, but she approached Iruka and Takki, who gave her apprehensive looks for obvious reasons. However, just like she did Yotsuba, she offered them a handshake as a good sport, and they accepted it.
"I see you two have grown a lot from last year," she said. "I clearly underestimated you."
"Does that mean you take back what you said?" Iruka asked. "When you made fun of our height?"
"Hmm… yeah, of course. I… am sorry for what I said," Hayakawa replied, seemingly ashamed but never losing her dignity.
"We shorties can do it too," Takki added. "That's what we told you, didn't we?"
"Sure. But anyway, that aside, you girls better do a good job at the nationals. I'll feel very upset about losing today if you don't, am I clear?"
"You better be sure we will," said Iruka. "We've got the greatest team, isn't that right, Takki? Yotsuba?"
"Of course," Yotsuba nodded. "We'll show everyone."
The match was finally over, and although they'd just made it to the semifinals, and still needed to win two more matches before going to the nationals, after beating the strongest team in the prefecture, the Asahiyama players were sure their path was now clear.
Although the others invited her to celebrate together (once they'd taken Kotomi to the hospital to check her ankle properly checked), Yotsuba told them she'd go home on her own, as she had other things to do. It was weird; despite how intense the match was (and playing less than half of it at most), she didn't feel that exhausted.
In that case, she'd better put her energies to good use in studying, as they'd have a couple of days to rest before the next match.
Uesugi residence…
Fuutarou had spent the last few hours preparing the study material for the weekend. Much to his chagrin, he'd not been able to attend Yotsuba's match, and none of the other Nakanos was free to do so in his stead to support her. So he'd have no way to know how it'd go until they saw each other to study the following day.
Nevertheless, the boy wasn't worried. He'd been helping her train after regular hours the whole week, and while it took her some effort, the fourth Nakano had slowly regained her edge. He was sure she'd made a good job… in the hypothetical case that she was allowed to play.
"Hmm?" His smartphone's beeping and vibrating stopped him from writing for a bit. When he checked it out, he realized it was a message from Takeda. "What's this?"
The message had a few videos attached, and only said "I believe you want to see this." Took him a while to play them, but he quickly realized what it was. It was the sports dome, where the regional volleyball team's matches were taking place. He'd probably gone to support his cousin.
He seemed to have gotten a good seat to record the match, as he could more or less distinguish the players, but he didn't care much until one of the Asahiyama players seemingly got injured when she did a bad landing, and Yotsuba substituted her. Up until that moment they seemed to be having trouble, but from there on out the tide changed completely.
He was watching the Yotsuba from the practice match against Honmoku. No, more than that: she was playing even better than before. Their opponents were tough and fought hard until the end, but Yotsuba persisted, and in the end they won with her scoring the point that sealed the match. After that rocky start, she couldn't have asked for a better comeback, especially against the opponents they faced.
"Well done, Yotsuba. It's a shame I couldn't see it live," he told himself as he smiled.
For a moment he thought about sending her a message to congratulate her, but he then decided to do so in person. Maybe taking her a present, something like a few buns or cookies from the bakery, to celebrate her victory. He'd then ask his mother if there were some leftovers of today's sales.
"Looks like you're finally back to your usual self. I'm glad."
Although he knew Yotsuba's issues wouldn't be gone overnight, it was nice to see her back to normal. And more importantly, he was happy he could do something to help her get back on her feet.
Now all she had to do was put that same energy into studying.
To be continued…
Author's notes:
What's up, people? Well, I didn't get to do my update in May due to complications out of my control, but now I'm back with this story, and I think you'll be pleased to know I've managed to do some breakthrough (the next chapter's finished, though that one's an extra and thus much shorter to write), so hopefully I'll be back on a semi-regular schedule. However, I also started my new class semester, and I got five subjects, and since I'm seeing two or three in a row on the same days, it's quite overwhelming, so the updates may come on a bi-monthly basis from now on, depending how much time I can spare to write, so please don't pressure me for updates, okay?
Anyway, after the past arc, and with how much I made poor Yotsuba suffer, as needed as it was for the plot, I can finally get her to start putting herself back together. And since the academics part would "technically" be covered offscreen, I decided it would be better to jump straight to the athletics part, namely her return to the volleyball team during an important match. And this time she manages to be the heroine who brings victory to her team, rather than the load who gets them in trouble. That's a good first step, though as you saw in the scene with Itsuki at the graveyard, she still has some issues to sort out. If you remember, on the previous chapter I briefly mentioned the coping mechanisms each of the sisters adopted to deal with their mother's death, which wasn't very touched upon in canon save for a few specific instances (and in some cases, it was just implied or open to speculation), so I wanted to retake that angle for a bit. And I'd like to use it with some of the other sisters when they have their moments.
After the emotional part, the second half was much easier to write, maybe because it was just a match and I enjoy writing sports. Hope it was enjoyable, as they were supposed to be facing a tough rival. Of course, this won't be the last match we see her play, as I plan to continue this little subplot until the school year ends. However, before that I plan to have another miniarc that must never be skipped in a school slice-of-life, and that's the summer vacation (quite ironic I'm starting to write that when I'm beginning classes). Naturally, that period will have little to no drama, instead serving to bring the characters, both friends and couples, a little closer (with some fanservice thrown into the mix as per the tradition). I've been waiting a lot to write that arc, and I have several scenes planned, so I hope I can advance it at a good pace.
Alright, I guess that's all. Thanks for the reviews to arpitdutagvqjw, TheMist33, Random Reader Guy, JNTF1QQ and Guest, and of course special thanks to Shadechu Nightray for her continued beta reader work. Oh, and by the way, there's a hidden reference to a spokon I'm not specifying, but the first one who catches it, I'll gift them a free oneshot starring any quint of their choice. I'll leave you with this little omake in the meantime, until the next chapter, sayonara!
OMAKE – Itsuki's study weekend
Itsuki Nakano had always tried to be responsible with her duties, so during the study sessions she would always do her best efforts while keeping her complaints to minimum.
That didn't mean she didn't have her moments of wanting to escape from studying just a bit. Particularly, it was rather inconvenient to have to study on this specific weekend, as the Aldini brothers were introducing a new menu for the summer, and they asked if she wanted to help them as a taster. She would have gladly agreed, but unfortunately she couldn't skip this study session.
Well, the session itself hadn't officially started, but even so he still had to do a large part of the work Fuutarou had left for them. She was done with Science and Math, and right now she was translating a text in English.
"Hmm… aw, geez, studying this much is making me hungry," she said, dropping herself on the floor. "Nino, are you done with those snacks?"
"Five minutes to take them out of the oven," the second sister replied. "And a few more to cool off, as they'll be burning hot when they get out."
Itsuki stood up and dropped herself on the couch. She was hungry, yes, but not so much that she would willingly burn her mouth and tongue. She'd been doing her homework for about two hours straight, so a ten-minute recess wouldn't hurt. She grabbed her phone and began fiddling through the apps.
Right then, she got a notification. It was from the Aldini brothers, or more specifically Isami, who was sending her an attached file with a photo and a recipe. Since she lost that little culinary duel, Nino took a bit more interest in learning Italian cooking, and the brothers offered to send her some easy recipes she could try for practice, obviously using Itsuki as the middleman. Under the condition, of course, they wouldn't publically share them, keeping them within their small circle.
"Hey, Nino. Isami-kun just sent another recipe," Itsuki told her.
"Share it with me, I'll check it out later," Nino replied. "I can't take my eyes off of this."
Itsuki did as told, resending the file for Nino via message. Although not before she decided to take a peek, and realized it was another dessert. The title said "castagnole", and the photo had some round buns covered in sugar. They looked really tasty.
"Aw, I wish I could make them myself." She sighed.
She hated to admit it, but she envied her sister and the Aldinis for being so good at cooking, while she could only make rice (with a cooker), and was only good at eating. Maybe when she had some time, she could ask them to teach them something, simple stuff she could do herself, so she could have some personal snacks every once in a while.
Maybe she could do it during the summer break, as they'd have plenty of time for that.