Day 11

There was a lack of control and respect in the Karasuno volleyball gymnasium. At one point the vice-principal stopped by to lecture them about the noise level which could be heard from the opposite end of the school.

Coach Ukai and Takeda Sensei apologized profusely and once he had left, they turned to the team with narrowed stares.

The situation was never okay and ever since Kageyama, Shoji, and Takita returned from their training camps, it seemed to worsen.

Tsukishima stood on one side of the net. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. He fixed his glasses and prepared himself for the next spike.

Kageyama received the ball and set it with pinpoint precision to Tadashi for the third spike in a row.

"What's wrong with you, today?" Tsukishima smirked as he rolled the volleyball back. "You missed your first four spikes and now Kageyama won't set for you. It doesn't take a genius to know how sloppy your footwork is."

Hinata scowled. "I'm working on it!"

"Tsukki," Tadashi warned, "they've been working on a new technique. Just give them a few more tries."

"I don't mind. Blocking the two freaks feels good."

Kageyama narrowed his eyes. He stood by the net, waiting to receive the volleyball. It was sent over his head in a high arch. He jumped up and this time chose to send it to Hinata.

Tsukishima was watching for Tadashi's movements, but he noticed that the arch of the ball was too high. Kageyama's elbows were not bent enough. Just as Hinata slammed the ball, Tsukishima appeared before him and shut him out.

"What?"

"No!"

"How'd you read that?"

He smirked. "Kageyama's body language. He's giving away too much."

"He is?"

"I'm working on it," Kageyama snapped,

"What are you dummies even trying?"

"Before she left, Mirae told them about the style of setting she played. Now, they've been trying to learn it so the team can use it at nationals."

"Is that really smart to do right now?" he frowned. "We've got less than 2 weeks."

"We know that! But we can do it!"

"Hinata boke shut-up. You're fighting back too much, that's why he could read where I was sending the ball back."

"Excuse you, yamayama! Mirae said it's normal to fight back!"

"No she didn't! She said you have to act more shut-down like you're ready to give up."

"I- No! She didn't- no!"

"What are you smirking about?" Kageyama demanded, glaring at Tsukishima.

"I'm just one blocker and I stopped all of your tosses to him. I'm just imagining what will happen at nationals when there are two or three blockers."

"Maybe we'll see the return of the infamous King of the court," Tadashi grinned.

Tsukishima snorted and turned away to find his water bottle. Hinata gasped dramatically and pointed a finger. "You better not think you can dictate me like a dictator."

"Careful Hinata," Tsukki called, "You'll hurt yourself if you use big words."

"What'd you say?"

"Boke shut-up, I'm not a dictator."

"It was a joke," Tadashi mediated. "Come on guys, we're just playing around."

"Baka!"

"Boke!"

"Baka!"

"Boke!"

"Oh look. Their single shared brain cell evaporated into thin air."

"Tsukishima what did you just say?"

He rolled his eyes. Hinata dove under the net and clung onto his back.

"Get off of me."

"No! Take that back. I have brain cells."

"No you don't, Boke! Now get over here and practice!"

Tadashi watched in exasperation. Hinata clung onto Tsukishima as he demanded for an apology while Kageyama tried his best to pull him off. There was a lot of threatening and swearing and no Emiko to distract them from their fight and no Mirae to use logic to negotiate.

"Ennoshita," Tadashi turned on his heels, "they're going at it again."

While Tadashi searched for their captain, the first years watched wearily from the stage.

"Are they really our upper-classmen?"

"Yep. They're going to be third years in a few months."

"I'm getting a headache," Yaotome mumbled as he pressed his fingers to his forehead. "I want to go home."

"Can't relate," Shoji tossed aimlessly. He ignored the questionable glances. "I just want them back."

"There are literally two more days left."

"Two days is too long."

"You know," Yaotome huffed, "with you complaining like this, you make Miss. Manager Yachi's efforts seem futile."

"Ooh," Takita smirked, "we hit a nerve."

"Dude, chill," Shoji rolled his eyes, "we appreciate Yachi. There's no question there."

"Exactly," Takita confirmed, "but you'd be lying to yourself if you said that these ten days without Mirae and Emiko haven't been troublesome."

"Miss Manager Yachi has been going above and beyond to do everything. She's been working so hard."

"We're not trying to fight you, dude."

"Honestly, no one here except for Tadashi and I have told Yachi how much we appreciate her. If anything, you're all making it so much harder for her and I-"

"What are you three talking about?"

They froze.

Yaotome was the first to recover. "Hi Miss Manager, Yachi."

"Hey, Yachi."

"Yachi," Takita blinked, "We appreciate you."

She cocked her head to the side, a light blush colouring her cheeks. "Thank you, Takita."

Yaotome jumped off the stage, stretching his arms out. "Stop making fun of her!"

"'Tome, calm down. He's not making fun of her."

"I'm serious. I appreciate her."

Yachi tapped his shoulder and signalled to the container that she was holding. "Practice ended and the gym is clean. You guys are about to go home, but first, you all need to eat your post-workout snacks."

Yaotome graciously accepted a serving. He bit into the snack, forcing it down his throat despite the soapy taste, and then glared at his friends.

"Eat it."

"No."

"Nah."

"What is wrong with you two?" he snapped. "Why are you making things so much more difficult?"

"No offence Yachi, they don't taste good."

"Yeah," Takita made a face, "they're nothing like the ones Emiko makes. She sneaks chocolate chips into the granola bars and there's none in these."

"Who cares if they have chocolate chips or not. Just eat them."

"No," Yachi sniffled. She used the back of her sleeve to wipe at her eyes. "They have a point 'Tome. We really need them back."

"I don't care about the chocolate chips or not, to be honest. But it's the texture, it's weird."

Yaotome kicked his leg out and aimed for Shoji's shins. "She's not a baker, she's following the recipes the best she can."

"Maybe we can try making the granola bars."

"We could change the recipe," Takita offered, "say, two cups more chocolate chips and less oats and granola."

With an exasperated sigh, Yaotome turned on his heels and followed after Yachi. He had been keeping a close eye on the entire team these past two weeks. The shift from three dedicated managers to one anxious Yachi was unsettling for all, but the exaggeration with which they carried themselves made it unfair.

He knew that once those two were back, the power would shift into their hands. It was up to him to exploit it.

"Are you holding it right?"

"Yes I know how to hold a phone."

"Are you sure? Emiko holds it a different way."

"Yeah, well, Emiko isn't here so this is how I'm going to hold it."

"You don't have to remind me that our Comedic Queen is no longer with us."

"You guys have to stop making it sound like she's dead."

"Oh sh*t, one-hundred are already watching."

Kinoshita smacked Tanaka over the head, "Don't swear you idiot!"

The third years, minus Ennoshita, crowded around Narita's phone as the live started. Emiko had given them the password and username for the Karasuno Instagram page so they could host live streams while she was gone.

Within the first minute, two thousand people had joined.

"Hey!" Nishinoya shoved himself into view, "What's up everybody?"

Tanaka pushed into his shoulder and grinned. "How are you little punks doing?"

"Our Comedic Queens starts off by opening the stage for questions. So, without further ado, let's get into it!"

Their eyes trailed over the screen as questions poured in.

"Who has more abs?"

"Obviously me!" Nishinoya lifted his shirt and Tanaka shimmied into the frame having disregarded his shirt on the floor.

"No, it's me!" he argued, "I'm packing!"

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Narita and Kinoshita shared a look and grinned.

"Well, to be fair, Noya does always doing most push-ups. He's gotta have more abs."

"But, Tanaka does planks at the start and end of practice. If anyone has the most abs, it's him."

"Wrong, it's me!"

"Clearly it's me!"

Narita laughed, "Let's move onto the next question." He grabbed the phone and scrolled through the comments. "Oh, someone wants to know who smells the worst."

"That one is easy," Kinoshita slung an arm around Narita's shoulder. "Has to be Tanaka. He's never benched so he's constantly moving around and rarely uses deodorant."

Tanaka growled. "I always use deodorant! And I always shower after practice! If anyone smells it's Noya!"

The Libero jumped on Tanaka's back and bit his shoulder. "You take that back! I don't smell."

"What the hell, get off!"

"Take it back, I don't smell!"

The other two-third years moved the camera to catch the scene of two shirtless boys wrestling each other. They laughed and further provoked the two.

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"Tanaka don't let the little guy get the upper hand."

"Fight back Noya! Use those small hands of yours and push him off!"

"Jab him! Jab him!"

"Upper left cut, upper left cut!"

"You don't have abs! You just take drugs!"

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Seeing the wrestling match that was going down, Ennoshita sprinted over. He quickly got in between the two and ripped them off each other.

"Seriously? Stop it, you guys never fight, what's wrong?"

"I have more abs-"

"No, I do."

"And I don't smell."

"No, you do."

Ennoshita ran a hand down his face, he glanced over at the other two-third years. "Watch over them, please. We don't need everyone seeing this."

"Sorry, Ennoshita."

"We'll watch them."

Seeing their captain walk away the third years crowded around the phone once again.

"Let's see some more questions then."

Narita and Kinoshita are so fake.

What's your favourite food?

You guys are boring, we want humour!

"Here's one! Let's see, who takes the longest to change?"

"Definitely Yaotome," Narita examined the gym but couldn't see the first year anywhere.

"He has a really clean look. Tucks his dress shirt in, his jacket is nicely fitted, and his hair is always neatly done. Honestly, we could learn a thing from him."

"Are you insinuating that we all look like gremlins?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well no surprise there, you literally look like a deranged delinquent. Tanaka, don't you think it's time you grew out your hair?"

"I'll have you know I'm the baddest looking mother f***** in this corner! I'm so bad*** that you all can't handle it! So f****** awesome!"

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Narita's face paled as he read the warning. He pushed Tanaka out of the way and gripped the phone. "Moving on! Who is the most annoying to sit next to on the bus?"

"Has to be Tsukishima."

"Really? I thought it would be Hinata."

"Realistically speaking it would be Emiko."

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"Hey, no! Take that back Kinnoshita!"

"It's true, though. We love her, we really do. But think about it. She has no filter and almost every word she speaks leads to at least one war. If we're on a bus, that means Coach is on it too. And whenever those two are within a foot of each other, there's always something that goes wrong. Like, if Emiko even breathes in a suspicious way, Coach interrogates her and then we suffer from the family feud.

Narita scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Noya and Tanaka assumed a wrestler's pose.

"She may not be here but we will defend her honour to the death."

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"No one is coming after her honour. As we said, we love her. But she's probably the one to avoid when on a bus ride."

Tanaka growled. "As vice-captain, I am penalizing you both! Extra laps right now-"

He was interrupted by Noya's scream. He jumped up and down and shoved the phone into Tanaka's face.

"Look! Someone wants to ask Mirae out!"

"Oh f*** no! Motherf****** hell no! I will end you! You will die! I will sell your organs on the dark web and use your intestines as decorations for Halloween!"

"You better sleep with one eye open you piece of sh**. We're going hunting, illegal weapons style! You're dead, dead!"

Tanaka and Noya growled, shirts off as they tried to intimidate the viewers.

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|Note|

Well, a lot happened in this chapter... 

Someone needs to save Karasuno from themselves, haha. 

We are so excited to explore 'Tome's personality. We've hinted at it before, but 'Tome is a little sneaky. He's come off as a likeable, quiet, and underestimated guy. Takita and Shoji have even mentioned that because of his "gentleman-like" personality, he's the favourite among the managers (even if Mirae doesn't admit it) and the kids in their grade. 

Mirae and Emiko's absence has also affected 'Tome. He knows how chaotic and selfish some of the guys have been. He also knows what kind of power he holds... Prepare yourselves to meet the real Yaotome Sato!

That's all for this week's post! Thank you for remaining patient, everyone.

Please don't forget to vote and we'll see you guys next week!

|End Note|