the whistle blows. the sun bakes the turf, the bleachers are shaking with cheers, and youβre in the zone on the field. eyes on the goal, jaw clenched.
kuroo lounges back with a smug grin, elbow nudging kenma? whoβs got his switch tilted up to shade his screen. βlook at her go,β kuroo brags. βabsolute menace.β
βshe elbowed that girl in the ribs,β kenma mutters, barely glancing up. βlove of my life,β kuroo says without hesitation.
it all happened so fast. a defender from the other team blocks your run, twists your ankle, and you go down. not before dragging her down with you, of course.
the ref doesnβt call it. the girl says something too smug, too stupid. you shoot up, telling her to repeat what she said. she says it again, you shove her.
βuh oh,β kenma says flatly. kurooβs already standing up, hands in his hair like he just witnessed the winning goal and a crash at the same time.
you yell, the other girl yells back. and now the refβs blowing his whistle and your teammates hold you back. your eyes stay on the girl.
kurooβs voice rings over the chaos of the audience and the field, βhell yeah, baby! show her who runs this turf!β
kenmaβs face deadpans as the security runs into the field, βyouβre saying a war crime,β he says. kuroo smiles, βsheβs perfect.β he replies, watching you get escorted off the field still mouthing, βsay that shit again! everytime i see youββ
you pace around the parking lot, jersey half tucked in, hair messy and water bottle in your hand like itβs a weapon. steamβs basically coming off of you.
like expected, your coach gave you a stupid speech. saying how this is soccer! not a ufc match! and now youβre here, stuck and banned for next weekβs games.
kuroo jogs over, kenma trailing behind like he was dragged out of a nap. kuroo looks you up and down like you just walked off a red carpet. one covered in turf stains and rage.
you turn around to him. βyouβre glowing,β he says with that dumb lovesick grin. βlike a really sexy volcano i wanna jump in.β
you squint at him, βi almost got suspended and kicked off the team.β kuroo kisses your forehead, βyou almost fought a girl for saying something to you. thatβs my baby.β
kenma a few feet away, looking deeply unimpressed. βyou made espnβs twitter. youβre trending as βpsycho striker.ββ
you blink and groan, βseriously?β
kuroo beams, βso proud.β
youβre stuffed in the passenger seat of kurooβs car, cleats kicked off, legs curled up, still simmering with leftover fight energy. but now itβs leaking out as sighs and sleepy glares at the dashboard.
kenma has his head against the window, sleep and has music blasting in his ears.
kurooβs driving with one hand, the other resting on your thigh like itβs just meant to be there. βso,β he says casually, βwas that a tactical shove, or a rage-induced one?β
you grunt, βshe called me a βdiscount striker.ββ kuroo whistles low, βyeah, okay. jail.β
you glance at him, and your whole face softens. the tension drops from your shoulders as you lean over and nuzzle into his arm like itβs your favorite pillow.
his neck extends as he parks into the space in front of you guysβ (and kenmaβs) favorite diner. he nods and stops the car.
βthanks for coming,β you mumble, voice muffled against him. βyou always do.β
he looks down at you with that annoying smile that makes your stomach do things. βwell, yeah. somebodyβs gotta cheer for my mean girlfriend who plays soccer like itβs mortal kombat.β
you let out a tired laugh, then thread your fingers through his while his handβs still on your thigh. βiβm really glad itβs you,β you whisper, eyes half-lidded. ββ¦ itβs always you. you keep me from going full rage monster.β
kurooβs heart combusts. he squeezes your hand, all smug and sappy. βbaby, you are a rage monster. iβm just lucky you like me enough not to eat me.β
js thinking about the writing scene if u can call it that full of female poc quarantine. i legit remember looking up to so many authors.. i wonder how theyβre doing now
Summary: You, a dedicated member of the girls' volleyball team, find an unexpected connection with Kuroo Tetsurou. Igniting a bond over shared passions and stolen moments, love blossoms on the court; all because you met him at a captains meeting.
"Mori says we need to find some managers." Himari says on the way to school.
You were originally supposed to try and find some before the third years left last season, but you continued to put it off.
"Saori did stats the whole game and Mori wanted to play her for a few rallies." She goes on.
"I know," You sigh, "I'll try looking today during lunch and break." A comfortable silence fell upon the two of you.
Himari speaks up after a few minutes of silence. "Do you think Saori is a good setter?"
You were still getting to know the first years, but you knew they all had talent. "Yeah she is." You say.
"Do you think Mori would want to run a 6-2?" Himari asks, you're starting to catch on that she's a little worried about losing her spot. In the previous years there were no other setters on her level for her to compete with. This is new.
"Don't get all worried," You nudge her, "You're the best setter around, you have experience, and you have chemistry with the team."
"How can I not worry." She chews the inside of her cheek.
You give her a look, "Saori is a great setter, but she's a first-year so she's gonna be more prone to making mistakes. Plus coach can't sit her out every single game. That's her next setter when we leave."
"You're right, she's gonna need to get experience." Himari says, kicking a rock in front of her.
"Let's not worry about playing time, we get to play volleyball and go to all of these tournaments and make more memories." You cheer her up. "Let's stay after practice today, we can work on some combos."
"Thanks, Y/n." She smiles, "I feel a little better now." The school comes into view and the campus is filled with students laughing and enjoying the sunlight.
During lunch you quickly ate and went on your way to find some students who weren't in a club. The girls volleyball team was a bit famous, winning back to back gave you a name.
There were little whispers around as you entered a classroom, trying to find your teammate. "Aiko!" You get her attention and she turns at the call of her name.
"Hey captain, what's up?" She says, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Do you know of any boys who aren't in a club yet? I'm trying to find a manager." You explain.
She thinks for a moment, "Not that I know of, I'm sorry." She apologizes for not being able to help you.
"It's okay." You brush off. You put up some flyers, even handing the teachers some to pass out to any students they knew weren't in a club. You end up in the first-year hallway, looking for a blonde middle.
"Hey, Y/n." Mei smiles, "Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine," You explain to her the situation and stand in front of her desk, "Do you happen to know anyone?"
She looks around the room, but ends up shaking her head. "I can't think of anyone, but I can take some of those flyers and applications." She points to your hands.
"Really? Thank you so much." You hand her a couple and begin to walk back to your class, there were about 5 minutes left. You weren't really paying attention to where you were going, as you turned the corner you were met with a hard surface. You realized you had accidentally bumped into someone. "I'm so sorryβ"
"Oh hey." Kuroo smiles, "What're you doing here?" He looks confused.
"I could ask you the same thing." You raise an eyebrow.
He lets out an airy laugh, "I was going to give this to Lev, but I'll have to wait since someone rudely bumped into me."
"I said I was sorry!" Your eyes widen as he now follows you back to the third-year hallway.
"Just kidding." He rolls his eyes, "What're those?" He motions to the applications in your hand.
"I'm trying to find a manager for my team, we need someone to take stats." You explain, "I was in the other halls to find students who weren't in a club yet."
"Ahh," He nods, "Any luck?"
"No." You rub your forehead. "Coach is gonna bug me about it for not doing this sooner." You chuckle.
"At least we have an assistant coach, why doesn't she have one?" He found it a little weird.
"We keep telling her, but she likes to work alone." You roll your eyes at her stubbornness. "I'll see you later." You wave to him as you enter your class, the bell had rung and Kuroo was still walking, he was a little late, it made Mori raise her eyebrow in suspicion.
She let it slide since it was his first time ever, she continued on with the lesson as normal. For the remainder of the school day, your teacher had given a group assignment.
"Hey Kai," You get the boys attention, "Do you wanna work with us?"
He smiles, "Sure." Picking up his paper and pencil and moving closer.
"Hey Himari." He greets.
"Hey." She smiles nervously, you raise your eyebrow at her. Knowing you'd bring this up to her later.
"I already started this part," He shows his paper to the two of you. The assignment was fairly easy, it was meant to take up the rest of the day, but you had all finished it with a bit of spare time.
Your teacher allowed you guys to do whatever as long as it didn't disrupt the other students who were still working, Himari was digging in her bag for something, she gets your attention as she finds it.
"Mori gave me the stats, if you wanna look." She pushes the iPad towards you, already knowing you'd take it.
You thank her and opened it to look at your hitting first, you knew you hit well that game, so it wasn't a worry for you. You checked your passing next, then you realized that the hitting wasn't as effective as it was when you were in front, but it picked back up again when you got to the net.
A good starting lineup has the most effective hitting, passing, and serving first, then it goes down towards the end of a rotation. You'd bring this up to coach.
You notice Kai conversing with Himari, she seemed to have eased her nerves a bit and was more comfortable talking to him. You had no idea she had a thing for him, it made you happy to be able to bug her about it.
You began to check some other averages as well, mostly just getting a feel for how the first lineup of the season was going. Time went by quickly, the bell rang and it surprised you.
"We'll see you later." Himari waved to Kai and he smiled and returned the wave. You quickly say bye to him, trying to keep up with Himari.
"Aw you left so quickly." You pout as you caught up.
She turns her head quickly towards you, "It's not like that."
"I didn't bring him up, now I know you like him." You wink and she groans, covering her quickly reddening face.
"I just want to be friends with him." She states.
"Uh huh, that's why you're blushing and being nervous around him." You say back, opening the club room. "This is payback."
"For what?" She gasps sarcastically and the two of you giggle.
A bead of sweat slowly falls down your face, you wipe it as you continue to listen to your coach talk about the practice match. You fiddle with a stray string on your knee pad, bored. You had already looked over the stats.
A few girls began to leave, but you and some others stayed after to get more reps in. There was a small game of 3 on 3. Himari, Aiko, and you were on one side, and Saori, Rikako, and Keiko on the other.
Aiko received the ball, you started your approach early, wanting to run a quick from the outside position, without communicating, Himari spotted you in the air and tossed the ball quickly to you.
You swung as quickly as you could, slamming the ball onto the other side of the net. Rikako and Keiko were both on the ground, trying to get a touch, but failed.
"That's not fair!" Rikako laughed, getting up from the ground.
"Yeah, there's no blockers." Keiko adds on.
"You're more than welcome to do quicks." Aiko says across the net.
"Huddle up!" Saori says and the three younger girls form a triangle.
While you waited for them to finish scheming, you walked over to your coach. "I was thinking," you begin and she takes her eyes off of her iPad, "I noticed our hitting is weaker in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rotations."
"I noticed it too, what're you thinking?" She motions for you to continue.
"What if we switched Naomi and I, she has a solid serve, I don't think we'd do poorly." You say.
"I think that could work. I was also wanting to use Aiko more, her serving last season was amazing." Your coach says, "I like the lineup, but I do think I'll switch you and Naomi."
"If you want Aiko to serve more, she could go in for one of the middle blockers, then have Misaki go in for them."
"Your mind is great." She laughs and you smile.
"Okay we're ready!" Saori yells and you jog back to your position. The ball was sent over and Himari passed it.
"I got it!" Aiko says.
"Right!" Himari yells back, you're surprised she's attacking. Aiko pass-set to Himari and she hits a nasty line shot. Keiko receives it and Saori begins to jump set, but then she quickly changes it up and attacks the ball.
You were caught off guard, preparing for a quick from Keiko, the ball was coming towards your face fast, you quickly use your hands in defense. It was a bit off. "Sorry!" You yell.
"I've got it! Aiko!" Himari says and quickly runs to the ball, giving her a back set, Aiko tracks the ball and hits it over to the other side.
Rikako receives the ball with one hand, her body on the floor, it somehow perfectly lands in Saori's hands and she sets the ball impossibly quick to Keiko, but she wasn't able to get there in time because of how fast it was.
You stare with your mouth open at Saori, "What was that!?"
"I was trying to do a gap." She says and you're still looking at her confused, she thinks you don't know what a gap is, so she begins to explain, "You know, where the attacker is on their 3rd step and you set to them."
You shake your head, "I know what a gap is, we run those all the timeβbut that was insanely quick."
"I thought that's how they're normally set?" She looks around confused and Keiko is still trying to catch her breath.
"Is that how you'd set for your middle school team?" Rikako asks, absolutely baffled.
"Sometimes, but my hitters weren't fast enough so my coach made me slow it down." Saori explains.
"What made you try it again?" You approach her.
"Keiko's fast and tall, it just felt right to do." She answers.
"Do that again," Your coach is intrigued now, "Keiko try your best to hit. Y/n, toss the ball to her." Himari grabs a ball cart and rolls it over to you.
"Ready?" You ask and they all nod, you toss the ball to Saori, Keiko begins her approach, she gets to her second step, but the ball was already soaring past her.
"Sorry, I'm not used to this quick of a set." She apologizes.
"It's okay, try again." Coach Mori encourages and she gets back into formation.
You toss another ball and as soon as the ball leaves your hands, Keiko is beginning her approach, this time Keiko was in the air as Saori was setting the ball, it happened so quick, Keiko hit the ball and it slammed onto the other side of the net.
"Holy shit." You laugh and break into a huge smile.
"We can work with that." Your coach smirks. "We'll work more on it tomorrow, we're gonna focus on attacking."
"Clean up!" You say and begin to take down the net. Himari had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, but she remembers your words from earlier, she tries her best to keep it down. She goes up to Saori and compliments her, the two converse for a little.
You lock the gym doors and walk back to the club room, you notice Himari is a little down, but she refuses to talk about it. "I'm gonna head out now." She says to you.
"Do you want me to walk with you?" You'd always walk with each other because of how close you live.
"I kinda just want some space, I'm sorry." She apologizes.
"That's okay, I'll see you tomorrow." You smile at her and she puts in her headphones and walks out. You're the last one the leave, taking your time to pack your things.
You lock up the clubroom and see Kuroo and his friends a little ahead of you, Kuroo turns his head at the sound of a door being shut. "Hey-uh, walk without me today." He curtly says and makes his way over to you.
Yaku and Kai turn to see and immediately put the pieces together when they see you walking down the steps.
"You need me to walk you home?" He smiles, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Oh no, it's okayβ"
"Alright alright, you don't have to beg me, I'll do it." He smirks, making you roll your eyes.
"Are you sure it's not out of your way?" And he shakes his head.
"Where's Himari?" You two basically never leave each other's sides, he's confused by this, but he's grateful because he wouldn't have been able to walk you home if she was with you.
"She was a little down after practice today, so she wanted to walk home alone." You say.
"What happened?"
"We have this first-year setter who's really good and she's worried that she might replace her." You say, "This is the first time she's had real competition for her spot."
"Yeah, that's rough." He sighs, "That's kinda happening with our middles."
"With you?" You say surprised.
He scoffs jokingly, "Obviously not me, I'm perfect." You rolls your eyes at him, "With Inuoka and Lev."
"I thought Lev's receives were still terrible." You say confused.
"They are, but he's so tall and can hit decently. Him and Kenma just haven't clicked yet." Kuroo explains and you him. "Coach thinks they have potential."
"Yeah, you can't really compete with height." You say.
"Especially a shorty like you." He laughs loudly at his own joke.
"Ha ha." You fake laugh, "I work hard for my spot."
"I know, it was just funny." He sighs and looks off, it was almost completely dark, he stares at the stars for a second then turns to look at you.
The soft wind slowly blew your hair out of your face, he thinks you look beautiful right nowβwell all the time, but especially right now.
You feel him staring, but don't say anything. It makes your face feel hot so you turn to look at the side, finding so much interest in the shops nearby. He realizes he's staring and embarrassingly looks away, if his friends saw him, he'd never hear the end of it.
"We have a practice match coming up." He breaks the silence.
"Ours? Yeah I know," You chuckle, "Every week, remember?" You turn your head back to him, noticing a pink hue cover his cheeks.
"Oh sorryβnot ours." He laughs, "I meant with another team."
"Really? Who is it?" You're curious. "I bet it's Fukurodani."
He shakes his head, "I don't think you're guessing this one."
You raise an eyebrow and continue thinking. It has to be a team you're not familiar with. "I give up." You playfully roll your eyes.
"Karasuno."
"Karasuno?" You furrow your brows, it's not ringing a bell.
He sees your confusion and chuckles. "They were well known a couple years ago, we used to play them all the time."
"What happened to them?" You ask.
He shrugs, "They lost valuable players like we did, and had to start off from scratch. We're not lucky enough to get good players handed to us."
You frown, "We're just good at scouting the middle schoolers."
He just laughs, "Anyways, one of their coaches begged Nekomata and he decided to give them a chance."
"That should be fun, right?" You say, "Maybe I'll go watch to see a certain middle blocker get beat."
He playfully nudges you, "Don't root for the enemy."
"I was kidding." You roll your eyes, you came up to your house and wave goodbye to him. You go up to your room and see from your window that Himari's room was dark.
You frown, she never went to bed this early. You hoped she'd be feeling better tomorrow.
He loves it when you sit on his back when he's doing pushups.
This almost never happens but when it does, he loves how it makes him feel like he's the strongest man for you. You're sitting on his back looking all cute and pretty counting his reps for him and although his diligence to going all the way down and pushing himself back up is causing him sweat he can't help but smile when he hears you giggling up there.
When he's done he'd give you a gentle kiss, "Thank you baby." and will probably want to keep you around to show off his muscles and strength some more. "Wanna help me with the rest of my workouts?" he asks smirking.
"Yes" you respond with a cute smile.
He picks you up and sits you on a counter nearby. He gives you another gentle kiss "Just keep being my cute cheerleader." he orders with a smirk.
