insouciant || ON HIATUS

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟚𝟝

He shocked the team.

Ennoshita received the ball and it made an arc down towards Mamoru. Keeping his hands in a diamond shape, he quickly thought about who to send it to.

"Left!"

Tanaka then, Mamoru noted. The ball fell into his hands as he jumped and he set it towards Tanaka, envisioning a crosshair to pinpoint location.

The wing spiker spiked the ball towards the other side, letting out a roar and ripping his shirt off to whirl it above his head.

"Put your shirt back on!" Sugawara exclaimed.

The setter and captain exchanged glances.

Beginner's luck?

But he did it again and again, never failing a set.

Finally, the set ended 25 to 19, in Mamoru's team's favor. Sugawara slipped under the net and clapped Mamoru on the shoulder, grinning widely. "I thought you said you never played a game before!"

The gym's inhabitants who hadn't heard about his lack of experience, gaped at the boy.

"I have never been in a club. My..." He trailed off. Who were the Nakajimas to him? Family? Guardians? "A few people taught me how to play."

"Let's see how you do as a wing spiker then," Daichi announced. "Grab some water and we'll do another set."

It hadn't been very exciting in the beginning. But as Mamoru tried out different positions, he was starting to enjoy himself.

Being a wing spiker was exhilarating. The familiar sting of his hand reminded him of receiving a pass from Kuroko. It was exciting to hear the gunshot-like sound when it hit his hand and even more satisfying to watch the ball hit the floor on the opposing side.

They had him try out middle blocker and libero, but libero was where he struggled a little bit. He never thought he'd find himself sliding on the floor some many times. It was a lot of fun, despite the difficulty in getting to the ball in time.

"You're pretty good in all positions except libero," Daichi commented. "Even then, you're still pretty good for someone who's never really played volleyball before."

"Thank you," Mamoru said, dipping head. He wasn't really sweating due to the high intensity training he was used to in the past, but he accepted the towel from Ennoshita anyways with thanks.

"Do you know what position you feel like you're good at?" Sugawara asked curiously.

"...Wing spiker or middle blocker," Mamoru answered definitely.  "Although I suppose I'm comfortable with any position. Even libero, if I must be."

He received a stony look from Tsukishima when he made eye contact with him. Yamaguchi, who always seemed to be by his side, gave him a small smile.

"Well, practice is just about over now," Daichi said brightly. "We split up to take down the net, collect the balls, and mop the floors. Since you're one of the taller ones, you can take down the net with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi today."

He nodded and made his way over to the odd pair. Without speaking, they took down the net and Mamoru rolled it up.

"You're really tall," Yamaguchi spoke up suddenly, trying to initiate some sort of conversation. "How tall are you?"

"I'm about 5'10"-ah, 177 centimeters. I think we're about the same height. How tall are you?" He asked, directing the question towards Tsukishima.

"He's 188 centimeters. He'll be 190 centimeters soon," Yamaguchi interjected proudly.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."