Mizuki Sayeko had never been fond of the whole 'soulmates' concept, not when her past warned her of the side-effects of falling too deep into the lucid, hypnotising trap. With piercing gazes, a stone-cold heart, would her soulmates ever get through...
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"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP." The boys in the room all ceased their conversations, nervousness racing through their nerves along with subtle excitement. Their match was with Nekoma next, and they were just as excited as they were anxious. "So far," started Mizuki, sitting before her team in her pyjamas, a simple plain blue shirt and grey sweatpants, "we have more losses than wins against Nekoma." They all deadpanned and deflated as the information was brought back to light. "But, we've evolved. As a team. And we're going to win. As a team."
It was dark, now, the gossamer moon hanging among diamond stars in the soft black of the night. They smiled, burning, flaring like the pulse of Karasuno's hearts, determination slowly pumping into their systems, trusting the words of their beloved analyst.
"So, I hope you're hungry." A malicious smirk spread across her face, and wild things danced in the darkness of her eyes. "Tomorrow, we're having cats."
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
At the start of their fated battle at the garbage dump, Mizuki could tell Kenma had grown; he was more motivated than usual. Kuroo's all-rounder ability impressed her; he had improved immensely since their Inter-High.
Mizuki had to admit that she was worried, this was, after all, a match against the teachers and the students.
During the first set, she knew Nekoma was still warming up their engines — and if it was warm, it was silent. They were tenacious, their receives and blocks on point, their attacks flawless. Mizuki expected nothing less from them.
Cats tended to lower themselves to the ground, narrowed slit eyes watching their pray silently, ready to pounce at the right moment.
Nevertheless, Karasuno wasn't the same team as before. That much was obvious when Nekoma tried to target Hinata during their serves. Mizuki practised long and hard with the boy. His receives were getting better, his improvements were seen during the Inzaraki match, and it was seen during this match.
But Nekoma, they were good, very good. Especially Kenma. The boy was very manipulative in the game, Mizuki realised. He baited the blockers into a foul, using Karasuno's own offensive forte against them. Mizuki knew her soulmate was smart, but she certainly didn't expect this from the gameaholic.
It seemed this match was revealing new sides of her soulmates.
It was during the second set that she realised what their plan was. "They're trying to cage, Hinata," Mizuki muttered, biting down on her thumbnail, irritation flooding her body, suffocating her cells. When they managed to block Hinata, Mizuki stood from the bench and Takeda, seeing her action, acted quickly, calling a timeout.
Kuroo glanced over and smirked.
"They've figured it out," he said, watching as their soulmate slowly became frustrated with his team's plays. Kenma looked over. He was confident in his strategy. But, one look at Mizuki, he had a feeling things might fall apart.
