insouciant || ON HIATUS

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟛𝟘

They were all gathered on the floor of the gym in a circle, paying attention to Daichi and Takeda, who sat in front of them.

"Now, concerning the positions for the practice match..." Daichi flipped up the white board, showing the markers which held names and positions. "I think this is how we'll do it."

Sugawara, Yamaguchi, Mamoru, Kinoshita, and Narita were on the bench. Everyone else was on the court.

He was a wing spiker this time, he noted. He wasn't really disappointed he was on the bench. If anything, he was a little relieved.

Beside him, Yamaguchi wilted in his spot. He must have been disappointed to know he was one of the only first years not on the court.

Mamoru had an urge to pat his head, but he restrained himself.

"I want to use Kageyama and Hinata as a set," he clarified. The two gave each other a dubious look. "And Tsukishima is one of our few tall players. I want to see how you'll fight against Seijoh."

"Okay," Tsukishima drawled, looking bored.

"Most importantly, you're using Hinata in a position where height matters?" Tanaka asked, not out of malice. He pointed at the board, where the letters "MB" were labeled next to Hinata's name.

"M-Middle blocker?!" As if that just occurred to Hinata, he dropped his mouth. "I'm in the same position as that lanky jerk Tsukishima?!"

"Oh, j-just a second," Takeda exclaimed, picking up a little booklet. "Can I read up on the positions?"

He read them outloud and Mamoru shifted to give him his full attention. This was important. He remembered Ayano explained some of it, but it was a while ago.

"Setter: The control tower that tosses for spikes, and organizes the offense."

"Wing spiker: An all-round, well-balanced player who attacks the core of the opponents."

"Middle Blocker: He defends against the opponent's offense and scores points, mainly using quick attacks. Furthermore, he plays decoy to draw the opponents blocks away."

He lowered the book and looked at Daichi. "Would you say these are right?"

Daichi gave him a friendly, close-eyed smile. "There are other exclusively defensive positions too, but for now, those are all."

Like a libero, Mamoru remembered. Did they have a libero?

"Listen up, Hinata." Kageyama stood up abruptly and pointed a finger at Hinata. "You're the ultimate decoy!"

"The ultimate-" Hinata stood up and let out an excited shout before he realized something. "Decoy?"

He keeled over on his hands and knees, looking highly disappointed. "There's something uninspiring about that."

"We'll let you score lots of points using quick attacks and direct the opponents' attention towards you," Kageyama added. "That's when the other spikers will come into play."

"Big guys like Tsukishima will fall like idiots to your movements." Kageyama's face contorted into something almost like an evil smile. "That'll feel good, won't it?"

He was good at persuading people when it came to volleyball, Mamoru noted in amusement. Hinata's face lit up like an excited puppy as he screeched, "I like it! I like it a lot!"

Behind him, Yamaguchi thrust a finger at Hinata, looking irritated. "Hey, you're not calling Tsuki an idiot, are you?"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."