Of Cats and Crows (Sugawara Koushi)

Preliminaries

Everyone loaded the bus in the morning sunrise. They were off to the Sumida City Arena for their first tournament of the season. Thankfully, everyone had been able to get permission to take the last of their exams a day earlier. Coach Yamata had threatened everyone into taking a nap on the way to the stadium. Well, he attempted to threaten everyone.

"First tournament bus selfie!" Watanabe sat next to Mitsumi and held her phone up. "We need to send this one to the girls and wish them luck this weekend." She sent a text in the old Nekoma chat.

Mitsumi was always getting caught up in the photos. She leaned her head on the window and watched the scenery pass on by. She was tired from the mental strain that exams had put on her. But, she was excited to have a full weekend dedicated to beating the living crap out of people in her favorite sport.

By the time they had arrived at the stadium, not many teams had arrived yet. Suga found Mitsumi and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Good luck today!"

"You too Koushi." She smiled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Let's do our best today."

The girls went to put their bags down in their designated break room. Mitsumi scrolled through the program on her phone. Narita University is our first opponent. Hopefully, it isn't too bad. She had no idea what Narita's team was like. Her teammates seemed really relaxed about the announcement, so she had no need to worry. The first round should be a breeze for them.

Nomiya pulled on her light blue jersey, "Hey Cap, what are Narita's most recent stats?" She said as she stepped into her court shoes.

"Meh, they aren't anything special. We will probably breeze through the entry rounds." Shimura said confidently. They were the feared ones around town. Tokyo University was one of the great powerhouse schools in the country.

Yuki chuckled as she slid her knee pads on. "Come on, Nomiya! We aren't here to grill stats." She even knew that they would be fine.

"I'm headed out!" Mitsumi tied her ribbons in her hair as she stepped out of the locker room. She tugged on her jacket sleeves and went to their team's assigned practice court to start warming up. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders as she began her warm-up routine. Motivational music blasted through her Bluetooth earbuds. This tournament was their chance to automatically make it into the top 16 for the qualifying tournament.

Coach Yamata was sitting on a bench with Riza watching everyone warm up. He ran his fingers through his caramel-colored hair. It was a big relief that everyone was pumped up for the tournament. Especially after a long strenuous week of midterms. Hopefully, everyone still had the mental capacity to focus.

...

The first two rounds were a breeze. Due to an odd number of teams, Tokyo University was the unlucky group that had to play the third game that day. If they won, they would be going to the semifinals. Rikkyo University, our last match of the day, and our first real challenge. Mitsumi was feeling super worn out. The boys were done for the day. They only had to play twice. And they seemed to have won their matches both with straight sets. She managed to get a twenty-minute power nap during their lunch break. And it was magical.

Mitsumi huddled with her teammates before going onto the court. They were all praying that Rikkyo wouldn't cause too many issues this year. Shimura had a really grim look on her face. Everyone was tired and worn out. But, so was their opponent. She could spot the yellow jerseys out of the corner of her eye. "Last year, Rikkyo put us at a nasty deuce in the third set. We are all exhausted, so let's wear them out before they can get to us! Tokyooooo-"

"FIGHT!" Everyone ran off to their starting positions. Mitsumi took a deep breath. Coach Yamata showed them videos of Rikkyo's most notable plays. Most of them weren't super flashy. But they were incredibly efficient in their movements. They were known for their guess blocks. So, as long as the spikers and setter could read the opposite team, they would be okay.