Of Cats and Crows (Sugawara Koushi)

Recognition

The beauty of a National tournament was that the ladies had some time to rest before the quarter-finals. The last matches of the third round would be starting soon. Coach insisted that the ladies take care of themselves before their practice later in the afternoon. The men were already in their assigned gym getting ready for their match.

Mitsumi had promised to go out for breakfast with Matsuki. Everyone went out for the usual morning workout and returned to the hotel to catch some extra sleep. At least some of them tried too. Shimura insisted they watched the games that were currently going on in her room. So some of the team congregated there. The two liberos had found a cafe not too far away from the hotel.

Matsuki had been wanting to do this for a while. She was graduating soon, and that meant her volleyball career was coming to a close. And this was the first time she had a junior libero. "So, what was up with you and that chick last night?" She spun her spoon around in her cup of coffee.

The burnette blinked a couple times. "Oh!" She said remembering her conversation with Tsukibahara. "You're talking about Tsukibahara. Apparently, she found out she didn't make the National team." Mitsumi tore a piece of her flaky croissant off. "She apologized to me too."

"EH?! That's crazy!" Matsuki dropped her spoon on her saucer. "Have you heard anything?" The girl across from her shook her head. "Don't sweat it. You have time."

"Don't tell anyone I said this, but-" Mitsumi swallowed the food she had in her mouth. "I don't really care if I don't make it. I'm working on my degree and being on the volleyball team is just an added bonus." She felt her heart squeeze. There was something off about her statement. And the lie in it surged through her body.

Matsuki hummed a bit. "How's the whole piano thing going for you?"

"It's a fun mess. I'm honestly nowhere near the skills of my classmates, but I'm doing something I love." Mitsumi smiled at the mere thought of her chaotic piano friends and stared at her plate. "It's been worth it."

"Wait... Are you saying that you would toss your chance at playing on a world class team because of school?!"

There was a tense pause. Mitsumi wiped her mouth with her napkin and crumpled it into a ball. "Maybe... I don't know." She hadn't quite figured it out for herself yet.

Matsuki nodded and finished her meal. "Well, you can figure that out later.  It's a great opportunity for an opportunist like you. But for now, we have to kick Hiroshima University where the sun doesn't shine!" She paid for their meal with a smile. "I'd keep a close tab on your email though."

...

"Everything is an uphill battle from here!" Coach Yamata was glad to see that Shimura's ankle was back to normal. Honestly, everyone was relieved that she was going to be playing again. They were worried that they would have to figure out what to do without their beloved captain. "We need to make sure every attack we make is a warning for everyone else that we are going to be dominating the court and won't we back down after a tough day!"

Everyone nodded with enthusiasm before breaking off to change into their jerseys. Apparently, the other team would be wearing white, so everyone would be changing into their alternate uniform. Mitsumi hadn't gotten the chance to wear her white and gold jersey. She had grown attached to the familiar baby blue one, so it felt a bit odd to be wearing what she saw her teammates wear so frequently. She re-tied her shoes and remade her ponytail.

"Has anyone seen my elbow pad?" She had some painful bruises from the previous day. So, the libero decided it would be best to play with one today. But, after tearing her bag apart, she couldn't find it. And she had just been wearing it.