❝Dad, why did you shake hands after the game? You lost.❞ Six year old Kagami asked her father on their way back home after a match between the national Japan team and the national Argentinia team.
He didn't play, he was only a benchwarmer, but he still took his wife and only daughter to see it. The little girl was quite insistent on going and cheering on their team. She loved volleyball. She loved playing it and she loved watching it. Any opportunity to watch it up close and personal didn't go untouched by her, and who was he as a father to deny her those.
"Shaking hands after a game shows good sportsmanship."
"Sportsmanship?" The little girl repeated confused.
The father smiled softly at her confusion, "It's a way of saying that you respect the match and the other team."
"But you lost," the little girl said with furrowed eyebrows, "Aren't you mad at them?"
The man chuckled, "Of course I am, but winning is not everything. When you loose you learn what you need to improve on as a team and yourself."
Young Kagami pouted at that, "But loosing is no fun at all. I'd rather win."
"Kagami," the father said sternly, making the little girl look up at him with curious eyes, "I don't want you to enjoy volleyball only because you're good at it and you keep winning. I want you to enjoy volleyball, because you like the sport and the people you play it with."
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"I can't believe you did this," Yoshikawa Kagami said to Kaede Ennoshita, while tying up the laces of her gym shoes.
The blonde, who was doing some warm up stretches, grinned, "I know, I'm pretty great."
"I think she meant that in a negative way," her older brother chimed in from the side. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be here, but it's not like he had another choice.
"No, she didn't."
"Yeah, I did."
Kaede's face fell, "And here I thought you were trying to compliment me."
