Of Cats and Crows (Sugawara Koushi)

Hard Losses

Madoka was furious that her own cousin refused to meet up for lunch. Understandably, he was a busy university student. But, that was no excuse for her. It was the day of the game and their last day in the country. She wanted to at least speak to him briefly.

"The more you crinkle your face, the more wrinkles you'll get." Tetsuya spun a volleyball in her hand. Everyone was using this time for some personal practice. Their coach didn't want anyone doing anything too strenuous.

The other middle blocker stuck her tongue out at the vice-captain. She tossed the ball she was holding in her hands and smacked a serve. Madoka's serve ricocheted off of the gallery railing and zoomed to the court where Saki, Hatsukoi, Akira, Mitsumi, Setsuna and Aimi were practicing.

Mitsumi managed to keep the ball up and sent it back in the direction of a waving Nagisa. "Nagisa! Heads up!"

Nagisa caught the ball and hurled it right for Madoka's head. "Oi! Madoka! Be mindful of your surroundings!"

Aimi whistled after witnessing what had just happened. "That was slick!" She cracked her knuckles before setting some empty water bottles up in a line on the opposite side of the court. The five of them were just about to start a friendly game to blow some steam.

"Show off!" Saki stuck her tongue out at her best friend. "You should have just let it go."

"And wack me in the head?! I value my life, you know!" Mitsumi stuck her tongue out back in response. She reached into the cart and grabbed a ball. "Hey! Yukirin! Mind taking some videos!" She spotted the assistant manager dropping some balls into an empty cart.

Yukirin jumped, "Um yeah! I can do that!" She jogged over and pulled her phone out of her jacket. "What are you guys going to film?"

Akira smirked, "We are going to play a little game of who can knock a water bottle over." She pointed to the bottles that were lined up at various points on the court. Each of them had a number written on them that indicated the number of points it was worth.

"It's for the team's YouTube channel." Hatsukoi spun a ball on her finger. She was still responsible for getting content footage of any activities the ladies were up to. In other words, she was the player's social media specialist. "I've got my phone on the tripod right there." She pointed to the set up on the sideline.

"Right! You guys just tell me what you want." Yukirin gave a quick salute and went to man the camera.

...

"GAH! I was so close!" Mitsumi just barely missed the ten point bottle, again. Her frustration was really starting to soar. Everyone chuckled as she made her way to the back of the line. She wasn't in last place, but if Aimi hit the 10-pointer, then she would be. Her serves were usually painfully accurate during games. So, the libero had no idea why she was struggling to hit the water bottles.

Chihiro was jumping up and down. "I wish I could join in on the video! I can still crush Hatsukoi in this game." She and Setsuna held the team point records.

"I'm getting a kick out of how heated Mitsumi is getting." Matsuri suppressed a laugh. Mitsumi wasn't known to get overly competitive. She was rather laid back and passive with her teammates. Although, the captain was aware of the few rivalries the libero had developed. "It's probably Saki and Akira egging her on."

Everyone sighed with a nod. Saki had just beat Setsuna's overall record. The spiker had her arms up in the air in celebration. "Whoo!!! Take that Mitsumi! I finally beat you at a game! You owe me Raman!" Her voice echoed in the gym.

Her sudden exclamation made everyone in the gym laugh. Yukirin panned the camera over to the rest of the team on the opposite court. They all tossed peace signs and hand hearts in response. Sometimes even the professionals needed to have fun.