The Demon's Little Sister

8

"I'm so sorry, Y/n. I suck and let you down."

You shook your head, consoling the saddened Lev. "It's fine, Lev. That went much better than I originally thought it might."

"No, no. He totally sucks, Y/n." Kuroo was somehow managing to hold in his laughter.

Your brother, however, was nothing short of pissed. "How could you have done something so stupid?! My little sister is supposed to be one of the smartest people around- and here she is, bringing in a ridiculously tall idiot that's completely useless to a volleyball team!"

You pouted. "Don't say those mean things about Lev! He tried his best! Isn't that worth something?"

Surprisingly, Kenma decided to speak up. "Sort of... but it wasn't enough this time, Y/n. You brought in someone with absolutely no experience with volleyball. Even with putting in all his effort, that doesn't make up for all the years of experience we all have over him. It would be a miracle if he managed to become even averagely decent within all 3 years of high school."

"Ouch.... That hurts more coming from you, Kenken...."

Kuroo nodded. "Kenma's brutally honest."

Lev sunk into a corner, obviously unhappy with how everything went.

You felt bad for the poor boy. "Come on. There's no way he can't make any improvements if we work really hard with him."

Coach Nekomata seemed to agree with you. "That's completely correct, Y/n. You remember our deal, don't you?"

You perked up a little, turning to Lev with more energy than he could match at the moment. "Right! Lev! From here on out, I'll be training you! I'll make sure you can play just as well as everyone else here by the time we have our first match in the Inter-High prelims!" You walked over to his corner and stood above his curled up form.

Lev perked up slightly, looking up to make eye contact with him. "Really?"

You nodded, completely filled with confidence. "Yep! I promise you'll improve quickly!"

He quickly stood up, a smile spreading on his lips. "Ok! I'm in your care then!" He bowed to you, one filled with respect and appreciation.

"So... how do you expect to make a shitty player like him at least average at playing volleyball?"

While stopping at a convenience store on the way home with the team, Kuroo had turned to you and asked the question with a brow raised. He only asked out of curiosity.

But that question was enough to remind you of how much work you had just given yourself. "I haven't gotten even the slightest idea. Any of you have at least one idea?"

"This is your responsibility. Don't ask us for help just because you took on more than you could actually handle." Kenma didn't even look up from his psp.

You groaned, deflating. "I'm just asking for suggestions on how to go about this...."

Morisuke glanced at you from the corner of his eye. "We're not helping with this one, Y/n. Sorry. None of us wanna take care of that stupidly useless bean pole."

At this point, you couldn't hold back your newfound frustration with all the members of the team. "All of you are being absolutely ridiculous! And ungrateful! I actually try to help the team by finding a really tall boy that was willing to join the team and learn to play volleyball! But all I get is critism for my choice! The least you could was thank for my intention!" You turned your back to the boys, crossing your arms over your chest while letting out your breath in a harsh huff.

Inuoka and Shibayama flinched, slowly moving closer.

"It was actually a really good decision for defense purposes...." Shibayama tried consoling you.

Inuoka nodded and added more to it. "And with some hard work, he could actually become a decent middle blocker. We might not even need to worry about his receives too much, since he'll end up switching out with a libero once he gets to the back row."

You sighed, letting out some of the tension your muscles held. "None of you really think that'll happen. And no one's gonna help me- not even to give suggestions on how I should go about training him...."

Seeing you pout and start sulking- along with your frustrated outburst- was the breaking point for Kuroo. "It could really happen, in theory."

You turned your head just enough to look at the captain. "How would I even go about that?"

He smirked. "By having a current middle blocker help out."

You quirked a brow at his statement. "Have a middle blocker help me train Lev to be a middle blocker? Where are you going with this, Tetsu?"

"I'll give ya a hand. I am the team's captain afterall. I'll help ya a bit since I'm the best middle blocker here, and one of the overall best players currently on the team."

The bright smile returned to your face. "Really?! You will?! Thank you so much, Tetsu!"

Kuroo held up his hand. "However."

You nearly deflated again. "There's always a catch...."

"I'm not spending all my time on him. You need to be the one to actually do the work. I'll simply give my advice and allow you to call me over if you ever need help showing him anything. Of course, I'll also be more than happy to aim my spikes and serves at Lev to train his receives."

"That seems kinda excessive there, Tetsu...."

He shook his head. "Nekoma is all about defense. If he can't even handle what I throw at him, then he has no chance of even thinking about taking on any of our opponents within the prefecture. He won't be able to handle the top spikers we have to face every year."

"Bokuto Koutarou from Fukurodani and Sakusa Kiyoomi from Itachiyama, right?"

"Exactly. If we can get him to be able to easily handle Yamamoto and I, then we shouldn't have too much to worry about when it comes to facing other oppenents."

You brightened up at that thought. "Alright! Receives first! Then... maybe blocks since he's gonna be a middle blocker... right?"

Kenma murmured, joining in the conversation again. "Sounds about right. The only other things you'd have to worry about after training him with defense will be his serve and spikes. Which are much easier than perfecting blocks and receives. If you go with that kind of training, then your workload can only get easier as you progress."

"Alright! I'm ready to train Lev! How hard can it really be?"