Set, Dunk, or Akashi Seijuro

Small Match

"Speaking normally."

Thinking in thoughts.

'Talking on the phone.'

"Speaking English."

In the previous chapter:

They continued that conversation and agreed that later, after practice, they would play against one another.

Yamaguchi came not long after that and bid 'good morning' to Akira. She waved at him and gave him some omurice and veggies too.

They then started to get to know each other a bit before being interrupted by shouting. They turned to see Nishinoya and Tsukishima fighting about who knows what. The libero attempting to steal the blonde's glasses.

"Those are your teammates?" Yoshida grinned at Akira while pointing her thumb at the guys.

While it was a stupid fight, Akira couldn't stop herself from crouching and hiding her face. Then calming herself down, standing up, and putting on the best smile she said,

"Nope, they're complete strangers to me."

Small Match

After losing another set to Nekoma, 15-25, the boys had to run up the hill. Sadly, it was still early in the morning. Akira watched as they ran up, came back down, grabbed their water, and waited patiently for their next match.

By the third time they lost, Akira had stopped writing in her journal and copied their moves from just observing them. It had been a while since she used her eye to copy moves. She watched as they were on break. She then began thinking about strategies, attacks, defenses, passes, shots, dribbling. The train of thought came to a stop. Those last aren't volley plays, those are basket ones. She thought and her face turned into a small scowl before remembering why. Yoshida. That earned a smile. Gosh! Why was she feeling this way?

Just then, the three managers from Fukurodani walked in, being led by a single manager from Ubugawa. All of them were holding a tray of sliced watermelon. "The parents from Shinzen High gave us some watermelons!" She announced. Everyone cheered and happily went outside, waiting patiently for the fruit to be passed out.

The rest of the managers went to the kitchen to cut the rest of the fruit before walking back outside to pass them out. Once everyone had received their first slice, they were welcome to get more. By the time all the fruit disappeared, Akira was sitting down and eating her slice while having a conversation with Fumiko. They talked about their likes, dislikes, and where they lived. One thing Akira did learn was Funiko's ethnicity. She was mixed race, her mom being Japanese and her father being El Salvadorian. It sort of explained her eye and hair color. But knowing that information made her even better.

— — — — — — — — — —

Hours had gone by now, the sun was starting to set over the horizon. But to Karasuno, nothing had changed. They had lost every single match. Once again, they had rotated back to playing against Nekoma, which they lost, 16-25.

As they walked back down the hill, the managers were waiting for them with full water bottles and smiles on their faces. They all rested for a few minutes before walking back inside. Akira stood off to the side and continued to speculate the matches, not letting anything slip her vision. She wrote every single detail she could.

Their next match was against Ubugawa, and she had time to spare. So she spent it talking to Fumiko. Even though they had little in common, they just worked great together.

Halfway into their match against Ubugawa, the points were not bad. 11-17, with them losing. Tsukishima hit the ball over the net, earning his team another point. Akira noted that although he had the height, he refused to go all out.