Karasuno's Queen of the School [Kageyama Tobio]

[19] Tomo's First Serve

It didn't take long for Shimizu and Sawamura-Kun to start helping me organize my new approach so the rest of the members could start trying it too. Even after the silent mutual agreement regarding Kageyama and Hinata needing special attention, the transition to formal training was actually fairly easy.

To make matters simple, Shimizu had taken Tanaka-San, Tsukishima, and Hinata while the Captain took over Suga, Yamaguchi, and Nishinoya-Kun. To avoid any further conflicts, Kageyama and Ennoshita-Kun had stuck with me.

I was proud to say that my method had started off well.

"Alright! Good answer, go ahead and receive!" Sawamura's voice boomed to my left, making me flinch at the loud smack the volleyball made.

Yamaguchi beamed with pride and rushed over to meet the ball that Sawamura had served him, returning it with more confidence than I had ever seen him do.

Internally, I felt disappointed that I couldn't send the ball over to help my team practice even more. Even Shimizu could underhand serve and was doing just fine. I, however, was having Kageyama and Ennoshita-Kun serve on their own.

I bit my tongue and looked forward.

"I'm sorry I can't serve it to you guys," I said with a sigh, lifting my pencil to start another round of quizzing. "Hopefully, we'll switch partners soon so you can get a chance to receive."

Shifting the weight from my foot, I pointed to the next question when Ennoshita-Kun stepped forward, extending the volleyball to me gently with a warm smile. I blinked and glanced at him to Kageyama, who was staring at the ground and avoiding eye-contact.

It had been Kageyama's turn to answer, why would he stop?

"Why don't you at least try, Tomo-San?" He offered, nudging his chin over to the serving line I was standing on. I jumped and immediately began shaking my head, flustered.

"N-No way!" I exclaimed with wide eyes, teeth starting to tremble. "I-I can't serve! I don't h-have that coordination, you g-guys won't even b-be able t-to--"

"If you really want to help us, then you would try with making attempts yourself too," Kageyama's low voice interrupted, shutting me up instantly. He hadn't looked up but even so, his words struck me directly.

I shuffled on my feet for a few seconds before hesitantly taking the ball, trying desperately to ignore the trembling my hand was doing. Ennoshita smiled at me and Tanaka, who was on the complete opposite side of the court, began to cheer.

"TOMO-CHAN IS ABOUT TO TRY HER FIRST SERVE!"

My shaking increased as everyone slowly stopped their training and turned to look at me, each person flashing me positive and kind signs of encouragement.

Even Tsukishima was now watching intently.

"You can underhand serve, just like Shimizu-San," Suga shouted to me with a clap.

I gulped.

A pair of hands took hold my shoulders and moved my paralyzed body to the other side of the court and I stiffened when I began calculating the distance from myself to Kageyama.

Hinata ruffled my hair before jogging back to his spot.

"Whenever you're ready," Kageyama said, bending his knees and opening his arms. "I... p-promise I won't get mad if you miss."

My heart skipped a beat and everyone stared wide-eyed at Kageyama's announcement. I hadn't expected him to be so encouraging, but it did make me feel a bit better.