Just because I'm a girl

Inter-high

"Good job, everyone!" Yells Coach after practice. "That's enough for today."

Another exhausting day, I've had to wake up at 4 in the morning this whole week to make it to skating on time. I just stick with Kenjiro. Skating every morning and volleyball after school. Dad's coming back tomorrow, and Tadashi, Nisha and I are going to go pick him up from the airport.

We finish cleaning the gym, and I notice some of the guys reading a magazine.

"What's that you guys got?" I ask as I take a seat.

"Here," says Ryu-Senpai, handing me the latest issue of Monthly Volleyball. I read the headline on the open page.

"'Special feature: Nations top high school players.' Let's take a look."

"Out of all the players mentioned in there," explains ryu-senpai. "There are three that they've picked for the top talents. One of them is Shiratorizawa's Ushiwaka."

I couldn't help the laugh.
"What kind of a name is Ushiwaka? That has got to be a nickname."

"Isn't Shiratorizawa that school that rejected Kageyama?"
"Can it, runt!" Tobio yells at Shoyo. Oh my goodness, these two are going to be the death of me.

"So," I clear my throat. "Who is this Ushiwaka guy?"
"You mean you've never heard of him?" Ryu-Senpai asks in shock. I shake my head.

"My only heroes are my cousin Yuri, his coach Viktor and the Tiny Giant."

"Ahh yes," crooned Nisha. "The famous Tiny Giant. How is he doing these days?" Nisha, I will not hesitate to throw you in the trash. Too late, Shoyo already heard.

"Noya-san, you know the Tiny Giant, too?"
"Well sure I do. He's-"
"Your hero, too!" I shout. "We get it, now please shut up!"
Kei and Tadashi laugh, Ryu-senpai is shocked, and Nisha just has a blank look on his face. I grab his collar and lean into his ear.
"Breathe one word, and you're dead, got it?" He nods timidly and I let go.
"Anyway, let's get back to this article. It says here that Ushiwaka is Miyagi's superstar ACE, no doubt."

"Hmm," Daichi looks over my shoulder. "He definitely has that 'I'm the Ace' look to him." He turns to Asahi with a sour face.

"H-hey! What are you looking at me for?"

I turn back to the magazine. Ushiwaka's full name is Ushijima Wakatoshi. 3rd year. Looking at his stats, his height and power, he has everything going for him. I flip a couple of pages and stop at a picture of a creepy looking guy with red hair. Not ginger, but full-on fire truck red. Tendou Satouri. Middle blocker. His nickname is 'The Guess Monster,' and his specialty is read blocking. It'll be a good challenge retrieving this guy's blocks.

"If we don't beat Shiratorizawa," says Shoyo. "We won't get to play Nekoma, right?" Well no, we won't.

"Woah, Woah, woah, back it up, shrimpy," says Coach Ukai. "Shiratorizawa isn't the only good team out there. Yes, there are last year's top four finishers. But there are a few other teams this year that we should keep our eyes on in the mean time." He takes a piece of paper outof his jacket. "First up, Wakunan.  Their strength is defense and passing. Not overly tall, but their high-level receiving let's them set up any attack. With their strongest player, Nakashima Takeru, a third-year, the whole team has gone up a notch. Next, there's a team with great defense. Just in a different way to Wakunan. A team that can be summed up in two words, 'Iron Wall'- Dateko High School." Oh no. "They have the tallest, strongest blockers in the prefecture." Asahi stiffens beside me. "From what I heard, you guys went up against them in the March tournament and lost 2-0, right?" Suga, Nisha and Asahi all look down, and I can see the wheels turning in Tobio and Shoyo's heads. What were they told? "Dateko are on a level to be one of the top four schools in the prefecture, but thanks to bad luck, they drew eventual winner Shiratorizawa in round 3, and ended up in the top 16. That means, that they weren't seeded into this years tournament. So in other words, depending on how the brackets shake out this year, it isn't impossible for us to hit them in round 1." Ok, not good. "Whatever block Dateko are in will have not only one, but two top level teams in it. Winning that block is going to be a fight, that's for sure." The team is silent, and Coach continues.

"Next is a team you guys have played already. Their best defensive player is, oddly enough, their setter. He's a monster at both serving and setting. In fact, I'd say he's the best all-round player in the prefecture." Don't say it, please don't say it. "Aoba Josai, and Oikawa Tooru." Tadashi and I both grimace, for different reasons. Tadashi because during our game against Seijo, Oikawa aimed purposely at Kei, because he was weak. "And last but not least, Shiratorizawa. They boast the super elite ace, Ushijima Wakatoshi. They are the undisputed perennial champions of this prefecture." He folds up the page and puts it away. "And that's about it. I'll go into more detail about each later."

"Before Nishinoya and I came back," Asahi speaks up. "The rest of you played Seijo in a practice match and won, right?"

"Well, Yeah," replied Suga. "But Oikawa himself sat out until the last few rallies. And the second he came onto the court, they had us on the ropes."

Nisha looks at me with a questioning look, and I nod. Oikawa is their captain, yes. But he's also a setter. And a talking trashcan, never forget that.

Coach clears his throat.
"Anyways, for Now, those four are my personal list of this years top four teams. Of course, if all you ever do is look up, then someone is going to come along and knock your feet right out from underneath you. Every one who goes to that tournament, goes for one reason only: to win. Nobody wants to lose. And while we're here working ourselves to the bone practicing, everyone else is doing the same. Powerhouse or perennial cupcake, everyone who really wants to win is working. Never forget that.
"Yes, Coach!"
"So let's get to this. And remember. Never let any of those other teams ever, ever, call us 'flightless crows' ever again."
"Yes, Coach!"

Later

I'm standing by Nisha and Asahi, talking about the team's we're going to play in the preliminaries.

"Y'know," Nisha says. "Coach Ukai has a good point. I don't ever want to lose again. All I'm going to think about is winning. And if we're going to keep winning, that means running into Dateko sooner or later." The conversation lulls for a moment, each of us in our own thoughts. If Dateko are masters of blocking, then i need to start practicing block-ball retrieval. And if we do end up playing Shiratorizawa, then i need to start practicing with Dad again once he gets back. Dad is ambidextrous and can spike really well with his left hand. I read through the article again, and Ushijima is left-handed. If i can build on these, then i can stand in for Nisha with no fear. And the spikers won't have to lose any confidence either, if I'm as good as my cousin.

The door is pulled open, giving everyone a fright.
"Is everyone still here?!" Oh, it's just Taketa-Sensei. "I'm sorry I'm late, my meeting dragged on forever." He steps in and closes the door. "But I got the bracket listing for the Inter-high!" Seriously? We all gather around to see.

Oh no. We're in the same block as Dateko.

"Look who else has been seeded into our block," I say as I point to Seijo. The energy of the team changes. I can't put my finger on it, but it's different.

"Hey," Coach grabs our attention. "Don't tell me you already forgot what i just said."

"We haven't, Coach," Daichi reassures him. We're going to focus on the game in front of us, and win it.