effervescent (nishinoya yū)

CHAPTER ONE / the libero

"Ahh, dammit!"

Ennoshita stared at you with a confused smile as you dug into your bento with shameless anger and gusto. Is she worse than Nishinoya? he wondered to himself, amazed that there was even a competition.

It had been a little over a week since you got to Karasuno. Today was Friday, and under any other circumstance you would have been ecstatic, but as it stood you could barely keep your rage under control.

"I've never seen a team as unmotivated as ours!" you ranted to Ennoshita, kicking your legs out in front of you. "Michimiya is the only one that's really keeping them afloat. I like all of them as people, but I just don't understand how people can't put their all into something that they supposedly enjoy!"

You squeezed your box between your hands and grumbled to yourself, a dark aura radiating off you in waves. Ennoshita saw a few other students flinch and immediately turn the other way.

Ennoshita took a bite from his onigiri. "Are you guys having a practice after school?"

You shook your head, growing even more irritated. "Michimiya has an appointment and I know the other girls won't even think about showing up unless she's there." You muttered to yourself as you stabbed your chopsticks into a slice of salmon and bit into it angrily.

"Well, you can try coming to ours then!" Ennoshita's smile grew a little kinder as you looked up at him, a piece of rice stuck to your cheek. "We're getting ready for a practice match against Nekoma next week, so a lot of the guys are really motivated. You might be able to learn something from our libero."

You smirked. "I think it'll be more him learning from me than the other way around." Ennoshita held his hands up in surrender. You leaned back in your chair and hummed. "There's no harm in going, I suppose. As long as I can toss around a volleyball, then I'm all good for it."

He patted your shoulder a few times. "Great! After school, I'll take you over there. I think you'll get along great with the other guys. They all share your passion for volleyball and they're really energetic."

"Oh, my kind of people!" You rubbed your hands together and flinched as the bell rang. "Come on, let's get to class. Mister Sato won't be happy with us if we're late."

A chill ran down Ennoshita's back. "Definitely not. He already hates us because we disrupt his class."

You tied your bento back up and put it in your backpack. "It's more me than you, but that's definitely a reason!"

After classes finished, Ennoshita headed to the club room to change into his athletic clothing while you walked on ahead to Gym 1. When you got there, there were only three other guys. They all seemed to be third-years, judging by their heights, but what surprised you the most was...

"Sugawara!"

He turned and grinned. "Oh, I didn't know you were coming! How are things going with the girls' volleyball club?"

"Not important." You pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You never told me you were on the volleyball team!"

The tallest guy looked between you and Sugawara. "Ah, Suga...?"

"Right!" He pointed at you with his thumb and introduced you to his friends. "She's the transfer second-year that just came in last week. She plays libero for the girls!"

The last third-year made a noise of recognition and pounded his fist into his hand. "You're the one Michimiya was talking about!" He walked up to you and smiled with a little bow. "My name is Sawamura Daichi. I'm the captain of Karasuno's volleyball team. Michimiya has told me a lot of good things about you and your performance. I'm impressed!"