Fly (Keishin Ukai) - COMPLETED

14 - First Attempt

one-step

two-step

three-step

JUMP!

Yuki's arm swung forward, a smile formed on her face as her heels left the ground. She was going to jump. She was going to-

"YUKI!" Keishin ran forward, stopping the falling ball from hitting her head. He had almost forgotten that Yuki was struggling to jump.

"I didn't j-jump..." she mumbled, realising she had just raised to her tiptoes.

"It's okay, we try again," he said, grabbing another volleyball and walking back to where he stood before. Yuki nodded and tried not to show her disappointment; she could not expect to jump again straight away.

The two repeated the process many times, but to no avail. After over half an hour of trying, she bent over exhausted her hands rested on her knees to hold herself up.

"I can't d-do it..." she murmured, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"It's fine, you'll do it soon," he replied, walking over to her and handing her a bottle of water. She mumbled a 'thank you' before chugging it down. She stared at the net as the two stayed in silence for a few moments.

"W-what if I can't s-spike?" Keishin raised an eyebrow to her. "I can't e-even jump. I'm worried t-that once I-I jump I won't be a-able to s-spike..." His hand went to his chin as he thought deeply. He needed to help her, but if she could not get to the right height, how would they know if she could spike.

Yuki had taken a seat on one of the benches as she took big gulps of her drink. "I got it," Keishin clicked his fingers and ran off before she could ask anything. She went to stop him but instead sighed to herself. She stared at the water bottle that was in her hand, her fingers tapping on it.

"Don't be nervous. We're going to win." Yuki told the first-year setter - Amni.

"I'm not nervous..." Amni lied. Yuki breathed a laugh. She leaned down to Amni, her fingertips tapping on the bottle, copying the first-year setter.

"You always do that when you're nervous," Yuki smiled. "We got this." Amni gave a soft smile and nodded. "Now come give me some sets."

"Damn, that's heavier than it looks," Keishin breathed out heavily as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his forearm. Yuki glanced up to see a step ladder beside the net. "Alright, ready?" He asked, bringing his hands together, a soft smile on his face as he looked towards Yuki.

"R-ready?"

"Yeah, well if you can't jump to the height to spike, you can stand on this - at least we can see if you can still spike."

Yuki's mouth hung open, but the side of her lips pulled up, giving her an open mouth smile. She felt a mix of emotions, but mainly she was shocked that he would go through so much effort to help her.

"Let's do it." She said, a new sudden spring to her step as she approached him.

Yuki made her way to the top of the stepladder. It was thick and easy for Yuki to stand on. When at the top of it, she could see just over the net. Keishin was standing opposite her on the floor.

"Alright, just, eh - hit it." He told her.

"To you?"

"Yeah, I'll receive it." He bent his knees, ready for her spikes.

"Eh - okay..." Yuki mumbled as she looked down at the volleyball that sat in between her hands. "Just hit it..."

"Throw it up first, like you're serving and just give it a good smack!" He told her.