Vixen of the Court - Haikyuu x Various

Chapter 40 - Past and Present

"If you want to continue with that stupid hobby of yours than at least be good at it!" A middle aged woman yelled sternly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she meticulously stared down at her daughter who trembled.

"I'm sorry mother", young Kimiko apologized relentlessly, trying to hide the quivering of her upper lip as she served another ball under her mother's analytical gaze.

"3rd best? Is that enough for you? If you can't even get to first than you should quit."

SLAP!

Kimiko winced as pain jolted up her right arm. No, it wasn't good enough. More, more, she needed to get better if she wanted the stinging to stop.

She stayed silent as a second slap came, knowing better than to speak out when her mom was in one of her moods. In fact, she knew better than to speak at all; that's why she hid the bruises at school.

If they knew she would only be labeled as that 'pitiful attention seeker.'

They would make fun of her for being so weak.

Knowing that, what was the point? Her father could easily make the school to turn a blind eye to the situation with a single paycheck anyways.

Kimiko closed her eyes, imagining her mother's hawk eyes weren't boring into the back of her skull.

Exhaling, she tossed the ball up before slamming it down, propelling it towards the ground with great force.

"Again."

...

CURRENT TIME: 2020, Asian Championships

LOCATION: Seoul, Korea

"IT'S KIMIKO UDAI!!" A loud, overly enthusiastic shriek rang out from a die-heart fan sitting in the crowd.

"I haven't seen her play since U.S Nationals two years ago! Look at her, still smoking as ever!"

"WE LOVE YOU KIMIKO!"

"The ONLY top 3 female ace in the WORLD and still rocking it! SHOW THEM SOME GIRL POWER!"

"Dummy, They're all girls!"

"Oop-..Youch!!"

The audience screamed as Kimiko slammed the ball narrowly past a triple block, scoring another point. It was odd how most of the Korean audience was also cheering for her, but that would soon flip once Japan was up against Korea.

However, for now, the majority of the crowd was rooting for Japan amongst the many other teams.

Simply because Kimiko Udai was on it.

"Strain their setter and serve towards their outside hitter, she has weak receives", Kimiko informed the team and they nodded in agreement. "Their #3 has a delayed reaction time, so aim it'll be easier to throw her off."

For the first bracket, the girls were going up against Malaysia. The opponents had a strong team, but within a matter of minutes, Kimiko was already able to weasel out the major flaws within them.