Stormy Summer

A Winter Tournament

Sorry, this is late again...

University started again, and we had to change our Wi-fi router... So I miscalculated greatly how much work I would need to do for university, while also trying not to lose my internet connection during Zoom-Meetings...

Fun times.

We were at the last match between Fukurodani and Nekoma before nationals.

Rose and I stood at the front, Anna and Charlie sitting in the first row right behind us as we watched along as the other Fukurodaani students cheered loudly at Bokuto's flamboyant entrance.

It was hard to explain, but the atmosphere was a little different in this game. Somehow, our team seemed a lot less hesitant than during other games we saw them play.

Maybe it was because of the excitement of what this match might entail.

Or maybe it was nothing but my imagination.

Looking to my right, however, I saw the same awed expression on Rose's face as I noticed on most of the people cheering around us.

Bokuto's first spike was caught by a girl across the court, cheering for Kuro's team. Somehow, the whole energy level shifted just with that first spike, and Bokuto soon jumped again. Even though they didn't get the point, Bokuto seemed to become even further energized by Yaku's receive.

That was followed by a series of points taken by Bokuto's and Kuro's teams alike. Though, we seemed to have the upper hand for now.

The game seemed to be going well for our team, and Bokuto didn't have one of his episodes yet, so that's a plus, too.

I was only distracted for a second, but by the time I looked back to the court, Kuro seemed to be smirking at a presumably glaring Bokuto.

Sometimes I can't tell their friendship from their rivalry.

But maybe that's what makes their friendship so good.

And if I didn't know what was at stake for both teams, I may not have tried as hard to hide my small laugh as Lev messed up a few times in a row, ending with the ball landing on his head and rolling over Nekoma's side of the court like a sad scene from a movie.

Rose seemed to have the same sentiment as I, holding her hand in front of her mouth to cover up her laugh, while I heard a loud laugh from Anna behind me.

If I didn't know any better, I might have thought that Lev's frustrated glare was directed at her.

Even Kenma seemed highly irritated with Lev's failure to hit the ball.

Kenma doesn't get irritated often, but I remember that he could be scary at times, even when we were kids.

From then on, Nekoma seemed to get even better at blocking, and I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head that something was about to happen.

I kept glancing around the court and the other people watching the game, but nothing came to mind until I saw Akaashi and the other teammates stiffen at something Bokuto said. Akaashi's glance toward their coach was followed by a time out, and confusion seemed to make its way across the gym.

"What are they talking about?" Rose muttered as she leaned in closer, and I strained my ears to hear what the people downstairs were talking about.

"Something about Cross Shots..." I muttered back as that was the only thing I could catch from whatever they were saying.

But the moment was over as soon as it began, as Akaashi said something to Bokuto, which was received with Bokuto's exclamation of how cool Akaashi sounds.

"I don't get it..." Rose mumbled beside me, and I just shrugged.

"At least we don't have school," Anna was suddenly next to us, making us jump slightly.

"We're here to support the team, not just to skip school!" Rose protested, and Anna raised an eyebrow at her.

"Speak for yourself," she replied before glancing at the court.

After the time out, our team quickly won the game, meaning that Bokuto would indeed be going to nationals.

-------------------------------------------

That was last year.

It's truly amazing how fast time flew after that.

Kuro's team had another game that they won, so they would be going to nationals as well.

Sadly, as much as we would've wanted to, we couldn't go and watch their game, since it was during school hours, and we were only allowed to skip school to cheer for our school's teams.

But Kuro didn't miss the chance to tell us all about their game afterward, so it was as if we had been with them through it all.

As spring tournament grew nearer and nearer, I could see Bokuto, Kuro, and even Kenma grow more and more excited by the day.

Just before Bokuto's first game started, we could see him arguing with Akaashi, as he had the same, annoyed expression on his face, ever since he found out when and where he would be playing in his first game.

While Anna and Charlie were speculating over what might have caused his reaction to this new information, I wracked my brain for Akaashi's trash-talk about Bokuto in which he listed several 'weaknesses' that Bokuto has.

But only one of them seemed to stick out in this scenario.

We were currently in a smaller gym.

And Bokuto loves being the center of attention.

Next Update: November 29th, 2020