you were right // kageyama AU

03.

m.j.s

Walking into the boys gym feels foreign and slightly intimidating as if all eyes are on me and any second I could get in trouble for trespassing in private territory. I've been in here countless times attending Daichi's games, but the feeling is completely different when my intention is playing on the court. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. It's not even 4:30; I was just too restless to sit in my dorm room and wait for 5 o'clock to roll around.
"Maihua!" A voice yells from the opposite side of the gym. My head shoots up at the intrusion, afraid it's Coach Ukai ready to rip me a new one. Although the likelihood of that is extremely unlikely, I can't lie and stay the scenario hasn't played through my mind quite a few times. Instead of my self-created anxiety, Nishinoya waves excitedly, jogging over to me. I wave back. "Daichi told us you would be practicing with us today! Are you ready to be taught by the best libero of all time?!"
"The real question is, are you?" I joke, knowing his skills surpass mine in almost every category. He lets out a laugh but before he could say anything, another voice interrupts.
"Ohh!" Another loud voice speaks. "Finally someone to challenge our great guardian!"
A ginger boy walks out of the locker room bouncing a ball back and forth between his arms. His character is similar to that of the short libero's: energetic, bright and a little too loud.
"Shut up, Hinata!" Nishinoya yells at the boy. The boy, Hinata I presume, is probably only as tall as me but the energy emitting from him could be interpreted as someone 7'0. His light eyes and pinched features working together makes for a very cute, almost childish face.        
He turns to me now, "Hi! You're Maihua right? Daichi's sister?" I nod. He brings himself towards Noya and I, inserting himself into our conversation without fear of interrupting us where is might not be wanted. His eyes are even brighter up close and his face looks as though it could never be tainted with sadness.
"Yeah!" I respond excitedly, happy to have this much positive attention as soon as I enter the gym. "Sorry to come in and invade your practice space."
"Are you kidding! I'm so excited to have a girl here!" Hinata says. His composure slacks at the words he decided to string together to form that sentence, eyes widening for a moment. "Not like that! I just think it will be interesting to have you as a part of our dynamic is all!" He corrects himself. "You know, like something new and different!"
"Thank you." I smile, taking my bottom lip between my teeth to keep my eagerness from overrunning my face. "Doesn't practice start at 5? Why are you two here so early?"
"We always come this early. Tadashi and Tsukishima should be here somewhere too." Noya looks around for a moment before turning his attention to the duo that happens to be in front of him. "Come on, let's start without them." He tells me before continuing. "Usually we have Kageyama here to set Hinata and I pass on the other side of the net, but he texted saying he couldn't come early today."
"Yeah, so instead, Noya you should practice your overhand tosses, and maybe if you want to-" Hinata turns to me again. "You can try to receive on the other side? Tsuki usually blocks so whenever he gets here, he can help. Tadashi needs to work on his receives too." He explains. I nod, trying to hold on to his words. Tadashi and Tsukishima: added to my vocabulary. Now all I need is for the two absent players to come forward so I can match a face to a name.
"That sounds amazing!" I try not to sound too excited but it's hard for me to not match Hinata's energy. He reminds me of a slightly more obnoxious version of myself, and I say that in the best way I possibly can.
    I sit down on the bench and grab my white and orange basketball shoes from my bag, sliding them on as quickly as possible while Hinata and Noya line up on the opposite side of the net.
"I'm going to practice line shots so you have less area to cover. I kind of suck at them though so it may not go where I want them to." Hinata warns me bluntly. Every time he opens his mouth I can't help but like him more and find similarities in himself and me. He's so... honest.
"You got it." I tell him, saluting him dramatically. He smiles at me with his extremely white teeth before turning his concentration to his own libero.
I step onto the court and survey my surroundings, taking a deep breath to focus my attention on the hitter in front of me. I rub my hands onto the sides of my shoes before squatting down into receiving position.
I watch as Hinata throws the ball to Nishinoya. Noya sets it just a little too far from the net so Hinata is forced to adjust. The ball makes contact with Hinata's open hand, sending the ball to the back edge of my side of the open court. This type of hit forces me to take the ball as an overhand toss.
Before being a libero, my designated position was actually as a setter. At my high school, I was one of the taller players, surprisingly, even though I was only 5'8, I was allowed a spot at the front of the court. Unlike most players, I played all around the court, never once stepping off unless I was off my game. This experience led me to become a very well-rounded player in all positions on the court.
The ball flies forward, nearly perfectly making it to the setter's position had there been one standing there.
"Woah! Maihua that was cool!" Hinata speaks. "Noya sucks at overhand passing."
"I do not-"
"Hinata, I hate to break it to you but that spike didn't have much power or spin to it. I've passed harder hits from the girls' team," I tell him, not wanting the credit. His face immediately drops. "No! I'm sorry! It's not that the hit was bad! Nishinoya messed up the toss anyway; it was too far from the net!"
Shit, that was kind of mean too.
"She is right. You couldn't even do your full approach. I'll fix it next time. Thank you for the advice, Maihua!" Noya winks at me, taking my unintentional criticism as constructive while giving me a thumbs up. I smile although slightly embarrassed by my accidental deprecating comments.
The next couple of hits are not nearly as easy to get. I begin to gain respect for the 5'8 outside hitter. After a few more though, I find my groove, passing up nearly 75% of Hinata's intended line shots.
"Damn, Maihua, you're quite the libero," Nishinoya compliments when we decide to take a two-minute break.
"Maybe she could be our guardian instead of you," Hinata says in joking seriousness. I can't help but smile at the compliment, a slight blush rising on my cheeks at the boy's utter praise. Noya immediately jumps at the small ginger, Hinata barely escaping the sophomore's grasp. They run around the court for a minute before being interrupted by voices streaming out from the locker room.
An extremely tall blonde comes out with a grayish green-haired kid a few inches shorter.
Names to faces.