Karasuno's Managers: Little Ukai and The Vulnerable

2: Tasers, Pepper Spray, and Nets

It was just after ten o'clock when both Mirae and Emiko were called down to Takeda Sensei's office. They shared a questioning look as they waited. After ten minutes, the secretary ushered them forward.

Takeda Sensei glanced up from the pile of papers on his desk and smiled at the two girls. He waved them over to the conference room and then shut the door.

"How are you?"

"Well you did just pull me out of a torturous lesson on water molecules, so I'm amazing." Emiko stretched her arms out, feeling new energy fill her body. "Oh, I can still feel Akira glaring at the back of my head though. Just breathing the same air as that demon takes a toll on me."

"Right," he said after a pause. "I was going to wait until after practice to tell you, but I am so excited I cannot wait. Mirae, Emiko, you have been chosen as two of the lucky few to partake in the Japanese Sports' Association's newest program; the Manager Convention."

After a breath of silence, Emiko whistled. "Sounds important."

"It is," Mirae nodded. "I heard they were setting up a leadership program for high school students."

"That's right. It is a new initiative to encourage young people to become leaders in management. The Japanese Sports Association had representatives at many tournaments and games throughout these few months who were watching the players as well as their team managers."

Emiko jumped on the chair and screamed, "Mr. Watanabe!"

"Shut-up," Mirae tugged her back down. "I'm sorry Takeda Sensei, please continue."

"You two caught their eyes and they've extended an invitation."

Emiko squealed. "What'd we win? Money? Food? Money for food?"

"That's not quite how this works," he blushed, "the program runs for about two weeks. You will be placed in other schools where you will assist as sports managers to the coaches and learn new leadership qualities. At the end of the program, you'll be evaluated by them."

"It would be beneficial for University applications and job offers, wouldn't it?"

Takeda nodded. "The connections you make today will absolutely help your careers in a few years. I highly encourage you to consider it."

"I'll go," Mirae smiled at Emiko.

"I don't want to go to university," she frowned and inched away from the desk littered with papers. "So, um, go ahead and shred mine in your fancy paper shredder."

"I'll prepare your forms," Takeda said slowly. "I'm glad you're partaking Mirae. Emiko, please take some time to consider it. Let me know by the end of the day."

The girls bowed in thanks and left the teacher's office. They leisurely walked down the halls and Mirae turned to Emiko.

"You should accept the offer."

"Why? I'm not going to University after high school and I don't want to do anything sports-related in the future either. It'd be a waste of time."

"You don't know that," Mirae rolled her eyes. "It'll be a fun experience, come on! Plus, we'll get to meet other teams from schools that we'd potentially face against at nationals. It'd be a great chance to spy on them."

Emiko backed away slowly. "No one thinks this because your quiet and pretty, but you're terrifying."

"Thank you," she grinned. "I'm going to accept it, you should too. If not for anything else, do it because it'll be fun!"

Fun. Emiko could think of a lot of things that were fun but going to an unknown school to be a manager was not one of them. Sure, she was a manager for Karasuno but she had Mirae and Yachi helping her. And if she was being evaluated by the National Japanese Association, then that meant she would have to be professional.