"One week into this position and I can proudly say that I hate all of your asses," you stated.

In front of you, Iwaizumi was being held back by Kindaichi who was attempting to lunge at your dumbass of a brother Tooru. Makki and Mattsun were off to the side snickering with the former holding up his phone to record the situation. The second-years were currently setting up the nets, already used to the third-years' antics, and the first-years only glanced as they helped. It was undeniably obvious that they were curious about what was going on. You, however, were not and were only gone for a few minutes with Kunimi who surprisingly offered to help you fill up the water bottles. You honestly don't get paid enough to deal with them (not that you actually get paid).

"Ah, c'mon! Oikawa was the one who started it!" Makki whined. "I don't deserve your hate!"

"You're getting it anyway," you deadpanned. "Anyway, I don't want to know what happened. I'll just put these away. Thanks for the help, Kunimi-kun! Please, don't slack today."

"No promises," he muttered as he walked off.

You looked at the scene in front of you. The coaches were off to a small faculty meeting and would be coming in about thirty minutes into practice. Even if Irihata-sensei talked to them about this, their asses would get handed to them by Mizoguchi-sensei. Although it would be a funny sight to see the third-years practice to their deaths, you would also have to stay behind since Tooru and Iwaizumi wouldn't let you leave without them and Tooru was still healing. He was cleared for light exercise but anything more could hurt himself again.

You groaned.

"Hajime-san, please calm down." You reached for his arm, quickly noticing how relaxed he immediately became. However, he was still glaring at Tooru who had a small, knowing grin on his face. "Did he do something again? I'll slap him if he did."

"Oi!"

You hushed your brother who pouted before turning to Makki who was now grinning at his phone, Mattsun sharing the same grin. "What happened?"

"Hm?" He looked up before continuing. "Oh, Oikawa just said something stupid and provoked Iwaizumi."

You only sighed before turning to Kindaichi who let go of Iwaizumi. "Oikawa-san said something about having to come in late tomorrow and hopefully being good enough to beat Kageyama and his team tomorrow because of his leg."

"Oh, I see." You promptly turned around before slapping the back of your brother's head.

"Stop abusing me!" he cried. "Why am I always getting hit?!"

You lifted one finger. "One, because you are currently comparing yourself to a junior who you haven't seen in a while." Another finger was lifted. "And two, you make it very easy since you bother everyone."

"I don't bother everyone, right?" Tooru looked at his fellow third-years. Iwaizumi was staring at him with a cocked brow. Mattsun was looking away, idly whistling a tune and Makki was scrolling through his phone. Tooru slumped. "All of you are so mean!"

"Everyone is mean, Tooru-nii, but I think you guys should start setting up," you chirped. "After all, both of the coaches said they'll be on your asses if you third-years don't take charge of today's practice."

"I choose life, goodbye," Mattsun stated as he walked off.

"Same, here," Makki agreed, following behind his friend.

"Um, y'know, Iwa-chan, I think that we should start warm-ups!" Tooru exclaimed as he hurried off with a grumbling Iwaizumi behind him.

You sighed. There seemed to be no escape from Aoba Johsai's antics. It felt like you were babysitting children, but at least they could get their act together once practice actually starts. It's before and after practice that you've had to worry about them. It gets worse once you add in Tooru's fangirls who constantly attempt to distract Tooru from practice which in turn distracts the other players. Luckily, he doesn't pay much attention until after practice, the designated time he teases Iwaizumi.

About an hour into practice, the boys were taking a break when both of the coaches came in.

"Hello! Sorry, the meeting ran later than usual," Irihata stated.

"Gather 'round!" Mizoguchi waved to the boys who huddled around the two coaches as you stood next to Irihata.

"Again, we apologize for the delay, but it seems that we didn't have to worry too much about you guys slacking."

You scoffed. If only they were here earlier.

"But as you all know, we'll be having a practice match with Karasuno tomorrow." Irihata grinned. "Even if it's a practice match, don't slack off."

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air as some members glanced around.

Mizoguchi clapped his hands. "All right! Let's get back to practice!"

⚜⚜⚜⚜

"Thank you for the game!"

Irihata chuckled as your head immediately perked up at the sound of Karasuno's greeting. "I see that Tooru was not the only one who was excited about this match."

"He was excited to try and crush my best friend," you stated. "I was excited to see my best friend."

Mizoguchi gave you a confused look. "Do you mean Kageyama?"

You nodded. "Nii-chan doesn't like that I'm friends with him and with Tobio-kun, well, the same goes for him."

"Must be tough being in-between them."

"Excuse me!"

You turned around to see a man with messy black hair dressed in a green tracksuit. Guessing that it was Karasuno's coach, you excused yourself before heading over to Karasuno's side of the gym. Your eyes darted among the team, ignoring the curious looks from Karasuno, before finally spotting a familiar mop of dark hair.

"Tobio-kun!"

The teen didn't have any time to think before you happily jumped onto his back.

"Shit!" Kageyama briefly tumbled back, letting out a choked sound as he found his balance with his hands holding your thighs to make sure you don't fall. He glared back at you, who was grinning. "Warn me next time, you idiot!"

You scoffed, your arms tightening around so you could adjust yourself. "I did! You were too slow to react."

"Your ass would be on the ground if it weren't for me." Kageyama sighed before you tapped his arm, signaling that you wanted to get down. He let go of your legs as you hopped off, your hands on his shoulders to balance yourself.

"Yeah, yeah," you waved him off, "I just came by to greet you. We have to catch up."

He furrowed his brows. "Have we not..?"

"...We've gotta work on social cues."

"Hey!" Kageyama glared at you. "I'm good at those!"

You gave him a deadpanned look. "Are you really?"

"Yes—"

"(Y/N)-chan! We're gonna start soon!" Iwaizumi hollered.

"Coming!" You lightly punched Kageyama's shoulder. "I'll see you later!"

As you ran away from him, you could've sworn you heard one of his teammates shouting something about girls. Whatever it was, you ignored it as you went to take a seat near the coach.

Karasuno was a team you've never heard of until Kageyama mentioned it. After a brief explanation from him, you only learned that it was a former powerhouse. Looking at past matches, Karasuno hadn't faced Aoba Johsai in a long while and even then, Irihata only set up the practice match at Tooru's insistent whining and begging so he could challenge Kageyama. 

Fweet!!

"Now, let's begin the practice game between Karasuno High and Aoba Johsai High!"

Your eyes darted to Karasuno's side. The captain — at least that's who you assumed he is to be — was attempting to reassure a terrified redhead. The bald one was actively glaring and attempting to make intimidating faces at Seijoh. A blond was stretching while another stood near him looking at the captain and redhead. Kageyama, the final one, looked like he was concentrating. It seemed okay on their sides for a moment.

Well, until the redhead started panicking even more.

Once more the whistle blew, signaling the start of the match. Mattsun served first, managing to get it to the other side before the panicked redhead stole it from the captain.

"Is that number five okay?"

Mizoguchi shrugged. "Seems like a newbie they just put in."

"Poor guy is panicking," you muttered.

Your heart was practically beating up your ribcage as you watched Karasuno play. Every accident made caused you to flinch, especially when the redhead ran into the stand-in referee.

"I'm gonna have a heart attack from second-hand embarrassment," you muttered, your left hand clutching the left side of your chest as you watched them play.

"You're only fifteen." Irihata laughed. "But I get it. The little guy's nervous it seems."

"Okay! Let's take back those points, one by one!" Karasuno's captain called out. "Now who's serving..."

You almost snorted when his eyes fell onto the redhead. Anxiety was written all over the poor boy's face as he turned around. Although it is understandable, it is Seijoh's match point.

Fweet!!

Your eyes widened as you watched him smack the ball before it hit Kageyama's head.

"Pfft-" You quickly covered your mouth as you tried to suppress your laughter. Both coaches gave you questioning looks, but you didn't think anything of it. The redhead's face of acceptance and Karasuno's laughter and yelling made it hard not to laugh.

"I think Kageyama might kill that poor player," Mizoguchi muttered.

You looked back up to see Kageyama looming over his teammate, slowly leaning over and over before he started hitting the back of his own head.

"Now get back on the court, boke!" He started walking back to the court answering whatever question his teammate asked.

"God, he's a weirdo," you whispered, eyes locked on Kageyama as he lined up with the rest of his team. Your head perked up as you saw redhead get scolded by baldy. "This is the weirdest practice match I've seen in all my years of managing." You looked back to your notebook.

"High schoolers are dramatic," Irihata stated.

"Not going to argue with you on that."

Once again, the game started up. Number 3 was serving on Karasuno's side. Iwaizumi managed to get it up before receiving it towards Yahaba, who was already situated.

"Kunimi!"

Kunimi got a hit which was unfortunately received by the blond. Your eyes went to the redhead who was backing up as Kageyama was about to set the ball.

"A quick attack?" Your face fell when redhead missed. "Aw, that was interesting though."

"I think it'll get even more interesting from here on out," Irihata murmured.

Confusion was written all over your face. What did he mean by that?

The sound of a volleyball reverberated throughout the entire gym. Your eyes shot back to Kageyama and his redheaded teammate, who just landed on the ground.

"That asshole didn't tell me he found someone to actually hit his spikes," you hissed. Both coaches only snorted at your little hiccup.

The second set continued on with Karasuno slowly racking up more points. It was obvious that the duo's spikes rattled everyone, especially Kindaichi. His eyes kept on darting to the redhead every so often and he mostly assumed the ball was going towards the little guy. Near the end of the set, the teams gathered around their respective benches. As Seijoh gathered around, you passed out some of their towels and water bottles.

"Oi, Kindaichi," Yahaba called out. "Kageyama isn't anything like you told us."

"Hey, I've never seen him like that either," Kindaichi replied. "I didn't know there was a spiker who could take his insane tosses."

"You're wrong there," Irihata stated. "It seems to me that their number five isn't looking at the ball whatsoever."

"What do you mean by that?" Kindaichi handed you back his water bottle before the coach continued.

"I believe that Kageyama is pinpoint-aiming the ball at the downward swing of the spiker's palm," he explained.

"Can you really do that?" Iwaizumi asked.

You looked at Kindaichi who looked as if he was questioning everything in his life. "Kageyama is adjusting to another player?"

Both him and Kunimi gave each other confused looks before looking back at you. You shrugged. You didn't know that Kageyama was capable of pinpointing a ball that well. Although adjusting to another player would be a different story if both parties tried.

"This means that number five has the capability to inspire a self-centered and prideful player like Kageyama enough to adjust to his own style," Irihata stated. "The incredible thing is that number five believes in Kageyama's tosses one hundred percent when he makes the jump. He believes the ball will be there."

"That's a stupid thing to do," you muttered. "Ack!" You winced as Kunimi gave you a light jab.

"If they shake off your blocking, receive and put the ball in the air!" the coach exclaimed. "We have our best players out here as well! Show them your pride!"

"Hai!"

Fweet!!

The boys started to return back to the court as Irihata sat back down with a sigh.

"Kageyama is amazing. I kind of wish we could have gotten him now. You sent him a scholarship here, right?" Mizoguchi asked as he looked back at the court.

Irihata hummed. "Yes, but even if he had enrolled here, I doubt he would've been able to make plays like that."

"Eh?"

"It's possible that it's thanks to Karasuno, especially their number five, that he is the player he is now."

"But," Mizoguchi looked at you, "do you think he could've done well here? You've mentioned that you were good friends with him before."

"Kageyama?" You looked back at the raven-haired teen on the court. "No, he would've still been the same guy back in Kitagawa." You sighed. "He'd most likely butt heads with nii-chan, Kindaichi, and Kunimi if he did attend Seijoh."

"Oh..."

The three of you went back to watching the game, but that question got you thinking. While it is true that Kageyama wouldn't get along with your brother or your other friends, would he actually change at Seijoh? He'd most likely be benched since Tooru was not the only captain but Seijoh's main setter as well. Even when Tooru does leave, there's still Yahaba who might end up taking over as the main setter if he didn't gain anyone's trust by his second year. Whatever the case may be, you know Kageyama wouldn't be like this if he went to Seijoh.

You watched as Iwaizumi ran up to spike the ball before he was blocked by both Kageyama and the blond. You almost laughed as the two argued in front of a confused Iwaizumi on who blocked him first before the two got yelled at by their captain.

Seems like trouble would've followed him regardless of which school he would attend.

Set 2: 24-22, Karasuno's Lead

"Oi, you could've covered that one!" Mizoguchi shouted. "Kunimi, you idiot!"

Ah, Kunimi didn't like that. He only looked away, most likely mumbling about something else. You turned around to look at the coaches. Both were worried, with Irihata slumped over thinking.

"I knew it," Mizoguchi whined. "There's no stopping their number five."

"You're right," Irihata agreed. "The combination of Kageyama and number five is intimidating but there's also Tanaka-kun who has power and guts when he lacks a cool head. Then you also have Tsukishima who's a clever blocker but somewhat lacking in spirit. You also have their captain, Sawamura, who neatly covers the many holes in their defense before you have their amateur who has an ever-changing attack centered around him. This is what it feels like to be bombarded."

Fweet!!

"They're really good," you stated. "They've been to nationals before, correct?"

Irihata nodded. "A couple of times but I think they're going to be an interesting team this year. Oh, speaking of nationals, is your brother almost here?"

"Ah," you scrolled through your phone to check your messages, "he should be here right about now actually."

The screams of his fangirls echoed throughout the gym. 

"Yeah, he's here."

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.

Author's Note:

I ended procrastinating this chapter way longer than I meant to and then the next thing I knew finals were coming up along with summer! I'm very sorry for the wait. I've been having a hard time writing the practice match scenes and it's been hard to write these scenes in general so I might end up with general snippets instead of full matches so I could focus on Reader and Iwaizumi more. Anyway!

I'll be releasing chapter 7 today later on rather than saving it for next weekend as an apology for not writing for about two months. Hopefully, I can update more consistently and burn through most of the book before school starts back up!  

Thank you for reading!