4 The Stags
Perhaps just from a force of habit he picked up from playing as a middle blocker in volleyball, Hiro tends to 'read' and figure out his opponents quite well. He was taping his fingers when an unpleasant sound pounded his eardrums.
"GINOZA SENPAI!!"The fangirls around the gym were screaming when the siblings just executed their reverse play, where Kouha was the one who tossed the ball to Kouen. After which, Kouha ran towards the entrance and said, "Kayo, you brought someone!"
Hiro turned and saw Hijikata Kayo enter the gym along with her friend from yesterday. He remembered what their manager said yesterday, so his curiosity was piqued about the girl who recently entered the gym. 'Trying to get a new manager? What for?' Hiro just followed them around with his gaze, not getting up from the floor after finishing his taping job and now doing his leg stretches.
"This is Kamiya Megumi – she's a year younger than me, and a transferee from Tokyo. I met her during my middle school. I actually recruited her to become our additional manager. She came here with me to observe the practice game." Kayo said to Kouha.
"Nice to meet you, senpai." Megumi bowed a little to the dark-haired guy, who looked amused at her actions.
"Ah – well, I'm Ginoza Kouha, the team's ace. You may want to sit on the bench over there reserved for the managers." He pointed to the bench near the coaches' area.
"Oh no, Ginoza-san, I'll be fine at the bleachers. I'm just gonna watch anyway." She politely refused.
"No, I'd like to us to sit on the bench. We're not just gonna watch, Megumi. We're gonna observe." Kayo refuted.
'Now this is something else. My instinct tells me she's up to something.' Hiro thought, his ears picking up the cocky tone of Kouha when he said he's the 'team's ace'. It's true though, he's the main artillery for the Stags. He's just awfully a show-off because of it.
"Let's put on a show, then! Witness the might of Nara's Stags, Megumi-chan!" Kouha continued.
"Stags?" Megumi asked to Kayo.
"Apparently, that's what they're called when identified on court. Like a moniker or something." She answered.
"All right, gather up." The team captain, Maki, called all the members to gather around him. "For today, coach said to focus practicing our blocks. We will play using the grouping that was divided yesterday."
"Get ready to be stuffed a lot later, losers." Hiro told the siblings and as expected, Kouha reacted.
Kouha: "Let's see ya try, salty boy."
Kouen: "I don't mind if ya stuff the ball towards his face but I seriously hate it when my sets are blocked. So do yer best, Hiro. Kouha sucks but I don't."
"Shut yer trap, Kouen!" He kicked his brother at the back. And another round of stupid bickering happened between the two. They always say that they don't particularly respect their order of birth since they were born just eleven months away from each other. Hiro really doesn't care, either way.
'The divided unit is a perfect chance for me to show off my skills.' He thought. 'I may be lazy, but not in volleyball. If there is one thing common to all members of this team, it's that we all hate losing.'
--
Team A
S – Takumi Ikuya (1st Year) 176cm
OPP – Ebi Tomura (2nd Year) 182cm
OH – Sukiyata Maki (3rd Year, Captain)* 178cm
OH – Asuma Genji (1st Year) 168cm
MB – Arakata Hiroaki (2nd Year)* 188cm
MB – Mamoru Shingen (3rd Year)* 183cm
L – Hiyorin Gaito (3rd Year)* 167cm
vs
Team B
S – Ginoza Kouen (2nd Year)* 183cm
OPP – Ginoza Kouha (3rd Year)* 186cm
OH – Fukuzawa Toshiro (2nd Year)* 179cm
OH – Nanao Furuya (3rd Year) 177cm
MB – Kakuzo Ryohei (1st Year) 191cm
MB – Yagato Kokki (2nd Year) 185cm
L – Rikubami Sai (1st Year) 169cm
--
Hiro's unit is at an advantage, since they had more regulars*. But still, he thought they should be wary of the sibling's combination attacks. Kouen started to serve. With difficulty, it was received by Gaito.
[For brevity, in Hiro's perspective, the names used in the narration will be the first names of the players who are in 2nd and 3rd years. For the freshmen, their last names will be used in the narration]
"Takumi, follow!" He yelled as Takumi got it for Maki, who spiked it from the left. It was saved by Toshiro from the other side. The pass went to Kouen, who tossed to his brother for the icebreaker.
"Yosh!" Kouha yelled after the point and high-fived with Kouen.
"I think ya should try harder, Hiro." Kouen's now starting to piss Hiro off. He served for the second time, and when the captain raised it, Takumi set it at the middle for a quick. Hiro slammed it right in Kakuzo's face. Despite being taller and bigger than him, this rookie still isn't used to his southpaw spikes so that was a clean point for him.
Hiro's eyes caught the movement of their manager's hand, which was pointing to Maki. Maybe she's introducing the players to her friend.
If Hiro was to characterize Maki, 'perfect' is too much of a strong word to describe him, but he's more like, a person with frank personality, whose always brutally honest with his words, not sugar-coating anything. He's just telling things as it is. It's not a trait that he hates, but not one that he likes either. See? An enigma. He can't read him properly. And because of that, Hiro doesn't like it when he can't figure things out. Drives him nuts.
Anyway, the thing about Maki also is that, since he's 'perfect', he is someone they could really rely on when they play. He excels in both attack and defense. Moreover, he's the bedrock that supports the team's foundation. Without him around, the team will be full of holes in defense. So in a way, everyone really respects him and tries not to get into his bad side. He can do both - encourage and roast his teammates. It doesn't change the fact though that there's something in him that Hiro just can't put a finger on.
Their team is currently down at 4 – 7. Kokki served the ball and Takumi bumped it, breaking their formation.
"Maki-san! Please cover!" He yelled.
"I'm open!" Asuma yelled, trying to get Maki's attention. But –
"On it. Hiro!" The captain tossed the ball to the middle. And Hiro slammed it so hard the sound echoed in the entire gym.
