First Day Back

"Are you ready to go yet?"

"Wait, let me pour my leftover coffee in my tumbler."

Mahiru stood by the door of Haruto's apartment and listened to his voice that came from the kitchen. It was early in the morning and they were getting ready to go to morning practice coming back from the long summer break.

It was the first day of school so Ukai decided not to have after school practice and chose to have a morning one instead so they could sort themselves easier when it came to school.

Fitting her shoes in place, Mahiru saw Haruto come out of the kitchen with a black tumbler mug in his hands and a large apple in his mouth.

"Where did that apple even come from?"

"Hmhmhm-hm."

"Can you please talk when you have that apple out of your mouth."

Mahiru looked at him with an empty expression after listening to him talk and held the mug that he tried to give her.

"Mom said that my dad was given a boatload of apples so she decided to send me some yesterday. You didn't see them?"

Haruto took the apple out of his mouth and bit into it, placing his foot into his shoes so they could go out.

"I guess I wasn't paying attention."

Holding the mug in her hands, Mahiru watched him lock the door of his apartment and gave back the mug towards him. The two of them made their way towards the school trying to make it in time for their first day back.

"Good morning everyone."

"Morning!"

""Haruto, Shiina! You made us a lot of money, Thank you!!""

"You're welcome?..."

Haruto gave a confused smile as he saw Tanaka and Nishinoya rush towards him with gratefulness flowing out of their eyes.

He had entered the gym and noticed that everyone seemed to have arrived already with the exception of a few people.

"You look tired, did you even get some sleep last night?"

"I forgot to do one passage from my homework so I had to stay up all night..."

Placing his bag near a spot on the wall, Haruto saw Hinata hunched over by the wall, his eyes almost turning shut.

Feeling odd seeing him this tired, Haruto started to rummage into his bag and pulled out a few apples that he packed to eat for a snack after practice and offered it to him.

Hinata gladly accepted the fruits and eventually everyone on the team arrived, with Ukai finally gathering them up to say a few words.

"In a few weeks the Spring Tournament preliminaries will begin and our last shot at attempting to reach nationals will start."

Although Ukai said his sentence in a light tone, the atmosphere surrounding everyone turned serious and heavy. The third years placed a firm expression on their faces while Haruto, who remembered the game against Ushijima, clenched his fist.

"Compared to the Inter Highs, the format will be a bit different with there being a first preliminary and a main one. In the Inter High our team came in the top 4 so we will only play one match in the first preliminary."

Ukai passed around a sheet that showed the brackets that were formed with their positioning on where and who they could potentially play against.

"If we win that match we will move onto the representative playoffs held in november where the format will be what you are used to, certain matches played on consecutive days."

Everyone was silent but Ukai was able to tell they were listening attentively and stepped back to let Takeda say some words as he finished saying his part.

"Last time we were close to reaching the orange stage in Tokyo but came short."

Takeda had a light smile on his face and held out his chest staring at the faces of everyone, remembering how much they changed.

"But now after going through your hard work and the way you strived to improve. You guys will definitely make it through, so let's show them the brand new us."

""YES!""

Takeda nodded in satisfaction hearing their response and turned to Ukai so he could start off their practice.

"Alright everyone! Split into partners and warm up for a bit so we could go straight into scrimmages, since we have a smaller amount of time in the morning compared to our afternoon practices."

With his signal everyone started to grab the volleyballs from their basket and their first morning practice back finally began.

***

"I kinda wished that practice was a bit longer."

"Right, I felt like I was starting to get a hang of the new quick now."

"But your receives are still sucky that when you get the ball, it stops you from running up for the quick."

"I'm practicing my footwork with Haruto to fix that, okay!"

Hinata frowned at Kageyama who ignored him by focusing on the jelly drink he bought from the vending machine. Haruto gave out a sigh as he saw the two of them already begin to bicker before they even reached the classroom.

"But who do you think will be our biggest opponents during the Spring Tournament?"

As they entered the classroom Hinata asked them a question and the two of them went silent trying to think of teams.

"From the top of my head it would be Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa since they were the toughest teams we played against at the Inter High."

"Also don't forget that they would also have new members since some third years may have decided to leave the club. Oikawa will definitely have the time of his life drawing out the potential of those new players."

Kageyama said his thoughts on Oikawa thinking how there was no way he wouldn't have sat still after they beat them during the Inter Highs.

"So Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa huh."

"That's what I think right now but we won't know for sure until we play against other people at that time."

Haruto said his final thoughts on the question and got his stuff ready for their morning lessons, making Hinata slump onto his desk.

"I should ask coach Ukai if I could practice more before he teaches his classes…"

With a small whisper Hinata thought out loud, thinking if he could ask the person who was training him during the summer, to give him more time to fit in as much practice as he could.

"Coach teaches classes? I thought he didn't work at the school but at a convenience store near us."

As he sat in front of him, Haruto heard Hinata's words and felt surprised that Ukai taught school classes since he sees him at most teaching gym class and nothing else.

"No I meant the other Ukai, the coach's grandfather."

"You practiced with THE Ukai?!"

"Woah calm down!"

Kageyama quickly turned towards Hinata who felt a bit scared with the way he was being stared at.

"So your secret teacher was THAT Ukai? How the hell were you able to do that…"

"Umm it was before the training camp but the coach introduced him to me and he has been teaching me more about how to fight in the air and improving my timing."

"....."

Hinata was able to see the jealousy in Kageyama's eyes as the reason that attracted him to come to Karasuno was so he could train under Ukai. But he realized he quit due to his health so he missed the opportunity.

"I can bring you guys during the time he doesn't use the nets so we could practice some more but I can't guarantee he will teach you some stuff."

"Really? I guess that's fine with me."

Feeling a bit dispirited, he accepted the offer since it was a good chance to get more practice in and Haruto who was quietly listening also nodded his head at his suggestion.

"Alright class, welcome back!"

They continued their conversation until they heard their homeroom teacher speak out to the class, signaling the start of their lesson.

The three of them stopped talking and tried their best to pay attention, keeping their thoughts about the Spring Tournament to the back of their heads.

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu