Nekoma Manager Reader - Blog Posts

𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕄𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤

ℕ𝕖𝕜𝕠𝕞𝕒 𝕄𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

𝔸/ℕ: I started re-watching Haikyuu so the hyperfixation is coming back STRONG!

Direct sequel to this blurb!

You took everything you had said earlier back; nervous didn't even begin to cover how you were feeling. The closer to the camp sight the bus got, the shakier your hands got. You did your best to hide them, though the worried looks Yaku was sending your way says you weren't doing a great job at it.

"Hey," You could feel the bus begin to slow down as Kuroo turned around to look at you, the playfulness that had been present was gone, and you were grateful for the small smile he was sending your way, "You'll be fine. We're going to be the first team there more than likely, so you have time to get adjusted before everyone else shows up."

You nodded, moving to stand as Nekomata called for everyone to hop off the bus. The third years and you were the first ones off the bus after the coaches departed, grabbing your bags and waiting to make sure everyone else deboarded.

Lev groaned as he stretched, "That was way too long to be sitting."

Yaku rolled his eyes, gently nudging the first year to continue walking, "Only for a tall freak like you."

"Hey! That wasn't nice!"

Kai wandered over to you, offering to carry one of your mini bags for you, and you agreed, wanting to once more go over the notes he and Nekomata had curated for you to study. You may have begun to understand volleyball more, but after expressing your fear of embarrassing yourself in front of these other teams, they had made you more things to study.

"The other teams have managers too," You two began walking, Kuroo and Yaku ahead of you, already bickering about who knows what, "I'm sure you'll get along well with them. Karasuno has a newer manager too, so you two will probably be in similar boats."

You let out a breath, "Right."

"I'm serious," You glanced over at him, "It'll be fine. We were all nervous our first training camps, but you get used to them."

Nodding, you entered the building where your rooms would be. Each team had their own room, and due to the smaller numbers, the managers all had one room to them. You were too scared to ask earlier if you had to room with your team or by yourself; both sounding not ideal.

You entered the room, dropping your bags off in a little area, mentally claiming the small spot as your own. That wasn't too presumptuous was it? Maybe you should wait for the others to show up, offer them first dibs.

Sighing, you shook your head to yourself, there was no point in worrying about it now. If any of the other girls had issues you'd quickly move your stuff-- easy fix.

A knock at the door had you turning, Shibayama peering in curiously, "Hey, we're going to set up in gym one right now, and Kuroo wants to know if you'll lead some warm up drills?"

And the day starts.

"Are we starting practice matches when they show up?"

He shook his head, "He says Lev and Yamamoto have too much energy, so this is more to tire them out so they don't annoy him."

You snorted at that, sometimes Kuroo reminded you of an over exhausted pre-school teacher. Glancing at your bag, you followed Shibyama out and towards the gym, you'd change later.

You had gotten held up by a teacher before you departed, and in turn, weren't able to change out of your school uniform. It wasn't uncomfortable per say, but you'd trade out the skirt for a pair of Nekoma sweatpants before the practice matches started.

The chatter inside the gym wasn't loud, but you could hear it from right outside. Inuoka and Lev were helping set nets up, Kuroo was discussing something with Kai, and when they saw you, they motioned you over.

You left Shibayama who promptly went over to help with some other set ups, making your way to your captain and vice-captain. Kuroo raised an eyebrow at you.

"You're still in your school uniform?"

You shrugged, "I was going to change before the actual practice matches started. Didn't want to waste precious time tiring Lev out."

Kai chuckled, while Kuroo just sighed, and the mental image of him as a pre-school teacher was back. He handed you a clipboard, "It'll be a shorter night, but we figured these starting rotations would be good. Only a few teams will be here today, the rest arrive tomorrow. So we'll just be in this gym for tonight."

Two courts, four teams. Okay so there were three other schools showing up today, no worries. Fukurodani, Shinzen, and Karasuno today. It seemed in order, Kuroo was good with scheduling, and to be fair you didn't often have to correct his work. He was just paranoid from when he royally screwed up during exam week; the poor guy was running off of no sleep and way too much coffee.

You handed it back, "Those are two of the teams I'm supposed to be weary of, right?" The question was asked dryly, and Kuroo huffed at your tone.

"Don't appreciate the sarcasm, but yes. Thank you for asking." Kai just chuckled, patting him on the arm.

"Lev, I swear to the gods if you don't stop-"

"Yaku, come on! What's the point of a training camp if we're not training?"

"We're just warming up now, put the ball down!"

You sighed, understanding Kuroo's petulance from earlier. Damn rooster-headed captain laughed as you stalked over to where Yaku and Lev were bickering.

"Yaku's right, Lev, we're going to run some drills before we start with anything else."

Lev pouted at your words, and Yaku looked far too smug after bullying the first year. You raised an eyebrow at him, "If you both have enough energy to be bickering why not run some extra laps, hm? I was going to have everyone start with fifteen, but I think you two need a bit more than that. Does twenty five sound good?"

The two blanched at your words, the sickly sweet tone you had adopted since filling this position, you had been told, was terrifying. Yaku looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head, but decided against arguing.

"Sorry," Lev muttered, and you nodded.

"Now put the ball back, Lev, and the two of you can get started. I'll have the others join you when you hit ten laps."

He nodded, the pout disappearing as he thought of something, "Oh! Watch this!"

Before you or Yaku could say anything, he launched the ball, clearly aiming to throw it directly into the basket. It made it, in a sense, before bouncing off all the other balls inside, and flying out the still open door. He stared after it, almost surprised by the outcome.

"Go start your laps." Was all you said, sending the two off.

You could hear Kuroo's stupid cackle from across the gym, and turned quickly, glaring his way as well. "You wish to join them, captain?"

He sobered up rather quickly, "No. I'm good, thanks."

You huffed, turning to gather the stray ball. Nekomata chuckled from where he and Naoi were talking. You all had barely been here and these troublemakers were already... well, making trouble.

The ball had bounced further down the sidewalk than you had thought, and you had to walk a good few meters away to get it. Though before you could lean down to grab it, the presence of someone startled you.

This kid appeared out of nowhere.

He was staring at you, almost as confused by your presence as you were of his.

"Um, hello?" The hold he had on his bag tightened as he awkwardly greeted you.

He was short, bright and unruly orange hair. He seemed nervous, reminding you of one of your younger cousins whenever he got caught doing something he shouldn't have been. Maybe he was wandering around and didn't think anyone would be here.

"Hey," You squatted to grab the ball, walking a bit closer to him, "Are you lost? I don't think you're supposed to be here, kid."

His cheeks burned bright at your comment, and he stammered over whatever he was trying to say.

"Hinata! What did I tell you about running off, man?"

You two turned, a guy about your age calling out to the red head, Hinata, also carrying a bag at his side. The two of you made eye contact, and the man froze where he was standing.

No one said a word, and you awkwardly moved the ball around in your hands, "Um, are you his older brother?"

Hinata sputtered at the question, "He's not my older brother!"

The other guy didn't say anything, simply staring at you silently. It was starting to make you feel a bit uncomfortable. "Uh-"

"Pretty girl!"

His shout caught you off guard, and you felt your shoulders raise, cheeks burning at the words shouted your direction. Mouth parted slightly, you took notice as other people began walking into view.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh shit.

You turned to Hinata, "Are you all here for the volleyball training camp?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "We're Karasuno high school!"

"Oh." Was all you managed to say, looking from him to the others who were walking up curiously.

One of them stepped forward, the way he walked reminded you of Kuroo some, and he smiled at you. Oh he was... he was handsome. Your cheeks burned even hotter at your own thoughts.

"Hello, I'm Daichi, Karasuno's captain. Who are you?"

"Oh, uh," You were stammering like Hinata had been when you called out to him, introducing yourself, "I'm Nekoma's manager."

He blinked, "Their manager? I didn't know they had gotten one. That's great!"

He smiled down at you, and you felt your heart flutter some. This was dangerous.

Wait, weren't you supposed to avoid this team? Because-

"What!" Someone else came into view, standing next to the buzz cut guy who called you pretty a few minutes ago, "Nekoma got a manager too?"

You stepped back, the attention scaring you, and you were beginning to feel like you had when you first became Nekoma's manager. "Uh, yes?"

"She's so pretty!"

"Stay strong, Noya," The buzz cut guy grabbed his friends shoulder, "We must remain strong!"

Those two. You were supposed to avoid those two.

You failed.

"Hey!" You had never been so happy to hear Yamamoto's yells before, "Back off our manager!"

You felt yourself breath a bit easier as your team came out of the gym, Lev and Yaku looking a bit more winded than the others. Kuroo hurried over to you, smiling at Daichi.

"Well well, I thought you all weren't going to be here until later."

Daichi sighed, "We thought so too. Kiyoko really saved us with motion sickness medicine for Hinata though, so we pulled through."

"I would have rather your managers meet ours before the rest of your crows," Kuroo muttered, standing close enough to you that you could feel his body heat, "Especially your rowdy second years."

"Yeah, sorry about them," His apology was directed towards you, and you waved it off.

"Oh, no, it's- it's okay!"

"Yachi and Kiyoko are putting their stuff away, if you want to go introduce yourself to them."

He really needed to stop smiling at you, it was not doing good things to your heart.

"And change into something that's less cute," Kuroo muttered to you, half playful, half serious.

You self consciously tugged at the end of your skirt, those sweat pants were really calling your name. You quickly bowed towards the rest of Karasuno, "It's nice to meet you all! I'll be back!"

With as much dignity as you could muster you sped walked back towards the rooms, cheeks warm and heart fluttering. You thought you were going to have more time to calm down before meeting more strangers? Oh you were so making Kuroo do some type of drill he hated as punishment.

Outside of the manager's room, you took a moment to compose yourself. You patted your cheeks, hoping the flush would die down soon, before softly knocking on the door to announce your presence, before sliding the door open.

"Um, hello," You stepped inside, the two figures turning to look at you.

One of them was a bit shorter than you, she seemed like a first year. She had cute little star hair clips in her hair, and she seemed almost more nervous than you were. The other one was down right beautiful, and you were regretting agreeing to come to this training camp.

You introduced yourself, "I'm Nekoma's new manager. Daichi said you two were Kiyoko and Yachi?"

The taller of the two, Kiyoko, smiled softly at you, "Yes. I'm Kiyoko, this is Yachi. It's lovely to meet you."

"Yeah!" Yachi echoed, voice a bit louder than necessary, all nervous smiles, "I didn't know Nekoma got a manager!"

"I really only started a few weeks ago, Kuroo had to beg me to come to the training camp. He also said you all would be a bit later coming, so I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you two."

"No, it's alright," Kiyoko waved off your apology, "It was good luck and proper planning that got us here now, something I fear we often lack when traveling."

Yachi nodded, "Yeah! I'm going to start packing a mini first aid kit, and I'll keep motion sickness medicine in it for any time we travel in the future."

That didn't seem like a bad idea. Granted, none of your teammates got sick traveling, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

"Oh, if you don't mind I need to change," You motioned towards your uniform, "Then I can meet you all back at the gym."

"We can wait for you if you'd like," Yachi offered, voice tentative, "Only if you want though!"

"Oh," You blinked, before smiling, "That would be nice, yeah!"

These two were so sweet, you were starting to look forward to this training camp. Yaku and Kai were right, they were all nice, and even the quick talk with the other team, they all seemed sweet.

This would be fun, you were sure of it now.

“So? You nervous?”

You huffed, doing your best to ignore the finger poking your cheek in favor of studying the clipboard you were holding.

Lev whined your name, sounding more like a petulant toddler than a 6’4 high schooler, “Hey— don’t ignore me! It’s mean!”

“Lev!” Yaku turned around in his seat as much as he could, glaring at the first year, “Drop it!”

The taller boy fell back into his seat, pouting dramatically, “I just wanted to help her if she was nervous.”

“Pestering her isn’t helping her, is it?”

You heard Kuroo and Kai snicker from where they were seated in front of you, and you put the notes down in your lap, placing an arm on Yaku’s shoulder to sit him down.

“Lev, I appreciate that you want to help me,” You leaned into the isle of the bus to look back at him, “But poking me isn’t going to help me.”

His playful pout turned serious, and he looked sheepish at your light scolding, “Sorry.”

He looked so much like a kicked puppy you felt almost bad, and just smiled lightly at him, “If I have any questions I think you can answer I’ll come to you first, okay?”

Lev brightened almost immediately, a proud glow on his face, “Well of course! As Nekoma’s future ace I can help you with anything!”

“Except your receives.”

“Yaku!”

You shook your head, turning back around in your seat.

“Hey,” You glanced up, seeing Kai peeking back at you between his and Kuroo’s seats, “Are you feeling nervous?”

Yaku and Lev were busy bickering, and your head dropped forward a bit, “A little,” You admitted, “Meeting other schools and all these strangers sounds terrifying.”

He smiled at you, and the calmness in his eyes did as it always did, calming your racing heart, “Don’t worry. We’re pretty close with all the teams coming, everyone’s friendly, if not a bit overly competitive.”

“With that in mind,” You both jumped as Kuroo interjected, sitting on his knees to turn to you, “You have a few ground rules, our dear, little manager.”

You raised an eyebrow at your captain, “Why?”

He grinned, that stupid, cocky one he knew got under your skin, “We can’t have you being kidnapped or scared off after our first training camp, now can we?”

“Kuroo—”

He waved Kai off, and he had caught the attention of most of the team at this rate, much to your embarrassment.

“Rule one; no being alone with Bokuto, especially if Akaashi isn’t nearby. God knows that spikey haired owl would try and steal our manager to join their manager duo.”

Yaku plopped down into his seat, crossing his arms as he glared up at the captain, “I doubt Bokuto would actually—”

“Rule two! No being alone with Karasuno’s libero and that bald headed spiker of theirs.”

“Okay, that’s a rule I can get behind.” Yaku muttered.

From a few rows back Yamamoto decided to pipe in, “Don’t worry cap— I’ll keep those two away from our precious manager! After I rub it in their faces, of course.”

Kenma, who had been playing his console game with his headphones on, glanced over at his seatmate annoyed, “Sit down.”

“Are those the only rules?” You crossed your arms, mimicking how Yaku was seated.

Before Kuroo could respond, he was interrupted, “Sit down! All of you!”

Everyone fell back into their seats quickly, Kuroo’s cheeks flushing as Nekomata chuckled as Naoi scolded the team, “You all have ridden a bus enough times to know better, c’mon.”

“Sorry, coach.”

“Sorry!”

You leaned over to Yaku, “What’s with the people I’m being warned against?”

He sighed, smiling at you, “Bokuto is Fukurodani’s captain. He’s just a bit overly energetic. He and Kuroo are really good friends, so you can’t avoid him entirely. He’s nice, don’t worry about that. And Karasuno…”

He trailed off, as if debating on the proper response, “Their libero, Nishinoya, and their spiker he mentioned… Tanaka, I believe. They’re a bit… what’s the word?”

“Girl crazy?” Lev pipped up, leaning his face forward between the seats, cheeks squished.

“They have two managers there, a first and a second year. They used to rub it in our faces, well, more Yamamoto’s face that they had two managers, and we had none. Until now.”

Lev glanced at you, attempting to grin, though it looked rather funny, “You don’t mind being paraded like a trophy, do you?”

“What?” You felt your face warm at Lev’s question, and Yaku huffed, pressing his palm against Lev’s face, pushing him back.

“Ow!”

“Why’d you have to say it like that?”

Lev rubbed his nose, “What? He’s gonna wanna show her off! We got the coolest manager!”

His childish praise made your heart flutter, and you picked up the clipboard once more, staring at the papers but not processing any of the words before you.

“If he does anything stupid just let me know,” Yaku sighed, eyes closing, “I’ll run drills so hard they’ll pass out from exhaustion.”

“And the demon upperclassman shows his face once more.”

Without opening his eyes or responding he sent a strong kick against the seat in front of him, Kuroo’s startled yelp ringing through the bus.

“So? You nervous?”

You huffed, doing your best to ignore the finger poking your cheek in favor of studying the clipboard you were holding.

Lev whined your name, sounding more like a petulant toddler than a 6’4 high schooler, “Hey— don’t ignore me! It’s mean!”

“Lev!” Yaku turned around in his seat as much as he could, glaring at the first year, “Drop it!”

The taller boy fell back into his seat, pouting dramatically, “I just wanted to help her if she was nervous.”

“Pestering her isn’t helping her, is it?”

You heard Kuroo and Kai snicker from where they were seated in front of you, and you put the notes down in your lap, placing an arm on Yaku’s shoulder to sit him down.

“Lev, I appreciate that you want to help me,” You leaned into the isle of the bus to look back at him, “But poking me isn’t going to help me.”

His playful pout turned serious, and he looked sheepish at your light scolding, “Sorry.”

He looked so much like a kicked puppy you felt almost bad, and just smiled lightly at him, “If I have any questions I think you can answer I’ll come to you first, okay?”

Lev brightened almost immediately, a proud glow on his face, “Well of course! As Nekoma’s future ace I can help you with anything!”

“Except your receives.”

“Yaku!”

You shook your head, turning back around in your seat.

“Hey,” You glanced up, seeing Kai peeking back at you between his and Kuroo’s seats, “Are you feeling nervous?”

Yaku and Lev were busy bickering, and your head dropped forward a bit, “A little,” You admitted, “Meeting other schools and all these strangers sounds terrifying.”

He smiled at you, and the calmness in his eyes did as it always did, calming your racing heart, “Don’t worry. We’re pretty close with all the teams coming, everyone’s friendly, if not a bit overly competitive.”

“With that in mind,” You both jumped as Kuroo interjected, sitting on his knees to turn to you, “You have a few ground rules, our dear, little manager.”

You raised an eyebrow at your captain, “Why?”

He grinned, that stupid, cocky one he knew got under your skin, “We can’t have you being kidnapped or scared off after our first training camp, now can we?”

“Kuroo—”

He waved Kai off, and he had caught the attention of most of the team at this rate, much to your embarrassment.

“Rule one; no being alone with Bokuto, especially if Akaashi isn’t nearby. God knows that spikey haired owl would try and steal our manager to join their manager duo.”

Yaku plopped down into his seat, crossing his arms as he glared up at the captain, “I doubt Bokuto would actually—”

“Rule two! No being alone with Karasuno’s libero and that bald headed spiker of theirs.”

“Okay, that’s a rule I can get behind.” Yaku muttered.

From a few rows back Yamamoto decided to pipe in, “Don’t worry cap— I’ll keep those two away from our precious manager! After I rub it in their faces, of course.”

Kenma, who had been playing his console game with his headphones on, glanced over at his seatmate annoyed, “Sit down.”

“Are those the only rules?” You crossed your arms, mimicking how Yaku was seated.

Before Kuroo could respond, he was interrupted, “Sit down! All of you!”

Everyone fell back into their seats quickly, Kuroo’s cheeks flushing as Nekomata chuckled as Naoi scolded the team, “You all have ridden a bus enough times to know better, c’mon.”

“Sorry, coach.”

“Sorry!”

You leaned over to Yaku, “What’s with the people I’m being warned against?”

He sighed, smiling at you, “Bokuto is Fukurodani’s captain. He’s just a bit overly energetic. He and Kuroo are really good friends, so you can’t avoid him entirely. He’s nice, don’t worry about that. And Karasuno…”

He trailed off, as if debating on the proper response, “Their libero, Nishinoya, and their spiker he mentioned… Tanaka, I believe. They’re a bit… what’s the word?”

“Girl crazy?” Lev pipped up, leaning his face forward between the seats, cheeks squished.

“They have two managers there, a first and a second year. They used to rub it in our faces, well, more Yamamoto’s face that they had two managers, and we had none. Until now.”

Lev glanced at you, attempting to grin, though it looked rather funny, “You don’t mind being paraded like a trophy, do you?”

“What?” You felt your face warm at Lev’s question, and Yaku huffed, pressing his palm against Lev’s face, pushing him back.

“Ow!”

“Why’d you have to say it like that?”

Lev rubbed his nose, “What? He’s gonna wanna show her off! We got the coolest manager!”

His childish praise made your heart flutter, and you picked up the clipboard once more, staring at the papers but not processing any of the words before you.

“If he does anything stupid just let me know,” Yaku sighed, eyes closing, “I’ll run drills so hard they’ll pass out from exhaustion.”

“And the demon upperclassman shows his face once more.”

Without opening his eyes or responding he sent a strong kick against the seat in front of him, Kuroo’s startled yelp ringing through the bus.

Nekoma x Reader; manager!reader

You Won’t Be Alone

“You need to join a club— something. Anything!”

Your parents' concerns rang loud in your head. It wasn’t your fault you had to move schools in the beginning of your second year. You had friends, you had clubs and things you participated in. Now you had nothing. A few friendly classmates, sure, but that was all.

Clubs were almost entirely filled at this rate anyways, and anyone that was still accepting members meant you had to go meet new people who already formed their own groups. You’d be the outcast, more than you already felt like you were.

Idly, you kicked at a rock that was laying on the ground beneath your feet; you were trying to kill time, hoping to brainstorm some solution before you made your way home.

The art club? There were some mediums you were decent at, but you also saw some of the showcases from other students— safe to say that club had some artists that would most definitely be studied in the future.

What about the literature club? While you enjoyed reading, something about reading at school made the notion far less fun. Not to mention you had met the club leader earlier that month, and while nice, she was intimidating.

Grumbling to yourself, you stopped walking, leaning against one of the building's walls, watching birds fly overhead. They cawed at each other, and the group in the sky made you feel more alone.

Great, you mused, jealous of birds now.

Your thought process was interrupted, rather sharply, as you watched a ball come flying out of the building you had been leaning against. Lucky for you, you were nowhere near the door— the speed at which the ball hit the dirt would have definitely bruised you.

Pushing forward, you decided to be a decent person, picking the ball up and moving slowly to the open gym door. You hadn’t made a point to pay attention to any of the teams your school had, not out of disdain but mostly fear.

If you showed any interest your dad would definitely force you to partake in some way.

“Um,” You stopped at the entrance of the door, holding the ball tightly in your arms, watching as the people before you continued moving.

Volleyball.

One of the people, one of the coaches you supposed, noticed you, coming over to retrieve the ball.

“Thank you,” He spoke softly, smiling at you, his eyes crinkling behind his glasses, “They’ve been a bit overzealous lately.”

You nodded, handing the ball over, your eyes drifting back to those practicing.

You recognized one of them, some of them were in your year.

Fukanaga Shohei. You and he weren’t close by any means, but he was funny.

“They’re good, aren’t they?”

The coach's voice made you jump, cheeks flushing as you realized you had been staring.

“Oh— I’m sorry!” You turned, bowing in an apology, “I just…”

He smiled at you, “I’m coach Naoi.”

You introduced yourself, “Second year. I actually just transferred here a few weeks ago.”

“I hope the school’s been treating you well.”

You smiled, “No complaints yet.”

“Oi, Naoi!” The pair of you turned, the older coach having caught on to his assistant being distracted, “Care to invite your guest in?”

His shouting caused the team to look over, a lul in their practice as they took in the presence of an outsider. Your face felt like it was on fire.

“Oh— no! I’m so sorry! I was just returning a ball!”

Naoi chuckled, “One second,” He turned to you, eyebrow raising slightly, “You can come watch if you want.”

“I— I wouldn’t want to impose,” You crossed your arms, still feeling the gaze of the team on you.

“Are we getting a manager?” The question sounded more like a shout, and one of the members clutched his chest rather dramatically, “Take that Karasuno!”

“If you don’t scare her off with your shouting,” He either hadn’t heard the dig aimed at him or didn’t care.

Cautiously, you removed your sneakers, sock covered feet against the floor beneath you as you followed behind coach Naoi, keeping your gaze lowered.

“Well?” The older coach turned his attention back to his team, “Get on with it! Yamamoto, get up.”

You took a seat next to him, shoes laid across your lap, bag pressed close to your calves.

“Coach Nekomata,” He introduced himself to you, barely taking his attention from his team, “You join any clubs yet?”

“Oh, uh,” You swallowed, your throat suddenly dry, “No. Not yet. I haven’t found a good fit yet.”

“Lev, your receives still suck.”

“Yaku!”

You focused your attention forward, watching as the taller guy, one you somehow hadn’t noticed yet, got scolded, his shoulders drooping into himself.

“You have any interest in volleyball?”

You side eyed the man, his posture relaxed and unbothered, and you heard Naoi sigh from your other side.

“I… think it’s an interesting sport.”

“Oh?” He sounded amused, “Just interesting?”

You watched the balls fly around the court, people yelling out praises or playful insults at one another, “Yeah. Only ever seen it on TV a few times.”

“Hm,” He nodded, saying nothing more.

The three of you lapsed into silence, merely watching as the warmups switched, and you felt yourself losing tension in your body. Watching them was entertaining, the way they played and talked— they made it look fun.

They were all drenched in sweat, heavy breathing, some of their forearms looked red as did their knees. But they were smiling and laughing, though winded they may be.

“Yamamoto, the loudmouth, is right in his own way,” Coach Nekomata’s voice seemed to snap you back to reality, and you turned to look at him curiously, finding his attention already on you, “We could use a manager. Lord knows I could use the help with these hard heads.”

“Kenma, set it up!”

The one that had shouted when you came in was, once again, shouting. You didn’t know how to respond to the coach, so you turned, watching as the one with longer dyed hair set the ball, and the loudmouth, Yamamoto, went running forward.

He jumped, and in a split second, hit the ball over the net, the sound echoing in the gym, and you swore you felt the air from the ball move your hair.

“Woah,” You almost whispered the simple praise to yourself, unaware of the smug look on Coach Nekomata’s face, and the bemused one on Coach Naoi’s.

You licked your lips, turning away from where Yamamoto was singing his own praises, “Would I learn?”

You clarified, “If I… became a manager. I’d have to learn how volleyball works, first. Then how to actually be a good manager. I— I don’t have experience with either of those.”

Nekomata smiled at you, a kind look on his face, “Our team does one thing best above all else— connecting. If you become our manager, you wouldn’t be learning on your own, you won’t be alone. This I promise.”

You sighed, looking back towards the court. They seemed to be taking a small break, the unnamed members talking and joking, the one who had set the ball was getting his hair messed with, though he looked annoyed, he didn’t move away to stop it.

You won’t be alone.

That sounded… nice.

“How do I apply?”