Nekoma X Manager Reader - Blog Posts

✩⁺₊✩☽⋆𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖑𝖊𝖙'𝖘 2024 12 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖘⋆☾✩⁺₊✩

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑂𝑛𝑒 (12/1/24): 𝑆𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑦 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝐾𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑜 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑇𝑤𝑜 (12/3/24): 𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒 (𝑆𝐷𝑉!𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑡. 𝐽𝑎𝑠)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 (12/5/24): 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑑 (𝑆𝐷𝑉!𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑦 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟 (12/7/24): 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑎 (𝑆𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑟𝑎 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝐹𝑖𝑣𝑒 (12/9/24): 𝐺𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 (𝐵𝑜𝑘𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑆𝑖𝑥 (12/11/24): 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 (𝑈𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑦𝑎 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑡. 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 (12/13/24): 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑒 (𝐾𝑒𝑛𝑚𝑎 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (12/15/24): 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑁𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑒 (12/17/24): 𝐺𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 (𝑆𝑢𝑜 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑇𝑒𝑛 (12/19/24): 𝑆𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑠 (𝑁𝑒𝑘𝑜𝑚𝑎 𝑥 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟!𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 (12/21/24): 𝐼𝑐𝑒 𝑆𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝐺𝑜𝑗𝑜 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 (12/23/24): 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒𝑠 (𝑈𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑦𝑎 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟)

✩⁺₊✩☽⋆𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖚𝖘 𝕯𝖆𝖞 (12/25/24): 𝕻𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘 (𝕸𝖚𝖑𝖙𝖎 𝖝 𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗) ⋆☾✩⁺₊✩

“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 Manager Headcanons

To start: talk about chaos.

I imagine the manager!reader as a 2nd year, as stated in my first one shot.

You look up to the third years, though the way you and Kuroo act you'd never admit it to his face.

Once you grow comfortable with the team, and vice versa, the two of you bicker like siblings.

Kai is who you gravitate to the most, he's so calm and quiet, you two grew closer faster because of this.

Yaku and Kuroo were both lowkey jealous; they both work on being doting upperclassmen in their own ways and now their manager is anxious around them? Heartbroken.

The first years think you hung the stars.

Lev is always trying to impress you with his moves, which more than often results in him missing a spike or getting hit in the face with what was supposed to be a receive.

Most of his failed attempts end with Yaku scolding him and you are torn between allowing him to shape his team and stepping in to play peacemaker.

Shibayama is the first team member to confide in you regarding any anxiety they had while playing; he compares himself to Yaku so much that it broke your heart, you two talked and you made him see he had made the team for a reason, and he left feeling much better.

Teshiro is more awkward or shy when approaching you, he may have been a first-year when you met him, but he knew the team hadn't had a manager in a long time. He was worried they might scare you off, specifically one of the... second years... But you stuck around! He liked to be around you, even if neither of you talked all the time, your presence was enjoyable. He also tended to be one of the only members (he and Kai) that didn't get scolded or yelled at.

Inuoka reminds you of a puppy, regardless of being on the team of "cats". He was actually the first member of the team to fully approach you, more than a simple introduction. He was so excited that you were their manager, it definitely helped you feel a lot more comfortable. Did you process everything he said to you? No. Was it endearing as hell? Yes.

If Kenma isn't sitting with Kuroo on bus rides he's sitting with you, you enjoy watching him playing his games, that or he enjoys the peace whenever you nap on the bus. Once he even let you play a game on his switch. Once.

Yamamoto is really excited to show you off at any and all practice matches they have. You're so supportive of them all that it makes him really emotional, and you've learned to just pat his head and walk away. You once showed up to an away game with your nails painted in your team colors and you watched that man genuinely weep.

Fukanaga loves to make you laugh whenever the team's quiet or having a more serious meeting. He learned your humor so fast it's dangerous. You can never be upset around him, he reads you like an open book, and whatever worry follows you around is quickly destroyed by him and his shining personality.

Like I said; you and Kuroo have a sibling like relationship once you're comfortable with the team. He leans his arm against your head like a headrest, you make fun of his attempts of sounding cool. The team finds it hilarious, and other than Yaku and Kenma, you're one of the few people he's terrified to piss off.

Kai is the upperclassman you look up to the most, he's calm and collected, smart and nice. He's everything you strive to be as a student and an upperclassman. He helps you study, he helped you learn about volleyball and all the info that comes with that when you first joined, he made sure to include you in any and all group hangouts when you were new.

Kai supremacy.

Yaku and you have, not to sound like I'm stuck in the 2020 fandom, but "parenting" personalities together. Yaku yells at Lev, you follow behind by telling Lev you two care about him and just want to see him get better! Yaku may worry when a teammate gets minorly injured, but you fret, despite knowing minor injuries occur in this sport. The time where you're on the same page exactly is whenever you take the opportunity to bully Kuroo.

He hates it.

I have to say: years ago when I first got into Haikyuu I made an OC for it, and she was Nekoma's manager. This entire thing is self-indulgent. If I was any good at art I'd have so many comic series with her. Sad.

Also I just saw the movie so I am hyperfocused on my boys.