Private/Closed A High School RP.. but Rivalry

[OmnipotentOnion]

~*~ @kageyama ~*~​

Senji woke up with a yawn, hearing the pops in his back as he stretched his arms upward. His alarm blared throughout his room, signalling his time to get ready for school. Sighing to himself, the teen turned off the alarm before jumping out of bed and changing into his usual outfit. He slipped on a black tee and black athletic shorts, walking into the bathroom to wash up. Once he was finished, Senji at a rather light breakfast, consisting of a cup of yogurt and an apple before throwing on a white hoodie and leaving his home, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

He soon arrived at Stormridge High School after a five minutes' walk, dropping his things by his desk once he got to his first period class. While he was reading his light novel, Senji's phone vibrated in his pocket, and the teen pulled it out to check the notification. It was a group text from the Stormridge varsity volleyball captain, reading:

Hey team! Just a reminder that we'll be riding the team bus over to Ambrose High School to have a practice match against their team after school today. Get ready for a fun three sets later!

Ambrose High School. Senji himself bore no animosity to the school, but he couldn't quite say the same for the majority of the students here at Stormridge. Even beyond the school district, it was clear that both Stormridge and Ambrose were the fiercest of rivals with neck and neck records in every sport, and volleyball was no exception, maybe even more so than the other sports. Quite excited for the opportunity to see what their varsity team was made of, Senji cracked his knuckles in anticipation for the practice match soon to come.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka was not one for silly school conflicts, but on learning in her first-hour class about the evening scrimmage against Stormridge, she couldn't help but admit that a spark of ambition blazed hot in her.

Sitting spiritless in her seat, Atsuka dropped her phone into the unzipped pocket of her bag, then further draping her upper half over the hard table. With nothing but the scrimmage to motivate her through the day, Atsuka drawled a yawn and buried her face in the wool sleeves of her sweater, inattentively drifting off. Just about the entirety of her day was uneventful and of low enjoyment.

But the stony, aloof expression often painted on Atsuka's face was contorted into that of a tranquil smile as her volleyball sneakers scuffed shrilly against the polished floor. The first one to enter the gymnasium, Atsuka exhaled submissively at the sight of the tightly-strung volleyball net that stood proud in the center of the court. Ponytail swishing behind her, she fervently tugged the ball bin out of the storage room and rolled it to a set of sidelines. A drab red pinny was thrown over her long-sleeved club tee. Atsuka's fingers were nearly twitching as she scooped a ball from the cart and took it to the serving line.

Within minutes, the rest of the team filed into the court, warming up their arms and working on their swings. Atsuka participated in the drill, soaring up on the left side and violently clobbering the ball into the opposite court. Each time she ducked under the net to retrieve the ball, an encouraging "Looking good!" or "Keep it up!" would be uttered by her teammates. The entire gymnasium - filled by ten, confident players - resounded with words of optimism. Only Atsuka noticed the large bus painted with Stormridge's mascot pulling into the lot outside of the field house.

Ambrose's coach stepped into the gym from outside and beckoned for the players to shift onto one side of the court. Begrudgingly, each student grabbed their waters and transferred to the same side of the court. Atsuka watched from the corner of her eye as Stormridge students assembled into the gymnasium as well. A thick curtain of tension was immediately hung in the room as players began to speak in irritated murmurs. Averting her gaze to the floor, Atsuka tapped her fingers wildly on the ball she held. We're going to win.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji walked confidently into the Ambrose High School gymnasium, completely aware of the hostile murmurs that filled the building as he and his teammates arrived. Wheeling a cart full of volleyballs, the Stormridge team set up their things without a word to the rival school, silently and efficiently beginning warm-ups. Senji took his place at the setter position of the court, tossing for his teammates as they ran hitting drills. For each player, the setter delivered pinpoint accuracy and perfect tosses, matching with ease to the preferences of the hitters. It was tedious at first to remember the different habits and areas of comfortable hitting for everyone, but soon, it felt like simple muscle memory to Senji.

After a few more rotations of hitting, the Ambrose coach blew his whistle, beckoning for both teams to meet in the same side of the gym. Once everyone had gathered, the coach folded his arms across his chest and began to speak.

"Alright, I know we're all well aware of the rivalry between our schools, but we won't be letting that hinder our enjoyment of the game and the aim of this practice match. Got it?"

A resounding "Got it!" echoed through the gym, and soon, both teams broke off into their respective sides. The starting lineup for each team came out onto the court, and Senji stood at the middle of his side, close to the net. They would be receiving first, so he got ready, bracing himself for what would be an exhausting but fun three sets. We're going to win.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka wiped the bottom of her shoes, back turned to the opposing side. The Ambrose starting lineup was huddled tightly, hands weaved around each player's back. One would expect the tall, broad-muscled senior to direct the team in how to play, but one would be surprised as Atsuka cleared her throat. "We have the first serve, meaning they have the first opportunity to score a kill on us. Our defense needs to be unbroken and consistently scrappy. That being said, all front-row players need to give their best coverage, especially given their starting setter," her voice resonated with intensity as she executed among her teammates.

"Let's play hard."

Nearly two feet behind the serving line stood Asuka, ball held tightly in her right hand. Her left combed any stray hairs of her ponytail back behind her forehead. The discordant shriek of the whistle sounded, and Atsuka inhaled shallowly, eyes fixated into the back corner of the opponent's court. The ball hung in the air ahead of her as she generously tossed it, arms poised back as she took a stride forward. Right foot leading, she sprung up and dipped her arms before stabilizing them in the typical bow and arrow stance. Then, in a split second, her left arm burst forward, palm flat as it contacted the ball at an ample height.

The ball soared over the net, its trajectory advancing downwards at gathering speed near the backside of Stormridge's court. Atsuka landed on two feet, making no hesitation to sprint into position. Already squatting with the balms of her feet in a loose, springy fashion, her eyes followed the ball keenly.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

That's a nasty serve; perfect execution.

However, a back row player was able to get into position ahead of time and bump it up to Senji, who awaited to right time to jump. As the ball quickly approached the apex of its arc, the setter jumped up and outstretched his arms in preparation to toss the ball to a spiker. The ace, who was positioned on Senji's left, approached the net and jumped up to spike, and in response, two blockers on the other team jumped as well, both arms up high in order to block the incoming hit. Despite what seemed like an impenetrable wall standing in his way, Senji committed to his set, tossing the ball perfectly according to the ace's preferences.

Perfect.

The ball was set with a delicate touch, high and far from the net. The ace, Kyran Bennett, hit the ball with terrifying precision, his hand colliding with it directly in the center. The now hurtling ball tore through the wall in between the arms of one blocker, deflected even farther downward, which would be a pain to dig out. Nothing short of a perfect execution, through and through.

 

[kageyama]

The ball barrelled downwards to the gym floor, hitting the patch of floor that was mere centimeters away from Atsuka's fingertips as she pushed herself forward and threw out her arm. It bounced a few times before the middle blocker crouched down and swept the ball under the net. With a "Nice try," he helped Atsuka up as well, and the rest of the team huddled together with words of encouragement. Wiping her hands on her thighs, Asuka turned on her heel and returned to her position in the back row for their turn on serve-receive.

Damn it.

Atsuka wiped her nose before crouching back down, arms loosely held ahead of her should the ball be targetted towards her. Her fingers twitched.

No need to fret so early in the match. It was one point. You were a second away from saving it, and now you know better.

Blowing out a stream of air, Atsuka watched with heavy concentration as Stromridge's server stepped into place. Her eyes were narrowed greatly, her figure hanging with precision and readiness. "Side-out," she announced loudly to her teammates, who agreed with phrases of "Shake it off!" and "Next point."

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji eyed the girl who had dived for the spike, just barely missing it; while she had reason to be frustrated, the setter was quite irked as well, for some reason. I didn't expect her to get that close; that's irritating. Although he didn't want to admit it, she was a cut above the others on the Ambrose team, and she quickly became one to look out for. Kyran noticed Senji's agitated expression, despite the latter's best attempts to conceal it, and he slapped the setter's back with a concerned expression. "You good? Where are you upset? That was a good set, and we got the point." Senji turned to glance at the ace and nodded, waving dismissively to the wing spiker. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just got lost in thought for a bit." He redirected his attention to the match, and once the whistle blew, the Stormridge server sent over a quick jump serve aimed towards the far right corner of the court.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka nearly grinned as the ball spiraled towards her. With an "I got it," she shrugged her arms forward in a smooth platform, bouncing directly to the setter who had waiting arms. Atsuka shared a glance with the setter, a tall girl who quickly fixed her gaze ahead. Atsuka faltered back for a moment as the middle hitter started to swing his arms back. Now.

She began her approach with haste as to match up with the setter's directions. The middle hitter sprung up, only to fall back down empty-handed. Instead, Atsuka dashed ahead and bounded upwards, lashing her arm out to meet the ball for a back-row attack. The ball shot hard at the very tips of the blocker's fingers, immediately changing its trajectory to fly upwards off pf the touch. Atsuka landed ahead of the ten-foot line, readily waiting in case Stormridge should somehow retrieve the hurtling ball and keep it in play.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji let out an irritated "tch". A wipe? Those are tedious to pick up. Luckily, a back row player was able to hastily chase down the ball and hit it back into play. However, it bounced off the next player the wrong way, and the setter found himself jumping up to get the ball over with the third hit. Adjusting into a comfortable position, Senji crouched down, getting ready to jump; just as two blockers jumped as well, he seemed to leap to hit the ball as well. Instead, he stayed for a few more seconds before actually jumping, now able to spike without any obstacles in his way. He swung down with pinpoint accuracy, watching as the ball hurtled downward towards the back row with astounding speed.

 

[kageyama]

A male in the back-row flung out, arms locked together, allowing the ball to nicely fly upwards. It hung in a very convenient spot, giving Atsuka the perfect amount of time to throw together her approach from behind the ten-foot line. The front-row cleared out of the way, crouching in respective positions should her second-hit attack need to be covered. Atsuka bounced up once again, arm whipping down at the ball for the second time in that rally. This time, the ball slammed directly in between the opposing middle blocker's arms, hitting the ground at an unreachable velocity that earned Ambrose a point. Atsuka nodded as her teammates and she patted each other on the backs, urging them to keep up this pace and not to back down. Each player shifted in rotation, and the ball rolled to the girl who was up to serve. If we continue with this grit, we can definitely win this. I know we can. Atsuka swiped her hands along her shirt to dry them, crouching down low and glaring down the opposing team.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji noticed the look Atsuka sent his team and fired back a sharp glare of his own with equal intensity before turning to encourage his teammates. Don't get too confident, Ambrose; you won't win as long as I'm here. Despite his aforementioned indifference towards the school rivalry between Stormridge and Ambrose, he was definitely feeling the drive to win against this school much more so than any other team. The server sent over a quick jump serve, but it was confidently bumped to Senji by a back row player. As he jumped up to toss the ball, he immediately switched tactic and slammed the ball down with one arm, free of any blockers that might have suspected a dump. The ball hurtled toward the ground, bouncing off the wooden floor almost instantly. Senji dropped to the ground and glowered at the Ambrose team, most of whom had gaping expressions. "Feeling confident, are we? Here's a reminder; you'd best not forget I'm playing."

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka typically remained unbothered when belittling between teams occurred, but this was different. Something about his attitude sent her into anger quicker than she's ever been pushed to before.

"And your teammates are doing nothing? What a beautiful soul you have," she hissed as she rolled the ball under the net feistily. Irked, she whipped around and met with her teammates. "Remember what I said about that setter? You need to watch what he's doing, but you mustn't forget about the rest of them," the girl said in a low voice, visibly ticked. As the huddle nodded, they disbanded and returned to their respective positions, appearing more fired-up than before.

The Stormridge server sent over a short floater with ease, but Ambrose's libero picked it up with a second to spare. "Here!" Atsuka burst from the back-row, asking that the ball be set to her. The setter turned her feet to face Atsuka as she threw her arms back for an approach, but instead set the ball behind her to the cocked and loaded right-side hitter. He swung down sharply, earning a point for Ambrose with a very clean line-shot. "Nice, nice," Atsuka repeated with approval as they brought their heads together. "Shift the momentum in our favor." Rotating once again, Atsuka sulked at her opponents, tracing her eyes over each player - excluding that nasty setter of theirs.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

"Yeah, yeah," Senji retorted, turning back to get ready for the next play. Although Ambrose had scored another point, he encouraged his team, making sure they continued to hold their heads high. "That's fine; we'll take the point back." As the receiving team's serve was bumped to Senji with good accuracy, the setter fired a quick toss into a quick hit, earning them a point as well promptly. It was a risky move, pulling off an ambitious quick like that, but Senji had full confidence in his teammate, and all he needed to do was to draw out the best in his team; the effort and execution would soon follow. Truth be told, despite his previous action, he actually trusted in his teammates more than himself, and by giving his 110 percent as a setter, he could bring out the best in his teammates. Senji's arrogant dump had been a result of his prideful ambition to win. Once the referee announced the point given to Stormridge, he pumped a fist into the air and celebrated with his teammates, fully prepared to leave behind his pride.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka was not proud to say that they had just fallen short of victory in the first set. However, the sting had been nullified after an amplified comeback in the second set that brought each of Ambrose's players' composures back. But now as the third set was winding down, the odds seemed not to favor the heaving team that Atsuka captained over.

The current score was a tug-of-war at 13-14, Stormridge in the lead by a thread. Atsuka was standing at the serving line. The hair that dangled from her ponytail was plastered to the back of her neck as she wiped her face with her sleeve, holding the ball steadily in her palm. As the ear-splitting squeal of the whistle echoed around the humid gymnasium, she closed her eyes and took a small gasp of air. Eyes opening with rigidness, she tossed the ball ahead in her usual form, approached it with the highest jump she could muster and swung her arm like a cracking whip at the hanging object. It sped straight into the top of the tape, shaking the net as it balanced dangerously on top. As Atsuka landed, her heart dropped right with her. But the ball rolled over into Stormridge's court, flooding Ambrose with relief as they hastily sank into position.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

It was a nasty serve poorly timed in such a tense game with victory so close, but luckily a wing spiker was able to dig out the short serve and bump it to Senji. The setter watched for Kyran's jump, and time seemed to stop. A few more seconds later, and Kyran was already in the air, though Senji hadn't tossed the ball yet. As the ball spun through the air, he took a deep breath before finally jumping up with his arms outstretched. A dump would certainly be easy, and it would be a one and done play, but something in Senji's mind advised against it. Yeah, that's right; we should win as a team. Being of sound mind and body, the teen relaxed his hands and fired the decisive quick toss, meeting Kyran's hand perfectly. The ball had been precisely set to the apex of the ace's swing, and the ball burst through the hands of the blocker that had jumped in a desperate attempt to stop the spike. The gym went silent as the ball hit the polished floor with a solid thud, bouncing away. Senji turned to face his team, a triumphant glint in his hazel eyes as he let out a joyous yell, high-fiving and celebrating with his teammates. The final score: 15-13, Stormridge High.

 

[kageyama]

Once again, Atsuka was a pathetic second too late as she slid across the floor, arm desperately outstretched to try and gain even a finger on the ball. All hope depleted from her eyes at the first bounce.

Ambrose's side of the court was in mourning silence for what felt like an eternity of moments. The hushed environment was rudely interrupted, though, by Atsuka's hand slapping the floor with frustration. She pushed herself up, eyes burning as she muttered under her breath. It's your fault the ball dropped.

Atsuka buried her face in the towel that the coaches handed to each player. Crying would've felt blissful, but there was no way in hell she was going to show defeat in the presence of Stormridge. Instead, she placed the towel around the back of her neck, led her team to the net, and shook hands with her opponents. On reaching their setter, she stopped for an extra second, her eyes serious and sharp. "We're going to win next time," she said in a tone that felt far too calm. Then Atsuka whipped around and head towards the bench, grabbing her water with tense hands and scarfing down nearly the entire bottle.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Upon hearing Atsuka declare that her team would win the next time they played, Senji nodded and gave her hand a firm shake. "Best of luck to you all, then." Once he had shaken the hands of the rest of the Ambrose players, he walked over to Atsuka, who had been busy draining a water bottle, before putting a firm but encouraging hand on her shoulder. "It's frustrating, but keep your head up high. You were just a split second late, so don't beat yourself up over it; you'll get it next time." With that, he took out a towel from his bag, and as he wiped the sweat off of his face, Senji made his way over to the coach with the rest of the team.

"The Ambrose coach and I were talking while you all played," Coach Sage started, his hands on his hips. "These are both high-level teams, and that was a hell of a game, as I'm sure you're all aware. As a result, we decided to schedule weekly practice games with each other on this day, alternating game locations, so just make sure you remember every week."

Senji nodded in understanding, and soon, the Stormridge team was back on the bus, departing for their home school.

 

[kageyama]

Plastered on Atsuka's face was a clear splash of distaste as her eyes followed Senji strolling back to his teammates. "I don't need you to tell me that," she jeered under her breath, pulling her pinny off from over her head.

Most of the Ambrose players grew stiff as their coach issued the new standard both teams would be following - a scrimmage each week on the current day. Whispers snaked their way between each player, eyes glancing at each other with malice. But the coach gave no care, no sir, and instead clapped his hands together once. "Practice is practice. I'd be an idiot to turn down this offer. Now, that was an excellent fight you put up. Get changed and meet back when you're done to clean up," his voice was firm.

As Atsuka shut the lights off in the storage room behind her, a flourishing taste of strife crept up behind her. Her lips drew to a small smirk. We won't be losing anymore.

The expedition of walking home for Atsuka was nothing new. She stepped into her house, exchanged a few mumbles of greeting to her father, and went off to shower. There was nothing left for her to do that evening because despite striking as an aloof and intimidating figure, she was a diligent student and often refused to allow herself homework. So, naturally, she crept into her room and dove into recordings of Ambrose's previous spars with Stormridge in the sport of volleyball.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji had been busy doing the same thing at his own abode once he had arrived and taken a shower. Now dressed in a white tank top and black sweatpants, the teen began studying his rival team through recordings of past games a year ago. From what he could deduce about the team through their play, attacks seemed to be centered around... her. For an unknown reason, Senji found himself getting a little irritated upon seeing the lefty ace who had gotten on his nerves from the practice match this afternoon. Glowering to himself, he then cracked his knuckles in anticipation for the next time he would square off against the girl, even though it was in an entire week's time. I won't lose to her.

 

[kageyama]

Before promptly shutting off her television, Atsuka messily scribbled in a journal of hers on the key details to note about each match. There were small notes scattered about, but written sloppily in the center of the page was, "Setter - pay attention to at ALL COSTS." A dissatisfied expression was clearly exhibited on her face as she shut the journal and tossed it into her volleyball bag. With that, she slithered into bed.

A week's worth of hard practice and limited water breaks later had seemed to flare up a new level of desire for revenge in each and every Ambrose player as they stood on their side of the court, reviewing with their coach on what to do in each situation. Atsuka's notebook was flipped open to the previous page of jottings on Stormridge, sitting pretty on the coach's clipboard. After a minute or so of encouraging words and a huddle cheer, the starting lineup was waved to arrange themselves on the court. Unlike the previous match, Atsuka was starting in the front row, standing inches shorter than her peers beside her. But it was no issue - she knew what she was doing.

Stormridge was standing ready on the opposite side of the court as the ball was rolled to their first server by a line-judge. Ambrose's side was unusually silent, already standing vigil in preparation for any nasty serve to throw them out of the park. Atsuka's eyes, sharp and stony, were fixated intently on the server at the line. Send it over.

The whistle howled.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Determined to make sure their victory of Ambrose hadn't been a matter of luck, Stormridge had also heavily prepared to come out triumphant yet again. Senji personally had put in extra practice to make sure he would be prepared for any situation while the ball was in play. As the playmaker for his team, he took it upon himself to build up his teammates as much as possible and draw out the entirety of their skill with as much comfort as possible. There was no doubt in his mind that his preparation for this scrimmage would put his dedication to his role as setter to the ultimate test. Turning around to get the attention of the player up to serve, Senji flashed him a thumbs up and nodded. From his periphery, a large number of Ambrose students, having heard of the results from last week's game, assembled in the stands. Upon the scream of the whistle, the teen turned back to face Ambrose, and Stormridge fired a speedy jump serve towards the center of the court.

 

[kageyama]

The serve hurtled over, contacting the libero nicely as if bouncing off of a firm platform. Retreating to the ten-foot line to begin an approach, Atsuka watched her setter like a hawk. Confirming within a split second that it was her ball to kill, she lurched ahead and sprung up, arm fully retracted. As the ball hung right in front of her and she fired her arm forward, though, she stopped before hitting it and instead used her fingertips to swipe it to the side over both of the blockers. She could've simply dinked it over the top of the blockers, but that was far too easy to recover than when the ball was horizontally pushed beside the defenders. Atsuka landed on two feet, staring with eyes of a hawk as the ball spiraled downwards. "Swing back," she said loudly, motioning her teammates to return in the standard defensive layout should the ball be received and fired back over. They did so, and Ambrose shifted back into their ready positions.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

That was bothersome. The Stormridge libero dived forward to bump it, using one arm to hit it upward, but it came up much more vertical than intended. "Sorry; it's a bit short!" It wasn't the best position in which to set, but nevertheless, Senji jumped up to reach the ball far from the net before pushing it quickly towards an already airborne Kyran. Spot on; the ball was struck with precision, and it now sped towards the center of Ambrose's side, deflected to the left by the edge of a blocker's hands. Senji let out a mental sigh of relief; it was an extremely risky move to go for a full-on quick in such a situation, but it seemed to pay off. Such a spike, especially with a course that was abruptly changed, would be hard to dig out. Even then, the teen saw where it was headed and cursed inwardly, as the ball was aimed at an area where Atsuka was within close proximity.

 

[kageyama]

Tongue shoved between her lips as she watched with concentration, Atsuka shuffled loosely off the balms of her feet, arms locked together tightly as the ball directed towards her. "I got it," she murmured, shrugging her shoulders and aiming the ball to the setter. "Four... four," Atsuka repeated the number urgently as she swung around to the ten-foot line. Diligently, she lunged forward and launched upwards, arm ready to kill the ball. But the contact never came, and instead, the middle hitter who was patiently waiting for a set had sprung up and slammed the ball at the wall that was the opposing middle hitter. It contacted the lower palm of the offender, almost instantly spiraling down in between the net and the blocker. That's going to be unfriendly to try and dig, Atsuka thought with pleasure as she landed on her feet, watching the ball ricochet between the threaded material and the Stormridge player.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji watched as the ball spiraled down after being deflected by the blocker next to him and muttered a curse under his breath. Lunging to the side, he stuck out an arm and hit the ball with his fist towards the middle of their side of the court, barking out a sharp, "Cover!" A back row player rushed in to bump it upward, and Kyran, on the left side of the court, jumped to hit it over. That was bad; I was forced to hit the ball first to keep it in play. Luckily, the ace was able to get a decent spike across, bouncing off a blocker's hand and immediately flying upward, way out of bounds on Ambrose's side. Senji immediately got back into position, ready in case a back row player was able to save the ball.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka watched with loathing eyes as Senji rescued the ball from the floor. Hatred boiled further as the ball was spiraling inevitably out of bounds off of their touch. "Go!" Atsuka clamored, shifting in accordance with where their libero was sprinting. A leap by the libero miraculously kept the ball up, but it wasn't pretty. The setter bounded over to the ball, unable to put together a pretty set. Instead, she turned to Atsuka and scooped the ball over to her for her to finish it. Not yet.

Atsuka spiked the ball into the fingers of the blockers purposefully, allowing the back-row to relax and put up a better pass. "Let me finish it," the left-side breathed as the setter's hands rose above her head. As she was at the height of her bounce, the ball spun in front of Atsuka, begging to be crushed. Showing no mercy, Atsuka let her arm release at a violent speed, slamming the ball down. It whizzed past the blocker, heading straight for the back-right one position on Stormridge's court. Landing, Atsuka's breath hitched for a short second. This is all for the first point.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji could feel it from both sides of the court; despite the constant struggle for just the first point, slight exhaustion and annoyance was beginning to creep into the players' minds. Determined to keep his cool, the setter watched as a back row player bumped up the spike to the former, and Senji jumped up to direct the play from there. Though he set the ball to Kyran once again, it was a high toss rather than the quick they had pulled off earlier. As blockers jumped, Kyran stayed crouched on the floor before jumping and hitting a delayed spike. The ball hurtled toward the center of Ambrose's side of the court, and Senji desperately hoped for it to be the decisive play for the point.

 

[kageyama]

The forearm thrown out by the libero hadn't been enough to cease the ball's velocity, but only tipped it off further, thus giving the first point of Stormridge. Breaths were already being softly heaved between players despite it only being the first point. Dejected, the libero retrieved the dead ball and rolled it under the net, then joining Ambrose's huddle. A medley of promising phrases was shared between the teammates, who then disbanded and shifted into serve-receive. "Side-out," Atsuka uttered for her comrades to heed. Her breathing steadied as she stared across the court to the opposing server. It's one point. The first point doesn't determine the outcome of the game. This is our home court, and we're not gonna protect it pathetically.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Groans of Ambrose students spectating echoed across the gym as the first point was given to Stormridge. The latter team celebrated with high-fives, and Senji complimented his teammates on the hard earned triumph. However, the match was far from over, as everyone was aware, and the Stormridge team sank into position once again as the server fired another jump serve across the court. Ambrose really wants to win this one; they're playing with a sense of.. revenge? Not that it's unusual, though. I'm not too surprised. All he could do was hope they wouldn't be too upset when their pursuit of revenge was promptly denied.

 

[kageyama]

The ball sped like a dart to a male in the back row, who stumbled forward a bit the send the ball up clean to the setter. Atsuka was nearly in the air when the ball was centimeters above the setter’s hands. Her eyes were sharp - averted to her setter’s eyes to try and catch her intentions. A pleased glint flickered in Atsuka’s eyes as her arm swung forward, hitting no ball. Instead, the setter barely pushed the ball behind her so that it would roll over and down the net into Stormridge’s court. As Atsuka’s feet hit the floor, so did the ball, thus earning a point for Ambrose. As their team huddled, a plethora of encouraging words and pats on backs were engaged, then disbanded with a few final phrases.

The ball was rolled under the net to Ambrose’s side, where a fit male sent the ball over with a jump-floater.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Just a split second late; Senji narrowed his eyes as the ball was tipped over his head and fell to the floor. Gotta take that point back. The jump-float, though disorienting, was confidently set to Senji by a back row player, and the latter jumped up to toss. However, he came up with a response of his own by simply spiking the ball down instantly, earning the point for Stormridge.

The game was extremely intense, with victory almost seeming guaranteed for both teams, but the outcome of the final point was unfortunately outside Senji's control; a wipe that bounced off the fingers of a one-man blocker sent the ball to the very corner of Stormridge's side of the court, and Ambrose won the game with a break of 31-29. Muttering a curse under his breath, Senji put his hands on his hips and sighed, though it was muffled by the cheers of the students spectating the match. He shook hands with the Ambrose players--though he said to Atsuka with a glowering demeanor, "I don't like how neck-and-neck this is; we'll be winning next week."--and went back to his fellow teammates to comfort them. Soon, the Stormridge players packed their things and boarded the team bus, heading back toward their home campus.

3 days later..

Smoke stung Senji's eyes as he let out several raspy coughs before finally making it out. The panicked clamor of students filled the air as everyone in the Stormridge campus poured out of the building at once, and Senji made sure he was a safe distance away before turning to get a full view of the horror. The high school was engulfed in flames, dense plumes of smoke spilling upward into the brisk morning air, and the gradually increasing sound of sirens began to creep into the silence. The principal finally calmed down the massive assembly of students with a megaphone and began to explain what would happen next as calmly as he could. "Alright, students, listen. Firefighters are on their way, but from the look of things right now, this campus is in no shape to occupied, nor will it be for a while. Now, luckily, Ambrose High School has offered to host you all for however long it takes until our building can be restored. I'm aware of the rivalry our schools share, but it's more of a time than ever to put that aside and bear with it. Understood?" Senji silently nodded in understanding, but his upon hearing the words "Ambrose High School", only one person's face came to mind. I just hope they won't be having us merge volleyball teams. Yet somehow, that was exactly what he knew would happen.

The next day..

Senji emerged from the boys' locker room into the large gym at 4:15 PM, where the nets had already been set up for practice, which would begin in about 15 minutes. The day was nothing short of mentally exhausting, as the strain of having to learn his way around the new campus and dealing with rivals who obviously did not mean well to their new guests had been annoying to deal with. Looking around, the teen noticed that Atsuka was nowhere to be seen, but some other Ambrose players were present, and Senji could definitely feel the cold stares he was getting. Looks like the principal didn't account for Ambrose not being as amiable as he expected us to be.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka, who had been pumping air into flat volleyballs for the past dozen minutes, stepped out of the gymnasium storage room pushing an extra ball cart ahead of her. An aggravated expression on her face, she wheeled the cart over to the side of the gym where the majority of Ambrose students were, telling them to grab a pumped ball if they wanted to. When most of the players did, Atsuka half-heartedly turned around and gave the cart a shove, where it rolled under the net and slowly came to a halt on the side most Stormridge players occupied. She instantly turned on her heel, though, and began warming up.

Now, Atsuka would've been alright with merging classes, but fusing extracurriculars? The school board had to have been out of their minds.

When practice officially started, both coaches of each team were present and announced together how things would work. "With double the amount of people, playing time will not be fair. The starting lineup will change as well. I encourage you all to work as hard as possible if you want to fight for a starting spot," The Ambrose coach said, a stern look on his face as he looked over the numerous players. "As of now, as we have become one team. This means that, while rivalry is still evident, you should all be on your best behavior and treat each other like your family. That's what a team is." Whispers snaked along inside the group of athletes.

The rest of the coaches' speeches mainly consisted of how the game schedule would be affected, that practice would contain attributes of each team's previous conditioning and drills, and that the scrimmages that were previously promised would still occur when time allowed. The current starting lineup was also announced - though it wasn't official yet. It consisted of three of Stormrige's best players, and three of Ambrose's best players, and to nobody's surprise, Senji and Atsuka were both on the list. Her blood was boiling.

"Now... let's start practice," the Ambrose coach said with a menacing smile that matched the smirk on the Stormridge coach's face.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji let out a sigh of resignation as the two coaches began practice, and the newly combined team broke out into two single file lines, Stormridge's and Ambrose's setter both tossing for spiking drills. Just his luck, Senji glanced over at the line that formed behind him and noticed that one of the coaches moved Atsuka over to his line. Furrowing a brow, he gave it no more thought and began to effortlessly deliver sets that clicked easily with the hitters' motions. Finally, Atsuka was at the front, and as the ball came toward him, Senji rolled his eyes before tossing yet again, according to the girl's preferences. Due to his extensive study into the girl's play from recordings, he was able to fire pinpoint sets to her with deadly precision, and the ball sailed smoothly on its course, perfectly tossed toward Atsuka's waiting hand. More than anything else, I'll be proving my skill to you, and whether you like it or not, I'll be wringing out all of your potential as long as we're on the same team.

 

[kageyama]

The first steps of Atsuka's approach were stompier than usual, giving her a good base to spring from despite her flaming rage. As she soared up, the ball hung in front of her (unsurprisingly) and she physically glared at it before her arm fired like a whip cracking wildly. It flew at breakneck speed, hitting the court near the ten-foot line with a loud snap. She landed on her feet with a soft thud, glancing at Senji for a split second, eyes sharp and narrowed. She could hear murmurs from the significantly fuller gym as she dipped under the net to retrieve her ball, which hadn't been far from grazing the ceiling after it flew up from its first contact with the floor. Though she was brimming with discontent, a part of her was a bit pleased with how perfectly the set lined up with her preferences. Atsuka wouldn't admit it out loud, but she - and nearly everyone else - knew that this would be a very useful dynamic.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji caught the icy look Atsuka had sent him and evenly matched it with a cool stare, muttering, "Nice kill", under his breath. Not sure if I like all this. The two of them made too good of a team, and there was no doubt among the people that occupied the court that they would be spearheading the inevitable success of the newly merged group; however, that was only true provided the two actually worked together, which was something the setter dreaded. As the gym grew quiet aside of the sound of Atsuka's spike and the indistinct murmurs from the other players, Senji turned to glance at the next in line, shaking off his irritation before putting on a warmer demeanor. "Let's keep it going."

 

[kageyama]

The rest of the practice was hardly bearable for Atsuka. Not because it was anything she couldn't handle, but almost the exact opposite - things went so swimmingly it spooked her. Her and Senji were both performing at paces that only matched each other's, leaving all of the others several steps behind. Everyone in the gymnasium could see it.

Even with the addition of new players, Atsuka was one of the very last people to leave the gym. She always made sure the nets were folded and put away correctly, as well as checking for any flat balls that required air-pumping. Atsuka was exiting the storage room and scanning over the court's floor for skid marks and dust as the two coaches walked along the sideline beside her, talking quietly to each other. "...a huge dynamic between the two; practically unstoppable. But the relation... it might hold back full potential," one of their voices uttered, low and a bit dreadful. Atsuka looked down and frowned, knowing exactly what the topic of conversation was about. With a sigh she went to grab her bag and water bottle, slipping off her volleyball shoes and stepping into her regular ones. Not bothering to get changed, she did a once-over of the gym and then stepped outside.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji had already cleaned up, and by the time Atsuka stepped outside, he was in the front area, throwing on a bomber jacket before running a hand through his hair. He turned to the sound of the gymnasium's front doors opening, and upon seeing the girl, he let out a quiet scoff. During practice, Senji had found himself gradually becoming more annoyed at the evident chemistry between him and Atsuka, as it was clear they had already established a heated rivalry since their first practice match. He knew they made a more than perfect pair--everyone knew it, but the animosity they had for each other would obviously prove a hindrance to the rest of the team. With this in mind, Senji stared at her, a cool glint in his eyes.

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka slipped her own windbreaker on over her long sleeves, then shuffled her bag onto her shoulders. Fully aware that Senji was a couple of meters ahead of her, she paid no attention to him and instead took a generous amount of time tightening her backpack's straps and buckling and unbuckling the connector between the two. Eventually, though, she turned her gaze to his, an expression painted with irritation and aloofness on her face. "Need something?" she said very flatly. Atsuka took a moment to subtly examine him. She decided that he was quite attractive, but she thought he was far too insufferable to even think about anything more than being acquaintances.

 

[OmnipotentOnion]

Senji watched silently as Atsuka took her sweet time adjusting her backpack. Upon hearing her curt inquiry, he remained quiet, studying her for a couple of minutes. She was cute, but the thought was nothing more than a slightly agitating speck of dust that had drifted around in the back of his mind; the majority of his opinion on her was filled with irritation that had lingered since the first time they had met. Finally, Senji responded shortly, "Not really." With one last, quiet huff of petty annoyance, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and turned on his heel, beginning the walk back home. Senji paid Atsuka no more heed aside from a small wave of his hand and a curt, "See you at practice tomorrow."

 

[kageyama]

Atsuka watched him for a short moment before she shook her head, muttering under her breath while she began walking to her own home in the opposite direction. Her father was in the kitchen when she arrived home, just starting to make dinner. Without looking up, he greeted his daughter. "How was practice? Was it crowded?" he queried, turning on the stove. Atsuka sighed loudly, pulling her shoes off. "It went great, actually. Really great." She paused. "It's unbearable."

He looked up at her, surprised. The look in his eyes asked her to elaborate. "New setter," she muttered. "Really good at his job, but I can't stand him." Not wanting to speak any further, she strolled through the kitchen and tossed her bag into her bedroom on reaching it. Atsuka took a long shower before having dinner to wrap up the night. All she could think about as she slipped into bed was how the hell she was going to get used to this intruder that entered her haven (that is, volleyball in general.)