Tetsurou Kuroo was like a different person when he played Volleyball—his voice booming, eyes shining, encouragement pouring out as if it cost nothing, all in a way that made you think he was afraid no one would play with him.
Newbies always need some time to adapt to the game.
The ball either flies off too far or can’t be caught, and kids have short attention spans anyway, often getting distracted by cats and such.
Yoriko Arisu and Kenma Kotsume both had short Physique Bars.
By the time Tetsurou Kuroo had exhausted the two of them, it was about time to go home.
Yoriko Arisu lay lifelessly on the Bridge-side Lawn.
“Is this what it means to be a sports kid? Your stamina is insane.”
Kenma Kotsume was just as exhausted, though he was holding up a little better, barely managing to support himself.
In the end, the one with the most stamina, Tetsurou Kuroo, had to go and pull Yoriko Arisu, who was sprawled out on the ground.
“Hiss.”
Yoriko Arisu felt a twinge of pain in her arm where she was being pulled.
Looking closely, she noticed her arm was covered in tiny red dots she hadn’t seen before.
She let out a wail.
“What’s up with all these red dots?”
Was she going to die soon or something?!
“Ah, that,” Tetsurou Kuroo glanced at her arm and reassured her, “it’s just Internal Bleeding, it’ll disappear soon.”
Yoriko Arisu and Kenma Kotsume looked at him in awe.
To say such a cool line so casually—how amazing!
That evening at dinner, Kentaro Kotsume looked at the two kids’ red arms and asked, puzzled, “What happened to your arms?”
Yoriko Arisu’s mouth was stuffed with food, so she couldn’t answer. Kenma Kotsume said lightly, “…It’s nothing, just Internal Bleeding.”
Yoriko Arisu swallowed her food and shouted, “That was supposed to be my line!”
She wanted to say such a cool line too! Darn you, Kenma!
Kenma Kotsume’s gaze darted away, his ears tinged red.
He muttered, “Well, you didn’t say it yourself.”
“That’s because my mouth was full just now!”
The two of them bickered, while Kenma’s parents watched from the side, laughing.
“The kids really get along well, don’t they?”
That night, Yoriko Arisu showered early, washing off the sticky feeling from her body.
She stared at the red dots on her arm for a while, pressing on them gently.
Ouch.
And after the hot water, there was this tingling, swelling sensation. It felt oddly novel.
She walked into Kenma Kotsume’s room, and under his puzzled gaze, lifted his sleeve and pressed on his arm.
“Ouch! What are you doing?!”
Kenma Kotsume jumped, yanking his arm back and guarding it, glaring warily at the black-haired girl.
Yoriko Arisu sat beside Kenma Kotsume, resting her chin on her knees, looking troubled.
“This can’t be the last time we play Volleyball, right?”
Kenma Kotsume realized what she was getting at, and his face took on a matching gloomy expression.
“Yeah…”
Yoriko Arisu earnestly asked him, “Do you think Volleyball is fun?”
Kenma Kotsume put his controller aside, hugging his knees like her.
“We’ve only played for a bit. I can’t say if it’s fun or not.”
Yoriko Arisu nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s play for two more days and see.”
Two days later, Yoriko Arisu lay sprawled in Kenma Kotsume’s room.
“Kenma, I’m going to die.”
Her arms itched terribly now.
Playing Volleyball was really painful!
Kenma Kotsume had other thoughts.
“So tired… I’ve done more exercise in these two days than I have all semester.”
The adults were happy about it, though, thinking it was better than sitting in the room and ruining their eyesight.
The two lay motionless in the room for a while before Kenma Kotsume said, “Wanna play games?”
Yoriko Arisu: “…Yeah.”
This time, she fell asleep before her character even died.
Kenma Kotsume poked her cheek in dissatisfaction, waking her up, and then said gloomily, “If you’re this tired, why didn’t you just say no to him?”
Yoriko Arisu fiddled with the controller buttons—only to have Kenma slap her hand away.
She muttered, “Well, he looked so happy. I didn’t want to let him down…”
She thought about how Tetsurou Kuroo had just moved to a strange place, didn’t know anyone, and if his new friends ignored him—wow, wouldn’t that seem like bullying?
The two homebodies exchanged glances and sighed.
In the end, the three of them still played together.
Ever since Tetsurou Kuroo showed up, the three went out much more often and spent a lot more time together.
After that, they kept up a rotation of games—manga—Volleyball—games—manga—Volleyball, playing together in turn.
Yoriko Arisu raised her hand in protest. “Wait, what about sleeping? Isn’t anyone going to sleep with me?”
“Aren’t activities supposed to go in turns? But I never get a chance to show up!”
Tetsurou Kuroo: “But if it’s sleeping, aren’t you just sleeping all night anyway?”
Yoriko Arisu was furious. She shouted, “You just don’t understand how comfortable it is to sleep under a blanket in an Air-Conditioned Room!”
Tetsurou Kuroo looked hesitant.
Kenma Kotsume said softly, “Don’t listen to her. Arisu sleeps terribly. If you sleep with her, you’ll have nightmares.”
“Ah! Kenma, you traitor!”
Yoriko Arisu yelled, “You didn’t say that before!”
The Little Black Cat quietly averted his gaze, pretending not to hear.
He didn’t want to play Volleyball, but he didn’t want to sleep either, especially not with Arisu.
Tetsurou Kuroo scratched his face, looking troubled.
“But I don’t want to sleep right now. I want to play Volleyball with you guys. Is that not okay?”
Yoriko Arisu: “…”
There it was again! That sparkling, shining eye attack!
Tetsurou Kuroo tried, “Sis?”
Yoriko Arisu, defeated.
She grumbled as she climbed out of bed, “This trick won’t work every time!”
Kenma Kotsume sighed, resigned, put down his controller, and followed her out.
Playing Volleyball was so exhausting. If only there were stamina potions in real life—just drink one, and your Physique Bar would fill right up.
Because of the hot weather, playing Volleyball under the Bridge wasn’t working out anymore. Just moving a little made them feel like they’d melt.
“Don’t worry! I’ve already asked around! I know a good place!”
Tetsurou Kuroo didn’t even bring a ball this time, just a little backpack with backup stuff, and took them to a Gymnasium.
As soon as the door opened, a blast of cool air hit them.
Yoriko Arisu squinted in comfort.
“So cool…”
Suddenly she felt sleepy—she really wanted to take a nap.
Her feet automatically carried her to the corner, ready to lie down—
Kenma Kotsume yanked her arm. “Get back here!”
This was a Volleyball Club, the court filled with tricolored balls flying everywhere, the sound of thumping all around.
These past two days, they’d been practicing receiving the ball.
While watching, Kenma Kotsume noticed someone next to them strike a super cool pose.
He didn’t know what the move was, but it looked awesome.
“That… looked really cool,” he said to Tetsurou Kuroo.
“Don’t you do that kind of thing?”
“Right, right! You think so too! That’s a Spike!”
Tetsurou Kuroo’s eyes sparkled again, then his face fell.
“But you can’t do it without enough height…”
Suddenly, a voice chimed in: “If you’re not tall enough, just lower the net.”
A hunched old man walked over, his face kind and smiling.
“It’s because you’re just starting out that you should begin from [Start’s Joy].”
“As the saying goes, [Skill through Fondness].”
The three kids stared intently at the suddenly appearing grandpa.
Yoriko Arisu whispered, “Don’t you guys think he says really cool things?”
Even if she didn’t quite get it.
Tetsurou Kuroo’s face turned red, looking like he’d been completely captivated.
The kids were all drawn to the Spike, lining up in a long queue behind the net.
Yoriko Arisu watched the direction where the old man had left for a while.
Kenma Kotsume asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Did you hear what people just called him?”
Yoriko Arisu covered her mouth and whispered, “Nekomata Coach… Nekomata, isn’t that such a cute name?”
And if you looked closely, his features were kind of cat-like too.
Yoriko Arisu liked cats. When they played Volleyball by the riverside, she was always distracted by stray cats passing by. Kenma Kotsume shook her shoulders in alarm.
“What are you thinking! Cats can’t turn into people!”
Yoriko Arisu got dizzy from all the shaking, her speech coming out in broken fragments.
“I… never said… he was a cat.”
Kenma Kotsume stopped.
“Eh?”
Yoriko Arisu stared at him.
“Hmm?”
As Kenma Kotsume’s face grew redder and redder, Yoriko Arisu suddenly realized, “Ah! You were thinking of the Nekomata monster, weren’t you! Kenma, your imagination is so—mmph mmph mmph.”
Kenma Kotsume, ears red, clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Shut up!”
Nekomata Coach only came by occasionally, not as a regular coach here.
But Yoriko Arisu thought he was very kind and amazing, and couldn’t help but pay attention to him.
The second time he showed up, Yoriko Arisu wasn’t shy at all.
She ran over to chat and even dug out candies from her pocket to give him.
The white-haired grandpa was easy to talk to.
He didn’t refuse her offering, instead carefully putting the candy into his pocket.
Yoriko Arisu blinked at him.
“Grandpa, don’t you like candy?”
Nekomata Coach smiled.
“My grandson likes it. I want to take it home for him.”
Yoriko Arisu let out an “oh,” then asked, “Do you like dried fish snacks?”
Just then, Tetsurou Kuroo came over to pick up a ball, and panicked, desperately signaling: Don’t treat the coach like a cat!
Yoriko Arisu: ignored.jpg
Nekomata Coach kept smiling.
“I do. Any kind of fish is tasty. Little girl, what’s your name?”
“Yoriko Arisu.”
“Arisu, do you like Volleyball?”
Yoriko Arisu shook her head like a rattle drum, then hesitantly nodded.
Nekomata Coach chuckled.
“Why do you shake your head and then nod?”
Yoriko Arisu answered seriously, “Because playing Volleyball makes my arms hurt, so I don’t like it.”
“But…” She hesitated, then said, “When I manage to receive someone else’s ball, it makes me a little happy, like I’ve accomplished something.”
“If you like receiving, maybe you’d be a great Libero.”
“Libero?” Yoriko Arisu repeated curiously.
“The Libero is a position born for defense. Without the Libero’s receives, no attack can begin—it’s a really cool position.”
Nekomata Coach explained patiently.
He understood what kids liked, so he broke it down in a way that would appeal to them.
Sure enough, Yoriko Arisu’s eyes sparkled.
“Wow! That sounds awesome! Then I want to be a Libero!”
“Hahaha,” Nekomata Coach laughed, patting Yoriko Arisu’s head.
“If you can come to love Volleyball because of that, that would be the best.”
On the way home that day, Yoriko Arisu made a solemn announcement.
“I’m going to be a Libero.”
She excitedly shared her discovery.
“A Libero only has to receive the ball. After receiving, I can just lie down on the ground and rest!”
Tetsurou Kuroo was shocked.
“Of course not! You’ll get in everyone’s way. Is that really why you want to be a Libero?”
He knew Yoriko Arisu was lazy, but he didn’t think she was THIS lazy!
“Of course not!”
Yoriko Arisu put her hands on her hips.
“The Libero is the iron wall of defense. Without me, there’s no way to attack! Isn’t that super cool?”
“Whatever you say…”
Kenma Kotsume muttered weakly, “Let’s hurry home…”
He was about to collapse from exhaustion.