These are thoughts

~~~

Mizuki pov.
When we get back to school, Keishin and Takeda start talking and the team sits around them and listens.

"You all did a good job in today's matches against Nekoma." Takeda says.

"Inter-high preliminaries start next month, on June 2nd."

Hmmmm I still have to ask about what that is...

They keep talking, and we listen. But I space out a bit.

"Mizuki! Are you even listening?!" Keishin yells at me.

I snap out of my thoughts.

"Hm what?" I ask.

The team laughs, and we practice.

We start with recives. Keishin spikes the ball to the team, and they recive it one by one.

"Hey Zuki! Can you do this for me? I have to go do something." Keishin asks me.

I nod, and I stand on the table as he leaves the gym.

"Hey, do you know what he's doing Kiko?"

She shakes her head, and hands me a volleyball.

Hinata is next.

I take the ball, and spike it to him. He misses it.

"Hinata! Loosen up a bit. You can't keep watching the ball!"

"Sorry!" He apologizes

I spike it again, but he misses again.

"Shake it off, Hinata. You're a bit stiff, relax a bit!"

Hinata nods.

I get another ball from Kiyoko, and I spike it.

He hits it, and falls backwards.

"Nice one Hinata!"

I look at everyone.

"This goes for all of you!" I say to them. "Every time you go for the ball, tell yourself, 'this is my last chance'! Give it your all. If you don't get the ball, it might cost you the match!"

"Yes ma'am!" They respond.

"How many freaking times do I have to tell you to call me by my name?!" I sigh. "Anyways, Hinata, try one more!"

"Yes, thank you!"

We keep doing drills. After the recives, we continue to spikes.

Then, Keishin comes back.

"Everyone, take a break! Five minutes!" He says.

"Yes sir!" The team goes to get water.

"Zuki, come over here." My brother says, and I jog over to him.

"What's up Keishi-nii?" I ask him.

"Takeda told me that you wanted to play on the boys team?"

I nod.

"We confirmed it with the principle and the vice principle, and they said that they could make an exception for you."

My eyes sparkle, and I smile.

"Really?!"

"Yup!" He says.

I jump and hug him.

"Thank you so much!" I yell.

The team gathered around.

"What's happening?" Daichi asks.

I look at Keishin. He nods. Then I turn to the team.

"I'm gonna play volleyball with you guys!" I say, throwing my hands in the air.

The boys look shocked, and then smile.

Hinata, Kageyama and Nishinoya tackle me, and I fall.

"You're gonna play with us!" Hinata says.

"Yup." I laugh. "But could you guys get off of me? I can't breath."

"Oops, sorry." Kageyama says as the three get off of me.

Yamaguchi helps me up.

"Are you still gonna coach us?" He asks.

"Ya, maybe a bit. Keishin is still gonna be coaching you guys cause he loves you guys."

"Zuki!" He screams at me.

I shrug and ignore him. "But I'll help you guys any way I can, on and off court!"

The boys cheer. I laugh.

"OK PEOPLE LETS KEEP PRACTICING!" Keishin yells. "And Zuki, you're joining now too."

I nod.

"Let's practice!"

~~~
Time skip to end of practice
~~~

When were done, we get some water and we relax a bit.

"The picture's huge!" I hear Nishinoya say.

I turn and see him, Suga and Tanaka looking at a magazine.

I walk to them.

"What's that?" I ask.

Tanaka gives me the magazine to look at. I show Hinata and Kageyama too.

Boy's High School:
Shiratorizawa Ushiwaka is one of the three most noticed high schoolers in the whole country.

"Shiratorizawa! That's where Kageyama couldn't get in!" Hinata yells.

"Hey! Shut up." Kageyama says to him.

I look up from the magazine.

"Who's Ushiwaka?" I ask.

"Oh, you don't know him?" Suga asks.

I shake my head. "I mean I did only move a bit more than a week ago..."

"Ushijima Wakatoshi is the number one ace in our prefecture." Tanaka says to me.

Ushijima...sound familiar

"He definitely has ace written over him." Daichi says, looking over my shoulder.

The boys look at Asahi.

"Why are you looking at me?!" He asks.

He sulks on the side, and Nishinoya pats his back.

The boys keep talking, but I keep looking at the magazine.

Why does that name sound so familiar...

"Hey Mizuki, you ok?" Kageyama asks me.

"Ya, I'm fine. But if we don't beat them, we won't be able to play against Nekoma." I say.

"Shiratorizawa isn't the only powerful team in the tournament." Keishin says, appearing behind me.

We look at him, and the other members come to listen.

"There are other powerful teams this year." He says as he takes a paper out of his pocket.

"Wakutani Minami. They have a superior defense and coordination.

"Date Kogyo, who are also known as the iron wall. Their name says it all, as they have the highest blocking rate in the country."

Iron wall... we'll have to break it then. But how...

"The next one, I heard that we recently had a practice match against them."

Hm, must have been before I came here.

"The team's best attacker is their setter, and the setter is also really good. Their team probably includes the best all around player in the prefecture."

I frown.

Must be really good then.

"That would be Oikawa Tooru at Aoba Johsai."

I flinch.

Kawa-kun?! I knew he was a setter, but that's amazing! No wonder he asked if I heard of him.

The team looks at me.

"What's wrong, Mizuki?" Daichi asks.

"Ummm, well, I kinda know some people in Aoba Johsai, and I practiced with them before..." I say quietly.

Their faces show that they were surprised.

"How?" "When?" They start asking a bunch of questions.

"I'll tell you later. But they're a threat, and we need to beat them." I say.

Keishin nods.

"They were in last year's best four too.

"And finally, the champions Shiratorizawa and their ace Ushijima Wakatoshi. And that's basically it. I'll save the details for later."

I look beside me, and Daichi and Suga wear a weird face.

"You guys are thinking about something disrespectful about me, aren't you." Keishin says.

"As you should!" I say as they shake their head.

He chops my head, and the boys chuckle.

"Owwwww!"

My brother folds the paper, and puts it back in his pocket. "Anyways, those are the top four teams this year."

He keeps talking, but I space out.

Then, Takeda slams the doors open, and I jump a little.

"Im glad you guys are still here. Sorry I'm late!"

Takeda runs up to us.

"The meeting went a bit long, but here are the match-ups for the preliminaries." He hands us a paper, and Daichi takes it.

I look over his shoulder.

Our first match...Tokonami. Then if we win, we would go against Dateko, assuming they'll win.

"Aoba Johsai is also in our block." Tsukishima points out.

True...so if we win our match against Dateko, and Aoba Johsai wins theirs, we would play against each other.

"We're gonna win it!" I yell, and the team laughs.

Keishin nods.

Then, we clean the gym and change. After, we all go home.

~~~