Chapter Text
Sneaker screeches were heard from the inside of the Karasuno gymnasium. High school students spend most of their time after school on practicing their athletic skills rather than studying for school. Nationals were coming up.
Bam! Ray spiked the ball diagonally through the court. The ball, unfortunately for her, was caught by Nishinoya easily, leaving Ray disappointed.
“...how was the toss...?” Kageyama shyly asked, he was still working on those communications skills and everyone on the team was encouraging him.
“It would be more helpful if it were a bit higher, but overall really good”, Ray patted his shoulder giving him a warm smile.
“Understood!”
“No need to be so strict on yourself Kageyama, you’re already amazing as it is.” These words seemed to really help him as his lips curved up to what seemed to be a smile but not quite. At least he was trying. It made her chuckle.
Ray was good at encouraging others but harsh on herself. Coach Ukai noticed how she was having a hard time trying to get a sharp cross spike. She had already mastered a straight. Maybe her strength wasn’t enough.
“Hey”, Ukai called for her, waving his hand motioning for her to come to him, “I see you’re struggling. Do not over think it. I know you’re thinking about Ushijima and his skills, but that’s only discouraging you.”
She nods in acknowledgment. He was right, always was. He knew how to read his players well, that’s what made him a great coach just like his grandfather the famous senior coach Ukai.
“Your formation is good, I see you’re doing the steps when coming to spike, the way you move your hand to grab the ball from behind and spike it is on point. You already have managed to finalize your straights, now for your diagonals, I suggest you put more strength to it. Crosses are longer and slower than straights. You may not feel it but you put more power to the straight and manage to neglect your power when it comes to the crosses. I suggest you go practice continuously by slamming a wall with all your strength. I know you can do it.”
His words seemed to cheer her up, giving him a small smile and nod thanking him.
“Oh, but I doubt he is strong enough to do it. We all know you’re the weakest one here”, Tsukishima teased.
“Hey, that’s not tru-”
“Oh, yeah? You wanna take it outside, and then you can be the judge.” Ukai is interrupted by her remark.
Tsukishima scoffs, “Yeah right.”
Ray stands up and motions a fist, acting like she was about to indeed punch him and he flinched. She wasn’t taller than Tsukishima, being only 172 cm, but was able to scare him, she was intimidating and everyone on the team knew that. That’s why no one dared to argue with her.
Tsukishima walked away and Ray smirked in victory.
Taking coach’s words to heart, Ray started to ignore her self-doubt and went to the nearest wall to hit just as instructed. She hit and hit and hit until her palm turned bright red.
“A-ah Akagi-kun”, Asahi approached her kind of scared. She wondered how every opponent thought Asahi was so scary, when he was the sweetest person. “I think that’s enough. Don’t work yourself too much or you might end up beating me to the title ‘ace’ already”, Asahi joked trying to cheer her.
She chuckled in appreciation and went to Kageyama to ask for some tosses. Kageyama was her partner, the two met this year, both being first years, and they got along well. Their dynamics made them work well. Ray was a sweet but a feisty girl who was always there to support Kageyama when he was feeling insecure. Kageyama was a genius setter who was able to help her improve her skills as an outside hitter better than any setter she has worked with in the past. None of the setters in middle school could compare to him. He had the talent to patch her power.
Woosh! Bam! A toss perfectly matched for Ray’s hand was given to her by Kageyama and she was able to hit a cross almost perfectly. She made it almost difficult for Nishinoya to catch her spike.
“Wow! Good job Akagi-kun. You’re nearly there!” Nishinoya said as a feedback.
“Mann, how does Ushiwaka do it? He’s a second year, only one year older than me, and is able to make it to the top five wing spikers. Do you think I’ll make it to the top five by the end of high school Kags?” Ray asked him.
Kageyama opens his mouth to speak but Tsukishima speaks instead, “Yeah, right”. He laughs, mocking her.
“No one asked you four eyes”, she replied him and tsk-ed. Typical.
“Akagi-kun you are only a first year and are beating me. You have nothing to worry about. Next year, you will be our team’s ace and you will surely improve. I’ll come to cheer you on”, Asahi grinned at her sweetly.
An angel, she thought as she giggled. He really was a help.
“Thank you Asahi-kun, your words are always so kind and helpful.”
“What about me?” Sugawara asks. “Don’t I give the best advice and encouragement here?” He places his palm over his chest acting dramatically hurt.
She chuckled, “Of course Sugawara-senpai”. And he seemed satisfied when she called him “senpai”, she knew it was his weak spot.
“Yooooo”, Tanaka yells, “Akagi, Nishinoya, guess what?” Tanaka comes running in the gym from outside screaming in excitement. Something must have happened with Kiyoko.
“I just witnessed Kiyoko-kun singing to herself. Her voice was...angelic”, he said with his hands crossed near his cheek with hearts in his eyes.
“Oh my god, you lucky bastard”, Nishinoya rushed to Tanaka’s side. “Lead the way to her now!”
She laughed at their reaction, they really were head over heels over her. Though Ray had to play the role of a hormonal girl crazy boy for Kiyoko to fit in, she actually had her eyes on someone else. Ray was actually interested in their beloved captain, Daichi Sawamura. A strong and dependable man. Daichi was a fantastic example of an ideal strong team leader.
What captured her heart about him, at first, was his physique. Who would blame her? Any of the female students who came to see the match would, of course, watch their techniques when playing but their attention did make it to their physique as well.
But, the more she spent time with him she was able to see that he had a charming personality. She admired the way he led, he wasn’t the center of attention despite being the captain, and yet he was in control of the most important parts of the game. He flows through the game just like a crow.
Since middle school she had always had the dream of being an amazing spiker.
In her early years of middle school Ray was part of the girls’ volleyball club and she was exceptional, a little too good for the rest. This made others envious of her talent and sometimes it would be hard to work with her teammates. It was always tiring to bicker with girls though they were her teammates, her supporting friends. But, one day she accidently saw the boys’ team play, the flow of the game, the way they had trust in each other, it made her jealous. And that’s how it started. One day she decided to have faith in her own skills and disguise herself as a feminine looking boy by bandaging her breasts, though it was easy to hide them as she had small breasts, she caught her short hazelnut hair half up and hid her bangs away. Ray had poor eyesight, it was difficult to look at far objects without her glasses, so she wore contact lenses to practice. At first it was difficult to fit with an entirely different outline from what she was used to with the girls but by patiently and carefully observing them play for a while she shortly got it.
Ray continued playing with the girls’ team until she finished middle school and once she entered Karasuno High School she decided to play with the boys’ team. Karasuno had a well advanced girls’ team but the boys’ team was known as the legendary fallen crows and she desperately wanted to be one of the reasons these fallen crows will start flapping their wings again to triumph.
She started her career as an outside hitter and was hoping that one day she would be able to be a wing spiker. Daichi was the one who really pushed her to achieve her dreams of becoming part of the top five. When she was insecure, he was the shoulder she could rely on. He acted like an older brother to her but she truly wanted more. As a male, Akagi Ray, she wasn’t going to pursue him but she used the opportunity to get to know him better and hopefully as a female, Adachi Ray would be able to date him. She was bold and made a move on a boy when she had a crush on them, it had always worked in the past and finger-crossed it will work with Daichi too.
“Hey Daichi-san”, she called on him while the fuss over Kiyoko still went on, “Do you think I have improved? And not just for the top five but also for our match with Shiratorizawa in a week. I really want to be able to beat them and make it to nationals.”
He laughed at her hopeful face; she was making a cute puppy face, unaware of it. He ruffled her hair.
“Of course Akagi-kun, no worries.”
“...Daichi-san?” She bent her head down looking at the floor nervously as she fidgeted her fingers.
“Yes?”
“It’s kind of embarrassing but one of my friends has a sister named Adachi Ray, you might know her. She’s in class 1-D and she wanted to hang out with you. He asked to ask you if it was possible as the girl was kind of shy to come up to you first.”
“Adachi-kun? Yes I know her, cute girl and I am sure she is kind as well. Tell your friend that’s fine. I’ll go talk to her tomorrow during lunch.”
“Oh okay, sure.” Ray played it cool but she was celebrating in her head. I’m going to make him mine, hehe.
“Anyways, guys wrap everything up. Time to go”, he announced to his team and they followed his orders.
Ray never changed in the boy’s changing room for obvious reasons. How shocking would it be if the Ray they thought was a male started to remove her shirt and see bandages over her breasts to cover her female features? She would totally be kicked out of the team and she couldn’t afford that. Usually, she would say how she lived near and could change home, but today she still had adrenaline coursing through her body.
“Kageyama”, she called him, “Before you get changed I challenge you to a run off. Do you accept or deny?”
He devilishly smirked, “What do you think idiot?”
“Good, now bring your ass down here. Nishinoya-san could you count down from three for us?”
Nishinoya nodded and shortly counted down. Ray and Kageyama started running down their usual trip they would run to when training with the entire team. But, this time they went a little too far. They ended up on the main street and nearly bumped to multiple people.
“Ushiwaka”, Kageyama suddenly spoke and Ray turned her head quickly to the direction he was looking in. There she noticed the man she envied, her foe in and outside the match court.
“Yes? And you are?” Ushijima coldly raised his brow at the duo. He was treating them as if he was superior to them and Ray wasn’t going to take it.
“I’m Kageyama Tobio from Karasuno and this is-”
“Who I am is not important.” She interrupted him; she didn’t want to give her enemy any information on her, no matter how small it may be.
“Okay”
“W-where are you going?” Kageyama continued to make conversation leaving Ray confused as to the reason why.
“Shiratorizawa school ground” and he left running to the destination.
Kageyama insisted they follow him so she rolled her eyes and followed, regretfully.
They entered their school ground and truly were amazed by the large facility they had. She wished Karasuno would have such large grounds.
Ushijima suddenly stopped running and they followed suit seeing that they had stopped in the entrance of the gym. They could hear his team’s pants from exhaustion and the noise of the squeaking floor from their body weight as they moved around.
So this is their team huh?
“This is where I almost attended”, Kageyama informed her leaving her shocked.
“Oh so you’re Kageyama Tobio, the setter who didn’t make it our team, seems like you weren’t capable enough. I’m sure Karasuno will need you. But, there was another candidate, Oikawa Tooru. I did hope to have in our team but he stupidly rejected. Other than Oikawa everyone else on their team is weak.”
“Oh? So if Aoba Johsai is like infertile soil, does that mean we are concrete or something?” Ray coldly asked, pissed at his superior attitude.
A ball managed to make its way out of the gym and just as it was flying Ushijima’s way Ray was able to move faster gripping the ball with her palm.
“Well, then I, Akagi Ray, from the concrete along with my team will beat you and make it to nationals.” Her gaze on him was threatening, her face was stiff at first but she fake smiled at him.
She turned and started walking away leaving Ushijima almost completely frightened. Kageyama followed her obediently when abruptly Ray turned around, throwing the ball she forgot she was carrying, with full power to Ushijima.
“Guess we will see you next week. Make sure to bring tissues with you for your tears when we beat you”, she scoffed and left feeling more powerful than she had ever felt in her life. She went on the run for the excess adrenaline she had to leave her body but she in fact did the opposite, she boosted it.
Thank you Ushijima, she thought, Truly thanks to you now I have the motivation I desired to perfect my spikes, make my team proud, and have a tall twat cry at my feet.