Chapter Text
Shibayama Yuuki arrives at the gym in the morning expecting the day to commence as usual, and readies himself for dashing around his end of the court while his best friend struggles with his new jump serve. It’s temperamental and inconsistent, which means more running around than actual receiving for Yuuki, but he’s happy to do it for the other first year.
Ever since Lev replaced Inuoka as a starting middle blocker, the boy has been adamant about remaining valuable to the team in some way, and figured his serves were the only skill he could bolster individually. He’d suckered Yuuki (asked, really, since Yuuki also wanted to improve and thus willingly accepted) into coming earlier in the mornings for months now so that he could work on his technique. Progress has been slow but steady. Though all the extra work they put in before they even get to Kuroo’s creative drills leaves them sapped of energy by the end of the day, the unmistakable improvement is a great motivator for them to keep at it. Inuoka always lights up with his customary bright enthusiasm when Yuuki points this out, absorbing praise like a sponge.
Yuuki smiles fondly as he enters the club room to drop his stuff off and change. As usual, the brunet is there before him; a morning person through and through.
“Good morning,” he greets, and Inuoka spins around hurriedly. Becoming instantly suspicious about what would cause his usually casual and relaxed friend to be on edge, he quickly asks, “What are you doing?”
“Dude!” the middle blocker yells, hand over his heart and eyes wide. “Don’t scare me like that!”
Yuuki raises an eyebrow. “Like what? I just said good morning.”
“Yeah but I thought you were already here.” He points at the black and gray gym bag on the bench beside his own. “Why’s your bag here before you?”
“That’s Kuroo-san’s.”
Inuoka lowers his hand and tilts his head quizzically. His mannerisms did always remind Yuuki more of a dog than a cat, naturally endeared by his oblivious but exuberant nature. He casts his eyes at the lonesome bag and tilts his own head in mirror of Inuoka.
“Why would Kuroo be here already?” They stare at each other for a couple seconds, brows furrowed, until the silence is interrupted by a quiet voice. This time both of them spin abruptly, looking at the corner neither of them had noticed was occupied.
“He’s brainstorming ideas,” Kenma says shortly, not even looking up from his PSP.
Stunned, they glance back at each other. After a moment, Yuuki shrugs and moves to set his bag on the other side of Inuoka’s and start changing. He doesn’t really feel like interpreting Kenma’s vague but pointed statements this early in the morning. Besides, he's mostly sure that his counterpart will be inquisitive enough for the both of them and get at least something out of the cryptic second year. Afterall, Inuoka is one of the few people that Kenma feels comfortable around, and will likely feel relaxed enough to answer him.
Unconcerned, Yuuki begins stripping and meticulously placing his items in a cubby.
Sure enough, Inuoka lasts only a minute before prodding, “Um… that doesn’t really explain why he’s here early though?”
The setter looks up briefly, a long-suffering dry look on his face that he often has when dealing with his best friend, and sighs. “He said that the atmosphere would ‘lend itself better to heightened and targeted creative thinking’ or something.”
“Creative thinking about what?” Yuuki asks in spite of his prior laziness, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Something stupid,” Kenma sighs as he stands, pockets his PSP, and leaves the clubroom promptly.
The libero puzzles as he hunches over to tie his shoes, having changed quickly during the duration of the conversation (if it could be called that with all its stagnant pauses and lack of content). “Weird.”
“Do you think he’s trying to impress a girl?”
Yuuki smirks as he starts toward the door. “Why are girls always the first thing that comes to your mind?”
“They’re cute! And they’re nice to spend time with! And you can, like, cuddle with them when they like you!” Inuoka holds the door to the gym for both of them to enter.
“Sounds like you’re describing a pet.”
The brunet pauses, lost in his own thoughts, then continues as if he hadn’t heard what the other said. “I want a cute girlfriend to cuddle with!”
Affronted at being ignored, Yuuki grins mischievously and snaps his fingers, pointing at his friend. “Oh! I know where you could get one!”
“Where?!”
“There’s a pet store in the new mall we went to.”
A braying hyena’s laugh greets them from across the gym where Kuroo is doubled over, clutching the folded volleyball net to his chest. Inuoka pouts and quietly states, “It wasn’t that funny.”
Feeling merciful, the libero pats him on the back as he heads to help their captain set up. Inuoka clearly isn’t as hurt as he’s acting, as he follows still with his usual spring in his step to assist them. Yuuki wonders where he gets all that energy to move his lengthy body so freely, especially this early in the morning.
“Here early again you two, eh?” Kuroo comments as he fastens the net to the poles he’s already put up. Yuuki isn’t tall enough to attach it at that height, so while Inuoka gathers the rest of the net and brings it over to the other pole, he secures the lower lines to the pole. It’s a job that leaves him and Kuroo in each other’s personal space, but it’s not uncomfortable. The captain is always careful to not stand over him overbearingly, aware that his height can be intimidating. Yuuki's mostly over his timid nature with the team, but it's still nice not to feel fragile and reduced just because of his size.
“Yeah, still trying to work on his serves,” the libero answers. “What about you? Kenma said you’re here for… ideas? Or something?”
“Are you trying to get a girlfriend Kuroo-san?” Inuoka shouts unnecessarily from across the court.
Kuroo barks a short chuckle at this, a subdued smile adorning his naturally impish face. “Oh no, I’ve already been to the pet store, thanks.”
Finished with his end, Yuuki goes to help his groaning friend with the other side. While Inuoka is busy murmuring to himself about being made fun of, he ponders over Kuroo’s answer. He’s pretty sure that if the captain had a girlfriend, the majority of the school would’ve heard about it. Though not the school’s resident “pretty boy”, the captain had his own fair share of admirers, some of them even a little bit fanatic. There's one girl who had taken to confessing to him every three weeks, convinced somehow that each new admission would warrant a different answer, though Kuroo always turned her, and every other girl who’d approached him at Nekoma, down. Given his good looks and seeming disinterest in dating, it’d definitely be all over school if he’d reciprocated any girl’s feelings.
Done with the setup, Yuuki turns to observe Kuroo, who is currently retrieving balls from the cage and throwing them to either side of the gym. He’s humming to himself as he goes about his task, that small smile from before still softening his face. The libero thinks it looks rather fond.
Emboldened by his curiosity, he asks, “Does your girlfriend go to a different school or something?”
“Heh, something like that,” the captain huffs.
“So you do have a girlfriend!” Inuoka exclaims. “How did that happen?”
“Awkwardly,” Kenma responds for Kuroo.
“Kyennma!” he laments, but receives only a blank-faced stare and eyes dancing with mirth. The captain continues to distribute balls around the gym with a sour look on his face, occasionally throwing contemptuous glares at his best friend. Yuuki smirks while watching this, knowing it won’t last. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Kuroo actually mad at anyone, and knows for certain that it’s hard for anyone to stay mad at Kenma, for some reason. Possibly it’s something about the setter’s quiet but intelligent presence, noticeable only when you’re already aware of it and endlessly charming as a result.
Yuuki secretly thinks it’s because he’s so pretty, though he wouldn’t dare actually tell him.
Seemingly done sulking already, Kuroo approaches Inuoka.
“Alright, let’s see how that serve is coming along, hmm? I’d like to see what we’ll have at our disposal for prelims.”
“Oh,” Inuoka rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Well, um it’s definitely not ready yet but I’m getting better at hitting it in the court sometimes!”
“How frequent is ‘sometimes’?” Kuroo directs at Yuuki.
“About one out of eight.”
“Twelve point five percent’s not bad,” Kuroo nods.
“Why do you even know– nevermind, I don’t care,” sighs Kenma.
“You’re being awfully rude this morning, aren’t you, sourpus?”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Anyways!” Kuroo says, clapping his hands together. “Show me what you can do smallfry.”
Yuuki takes his place across the net from his best friend, ready to get some wild receiving practice in for himself while Inuoka grabs a ball and walks to the back of the court. He watches as the middle blocker takes three long measured steps back from the line indicating the court’s boundaries and steadies himself with a deep breath. The libero smirks as he sinks down into his own ready position, glad that it’s not his performance that’s being assessed right now.
Yaku is an amazing senpai and always patient when he’s offering advice but being a defense-oriented team’s starting libero means that he’s incredible, and a lot to measure up to. It makes Yuuki feel extremely inadequate anytime he feels he’s been improving and then watches his upperclassman do the exact same thing but a million times more efficient or skillful. He idly wonders if it’s better being judged by someone who doesn’t specialize in the skill you’re working on, but quickly dismisses the thought. Though Kuroo is a middle blocker and has a decent serve, he’s still the captain, the standard to which everyone on the team compares themselves. He’s glad he’s not in Inuoka’s shoes right now.
Inuoka throws the ball in the air, takes two steps before launching himself vertical, and snaps his body to hit the ball. Seeing the trajectory, Yuuki breaks for the back right corner of his side of the court, determined to get something of value out of the errant serves. He dives just as he crosses the line and manages to get his wrist between the ball and the floor, where it would’ve made contact five feet outside the court.
“Out,” he calls as he stands and gets back into position.
Kuroo whistles, arms crossed as he watches. “Nice power there, Inuoka. Now you just have to get used to the part where you aren’t aiming for the back wall.”
“Right!” Inuoka enthuses, a look of grim determination on his face as he settles into their regular morning serve routine.
_____
“Alright! Who’s ready to kick some derriere at the Spring High Prelims?” Kuroo asks with both hands on his hips, standing in front of the rest of the sitting volleyball team. The coaches both stand off to the side chatting quietly while Kuroo directs the team meeting. Normally, they don’t bother with an official meeting at morning practices unless they have a practice game after school, but for some reason he’d decided to call one. Yuuki couldn’t help but wonder if it’s the same thing that motivated him to come early for “ideas”.
“Idiot, prelims are still weeks away, shut up with your dramatics,” Yaku berates. The energy he’s exuding says that if he were next to his fellow third year he would kick him, but feels the action isn’t worth getting up.
“Yes, dear Yakkun, but we need to be ready ,” he replies magnanimously. Yaku now looks like he’s willing to get up just to kick him despite the extra effort. “So! What can we do to get a leg up on the competition early, you ask.”
“We really didn’t,” Kenma interjects quietly, though Kuroo doesn’t miss a beat as he continues.
“Honing our skill is all well and good, and you’re all doing great working on that on your own.” He smiles and holds out a thumbs up for Inuoka, who beams. “However! That is physically. We need to get ready mentally as well. Strategies and stuff! So! Ideas anyone?”
“Well," Kai starts hesitantly, "Only the first years haven’t been to the prelims yet, so most of us are pretty mentally prepared for what it’s gonna be like."
“Ah, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m thinking strategy against our opposition; what can we do to get the upper hand against our opponents,” he corrects, then smiles viciously. “Head games.”
Yaku and Kenma groan, the former much louder than the latter.
“Hell yeah! We’ll crush their mental before they even step in the stadium!” Yamamoto yells, pumping his fist.
“How though,” Inuoka questions.
“Well, my pupil, that is why we are gathered here today. I’ve been brainstorming about it all week and all I’ve managed to come up with is the same stuff Daishou and his snakes do, but I don’t want to stoop to their level. There has to be a way for us to get into our adversaries’ heads without being absolute shit stains.”
"You're obsessed," Kenma murmurs.
“I mean why not though?" Yuuki asks, electing to gloss over the setter's wry comment to hopefully avoid conflict. "All they really do off the court is like, provoke and mock players; you do that too Kuroo-san."
“First of all, it’s the way he does it that makes the difference. Everything he says is slimy and contemptuous. Second of all, none of it takes real effort to get into. He looks for surface level stuff, which is just boring and uncreative. So, I think that we should employ a strategy that has more depth, more class. More subtlety.” He pauses, then adds, "And I'm not obsessed; this isn't about Daishou."
“You’re off your rocker.”
“Thank you Yakkun. Now, does anyone have any productive comments they’d like to share?”
"We could sneak into their changerooms and put slugs in their shoes!" Lev insists.
"Hmm, classic buffoonery, but no. Too risky, we might get caught in the act. Next?"
"Give them food poisoning," Yamamoto snarls.
"Cruel, I like it, but I don't think we'd be in any position to be handling rival teams' food. Next."
"Drive tractors into their schools."
Kenma stares at the tall teen beside him in befuddlement and disgust. "Lev, what?"
Choosing to ignore his kouhai, Yaku suggests, "We could call some of the captains' parents and pretend to be their principals, say they're failing their classes or something."
"Open up a line of credit in their name and slowly over the course of a five year period tank their credit score and ruin their potential to open up a mortgage," Fukunaga says, wide eyed and serious-looking as usual.
Yuuki shudders. "I'm scared of you."
Kuroo chuckles in front of them, clearly attempting to contain his awestruck mirth and retain control of the situation, clutching his arms over his stomach. "Fukunaga, if you ever need to be bailed out, please call me. I'll do it free of charge as long as you tell me the story."
"That's concerning," Kai mutters to Yaku.
"Not our problem."
"Yet."
"Anyways! So no tractors or credit fraud, but I think our diminutive libero's on the right track. Never thought you'd be inclined toward psychological warfare though, I'm impressed!"
At this, Yaku does finally get up in one fluid movement to kick the captain in the back of the knees hard, taking him down to the floor with the rest of them. "I know what diminutive means, asshole. And unfortunately, being around you so much means I absorb more than just the smell. I'm honestly surprised you didn't think of something like this yourself."
Righting himself to sit cross-legged but still facing his team, Kuroo continues, "I had considered it, but it needs more pizazz. A simple call from a principal is enough to cause some turmoil, but it's pretty easily resolved. We need them to be conflicted. Tormented." A dangerous glint enters his eyes. "Absolutely preoccupied with something other than volleyball to get them off their game."
Kenma squints at his best friend suspiciously. "You're too invested in this." He leaves the 'what are you hiding' unspoken but tangible in the tension in the air.
Kuroo stares back at him, obviously considering whether to admit something or not. Sighing, he concedes and reveals, "Fine, you got me. So, I've been thinking-"
"Dangerous."
The captain maturely sticks his tongue out at Kenma.
"Given that there are a lot of teams going to the prelims and we shouldn't spread our efforts too thin, I concluded that we should focus on one team. Now, based on practice games with the Tokyo teams as well as previous years' standings, Nohebi is most likely going to be our best matched rival, so we should press our advantage against them."
"Obsessed," Kai laments, shaking his head in paternal disappointment.
"Thought you said this wasn't about Daishou?" Yaku taunts.
"IT'S NOT!"
Yuuki furrows his brows in confusion and asks, "Why are you obsessed with Nohebi's captain anyways?"
"I'M NOT OBSESSED!"
"They had a thing in first year."
"Kai! Betrayed by my own vice-captain. it's impossible to find good help these days."
"Daishou broke up with him because he wouldn't spend time with him outside of volleyball," Yaku confides maliciously.
Kuroo, at this point, is sprawled out on the gym floor like a pathetic romance-worn starfish. Inuoka, the kind soul that he is, attempts to console him by telling him, "It's okay Kuroo-san, at least you have your girlfriend now!"
Yaku chortles, "I'm telling Kei-chan about this."
"Noooo," Kuroo flops his limbs around uselessly, now a bright red embarrassed pathetic romance-worn starfish.
"At least we won't have to deal with his distractedness until Nationals, if even then," Kai sighs. "I do not miss that."
The starfish bolts upright so fast that Yuuki and Inuoka jump back two feet while sitting.
"That's it! Distraction! We'll get him a girlfriend!" the captain pauses and deflates slightly, conflicted. "No wait, I don't wanna inflict him on an innocent girl."
Sensing the tone has shifted to more reserved, Yuuki cautiously raises his hand. "My sister goes to Nohebi?"
The captain turns to the shortest member of his team, a wary but considering mask of his face.
“Shibayama-kun, do you hate your sister? I didn’t think you had a malicious bone in your body.”
“What!? No! Mika’s great,” he stammers, waving his hands in front of him. “He can’t be that bad though, right? I mean, he's the captain of his team and everything, they don’t just give that position to anyone.”
Yaku exhales heavily and scratches the back of his neck, admitting, “No, I uh, kinda have to agree with Kuroo on this one. I wouldn’t wanna unleash that on anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
“Yakkun, I’m touched! But yeah, we’re not doing that to some poor girl.”
“I mean, it doesn’t have to be an actual girl,” Kenma murmurs, eliciting sounds of confusion from most of the team, but a wicked grin and excited shout from the captain.
“Kenma! This is why you’re the brain of the team!”
“I feel a migraine coming on,” Kai says while getting up, presumably to retrieve the painkillers he always keeps on him from the club room. With a large portion of their reasonable thinking out of the discussion, Kuroo continues to lead them all down the road of Bad Ideas™.
The captain stands, returning his hands to their habitual resting place on his hips, and addresses his team.
“One of you will pretend to be a girl, make him fall in love with you, mess with his psyche for a bit, then shatter his heart right before prelims. It’s foolproof!”
Yaku hits him again, this time not bothering to get up to do so, but doesn’t object to his proclamation. Yuuki feels an ominous sense of dread bubble in his abdomen.
“Oh! Oh! Pick me Kuroo-san! I can do it!” Lev enthuses, long arm waving wildly in the air above his near-vibrating body.
“Absolutely not. Aside from the fact that your tall ass would not be able to pull off being a girl– I think we should stay digital so whoever ends up doing it doesn't have to play dress up – this task requires some tact, some finesse. Delicacy . Also, I doubt your ability to mess with anyone intentionally,” Kuroo states. The first year begins to protest, but is quickly shut down. “No, chibi-chan doesn’t count. Neither does Yaku. Insulting people’s heights is not relevant in this situation.”
Yuuki considers his concessions. Unfortunately, he has to agree with Kuroo; Lev probably wouldn’t be capable of holding up the ruse continually or convincingly, so he’s out.
He glances at his best friend. Inuoka is sitting contentedly, his arm propped up on the one knee he has bent casually, watching Lev’s squawking amusedly. While Yuuki doesn’t doubt that Inuoka would also be willing to help the team out by pretending to be Daishou’s girlfriend, he doesn’t think that it would be something Inuoka could do easily; he’s just too nice and naïve of a person, and might end up being the one manipulated instead of Nohebi’s captain. So, he's out too.
The three who would probably be the best fit for the job are the two captains and their star libero. Kuroo, having actually been in a relationship with Daishou, has insight and a unique perspective that the rest of them lack. Mostly, Yuuki would question his objectivity in the situation and his ability to restrain his maliciousness, but he's witnessed Kuroo acting on his manipulative tendencies; he's never seen anyone commit to a plan to get under someone's skin like his captain.
Their vice-captain, though pragmatic to a fault, is wholeheartedly dedicated to the team. He often goes out of his way to help outside of practice and games, offering to help his underclassmen with school, buying the team food when they go out. Despite his reservations and migraines, Kai would likely be willing to put up with being their mole, though they probably would feel too bad to put him through that. Yuuki knows that he already feels guilty with the way Kai inconveniences himself for the benefit of the team, and is pretty sure he's not the only member who shares the sentiment. The man's reliance on painkillers is already concerning as it is, adding to his necessity for them wouldn't be the best idea.
Then there's Yaku. Yuuki stares at his mentor through his eyelashes. Yaku can definitely be terrifying, his glares instilling the fear of God into any recipients (save for morons incapable of interpreting them), but he can also be incredibly caring and sweet. Every time he offers to help with receiving technique, Yuuki dies a little, feeling a warm sensation absolutely envelope him. He knows Daishou would be absolutely charmed if the libero took on the task to woo him, and likely irrecoverably devastated by the loss when he broke it off. Yuuki's starting to feel bad for the Nohebi captain just thinking about it, not sure that anything he might've done in the past would warrant the absolute carnage he'd go through if they unleashed Yaku on him.
The major overarching problem, however, is that Kuroo, Kai, and Yaku are all third years, and graduation is fast approaching; they probably wouldn't have enough time or energy to be putting into the illusion. The options are quickly dwindling.
The younger libero looks over to observe the second years, only to see unnaturally golden eyes already watching him. He starts slightly, it's always pretty unsettling to be pinned under the cunning setter's undivided analytical attention. Kenma isn't moving or saying anything, not paying attention to the ruckus of Lev's continued squabbling happening next to him, just staring into Yuuki's soul. He grimaces, knowing that Kenma doesn't like to make eye contact normally; if he keeps it prolonged and intense like this, he's likely trying to communicate something. As per usual though, Yuuki has no clue what that something could be.
Yuuki huffs and returns to his thoughts. Kenma definitely wouldn't want to be the one to deceive Daishou, it's not his style and would be way more effort than he'd be willing to expend. Yamamoto would probably get too worked up about it all, being as eager as he is to mess with the other team, and end up spoiling the ruse early. It's possible he could be coached along at times to prevent him from jumping the gun, but Yuuki doesn't think it'd be their best option.
Fukunaga, on the other hand, is seeming more and more ideal the more Yuuki thinks about it. Though he has problems speaking to people with whom he's not familiar, the problem is mostly non-existent through text. As long as calling and in-person interactions aren't involved (which likely would not be happening due to them being very obviously not girls but also possibly recognizable), Fukunaga would be golden. His intelligence and situational awareness definitely aren't in question, and his wit could probably have Daishou wrapped around his finger in no time–
"You said your sister goes to Nohebi," Kenma states, eyes still locked on his underclassman.
As the noise around them dims to silence at Kenma's words, Yuuki feels the dread from earlier grow. Slowly, it moves from his stomach up to his throat as he realizes what Kenma had been trying to communicate: he thinks Yuuki should be the perpetrator of their experiment.
He swallows thickly and stammers out, "Y-yeah."
Yaku, who'd turned along with rest to watch the exchange, looks between them, pulls his shoulders back, and points at Kenma.
"No," the older libero states simply.
Kenma calmly stares back at him unblinkingly. Yaku starts shaking his head. The grim look on his face gradually shifts from determined to resigned as they observe each other. Finally, he sighs, his whole body sagging with it, and lowers his head.
"Kenma's right; it'll work best if we have less middle men to go between. The closest link is the most efficient," Kuroo summarizes the non-verbal argument and leans down to put a consoling hand on the aggressive libero's shoulder. "But don't worry Yakkun, Daishou can't actually do anything to Shibayama-kun, he'll be perfectly safe! And he'll have us to go to for advice if his romantic inexperience gives him any trouble."
Yuuki, knowing his fate has been decided but unwilling to take it without a fight, directs his best puppy eyes at Kuroo, whose face crumples in distress instantaneously.
"Oh come on kid, don't give me that," he begs, walking over to kneel next to Yuuki and grasp both of his shoulders tightly. "It's for the good of the team! You're the best choice; you've got a connection, and I have absolute faith that you can pull this off. So what do you say? Can you do this for us?"
He knows he's being manipulated right now, but he can't help but fall into the trap. As only the reserve libero of the team, there isn't much that Yuuki does to contribute to the team outside of practice, and he's tired of feeling useless. Granted, it's far from what he's imagined would be his role in helping his teammates, but he doesn't see himself being tangibly beneficial in really any other way at the moment, and he could definitely never replace Yaku as a regular.
He lolls his head to the side and looks at Kenma through Kuroo's embrace. Clearly, he's more invested in this than he let on in the beginning, as the corner of his mouth is upturned slightly, somehow looking cruel despite its miniscule detail.
"We'll be counting on you," says the setter, shattering Yuuki's resolve. He drops his head as he feels heat rush to his face.
Yuuki takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders in determination.
"Okay."