Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“This training is more for the setters, so be prepared,” Flowtives warned them. Groans came from Nezo and Jude, knowing that they’ll have to go through hell once again. It shouldn’t be too bad, right? 

Flowtives’  lips curved up to a smirk after seeing them groan, he gestured them to come up to the court. “I’ll need both of my liberos, so come up Spongs and Parker.”

With that, both of them followed him, curious yet scared about what they were going to do.

He pointed at the ten foot line, “okay so, Jude and Nezo, go to the ten foot line and look at each other. This is called the ‘set and go’ drill.” The setters got in the middle of the ten foot line, looking at each other.

“Actually, Nezo, go back near the end of the ten foot line. You’ll be working on long sets, m’kay?” He nodded. “Parker, go in between Jude and Nezo, look towards Jude though.”

Parker went in between the two while facing Jude. He gulps.

“Spongs, go behind Jude.”

Spongs reluctantly did much to his dismay. 

“Parker, you’ll set to Jude, Jude you’ll set it to Nezo who will then set it to Spongs, who will then finally set it back to Parker.” Flowtives explained, giving the ball to Parker.

“While that’s going on, Jude and Nezo, after setting, you two will have to run from here to the end of the court. This is to help you with endurance and stamina.”

A strained look dawned on Nezo and Jude’s face, already regretting coming to practice.

Thankfully Flowtives let them do it in slow motion to mimic how the actual drill will go.

Parker set it to Jude a little bit on the rough side, Jude— “Hey, you guys on the sideline, go pepper.” They immediately went to peppering. Though some of their partners were stolen due to the drill so they had to partner up with someone else.

The rest of the players went to find themselves a partner.

Back to the setters!

Flowtives told him to set it to Spongs then to run. And he does. The second he saw the ball reach its peak, he jogged straight toward the end of the court. 

He’s not wasting a single second to be late. Jude turns and sees Nezo doing the same thing as him. A hopeful smile landed on his face, at least he wasn’t doing this alone. 

Hey. This is a bit unfair. The liberos should also be doing this since they have to move a lot!

Hopefully this drill won’t take long. He’s already getting pissed at this drill.

10 fucking minute. They had to switch spots half way to adapt. Holy shit.

By the time they were done, the two of them collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and sweating a bunch. Their legs were aching too. Man, fuck being a setter. 

“Bro…no way—we just did that,” Nezo sounded so close to throwing up from how hard he was breathing. Currently his sides hurt, each breath making it worse. The tremendous amount of sweat trickling down him was unfathomable.

He looked over to Jude who seemed to be in the same position as him. The repeated running and setting gave them aching to their legs and arms. He’s not sure how he survived that.

His head went to find Mugm to see if he could give him his water bottle. It took some time before he found Mugm. Thankfully he was already coming towards him with his water.

Unlike Nezo, Mugm looked completely fine and not out of breath. If Nezo’s being honest, he’s sure Mugm had always looked good even during tough and not so great times.

Now that he’s looking around, most of the attention was on him and Jude. Well duh, their setters were suffering.

The moment Mugm handed his water bottle to him, Nezo chugged it down, not leaving a single droplet left. He’s sure Mugm had a surprised expression on with how he heard him gasping ever so slightly.

After finishing his entire bottle by accident, he lays on the floor, not caring about what was on it. His eyes opened up to Mugm staring back at him.

He awkwardly raised his hand to wave.

“You good?”

“Yeah…” he was lying if it wasn’t obvious. 

“…”

“…”

“You know you’re still going to suffer, right?”

“Just—just give me this moment of peace.”

Mugm hummed, watching the chest of Nezo go up and down dramatically. It can’t be that hard can it?

“Okay so I lied! I just wanted the setters to suffer today. We’ll scrimmage today.” Flowtives announced, earning a glare from both setters. The others laughed, finding how their setters were suffering was funny. “So get into your team.”

“Oh my gosh.”

They got into their respective team, still giggling about their setters.

At least they’ll have fun today and get used to their 5-1 rotations.

Firstly they were doing rotation one, meaning Nezo would serve first then get into position for setting.

Everybody got into their position.

Nezo was handed the ball by Flowtives, testing it by doing a short routine and waiting for the game to officially start.

Flowtives blew the whistle and he took a few steps before throwing the ball up—which was probably a bit too high for comfort—at the perfect height when the ball came down did Nezo hit the ball—palm contacting the center of the ball and swinging all the way through.

Immediately after that, he ran to zone 1, Mugm and Nufuli getting out of their stacking, and then going back to base position: Tai, Nufuli and Mugm in the front, Sharp behind the 10 feet line, Spongs near the service line to receive any of the hard balls.

On the other side of the net, Parker had received the ball, passing it to Jude. Now, Falconu, Noob, and Dolphin are all running up, getting ready to spike.

Jude was about to set to Noob until he realized that was predictable—instead he set to Dolphin who was surprised but thankful that Jude did.

Dolphin jumped as soon as the ball left Jude’s hand, she swung hard, a loud noise echoing through the building, surprising others. 

“Dang! Go Dolphin!” Tai yelled out from the opposite side of the net, praising her for the exceptional spike that she just did.

A smile landed on Dolphin’s face, very glad to have supportive teammates.

Unfortunately, Spongs had dug the ball up (somehow)—though not a perfect pass, Nezo was able to adjust to it. He quickly moved his feet to the correct area (which was a little bit too far right but it works). 

“Nice dig!” Nufuli said, knowing how hard that must’ve been to pick up. Dolphin’s spikes are something to not be messed with.

Nezo puts his hands up, ready to set it to Mugm. But—from where he and Mugm were, it would be hard for Nezo to set it that far—he’ll have to try.

The adrenaline rushes through Nezo’s body, completely making him tense. 

Nevertheless, he set it Mugm anyway.

…

His set was too fucking low. It slipped at the last second! 

A flabbergasted sound came from Nezo himself. “Get it over, get it over!” He quickly recovered from his shock.

Thankfully, Mugm was able to tip it. Though, he himself was a bit uneasy about that moment. It was a free ball to the other team.

Going back to their defensive position, the three players upfront now had to block.

Falconu got the tip ball, easily passing it to Jude and then stepping back to spike.

Please let it be me. They never set to the right side!

“Jude, me!” Falconu pleaded. He really needed this. There’s a good spot for him to hit, he’s sure it’ll be hard for Spongs or Sharpness to receive it. Pleasepleaseplease—fuck Jude. 

Why did he set it to Jaden (no hate though)—who’s literally backrow mind you! This caught everybody off guard, including Jaden, but he was already running up, making sure to not pass the 10 foot line and not going above the net.

He hits a low yet fast ball, sending it further back than Dolphin’s first hit (sorry Dolphin!).

The ball was barely retrievable by Sharpness—leading Spongs to run for it and passing the ball back nowhere near the net.

Nufuli had to run for it, diving and sending the ball right back to the other side.

Seriously, why is their receive so ass today?

Nezo’s unable to get a good ball—yet he messed up his first set.

“Nice, Nufuli,” Tai cheered once again, though he noted mentally that their team hasn’t been able to get a perfect 3 step attack yet.

But Nufuli sending the ball caused Jude to receive it instead, having a different player set the ball.

“Falcon, take it, take it.” Jude ushered immediately.

Said player rushed to replace Jude, ultimately Falconu wasn’t the best but he still tried, setting a decent ball to Noob who was able to send a deafening ball to the other side.

The cycle went on for another 5 minutes—or so Flowtives thought. While they were playing, Flowtives had been silently analyzing them.

He was going to give them tips until the players were done. Though, he must’ve underestimated how long they could go on for.

Flowtives saw a few people coming in, possibly being a friend of his players. He’s glad he won’t be alone watching them redo this cycle over and over.

“This is my first time watching Sharpness actually play,” Saparata said to the other people around watching them.

A hum came from his left side, “me too, I’ve been too busy to watch them practice I can’t lie.” Cow responded.

“Unironically, this gym stinks.” Luigi laughed.

The others agreed, certainly it wasn't the best smelling place currently but it’s definitely better than some places they went to before.

“So…who are you guys here for…? Cow and I are here for Sharpness.” Saparata started off.

“Lopezz and I have no idea. Rejoice here just pulled us here,” Lettuce pointed at the yellow haired boy who was concerning Lopezz and Lettuce. His eyes are pointed somewhere…!

“I think he might be here for Tai?” Rejoice’s head turned to Luigi. Maybe he was in fact here for Tai.

Flankee sighed, “okay so definitely here for that Tai dude.”

It had gotten quiet from that point, must’ve been a sensitive topic somehow as Rejoice didn’t say anything back. Not many people knew what had happened to the two, only that they’re not on the best terms anymore.

Good job Luigi.

…yeah this is too awkward.

“Uh..their stamina must be a lot,” Twirps added.

The others agreed, taking in the fact that the players are still able to continue playing even though they’re sweating a lot. Kudos to every volleyball player out there.

“Yeah…!”

“Holy shit, how did Parker get that hit?!”

“Oo—dang that was a loud spike.”

“What’s that name of that one move where they don’t hit it hard but like lightly tap it?”

“A tip?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m genuinely just seeing them running and  going all over the place.”

“What a block! Was that Dolphin?”

“Yep!”

“She did so good, yo!”

“Did I just see a leg save?”

“Why are they just ignoring that save?!”

“I think they have something else to worry about more.”

“Wait, that was only the first point?”

“Shit felt like forever.”

“All that cool movement for one point.”

“Long ass rally bro.”

Simultaneously, every player dropped down—or at least took a short break—to cool themselves off. They didn’t know how long that took, but their defense seemed so good so far as no one really got a good hit on the other side.

That must’ve been the longest rally they had against each other.

Clapping was heard from Flowtives: he was smiling. “Good job! That took longer than expected, for one point mind you, but you guys deserved a short break. And to answer you all, that rally was 7 minutes long.”

Seven whole fucking minute.

Heavy breathing surrounded the room, that was the most exhausting play ever. Some actually got up to get their water bottles while some stayed there, not having enough energy to get up.

And unfortunately for Nezo again, he drank all of his earlier! Thanks so much Flowtives.

“Good defense for everybody, but we’ll definitely work on the offense.” Everybody groaned, not ready for his intense training in the next practice.

He saw Mugm getting up, so he followed along. Granted that would’ve happened anyway since Mugm was his only legit friend there.

While getting up, he had almost tripped, another aura lost moment for him.

How much aura has he lost now?

Tai’s excited mood had immediately soured as he saw a familiar yellow blur of a figure. Why was he here? 

He turned his attention to Noob, distracting himself from him. “That spike was tough as fuck! You saw how Sharpness almost got hit in the face with it?” He laughed, ignoring the fact that his enemy—not really—was literally throwing daggers at him.

Noob laughed out too, enjoying the compliment from Tai and the shade on Sharpness. “I can’t believe I actually did that cross shot!”

“You’ve improved so much holy shit. I remembered when you couldn’t even pass, haha!” Yes, true. Noob couldn’t pass properly, but come on now, who could if they’re not a prodigy at volleyball already?

Noob was almost a natural—he’d been able to learn basic skills and perfect them in the span of 4 months alone until he had the confidence to join Tai’s team. There were multiple tryouts but he was confident that he would pass—and he did!

Flowtives had come up to him before, noting that Noob’s strength and accuracy would be a great addition to their upcoming team.

“I can’t believe I got downgraded to a middle blocker,” Tai sourly said, “I barely get any sets now.”

“Maybe prove to Nezo that you’re worthy of a set, I don’t know?”

“Bro I’m actually going to choke you.” He gave Noob a cold stare, which didn’t really work since Noob just stared back.

“Hey, middle blocker is also cool, means that you’re tall, able to predict or know where the ball goes, and y’know—yeah.” Noob sighed out. There wasn’t really any bad position, just a preference for individuals.

A fake cough was let out by Noob, “hey so, why do I see Rejoice here?”

“Nah-ah. We don’t speak that name here. Also: I don’t even know why, okay? Now let’s go back to hating Sharpness and the others.”

“Pfft—whatever you say man.”

“Should we invite Puqi to watch this? The others are here, might as well invite him.”

“Yeah, do what you wanna do.”

Everybody got back to the court, the point being given to Noob’s team to Nezo’s dismay. Seriously, he needs to lock in.

Going into serve receive 1, Nezo moves back with Mugm a little bit in front of him. He’s painfully aware of the signal that Mugm is giving to him right now, but he’s not sure if he’s able to do it—failing the previous sets prior.

He knows that Mugm is staring daggers at him even though Mugm is in front of him, but if he was behind, then surely Mugm would give him a death glare.

Nevertheless, Nezo will do what Mugm is signaling to him despite his mind telling him not to. 

With that, a serve from Jude made him come back to earth. He ran to his spot, seeing that Mugm is already at the designated spot.

And with a more coordinated hand, Nezo is able to give Mugm a quick and short set that was able to give the other team a hard pass.

Noob had to quickly dive for the ball, giving Jude a tight space to set.

“I got it.” Jude gave Dolphin a short set so she could tip it.

Instead of a tip, Dolphin spiked it hard, a huge sound echoing throughout the court. Maybe she spiked it a little bit too hard since it was out.

A disbelief look dawned on her face, not moving.

“That was one hell of a spike you got there,” Flowtives yelled out, complimenting her. He could see the disappointment in her face, he gave himself a mental note to talk to her later.

The players gave each other high fives, content with what just happened. Some comforted Dolphin.

The people on the sideline were shocked, “make sure to remind me to not make her mad…”

It was only a practice match against each other.

Flowtives cleared his throat, looking over to the crowd of people watching his players practice. Everybody went silent, unsure of their coaches’ next action.

“4 of you will be the line judges,” he said, waiting for them to get out of their daze.

Ultimately, Puqi, Cow, Lettuce and Twirps were the ones.

Wait—Puqi? How did he get here fast? Both Mugm and Nezo were confused but decided to ignore that. Who knows what else Puqi could do.

They got into the position again, Mugm serving instead now. 

Nezo gulps, hoping that he won’t injure anyone. For someone younger than him, Mugm’s serve is purely strength and hell, way better than Nezo’s serve.

He sees others getting ready to receive Mugm’s serve, though the nervous look on their face told him that they’re going to have a hard time receiving the ball.

If he’s being honest, he sure as hell can’t receive Mugm’s serve at all.

A powerful serve was sent to the other side, making Nezo flinch and get ready for the other side’s attack.

Parker was the poor soul to have received it, unfortunately the ball went up instead of towards Jude. 

Jaden went to set the ball, “I got it!”

He swiftly sent the ball to Falconu who was able to hit it to the other side.

Spongs dove for the ball once again, “ow—”

“Tai!” Nezo shouted, setting another quick set to Tai.

Tai saw a blind spot, tipping the ball towards Jude’s direction, hoping that Jude would take the first ball.

This action unfortunately was seen by Jude, but he was unable to stop himself from taking the first ball once again. “Dolphin, Dolphin!”

She got the cue, getting ready to set Jaden. As she sets, she sees Tai following the ball, meaning that he was going to block it. Dolphin hopes that Jaden can react in time to not make them lose another point.

And…Jaden was blocked by Tai.

But it’s okay! Parker was able to dive for the ball but it was out of court, making Noob and Falconu run out of the court before it touched the ground.

“Come on…!” Twirps silently yelled out, body tensing all of a sudden. He hopes Falconu’s team wins or else he loses $25 to a stupid practice game.

Noob was able to bump it back but it was out of Falconu’s range, leaving it to Parker once again.

Unfortunately it was out.

“Good job to everybody. Although some rallies did go longer than I expected, it shows that your defensive skills are putting in the effort. I do have one critique: have better offense,” Flowtives stops before continuing, “I do see huge improvements—it’s just that defense won’t always lead you to victory.”

Players surrounding him nodded, agreeing that they’ll have to up their offensive side. They’re already good at offense if anybody’s being honest. 

“But we’re already decent at offense, no?” Tai spoke up. Yes their defense was better than their offense but that didn’t mean their offense was horrible or anything—it was a little bit above average.

Flowtives glanced at Tai, “that I agree. Think about it though: if we were up against a very good defensive team, how would your offense go about it?”

They looked at their coach, taking in his words and imagining what would happen. It would be a bad thing.

“And come on—we’re named as the ‘Strength’ team, so why not make that name become true? There might be a time where we might go against Lifesteal if we push hard enough,” he tried to encourage them. “Though, please work on some of your guys’ communication. I’ll be counting on your captains to take the lead.”

“Wait what?” Tai blurted out, confused.

“Us?” Mugm pointed at Tai and him.

“Our communication skills aren’t that bad, right…?” Sharpness asked, unsure. Looking around, the others seemed to have agreed. They actually communicated a lot.

Flowtives answered him, “I mean, most of you guys are good, I guess. There were 9 rallies where the ball dropped due to nobody taking the chance to get it. 9 out of 25. It’s not that much but yall sure are going to lose 9 points if it was an actual game.”

He clasped his hands loudly, ready to announce, “so for tomorrow’s practice, we’ll be working on offense—so get ready my hitters—then communication, which you’ll see the activity I’ll set up later—and finally, this isn’t necessarily for everybody, mostly the setters. Essentially, they’ll work on their set, yes, but they’ll primarily be trying to set your guys’ preference.”

Again.

“I feel like any set works for all of us,” Nufuli perked up. He wasn’t picky about the sets, moreover the opportunity of getting a set.

“I’m not opposed to the idea, coach, but I’ll have to say that we’re able to adjust to the sets, which I would hope is a good thing in your eyes.” Mugm unexpectedly said, surprising Nezo. 

“Exactly. I just really want all of you to suffer a lot tomorrow.” A dark smile was on Flowtives’ face, catching everybody off guard. Then he dipped, walking away from the circle.

“Wait—?!”

“Oh fuck no, I’m skipping practice tomorrow.”

“You know…I actually have something to catch up on tomorrow.”

“Coach, please change your mind…?”

“This is child abuse!” Someone joked.

Flowtives’ sighed, “I really don’t believe the excuse but you do you!” He shouted before bolting out of the door.

Then he came back, “make sure to also put down the net and put it back to its original place.” And then he disappeared.

Really?

After putting down the net and putting it back to its original place, Nezo followed Mugm and Puqi out. 

“So…how was practice?”

“It was alright,” Mugm answered stoically.

“Straight up hell. You know, he made Jude and I practice a drill that didn’t even involve the others? This dude’s crazy,” Nezo complained. “Seriously though, that drill was pointless.”

Puqi laughed, enjoying his friend’s suffering, “I’m glad I’m not in your guys’ team, Bliss is wayyy better.”

“Speaking of Bliss, where was Silva?”

“Silva was already deep asleep, dude’s booked this week unfortunately.”

Mugm hums, “how come you were able to reach the gym quickly?”

“I was already there to surprise you guys but Nezo dm’ed me, so unfortunately there was no surprise.”

“Ohh..are you going to go back orrrr…? ‘Cause Bliss is kind of far from here.”

“No, I’m going to stay with one of you.”

WE UP‼️‼️‼️‼️

Big boss: lock in tomorrow

seen by 12 users

you already know: No

Noobie: 🥶🥶

Noobie: chills literal chills 

biggest fish: this team is beyond cooked

RAHH: evaporated 🫩

squeeze: what if I like

squeeze: not show up to the competition 

blub: let’s actually all be here and gain a good reputation 

you already know: that’s impossible here

biggest fish: I should’ve stayed at Bliss

blub: type shit

Big boss: do you guys want to run 20 laps

Noobie: no sir

RAHH: Nuh uh 

squeeze: yes

Captain Hook: get this guy out of here please

Big boss: 😐

Big boss: 20 laps it is 

squeeze: oh shit