A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on july 1st, 2021 @ 9:04pm

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - TOWNSPERSON B

ONCE PRACTICE WAS FINISHED AND Atsushi headed to the clubroom, everyone headed out to go home. It was dark out and Atsushi could see some stars twinkling.

Suddenly, the brunette jumped when Hinata let out a big yell, and ran over to Yachi. "Yachi! Yachi, are you gonna be our manager?" Hinata asked in excitement.

"Uh, um..." She spoke, shocked by the sudden appearance of Hinata.

"You will, right?" Hinata beamed, wanting Yachi to join.

Atsushi sighed at Hinata and pulled him back. "Calm down. Give her a chance to respond." He scolded as Hinata pouted but nodded at his teammate.

"Hey, first-year girl, hey!" The voices from Nishinoya and Tanaka spoke up, gaining their attention. Atsushi saw the two smile in seriousness at Yachi.

"You'd better join Karasuno's Volleyball Club." Nishinoya announced with a grin.

"When you're around, Kiyoko talks a lot." Tanaka added, smiling as well.

Atsushi sweat dropped at the two, as Daichi came over and hit the duo on their heads. "What kind of way to recruit is that, idiot?" Daichi hissed as Sugawara just stood there calmly.

"I'm sorry, they're all so stupid." Sugawara apologized to the first-year female, who quickly shakes her head.

"No, not at all! Um, I'm flattered." Yachi said as she rubbed her head. Everyone looked at her. "I've never really chosen to do anything before or had someone need me for anything. Even in drama club, I've only been an extra. Like Townsperson B or a tree." She explained as Atsushi blinked in confusion.

"A tree?"

"So, because I was Townsperson B, and because I had no knowledge or experience with volleyball, I was really happy that Shimizu-senpai was so enthusiastic about getting me to join. But I don't think I'll be of much—" Yachi began but was interrupted by Tanaka.

"I totally get how you feel. If Kiyoko came up to me and said... I'm going to steal money from you, so follow me... I'd still follow her." Tanaka stated with a serious expression as Sugawara sighed in exhaustion, with Nishinoya and Hinata smiling.

"You're so manly, Ryu!"

Yachi sighed, smiling at everyone. "That's not quite what I was trying to say." She mumbled as Atsushi walked up to her side.

"We get what you're trying to say. Or at least, the ones who don't share a brain cell do. It's best to ignore Tanaka-san and Noya-san when they do this. It's what I do." Atsushi reassured her as he looked down at her.

She blinked at him, looking as if she was in a daze as she continued to look up at him. Atsushi blinked, wondering why she was looking at him so much. He suddenly jumped when she turned red and started to stutter.

"H-H-Hot!" She squeaked, making the brunette raise an eyebrow, wondering why she shouted the word 'hot.'

"Uh... Are you all right?" Atsushi asked as she tensed.

"Y-Y-Yes!" She stuttered, which only made Atsushi more concerned for her.

"Looks like Tanaka's saying something again." Asahi chuckles, as he and Daichi walked by Tanaka.

"Oh, that reminds me." Hinata suddenly said, remembering something which gained everyone's attention as he dug around in his bag. He soon took out his phone and showed Tanaka and Nishinoya what was on the screen.

"Damn, Nekoma's so awesome!" Nishinoya announced, sounding annoyed but also determined. Atsushi guessed that Kenma had texted Hinata.

"I'm getting fired up!" Tanaka exclaimed as Atsushi just sighed at his teammates.

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Atsushi sighed, feeling exhausted from his classes. He didn't do much in class, it was the same boring lesson. It was just the teacher telling them to study for the exams. Which he knew wouldn't be a problem for him.

Soon, the bell rung, Atsushi bolted from the classroom and headed towards the clubroom. "I thought class would never end!" He complained as his teammates chuckled at him.

"How are classes going for you, Atsushi?" Sugawara asked as Atsushi set his gym bag down to change into his practice clothes.

"I'm physically drained. Though, if I went to Shiratorizawa, it would most likely be 10x worse." Atsushi responded as Ennoshita just placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you keeping up in your classes at least?" Sugawara questioned before he paled. "Because we really don't need another teammate lagging behind when we go off to Tokyo."

Atsushi chuckled. "Don't worry, Suga-san. I'm not in Class 4 for nothing. Actually, to tell you the truth, I think I'm ahead of the class." He reassured him.

Once everyone changed, they all went into the gymnasium to practice their serves. "Hinata and Tsukishima!" Ukai called over the two. To which they nodded and jogged over to see what the coach wanted. Atsushi didn't pay attention as he continued to practice his serves.

"Ouginishi will arrive at 4:30!"

"Right!"

Everyone started setting up for the practice match, Atsushi was helping out by bringing the trolley of volleyballs. As he was helping, he couldn't help but overhear Yachi's conversation with Hinata and Kageyama. "Sorry, that was an inane question." She apologized.

"Inane question?" Hinata and Kageyama repeated in confusion.

"A foolish question, or a comment said to abase oneself after asking such a question." Atsushi said, as the two tensed at his voice when they heard him explain the word Yachi had used.

"We just went over it the other day!" Tsukishima added, hissing at the duo.

"Thank you for having us!"

Atsushi blinked and looked over to see Ouginishi at their gym doors. "Gather 'round!" Daichi called out.

"Right!"

Everyone jogged over to greet Ouginishi. As they lined up, Atsushi felt the stares on him from the opposing school making him raise an eyebrow and stare them down, noticing some blushes on their faces.

"Move back a bit, Hinata."

"Oh, right."

"Bow!"

Everyone listened to their captain as Karasuno and Ouginishi, bowed to each other. "Let's play!" They shouted in unison.

Meanwhile, the Ouginishi coach and the referee were walking throughout the halls of Karasuno.

"So we're playing Karasuno today? They're the, uh... the "fallen giant" and the "flightless bird," right?"

The Ouginishi coach laughed. "I don't think those names apply anymore."

"Huh?"

"At the IH prelims, they played Aoba Johsai a full set and had a deuce with them until their scores got into the 30s."

"Seriously?" The referee said in shock. "Oh, but they do have Nishinoya from Chidoriyama and Kageyama from Kitagawa Daiichi, right?"

"They do, but..."

"Senpai?"

"Their #10, especially... Karasuno's center is a first-year with impressive physical ability. Sometimes, his presence changes the game to an astonishing extent. And that's not all."

"There's more?"

"Karasuno's #13 is Ushijima Atsushi. The former captain and ace of Shiratorizawa Junior High."

"Is he Ushijima Wakatoshi's younger brother?"

"Yes. There have been rumors going around that his attacks are powerful. People have also been saying he's close to surpassing his own brother. It appears that Karasuno's transforming."

Once they greeted each other, they headed to the court to do some last minute warm ups.

Atsushi waited for Tanaka to go for a spike as Kageyama sets to him, Tanaka runs forward and slams down the ball.

"Nice kill!" Kageyama praised. It was Atsushi's turn as he held the volleyball in his hand.

"Ready?" Atsushi called out to Kageyama who nodded at him. The brunette grinned as he threw the ball up. He runs forward once the ball gets closer to Kageyama.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't spiked with my left hand in a while. I wonder if I still got it." Atsushi thought as he jumped up. Kageyama tossed the ball for him and Atsushi slammed it down with his left hand.

"Nice kill!" Kageyama said.

Atsushi chuckled. "Nice set, Tobio." He told him as he blew him a kiss, making Kageyama blush.

"We're gonna start soon, so get changed!" Daichi called out to them.

"Right!" Everyone replied as they headed over to the chairs.

On the chairs were their jerseys, Atsushi grabbed his black and orange jersey that had the number 13 on it.

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Yachi couldn't help but watch as the boys came over to take their jerseys that were placed on the chairs, she was expecting them to head off to the clubroom to get changed, but she was wrong as she jumped when she saw Hinata take off his shirt.

Yachi turned red as she covered her eyes. But of course, she couldn't help but stare at one of them. She couldn't help but notice Atsushi's abs and how he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

"He's so hot!" She thought, turning red like a tomato.

Sugawara glanced over and laughs when he saw Hinata. "Hinata, that's backwards." He chuckled as Hinata seemed to be having difficulty putting on his shirt over his head as Tanaka and Atsushi stood by with amusement.

"Like Jamila." Tanaka commented as Atsushi snorted.

"Seriously, Hinata. Just how much of a dumbass are you? Wait, don't answer that." Atsushi said as he placed his jersey back on the chair before taking off Hinata's jersey and putting it on the correct way.

Atsushi picked up his own jersey and pulled it over his head and onto his body. He was unaware that not only Yachi was watching him with a blush on her face, but so did Kageyama and the guys from the opposing team also watched with red faces. Kageyama glared at them when he noticed, making them flinch and look away.

"Sorry, you'll have to get used to this." Kiyoko apologized, walking over to Yachi who tried her best to avoid looking at all the boy's shirtless bodies.

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Once Hinata and the others finally got their jerseys on, Atsushi waited for Daichi to tell them to head to the court.

"Asahi, that string in your hair is awesome!" Nishinoya exclaimed, which caught Atsushi's attention as he looked over to see Asahi had a hairband in this time.

"String? It's a hairband. Well, I guess I feel confident if you say that, Nishinoya." Asahi told Nishinoya with a sheepish look, as Daichi and Tanaka headed over, with Daichi smacking Asahi's back.

"Straighten up!" Daichi ordered.

"Trying to change your image, Asahi?" Tanaka asked as Atsushi noticed he wasn't wearing his shirt.

"No, the other day..." Asahi trailed off as he explained that Kiyoko told him to not have his hair braid so tight or else, he would go bald. "That's why..." Asahi finished, and Atsushi controlled his snicker that he held in, but Nishinoya saw no harm on laughing so he did.

"I need to be careful, too." Atsushi heard Tanaka mumble.

"There are bald guys that are popular with the girls, too!" Yamaguchi reassured. Atsushi snorted to himself as Tanaka got all agitated.

"I'm not bald!" Tanaka exclaimed, as Yamaguchi flinched back. Hinata was yelling his lungs to get fired up, with Kageyama looking hard not to kill their teammate, Tsukishima was standing next to Yamaguchi, fixing his shirt, as Atsushi walked up to stand next to Nishinoya with a small amused expression.

"Aren't you going to get into uniform, Tanaka-san?" Tsukishima asked, as Tanaka seemed to also get irked by the tall male.

"I'm about to!" He hissed.

TWEEEET!

"Gather 'round!" Daichi announced, gaining everyone's attention as they followed him to crowd around Ukai.

"This is our first match with another team since the Inter-High prelims. You haven't forgotten your frustrations from that day, have you?" Ukai questioned as Atsushi thought back to their defeat and him declaring his revenge on Oikawa. He frowned at the memory until his teammates snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Right!"

Ukai smirked at them. "All right, go out there and thrash until your heart's content!" He announced. "Right!" Everyone shouted, as Daichi soon gestured for everyone to get in a circle. They followed his lead as he placed his fist in the middle of the circle they formed, his team copying him.

"Karasuno, fight!"

"Yeah!"

Once they did their team cheer, they headed onto the court. Atsushi noticed his teammates aura was calm but held determination to win this practice match with the opposing school.

TWEEEET!

Tanaka was swapped out with Atsushi for this game. The first that was serving was Kageyama as he did his expert jump.

Atsushi watched as the ball goes over to the other side of the court and Kageyama got them a point. "Yeah!" He announced, as his team cheered for him.

"Nice serve, Kageyama!"

"Thanks!"

"One more!"

Atsushi once again watched as the ball went into the air, Atsushi saw Tsukishima run to the net to block the spiker from the opposing team.

"Cover! Cover!"

"Number 8! Number 8!"

The guy from the other side jumps up, but he was surprised at how tall Tsukishima was when he jumped. The guy still got the ball over Tsukishima, but just barely as Nishinoya dived down to save it on time.

"Nice, Nishinoya!"

"Kageyama!"

"Right!"

Atsushi watched as Kageyama sets the volleyball over to Asahi who jumped up and spiked the ball down with a powerful hit, making them gain another point. "All right!" Everyone shouted. Tsukishima and Atsushi just watched from afar, not comfortable with cheering.

The game goes on as Hinata jumps up to block the incoming spike, the ball gets past him, but Daichi quickly receives the ball back into the air.

"Nice receive, Daichi!" Nishinoya praised the captain.

"Left!" Atsushi shouted out, calling for a toss, making Kageyama glance at him and nod in agreement. Atsushi kept an eye on the ball, he was close to the net as he jumped up. The ball touched Kageyama's hands as he tossed to his boyfriend. The second Atsushi saw the ball in front of his hand, he slammed it down powerfully.

Karasuno gained a point, making them all cheer. "All right!" They announced as Daichi pats Atsushi on the back as he crouched down so Nishinoya could ruffle his hair.

Atsushi glanced at the score to see where they were at.

Ouginishi

12

Karasuno

19

Atsushi grinned to himself. The ball goes back into the air, Atsushi glanced towards Hinata who charges forward and jumps as high as he can, with Kageyama setting to him as the duo show off their freak quick. Karasuno scored another point as the opposing team stared at the duo, mostly Hinata, with wide eyes.

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The practice match ended, as everyone bowed to each other. "Thank you very much!" They bowed as the bid their goodbyes to Ouginishi and watch them leave. Once they were gone, Ukai told them to start cleaning the court.

Atsushi yawned, feeling exhausted. He was helping Kageyama pack away the chairs as he gave him one to carry, they passed by Hinata and Yachi who seemed to be getting along.

"Amazing! That was amazing! I was just watching, but it was like... like..." Yachi excitedly announced as she tried to find the words.

"Did it all well up like whoosh?" Hinata asked with a happy and bright smile.

"Yeah, it did!"

"Then be our manager!"

"Huh? Um, uh..."

"Do it, Yachi!"

Atsushi yawned a bit, as he stacked chairs with the help of Kageyama. "But on an amazing team like this, I'm just Townsperson B, with no knowledge of sports. I'm just going to get in the way—" Yachi said with a frown, but was interrupted by Hinata.

"Come to think of it, I played Townsperson B, too." Hinata announced, making Yachi raise her eyebrows at him, and jump back a little.

"Huh?" Yachi commented.

"I got scolded because I tried to stand out more than the main character." Hinata stated and Atsushi couldn't help but snort, as he could see Hinata doing just that.

Kageyama stared behind Hinata with a teasing smirk. "Townsperson B?" He questioned as he gave out an audible snort, Hinata got irritated by Kageyama.

"Hey, don't make fun of me, you jerk!" Hinata hissed as Atsushi sweat dropped at him.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you would, totally try and stand out more, than the actual main character?" Atsushi mumbled to himself.

"Townsperson B had a cool side that only Townsperson B has!"

"I see."

"Then what kind of role did you play, Kageyama?"

"The moon."

Atsushi coughed a little to hide his laugh.

"Is that even needed?"

"Damn, that's cool!"

"I've only played a horse before."

"A horse?"

Atsushi sighed at his team as they talked about what roles they played in school plays and such. Hinata then looks over to him and bounced over, as he jumped up and down in excitement while holding Atsushi's arm to stable himself when he came back from jumping up.

"What role did you play, Atsushi?" Hinata beamed in interest as everyone else stared at him in curiosity.

"Uh, well, the first role I played was..." Atsushi began, thinking back. "...an extra." He finished, making the others stare at him with wide eyes.

"An extra?"

"So you were a side character?"

"I guess so. I never really liked being the center of attention."

"Makes sense."

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School came back on all over again, but this time, it sped through, making Atsushi relieved. It got dark out, as everyone did their usual practice, once that was over with, everyone headed into the clubroom.

Tsukishima was busy tutoring Hinata and Kageyama for their upcoming exams. With Ennoshita standing in between Nishinoya and Tanaka with a plastic ruler in hand to whack them if they get distracted.

"Harold, he lies below but can not open fire... Nathan Magee always sits patiently, seeing clearly around." Nishinoya and Tanaka spoke, making Atsushi smirk in amusement.

Sugawara was standing beside him with a small smile in amusement as well. Yamaguchi was behind Kageyama and Hinata leaning over them to make sure they were concentrating with Tsukishima leaning against the chairs that the duo were using to write on their sheets of papers.

"Knowing careless security titillates very criminal minds... "Keiken," ex-experience." Tanaka and Nishinoya spoke, reading from their books they had to learn from.

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It was soon the day of the exams, Atsushi wasn't nervous as he made sure to keep up with all of his classes. When the teacher gave out the exams, they only had two hours to complete the work.

"Two hours of complete hell..." Atsushi thought as he sighed. Once everything was settled, everyone waited for the teacher, Atsushi glanced over at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi just gave him a thumbs up in reassurance.

The teacher gave them the go, everyone focused on their exams. Atsushi looked down at the sheet in front of him and did his best to answer them all.

Two hours passed as the bell suddenly ran off, and everyone in Atsushi's class sighed in relief as they stretch and put down their pens.

"We're done!"

"How'd you think you did?"

"Glad that's over..." Atsushi thinks to himself, sinking into his chair.

"All right. Please pass your exams forward."

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Everyone was in the gymnasium, Daichi informed everyone that Yachi will be joining the team. "It's hot..." Hinata complained as he put on his black jersey and everyone did the same.

"It's just for a little while. Come on, you too, Tsukishima." Sugawara spoke as he called for Tsukishima to come along.

"Come here! Line up!" Sugawara added, gesturing for Tsukishima to hurry up.

"So, we've finished our exams, and starting today, Yachi will be officially joining us as our manager." Daichi spoke as Atsuchi saw Yachi was standing beside him with a nervous look, Kiyoko walked over, handing Yachi a black jacket for her to wear.

"Here." She said softly.

Yachi blinked as she held up the Karasuno High School Volleyball Club jacket that everyone else was wearing. Daichi glances at her before smiling and turning to face his team.

"Ready, and..."

Everyone turned around and gestured to the back of their jackets, including Atsushi. Kageyama looked unsure of how to do it. Tsukishima was the only one who didn't bother with the pose.

"Welcome to the Karasuno High School Volleyball Club!"

Yachi widened her eyes at them, and for a second, Atsushi thought she was gonna cry. "It's a pleasure to work with you!" She replied, bowing at them.

Daichi smiled gently before looking back at the team. "All right, the Tokyo away games are coming up. All that's left is..." Daichi trailed off, as he told them that they were waiting for everyone's exam results to see who gets to go or not.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 3485 words.