Chapter 13 [Elementary Days (pt.10)]

CRACK! BAM! WOOSH!!!

"Emiko! *puff* Can we-ack! Please-aahhh! Phew, I got it! But please, can we? Take. A. BREAK?!?"

"Oh shut your trap. And fix that form, kiddo. You need to bend your knees more."

While Kazuo grumbled how life was being unfair, Emiko was having the best time of her life.

'Ahh, how I wish I had a phone. This would be great blackmail material!'

After a few more rounds of receiving, the mentor called off their "practice" (more like one sided torture). They went inside the house and on top of a humble-like table was a wonderful glass pitcher, filled with lemonade. Beside the pitcher were two empty cups, a basket full of fruits, and a note:

[Dad's at work when mom will be shopping, you two kids seemed to be having lots of "fun" so we didn't interrupt. Emiko, don't be a pig and make sure your acquaintance have enough to eat. We'll be back in around lunchtime. And no, Emiko dear. You cannot bring a crow, cat, owl, fox, snake, and whatever animal you find into the house! If you do, we know how this will end, no?]

The said daughter felt shivers run down her spine.

'...well if not an animal, can I at least try to invite a lightning in?'

"Hey, there's even a back!" Kazuo intrudes her mind, "It says, 'I know what you are thinking you crackhead, no means no.' Um, what do they mean by that?"

"Oh, it's nothing!"

The little girl hid her disappointment which quickly vanished when she saw the delicious fruits just begging to be eaten.

"Let's dig in first!"

Without hesitation, the kids did the practicality and scarfed down the fresh nutrients. While eating, Kazuo asked,

"Emiko, I still don't understand what volleyball exactly is."

"Oh, you just hit the ball."

"I know that, but seriously. How do you play it?"

(A/N: I personally don't play volleyball, so this won't be a good description. Please bear with the terrible explaining!)

"Hmm, I'll simply start off with the basic rules. Two teams, usually 6 players each side, don't let the ball touch the ground."

Kazuo nodded thinking, 'Okay, pretty good so far. But no context, so you're a bad explainer Emiko.'

"There are also necessary skills you must learn to play: receiving, blocking, spiking, and setting. Receives, like how we just practiced, is when you use your body (mostly arms) to keep the ball from touching the ground."

"A defense skill?"

"Yep. Then there's setting. Setters pass the ball to the spikers. Sounds simple, but actually really hard. The spikers hit the ball to the opposite side of the court. If out, bad but in, good."

"Huh? Wait, but I thought you can't have the ball touch the ground?"

"Oh, well, not exactly. Like other sports, you know how there are two teams and two goals? Volleyball is the same, and the main way to score a point is if the ball falls on your enemy's court."

"Then the outs would be like a miss while the ins are the scores?"

"Yeh! You're getting it now, dumbstuff!"

"I'm not dumb!"

"Yeah yeah, sure sure. Oh, now we got just one more left. Blocking. Nothing much left to explain. Blockers block the spikers, making sure the ball don't fall on their court."

"Okay, so receives keep the ball from falling, setters pass to spikers, spikers try to hit and score a point, when blockers make sure there's no gap for the spikers to score?"

"Yeh. Noice. Now let's go practice more!"

"Wait, I'm not done eating yet-"

"Oh shut up! They're for me!"

"Don't be a pig, you fatty."

It was at this moment, the boy knew he messed up.

"...heh. So I'm a fatty now?"

"Yeah, obviously you oger-wait! Mercy! Please have mercy!!!"

Unfortunately for him, Kazuo was being dragged by Emiko, who was pulling on the rude boy's collar, outside where an innocent looking volleyball sat on the blade grass so peacefully. The beautiful "angel" dropped Kazuo and walked up to the volleyball. She lifted it up preciously and whispered,

"I'm sorry little guy. But this angel here has to punish the bad man, you'll help me won't you? Sure, you'll be deflated but your sacrifice won't be in vain!"

As if the non-living object answered her request, Emiko turned around with a lovely smile. So lovely...

"Kazuo..."

"Hic! Have mercy!!!"

"...that will depend on my mood. And I'm not feeling it so far."

The girl, out of nowhere, threw the ball up into the air. She jumped (low-key soared) to the sky then- BAM! It crashed down (near) onto Kazuo's weakly formed arms.

"AHHHH- wait, hah! It doesn't hurt! You're so weak you pig- *gasp*"

Kazuo stopped his sentence. Then he realized, that the ball was slightly worn out. It was right beside him, and the dirt was dug up unintentionally.

'Crap. She missed that hit...on purposely.'

"HAVE MERCYYYYY!!!!!!"

Then the rally went on, It was just Emiko spiking when Kazuo tried to either dodge or somehow receive the horrid hits.

"Hah! What are you, a weak ******? Can't even do ****!"

Of course, Emiko just had to fuel the flames higher and higher, so that Kazuo's ego would plummet beyond the floor. But noticing their lunchtime was coming around, Emiko paused their hellish training. However, unlike her usual days, the girl had a huge smile planted on her face.

"Oh Kazuo, we should do more training next time! You're my perfect punching bag! Now let's go, my parent's coming and you do NOT want to eat lunch with a sweaty smell."

Then on cue, Kasumi and Goro entered the door.

"We're back- holy ****! What the hell happened to you, Sugawara-san?"

Surprisingly, the boy didn't burst into tears (because of Emiko's threatening eyes). But since the clever mother could easily gathered the clues, she knew exactly what was going on.

"Sigh. You two should shower first. I'll make lunch, special portions for you Sugawara-san."

"Eh? What about meee????"

"YOU had enough fun already, young lady. Now go upstairs and wash all that muck off, you *****."

"Wow, I feel so loved."

Despite her complaint, the obedient daughter obeyed her mother. After showering, she returned downstairs only to find young Kazuo nowhere in sight.

"Where's Kazuo?"

"Hm? Oh, Sugawara-san? He said he forgot to bring spare clothes so ran back home."

'Oh, so more food for me?'

"I also asked if he'd come back but the young boy said no for today. So I gave him his portions, meaning don't expect anything, Emiko."

"Okayyyy."

'Of course she would do that. Well, since Kazuo said, 'No for today,' that means he will come tomorrow. No worries then. But I think I was too mean to that little guy, so I'll just give him something good tomorrow.'

"Lunch is ready!"

'EIther way, I'm starving.'

-The Next Day-

Though Kazuo was scared to return to the hellish volleyball training, his own ego beat him. Sure, getting tortured through sports is something not any elementary schooler would want but for a little boy, going back on his words (like rejoining a soccer team you clearly left) was far too shameful. So here he is, back to the Shimizu household. Just when he was about to ring the doorbell, Emiko opened the door.

"GYAH!"

"AHHH!!!"

"KYAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"GYAAA-wait, Kazuo?"

"E-Emiko!"

They looked at each other dead in the eyes. It was an awkward silence.

...

"RIGHT!"

Emiko's sudden shout alarmed Kazuo.

"I almost forgot, here."

The beautiful girl handed Kazuo a white paper filled with notes. It was a sort of data sheet:

[Name: Kazuo Sugawara

Age: 9

Gender: Male

Height: 127 cm (4'2 ft)

Intelligence: 2/5 -get smarter you dumbcrack

Power: 3/5 -okay, not bad

Speed: 4/5 -expected of a soccer kid

Stamina: 3/5 -it sucks, work on it you lazy bum

Technique: 1/5 -you're a newbie so this is decent for now

Position (recommended): You suck way too much that no positions are fit for you yet. Get better techniques, then we'll talk.]

"Um...what is this supposed to be?"

"Your body stats."

"I know it's my-WHAT?!? How do you even know this stuff?"

"I looked at your body, then analyzed it."

"Okay, so you analyzed-HUH?!? ANALYZE?!??!"

Yes, Emiko Shimizu finally unlocked her cheat (As given from Chapter 2: The Survey). Well, it was always there but the little hermit just never bothered to use it before. Now that she has a brat-I mean, student to take care of, she must do whatever she can to help him.

'Though I hate to admit it, he has good potential. Not like a passionate athlete's but just enough to be a regular in Karasuno. Not the weak times, their powerhouse era.'

"Whatever. But seriously, 2/5 for intelligence? And what's with the stupid comment?"

"It's not stupid, just a suggestion."

"Wooow, so helpful. Thanks a lot," he sarcastically remarked.

But contrary to his tone,

'Dang, I didn't think that Emiko would be so considerate to analyze my body! It would've been so sweet if not for the...rude suggestions. Well, it's brutal honesty either way.'

"Could you at least describe what the stats are? Specifically?" Kazuo asked.

"Sure. I'll start with the complicated ones. Intelligence includes your test scores, practical IQ, your (stupid) decisions, reactions, and strategy. Yes, strategy includes those stupid ninja methods."

He blushed from the embarrassment.

"Next is power. Power includes your jumping power, spikes/hits, and strength. Power, just like it says."

'3/5, pretty good then! I must be really strong!' The boy thought.

"Then we got speed. Agility, in other words. This includes your pacing, how fast you run + hit + jump, also a little bit of your eating speed. After that is stamina. Nothing to explain there. How long can you endure? Do you wanna know? You're decent but it's close to trash."

She stared at him deeply, only to have no eye contact. Instead, the victim just turned his head away.

'To be honest, his stamina would also be 4/5 but I just felt like being mean today,' Emiko thought.

"Last but definitely not the least, techniques. This is your efficiency in receiving, setting, spiking, and blocking. And just like what the paper says, your techniques just suck ***. But because this is your first time, it's understandable. To be honest, your whole stat is slightly above average in terms of volleyball newbies."

Those last words gave Kazuo quite an ego. As if Emiko expected this, she continued,

"Ah, of course. the stats out of 5 are in terms of elementary kids. So if this was based off of adults, these stats would practically be useless as zero."

With no hesitation, the "angel" just had to deflate the poor boy's confidence.

"Don't worry, with my teachings and your potential, I'll turn you into a real pro!"

He stood still.

"Not like I expect you to become one, though."

"I knew you'd say something like that," he unenthusiastically responded.

"Dang it, I thought you'd fall for it again!"

'Gramps' just shrugged.

"Anyways," she took a volleyball and spun it on top of her finger, "wanna go practice now?"

Shockingly, Kazuo revealed a smirk on his face.

"Bring it on, you *****."

...

"I'm sorry for corrupting you, my poor child," Emiko solemnly spoke.