Chapter Text
Nekoma High School Gym
12:35, Saturday 10th of July
Nekoma had just finished their third set of the day against Shinzen, thankfully they won, which meant an earlier lunch for the team. Alyona bounced off the bench, stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles over her head.
Yaku cringed at the popping sound, “Ugh, Yona-chan, that cannot be good for you.”
“I know you’re old senpai, but you sound like my Uncle.” She rolled her eyes letting her hands fall to her sides, “besides it’s medically proven that it has no effect on you.”
“It still sounds gross” He huffed, and then quickly added “and for god’s sake stop treating me like I’m senile.”
Alyona covered her mouth as she laughed, “But senpai I’m surprised you can hear my joints popping at all, do you have a new hearing aid?”
Her eyes met Yaku’s sharp glare, “You little,”
Kai cut them both off with a sigh, “Can you both please stop bickering. Let’s just go to lunch please.” He said as he dragged Yaku away.
“I will never not be amazed by how you can talk back to the demon-senpai.” Lev shivered as he watched their team mates leave for lunch.
She shrugged, “It’s all fun and banter, he’s not actually scary.”
“Say that when you’re the one being trained by him.”
She laughed at his serious attitude, “Aren’t you going to go eat?”
“Of course, are you?” he asked glancing down at her.
“Yep, I want to catch Karasuno’s manager first though, I promised I’d introduce the other managers to her.”
Lev nodded, “Okay, see you in a sec.”
“Uh huh,” she replied before pivoting on her heals, and making her way to the other side of the gym where Karasuno should be right now.
Alyona was walking by the supply closet when she noticed a short blond girl wearing the Karasuno hoddie, looking around the gym with wide eyes.
Alyona didn’t know that Karasuno had gotten a new manager, but then maybe that explained Yamamotos mutterings about crushing Karasuno earlier. Well no time to introduce herself like the present, she quickly made her way to the girl, dogging a few stray volleyballs lying on the ground.
She put on her patented and trained friendly smile, and spoke softly, not wanting to startle the other as she still wasn’t aware of Alyona behind her. “Hi, are you Karasuno’s new Manager?” she asked politely.
The girl turned around quickly, “Yes, Hi! I’m –ack.” the bubbly words died in her throat as her brain seemed to shutter to a stop when her eyes locked onto the girl in front of her.
Alyona was a little confused by her reaction but took it in stride, “Oh sorry, I’m Nikiforova Alyona, Nekoma’s manager,” She said gesturing to her red uniform, “It’s nice to meet you.”
Karasuno’s manager stuttered, “I-uh- you too, um Nice to you too.”
Alyona blinked in confusion she was using some odd mix of English and Japanese, maybe this was a weird dialect she wasn’t used too. The girl – who she still didn’t have a name for – continued to move robotically, like her body was trying to catch up to her brain.
“Ahah, don’t worry I can speak Japanese,” she meant to sound reassuring but the girls face dropped a little, “Anyway, I was looking for the Karasuno managers, do you know where Shimizu-san is?”
She looked like she had broken, Alyona could almost see steam rising out of her ears. “Um,” she tilted her head unsure of what to do, “Are you alright?” she asked, reaching a hand out to lightly touch her shoulder, trying to bring her back to earth.
The next thing she knew the blond girl recoiled like a spring, landing a couple meters away from her. All Alyona could do was stare dumbfounded as the other bowed profusely, she took a step forward reaching out her hand to placate the girl, when suddenly she ran away and out of an open door screaming something that sounded like a very formal apology.
Now it was Alyona’s turn to stand there, still and oh so very confused as to what had just transpired. She stared at the open doorway for a few moments longer before making her way to her original goal, the Karasuno team, and preferably Shimizu who might explain whatever that fever dream of an interaction was.
She could not spot Karasuno’s manager but found the Captian and Vice-captain instead, what were their names again? Sugu- sugu-something, sugumura maybe? And Sawawara? No that didn’t sound like a name that existed at all, there were way too many ‘a’s. She’d have to ask Kuroo or Kai later. Lucky for her the two of them noticed her approaching.
“Hi, you’re Nekoma’s manager, right?” the one with light hair asked.
“Yes, I’m Nikiforova Alyona, I wanted to ask if you knew where Shimizu-san was?” She asked politely.
“I think she went to fill up the water bottles.” He said with a smile, “Either way she should be back soon.”
“Ah okay, um” she looked around if she could find the blond manager again, running her fingers through her hair out of habit. “Do you guys have a new manager by chance?”
This time the Captain of the team responded, “Oh yeah, we do, she’s a first year, her names Yachi. I’m sure you’ll meet her soon.”
“Yeah, I already did,” she laughed awkwardly, “I may have scared her, so please tell her I’m sorry.”
He tried to reassure her, “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine, she’s just a little excitable.”
“If you’re sure.” She trailed off, “Anyway, since they’re both busy right now, could you please tell them to meet me and the other managers at the end of the lunch break, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“We’ll make sure to pass on the message.”
She quickly thanked the Captain and Vice-Captain, before leaving to ask her team what the heck their names were.
---
Around the end of lunch, the team managers finally managed to gather together, the boys all either finishing their meals or slowly filtering back into the gym to do some stretches before the sets continued.
The Managers were all haphazardly sat around a picnic table, Suzumeda and Shirofuku were still eating the rest of their lunch while chattering with the other managers. Alyona approached the group having retrieved the Karasuno Managers for introductions. The Managers meeting each other usually happened rather naturally, whenever they happened to stumble across one another at a meet up, or when an older manager introduced their new blood to the rest of the group. However, Karasuno was an entirely new school from far off Miyagi, so Alyona thought it might be best if they were properly introduced this time around, she didn’t want them to feel left out at all in the coming training camp.
“Oh Hi, come sit with us!” Outaki waved her hand in a come here motion, inviting them to sit at the table with the others.
Alyona slipped in between the bench and the table sitting down next to Shirofuku, while Karasuno’s managers sat down across from her next to Suzumeda.
“Alright then,” She spoke, propping her arms up on the sun warmed wood of the table, “Time for some introductions!”
She looked to the right at the four managers from Kanto, while gesturing to the two new comers, “Girls, these are the managers from Karasuno, Shimizu and Yachi!” Both greeted the others kindly, though Yachi still seemed a bit nervous, Alyona was sure that she would Manage to calm down after she got to know everyone a bit better.
She turned herself to look at the pair, “As for us, sitting next to you is Suzumeda, from Fukuroudani, if you ever have any questions about how something is organised go to her, she’s the least of a mess and, somehow always hears things first.”
The aforementioned girl, laughs, “Yamiji-sensei is the one in charge of organizing most of these camps, so it’s not too difficult.”
“I think she means you always know all the gossip.” Shirofuku teases her.
Suzumeda points her chopsticks at her classmate accusatorily, “Well how come we go to the same school yet you’re always confused about things.” Her dead pan tone makes the girls laugh.
“And besides we all know Mako is the real gossip queen.” She finishes with a shrug.
Before Shirofuku can retaliate Alyona cuts back in, “Speaking of Mako, Outaki Mako, from Shinzen,” She says gesturing to the brunette. “She has a flawless skincare routine, a great sense of humour and two cats that I promise you will hear about to no end.”
“Aww, thank you Yona,” She said before looking at the Karasuno managers, “The week-long training camp is going to be held at Shinzen, so I’ll be giving you and your team a tour when you arrive! Our campus is big but it’s pretty straight forward once you get to know it. And unless you’re like Yona here you won’t get lost.” Shimizu thanked her while Yachi nodded in thanks very enthusiastically. Alyona huffed and moved on to the next person, shooting Outaki a light glare.
“Next,” She gestured to the girl with pigtails sitting on the same bench as her, “is Miyanoshita, from Ubugawa, she actually used to play volleyball, but had to quit during her first year, she knows a bunch and is just as nice as she seems. Oh and she’s also a great cook!”
“Yeah! I’ll make everyone something to eat when we go to camp!”
“Really? You don’t need to do that for us it’s okay!” Yachi squeaked.
Miyanoshita shook her head, “No, no, I want to, besides I promised everyone here I’d do it. Just think of it as a little Managers bonding activity!”
“That’s a bonding activity I can get behind!” Shirofuku cheered, giving her a tight hug.
“Of course you can, Yukie-senpai,” Alyona laughed, then gestured from the Karasuno managers to her. “This is Shirofuku Yukie, another manager from Fukuroudani, and our resident foodie. Now I personally love to eat, but she’s a real conne- uh connoisseur.” She said laughing at herself as she stumbled over the pronunciation of the last word.
Outaki nodded gravely, “Make sure never to leave your food near those two,” She warned, pointing at Alyona and Shirofuku. “It’ll disappear instantly.”
“I don’t steal other people’s food.” Alyona sputtered defensively, her head falling into her hands dramatically.
“I’m sure she’s introduced herself to you already, but allow us introduce our food thief ourselves.” Suzumeda offered.
Shimizu smiled jovially, “Go ahead.”
“That,” She said gesturing to Alyona, who peaked her face out of her hands to send Suzumeda a little glare, “is Nikiforova Alyona, or as everyone calls her Yona, she’s from Nekoma, she’s our resident Athlete, though I’m not sure if she’ll curse me if I reveal it to you immediately.”
“Senpai, you’re making me sound scary. I promise I don’t walk around attacking people for no good reason.” Alyona said to the new pair.
“You also play volleyball?” Yachi asked.
She shook her head, “Nope, but I’ll tell you at the end of camp, feel free to try and guess in the meantime.” She said with a grin.
“Don’t worry she plays this game with all the new people she meets. But that’s enough about us tell us about yourselves!” Shirofuku asked.
“Um I’m not all that interesting.” Yachi confessed, she seemed like she was a bit out of her depth.
“I’m sure that’s not true, why don’t you guys start by telling us why you became managers?” Miyanoshita offered.
Shimizu smiled, “I haven’t thought about that in a while, I’m also a third year, so…” and they continued to chat for the rest of lunch until they all had to separate to their teams as the practice sets started back up again.
---
The next morning was Nekomas third match, now up against a complete Karasuno, after their crazy first year duo finally arrived yesterday evening. There wasn’t much for Alyona to do while she waited so she settled on telling Lev about what had happened in the movie she had been watching with Alisa and Yuri, because he’s decided to fall asleep. Which was really quite rude, after all it’s not often she managed to convince Yuri to do something other than work, and the rare time the four of them managed to get together Lev decided to fall asleep. Okay, she wasn’t actually angry, after all she walked out of that hang out with some great photos of Lev sleeping, with half his body hanging off the couch, and a laughable look mushed on his face.
“So, she was about to jump off the train when- Leva are you paying any attention.” Alyona scolded, looking at Lev who was staring at someone on the Karasuno team.
She sighed and followed his line of sight, “Dude, why are you glaring at Number 10? Do you have beef with him or something?”
At the lack of response from her teammate she continued rambling, “Or are you confused as to why he’s ginger? Cause I was confused too, but Kenma’s seen a photo of him with red hair as a kid, so it’s natural.” She glanced at him to check if he was going to respond. “Oh, I don’t know how, genetics are weird.” She said dramatically as if he has asked her a question.
Alyona settled on just pocking him in his side, causing Lev to immediately recoil. “Ack, that was unnecessary, what are you even going on about anyway.”
“And so he speaks, you were making me feel like I was going crazy. Anyway, real talk it’s not like you to get so up in your head, so what’s with the glaring.” She asked, coming down from her casual banter to check in on him.
“Nothing,” He assured, “I’m just looking forward to playing against him, like I know he can jump, but how much is that going to help him when I can achieve the same with half the effort.”
“You’re right, there’s only so much one can do when relying on just natural ability, and that goes for you too by the way. I saw you trying to get out of Yaku-senpai’s receiving practice last week.” She chuckled when he dramatically flinched, and checked over his shoulder to see if the Libero was paying attention to them. “But as for what I’ve seen he’s not changed too much since the last time we played against Karasuno, either way I’m sure Kenma will be able to come up with a strategy.”
She reached up to pat the tall boy on his shoulder, “Remember Leva this is a team sport, don’t get too ahead of yourself.”
Lev had a competitive streak in him, he wanted to be the best on the team despite only just joining, claiming he was the Ace – something she knew annoyed Yamamoto – while being a middle blocker. Everyone made sure to encourage him, after all this level of enthusiasm was very good for someone who didn’t even know what a spiker was a few months ago. However, at the same time it was important to keep him grounded, and to remind him that he was part of the greater machine that Nekoma was.
Alyona returned to sit with the coaches as the set against Karasuno begun, pulling out her pen and paper to make notes for the team.
---
That same evening saw Alyona at the ice rink practicing her free skate routine with Yuuri, while Viktor went through jump combinations with Yuri. Her skate this year was to Bohuslav Martinu’s Loutky, a mix of ‘The puppet dance’ and ‘The sentimental puppet’. It was her personal favourite as far as the choreography went, but that might be because Yuuri gave her a lot of space to come up with and adjust specific moves to match what she’s learnt in dancing off the ice. Because of the heavy emphasis on artistic elements the jumps were on the easier side for this skate mostly sticking to doubles with a couple solid triples she was comfortable with.
As for her short program she wanted to do something else, especially if there was a chance she’d be competing in the Olympics next year. Stamina had always been an issue for her, but she was getting better and doing more difficult jumps in her shorter routine made it more realistic until she got better. She wanted to do something completely new, and other than a quad Salchow that had been ratified before she had even been born, no female figure skater had ever performed a quad and succeeded in competition. She was in luck though, as every single member of her family had quite a few reliable quads in their repertoires. However, she was not entirely sure if her Coaches would approve of her plan, as quads could be quite physically strenuous, which meant it was time to bring in back up.
At the end of training Alyona quickly snuck into the male changing rooms, empty except for Yuri’s bag sat obnoxiously in the middle of one of the benches.
She impatiently tapped her foot on the floor while she waited for her cousin to finally arrive. Just as she was wondering if he had been swallowed by a sink hole of something, the man walked through the door.
“Ah, this isn’t your changing room you moron,” he shouted.
“Shh, oh my god quiet down for once.” She hissed, yanking him further into the room before checking if their either of her uncles had heard him.
“What is up with you? I know you can’t tell left from right but even you’re not enough of an idiot to forget where you’re changing room is, we come here almost every day.” Yuri continued to argue.
“Yura.” She tried to get his attention back.
“And what’s up with this super spy shit, why are you hiding from Viktor and Yuuri?”
“Yura!” she snapped, his eyes finally properly looking at her, her determination was probably plain to read on her face because he quieted down quickly.
He crossed his arms “Fine, what is it?” His eyes bore into her a little standoffish but mostly curious.
“Will you teach me how to do a Quad loop.” Alyona asked bluntly.
He sighed, “You sound like Yuuri.”
She light up, she didn’t really know what he was talking about or what he mean by comparing her to Yuuri, but she took his non-answer as a complete yes. “So you’ll do it!”
“Slow down Alya, no female figure skater has ever done one in competition before.” Her shoulders dropped, and he noticed her visibly deflated. “Let me finish talking before you go all doom and gloom.”
“I know you like edge jumps but a loop might be too difficult for you right now, how about a Salchow instead? You’re great at those already.”
Yuri noticed her face sour, an expression somewhere between a pout and a scowl finding its way onto her face. He smirked, “Fine, I’ll teach you a toe loop, that way you’ll still be the first to do it.”
“But why a toe loop and not a loop.” She pressed.
“Because” he twittered, jabbing her forehead, “it’s easier dummy. And Viktor is already going to kill me for helping you so I’m trying to spare myself a little bit here.”
“Okay, okay, that makes sense, thank you so much.” She celebrated, ensnaring Yuri in a hug.
“It’s fine, it’s been a while since I did something to make Viktor mad anyway.” He said as he tried to detangle himself from his clingy cousin. “He really should be thanking me, I have a feeling you would have just practiced on your own if I hadn’t agreed.”
Alyona released him, “Yup, pretty much.”
“What brought this on anyway.” He asked as they both fell onto the bench.
She thought for a moment, “Well I heard that Charlotte Hills, is trying to learn a quad, not sure which one, and I wanted to learn some anyway, so why not try and beat her too it.” Which was half the truth at least, she was feeling pretty competitive, especially after her and Charlotte had not had the friendliest of interactions. As for the main reason for her rush, well she didn’t want to get into that right now.
Yuri could sense that she was not being completely honest, but decided not to mention it. “Why’d you care about this Charlotte Hills so much anyway?” This was not the first time he’d heard her complain about this person, even though he had never interacted with the girl before.
“She said that jumps were more important than choreography and artistry, and as you know that’s my favourite part of figure skating. Which is why I want to show her that someone can be both artistic and show ‘real athletic brilliance’, her words not mine, on the ice.” Alyona scowled, her voice attempting to do a British accent as she impersonated the other skater.
“Well I can totally support that wish,” he laughed. “Anyway, we’re going to do this secretly cause our coaches will definitely get angry at us if they catch us. You do know that this can hurt you? Long term too?”
“Yes, Yura I know, Yuuri already put me into physical therapy a year ago to mitigate any damage that might make itself known when I’m older. Personally, I think it’s a bit paranoid- but yes I know it is good for me.” She finished quickly before Yuri could mention the benefits of it. The older he gets the more he becomes like Yuuri, a much less soft and far angrier version of Yuuri, but the sentiment stayed none the less.
“Okay, we’ll come here next Wednesday, we just need to pretend that we are hanging out with the Haiba siblings that way we have an alibi.”
She grinned, “Perfect!”
“Anyway, leave I want to get changed and go home, I have an early lecture tomorrow. But remember you owe me big time.” He shooed her out of the room.
“Fine, fine, thank you so much Yurka! I love you!” She called to him before leaving.
“Yeah, yeah, me too, now get out!”
-Bonus-
Shoyo was doing a quick warm up with Kageyama after they arrived at the gym late, and he noticed something peculiar while he was stretching.
“Hey uh, Kageyama, what happened to Nekoma’s manager?”
“Who?”
“Ach, you know Nekoma had European manager last time we saw them.”
Kageyama just blinked at him dumbly, “Didn’t notice.”
“What? Whatever, anyway, I think their manager turned into a dude?” He said pointing to a freakishly tall blonde player in the middle blocker position on the Nekoma team.
“I don’t you can get to that point that quickly?”
“What do you know you don’t even remember Nekoma having a manager? Maybe they did like speed transitioning?”
“If someone has figured out a way to get that tall in the span of a couple of months you should go talk to them.”
“Why is height the thing you’re focusing on here?”
They were about to escalate into a fight when Tanaka nocked the both of them on their heads. “What you two idiots should be focusing on is getting into the game you late comers, so stop acting like a bunch of doofuses and hurry up!” he shouted.
“And besides, the Nekoma manager is right over there,” He said pointing to the girl standing next to coach Nekomata.
“Oh.” Was Hinata’s only response.
-Bonus2-
Yaku wept as he watched Kenma interact with other people that weren’t just his team mates. Even if it was a tangerine disguised as a boy. He had to go report to the counsel (Kuroo and Alyona) immediately.
…