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It had been Kiyoko’s idea, originally. The thought had come to her at the end of a particularly rough practice session; there were tired bodies all over the floor of the gym, no one quite ready to get up and change out of their sweaty clothes. She knew the team had been working incredibly hard for the past few weeks, and they were making some progress, but she had heard different voices bemoaning the rigorous training sessions. Nobody really felt like they were getting anywhere.
Kiyoko approached Takeda-sensei after the boys had finally dragged themselves off to the club room to clean up. She presented her idea to him, watching as his eyes lit up and a grin spread across his face. Given the go ahead, Kiyoko returned to her duties, hatching the plan in her head.
-
She called an announcement at the end of the following morning’s practice. There were surprised noises all around, but a shout from Daichi kept anyone from asking unnecessary questions before she could even begin to speak. She glanced at him gratefully and drew in a deep breath.
“At afternoon practice today, we will be having an award ceremony.”
Immediately excited voices started up, but were quickly hushed by the captain. She continued on, “There will be four different award categories.”
“Is this a contest?”
“What are the prizes?”
“I’m going to win all of them‼”
Suga caught Kiyoko’s eye, raising an eyebrow to ask if she had finished speaking. She nodded and began walking away from the group.
She heard the captains corralling the now-rowdy members and saying that anyone who slacked on cleaning that morning would forfeit any awards they might win.
Later that morning, Daichi told Kiyoko that he didn’t think he’d ever seen the team clean so efficiently.
-
By the time afternoon practice had rolled around, Kiyoko was exhausted. She had run herself ragged throughout the day, attempting to gather all the supplies she would need for her impromptu ceremony. She had printed out two certificates with help from Takeda-sensei and the faculty printer. She had also made a larger poster with supplies from an art room, rolled up with a rubber band. But her favorite prize by far, she had brought from home. It would go to the winner of the “Most Valuable Player” award. She had a tough time selecting a recipient, but was satisfied with her decision.
Halfway to the club room, her arms felt shaky. The box that contained the prizes was not heavy, but it did make opening doors a challenge. When she finally made it to the gym, the rest of the team had already gathered there, obviously excited about the surprise their manager had put together for them.
She walked over to a bench to set down her box, ignoring Tanaka and Nishinoya loudly insisting that she let them assist her. The team formed a crude semicircle around the bench as she opened up the box.
She beckoned Daichi over, the captain clearing his throat as he reached the front of the group. She had asked him, this morning, to prepare a sort of speech. She had told him three of the four awards that she would be bestowing on the team, and asked for his opinion of who should receive what prize.
She held up a piece of paper made to look like an official certificate. It read “Most Improved.” Daichi motioned for the group to sit down.
“This award will go to someone who has worked hard from day one. This person seldom gets discouraged when something goes wrong, instead choosing to persevere and find a solution. The winner is energetic and enthusiastic about improving his skills, and he has made significant progress since joining this team.”
Kiyoko stepped forward slightly, leaning down to hand the paper to Hinata, who blushed furiously and looked as though he might cry. Tanaka slapped him hard on the back, congratulating him on his hard work. Murmurs of agreement passed through the group, but most were still curious about what other awards there were.
Kiyoko held up the next certificate, this one stating “Best Attitude.”
Daichi laughed under his breath and said simply, “This award just goes to show that our manager has either a great sense of humor, or is a terrible judge of character.”
Kiyoko brought the paper to Tsukishima, who had his headphones on, eyes closed. He didn’t notice he was being handed something until Yamaguchi elbowed him gently in the arm. Tsukishima’s eyes flew open into a glare, ready to scold Yamaguchi, before he noticed Kiyoko.
His glare turned into a confused scowl, but he reached up a hand to take the paper. He slid the headphones off of his ears, read the paper, and shot a smirk up to Kiyoko, where she still stood above him. The look on his face screamed “I am pretty great, aren’t I?” but his mouth simply stated, “I am honored to receive this award.”
Kiyoko said nothing, but when Daichi muttered that Kiyoko was hilarious for giving it to him, she couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. The rest of the team sighed visibly, glad that their beloved manager did not actually find Tsukishima interesting.
Kiyoko reached back into the box, removing the rubber band from the poster she had made, but not unrolling it.
Daichi laughed when he saw it in her hands, knowing what she had painted on it. “This award goes to a group of people, instead of just one person. They give us energy, keep us focused, and motivate every one of us. Without these people, it would be impossible to stay optimistic in games, driven in practice, and happy in life. This group is what Kiyoko so-aptly named ‘our cheerleading squad,’ because they are so animated and inspirational.”
Kiyoko unrolled the poster. On it, she had painted the second years: Ennoshita was waving his arms above his head, calling for a toss, Narita and Kinoshita were passing a ball back and forth, and Nishinoya was crouched down, seemingly ready to receive said ball. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that they were passing around Tanaka’s head, the bald surface made to look like a volleyball, with his “intimidating” scowl plastered on the front of it.
When the team noticed the likeness, they howled with laughter. Tanaka bellowed out indignantly, “That’s fine, I get the joke. But I’m not bald! This is a buzz cut.”
His protests went unnoticed by all except Kiyoko, who walked over to hand him the poster. “My apologies, I thought the resemblance was clear enough, even with the small amount of hair you have.”
Tanaka seemed surprised, whether at the fact that Kiyoko had spoken directly to him, or that she had made fun of him while she spoke. Either way, he stood up and waved the poster over his head. “It’s only fair that I should be the one to hold it, since I’m the one being laughed at! Mock my head all you want, but Kiyoko-san made this poster for me!”
Daichi hushed the group and motioned for Tanaka to sit back down. He turned to look at Kiyoko and faltered when she mirrored his motion back at him. Daichi nodded and took a seat on the floor with the rest of the team. Kiyoko brought the box with her as she moved into the center of the group.
“The prize in this box goes to the MVPs or 'Most Valuable Players.' It was tough to decide who should be the winner, so there is more than one. If your picture is featured, then you are a winner.”
She removed the last item from the box and held it out in front of her. It was a large, square book, with an orange cover. In black letters, Kiyoko had written “Karasuno Volleyball Club MVPs.”
She flipped the book open to the first page, which featured a large picture of Daichi, face drawn in concentration, about to receive a ball; it was a photo Kiyoko had taken at one of their matches. The team hollered appreciatively, yelling out their love for the captain.
On the second and third pages were Suga and Asahi, smiling at the camera, participating in games, or just talking with each other.
Kiyoko continued, turning to show pictures of Nishinoya and Tanaka on one page, and the rest of the second years on the opposite. Nishinoya and Tanaka’s photos were in collage form, a series of pictures they had taken of themselves on Kiyoko’s phone. The other second years had posed for a picture, Kinoshita and Narita holding up bunny ears behind Ennoshita’s head.
The next pages featured Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, mostly just photos of them talking to each other, although there was a shot of Yamaguchi cheering enthusiastically for Tsukki from the sidelines.
Kageyama was the star of the next page. Most of his photos were action shots. His faced looked intense in almost all of them. However, there were some candid shots in there (his scary smile being one of them) as well as a few pictures that he had begrudgingly stood for.
The next two pages could only be described as “bright,” as they were completely filled with pictures of Hinata. Photos he had taken of himself with every other team member (even Tsukishima), photos Kiyoko had taken of him in action, and even a picture of Hinata curled up, sleeping on the floor after a grueling practice.
Kiyoko flipped the page to show pictures of their coach and faculty advisor, the pair looking comfortable on the sidelines of games and practices.
She shut the book, and considered the cover. She had been so busy flipping through the book, proud of the hard work she had been putting into it since the school year started, that she hadn’t noticed the silence coming from the rest of the team.
When she looked up to acknowledge their lack of approval, she was stunned to find them all wiping their faces and sniffling. She smiled to herself, happy to know that putting time and effort into this scrapbook had been worth it.
-
It was Nishinoya’s idea, initially. He was the first to jump up from his seat on the floor, although Ryuu was not far behind him. He had a little difficulty as he stepped around a few of his teammates, but as soon as reached the center of the group, he flung his arms around Kiyoko in a hug, joined almost instantaneously by Ryuu.
Suddenly there was pressure on Nishinoya from all sides, and he sighed into Kiyoko’s arm, where he had nestled his face. Being in the middle of a group hug was wonderful. They should really do this more often.
Before Nishinoya could suggest it, he head Daichi speak up from somewhere on the outer rim of the congregation. “Everyone say thank you to Shimizu for the beautiful scrapbook that she made for us.”
A chorus of ‘thank-you’s floated to the very center of the circle, where Kiyoko received them with a small smile. The group attempted to disband from their embrace, but Suga’s voice stopped them all in their tracks. “Although, I couldn’t help but notice a glaring inaccuracy you made, Kiyoko.”
Kiyoko raised an eyebrow in his general direction, surprised at the accusation.
“You left out pictures of the real MVP. I didn’t see any of you in there!”