The White Eagle Who Plays Volleyball

In Ushijima Wakatoshi's third year of middle school, Shiratorizawa Academy had just taken second place at the national tournament during the Interhigh.

But six months later, Shiratorizawa barely made it into the top sixteen nationally.

Another six months passed. He walked into the high school's volleyball club and saw a lone figure standing on the spacious court, with used volleyballs piled up by his feet. Hearing the sound, the person glanced over. His sharply slanted eyes had lost their usual coldness, replaced by a teasing, irreverent smile.

"No loitering in the volleyball club... Oh, if it isn't my precious little ace."

Ushijima Wakatoshi blinked. "Hello, senpai."

"Oh, don't bother with honorifics. If you really think of me as your senpai, hit a few balls for me, will you?"

Ushijima Wakatoshi walked in. The two, who had never met but knew each other's names, kept up their monotonous spiking practice until the others finally arrived.

Coach Washijo recognized the person and flew into a rage. "How many times have I told you not to come into the gym until you're fully healed? Kazama, are you looking to get beaten up?!"

"Let me off this time, Coach."

The person beside Ushijima Wakatoshi stepped forward, raising his hands in surrender.

"Besides, I really wanted to meet our future ace."

Ushijima Wakatoshi thought, Liar.

*

Kazama No, a third-year at Shiratorizawa and last year's Interhigh Best Setter, calls himself the volleyball club's number-one backdoor recruit.

Coach Washijo is devoted to developing a super ace and building a team centered around that ace, with everyone else serving him. Even his favorite setters have to be calm and rational, ready at all times to sacrifice themselves for the ace.

Kazama No is the exact opposite of the type he prefers.

Off the court, he is easygoing and kind to everyone. He has topped Shiratorizawa's lists of people others most want to be friends with and want to get closer to for years. He gets three times as many love letters as anyone else, and the admirers who watch his training include both girls and boys.

But the moment Kazama No steps onto the court, he becomes someone else.

Cold, rational, and controlling, he turns the court into a chessboard under his command, using every cavalryman and foot soldier until their weapons shatter. He gives every attacker the same unreserved trust, luring them into handing over all control.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain. Once Ushijima Wakatoshi became the ace, Kazama No, who had gradually become the core of the team in previous matches, found himself in an awkward position.

With the red-haired monster leading the charge, Shiratorizawa's members even began betting on which of these two men, neither willing to take second place, would come out on top. But to their surprise, the two settled into playing together without a fuss.

...Was that really all there was to it?

*

Conquer me, or be conquered by me.

Content warnings:

1. From the blurb, it seems the pairing is with Ushijima. This is a story about Shiratorizawa's past.

2. I'm not sure I can pull off the tension. There are no fixed top or bottom roles, because the story is about them figuring that out.

3. The protagonist is two years older than Ushijima's year, so he won't be involved in the original story. There is a lot of original content and some headcanon.

4. It's not long. It covers one year.

5. As usual, a special note: this is not a traditional hot-blooded sports story.

Theme: One brief, yet blazing year.