November Catch-all

[bluecastleace]

Who: Hajime Iwaizumi + YOU!
What: November catch-all log
Where: Various locations
When: The month of November
Content Warnings: None thus far; will add as needed

((ooc:This catch-all will also serve as Iwaizumi’s introductory post! Please feel free to hit up any of the open TLs found below. I will likely be adding them as the month goes on! Please feel free to add me on plurk @ pantheraliam for plotting/updates on TLs being added!))

Comments

[menaretrash]

[ Ann's not the best volleyball player around. She's no Shiho, that's for sure, but she's grateful for all the games she attended and the few games that she was forced to participate in during school hours (even if that was Kamoshida's doing and no one wanted her on her team and it was a mess). She's also grateful for the fact that Iwaizumi is very patient with her, because honestly, she is trying... and visibly improving each time they play, too. ]

Okay! [ Look at her go, getting into the position he's asking her to. ] Does this look right? And yeah, I got it!

[bluecastleace]

You got it.

[Iwa really does look different with a smile on his face, doesn’t he? He doesn’t care that Ann isn’t the best volleyball player in the world, or even what he’d necessarily call a great one. The fact that she’s trying is a bonus that he wouldn’t have even required. He’s just happy beyond all belief that she’s playing with him period, and more grateful than she probably realizes. On top of that, she is improving with every practice they have, and that is an amazing feeling especially for a future athletic trainer.]

Alright! Here it comes, Ann! Let’s see what you’ve got.

[He sends the ball up high and toward her hands with impressive precision, though he has left some work for her to do. She’ll have to jump and get her fingertips in the right place to set it, and hopefully send it back in his direction for a spike.]

It’s all yours!

[menaretrash]

[ He sounds confident enough in her abilities, which is great. Because she has exactly 0 confidence right now. She's trying not to let that show, though; if she can beat the shit out of Shadows in the Metaverse, she can spike a damned volleyball. And she's seen Shiho do it enough, she's got that advantage as well, she supposes.

Iwa is a great teacher and she's so glad to have his help and his patience. It's another reason why she's trying really hard to get better and to be better -- he deserves that, after all. ]

Okay!

[ Okay! Okay. Okay great. She watches in both awe and horror as the ball is sent up, and towards her. Suddenly, it all comes down to this, and Ann's not about to just stand around and wait to see what happens. Just as he's showed her and instructed her to do, she's prepared, moving towards where the ball seems to be falling towards, jumping up into the air, and spiking it back towards him.

Is it the prettiest spike ever? Hell no. But it's a spike, which means she's paying attention and learning. ]

Like that? Did I do good?

[bluecastleace]

[It’s certainly not the best spike he’s ever seen, but it’s a spike nonetheless. Here a week ago she hadn’t been able to hit the ball at all, let alone send it in the right direction - and besides, a hard to hit spike is a good thing so long as it doesn’t go out of the line. They may not have any drawn here on the blank ground between them, but Iwaizumi can imagine them well enough, and if he were the ref, he would definitely be calling this spike in.

[He wastes no time, diving fearlessly to the ground and skidding on his knees to bump the ball back in her direction. It’s a pretty impressive receive, though not his best - but hey! She just spiked him a ball that he could dig!]

Bump it back, Ann! You can do it!

[Normally he wouldn’t send the opponent (Ann in this case) a ball on purpose, but it’s headed right for her now. Even if it goes completely out of the would-be bounds, it’ll be a huge victory for her to simply make contact.]

[menaretrash]

[ Just like Shiho, Iwa makes it look so easy and flawless. Now more than ever she wishes she could introduce the two of them -- Iwa would be good for Shiho, she thinks. And maybe Shiho would be good for him, too; it's a shame that she can't get the two of them together to nerd out about volleyball for a while. Maybe one day -- it's a nice thought to have, at least. She can almost picture it in her mind if she tries hard enough.

Ah, but she should focus. And right now, Iwa has bumped that ball right back at her, once again making it look like it's the easiest thing in the world. Ann can do a whole lot of things -- she's pretty athletic thanks to her night job as a Phantom Thief, and she can walk a runway in heels like it's no one's business. But volleyball, despite what she's seen and learned at home from Shiho, is something completely new to her. ]

Okay! I'm gonna try!

[ Is she a little bit intimidated by a ball flying at her? Yes, a little. But, if he believes in her, then, she has to believe in herself, too. So, she focuses on that ball as it comes at her and she gets ready, bounding forward to meet it and bending her knees just slightly as she reaches both arms out to bump it back -- she's doing her best to bump it back to him of course, and she knows it's not exactly the most attractive way to send the ball back; it's no where near as impressive as the way he'd done it, but at the very least, it's headed back in his direction again, and that's... that's something. ]

[bluecastleace]

[It’s a rough bump for sure, but a huge smile breaks out on Iwa’s face when he sees Ann make contact - not only that, but as the ball comes back in his direction, it’s almost too low for him to hit back, and that would make the move a roaring success for Ann. Iwaizumi isn’t one to go easy on anyone though - that would be doing Ann a disservice - so he does manage to get up from his knees and bump it back in time. If there had been a net, it would have just barely made it over he thinks, and so it lands yards in front of Ann without much opportunity for her to send it back. Even so, Iwaizumi is beaming as he jumps up from the ground.]

Hey, see? You did it! Bad ass, Ann! You couldn’t hit a single one yesterday!

[menaretrash]

[ He's fast, the way he gets up like that; and unfortunately, though she does try to move forward, when it comes back it's too late and it hits the ground. She's about to apologize, but when she looks up Iwa is all smiles, and she can feel relief spread over her. ]

Thanks! It's not really me, though, it's you. You're a really good teacher!

[bluecastleace]

To hell with that! [If she were a dude, he’d probably put her in a headlock and start in with the turbo noogies right about now.] You hear me? You did that! Own it, dummy!

[“Dummy” - no doubt a weak insult, but Iwaizumi doesn’t know how to handle girls the way he does his teammates back home. Not that Ann couldn’t totally kick his ass if she wanted to, but he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings or anything like that.]