Chapter Text
Whispers and squeaks were something Lev was very, very used to, and it didn't bother him at all.
On the contrary, it made him really happy since it meant people were aware of him, and of course, they should be aware! He was Nekoma's ace, after all. And it was an ace's job to stand out.
His Russian heritage, his height and his hair made him even more noticeable, and Lev couldn't be more than happy about it.
Even Alisa's presence was like a lantern among the crowd. She was an eye-candy; even short, angry Yaku-san admitted it out loud every time she came by. And Yaku-san almost never praised the younger Haiba, which made it even better.
So, of course, Lev was proud!
But even if he didn't mind the whispers and received the attention with open arms, it didn't mean the hurtful words went away.
"Hey, giraffe" a voice called from below.
Lev jumped a little due to the sudden call but saw no one when he looked around. Could it have been a ghost? That wasn't good; Lev was terrible with ghosts. Maybe Yaku-san could help him deal with the spirit...
"Down here, retard" the voice called again, in an angry tone.
Lev knew angry because it was present in Yaku's voice every day during practice. And sometimes, after a very tiresome day, in Kenma's.
Lev looked down and saw where the voice was coming from.
The guy who had spoken to him was one with a very stern-looking face, in class 2. Lev had never directly spoken to him but had heard some nasty rumours about his personality and behaviour towards the teachers and classmates.
His face reminded Lev of one of those famous paintings from that weird Spanish artist. Was it Ricasso? Or Lucasso? Or maybe, Pirosso?
He couldn't remember the name, but Shibayama had talked a lot about him after a few art classes taken during the year. What Lev did remember were the strange shapes and figures the paintings had, and the guy talking to him reminded him of those. He should probably mention it to Shibayama since he loved art much.
Oh, wait.
The guy was talking to him.
"Uhm, sorry, what?" Lev asked a little lost.
The Murasso-looking guy looked at him with anger.
"What, you don't even understand Japanese? Or are you just that stupid? Need some oxygen up there, skyscraper?" he spat, angry
Lev blinked a few seconds, surprised.
"No, don't worry. I have enough oxygen" Lev answered with a smile.
The guy frowned, apparently upset.
"Then you must be an idiot, then. You keep staring at me with a stupid ass look on your face"
Lev didn't know what to answer at that
"Just fucking move and stay out of the way, freak" Licasso-guy angrily snarled, and then proceeded to push Lev out of the way.
And the young player didn't notice at first, but the guy had been accompanied by a few other guys, first years Lev never had talked to.
"Stupid weirdo"
"Damn half bastard"
"Fucking retard"
Were a few of the things Lev managed to hear.
It had been at that moment Inuoka and Shibayama had decided to appear right around the corner, seemingly looking for Lev. They managed to catch a glimpse of the whole exchange, and by the moment they were at Lev's side, Pilusso-guy was already out of sight.
"Are you okay, Lev?" Inuoka asked, worried for his friend.
Lev just shrugged, paying no mind to the recent events.
"Yeah, don't worry. He looks like one of those Pinosso's paintings, right, Shibayama?" Lev asked, glad to finally voice his thoughts to the right person.
Shibayama snorted.
"It's called Picasso, Haiba-kun" he laughed "At least you remembered the similarities"
Inuoka gave a huge grin, amused by the comparison, but then appeared to remember something.
"That's right! Lev, Kuroo-san said today we would be starting practice earlier. We gotta hurry up!"
The three first years started their run towards the gym, and the whole incident was momentarily forgotten.
****
It was a rough practice. Thanks to Yaku 's request, the whole team had dedicated their hours to diving saves and receives, leaving no space to toss or spike. Yaku had directed it completely.
Not even Kai had managed to organize a few spike exercises, and at the end of practice, not even Taketora-san had enough fuel to move.
"Yaku-san, you are very stern when it's about receiving" Shibayama managed to wheeze after a few breaths.
"Of course I am!" Yaku proudly admitted, "Our main strength is defence and the most we train, the better" he stated.
"For someone so short you sure are very energetic, Yaku-san", Lev said, genuinely surprised to see Yaku still standing. And then Lev came up with a new realization "Well, is not that surprising if you have seen Hinata play. And he said Nishinoya-senpai respects you a lot, Yaku-san, so that means you are very awesome!"
* Far away, in Miyagi *
Nishinoya felt a sudden burst of unexplained happiness.
"Hey, Shoyo!" the libero happily shouted, "Let me treat your ice cream!"
Hinata bounced from his place, grateful and excited at the expectation of a free treat.
"Thank you, Noya-san!" Hinata beamed, just go think a few more seconds "But why?"
Nishinoya only laughed out loud, softly slapping his kohai's back.
"Because I'm the best senpai out there, Shoyo!" Noya laughed "And a good senpai always makes sure to treat his kohai after a good play!"
"Nishinoya-senpai, you're so cool!"
"Shoyo!"
"Noya-san!"
"SHOYO!!"
"NOYA-SAN!"
"SHOYOO!"
"NOYA-SAAAN!!!"
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND BUY SOMETHING OR LEAVE AND GO HAVE A GOOD MEAL AT HOME!"
* Back in Tokyo *
The look on Yaku 's face was difficult to describe. He was red, but no one could tell if he was flustered or angry.
"Well, if Shoyo said so then it means you are even better" Kenma managed to say from the floor.
The setter seemed like he was about to pass out, but the mention of Karasuno's #10 had cheered him up a little.
Yaku sighed, probably deciding to let it pass for this time.
"Well, yes, of course, I work hard to do my job..…" the libero mumbled before being interrupted.
"Getting softer, Yakkun?" Kuroo teased with a smirk
After which Yaku punched him the gut
"You stay out of this" the libero threatened
The gyms door opened and the whole team jumped from the surprise.
"We thought you could be especially tired today, so we brought treats" Alisa Haiba announced with a smile, her delicious accent resounding on her words.
Even though this time she was wearing less elaborated clothing, her beauty was as astounding as always.
"And y'all seem to be sulking around, so how 'bout we help you a little bit?" another happy voice said.
Behind Alisa, Akane Yamamoto was holding a few plastic bags filled with groceries.
For the Nekoma volleyball team, those two were a gift fallen from heaven.
***
After delivering the drinks and popsicles, almost everyone had left home and the only members left outside the gym were Kuroo, Kenma, Kai, the Yamamoto and the Haiba siblings.
"We shouldn't let Yaku-san in charge of another session" Yamamoto complained, rubbing his neck "The guy's like a demon"
"Yakkun is very intense when it means receiving. It's his job after all" Kuroo replied with a smile
"It's too much" Kenma mumbled, still sore from practice
Alisa laughed at the teams suffering
"Morisuke-kun does it with the intention of improvement" she declared "He knows this team can still go very far, so he trains those he deems worthy. And I can assure, he is very proud of you all"
The boys stared at her in wonder
"Alisa-san, you are so cool!" Akane squeaked with, bright eyes
"Of course her beauty would go along her wits!" Taketora roared, excited
"Alisa-san, you are too kind with us", Kai said, in awe
"Isn't my sister the best?" Lev beamed with pride.
Alisa only laughed at the boys' antics, very used to it already
"I'll go throw this to the trash can. After this we are going home, Lyovochka"
She then walked around the corner to where the trash bin was.
"Actually, Kuroo, don't we have an English test tomorrow?" Kai asked
Kuroo seemed to remember.
"Oh, crap" he cursed "Kenm--"
"No"
"Please?"
"I said no"
"I really need this test"
"You shouldn't study the day before"
"But last time--"
"Last time I agreed to help you study, you got bored after an hour and took me out to play under the sun. And then got bored and called Bokuto-san for two hours straight"
That seemed to stop Kuroo, who actually considered for a moment.
"I promise, this time I--"
A sudden high pitched scream interrupted his words.
Alisa
The boy ran towards the noise, but the first one there was Lev, who had sprinted fast as a bullet.
There, right next to the trash, three big first years were surrounding Alisa and one of them had grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer.
"Come on, girl. I can teach you some good Japanese, too. You'll have fun" the guy said, trying to kiss her.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER" Lev yelled, furious.
Before one of them could react, Lev ran towards so fast Yaku would've been proud, and stepped in between Alisa and the guy molesting her.
Now, Lev had never been one to intimidate others with his height.
But in those brief seconds, the way Lev´s shadow imposed over the other guy´s figure showed the difference between the two of them as more than clear. Lev´s eyes were shining in anger and he towered over the other one in a display of pure rage.
"Don´t you dare touch my sister, you disgusting piece of garbage" Lev sissed, trying his best not to punch him(1).
The other guy, who Lev recognized as Picasso´s paintings-face, stepped back a little, intimidated by the Russian's fury and height. But then he remembered his partners and raised his fist to punch Lev.
Something strong and steady stopped his arm before he had the chance to do it.
"Now, what the hell are you trying to do?" a very angry voiced asked.
He then noticed the angry upperclassmen behind him.
Kuroo was holding his arm with a firm grip whilst Yamamoto, Akane and gentle, peaceful Kai-san had all of them murderous expressions, ready to jump into action. Even Kenma-san had a very upset expression and honestly, had it been any other occasion, Lev would´ve fled at the moment.
I mean, yeah, he knew his senpai could be scary, but never had he seen them like that of court.
"Not only were you harassing our kohai´s dear sister, but you also tried to hit him? For stepping up?" Yamamoto intervened, livid and as angry as Lev himself "IS THAT WHAT I SAW, YOU FUCKING PUNK?" (2)
The other two who were accompanying Picasso-harasser knew that it was a lost battle.
"He--hey, Hisato, we should just leave it, man", one of his friends said, stepping back.
Kai advanced a bit, putting himself between Lev and Hisato. The peaceful third year had seemed to cool down a bit, but his anger was still very palpable and as intimidating as Kuroo, who hadn´t let go of Hisato´s hand.
"Please, listen to your friend. We don´t want this situation to escalate any further" Kai said with a strained, almost robotic voice.
"Is no longer three against one" Kenma angrily mumbled, noticing how the tables had completely turned
Hisato noticed this too and, seeing how he started to shake in fear of the volleyball team, Kuroo let go of his hand.
"We--we´ll remember this!" he warned while retiring
"AND YOU THINK WE FUCKING WON´T?" Akane angrily yelled, trying to chase after them. And God knew how scary she could be when really pissed; almost like a tiger showing his fangs. (3)
They fled like little rabbits, and soon silencer reigned again. But just for a moment.
"Sis, are you hurt?"
"Alisa-san, did they touched you?"
"Alisa-chan, should I chase after them?"
Alisa was still a bit shocked and seemed like she was about to burst into tears, scared and a bit confused.
"You are all overwhelming her" Kenma warned, noticing how she seemed to back off a little
Kuroo noticed this too and ordered them all to step back. He then, slowly and carefully, approached her.
"Alisa-san, we are all here now. Don´t worry anymore" the captain said with a calm voice and a soft smile.
This seemed to relax Alisa, who wiped the almost falling tears and steadied her breath. They were all worried but understood that she needed some space.
"Thank you, Kuroo-san", she said, grateful "I am better now since you are all here. Thank you all for that. Lyovochka, let´s go home".
Lev nodded energetically. His sister needed some peace and rest.
"Alisa-san, we can´t leave you alone after that" Akane said in a display of worry, and Taketora nodded in agreement.
"Let us accompany you to your place for this time" Kuroo offered
Alisa smiled at them.
"Thank you all, for being such good friends."
***
Next day, Lev told both Inuoka and Shibayama the incident with Hisato.
"...and after that Kuroo-san, Kenma-san and Kai-san left, but Akane-chan and Taketora-san stayed for dinner", Lev said
"Our senpais are awesome" Inuoka admitted "Even Kenma-san stepped in, they´re so cool"
"Yaku-san would´ve killed them" Shibayama laughed, imagining angry Yaku beating the crap out of some thugs
Inuoka seemed a bit worried
"But be careful, Lev" he warned "Try to stay away from them"
Lev, who until that moment had been pretty chill about the whole ordeal, narrowed his eyes
"Why would I go near them?" he spat, angry "They hurt my sister"
Shibayama gulped. It was very unnerving to see his normally happy-go-lucky expression twisted into anger. And a scowl. Since when was Lev capable of scowling?
"Well, at least Alisa-san is fine now. We can go visit her today after class. And maybe go for a coffee" Shibayama suggested "Tomorrow there´s no school either, so how about that cat cafe that opened last week? Is a bit far, but we can reach it for sure"
Lev and Inuoka seemed excited at the idea
"That would cheer her for real! I think she has the day off too"
" I haven´t gone to a cat cafe before", Inuoka said, with a huge grin "It sounds fun! And we can help Alisa relax and enjoy herself, so that´s even better!"
The three first years kept happily rambling about prices and places, completely unaware of certain someone staring right at them.
It was, indeed, a good day for everyone.
EXPLANATION:
(1) I always imagined Lev, who´s always shown how much he loves his sister, being very protective towards her. I mean, I am sort of an elder sister myself so I know the feeling.
(2) Since Taketora is like a Tokyo version of Tanaka, is a personal headcanon I have that Taketora´s very protective towards his juniors, and even more of Alisa, who´s Nekoma´s beauty like Kiyoko is Karasuno´s. And what happens when someone goes near Kiyoko? Tanaka loses it. So this is my little take on what would Taketora do in a similar situation.
(3) Akane also seems very fond of Alisa and being a Yamamoto, I´d say she is as fierce as her brother, if not more when threatening someone. And scary. And rude. Because she cares of Alisa as a younger sister.