The afternoon sun filtered through the high windows of the school gym as Shiori moved through the volleyball practice drills. The team was working with renewed intensity today.
Captain Sato had gathered everyone at the start of the session and announced that they had a friendly match against another school's team next week. Because of that, every practice from now on would be longer and more demanding.
"Pay attention," Sato ordered, her tone encouraging and commanding at once. "This game provides a great chance for us to prove ourselves. We must work on our receive skills, serving skills, and most importantly our teamwork. There will be no lazybones in today's session. Alright? Let's do this!"
Shiori concentrated on doing the fundamentals well. Receiving serves, setting her footing, and ensuring that her serves were consistent were some of the things she worked on.
It still seemed as though something strange was going inside her whenever she made a quick move, but there had been definite improvement in the way she moved. The ball no longer surprised her every time she dived for it.
Captain Sato observed from the side, occasionally shouting some advice. "Well done, Shiori! Your receives are much more better now. Just remember to focus on the ball longer because you are tall enough."
The other teammates also gave Shiori words of encouragement. One of the second-year students slapped Shiori's back when she successfully returned the serve. "You are progressing incredibly fast!"
At last, practice was over when it became darker outside. The other girls changed and hurried to leave the gym, excitedly discussing their upcoming match. Sato approached Shiori with a smile on his face.
"Hey, Shiori! Please wait for some time; let us tidy the court and put the balls in the locker."
"Sure, senpai," she responded.
While both of the girls continued their work inside the deserted gymnasium putting away volleyballs in the huge metal locker, there was a sound of balls being piled inside. In the meanwhile, Sato went on talking to her:
"You know what! The first impression of yours which you made on me is that you may feel too shy to join such an event. But from what I observe, you have quite a lot of determination, which is very important for the team!"
"I guess there is a lot of room left for improvement," Shiori commented with a smile.
When they finished cleaning, they headed to the dressing room. Inside the quiet locker room, Sato stretched her arms above her head, then suddenly stepped behind Shiori and gave her breasts a playful squeeze from behind.
"Wow, you really do have the perfect body for this sport," Sato teased with a light laugh, her hands lingering for a second before letting go. "So soft and bouncy. Or for anything else, honestly."
Shiori yelped in surprise, her face turning bright red. "S-Sato-senpai!"
Sato let go with a smile, saying, "Just kidding. But really, you're doing well. Continue to do this, and soon enough you will be a good addition to the team."
They switched back to their school clothes and left the school together. They were on their way out of the school gate when they saw the old security guard, who was now standing by the door. His eyes once again focused on Shiori's chest and hips.
Sato noticed immediately. Her expression turned serious as she leaned closer to Shiori and spoke in a low voice.
"Stay away from that boy, would you. He is giving me odd feelings. Take care of yourself around him. Also, make sure to let me know or any other teacher if you feel he's saying anything weird."
"Got it. Thank you for your advice," said Shiori as she got a chill running up her spine.
On the next day at school, when Hina came to Shiori during their alone moment between classes, she asked her with a warm voice like always:
"Any progress on volleyball? Last night, I saw that you seemed to be very exhausted after our conversation after training."
"Well, everything is going really great. Our captain, Sato-san, has been supporting us a lot. We have a friendly match in the coming week, so we have been practicing a lot recently. But it wasn't too hard."
Hina's eyes lit up. "That sounds fun!" If you want, I'll come cheer you on. "Just tell me when."
Their talk was friendly and light, a small piece of normalcy in Shiori's life that was getting more and more complicated.
That same afternoon, Kenta sent Shiori a message asking her to meet him on the roof during the long break. She thought for a moment, then went up the stairs.
Kenta was already there, leaning against the railing and looking a little nervous. The rooftop was quiet, and the wind softly moved their clothes. They could see the school grounds below them.
"Hey," he said. "I wanted to talk about… what happened the other day at karaoke."
They stood close. The conversation started awkwardly, both of them avoiding eye contact at first. But the tension between them quickly turned charged. Kenta stepped closer. Their eyes met, and then they were kissing — softly at first, then deeper, more urgent.
Shiori's hands moved on their own. She dropped to her knees in front of him, her face flushed. She unzipped his pants and took his hardening cock into her mouth. Kenta groaned softly as she began to suck, her tongue moving hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence. The act felt both shameful and strangely thrilling.
Why am I still doing this? Shiori thought as she worked him with her mouth. I already got my revenge on Miura. Kenta broke up with her. So why… why does it feel so natural now? Why do I want to keep going?
Kenta's hand gently rested on her head, not pushing, just resting there as he breathed heavily. "Shiori… that feels really good…"
She continued, her head bobbing slowly, taking him deeper into her mouth. The taste and heat of him filled her senses. Kenta's breathing grew ragged. After a few minutes, he warned her softly. Shiori pulled back just in time as he came, the warm fluid landing on her hand and the ground.
They quickly cleaned up, both of them breathing hard. Kenta looked at her with love and confusion.
"Shiori, this is getting hard, isn't it?"
She just nodded, her head full of confusing thoughts.
The week went by quickly. Training got more intense for the friendly volleyball match coming up.
Shiori threw herself into practice to keep her mind off the problems in her personal life that were getting worse.
On the morning of the match day, Shiori stood in front of the mirror in her room, adjusting her volleyball uniform. Her reflection stared back — a beautiful girl with long black hair and a body that no longer felt completely foreign.
She took a deep breath.
The old Tanaka's voice was quieter now.
And Shiori wasn't sure how she felt about that.