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It was the third day in a row of your father’s bad cold, and he had soldiered into work today despite the fact that it hadn’t completely receded. Your mother had recovered quicker, and had asked you to come home early to help her look after him when you were done with club activities.

You were assisting with spiking practice, helping Kinoshita-senpai, Ennoshita-senpai and Narita-senpai, when you heard Hinata greet Yachi-san at the door.

“Yachi-san!” he said and you turned your head to watch them; Hinata was showing Yachi-san a piece of paper excitedly, “The stuff you showed us earlier… showed up on my afternoon English Quiz! And I got over one third correct!” he told her.

Yachi-san’s timid expression brightened into a pleased one, and the two cheered together.

“That’s the strength of Hinata’s communication skills. They’re already getting along swimmingly.” Suga-senpai commented, watching, just as you were.

“He was friendly with Nekoma’s Setter from the get-go as well.” Asahi-senpai agreed. You hummed thoughtfully to yourself, before Shimizu-senpai called you over to where she was now standing by Yachi-san.

You excused yourself from the senpai you were helping and headed over towards them.

“Yachi-chan is just going to watch the team practice today, so can you stick by her side to help me to explain anything she doesn’t understand?” Shimizu-senpai said to you and you nodded.

“Of course!” you said, and went to stand by Yachi-san’s side, “Hi.” you said to her with a smile and she smiled and greeted you in return.

“Ah, yes, and remember to watch out for stray balls!” Shimizu-senpai added and as you nodded, Yachi-san seemed to lock up in concern at hearing that.

You patted her shoulder, “It’s not as if they’ll be aiming right for you. Senpai’s just saying to keep on your guard and be ready to move.” you said to her.

“A-Ah… I didn’t realise Volleyball was such a dangerous sport.” Yachi-san said nervously.

“Well it’s certainly an exciting one with these boys around.” Shimizu-senpai said with a small laugh.

After a moment, you secretly glanced over to her while remaining faced towards the court. You thought back to how Hinata had approached her at the door a moment ago.

What had Hinata meant about the stuff Yachi-san had shown him earlier…?

“Watch out!!” you heard a voice and snapped your eyes back to the court in surprise, to see a ball hurtling towards Yachi-san’s face before you could totally react.

Before we even saw him coming, Hinata leapt in front of the two of you and received the ball one-handed.

“Nice one, Hinata!” Tanaka-senpai called over, as Yachi-san and you tried to calm your racing hearts. Yachi-san was watching in wonder, probably surprised by Hinata’s reflexes, and how fast the ball had been coming.

You swallowed, and turned to Yachi-san, “A-Are you okay?” you asked her, and she shakily nodded.

“I-I think that took a few years off my life…” she uttered.

“That’s a little dramatic,” you chuckled, “But yeah… Shimizu-senpai told me that in regards to offensive power, Karasuno is among the best in the prefecture.” you added.

“A-Ah…” Yachi-san shakily nodded, still a little stiff from the shock.

“That’s right. In the past, Karasuno was strong enough to go to Nationals.” Shimizu-senpai agreed with a smile.

“Nationals…!” Yachi-san was amazed.

“Uooohh…! Kiyoko-san and [Name]-san are chatting… and smiling… Kiyoko-san’s lips are moving…!” Tanaka-senpai cooed, blushing.

“So this is what they call ‘girl-talk’…!” Nishinoya-senpai added.

“Hey!! Don’t go losing your heads, dammit!” Ukai-san yelled at them for getting distracted. You shook your head at them exasperatedly. What were they even doing…?

Shimizu-senpai went on to explain to Yachi-san about Karasuno’s fall from grace a few years ago, and how the team planned to build themselves back up to National Level once again.

Yachi-san was moved, and commented, saying “Amazing! That’s completely different from me…!”

Shimizu-senpai and you looked at her, confused by her statement.

After that, you all continued to observe the practice for the rest of club activities’ time. Due to your family circumstances and needing to assist your mother that night, you were given permission by Daichi-senpai and Ukai-san to go home ahead of the others, after the Coach gave an announcement that tomorrow there would be a practice match against another school in the school's gym.

As you left the gym, everyone called out goodbye to you, and you were on your way.

It wasn’t until you were standing at your bus-stop awaiting your bus, that you remembered that you’d wanted to ask Yachi-san what Hinata was talking about with her. Well, it would have to wait for another time.

…

“It looks like Ouginishi High’s coming at 4.30!” Ukai-san announced the next day after school, as everyone went about setting things up for the practice match. Yachi-san and you were bringing out chairs for the coaches and reserves to sit on during the match, when Hinata approached.

“Need any help!?” he asked and Yachi-san jumped in fright.

You smiled, “It’s okay, Yachi-san and I have got it, right?” you said, nodding to her.

“Oh, er, um, yes…!” Yachi-san nodded in agreement, still looking a little startled.

And then Hinata roughly clapped his cheeks; a method of his for getting fired up, you’d found.

“We’re totally gonna win this!!” he said and you just quietly smiled behind your facemask. You still couldn’t wait until you could safely take this thing off. Family colds were the worst.

“Umm… You’re talking about the practice match today, right…?” Yachi-san asked Hinata.

Hinata blinked at her, “Yeah?” he asked, confused.

“I was wondering… how you’re able to work so hard… both in studying to go on that trip… and for a match that isn’t even an official game…?” Yachi-san said slowly.

“Huh? Cause I wanna get stronger… and win?” Hinata answered, not understanding.

“A-Ah, I see… I guess you’ve probably got all kinds of reasons, huh?” Yachi-san said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

“Well… with Hinata-kun it’s as simple as wanting to win.” you said to her and she blinked at you.

“Exactly.” Hinata said and you both looked at him; he had that intense look in his eyes again; “Besides, do you need a reason to not want to lose?” he asked Yachi-san, who flinched at his ‘aura’.

He then turned to Kageyama-kun, “Hey, Kageyama! Can you think of a reason for not wanting to lose?” he asked him.

“Haah? Who cares about that sort of thing? Is there a reason you wanna eat when you’re hungry?” Kageyama-kun said, rolling his eyes. Yachi-san seemed especially surprised to hear that comparison. And Hinata was agreeing with Kageyama-kun – those two really were of the same type.

“You’ll have to get used to this, Yachi-san. It’s just the way those two are.” you told her with a smile.

“Yeah, s-sorry, it was a silly thing to ask.” Yachi-san apologised, wearing a nervous smile.

“What do you mean by that?” those two spoke in unison again.

Tsukishima-san, who had been standing close by, lost his patience; “A stupid question, or a way of belittling your own words! It’s what you just did.” he said to them with a glare and they jumped in surprise.

Any further conversation was interrupted when Ouginishi High School’s team arrived for the practice match. That meant Karasuno's boys needed to get changed into their jerseys, and it turned out it was just as awkward when they took their shirts off for Yachi-san, as it was for you.

She was also witness to the boys’ usual antics, and coined the perfect phrase to describe them. ‘An unruly flock…’

Shimizu-senpai and you giggled amongst ourselves, finding it quite suiting.

The practice match went by without a hitch, with Karasuno as the victor, and curiously, Hinata approached Yachi-san again afterwards to chat. You felt like he was trying to make her feel welcomed here, and it was working. You were happy for Yachi-san, but… it still made you feel a little uneasy for some reason.

You berated myself for feeling anything but happy for Yachi-san, and went over to join them.

Yachi-san seemed nervous when you approached and you tilted my head; “Yachi-san, what’s the matter?” you asked her.

“It’s just… someone like me, who doesn’t know the first thing about sports… I’d only be a burden to such an incredible club…!” she said self-depreciatingly.

“Oh, come to think of it, I think I had a part like that. Townsperson B!” Hinata jumped in and you was immediately lost.

“Huh??” you looked at him quizzically.

He rubbed the back of his head, grinning nervously, “It’s just something Yachi-san and I were talking about earlier. She said she’d only ever played Townsperson B in the school play before or something. I was just trying to be encouraging, you know…?” he said, and turned to Kageyama-kun; “Anyway, I ended up standing out more than the main character so everyone got mad at me. Do you remember, [Last Name]-san?” he asked you.

You blinked, “Um, yes… I remember.” you nodded slowly; so he was talking about the school play his class had put on back in middle school 2nd year for cultural week, when you’d only known him for about a few months at the time.

You remembered watching the play’s showing during your break from your class’s café under your matchmaking friend’s orders, and Hinata wasn’t kidding. He got way too into his role, and spoke his two lines far louder than necessary. He even ad-libbed some unnecessary additional lines, too!

Kageyama-kun sniggered, “Villager B, huh…” he said and Hinata glared at him.

“Hey, don’t make fun of that, you bastard! Villager B has his good points, too, you know!!” Hinata snapped at him and you heard Yachi-san gasp beside you.

You glanced over to see her staring at Hinata, and furrowed your brows, biting down whatever tightness was welling up in your throat.

It was probably nothing, so you ignored it and continued following this ridiculous conversation.

“So what did you play, Kageyama!?” Hinata retorted to Kageyama-kun.

“The moon, for one.” Kageyama-kun replied.

“Dammit, that’s cool!” Hinata cursed, as Tsukishima-san questioned if such a role was even necessary.

“I played horses, and things like that.” Asahi-senpai joined in, and his fellow third-years found that hilarious. You smiled at the silly conversation, and then a thought came to you.

“Oh yeah, by the way, Yachi-san…” you turned to Yachi-san and Hinata; “The other day Hinata-kun was showing you a test paper when you came in. What was that about?” you asked them.

“Oh! Um, I’ve been helping Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun with their studying for the exam. They asked be about it earlier yesterday morning, during break.” Yachi-san answered and you let out a soft ‘oh.’

You looked to Hinata, “So is that why you two didn’t come along to my class at break this time?” you asked him. You’d been wondering about that as well. Hinata looked a little abashed.

“Um…” he glanced to Kageyama-kun and elbowed him harshly, “S-say something…?!” he said to the Setter, who twitched, and looked at him angrily, before sighing out.

“You’d told us about how your dad was sick and you’d been helping your mom look after him in the evening. So we thought you could use a break so you could focus on yourself.” He admitted and you stared at them.

Hinata nodded rapidly, “Yeah! We didn’t want you to get too stressed out, so we asked Yachi-san for help!” he added.

‘Oh. I see…’ you thought to yourself, ‘That may have been why Hinata-kun was so curious about Yachi-san’s class number too… they were looking out for me, but still…’ you sighed out lightly.

“I-I-I’m sorry, [Last Name]-san…!!” Yachi-san ducked into several bows, one after another, all aimed at you, “I-I butted into something personal didn’t I?! I’m so sorry…!!” she yelped out and you flushed pink.

“A-Ah, no, it’s not your fault, Yachi-san! Please stop bowing…!” you gasped at her, grabbing her shoulders to bring her back upright, and once you had eye-contact, you smiled to try and reassure the anxious girl.

“You’re n-not mad…?” she asked quietly.

You shook your head, “No, I’m not. I just kinda wish I’d known about it. Thank you for helping them out.” you said gently.

“Sorry for keeping it quiet!” Hinata jumped in, looking apologetic as well.

“Sorry.” Kageyama-kun bowed his head slightly, his expression serious as ever. You sighed and nodded, accepting the apologies and feeling embarrassed for that illogical anxiety you’d felt earlier. Of course the boys were allowed to study with other people too. You were just being silly.

“My dad’ll be better by Sunday… so why don’t the six of us all study together again at my place?” you asked them, and the three of them looked guilty again for some reason; “What?” you asked them.

“Kageyama and I kind of already arranged to meet up at Yachi-san’s place on Sunday.” Hinata added, and that uneasiness bubbled up again against your best wishes.

“O-Oh…” was all you could say.

“I-I’m sorry! Um, you can come too, [Last Name]-san! I’ll give you my address,” Yachi-san said, worried.

You shook your head, putting on a smile, “No it’s okay. I’ve actually got some errands to run on Sunday, anyways…” you said quickly, brushing some bangs behind your ear nervously and turning to leave, “Anyway, I’ve still got to go home ahead of the others so I’m going to go straight to get changed, okay? See you guys tomorrow.” you said, and tucked your head in a bow before walking away.

As you left, you heard Kageyama-kun muttering “What’s the matter with her?” and you could only agree with him.

What was the matter with you…?

…

Saying you had errands to run on Sunday had originally been an excuse to escape an awkward situation, but turned out, on Saturday evening a situation did crop up that required an errand be run, as well as pocket-money you’d been saving up for a new bike.

Your computer had been acting up every now and then for a while now, but it hadn’t been bothering you enough for it to actually be a huge problem, but last night it just completely crashed.

After consulting on what to do with your parents, they told you that you should just take it in to get repaired at the store it had been bought from, a bit further of a bus-ride away than it was for you to get to school this time.

And so, on Sunday morning, you had taken a bus into town trying not to think about how Hinata and Kageyama-kun were likely studying over at Yachi-san’s place right now.

You arrived in the shopping district that the computer shop was located in and stepped off the bus, dressed in a long skirt, a top and a cardigan, with my laptop packed in a black laptop case under your arm along with a bag holding your essentials and purse.

You had been walking on your way to the store for about 10 minutes, when you heard someone calling out to you from behind.

“Hey! It’s [Last Name]-san, right?” the voice who called this to you wasn’t a voice you were overly familiar with, but it did feel like you’d heard it at least once before.

It was followed by another voice that was slightly more familiar sounding; “Be quiet, Akira…!” the voice frantically hissed.

Curious, you turned around to see who it was, and saw Kindaichi-san and Kunimi-san standing a few feet away from you, in casual clothes.

Kunimi-san raised a hand, “Yo.” He said cooly.

Kindaichi-san, red-faced, nervously brushed back at his hair in vain, “U-Uh, hey [Last Name]-san. What brings you around here? This is closer to Seijoh than Karasuno.” He asked you.

You smiled a little, rubbing your cheek nervously as you held up your laptop bag, “My laptop died on me last night and it kinda has most of my study notes on it. I was an idiot and didn’t back it up, so I came here hoping to get it fixed as quickly as possible.” you answered him.

“Oh... Got a test coming up? …Um, Seijoh had theirs just the other day. It was rough.” Kindaichi-san commented.

“Yeah, it’s in 10 days.” you nodded.

“H-How do you think you’ll do..?” Kindaichi-san said after an awkward pause.

“I think I’ll do well. It’s just that I’d like to do better, you know? Which is why I need my laptop fixed to get access to my notes.” you said, and everyone fell into another awkward silence.

Kindaichi-san’s face was awfully red. You wondered if there was a virus going around in this area too.

Suddenly, Kunimi-san spoke up, his phone in hand, “Sorry, it looks like I have to leave. My parents need some help with something at home, so I’m out of here.” He said, and Kindaichi-san glared at him.

“You liar! There’s nothi—“ Kunimi-san covered up Kindaichi-san’s mouth all of a sudden, and whispered something into his ear; whatever it was cause Kindaichi-san to turn even redder.

Kunimi-san pulled his hand away and rubbed it off on his jeans, and waved to me lazily, “See you some other time, [Last Name]-san.” He said and you nodded to him.

“Yes. It was nice seeing you again.” you agreed.

With that, Kunimi-san left the two of you standing there and walked away, hands in his pockets.

“What was that all about, Kindaichi-san?” you asked him.

“I-It’s nothing. He’s just meddling…” he mumbled the second part, but you heard it. You stared at him for a moment, before shrugging.

“Did you have anything to do around here? I was thinking of getting something to eat and looking around while I waited for the repair work to be finished. It’d be nice to have some company.” you suggested to him.

His entire face turned maroon at that, or at least it seemed like it did.

“R-Really?? I-I mean… sure!” he agreed, seeming pleased despite his flush.

You smiled, “Great. I think the shop I need to drop this laptop is over this way.” you said to him and he nodded, timidly shuffling over to walk beside you as you headed on your way.

Waiting around for the repair work to finish shouldn’t be as boring as you originally thought it’d be. It’s a good thing you ran into Kindaichi-san and Kunimi-san.

Description
It was the third day in a row of your father’s bad cold, and he had soldiered into work today despite the fact that it hadn’t completely receded. Your mother had recovered quicker, and had asked you to come home early to help her look after him when you were done with club activities.

You were assisting with spiking practice, helping Kinoshita-senpai, Ennoshita-senpai and Narita-senpai, when you heard Hinata greet Yachi-san at the door.

“Yachi-san!” he said and you turned your head to watch them; Hinata was showing Yachi-san a piece of paper excitedly, “The stuff you showed us earlier… showed up on my afternoon English Quiz! And I got over one third correct!” he told her.

Yachi-san’s timid expression brightened into a pleased one, and the two cheered together.

“That’s the strength of Hinata’s communication skills. They’re already getting along swimmingly.” Suga-senpai commented, watching, just as you were.

“He was friendly with Nekoma’s Setter from the get-go as well.” Asahi-senpai agreed. You hummed thoughtfully to yourself, before Shimizu-senpai called you over to where she was now standing by Yachi-san.

You excused yourself from the senpai you were helping and headed over towards them.

“Yachi-chan is just going to watch the team practice today, so can you stick by her side to help me to explain anything she doesn’t understand?” Shimizu-senpai said to you and you nodded.

“Of course!” you said, and went to stand by Yachi-san’s side, “Hi.” you said to her with a smile and she smiled and greeted you in return.

“Ah, yes, and remember to watch out for stray balls!” Shimizu-senpai added and as you nodded, Yachi-san seemed to lock up in concern at hearing that.

You patted her shoulder, “It’s not as if they’ll be aiming right for you. Senpai’s just saying to keep on your guard and be ready to move.” you said to her.

“A-Ah… I didn’t realise Volleyball was such a dangerous sport.” Yachi-san said nervously.

“Well it’s certainly an exciting one with these boys around.” Shimizu-senpai said with a small laugh.

After a moment, you secretly glanced over to her while remaining faced towards the court. You thought back to how Hinata had approached her at the door a moment ago.

What had Hinata meant about the stuff Yachi-san had shown him earlier…?

“Watch out!!” you heard a voice and snapped your eyes back to the court in surprise, to see a ball hurtling towards Yachi-san’s face before you could totally react.

Before we even saw him coming, Hinata leapt in front of the two of you and received the ball one-handed.

“Nice one, Hinata!” Tanaka-senpai called over, as Yachi-san and you tried to calm your racing hearts. Yachi-san was watching in wonder, probably surprised by Hinata’s reflexes, and how fast the ball had been coming.

You swallowed, and turned to Yachi-san, “A-Are you okay?” you asked her, and she shakily nodded.

“I-I think that took a few years off my life…” she uttered.

“That’s a little dramatic,” you chuckled, “But yeah… Shimizu-senpai told me that in regards to offensive power, Karasuno is among the best in the prefecture.” you added.

“A-Ah…” Yachi-san shakily nodded, still a little stiff from the shock.

“That’s right. In the past, Karasuno was strong enough to go to Nationals.” Shimizu-senpai agreed with a smile.

“Nationals…!” Yachi-san was amazed.

“Uooohh…! Kiyoko-san and [Name]-san are chatting… and smiling… Kiyoko-san’s lips are moving…!” Tanaka-senpai cooed, blushing.

“So this is what they call ‘girl-talk’…!” Nishinoya-senpai added.

“Hey!! Don’t go losing your heads, dammit!” Ukai-san yelled at them for getting distracted. You shook your head at them exasperatedly. What were they even doing…?

Shimizu-senpai went on to explain to Yachi-san about Karasuno’s fall from grace a few years ago, and how the team planned to build themselves back up to National Level once again.

Yachi-san was moved, and commented, saying “Amazing! That’s completely different from me…!”

Shimizu-senpai and you looked at her, confused by her statement.

After that, you all continued to observe the practice for the rest of club activities’ time. Due to your family circumstances and needing to assist your mother that night, you were given permission by Daichi-senpai and Ukai-san to go home ahead of the others, after the Coach gave an announcement that tomorrow there would be a practice match against another school in the school's gym.

As you left the gym, everyone called out goodbye to you, and you were on your way.

It wasn’t until you were standing at your bus-stop awaiting your bus, that you remembered that you’d wanted to ask Yachi-san what Hinata was talking about with her. Well, it would have to wait for another time.

…

“It looks like Ouginishi High’s coming at 4.30!” Ukai-san announced the next day after school, as everyone went about setting things up for the practice match. Yachi-san and you were bringing out chairs for the coaches and reserves to sit on during the match, when Hinata approached.

“Need any help!?” he asked and Yachi-san jumped in fright.

You smiled, “It’s okay, Yachi-san and I have got it, right?” you said, nodding to her.

“Oh, er, um, yes…!” Yachi-san nodded in agreement, still looking a little startled.

And then Hinata roughly clapped his cheeks; a method of his for getting fired up, you’d found.

“We’re totally gonna win this!!” he said and you just quietly smiled behind your facemask. You still couldn’t wait until you could safely take this thing off. Family colds were the worst.

“Umm… You’re talking about the practice match today, right…?” Yachi-san asked Hinata.

Hinata blinked at her, “Yeah?” he asked, confused.

“I was wondering… how you’re able to work so hard… both in studying to go on that trip… and for a match that isn’t even an official game…?” Yachi-san said slowly.

“Huh? Cause I wanna get stronger… and win?” Hinata answered, not understanding.

“A-Ah, I see… I guess you’ve probably got all kinds of reasons, huh?” Yachi-san said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

“Well… with Hinata-kun it’s as simple as wanting to win.” you said to her and she blinked at you.

“Exactly.” Hinata said and you both looked at him; he had that intense look in his eyes again; “Besides, do you need a reason to not want to lose?” he asked Yachi-san, who flinched at his ‘aura’.

He then turned to Kageyama-kun, “Hey, Kageyama! Can you think of a reason for not wanting to lose?” he asked him.

“Haah? Who cares about that sort of thing? Is there a reason you wanna eat when you’re hungry?” Kageyama-kun said, rolling his eyes. Yachi-san seemed especially surprised to hear that comparison. And Hinata was agreeing with Kageyama-kun – those two really were of the same type.

“You’ll have to get used to this, Yachi-san. It’s just the way those two are.” you told her with a smile.

“Yeah, s-sorry, it was a silly thing to ask.” Yachi-san apologised, wearing a nervous smile.

“What do you mean by that?” those two spoke in unison again.

Tsukishima-san, who had been standing close by, lost his patience; “A stupid question, or a way of belittling your own words! It’s what you just did.” he said to them with a glare and they jumped in surprise.

Any further conversation was interrupted when Ouginishi High School’s team arrived for the practice match. That meant Karasuno's boys needed to get changed into their jerseys, and it turned out it was just as awkward when they took their shirts off for Yachi-san, as it was for you.

She was also witness to the boys’ usual antics, and coined the perfect phrase to describe them. ‘An unruly flock…’

Shimizu-senpai and you giggled amongst ourselves, finding it quite suiting.

The practice match went by without a hitch, with Karasuno as the victor, and curiously, Hinata approached Yachi-san again afterwards to chat. You felt like he was trying to make her feel welcomed here, and it was working. You were happy for Yachi-san, but… it still made you feel a little uneasy for some reason.

You berated myself for feeling anything but happy for Yachi-san, and went over to join them.

Yachi-san seemed nervous when you approached and you tilted my head; “Yachi-san, what’s the matter?” you asked her.

“It’s just… someone like me, who doesn’t know the first thing about sports… I’d only be a burden to such an incredible club…!” she said self-depreciatingly.

“Oh, come to think of it, I think I had a part like that. Townsperson B!” Hinata jumped in and you was immediately lost.

“Huh??” you looked at him quizzically.

He rubbed the back of his head, grinning nervously, “It’s just something Yachi-san and I were talking about earlier. She said she’d only ever played Townsperson B in the school play before or something. I was just trying to be encouraging, you know…?” he said, and turned to Kageyama-kun; “Anyway, I ended up standing out more than the main character so everyone got mad at me. Do you remember, [Last Name]-san?” he asked you.

You blinked, “Um, yes… I remember.” you nodded slowly; so he was talking about the school play his class had put on back in middle school 2nd year for cultural week, when you’d only known him for about a few months at the time.

You remembered watching the play’s showing during your break from your class’s café under your matchmaking friend’s orders, and Hinata wasn’t kidding. He got way too into his role, and spoke his two lines far louder than necessary. He even ad-libbed some unnecessary additional lines, too!

Kageyama-kun sniggered, “Villager B, huh…” he said and Hinata glared at him.

“Hey, don’t make fun of that, you bastard! Villager B has his good points, too, you know!!” Hinata snapped at him and you heard Yachi-san gasp beside you.

You glanced over to see her staring at Hinata, and furrowed your brows, biting down whatever tightness was welling up in your throat.

It was probably nothing, so you ignored it and continued following this ridiculous conversation.

“So what did you play, Kageyama!?” Hinata retorted to Kageyama-kun.

“The moon, for one.” Kageyama-kun replied.

“Dammit, that’s cool!” Hinata cursed, as Tsukishima-san questioned if such a role was even necessary.

“I played horses, and things like that.” Asahi-senpai joined in, and his fellow third-years found that hilarious. You smiled at the silly conversation, and then a thought came to you.

“Oh yeah, by the way, Yachi-san…” you turned to Yachi-san and Hinata; “The other day Hinata-kun was showing you a test paper when you came in. What was that about?” you asked them.

“Oh! Um, I’ve been helping Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun with their studying for the exam. They asked be about it earlier yesterday morning, during break.” Yachi-san answered and you let out a soft ‘oh.’

You looked to Hinata, “So is that why you two didn’t come along to my class at break this time?” you asked him. You’d been wondering about that as well. Hinata looked a little abashed.

“Um…” he glanced to Kageyama-kun and elbowed him harshly, “S-say something…?!” he said to the Setter, who twitched, and looked at him angrily, before sighing out.

“You’d told us about how your dad was sick and you’d been helping your mom look after him in the evening. So we thought you could use a break so you could focus on yourself.” He admitted and you stared at them.

Hinata nodded rapidly, “Yeah! We didn’t want you to get too stressed out, so we asked Yachi-san for help!” he added.

‘Oh. I see…’ you thought to yourself, ‘That may have been why Hinata-kun was so curious about Yachi-san’s class number too… they were looking out for me, but still…’ you sighed out lightly.

“I-I-I’m sorry, [Last Name]-san…!!” Yachi-san ducked into several bows, one after another, all aimed at you, “I-I butted into something personal didn’t I?! I’m so sorry…!!” she yelped out and you flushed pink.

“A-Ah, no, it’s not your fault, Yachi-san! Please stop bowing…!” you gasped at her, grabbing her shoulders to bring her back upright, and once you had eye-contact, you smiled to try and reassure the anxious girl.

“You’re n-not mad…?” she asked quietly.

You shook your head, “No, I’m not. I just kinda wish I’d known about it. Thank you for helping them out.” you said gently.

“Sorry for keeping it quiet!” Hinata jumped in, looking apologetic as well.

“Sorry.” Kageyama-kun bowed his head slightly, his expression serious as ever. You sighed and nodded, accepting the apologies and feeling embarrassed for that illogical anxiety you’d felt earlier. Of course the boys were allowed to study with other people too. You were just being silly.

“My dad’ll be better by Sunday… so why don’t the six of us all study together again at my place?” you asked them, and the three of them looked guilty again for some reason; “What?” you asked them.

“Kageyama and I kind of already arranged to meet up at Yachi-san’s place on Sunday.” Hinata added, and that uneasiness bubbled up again against your best wishes.

“O-Oh…” was all you could say.

“I-I’m sorry! Um, you can come too, [Last Name]-san! I’ll give you my address,” Yachi-san said, worried.

You shook your head, putting on a smile, “No it’s okay. I’ve actually got some errands to run on Sunday, anyways…” you said quickly, brushing some bangs behind your ear nervously and turning to leave, “Anyway, I’ve still got to go home ahead of the others so I’m going to go straight to get changed, okay? See you guys tomorrow.” you said, and tucked your head in a bow before walking away.

As you left, you heard Kageyama-kun muttering “What’s the matter with her?” and you could only agree with him.

What was the matter with you…?

…

Saying you had errands to run on Sunday had originally been an excuse to escape an awkward situation, but turned out, on Saturday evening a situation did crop up that required an errand be run, as well as pocket-money you’d been saving up for a new bike.

Your computer had been acting up every now and then for a while now, but it hadn’t been bothering you enough for it to actually be a huge problem, but last night it just completely crashed.

After consulting on what to do with your parents, they told you that you should just take it in to get repaired at the store it had been bought from, a bit further of a bus-ride away than it was for you to get to school this time.

And so, on Sunday morning, you had taken a bus into town trying not to think about how Hinata and Kageyama-kun were likely studying over at Yachi-san’s place right now.

You arrived in the shopping district that the computer shop was located in and stepped off the bus, dressed in a long skirt, a top and a cardigan, with my laptop packed in a black laptop case under your arm along with a bag holding your essentials and purse.

You had been walking on your way to the store for about 10 minutes, when you heard someone calling out to you from behind.

“Hey! It’s [Last Name]-san, right?” the voice who called this to you wasn’t a voice you were overly familiar with, but it did feel like you’d heard it at least once before.

It was followed by another voice that was slightly more familiar sounding; “Be quiet, Akira…!” the voice frantically hissed.

Curious, you turned around to see who it was, and saw Kindaichi-san and Kunimi-san standing a few feet away from you, in casual clothes.

Kunimi-san raised a hand, “Yo.” He said cooly.

Kindaichi-san, red-faced, nervously brushed back at his hair in vain, “U-Uh, hey [Last Name]-san. What brings you around here? This is closer to Seijoh than Karasuno.” He asked you.

You smiled a little, rubbing your cheek nervously as you held up your laptop bag, “My laptop died on me last night and it kinda has most of my study notes on it. I was an idiot and didn’t back it up, so I came here hoping to get it fixed as quickly as possible.” you answered him.

“Oh... Got a test coming up? …Um, Seijoh had theirs just the other day. It was rough.” Kindaichi-san commented.

“Yeah, it’s in 10 days.” you nodded.

“H-How do you think you’ll do..?” Kindaichi-san said after an awkward pause.

“I think I’ll do well. It’s just that I’d like to do better, you know? Which is why I need my laptop fixed to get access to my notes.” you said, and everyone fell into another awkward silence.

Kindaichi-san’s face was awfully red. You wondered if there was a virus going around in this area too.

Suddenly, Kunimi-san spoke up, his phone in hand, “Sorry, it looks like I have to leave. My parents need some help with something at home, so I’m out of here.” He said, and Kindaichi-san glared at him.

“You liar! There’s nothi—“ Kunimi-san covered up Kindaichi-san’s mouth all of a sudden, and whispered something into his ear; whatever it was cause Kindaichi-san to turn even redder.

Kunimi-san pulled his hand away and rubbed it off on his jeans, and waved to me lazily, “See you some other time, [Last Name]-san.” He said and you nodded to him.

“Yes. It was nice seeing you again.” you agreed.

With that, Kunimi-san left the two of you standing there and walked away, hands in his pockets.

“What was that all about, Kindaichi-san?” you asked him.

“I-It’s nothing. He’s just meddling…” he mumbled the second part, but you heard it. You stared at him for a moment, before shrugging.

“Did you have anything to do around here? I was thinking of getting something to eat and looking around while I waited for the repair work to be finished. It’d be nice to have some company.” you suggested to him.

His entire face turned maroon at that, or at least it seemed like it did.

“R-Really?? I-I mean… sure!” he agreed, seeming pleased despite his flush.

You smiled, “Great. I think the shop I need to drop this laptop is over this way.” you said to him and he nodded, timidly shuffling over to walk beside you as you headed on your way.

Waiting around for the repair work to finish shouldn’t be as boring as you originally thought it’d be. It’s a good thing you ran into Kindaichi-san and Kunimi-san.