APPARENTLY, SHIYUMI WAS A BIT...

out of shape, because after their morning workout — which lasted until lunchtime — she was beyond exhausted.

     "huh? where's your usual energy, shōyō? don't tell me you're tired already~", tanaka mocked, elbowing the orange-haired girl.

     "I don't know...my stomach kinda hurts...", shiyumi groaned, laying her forehead against the cafeteria table, as she wondered what the hell was wrong with her.

"did you eat something bad?", yamaguchi asked.

"or maybe you're just weak", tsukishima snickered.

"shut up, tsukki-saurus", shiyumi grumbled.

     "sorry! off topic, but what day do we head back?", yachi asked, as she just wanted to make sure that they all had tickets for the train ride back.

     "july first, sunday", tsukishima easily answered.

     "eh? so that means that we get to spend your birthday here, shōyō!", yachi smiled.

     "birthday?", kageyama repeated.

     "yeah! it's the—"

     shiyumi immediately covered yachi's mouth, shaking her head in protest.

     it wasn't until a moment later, that a realization had dawned upon the orange-haired girl.

     "wait...what's the date today?", shiyumi asked.

     "the eighteenth, why?", yamaguchi asked.

     shiyumi had nearly combusted on the spot, if it weren't for the people around them.

     "hitoka, can I speak to you privately?", shiyumi whispered.

     "okay?"

     shiyumi then ushered the blonde girl out of their seats, leaving their food unattended.

     "SHŌYŌ! ARE YOU NOT GONNA EAT?!", nishinoya asked.

     "I'M NOT HUNGRY! YOU CAN HAVE IT!", the orange-haired girl yelled back, as she dragged yachi into an empty hallway.

     "yumi, what's wrong?", yachi murmured.

     "hitoka...I forgot to bring pads", the girl bluntly stated.

     "why would you need—OH. OH MY GOSH! W-WHAT DO WE DO?!"

     "shhhhhh!! do you by any chance have some??", shiyumi asked.

     "I-I'm sorry!! I didn't bring any because I already had mine this month", yachi frowned.

     "it's all my fault...I had completely forgotten about it! do you think there's a convenience store nearby that I can go and grab some??"

     "but lunch is about to end...well, I can go buy some for you!", yachi offered.

shiyumi nodded.

"thank you! could you also get me some pain killers please?"

"of course!! will you be alright for the rest of the afternoon though? I heard that you'll all be playing against one another".

"I'm sure I'll be fine! what's the worst that could happen, right?", shiyumi snorted.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"each day, I will be ranking your personal performance and the four lowest scoring people will be in charge of cleaning up the gym", hibarida fuki — the coach for the japan men's national volleyball team — stated.

'okay, okay!! maybe...maybe there's people that are worse than me!', shiyumi tried to positively think.

the orange-haired girl then glanced around, taking in her surroundings.

'well damn...maybe not...'

as shiyumi joined her assigned group for the day — because they claimed that you should be comfortable playing with anybody — she was given the chance to show off her quick attack with kageyama setting.

obviously that had caught the attention of not just the coach, but many others that were surprised by how high the tiny girl could jump.

however, shiyumi was not the only one that could jump high and gage a shocking reaction out of people.

before everyone was dismissed, it was a no brainer that shiyumi had ended up being one of the four that had to clean up the gym.

though the girl was talented in jumping — even on her period — there were still certain moves that she needed to practice (e.g. receiving, blocking, serving, and the list went on).

as shiyumi and three others, from schools that she did not recall, were about to put away the nets, a boy that was around her height had popped up right in front of her.

"who are you? what team are you from? what position do you play? what's your height?", the white-haired boy questioned.

"umm...karasuno, middle blocker, and around 161 centimeters??", shiyumi unsurely answered.

     the white-haired boy internally cheered, as he was at least taller than someone.

"your name", the seagull-looking boy demanded.

"hinata shōyō, and you?"

"hoshiumi kōrai from kamomedai. I'm the ace (outside hitter) and I'm 169.2 centimeters tall", the boy responded.

     "oh!! you're the one that jumps SUPER high, aren't you?! what year are you in?", shiyumi asked, now intrigued.

hoshiumi could now feel his ego bursting through the roof. nothing made him feel more accomplished than someone recognizing his superior jumps.

"second-year", the boy grinned.

"ah, then I should refer to you as hoshiumi-senpai!", shiyumi smiled, unknowingly raising the boy's self-esteem.

"sure, whatever!", hoshiumi tried to casually say.

"then can you teach me how to—"

"oi, shorty!! quit standing around and help us so we can get dinner!", one of the volleyball players shouted.

"oh, sorry!! coming right now!", shiyumi yelled back.

"please excuse me then, hoshiumi-senpai. let's meet up and talk another time! consider us friends now", the orange-haired girl rambled, rushing off, as she knew yachi was still waiting for her.

hoshiumi was then left alone, confused.

"huh?"

"W-WHO SAID I WANTED TO BE YOUR FRIEND?!"

angrily stomping out of the gym, hoshiumi was greeted by his teammate: hirugami sachirō.

     "ah, I was looking for you, kōrai-kun", hirugami stated.

     "are you not sitting with your roommates?", hoshiumi asked.

"nah~ everyone else seems to be seated with their own teams...well, most of them at least", hirugami replied.

hoshiumi had then noticed that the karasuno team was huddled in a corner. the most memorable being kageyama — a prodigy setter.

"WAHHH!! THAT WAS A NICE DINNER!!", nishinoya proclaimed, as tanaka had nodded in agreement.

     "I'm going to go shower now. goodnight", tsukishima declared, taking out his trash before leaving with yamaguchi following behind.

     "ja~ I'm gonna go too!", nishinoya stated, heading off with tanaka.

     "kageyama-kun, are you waiting for someone?", yachi asked, tightly holding onto her dark package like it was some sacred object.

     "n-no!", the dark-haired boy denied.

     as the others started filtering out of the cafeteria, hoshiumi continued observing the duo that sat a few tables away.

     "are you ready to go, kōrai-kun?", hirugami asked.

     "I...I'm still eating", the white-haired boy proclaimed.

     just before hirugami could say any more, shiyumi and three others had walked into a nearly empty cafeteria.

     "you're finally done, shōyō!!", yachi exclaimed.

     shiyumi yawned.

     "yeahhhh...took a while to clean everything and put everything away. huh? what're you still doing here, kageyama?"

     "eating, boke!"

     hirugami's eyes slightly widened in understanding as he could visibly see hoshiumi's attention focus onto the shortest of the group.

     "eh? did you make a new friend?", hirugami asked.

     "W-WHAT?! NO!"

     hoshiumi's loudness had then caused shiyumi to turn around, waving at him with a bright smile.

     hirugami softly snorted.

     "mhm~"

     "tch, whatever! I'm done eating now", the white-haired boy grumbled, as he threw away his trash.

     "how was practice?", yachi asked.

     "it was great! I made a new friend", hoshiumi heard shiyumi proudly proclaim.

     "really? who?"

     "his name's hoshiumi kōrai — my new idol".