Chapter 21, Wrap up

THIRD POV

It has been a few days of training with the boys, the final day finally came. The coaches told the teams that they only need 1 match for the day, and the rest of the day will be them celebrating at the success of the training camp.

The amount of improvement of everyone didn't go unnoticed, ever since the girls have been training them, they seem to improve so much. Shirome was proud at her teammates and the boys.

Tsukishima played better, it intimidated Bokuto and riled up Hinata. The girls never lost a match against the teams, but they didn't complain much. The run up the hill was really refreshing.

Shinzen and Ubugawa was very welcoming, Shirome respected them. Fukurodani was amusing to watch when they had to handle their owl captain's emo modes, Nekoma is slightly chaotic. Lev has been suffering a little too much from Yaku's occasional beating. Karasuno showed a deadly performance of their development, it slightly scared everyone that they could improve within a week.

Shirome, who just finished their match and showering, entered the gym in her hoodie and leggings. She noticed some of the girls were chatting with some guys. It wasn't awkward, though. They all treated each others like friends. It was fun to see, knowing that most boys would get flustered at the girls' presence alone.

The small captain slightly raised her brows at the sight on the middle of the gym, the two captains from Nekoma and Fukurodani were messing around and singing along (mostly dancing like madmen), the speakers emitting various music. Shirome noticed some of them were familiar, since her brother always play them when he train.

All of them were just chilling, waiting for the barbecue to arrive. All of them have showered and cleaned up, too. Most of them still wore their shirts and shorts too.

Shirome caught the vice captain of Fukurodani staring at her, the flustered boy looked away with blush dusting his soft cheeks. The gradient head sweatdropped, knowing why he was shy.

She approached him, sitting at the vacant seat beside him. He was seated slightly away from his teammates, only keeping an eye out for the wild owl captain. Who knows what stunt he'll pull?

The ebony haired boy winced slightly, trying his hard not to look at her. Or even breathe at all.

"Are you still embarassed, Keiji?" She asked, oblivious to the effect she had on the ravenette.

He slightly shook his head, ignoring some stares that were directed at him. It happened once when Fushichou was helping the owls stretch. It just so happens that Shirome wanted to be friends with Keiji more after playing together in the 3rd gym. She loved being close with setters.

"Sorry..," He shyly said, fiddling with his long fingers.

She slightly smiled, "It's okay, you don't have to be uncomfortable. It was an accident," She said, reassuring him.

The others stared, amused. Only few knew about this incident.

/FLASHBACK\

"I'll help him," The smaller setter told Leki, who was helping the ravenette stretch his back.

"Okay," She said, gently taking the clipboard out of her captain's soft small hands. Blushing slightly, she took notes with a small crooked smile.

"Hello again," The gradient head chirped quietly at the taller setter who wore a blank expression.

He glanced at her blankly, "Hi."

She got behind him and softly pushed his back with her hands. He responded and reached to his front, letting the girl help him stretch. The boy's eyes slightly widened when the girl slightly stroke her hands softly on his back. She was looking for areas he was most comfortable at, and slightly massaging it. She always saw him as some easily tensed up person, so she wanted to help by calming his nerves.

The ones who were frequently staring at the girl almost popped their eyes out of their pockets. Envy, shock, disbelief, and slight jealousy clouded their eyes.

"Tch," Kenma silently muttered some words and looked away from the pair.

The girl managers took notice of this and thought it was cute, they thought the both looked good together. The boy manager, however, was trying his hardest not to snap as he tried his best not to look at them.

Shirome paused and slightly pulled back her hands to put them in a new area, but Keiji thought she was done so he pulled back to look at her.

It happened so fast. Shirome took her hands off for a moment, Keiji immediately pulled back and look at her. She leaned in to push him again, but his forehead had already collided with hers.

Wide eyed, he froze from the impact. Shirome stumbled lightly and pulled back. She blinked and put a distance between them, "Ow. Sorry, Keiji.."

The boy still sat frozen, his gaze never leaving the girl. Trying his hard to response, he cleared his throat slightly and nodded, "I-It's fine. I'm sorry, too," He looked away with a flushed face.

The ones that caught the scene unfold almost shrieked out of shock. Most of them wanted to forget what happened and look away, but the managers approached the young female.

"You okay, Akaashi?" Yukie slightly teased the ravenette as he blushed deeply. But he remained blank.

Kaori handed him a towel because he was heated and slightly sweating than usual, "Don't worry, Akaashi. It was kind of cute."

"We haven't been introduced properly yet, but you're close with Koutaro right?" She spoke calmly.

He nodded, "Keiji Akaashi, I'm a 2nd year.."

She smiled at him, he tried to look away but his gaze is magnetized at her angelic features. She then gave him a pat on the shoulder as she stood up, "It's nice to meet the setter that satisfies Koutaro. Thank you for staying by his side," She smiled.

"Bokuto-san talks about you a lot, Shiro-san," He blurted out and stared the ground, slightly regretting what he said with a soft blush.

She laughed softly, catching some gazes of people that were near them, "That's nice to know. Well, I'll get going now. Bye, Keiji."

/FLASHBACK END\

"You are, but please don't feel sorry about it, Shiro-san," He trailed off, feeling shy. He slightly bit his bottom lip, feeling Shirome's burning gaze.

The smaller setter thought he was cute, and she can't help but lightly pinch the flustered setter's cheek, "From now on, we're friends. Please don't be shy around me."

He turned to her, cheeks dyed pink after her gesture. Nonetheless, he showed her a small smile, "Alright," He paused as he opened his mouth, hesitating on his next question.

The gradient head smiled a little, slightly tilting her head, "What is it, Keiji?"

He fiddled with his fingers as he looked at her heart warming gaze, "Um....could I have your numbe-"

"Hey, hey, hey! Shiro come here! It's our dance number!" A loud owl hooted at the small phoenix, cutting off whatever Keiji was about to say.

Shirome looked at the taller setter with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, he gets louder if I didn't go immediately. I'll talk to you later, Keiji," She waved at him, he waved back with slight sadness clouding his eyes.

And there he sat, watching the three captains fool around. He had a slight smile grazing his soft lips, watching a small phoenix interact with a michievous cat, and a hyper owl.

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