VI.

"What did you just say?" Tora stopped reading her documents and finally shifted her gaze at me, brown eyes wide from shock and confusion.

I rolled my eyes then crossed my left leg over my right, looking at her with a smirk printed on my lips. "Baa-san, I think you're getting old already. Your sense of hearing's kinda getting rusty." I taunted which earned me a glare from my aunt. Yes, she's my aunt... from my father's side. Otherwise, I won't be working for her.

"I've already told you a million times not to call me 'Baa-san' because I'm not that old. I'm only twenty six." She reminded with an eye roll then stood up from her seat and proceeded to make her way to me, my statement seemed to pique her interest. "And I heard you loud and clear, I just want you to say it again." She put her hands on her hips, arching her perfectly plucked eyebrows at me.

Mikazuki Tora. At the young age of twenty one, she opened her own cafe called Moon of the Third Night with the help of her elder brother. The name of such a cafe was behind the meaning of our last name. She loved and cherished this cafe because it reminded us so much of Dad.

She didn't like it whenever I called her 'Baa-san' because hearing me say that makes her feel old. So I just used it as a weapon to tease her and she was not a tad bit not amused about it. I'm not quite comfortable with 'Nee-san' either so we just settled on calling each other by our first name. She was the younger sister of the late Mikazuki Takeshi, my father. Nii-san and I would usually come here in Tora's office and hang out. But it was now just a memory. All because of one fateful accident that deprived Dad and Nii-san of what they deserved.

But Dad's death wasn't an accident. He was murdered. And the funny thing would be, everyone knew who the killer was and they still didn't put her behind bars. Instead, the people sympathizes with her. But not me. I hate her so much. I do. And as ironic as it sounds, I might be the only one capable of hating her this much.

I sighed before sitting properly. "I'm going to take a leave from work, Tora." I said firmly and she nodded in acknowledgement. She pursed her rosy lips in a thin line before occupying the seat across from me, looking at me directly as if observing me.

"You barely take a leave--no, wait... I think this will be the first time that you'll take a leave. And I'm pretty curious about the reason." She took the cup of tea on the coffee table and took a quick sip of it.

"Yeah, well, I'm going on a volleyball match this Saturday--"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Did you just say volleyball?" Tora quickly cut me off at the key word then looked straight at me with a shocked face as if I had grown another head. I just nodded slowly, unsure. And that brightened her youthful face and a wide grin spread on her mouth and any wider, it would tear her lips. "Volleyball? You mean the team sport which consisted of two teams of six players that are separated by a net? That volleyball?" She inched her desperate self closer to me, making me shift uncomfortably on my seat.

"Yeah? Duh." I confirmed, unsure.

"Oh my God." She sat properly and clasped her hands, looking above as if she was praying. "God, have you answered my prayers?" She asked particularly to herself. "Are you finally returning my old, sweet niece who loves nothing but volleyball back?"

I sweat-dropped then face palmed myself. "Tora..." I called out her attention but to no avail.

"This is great news!" She exclaimed that took me by surprise. "I have to be there!"

"Tora, there's no need. Besides, I didn't even joined the club itself." I clarified so that I won't get her hopes up too much. But I guess it was too late because her brightened aura completely changed to the opposite.

"Eh? Why didn't you?" She pouted, crossing her arms like a child. Sometimes, I think that a child has possessed a body of a woman because she frequently doesn't act according to her age. No wonder she doesn't have a boyfriend.

"Do I have to?" I scoffed. "Besides, it would be just a one time thing."

But her reply instead got my forehead creased. "But that's a start right?" She asked suddenly with an expression I cannot recognize. I think I saw a hint of warmth and sadness in them but I guess that was all in my imagination.

"What?" I asked.

She shook her head, smiling wryly. "Never mind."

I hummed then leaned against my seat once again. "So do you approve of it?"

"Of what?"

"Leaving for a few days?"

"For how long, actually?"

I shrugged. "Maybe until Saturday noon. I'll take the night shift by then."

Tora raised an eyebrow at this for a moment then nodded, sighing. "Alright. Although you didn't submit a Leave of Absence but okay. It's your first time."

I smiled in relief. "Thanks, Baa-san."

She popped a vein, giving me a sharp look. "Don't mention it, Berry."

The smile wiped off my face at the nerve-wracking nickname. And suddenly, an image of a certain annoying jerk flashed in my mind. Ugh, my mind is now corrupted with Tsukishima virus.

Tora smirked at my reaction, as if she knew that I understood what she was trying to pull off. "And by the way, Reina-chan reported something to me and boy, what intriguing that was."

I just closed my eyes in frustration. "Gosh, tell me about it."

"You showed quite an attitude towards a customer--"

"He deserved it." I countered, crossing my arms with a pout.

Tora smiled gently. "I don't know what's happening between the two of you," I wanted to cover my ears because a never ending series of lecture might probably spill out of her mouth again. "But when the both of you step into this shop, you are the waitress and he is the customer. And whether you like it or not, you will treat him with hospitality and respect, like how most waitresses do to their beloved customers."

I didn't answer, just groaned internally. I felt like a child being scolded at the moment.

"Try to be professional, Kinomi." She added. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, mother." I grunted which rewarded me a chuckle from her.

"Good. But just so you know, even if you are my lovely niece, I'll have to be fair."

"What?" I looked at her in disbelief.

"I've heard Reina-chan's side of the story but before I sentence you, I'd like to hear yours as well."

"Give me a break, Tora." I sighed in frustration.

She shrugged nonchalantly, taking my statement as an explanation. "Okay then."

She told me the consequences of my actions and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

--

Classes are over and the students are taking their time out of the campus. The task at hand that was given to me by Tora never left my mind and it seemed to bother me more than necessary.

"Kinomi-chan!" I heard a voice scream my name and it echoed through the whole corridor. I grimaced then turned around to see the source of the annoying voice.

"Will you please shut up?" I demanded with a frown which made Saori giggle in amusement.

"Geez, does your period never end, Kinomi-chan?" Saori asked which made my frown change into a glare. "We would just like to train with you."

"Why?"

"Do you really have to ask that?" She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the opposite direction, the direction to the gymnasium. "You're our teammate, duh!"

I wrenched myself away from her grasp and just followed her to the gymnasium. On the way, we saw Yamaguchi and Tsukishima walking the opposite direction of us. Yamaguchi looked at me with a small smile as a greeting while the jerk beside him just gawked at me.

But unfortunately, that little detail didn't missed Saori's eyes. "Oooh~ who was that tall, blonde dude that gawked at you, Kinomi-chan?" She teased as she craned her neck to the side, glancing at me with a teasing smile on her face. This also caught our companion's attention and she also glanced Saori as if she was scolding her.

Seeing Tsukishima now reminds me of Tora's punishment.

I didn't answer which earned another giggle from Saori.

"He's cute, isn't he Yumi?" Saori emphasized the final words.

"Stop it, Saori." She glared lightly at her friend. The sudden attitude weirded me out but I dismissed it.

I sighed. "Lend her your glasses, nerd."

Even though confused, she obeyed me anyways. Saori declined her glasses, saying that Yumi's grade was too high. Yumi looks better without glasses by the way. I wonder if Tsukishima also looks--never mind.

--

It was already 7:27 in the evening of a Friday when Kinomi finally arrived home with a bag of groceries. Even though she was tired due to volleyball training with her temporary teammates, Yumi and Saori, she still forced herself to go to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for the strawberry shortcake.

She sighed in relief just as she placed the bags on the counter. She heard her stomach growl, whining in hunger. She slightly blushed then let out an instant sigh as she decided to just settle with cup noodles because she was already short on time.

After a quick shower, she put on her apron then started to assemble the ingredients.

Albeit her eyelids are begging to close, she fought herself and focused to the task at hand. She couldn't help but remember what Tora told her that drove her to doing this kind of thing.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kinomi hissed in annoyance as she stared into Tora's muddy brown eyes laced with seriousness.

"Dead serious." Tora stated with a serious tone. She ignored the fact that Kinomi cussed in front of her and she always scolded her about how she should talk like a lady. But Kinomi never obeyed her, and Tora has grown tired of scolding her niece about language. But that's not the point here.

"No fucking way!" Kinomi whined.

"I didn't ask for your approval though. You will do it whether you like it or not." Tora took her tea cup and took another sip of the hot reviving brew.

"I can do any punishment but this is just too much, Tora! I'd rather get suspended from work than to ba--"

"It's what I want, Kinomi." Tora cut her off then looked at Kinomi with a sharp look as she was sipping her tea. "Or else I will fire you."

That made Kinomi shut up for a moment. She sighed then stood up, assuming that this conversation has ended. "I hate you, Tora." She said as she stomped her way out of Tora's office.

Tora's usual bubbly self returned. "I love you, too, Berry~" She called out as Kinomi closed the door behind her.

Little did Kinomi know, firing her was the last thing Tora would do in her life.

Kei.

"WE'RE LATE!" Shrimp and Nishinoya-san exclaimed in unison as they practically half ran on the way to the gymnasium.

I want to be deaf for just a day so that I wouldn't hear their annoying, loud voices. We just had a few hours of volleyball training and we lost track of time which made them panic. I thought for a moment that they canceled the task to watch the three-on-three match.

"Shoyo, let's race on the way to the gym, yeah?!" Nishinoya-san challenged which earned an excited grin from the shrimp.

"LET'S GO!"

"I'm going too!" The competitive King joined.

Without any warning, they sprinted and then they were gone.

"Seriously, how much stamina do they have in their system?" I asked to nobody in particular.

Sawamura-san just laughed. "Well, they're just excited."

"I wonder how Mikazuki-san plays?" Sugawara-san wondered aloud and I looked at him from my peripheral vision.

"Kageyama did say that she was the captain and middle blocker of Kitagawa Daiichi." Azumane-san reminded which made them agree.

"And it's a powerhouse school too." Tanaka-san added. Then he sighed. "Why didn't I ever thought of coming to the girls' volleyball matches before? It's not gonna hurt, right?"

"Are you alright, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked me, noticing that I had been quiet for a while.

"Yeah," I just mumbled.

When we arrived at our destination, we heard Shrimp and Nishinoya-san's screams and cheers.

"THAT'S THREE TIMES IN A ROW NOW!"

"MIKAZUKI-SAN, NICE SERVE!"

They were already in the second set. And Berry wasn't even giving the opposing team any chances and openings. I looked at the score and it was 11 - 4, Berry's team taking the lead. She performed a perfect jump serve and it was not a surprise for everyone that the girl she targeted didn't managed to receive it. I was taken aback at least, because I was also a victim of that serve as well.

"Damn it, Mikazuki! You're not playing fair!" I heard the girl who she's been targeting complained angrily. Berry just stared at the girl with a poker face on as the volleyball returned to her.

Berry performed another jump serve and much to the girl's relief, she managed to receive it - barely. But it's going over the net.

"Chance ball!" The wing spiker exclaimed as Berry received it and brought the ball to the setter with glasses.

"Left!" The wing spiker called out for a toss which the setter granted. With an excited grin, she jumped and spiked the ball which was received by the opposing team.

"Man, her serves give me the goosebumps!" Shrimp said with a grin.

"Don't you think her serves are quite familiar?" The King asked knowingly to which the Shrimp just looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Oh yeah. Your serves are quite similar!"

He sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. But there is a difference."

"What is it?"

"The power and ball control."

So it's not just me who noticed.

We spent the whole time observing the match, them commenting about how Berry's good at read blocking. Well, she's a middle blocker and she's supposed to excel at that field. But what ticked me off was that... she glances at me from time to time.

The score was 25 - 16 in which Berry's team won. After the match, she stole a glance at me once again and I rewarded her a raised eyebrow in question. She averted her gaze then went to the bench, chatting with her teammates as she took a sip of her water.

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi called out. "Captain is calling us out."

I craned my neck to glance at him. "Yeah, be there with you."

"Tsukishima." A female voice pronounced my last name in front of me. I shifted my gaze at my fellow middle blocker, who was looking at me straight in the eyes.

"What?"

I just noticed that she was holding a plain white box on her hands and she reached it out to me, much to my confusion.

"What is that?" I asked, not bothering to retrieve the box from her.

"Just take it." She looked away and what confused me even more was that her cheeks were slightly flushed. And I just noticed that the people's attention were on ours as well. She dropped the box on my arms then without another word, she ran away to her teammates who were looking at her with serious expressions. I caught the stare of the girl with the glasses but she averted her gaze back to her teammates.

I looked at the white box on my arms and contemplated whether I should open it or not. Succumbing to curiosity, I pulled the red ribbon that bind the box and opened the lid, surprised that a strawberry shortcake was inside.

"Hohoho~ what do we have here~?" Tanaka-san startled me from behind, peeking through my shoulder. "It's a cake! Did Mikazuki-san baked it for you?" He grinned then wiggled his eyebrows.

I quickly looked at the spot where I'm sure Berry stood a few seconds ago and it irritated me when I found out that the space was vacant. She ran away.

"Tsukishima, you didn't tell us that you and Mikazuki-san were dating!" Shrimp exclaimed which made me mentally face palm.

"YEY! MY NEW SHIP IS SAILING!" Nishinoya-san followed.

I just sighed then stormed out of the room, my cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

Why did you do this, Berry?

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A few days ago, I accidentally clicked publish instead of save and preview , I'm sorry if you ever read the unfinished draft :3 And if anyone noticed, I changed the name of the cafe that Kinomi works at. From 'Moonlight' to 'Moon of the Third Night' I'm going to edit the previous chapters when I have the time :) Mikazuki means Moon of the third night and Kinomi means Berry.

Feel free to vote, comment or anything! Let me know your thoughts in this story! :D

Strawberry shortcakes from Lyn