ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

The moon was out, and it was dark. You look around, pulling at the collar of your shirt. "It's pretty hot for night."

"I'm going to die," F/N said morbidly, looking down at the ground as if she were in some sort of trance. You roll your eyes at her.

"No, you won't." You look at her suspiciously small bag. "Are you sure you packed enough? It is for a whole week."

She puffed out her cheeks. "That's what I meant, Y/N-sama. Most of my clothes were already dirty... so I couldn't take them. So I only have a couple of changes of regular clothes!"

"Oh." You shrug. "Okay. Then just use mine. I don't really mind. I brought extras."

"Really? How many?" She eyed your suitcase curiously.

"9 regular plain shirts. 2 floral-printed shirts. 3 skirts. 2 shorts. 5 pairs of pants. 12 pairs of socks. 1 pair of jeans. 4 sets of pajamas."

She looked at you in shock, jolting back. "Woah! Are you sure you packed enough?! It's only for a week! How can you fit everything in there?!"

"I'm not counting my skin products, jewellery or anything else. I can make it fit." You turn away and board the bus.

"Wa—Wait! Wait for me, Y/N-sama!" She laughed aloud, grabbing onto your arm as you walked. 

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

"F/N..." You shake her, lifting the sleeping mask she wore off her eyes. "Wake up. We're here."

"MM mmm.... five more minutes..."

"No, wake up now." You grab her arm and yank her off the seat, her tumbling to the ground. 

"W... woah! Y/N-sama, don't tug me like that!" She shrieked, rubbing her head and pouting. She scrambled up, yawning and rushed off the bus.

"Take off that facemask." You point at the overnight sleep mask she was wearing, as you two step off and look at the school you were at. Shinzen.

"Haha! What's that on your face?" A vaguely familiar voice rings through your ears, and you see Alisa's younger brother walking up to you two.

She pulled it off, glaring at the abnormally tall man. "It's a face mask! You should try it sometime, with all that acne you have, it might help!"

"Sure, little girl." He laughed, looking down at her. It looked like there was at least a foot in distance between them, and it showed. Her head was only around his chest.

"Lev?" You question, and he turned to you immediately. His smile brightened, and he suddenly reminded you of a puppy. His eyes sparkled. 

"Y/N! You came! I didn't know you liked volleyball!"

"I don't really," you shrugged, pulling out your (hair tie/hair covering/bonnet etc.) and looking at him. "I just tag along because it gives good opportunities to talk with other schools."

"Well, you can talk with me if you want, Y/N-chan!" His cheeks flushed pink, and he suddenly looked motivated.

"Gahh!" Hinata jumped back, looking between you two in shock. He squints his eyes and stands between the two of you protectively—looking up at you with a determined expression. "Well... you can talk to me too, Y/N!"

"I talk to you every day, Shoyo." He jolted back again, face going pale, then red with embarrassment.

F/N laughed at him, clutching onto your arm as you walked away.

"There are so many bugs," you groan, flicking your hand around your face to ward off a fly that seemed to like you. 

"Don't worry, Y/N-sama!" F/N started doing ninja moves, flinging her arms and legs around. "I'll be your personal bug repellent!"

She garnered a bit of attention, to which Daichi groaned and covered his face.

You looked around, taking your eyes off of her and walking away. "I don't know you."

"HEY!"

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Karasuno was playing against Fukurodani first. Kageyama set to Hinata, but it was short. His sets looked different.

"Didn't the set look different this time?" F/N pointed at Kageyama, who was cringing at his own set being too short for Hinata.

"Yes." You nodded. "It looked weaker... but not in a bad way. Waker as in, it didn't fly right past Hinata's hand. It looked like it just stopped midair."

"Woah!" F/N's eyes sparkled. "That's so cool!"

He set it again, but this time, it went right past Hinata's hand, too far away for him to hit. However, Hinata was known for achieving the highly unlikely, and sent it over with his left hand, the ball just barely grazing the net as it dropped down on Fukurodani's side before anyone could receive it.

"Woahhh! Good job, Shoyo!" F/N cupped her hands around her mouth, grinning. "That was totally cool! How did he do that?!"

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

While Karasuno did lose (very miserably, too), they were obviously trying out a bunch of new things. Noya tried to set, Suga tried to start a synchronized attack, and Asahi's serve was much less shaky than before.

Their punishment for losing was an uphill dash through the back of Shinzen.

F/N watched them run up the hill and around the forest, peeking out from the door. "Jeez! That's so brutal. I wonder how many times they're going to have to do this."

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

The answer was a lot.

They lost every single round.

You walked out of the area they were practicing, and fully intended to go right back to your sleeping bag and call it a day.

But somehow, you were dragged into this.

"Y/N! C'mon, don't be like that!" Kuroo called out, laughing at your very obviously irritated expression. "Block a few for me!"

"I don't play this game." You answered monotonously.

"Sure you do!" He walked out of the gym he was in, placing a large hand on your shoulder and pushing you towards the gym slightly. You slapped his hand away and narrowed your eyes. "You got the height for it. If you do... I'll go easy on your Karasuno buddies next time."

The teasing lilt of his voice made your face burn up, and you nearly growled as you pushed aside your pride and walked into that gym. As much as you hated to admit it...

They did need all the help they could get.

It was good you didn't decide to wear a skirt today, but your shoes were slightly heeled, and that would prove to be a problem. You ignored it, rolling your eyes and pushing up your sleeves.

"What do you want me to do?" You stared dead at Kuroo, who was cackling his stupid laugh.

"You know how to block, right?" 

You pause, looking down at the ground and trying to think back to how Tsukishima and Hinata would jump up to block the ball. "I'm pretty sure."

"Alright!"

"Woahhh! Journalist babe, is that you?!" Bokuto, as you learned his name was before, stared at you in disbelief. He looked between you and Kuroo, the latter's hand still right on your back. "You know how to play?!"

"No." You deadpanned.

"Alright!" He said, excitedly. It was almost as if he didn't hear your answer.

You noticed there was another person there, you were pretty sure he was also on Bokuto's team. You forgot who, though. He had sleepy features. In the corner of your eye, though, you saw Lev, flat on his face in the corner and groaning like he was barely alive.

You walked out onto the court, Kuroo beside you. The person on the other side, who you realised was a setter, set the ball up high for Bokuto, Kuroo tugged on your shirt, motioning you to jump up where Bokuto was spiking it down. You followed suit, jumping as high as you could and outstretching your arms, but Kuroo was the one who ended up blocking the ball, not you.

"Not bad." He snickered as you fixed your shirt and hair, rolling your eyes. "Just jump a little higher next time, yeah?"

"I don't play this game, Kuroo."

"Aw, c'mon." He leaned closer to your face, to the point you had to lean back. "No fun in that attitude."

You walk away, back onto the court and lean back on your heel. "Just hurry up."

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

You watched as Bokuto's hand moved directions, and you quickly moved your hand to where you presumed the ball was heading, and it turned out, that you were right. The ball projected off of your hand and flew into the wall, and you looked behind yourself in shock.

"Not bad," The setter on the other side, who you had learned as Akaashi, smiled at you and nodded. You nodded back in acknowledgement.

"Nice job, girl." Kuroo smacked your back as if you were one of his guy friends, and you jolted back, glaring up at him with the tips of your ears turning red.

You feel a sting in your hands and rub them together to try and ease the pain. "Okay."

"Hey, you! Skinny, with the glasses!" Kuroo called out, from the entrance of the gym. "Can you maybe jump a few blocks for us?"

Curiosity got the better of you, and you peek out from the doorway, locking eyes with Tsukishima, who ignores you and smiles (a very fake one, at that). "Sorry, I'm all done for the day. You have a good night."

"WHAT?!" 

Bokuto whined, a pout forming on his lips. "But there's no point in practising out spiking if we don't have any blockers. C'mon..." He leaned on the doorway.

 "Why does it have to be me? What about your own guys?" Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and tilted up his glasses.

Akaashi walked up to them. "Nah, Bokuto's the worst. His spiking practice goes on forever, it's like he never stops."

"And I've been too busy training this bumbling idiot over here," Kuroo motioned to Lev, who protested and said he would block more. "Oh, be quiet!"

He walked over to Bokuto, poking at his head. "He may not look it, but this goofy fella is one of the five best spikers in this entire nation. He'll be some awesome practice for ya."

Akaashi placed a hand on his hip, smirking, "Yeah but I think he's still upset that he's not in the top three anymore, though."

Kuroo patted his shoulder. "There, there."

"Why do you say all that nice stuff just to tear me down?!"

"Anyways, skinny jeans. You are a middle blocker, so don't you think you oughta practice your blocking once in a while, pal?" Kuroo had the same shit-eating smirk he did when he bullied his opponents.

Tsukishima looked positively pissed, eyes twitching as he walked up to them and pushed past Kuroo, purposely bumping shoulders with him. The first-year glanced at you, and you looked right back, but he looked away as fast as possible, staring directly at the court in front of him.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Tsukishima tried to block Bokuto's spikes, but they were just too strong and bounced off his hand in a similar way they did to you.

They were only stopped when Kuroo decided to double up with Tsukishima, blocking his friend's spikes as if they were nothing.

"Woohoo!" Kuroo cheered, throwing his arms up. 

"One more!" Bokuto yelled out. Kuroo looked over at you—watching silently. 

"Y/N! Do a triple with us, would ya?" He grinned.

"Her?" It wasn't condescending, Tsukishima's tone, but it was more confused. However... you did take it as condescending.

"Sure." You stood up, tapping your feet a little as you walked to the court. Akaashu glanced at you for a second, then set the ball up, Bokuto jumping to get it.

You looked to where he was jumping, and jumped up, outstretching your hands. You reached up as far as you could, and he spiked it right in your direction, and the ball just bounced off your hand, however, it didn't go as far as before, only falling behind you this time.

"Nice!" Kuroo praised, and you only shook your head, turning away and glancing at Tsukishima from behind you, who had a look that you couldn't figure out. "You better stop dragging your feet there, skinny, or carrot-tops' going to take all the glory for himself before not much longer. He's a middle blocker too."

The undecipherable look Tsukishima had was replaced with another one, one that you could only describe as defeat. "Um yeah, I don't really think there's much I can do about that. I mean, let's be honest, there's a big difference in potential between Hinata and me."

Before anybody could speak, others started walking in. Inuoka ran over, excited. "Oh, hey! You guys practicing spikes again? Want me to block some? I'm happy to!"

Yaku rolled his eyes, glaring daggers at the half-dead half-russian boy. "Geez, Lev, stop rolling around on the floor and work on your receives."

"UGHHH—I'm tired!"

"Can't you just say you're tired?!"

Tsukishima smiled, but it seemed clearly forced. "Well, anyway, it looks like my job here is done." He walked away before anybody could react.

"Wh—Hey, wait!"

Akaashi deadpanned. "I think you might've just struck a little nerve just there, Kuroo. Nice move."

Bokuto smirked smugly. "You pissed him off. C'mon Kuroo, I thought you had better people skills than that," he mocked.

You roll your eyes and stand up again. "I'm going to sleep. Bye."

"Wait—not you, too!" Kuroo yelled as you walked out, but you paid no mind to him.

The walk back to your room was silent, and you only could hear the sound of your heels repeatedly hitting the concrete floor. You never really paid much attention to Tsukishima before, only writing him off as an asshole who didn't care about people's feelings.

But now...

You look up at the night sky that surrounds you.

You noticed how his mood was affected by the mention of Hinata outshining him. He had just accepted it. He didn't even want to try, because he knew Hinata would always be better.

You open the door and press your lips tightly together at the faces of every manager, except Karasuno, asleep in their bags, snoring away.

You slip into your own, head on your pillow and staring at the ceiling.

The first day of the training camp was now officially over.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ