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"So... does anybody know how to cook?" Eri tapped her fingers together, nervously. Her pigtails swished from side to side as she peered at each of you girls, face faltering when there was uncomfortable silence. She was Ubugawa's manager, you think. The team with the really good serves.

"Uh... I know how to eat!" Yukie, Fukurodani's first manager smiled, piping up. "Mmm... I have so many ideas... roasted pork with vegetables, or a stackered beef patty!"

"Yukie, stop drooling all over me." Kaori, Fukurodani's second manager, pushed the redhead away and rolled her eyes. "I can cook some simple things, like rice... but I'm not sure that it's anything special."

"That's a huge help, Kaori!" Eri gave her a big thumbs up. "Okay! So Kaori is on rice duty... Does anybody know how to cook meat?"

"I do!" Mako, Shinzen's manager, raised her hand and smiled cutely. "I cook for my brothers all the time, so I can be super time efficient."

That was something that you all needed to be, because there was less than an hour before those boys all were supposed to wake up, and you were sure they were hungry. Like a wild pack of animals, you could almost envision F/N's thoughts just by her expression—a mix of terror and amusement.

"Okay! Anybody doing vegetables?" Eri looked around, meeting the eyes of Kiyoko. "Kiyoko! You look like you know how to cook. Can you do the vegetables?"

"I'll try," she smiled softly, tying her hair up in a high ponytail.

"I'll do them, too!" Yachi squeaked, raising her hand shyly. "I mean... the more vegetables we have, the better, right? It's good to be healthy!"

"Right! You go, girl!" Eri pumped her first up, meeting your eyes. "Hey, Y/N-chan! Do you think you can help serve everything? It'll be a total huge help!" She put her hands together in a pleading motion.

"Sure." You nodded, watching as her eyes twinkled and lit up at your words. "I don't mind. F/N can help."

"You can count on me, Eri-chan!" She saluted.

"Alright! Teamwork!" She gave F/N a high-five and placed her hands on her hips. "My job is... To keep Yukie from eating everything!"

"Aww..." The girl pouted, stretching out her legs in her seat.

"You gave yourself the easiest job..." Mako deadpanned.

Eri only laughed righteously again, the insult bouncing off of her invincible suit of armour.

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"We got watermelons!" Eri cheered, raising the big, green fruit above her head and stumbling a bit when she realised how heavy it was. "Wo—Woah!"

You placed a hand on her back to stabilize her, and she only looked at you with flushed cheeks and sparkles in her eyes.

"Thanks, Y/N-chan!" She grinned, placing the fruit on the cutting board and turning to the other girls. "Okay! Let's serve these out."

You all got to cut the many fruits and place them on plates, walking out with them in your hands to the boys. You looked through the doorway, and they looked exhausted. You assumed they had to do uphill laps a few more times than necessary again.

"Everyone!" Eri called out, a soft lilt in her voice, "The Shinzen High School club parents came! They brought us watermelon!"

With many thanks and praises, you all sat outside and ate the watermelon slices together. You held a plate in your hands, and before you knew it, they were all gone, and you were just left standing there, dumbly, with an empty plate in your hands.

There were whispers and loud thanks, as you switched plates with F/N once again. "Your watermelon must be extra good, Y/N-sama!"

"Please don't say that."

"Don't worry! I'll get some more!" She rushed off, holding the empty plate. And left you all alone.

You let out a long, dreary sigh, and walked away. Once again, the fruit on your plate was gone before you even blinked, and you only heard distant thank yous and whispers while you walked.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Once again, Karasuno had to do a ridiculous amount of flying laps after many poor losses, leading late into the night.

"Woah! Tsukishima just totally turned Kou down!" F/N oh-ed in surprise. "What's his deal? Ugh."

"Maybe he's just tired." You sigh, clutching your head. "I know I sure am." 

Tsukishima walked out, and soon after, Tadashi did too. He was making a really weird noise.

"I wonder what that's about," F/N murmured, as you yawned, closing your eyes.

"I wonder. I'm going to sleep. I can... do more wondering in the morning," you walk away, F/N rushing after you. She smiled, laughing at your words.

Y/N-sama is so silly when she's tired!

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"Bokkun is sure intense today!" F/N gripped onto her seat, leaning forward. You crossed your legs and looked at her. "I mean, his straight spikes are crazy!"

"I think they're called line shots," you flick her on the side of her head and she whined.

"Sorry!"

You placed a finger under your chin, tilting your head upwards. "But you're right. He looks ten times more intense today."

Bokuto barely grazed the ball with his fingertips, sending it over Tsukishima's hand, and down to the ground.

"So graceful!" F/N commented, laughing.

"Hey! I heard that, you little—!" He glared at her, but it only made her laugh even harder, holding her sides and howling. You covered your mouth with your hand and turned your head away, shoulders shaking. Once he had noticed you, his face grew red and he turned away.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚

Hinata and Kageyama talked for the first time since they had their fight, but it was only Hinata yelling at him that he was going easy on Hinata. It almost looked like it was going to get physical, but Takeda called for a timeout before anything could happen.

You stare at them, brows furrowing and eyes narrowing without even realising it. F/N didn't even acknowledge your intense stare, too concerned about them as well.

"Their relationship has gotten much worse..." F/N mumbled, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Her posture was rigid and looked as if she wanted to reach out—but she never did.

"I mean—I think Hinata is being a bit... strange. I don't think Kageyama is the type of guy to go easy on somebody if he didn't think they could do better." You fold your legs on your chair and write down a few bullet points in your notebook that were situated on your lap. F/N tilted her head to look up at you and frowned. "Sure it wasn't a falling set. But I don't think it's something to get all pissed over."

"Shoyo's always been like that," F/N smiled, then laughed a little, swinging her legs. "He's always been super touchy about people underestimating him, sure—but it's probably even worse for him when it's Kageyama. I know I'd be pretty mad."

"True," you nod. "Kageyama adjusting to make him hit the balls probably meant, in Shoyo's eyes, that he wasn't good enough otherwise."

"This time, I don't even know whose side to be on," she muttered with a glare directed at the two. "I mean—Kageyama's trying to be nicer, I guess. In his own Kageyama way."

You look up from your notebook, only to feel somebody's stare on your back. You look around and meet the eyes of Kenma—staring at you questionly as if asking what is going on. The rest of his teammates were focused on both Kageyama and Hinata and what they were doing, visibly confused.

You only give a small shrug and shake your head 'no' at his silent question, and his face drops before he turns around to talk with Kuroo.

"Maybe they should take some time away from each other," you say lowly, mostly to yourself—and it seems that F/N noticed that, and stayed silent for the rest of the game.

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"Is that really what happened, Hitoka?" F/N covered her mouth with her hand with wide eyes. The blonde girl nodded, nose scrunching up. 

"Yeah. Their friendship is getting super tense. I don't even know if you can call them friends anymore..." Yachi frowned, eyes trained down to the ground. "Every time they talk, it's always about volleyball or yelling or arguing or all three."

"And they're not practising together anymore, right?" You ask, and place a hand on her shoulder when her head drops and she nods silently. "Well, maybe that's a good thing."

"H—How?" She tilts her head up at you and squints. "Doesn't that mean that their relationship will get even worse? They're not even training together anymore..."

F/N shook her head wildly and started skipping along. "No way! Y/N-sama even mentioned this when she was watching them fight! She knows what she's talking about!"

You look away with your lips pressed tightly together. "Right, thanks F/N." You ignore her little thanks with blushy cheeks and look directly at Yachi. "Sometimes, time apart is good for relationships to develop. Spending all of your time with one person isn't good if you two are starting to develop bad blood. Interacting with other people and socialising is a good way for people to learn more and help solve the problems they have."

She stared up at you with bright, sparkling eyes for a second, before her cheeks went pink and she nodded, a smile stretching across her lips. "Right... That's right, L/N-san! You're right... maybe this isn't a bad thing."

"See!" F/N responded proudly, hands on her hips. 

"It's nothing to worry over, Hitoka," you look down at her, and place your hands behind your back as you walk, tilting your head up to look at the sky. "They're not the ones to pay attention to, anyways."

"Huh? What do you mean?" 

You swallow—as if you were embarrassed—and speak, "I mean—isn't Tsukishima more worrying?"

"Now I'm pretty confused, Y/N-sama," F/N scratches her cheek, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong with Tsukishima? He's the same as always, a huge assface."

"Yeah... He doesn't seem all that different from usual," Yachi shrugged, a nervous smile on her lips. "Even though I don't know him that well, he looks fine."

"I don't know him that well either." You shake your head. "In fact, I think he's the only one on the team I don't have at least a little bit of a friendship with. We've never talked. Even so, he looks so..."

You can't find the words to describe it.

"Lonely."

F/N looks even more confused, bewildered at your choice of words. "How is he lonely? He always has Tadashi by his side! They're like, best bros!"

"Not in that way. He is always surrounded by people. But in volleyball, doesn't he look so much different from everyone else?" You tried to explain, and it seemed that only Yachi got what you were saying.

"Oh, I get it." She nodded and placed a finger on her chin. "Even the people on the bench like Kinoshita and Tadashi look more fired up than he does. Every game, he always looks the same. Like he's bored, and it enunciates the gap between him and everyone else."

She paused. Then looked back at you. "You're kinda right, Y/N. He..." Yachi looks up to the sky, a full moon on a clear display without any clouds blocking its shine. It was the first time in a while actually, that Hitoka had seen the moon so clearly—without the sun blocking its view.

"Tsukishima does seem lonely."

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