SHIYUMI WAS WRONG...

not only had the girl arrived at practice late with no breakfast — because she refused to change without going into the bathroom — she had done the unthinkable.

'man...what time is lunch again? I hope they're serving udon noddles with tempura tod—'

"HINATA! WHY AREN'T YOU SERVING?!", the referee shouted, blowing his whistle at the same time, as shiyumi had accidentally threw the ball up in the air and spiked it.

"W-WAIT, I—"

     it was too late; the volleyball had already graciously went straight for kageyama's head.

     everyone stopped and gawked.

     "PFTT!! NICE HEADSHOT!", tsukishima laughed.

     "NICE KILL!!", tanaka added on.

     "p-please...I—"

     "oya?"

     "oya oya?"

     "oya, oya, oya!"

     "CHIBI-CHAN, NICE JOB!", oikawa shouted, giving the girl a peace sign, as iwaizumi slapped his hand to stop him from embarrassing shiyumi any further.

     kageyama suddenly snapped around like a twig, calmly walking towards the orange-haired girl, who was stiffly backing into a wall.

"k-k-kageyama...l-listen, I know I messed up. I'm sorry okay?! I'M SORRY!! PLEASE, FORGIVE ME!", shiyumi cried, feeling extra tiny with the dark-haired boy looming over her.

"what were you spacing out for, huh?", kageyama asked.

"say...what's scarier than you hitting my head with a ball? hm?", the talented setter lowly questioned.

"n-n-nothing...?"

"exactly. so quit spacing out and focus!", kageyama stated, walking off, as shiyumi just nodded.

     the boy that was on the opposite team was then seen glaring at her, as if telling her that it's his turn.

     shiyumi slightly bowed in apology, as she returned back to the center of the court.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"nice kill!", atsumu complimented, as him and hoshiumi raised their hands to give kageyama a high-five.

"alright! this'll conclude today's practice. you may all head off to dinner except for hinata..."

the girl had tuned out as soon as her name was called out once again.

'I should really work on my serves...'

"shōyō, should I save you a seat?", yachi asked, bringing the girl out of her thoughts.

"ah, no thanks. I'll be okay by myself tonight", the orange-haired girl assured.

"really?"

"yeah! you should go eat dinner now. you've been working hard all day", shiyumi smiled.

yachi hesitantly nodded, excusing herself.

"then...if you don't need anything else, I'll see you tomorrow".

"yep!! see you tomorrow!", shiyumi waved, as everyone had soon filtered out.

shiyumi then turned towards those who were supposed to clean up with her.

"I can take care of the cleaning tonight if you guys don't mind!", shiyumi shouted.

"w-wait, really?!"

"mhm!! just stay here for a while so people don't get suspicious. I want to practice a little more anyways, so..."

"gotcha!", one of them grinned, giving shiyumi a thumbs up, as the gym was now all to herself.

though just as she was about to pick up a volleyball, shiyumi's phone had rung.

     "moshi, moshi~"

     "ah, hinata! how's camp been? I heard you hit kageyama in the head with a ball today", coach ukai chuckled.

     "THEY TOLD YOU ALREADY?! ugh, I already apologized and it's not like I meant to hit his head...", shiyumi muttered.

     "mm, are you practicing your serves right now?", ukai asked.

     "HOW'D YOU KNOW?! are you secretly spying on us, coach?"

     "I know you, carrot top. every time you mess something up, you'll be working extra hard to constitute for your own shortcomings".

     "was that a pun just now, coach?", shiyumi laughed.

     ukai sighed.

     "that wasn't the point. take good care of yourself. I don't want any of my members to fall sick or such".

     "yes sir!", shiyumi promised.

     "alright. well if you don't need anything else, I'll be hanging up now".

     "you have a good evening, coach".

     shiyumi then begun her serving regime, attempting to recreate how atsumu, ushijima, and oikawa served.

     it wasn't until almost midnight that oikawa had spoke up about shiyumi's nonexistence.

     "is chibi-chan just having a really long dinner or am I just a terrible senpai and haven't noticed him for the past few hours?"

kozume suddenly flinched, as he was used to being carried away by his games.

"I...haven't seen him since practice..."

"eh? maybe shōyō-kun's hanging out with the rest of the crows. I wouldn't worry too much about him", atsumu casually dismissed.

and so for the rest of the night, the three had completed their nightly routine and headed to bed.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

kita had woken up early like usual, leaving the other captains, as he made sure to brush his teeth for exactly two minutes straight.

the third-year had then headed towards the gym, where he was sure that he would be the first there.

     however, he was awfully wrong.

     there on the cold floorboards laid a sleeping shiyumi with nothing but a volleyball net covering her shivering figure.

     kita had immediately approached the girl, kneeling beside her, as he quietly observed her for a moment.

     the gray-haired boy hovered his hand above shiyumi's head, seemingly to be in a dilemma on how he should wake her.

     kita had then shedded off his inarizaki jacket, replacing it in stead of the net that loosely draped over the girl.

shiyumi then squirmed around a bit, seemingly to appreciate the warmth, as kita's fingers had unconsciously caressed the girl's cheekbone.

     the orange-haired girl flinched at that contact and immediately started screaming.

     "no...NO! GET AWAY, TSUKKI-SAURUS!", shiyumi yelled, instantly sitting upwards and causing her to bonk heads with kita.

     "AH, KITA-SAN! I'M SO SO SO SORRY!!", shiyumi choked, still trying to fully grasp her surroundings.

     "it's fine. why were you sleeping on the floor?"

     "oh...I umm....I got tired after practicing all night and accidentally fell asleep?", shiyumi lightly chuckled.

     "that's not good for your body or the cleanliness of the floor. you shouldn't do that ever again", kita advised.

     "h-hai! apologies for being a menace", shiyumi mumbled.

     "menace is a strong word. forgetful is a better term", kita corrected.

"I already said I'm sorry, kita-san. no need to tease me about it", shiyumi pouted.

"then you should go back to your dorm and freshen up. breakfast will start soon, and I assume you didn't eat dinner since I don't recall seeing you last night", kita stated.

"oh yeah! thank you", shiyumi exclaimed, wobbling upwards as she noticed that she had a deep red jacket with black stripes in her hands.

"keep it for now", kita said.

"okay! thanks, kita-san!"

kita just nodded, as he begun his cleaning ritual once more, except this time, there was a slight smile on his face.