"EAT SLOWER"...

kita advised, as he watched the two first-years shove rice and curry into their mouths.

     "they only learn from the best", tsukishima snorted, obviously being sarcastic, as both tanaka and nishinoya were also aggressively chomping down on dinner.

     "oi, tsukki! don't talk like you're better than us!", nishinoya yelled, playfully snatching the blonde boy's glasses, as tsukishima had cracked a grin.

shiyumi suddenly felt her pelvis disagree with her, as she instantaneously stood up to rush to the bathroom.

yachi took this time to nudge kageyama, who almost choked on his curry.

"kageyama, tomorrow is yu—shōyō's birthday, and I wanted to do something special for him. but I'm not exactly sure what to do. do you have any suggestions?"

kageyama raised a brow.

"it's boke's birthday tomorrow?"

"HUH? IT'S SHŌYŌ'S BIRTHDAY TOMORROW?!", tanaka loudly repeated, causing everyone to murmur amongst themselves.

     "WE SHOULD THROW A PARTY!", the captain of johzenji — terushima yūji — randomly suggested.

no one was really surprised, as johzenji's volleyball team had a reputation for being a "party team".

however, it wasn't necessarily a bad idea, at least according to yachi.

     "that sounds great! we can totally meet after dinner and figure something out!", yachi exclaimed.

     everyone who decided to attend the party just continued whispering amongst themselves.

     "kiyoomi, will you be attending the party tomorrow?", komori motoya — the cousin of sakusa — asked.

     "absolutely not. I don't even know him", sakusa answered without any hesitation.

     "well then you can get to know him. and plus, it's his birthday! the least you could do is show up, say happy birthday, and leave", komori persuaded.

     sakusa furrowed his brows, wondering what had gotten into everyone. they were supposed to be focusing on volleyball, not some random boy's birthday.

     "fine. but as soon as I say happy birthday, I'm leaving. and not even you can stop me".

"hai, hai~", komori hummed.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

     "where are you going this late?", suna asked, as he was just about to head for the elevator.

     "oh, suna-san! I was actually gonna go for a jog...and maybe practice some more. how about you?", shiyumi asked, as light jogging usually helped with her period cramps.

     "I was just snacking on some chuupets", suna answered.

     "chuupets?"

     suna nodded, as he scavenged his pockets for an orange flavored jelly stick.

     "try it", he offered.

"wow thanks!! they're actually pretty good!", shiyumi exclaimed.

     "which reminds me, would you like to go take a jog and stretch with me? I've seen your spikes before, and I was kinda wondering how you got your body to do that", the girl rambled, sucking the jelly out of the tube.

     "what move?", suna asked, not exactly wanting to exercise more than he already has to, though shiyumi had taken that as a sign to drag him along.

     the short girl clung onto suna's right arm, as she ushered him out the center and into the evening breeze.

"the one where your body goes horizontal when you spike!"

'should I tell him? it's not like he'll be able to replicate it anyways...'

"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand that some people like to keep their techniques to themselves, because that's what makes them special", shiyumi smiled.

suna raised a brow in confusion.

"did I speak earlier?"

"huh? umm...no? why?", shiyumi asked, still unconsciously gripping onto the male's arm, as her eyes caught sight of the nearby convenience store that she had once attended with osamu.

"nothing really....but it's my shoulders and my torso...I can rotate them to widen my range of attack", suna briefly explained, not particularly minding the close contact.

     "REALLY?! THAT'S SO COOL!! no wonder I hear people say that you're one of the best middle blockers at nationals", shiyumi praised.

     'is he purposely trying to suck up to me? maybe that's how he got kita and the twins to like him'.

     "by the way, suna-san, can we head over to the convenience store? I wish to get a few things, and maybe we can share some of those chuupets", shiyumi suggested, licking her lips as jelly sticks were about to become her new addiction.

"sure", the brown-haired male plainly answered, not one to really express his thoughts out loud.

as suna found the snacks asile, shiyumi had released his arm and scattered off to who knows where.

"u-umm, excuse me!", a soft feminine voice called out, causing suna to turn around with two packs of jelly sticks in his arms.

two girls — who seemed around the age of 17 — had approached the slightly drowsy male.

"yes?", suna asked, noticing that shiyumi was already at the cash register paying for something he couldn't exactly make out.

"w-we were wondering...if we could maybe get your number? we think you're really cute, and so—"

     "SUNA-SAN!! WHERE ARE YO—oh! sorry!! did I interrupt something?", shiyumi asked, innocently walking into a situation that she was not expecting.

"sorry, but my boyfriend's the jealous type", suna lowly whispered, his pristine voice causing shiyumi and the other two girls to shiver, as he slithered his arm around shiyumi's waist.

     shiyumi stood there stunned, still in the middle of processing suna's words, as the two girls before them had quickly bowed in apology.

     "s-sorry!! we didn't know you two were..."

     the two of them had then scurried off, as suna had tapped shiyumi's shoulder, snapping her out of her trance.

"you okay?"

"y-yeah! did you get the snacks by the way?"

"let me pay first", suna stated, as shiyumi waited outside on the bench for him.

suna then softly hummed in curiosity, as he saw the orange-haired girl aggressively shaking around two of the four square packets.

"what're those for?", suna asked, sitting beside shiyumi, who had suspiciously snickered to herself.

"close your eyes and give me both your hands", the girl immediately demanded.

     "why...?"

     "hey! I didn't question you when you claimed me as your 'boyfriend', did I now?", shiyumi sassed.

     suna just blankly stared at her, softly clicking his tongue, as he shut his golden eyes.

    'whatever he has in store for me can't be that bad...'

suna then felt a soft and slightly warm packet being placed in both of his hands.

"you can open your eyes now", shiyumi stated, to which suna's brows had knitted together in confusion.

sensing his failure to understand what they were, shiyumi proceeded to clear her throat to explain.

"they're heating packs. I see you — and kenma — always sticking your hands in your shorts, so I thought that these would help. look! they even have cute fox designs on them and they're reusable!", shiyumi exclaimed.

suna did indeed notice the little cartoon-shaped fox heads that were patterned all over the fabric of the heating squares — which for some reason oddly reminded him of the miya twins, ojiro, and kita.

'is he trying to get me to crack? because that won't work on me'.

shiyumi then physically helped curl suna's fingers so that he could feel the warmness emitting from the tiny packet.

her own hands encased only one of suna's, as she looked up at him, like she was expecting him to say something.

"do you like it? do you think you'll use it before games? I mean, you don't have to, but I just thought that it'd be a better way to warm your hands up before matches", shiyumi explained, seemingly to have overlooked the incoming rouge that had somehow managed to blossom across the boy's repressing expression.

     "it's...nice...", suna mumbled, slyly observing the first-year before him.

     "very warm..."