"SHŌYŌ, WHERE WERE YOU?"...

     shiyumi flinched, as she noticed a dim light coming from kozume's game console, which illuminated the lower half of his face.

the room was dark considering oikawa and atsumu had went to bed at a reasonable time, leaving only kozume to stay up gaming.

"I...umm...I went out with suna-san, and then we stretched and practiced a little — well, mostly me — but yeah...sorry...", shiyumi mumbled, slowly approaching the pudding-headed boy.

kozume sighed, as he was about to reprimand the girl for overexerting herself again, but then shiyumi had held out her hand.

kozume made a confused expression.

"may I please have your hand? I got you something while I was out", shiyumi stated.

kozume hesitantly extended his hand, gently placing it on top of shiyumi's smaller one.

"I noticed how your hands get cold before matches, so these are for you. there's cat prints on them and they're reusable", shiyumi quietly explained.

kozume lightly squeezed the heating pack, shifting his gaze upwards, as he smiled at shiyumi.

"shōyō, you're too thoughtful".

shiyumi just lightly chuckled.

"not really...I'm just a little more observant than others", shiyumi admitted.

     "do you like it?"

     "yes. thank you", kozume mumbled.

     "you should go shower and sleep though. tomorrow's going to be a long day".

     "right! thank you for always looking out for me, kenma", shiyumi smiled, gently squeezing kozume's hand in appreciation.

     kozume watched the girl get up and leave for the bathroom, as he squished the heating pack against his cheek.

     "warm like the sun...", he murmured.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"aw shit! the plug wasn't all the way in and now my phone's dead!", shiyumi whined, correctly charging her phone now, as she got ready for the day.

"so shōyō, how're ya feeling?", atsumu asked, as the orange-haired girl was once again eating breakfast with the inarizaki team, since it has now become a habit for her to clean the gym with kita in the mornings.

"yeah. feel any different?", osamu chimed in.

"uhh...no? is something wrong?", shiyumi asked, wondering why she had felt that more people were staring at her than usual.

'ya have got to be kidding me! does he not even remember his own birthday?!'

     "shōyō, you should eat more so that you have more energy for today", kita advised, giving one of his blueberry pancakes to the girl.

     "oh, thanks kita-san!"

     the twins obnoxiously gasped, as they watched kita willingly offer his food to the orange-haired first-year.

     suna just quietly observed, as ojiro had reminded the twins to eat faster since morning practice was about to start soon.

     "CHIBI-CHAN~ ARE YOU DONE WITH BREAKFAST YET?", oikawa loudly asked, tilting shiyumi's head backwards, as she had swallowed her last piece of pancake.

     "yeah. is something the matter, oikawa-san?"

     oikawa's hands sandwiched the girl's face, as he playfully pinched her cheeks and flicked her forehead.

"why do you always call me by my last name? you should address me casually like you do with the twins", oikawa whined.

"eh? but you're older than me. wouldn't that be disrespectful?"

     "what do you mean? the miya twins are second-years", oikawa stated.

     "eh?"

     shiyumi then turned her head to see osamu and atsumu fighting over each others' food, causing her to truly question if they were older than her.

     "I know they don't seem like it, but they really are second-years", suna chimed in.

     shiyumi nearly dropped her fork, if it weren't for oikawa softly snickering.

     "I-I'M SORRY FOR CALLING YOU BOTH BY YOUR NICKNAMES, ATSUMU-SAN AND OSAMU-SAN!", shiyumi apologized, standing up and bowing in embarrassment, as the twins had momentarily stopped bickering.

     "huh?"

"why're ya apologizing?", atsumu asked, genuinely confused.

"yeah. don't be weird, shōyō-kun. we're fine with the nicknames", osamu assured.

shiyumi had then fiddled with her thumbs, looking over towards kita, as if expecting his approval.

"if atsumu and osamu are fine with it, they truly mean it", kita stated.

"ANYWAYS, let's go to practice, chibi-chan!! and start calling me tōru", oikawa demanded.

shiyumi cleaned up her trash and waved goodbye to the inarizaki members, as she wished to confirm if it was really alright for her to do so.

"a-are you sure?"

"yep!!", the brown-haired captain exclaimed, wringing his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"we're friends, aren't we?"

"O-OF COURSE!! it's just that...I-I have great respect for you — not that I don't for 'samu and 'tsumu — but I really look up to you, ya know?", shiyumi admitted.

oikawa glanced down at shiyumi, momentarily stopping in their tracks.

"really?"

"mhm!! I really admire the way you spike! I get why ushijima-senpai always wants to recruit you for shiratorizawa, especially since you're also one of those players that seem to be able to bring out the best out of those around you", shiyumi explained, recalling back to when she had watched oikawa work with bokuto, aone, and tendō.

oikawa's eyes slightly widened in surprise, as the girl was indeed more observant than what he had assumed.

"ah...I'm sorry...did I overshare?", shiyumi asked, concerned that she would be labeled as a stalker, when in reality, her eyes just seem to focus on players that she found impressive — which was almost everyone here.

oikawa chuckled, ruffling shiyumi's hair, as he had continued guiding her to the gym.

the captain could tell how sincere the girl was, to which he had truly appreciated her words of flattery.

"you're such a natural suck up, chibi-chan!", oikawa teased.

     "I—"

     "I was just kidding. don't get mad", oikawa quickly followed up.

     shiyumi huffed, even as to crossing her arms.

     "I try to be nice to you and this is what I receive. you're a meanie, tōru!"

     oikawa only smiled wider, as he shrugged.

     "then what can I do to compensate, shōyō?"

     "mm...carry me to the gym! give me a piggyback ride, because I'm tired", shiyumi playfully commanded.

     "but you just woke up! and we're basically here already".

     shiyumi pouted even more, causing oikawa to snort.

     "okay okay, get on and try not to fall. this'll probably be the tallest you'll ever be anyways", oikawa joked.

     shiyumi gently slapped the captain's shoulder, as she hopped onto his back.

     "and now we enter the gym!!", shiyumi happily pointed.

     "hai, chibi-chan~"

▃▃▃▃

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: there's a beach episode coming up in a few chapters, which is basically a fan servi—I mean, VERY important to the plot.

     so please give it a vote and comment!! thank you babes <33