LUNCH AND PRACTICE...

ended with coach hibarida telling shiyumi and yachi to go retrieve some supplies for him.

     in reality, it was just an excuse to get shiyumi to leave the vicinity, but the girl had taken this time to grab her fully charged phone before leaving.

     "huh? what's with all these missed calls from natsu?", shiyumi mumbled, facetiming the youngest hinata, as yachi had let shiyumi borrow her earbuds.

     meanwhile yachi bought the supplies, shiyumi was instructed to wait for her outside the convenience store on the bench.

     "hel—"

     "YUMI! WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP EARLIER?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I TRIED TO CALL YOU TODAY?!", natsu yelled, clearly displeased, as there was a large frown on her face.

     "I...I was practicing, and my phone was dead, so I didn't see your calls until now. I'm sorry, natsu, but what's wrong?", shiyumi asked.

     "WHAT'S WRONG?! DID YOU FORGET WHAT'S THE DATE TODAY?!"

     "u-umm...I know it's not your birthday...", shiyumi awkwardly chuckled.

     "yeah, obviously!! because it's yours! how did you forget such an important day?!"

     "huh? no way!! my birthday isn't until a few more days! today's—"

     "natsu, are you calling yumi right now?", the girls' mother questioned.

"yep!! and she even forgot her own birthday! can you believe it?!", natsu tattled.

shiyumi could hear ikumi lightly chuckle through the phone.

"natsu, let me speak to yumi for a bit. can you go get the cake out of the fridge for me please?"

natsu huffed, as she stomped off, meanwhile ikumi had taken a seat where her youngest daughter was sitting.

"yumi, how've you been? did you have a good birthday today?", ikumi asked.

     "oh...umm...yeah!!", shiyumi answered.

     ikumi softly sighed.

     "I do hope you're having a good birthday, shiyumi. sixteen is another milestone in your life. and I know it's a bit different this year, since you won't be spending it with us...with...shōyō..."

     shiyumi's lips slightly parted, seemingly to want to say something, but barely able to find her voice.

     "but I do hope you're having a great birthday! natsu and I love you so much!! we'll celebrate once you get back, okay?", ikumi bitterly smiled.

     "y-yeah! don't worry about me! you two should get to the hospital before it's too late. and...and...."

     the orange-haired girl hesitated, feeling a lump form in her throat as she lowly uttered out her next sentence.

     "tell shōyō happy birthday for me..."

     ikumi just nodded, as she hastily hung up, meanwhile yachi had came out with all the groceries.

     "yumi, are you ready to head bac—"

     yachi paused in her sentence, as she watched shiyumi messily try to wipe her few tears away.

     "y-yeah! you got everything you need? here, let me help you carry some of it", shiyumi mumbled, snatching a few of the plastic bags, as yachi had just kept quiet.

     "is...is everything okay?", she hesitantly asked.

     "yeah...just...some dust got in my eyes", shiyumi lied.

     yachi just nodded, as she stopped in front of the gym doors.

     "well, whatever it is, just know that you're not alone", yachi smiled.

     shiyumi raised a brow in confusion, as yachi pushed open the double doors.

     "hitoka, what are we doing here anyways? isn't coach waiting for us? and the lights are of—"

     "SURPRISEEEE!!", everyone shouted, as the lights flashed on, and shiyumi was greeted by her entire team along with the others.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HINATA!!", a few shouted.

     "w-what..."

     "HEHE!! YOUR AMAZING SENPAIS KNEW IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!", tanaka shouted.

     "SO WE ASKED COACH IF WE COULD HOUSE THE OTHER KARASUNO MEMBERS HERE FOR THE NIGNT!", nishinoya finished.

     "happy birthday, hinata! now make sure you all don't stay up too late. we still have practice tomorrow", hibarida reminded, as he left the boys and managers to party.

     sugawara had then enveloped shiyumi into a tight hug, as the rest of karasuno huddled around the girl.

     "happy to see us? took us hours to get here!", sawamura laughed.

     "hinata?"

     everyone quieted down, as they saw the orange ball of sunshine start to break into tears.

     ever since shōyō was admitted into the hospital, shiyumi has always spent their birthday at the hospital with him.

     this was the first time without him, and yachi was sure that with the others around, shiyumi would at least feel slightly better.

     "a-are you crying?!", azumane asked, worried that this was a bad idea.

     "I-I'M NOT!! MY EYES JUST HAVE DUST IN THEM! ASK HITOKA!", shiyumi loudly denied, causing those around her to chuckle.

     "yeah sureeee", tsukishima snorted.

     "tsukki, don't patronize him!", sugawara reprimanded, causing the blonde crow to softly huff.

     "anyways, we've got a whole night planned out for you!", sawamura announced.

"r-really?"

"yup! you're going to be the star of each team! first up is—"

     "AOBO JOHSAI!!", oikawa interrupted.

     "DATE TECH!", futakuchi announced.

     both captains then snapped their heads towards each other, as they displayed their usual phony smiles.

"I thought we all collectively agreed that hinata would be playing for date tech first", futakuchi airily laughed.

"I was sure that the captain of karasuno said aobo johsai~", oikawa rebutted.

"actually, pretty sure nekoma was first on the list", kuroo grinned, holding up a sheet of paper that had all the teams — that had decided to show up — listed in order.

both oikawa and futakuchi had immediately shut up, as that was the only "valid" evidence available as of currently.

     "tch! whatever", oikawa muttered, totally not salty that aobo johsai wasn't first.

     "s-so you're saying that I get to play volleyball with everyone?", shiyumi asked, finally to have registered the whole ordeal.

"yep! though there's a lot of teams, so you'll only get about seven minutes with each", kuroo explained.

shiyumi wondered if this was heaven.

     'I GET TO PLAY WITH ALL THESE TALENTED PLAYERS?! I AM BLESSED'.

     "shōyō, this is lev. he's even worse than you", kozume introduced.

     "haiba lev! nice to meet you, chibi-chan!"

     "nice to meet you too, haiba-san!"

     "you don't have to be formal with him, shōyō. everyone calls him lev. he's a first-year just like you", kozume explained.

     "sorry to interrupt, but I'm yaku morisuke — the libero of nekoma", the 165 centimeter boy stated.

     "ohhhh!! you're yakkun!! I've heard kenma and noya-senpai talk about you!!", shiyumi exclaimed.

     "noya-senpai thinks you're a very talented libero, since he also plays that position as well, ya know?", the girl whispered, causing the boy with light brown hair to embarrassingly chuckle.

     "is that so?"

     "mhm!! and he says that you're—"

     "SO YOU'RE FROM THE TEAM WITH THE PRETTY AND CUTE MANAGERS, HUH?!", a boy who's attitude that was very similar to tanaka's, had asked.

     "I-I....ummm....y-yes?"

     "yamamoto stop it. you're scaring him", yaku reprimanded.

     "he's yamamoto taketora. I just call him tora", kozume chimed in.

     "oh, tora-senpai! nice to meet you!", shiyumi bowed.

     yamamoto huffed, crossing his arms, as he was still petty about not having pretty managers, or any at all.

     "now that you've met the team — the ones that are here anyways — you get to pick who you want us to go up against!", kuroo stated, as all of the other players were seated on the bleachers, munching on snacks.

     "huh? that's easy! karasuno for sure!!", shiyumi grinned.

     "ah, we get to play against karasuno with chibi-chan?! I'm truly honored", kuroo fake sniffled.

     "OH BRING IT ON!!", tanaka yelled.

     "OH YEAH?! WE'RE ABOUT TO WRECK YOU ALL!!", yamamoto proclaimed.

     "TRY YOUR BEST, CITY BOYYY!!"