OBVIOUSLY KARASUNO HAD WON...

     it was really hard not to, especially when you have one (half) russian and one shorty attempt to spike with a setter that they weren't super familiar with.

     although yaku was a substantial libero, there was only so many balls that he could save from hitting the ground.

     and with shiyumi unable to perform her quick attack, she was basically useless.

     "OI OI~ did you purposely lose to us, shōyō?? it felt like you weren't even trying!", nishinoya teased, ruffling shiyumi's hair, as the girl gritted her teeth.

     "I DID TRY!", she protested.

although shiyumi and nekoma did lose, the orange-haired girl did learn the nekoma chant.

"we're like the blood in our veins. we just flow without stopping. keep your oxygen moving and your mind working!"

     "shōyō, drink some water. you must be thirsty after playing for seven minutes straight", kozume stated.

     the boy himself had his own water, as shiyumi appreciatively accepted the spare one.

     "aw man!! I really thought that I could've at least spiked five this time!!", haiba whined.

"mah~ at least I did better than you, chibi-chan! you should've seen how funny it was when you were off by—"

"shut up, lev. no one asked", kozume interrupted.

"it's okay, kenma. lev's not wrong", shiyumi lightly chuckled.

"shōyō, don't listen to him. you did great for being thrown onto the team for only seven minutes", kozume assured.

"thanks kenma!! you're always so encouraging!", shiyumi laughed, to which haiba had done a double take on that sentence.

"huh? are you all seeing what I'm seeing?!", the half-russian boy questioned.

"ah yes, the bias? get used to it, lev. kenma's affection is saved for chibi-chan, and chibi-chan only", kuroo stated, patting the male on the shoulder.

haiba froze, as he watched shiyumi put some clips in kozume's hair.

'the duality of him!!'

meanwhile yachi was taking photos and documenting this, shiyumi was already playing for aobo johsai, with a few honorary members, since iwaizumi, oikawa, kunimi, and kindaichi were the only ones present at camp.

     "YAHOO, CHIBI-CHAN~ you get to wear my number one jersey and jacket since you're now a part of the BEST TEAM EVER!", oikawa cheered.

     "it's a bit big, but I love the colors!!", shiyumi smiled, slipping on the blue and white jersey, as oikawa nearly choked.

     "peace!! how do I look?", the orange-haired girl asked, as yachi clapped.

"chibi-chan, you're...you're..."

oikawa couldn't even finish his sentence, as he felt his heart clench.

     "very cute!", yachi said, snapping a photo.

     "iwaizumi hajime. nice to meet you", the vice captain of aobo johsai introduced.

     "nice to meet you, iwa-san!", shiyumi comfortably called out.

     "I'm kindaichi yūtarō and this is kunimi akira", the boy with the turnip-looking head said.

     "hinata shōyō, your newest teammate!", shiyumi grinned.

     kunimi internally cringed, as he hated loud people in general.

     "by the way, you guys were kageyama's old teammates, right? I vaguely remember seeing you guys", shiyumi mumbled.

     "a-ah, yeah! we were...", kindaichi answered.

     "which reminds me, how's he doing?"

     "he's great! look at him", shiyumi pointed.

     "KAGEYAMA, SMILE!!", shiyumi shouted, giving one of her own sunshine smiles, as kageyama hesitantly attempted to do the same.

     his ex-teammates flinched, as shiyumi gave the dark-haired setter a thumbs up.

     "NICE JOB! WE'LL WORK ON IT SOME MORE!", shiyumi complimented, as she turned back to kindaichi, iwaizumi, and kunimi.

     "anyways, who are we playing against?"

     "johzenji!! except it'll mostly be karasuno again, since only their captain's here", oikawa informed.

     "oh nice!! terushima yūji, right?"

"ready to play?", the captain of johzenji asked.

"yes sir!", shiyumi sillily answered.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"NICE JOB, HINATA!", terushima complimented, as shiyumi was playing through all the teams as fast as she could switch clothes.

"thank you!!"

"HEY HEY HEYYY!!"

"HEY HEY HEYYY!!", shiyumi replied, lifting her arms up, as she felt a strong pair of arms envelop her.

"you wanna become an ace? you will! I'm feeling it!!", bokuto stated.

"and just today — today only — you'll be the ace of fukurōdani!!"

     "AW, BOKUTO-SAN, YOU'RE TOO KIND!!", shiyumi squealed.

     "you can drop the formalities, and this is—"

     "akaashi-san!! I know because he's an amazing setter!", shiyumi unintentionally flattered.

     akaashi awkwardly cleared his throat, as now he was stuck with two energetic individuals.

     "thank you for the compliment. however, I'm not certain that I'm as precise as kageyama", akaashi admitted.

     "oh, it's okay! being a setter's already hard enough, and especially when you're stuck with me — a spiker that can't exactly spike very well", shiyumi laughed.

     "and plus, we get to pick other members to complete our team!", the orange-haired girl stated.

     "TSUKKI! TSUKKI! COME JOIN US!", bokuto waved, as the blonde middle blocker tried his best to ignore the third-year.

     "god...why's it always me...", tsukishima uttered beneath his breath.

as they gathered their other teammates, shimizu had swiftly entered the gym, catching everyone's attention.

"I finished baking the cake. is now a good time?", the dark-haired goddess questioned.

"K-KIYOKO-SAN MADE THE CAKE?! WE'RE SO BLESSED!!", tanaka cried.

"SHŌYŌ, YOU LUCKY BASTARD! YOU GET TO EAT KIYOKO'S HANDMADE CAKE!!", nishinoya sniffled.

"eh? but you get to too", shiyumi responded.

"and thank you so much, kiyoko-san!! I've never had someone make me a cake before, except for my mom", shiyumi smiled, marveling at the beautiful strawberry cake.

"of course!! now let me light the candles real quick so that we can all sing happy birthday", shimizu stated.

"w-wait! d-do you guys have to sing happy birthday?? can we just skip that part and cut the cake?", shiyumi asked.

"NO WAY!! IT'S YER BIRTHDAY, AND SINGING'S PART OF IT!!", atsumu proclaimed.

"atsumu's right", kita chimed in.

"mhm!! plus, what kind of friends would we be if we couldn't even sing for your sixteenth birthday?", terushima questioned.

"friends!! yes! we're all friends, aren't we?!", shiyumi giggled, falling into sugawara's warm embrace.

"now in three...two...one!!"

     "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HINATA!!"

     then everyone collectively took a deep breath in.

     "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU~"

     everyone then quieted down, as they watched shiyumi intertwine her fingers together.

     shutting her eyes, the orange-haired girl mentally made the same wish that she did every year.

     'please...please let shōyō wake up! I'm willing to do anything just for him to wake up and see us again. please...'

     shiyumi then leisurely opened her eyes, blowing out the candles, as everyone cheered and clapped.

     when the lights flickered back on, sawamura was deemed responsible enough to start cutting and serving the cake.

     once shiyumi got her slice, she hopped around the gym, making sure that everyone was enjoying themselves.

     however, one boy seemed to have caught her eye, as he was alone in the corner, looking miserable.

     "umm...excuse me! but you're sakusa kiyoomi aren't you?!", shiyumi asked, staying a few feet away, as she noticed that the irritated boy was wearing a mask.

"yeah, and?", he rudely questioned, clearly showing his dissatisfaction of being here.

"hinata shōyō, nice to meet you! would you like a slice of cake?", the girl nicely asked.

"no thanks. I'm not a huge fan of sweets", sakusa muttered.

"well...would you at least like a drink? some water?", shiyumi offered.

sakusa's brows ever so slightly knitted, as he did feel a little parched.

     "I'll...take a water...", he mumbled.

     "for sure!! wait for me, okay?!"

     without even waiting for an answer, shiyumi had disappeared into the crowd, leaving the wavy-haired male to just loiter in the corner alone.

     "ugh...I should've left when I had the chance", he regretted.