"SUNA, ISN'T IT TIME?"...

     akaashi — the roommate of suna, sakusa, and aone — asked.

the exhausted middle blocker just hummed, as he had just finished getting out of the shower.

sakusa had commented on how gross it was for the both of them to sleep on the bed without showering first, especially since they were still sweaty from the game, but suna explained that shiyumi's grip was too tight for him to break free.

hence suna had resorted to showering in the morning, when shiyumi had allowed him some leeway.

"hinata, wake up", suna demanded, earning no response; only light and rhythmic breathing.

suna sighed, as he took a seat by the edge of his bed, meanwhile sakusa had finished brushing his teeth already.

     the golden-eyed boy awkwardly hovered his hand above shiyumi's head. his hand hesitantly cupped her face, as his thumb swayed back and forth against her cheekbone.

     leaning down, he lowly whispered into shiyumi's ear.

     "hinata, if you don't wake up, I'm going to tickle you", suna threatened.

     shiyumi must've realized the severity of suna's statement, because she had immediately snapped open her eyes, jolting her body up in the process.

"I...I'M UP!!", she declared, causing akaashi to crack a smile.

"where...where am I though??", shiyumi asked, scratching the back of her head, as she couldn't help but yawn.

"our dorm", suna shortly answered.

"you wouldn't let him go no matter what, so he brought you here", sakusa chimed in, putting on his team jacket.

shiyumi sat on the bed for a good minute before processing sakusa's words.

"I-I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING A MENAC—I MEAN FORGETFUL—no wait, TROUBLESOME PERSON, SUNA-SAN!", shiyumi shouted, kneeling on the boy's bed, as she slammed her forehead against the mattress.

"hinata, you should really go shower before breakfast starts. if you need an extra pair of clothing, you can borrow some from me", akaashi kindly offered.

     "ah, right! breakfast...then I'll go ahead and use the shower if you all don't mind. thank you for the clothes, akaashi-san!"

     akaashi just handed his extra shirt and pants to the girl, as she hastily went into the bathroom and locked the door.

     'I do mind, but whatever. I'll sanitize the bathroom later...', sakusa mentally noted.

     shiyumi thanked the gods that they allowed her to take a shower, because bless her soul, she smelled like she had jumped into a pool of sweat.

     as soon as she had exited the bathroom, she noticed that sakusa and akaashi were nowhere in sight.

     "huh? where's everyone?", she asked.

     "akaashi and sakusa already headed down for breakfast", suna answered, as he started plugging in the blow dryer.

     aone suddenly popped up in shiyumi's view, as she bowed as a sign of respect.

     "good morning aone!! sorry to bother you all, but I had a lot of fun playing with date tech yesterday. we should definitely be on the same team some time again!", shiyumi smiled.

aone nodded, as he too bowed, except he was excusing himself — leaving only shiyumi and suna now.

"is something the matter?", suna asked, noticing shiyumi's stare.

"a-ah, well...I wanted to apologize once again for being a burden, but I also think that you should dry your hair with a towel first...", shiyumi stated.

"then can you grab it for me? it's the green one", suna informed, as shiyumi scurried into the bathroom to retrieve it.

the orange-haired girl then dumped the towel over suna's wet hair, taking it upon herself to help him dry it.

shiyumi gently yet aggressively tousled suna's coffee-colored hair, as once she deemed it dry enough, shiyumi had taken the blow dryer and started running her other hand through suna's locks.

     suna relaxed under the girl's touch, as he momentarily closed his eyes, until he heard the blow dryer get turned off.

     "suna-san, can I brush your hair?", shiyumi asked, already holding the brush, as the golden-eyed middle setter just hummed in agreement.

     shiyumi then shifted in front of suna, holding part of his face, as she tried to tenderly break through the tangles without pulling too hard.

"suna-san, I didn't kick around or snore too loud, did I?", the orange-haired girl asked.

"no. you were very still", suna assured.

"that's good...", shiyumi mumbled, as she softly snickered.

"what're you laughing at?"

"oh nothing really! I was just thinking about how comfortable you were", shiyumi casually answered.

"wait...I...I didn't mean it like that...like..."

"it's fine. I understood what you meant", suna stated, rubbing the side of his neck.

"anyways, we should go get breakfast. practice'll start soon", suna reminded.

"y-yeah! thanks!", shiyumi exclaimed.

shiyumi stumbled behind suna, as the dark-haired boy just sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, as he slightly wiggled his left arm.

'grab on', he mentally said.

shiyumi smiled, as she clung onto suna's arm, heading towards the cafeteria.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"shōyō, you look happy", kozume noticed.

     "of course I am! I haven't been called to stay back for two days now, which means that I'm improving!!", shiyumi grinned.

hibarida then cleared his throat, loudly clapping his hands, as he gathered the attention of everyone in the gym.

     "I had almost forgotten about this, but tomorrow the practice sessions will be slightly longer, because on sunday, you all will be rewarded with a surprise!", hibarida announced.

     "now you may all be dismissed for dinner!"

     everybody whooped and cheered, as shiyumi wondered what the surprise could be.

"do you think maybe coach will let us sleep in?!", shiyumi asked, causing kozume to softly chuckle.

"I'm sure that's a part of it", kozume answered.

"SHŌYŌ-KUN~"

     shiyumi had expected it to be one of the miya twins, but was then greeted by the one and only guess monster: tendō satori.

     "oh, satori-kun!! can I help you with something?", shiyumi asked.

     "you should come sit with us for dinner today!", tendō offered.

     "us? like...the shiratorizawa members??", shiyumi asked.

     "yeah!! come on, it'll be fun!!"

     "I-I don't know, satori-kun....shirabu-san and ushijima-senpai don't really seem to like me. and honestly, I think you're the only one that likes me!", shiyumi pouted.

     tendō playfully gasped.

     "no way! they do like you, shōyō! they're just little tsunderes!", tendō exposed.

     "h-huh? no, but yesterday ushijima-senpai LITERALLY said: 'a shrimp that sucks like you has no reason to live'", shiyumi recited.

     tendō tilted his head to the side in confusion, as kozume sighed.

     "he did not say that, shōyō. I was right next to you, and he asked: 'so what can you possibly do if your technique is clumsy too?'", kozume correctly quoted.

     tendō snorted, as shiyumi innocently nodded her head in agreement.

     "exactly what I said!"

     "but anyways, remember when he taught you and tsutomu how to spike? like reallllllly strong?", tendō asked.

"w-well...that's true...ushijima-senpai did take the time to teach us everything we wanted to learn in those seven minutes...", shiyumi muttered to herself.

"AND he let you borrow one of his extra team jackets, didn't he?", tendō questioned.

"y-yeah..."

"EXACTLY!! that means he likes you!! now come on!! dinner's waiting!", tendō ushered, practically dragging shiyumi away, as kozume just waved goodbye.

"good luck, shōyō".