"WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST!!"...

     tendō announced, catching the attention of all the shiratorizawa players, as he took a seat beside shirabu — their official setter.

"huh? ohhhh, it's you from karasuno!", goshiki tried to cooly play it off.

"tomu-kun, why're you acting so weird? I thought we were on first name basis", shiyumi casually exposed, causing the bowl-cut boy to choke on his water.

     "and nice seeing you all again, ushijima-senpai, semi-san, and shirabu-san! I hope you guys don't mind me sitting here..."

     "what's the point of asking since you're already her—"

     semi gently elbowed shirabu in the stomach, as he nodded.

     "please, take a seat".

     "thank you!!", shiyumi smiled, awkwardly sitting between tendō and goshiki, as the shiratorizawa table was quieter than the inarizaki and karasuno one.

     the orange-haired girl then raised a brow, squinting her eyes, as her stare had caused semi to voice his concern.

     "is something the matter?", semi asked.

     "o-oh, I just...seeing you just reminded me of suga-senpai, that's all...", shiyumi answered.

     "sugawara? like the third-year setter from karasuno?", the ash blonde inquired.

     "yeah!! I overslept this morning, so I didn't get to see them off...but you remind me of suga-senpai because you both look alike. don't you think?"

     tendō then hummed, as he stared at semi, to which goshiki had done the same.

     the ash blonde setter flinched, as all eyes were on him now.

     "now that you mention it, there are some similarities...", goshiki mumbled.

     "right?! it's also like how I thought akaashi-san and iwa-san looked similar when I first saw them side by side!", shiyumi exclaimed.

     "YOU'RE RIGHT!! HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT BEFORE?!", goshiki gasped, clearly sharing one brain cell with shiyumi.

     "ehhh?? wakatoshi, don't you think tsutomu and shōyō-kun look like lost little puppies??", tendō teased.

ushijima then turned his attention to the two first-years, who were in their own world now — chattering about who knows what.

"by the way, tomu-kun, you should totally show me how you do those SUPER straight line shots of yours!! the ones that gets past the blockers when they think they've blocked it!", shiyumi exclaimed.

"like how the heck do you even do that?!"

goshiki flinched, as he suddenly felt something blossom in his heart.

'w-when was the last time that I felt like this?! this feeling that I forgot because I'm surrounded by cold or completely unreadable senpais!'

goshiki then cleared his throat; his voice a bit wobbly.

"just straight line shots?"

"maybe some crossed ones as well! and spikes...actually, seeing you play just helps me by a lot!", shiyumi honestly replied.

goshiki nearly passed out, if it weren't for shirabu's scoff.

"pushover".

"hmph! you're just jealous that I'm being idolized and you're not!", goshiki boldly retorted.

"at least I don't need someone to praise me like a toddl—"

"now now, let's not say hurtful things~ we still have our honored guest here!", tendō cheerfully sang.

"you're right", ushijima suddenly spoke up.

     "they do look like little lost puppies".

     goshiki and shiyumi suddenly gasped in sync, offended yet confused at the same time.

     "W-WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!", the two first-years shouted, to which shirabu had mentally cursed tendō for bringing shiyumi over.

     "mah, mah~ wakatoshi's just saying how you both look cute!", tendō chuckled.

     "oh".

     "REALLY?!", shiyumi asked, causing ushijima to nod.

     "does that mean that you also want me to come to shiratorizawa then?", shiyumi joked.

     "after seeing how you played yesterday, sure", ushijima bluntly answered.

     everyone froze, as they saw their captain crack a smile.

     "a-anyways, what do you guys think the surprise will be?", tendō asked, redirecting the conversation.

     "probably something dumb like a barbecue", shirabu sighed.

     "or maybe the beach", semi stated.

"I heard that there's a beautiful beach nearby, and it's plausible for the coaches to take us there for some beach volleyball as well".

"ah, barbecue sounds great! and so does the bea—WAIT, THE BEACH?!"

"what's wrong?", goshiki asked, watching shiyumi visibly panic.

"I...the...beach? really...? can't we go hiking or something?", shiyumi suggested.

"hiking? in this stinking hot weather?", shirabu sassily retorted.

"well, we don't know if it's the beach. it's all just our presumptions anyways", semi unknowingly comforted.

"right..."

tendō suddenly wriggled his brows, as he snickered.

"huhhhh? is someone afraid of the waters??", tendō whispered, to which shiyumi had snorted.

"no! I'm a great swimmer, I'll have you know", the girl cockily proclaimed.

"oh?? is that so? then if we go to the beach on sunday, let's have a swimming competition", tendō challenged.

"BET! but only if we're going to the beach. however, I doubt it'll actually be the beach", shiyumi chuckled.

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

"since the majority of you already know, I might as well just confirm it. we are indeed heading to the beach with barbecue on sunday!", hibarida happily announced.

     everyone around shiyumi clapped, as the girl just sat there on the verge of breaking down.

     "w-why couldn't it have been h-hiking...", she muttered to herself.

"hinata, you okay?", coach asked.

"h-huh? oh...yeah...see, coach...I was just thinking, maybe we should go elsewhere! like the mountains!!", shiyumi suggested.

"oi! what're you saying, shōyō?! there's gonna be cute girls at the beach!", nishinoya harshly whispered.

"uhh...is something the matter?", hibarida questioned.

"it's just...I...umm...I don't have swimwear! so I think I'll just sit out on this on—"

     "you can borrow one of mine", kozume offered.

     "OR WE CAN GO SHOPPING AND GET YOU A NEW ONE!", bokuto excitedly chimed in.

     "I-I don't have mone—"

     "we do", half of the volleyball players intercepted.

     "I—"

     "hinata, are you alright? usually you're always excited for these things", hibarida worried.

     "yeah, I'm just..."

     "coach, I think hinata's afraid of the ocean", tsukishima suddenly spoke up, causing people to murmur amongst themselves.

     shiyumi then shot the blonde middle blocker a glare.

     "you'll pay for that, you blonde brachiosaurus!"

     "is that true, hinata?", hibarida asked.

     "if I say it is, will you let me stay back?", shiyumi nervously smiled.

     "well..."