▃▃▃▃▃ "e-excuse me?!"

     "I said that everything on the menu is buy one get one free", the old woman repeated, making etsuko's jaw drop to the floor.

"B-BUY ONE GET ONE FREE?! T-THEN CAN I ORDER THREE ONIGIRI, A BASKET OF NIKUMAN, THREE ICHIGO AMES AND WATER PLEASE?!"

the old woman chuckled, nodding. "no need to yell, young one. I may be old, but I can still hear very well".

etsuko immediately bowed. "yes yes!! my apologies madam. I'm just...very excited", etsuko widely smiled as she received two trays of food and drinks.

carefully carrying them back to the usual table without daishō trying to trip her, etsuko placed them in front of her four friends.

"oho? did you suddenly become rich? how'd you get so much stuff today?", kuroo asked, as etsuko happily gave everyone an onigiri, ichigo ame, and water, meanwhile setting the two brackets of freshly made nikuman at the center.

"huh? the kind old lady said that it was buy one get one free, so I got enough to share with everyone! I wanted to thank you all for being my friends", etsuko smiled as kozume glanced over at kuroo.

"you don't...want to save your money for future eatables? what if the buy one get one free's only for today?", akaashi questioned.

     etsuko shrugged. "so what? you four are always looking out for me, so I'm just doing what I can, even if it's for one day only. I'll treat you to all better food once I get my diploma and find a job", the girl promised, unwrapping her onigiri.

     kuroo paused for a moment, meanwhile kozume and akaashi also stayed silent.

     "what a great friend you are, haru!! I promise to treat you as my little brother and help you with any problems you may have!!", bokuto chirped, slinging his arm around etusko's neck.

     "same for you bokuto-san! as long as I can help, don't hesitate to ask", etsuko promised as the golden-eyed boy just loudly laughed.

     the five started breakfast as kuroo, kozume, bokuto, and akaashi all shot each other glances from time to time.

it was ultimately kuroo's idea to make the old woman lie to etsuko so that the four could secretly chip in the missing money for the girl.

in all honesty, it wasn't too much of an expense for them, so as long as etsuko was happy, they'll continue with the behind the scenes.

     "oh, I'll be right back! since there's an extra onigiri and skewer, I'll give it to kita", etsuko smiled as she hastily grabbed the items and got up before kuroo could stop her.

     looming over the dull faced boy, etsuko held the two food items in front of kita as her face appeared right beside his stoic one.

     "look what I have for you kita!"

     "huh? why don't we get anything?", atsumu questioned.

     "these were the only leftovers. sorry", etsuko grinned as kita nicely took the offerings from etsuko.

     "kita doesn't even like swe—"

     the boy started chomping on the ichigo ame, chewing on it as he thanked etsuko, who just patted his back as she skipped back to her table.

     "since yer already eating the dessert, can I have the onigiri?", osamu asked, salivating at the sight of it.

     "no".

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     "KITA!! PLEASE HELP US!!", atsumu cried as he aggressively slid open the door to kita and etsuko's shared room.

     "we're going to fail", osamu chimed in, making a distressed face.

     "I don't particularly care, but—"

     "shut up suna!", atsumu harshly whispered, turning towards kita and etsuko with a fake smile.

     "please help~", the blonde male whined as he took a seat with osamu right in front of the two meanwhile suna laid down beside the four.

     "suna-san, isn't it very uncomfortable to lay on the floor? would you like to borrow my bed instead?", etsuko offered.

"mm..."

the boy hesitantly glanced over at kita and etsuko's bed, not wanting to be left out even though he wasn't participating in the first place.

etsuko then stood up and brought her pillow and blanket, laying it right beside her mat as she let suna lay on top of her pillow.

"isn't this better?", etsuko smiled as she draped her blanket over the male, making suna turn his head to the other side, as he was laying parallel to etsuko's seat.

kita sighed. "let's get started".

atsumu hastily took out his materials as osamu did the same, except calmly.

"haru, I'll take care of atsumu. could you work with osamu?", kita asked, to which etsuko just nodded.

kita and osamu switched seats as now the gray-haired male was beside etsuko.

"osamu-san, for this problem right here, you have the right idea, but the numbers are a bit off", etsuko pointed out, to which the boy just nodded, taking out a tiny red ink stone and making etsuko gasp.

     "red?! there's red ink?? how come I've never seen it before?!", etsuko marveled, watching osamu stifle a laugh.

     "do ya want to try it yourself? it's not too different from the black ink...."

     "yes yes yes!!"

     etsuko immediately took the brush out of osamu's hand as she started correcting the boy's papers, meanwhile explaining where he had went wrong.

     kita would glance over at the duo from time to time to make sure that they weren't having a hard time or goofing off.

     surprisingly, osamu was very obedient and listened to every word that etsuko was saying. meanwhile atsumu on the other hand, wasn't soaking in anything that kita was instructing.

     "kita, I'm tired~", atsumu complained as he fell back and hit his head on the floor.

     "atsumu, you need to focus or even the lord can't help you pass", kita warned.

     "kita, maybe you should let atsumu-san rest a bit. I'm sure osamu-san's tired too, right?", etsuko asked.

     osamu just nodded, yawning a bit.

     "how about we drink some tea and rest? what do you say, kita?", etsuko sweetly asked, to which the male just sighed, nodding.

     etsuko was about to get up until she felt a hand splat onto her very own. looking down, suna had fallen into deep sleep, clenching onto etsuko's hand as he wouldn't let go no matter how hard the girl tried to slip out of his death grip.

"there's no use. suna's unpredictable when asleep", osamu said, making etsuko pout, looking over at kita and atsumu for help.

"I'll get the tea", kita said as he stood up, suddenly noticing that there was no more tea in the teapot.

"I'll be back", kita said as he exited the room, leaving etsuko with suna and the miya twins.

the girl sighed as she awkwardly shuffled, yet also making sure that she didn't wake suna up in the process.

once kita was gone, atsumu's playful demeanor dropped. the boy stared at etsuko, though it was more of a condescending look, one similar to daishō's.

"listen peasan—"

"'tsumu, shut yer trap!", osamu interrupted, making suna slightly shuffle under the blanket.

"haru, what's yer purpose getting close to kita?", atsumu questioned, to which etsuko was confused.

"hm? we're friends, why?"

"are ya sure yer not using him for yer own benefits?"

"that's enough 'tsumu", osamu growled.

"atsumu-san, I understand that you're worried for your friend, but please do not personally attack me because of my status.

it's right to assume that I'm not rich, or even comfortable for that matter, but that doesn't mean you can assess my personality based on what I lack.

hence I do hope you reconsider your question, or even better, you can evaluate my reasoning for being close to kita through my actions".

osamu and atsumu stared at the girl shocked, jaws dropped and eyes wide.

suddenly, atsumu started laughing, even as to clutching onto his stomach as it had hurt quite a bit.

"w-what's so funny?", etsuko asked.

suna suddenly rose from the dead, making the girl flinch as the boy loudly yawned, finally letting go of etsuko's hand.

"atsumu was just playing with you. he has no say in who kita chooses as a friend. even if he tried stopping kita, he wouldn't be able to", suna scoffed.

"hey!! what's that supposed to mean?!"

"exactly what it sounds like", suna sassed, to which atsumu huffed and crossed his arms.

osamu patted etsuko's back, making her attention fall onto the male.

"sorry about my brother, haru. he's a bit screwed in the brain", osamu whispered, making etsuko lightly chuckle.

"I must give it to ya though, you've got quite the guts...and I appreciate that", atsumu grinned.

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セレンディピティ
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