However, his display was only for a brief moment. Tsukishima started to laugh, making her brows scrunched in perplexity.
"Eh—?"
He showed out his thumb, the girl then peered at it. "You have something on your face." He continued to wipe the remaining stain again. The middle blocker looked so serious as he was concentrating.
"You kinda look a little more handsome up this close..." Nao mumbled, her cheeks still rubescent at their proximity.
"Did you say something?" Tsukishima asked.
"Nothing. It's nothing." Nao immediately tried to deny. She then saw his mouth turned upwards, a smile of amusement was becoming apparent.
"I see—thank you for the compliment though." Tsukishima said to her. This caused her to look at him in surprise. She was about to give him a retort, but the middle blocker had beaten her to it.
An air of flippant haughtiness was steeping his whole visage. "You should stop staring, Nao." He said while smirking.
"You might fall in love with me."
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The Karasuno team had started to bring out their things for their practice. It was her first day as their manager. After a long time of thinking—and convincing on her part from the players, she had finally accepted their offer for the position.
In all truthfulness, Nao was still reticent about the idea, however the flinder of doubt was overshadowed by her earnest wish to be with them.
Now, she was willing to take her chances. Hoping that everything would still be the same—even if joining the volleyball club was never an option bestowed upon the girl in the original story.
The tides have turned. Nao thought to herself while shrugging. Might as well go with the flow.
She began to step across the threshold to meet with her new team. They were already outside preparing to go to Ukai-jii-san's place.
"Are you good to go, Nao?"
Daichi approached, looking at her with a merry expression. He was happy that he had ultimately gotten the girl to accept the vacant managerial role.
"I am." She then extended her hand to the captain. "I'm also looking forward to working with you."
The dark-haired player eagerly accepted her hand, grasping it in a firm handshake. He proceeded to glance at his teammates. As if on cue, they then arranged themselves in a line. The players began to bow to the girl in a cordial greeting—consequently making her heart warm in delectation.
"Welcome to the Karasuno Boys' Volleyball Club!"
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A smile was pervading on her face. Nao was toying with the bracelet on her wrist. The team was having their practice led by the infamous Ikkei Ukai, the erstwhile coach of the boys' volleyball club. He was assisted by his grandson, Keishin, who was the team's current mentor.
"Nao."
The said girl looked up from her musings. She saw her fellow manager sitting on the bench beside her. "It's nice that you have accepted the offer."
"Thank you, Kiyoko-san."
Nao told her upperclassman. The two were watching the players undergoing laps around the court. It suddenly went into disarray when one of the players tripped on an unsuspecting stone—they then fell like dominoes. The older Ukai hurriedly barked orders to regroup themselves. Ergo, the said players proceeded to stand up like scared chickens.
The new manager could not help but stifle a laugh. Nao covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her burgeoning giggle.
"I'm just glad that I have another person to help me." Kiyoko shook her head with a sigh. "They could be a handful sometimes." She chuckled, gesturing at the team. "Yet they make up for it with their passion for the club."
"Yeah." Nao agreed, gazing fondly at the Karasuno players. "Their passion is like no other."
Both managers continued to watch them. The members were being told to run another set of laps to compensate for their muddle awhile ago.
A beep then vibrated inside her pocket. It was her phone.
"Ano—Kiyoko-san—I'll be taking this. Please excuse me."
Nao took her device and went to a more secluded area to answer the call since the current team's practice emitted a lot of noise.
"Hello?" Nao first spoke, waiting for the caller on the other line.
"Hi, darling? Is that you?"
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