EXCEPTIONAL ༉ haikyū!! [RV/OG]

15

"emi-chan? emi-chan..." kiiro pokes reimi's red cheeks, trying to get her attention.

"h-hai, kii-chan?" reimi stuttered. her baby blue eyes darted around, avoiding eye contact with her. her eyes widened as she felt a pair of cold hands cup her face and she met those golden orbs belonging to kiiro.

"don't feel embarrassed because you cursed in front of me. it's totally alright with me," kiiro reassured her in a solemn voice. "plus, i also curse basically all the time."

despite her assurance, reimi still feels disappointed at herself for showing her bad side. "gomen, kii-chan," she mumbled, looking down sadly at her fingers.

kiiro clicked her tongue and grabbed her hand, lightly squeezing it. "baka, i told you that it's fine with me. you can be yourself when you're with me. now, come with me to the campus since i'm already late for their training."

both of them headed back to the campus of nekoma high school. the raven-haired girl was still holding reimi's hand without her noticing it, but it was all fine reimi since she was enjoying this rare golden moment with kiiro. though it was odd not to see anyone bothering kiiro or reimi as they walked into the campus, but ever since the two became close, no one dared to come anywhere near them for some reason, which was a good thing for the both of them.

"kiiro!" the brown-haired libero waved his hand at her with a big smile, to which the latter replied back with a small wave.

the two ladies took off their school shoes and wore their uwabaki that they grabbed from their locker before they headed into the gym. as they walked inside the volleyball gymnasium, reimi trailed behind her raven-haired friend. she could feel the lingering gazes on her, which made her lower her head to avoid eye contact.

"sensei," kiiro said before bowing to the two coaches, who acknowledged her. she moved to the side, letting them see reimi. "this is hagihara reimi, my friend," she introduced.

reimi deeply bowed her head before glancing up to the two coaches. "pleasure to meet you!" she exclaimed with her usual smile.

"kii-chan has a friend other than us?"

"this is betrayal, kiiro!"

"what's her number though? she looks cute."

an irk mark appeared on her forehead and her nose scrunched up. "urusai!" she scowled, glaring at them and they immediately shut up.

kiiro sighed, facing her friend beside her. "you can sit on the bench and watch them. i'll have to fill up their water bottles," she said, picking up the multiple bottles before leaving the place.

reimi, on the other hand, silently watched the boys do their training. though her gaze keep flickering back to the certain blond who has been setting the ball for his teammates.

"that must be kii-chan's brother." she thought, noticing the similarity of their look. she didn't notice how long she had been staring at the blond until his golden eyes met hers. a small squeak came from her as her round eyes widened in shock, darting her gaze away from his.

the pink-haired freshman looked around the gym and then to the door, expecting that kiiro would come back soon since she was growing uncomfortable and embarrassed under the stare of those cat eyes.

"reimi-san!"

the latter glanced towards the giant middle blocker walking towards her, and greeted him with a small wave. lev waved back and sat beside her, wiping off his sweat with the towel handed by reimi.

"what are you doing here, reimi-san?" he asked.

"oh, kiiro dragged me here. we were hanging out awhile ago before coming in here," reimi replied, earning a nod from the male beside her. her eyes roamed the place in a quick manner, noticing that the other boys are resting and conversing with each other.

"oya oya, lev is already making a move." the captain, kuroo, teased with a smirk, walking up to them together with kenma hunching beside him.

"reimi-san is only my friend, kuroo-san," lev clarified.

the captain's smirk went wider as he nudged the setter beside him, earning a glare from the latter. "hagihara reimi, right? i'm kuroo tetsurō, their captain," he introduced, lending his hand to her which reimi gladly accepted the handshake. "and this is ken-"

"kenma, without honorifics... or whatever you like," the blond mumbled, refusing to meet her baby blue eyes.

"nice meeting you both, especially you kenma! kii-chan talks about you most of the time." reimi giggled, causing him to feel shy as his face turned red, and kuroo didn't miss the amusing scene.

"ah, i wasn't expecting kii-chan to talk about us, huh?" kuroo teased, nudging kenma again with his shoulders while the blond scowled at him.

"oi emo rooster, what are you doing?" the familiar monotone voice boomed throughout the whole gymnasium.

the raven-haired girl stomped her way towards the group on the bench with the water bottles in her arms.

kiiro glared at the captain. "don't flirt with emi-chan." she threw the bottle at his face, but was caught by the latter. "and stop bothering 'nii-chan."

"relax, i was only making them ta- ack!" kuroo groaned in pain as he rubbed his aching arm after receiving a punch. "such a meanie!" he complained, walking away from kiiro.

the female kozume handed out the bottles to each of the boys, receiving thank you's from left and right. their short break had ended minutes later, and they all went back to practicing while the two girls sat on the bench.

kiiro brought out a notebook and started taking down notes on each of their performances. reimi glanced at her friend and down at the notebook filled with writing. "you look like their manager already," reimi said, gaining her attention.

"eh? i had to assist them because it's just something they requested me to do after they lost the inter-high preliminaries a week ago, plus i've got nothing to do anyway," kiiro replied, continuing to write on her notebook.

reimi smiled, "i could see that you're enjoying it though."

the raven-haired girl stopped writing, and then looked up towards the boys playing volleyball. she intently watched them play in silence. thoughts filled her mind as reimi's last statement kept replaying in her mind.

"i do enjoy being with them."

kiiro got up from her seat and headed to where her bag was placed in the corner, not far from the bench. she rummaged through her bag and then took out the piece of paper she had received from her homeroom teacher awhile ago.

"what's this, kiiro-san?" coach nekomata questioned, referring to the paper handed to him.

reimi was eyeing her friend who was standing in front of the coach, trying to figure out what the paper was about.

"it's my club registration form," she replied, as the coach read the contents of the paper before looking up at her.

"you're joining the boys' volleyball club as the manager?" he asked, quite loud enough to let the others hear, which the boys did hear, and they all came to a halt.

kiiro puffed her cheeks out and looked away. "yes, i'm applying to be their manager," she announced. coach nekomata smiled at her. he glanced at the stunned boys behind her, and laughed out loud at their shocked expressions.

"kiiro is going to be our manager?" yaku asked, still couldn't believe what he had just heard, to which kuroo nodded in confirmation with a big grin on his face.

"yosha! now, we have a beautiful and cute manager!" taketora cried, running towards the raven-haired female. "kiiro-san, please bless me with your beauty!"

"chigau," kiiro rejected, moving aside as the mohawk boy was about to jump on her, but ending up on the floor with a loud thud.

all of them surrounded kiiro, expressing their gratitude and happiness because of the good news. they were all more than happy to have the kozume kiiro be a part of their team, as their manager.

"practice with me, kiiro-san!" lev claimed, handing her the mikasa ball which she took from his grasp. she glanced up at the boys and tilted her head, before casting her gaze at the tall middle blocker.

"that's manager-sama for you."