Setter Ace of Shiratorizawa

39: The Boys

"Hey! I just had an idea!" Goshiki suddenly shot up, grinning at Kazane. "You can't play for the rest of the year, right? Well, what if you became our manager! Then you'd still be connected to volleyball in a way!"

"Am I imagining things or did something mildly intelligent come out of your mouth?" Shirabu asked, making Goshiki reel back.

"Why are you so mean Shirabu?!"

"Hey quit fighting! I'd love to!" Kazane broke them up, and with her proclamation, the boys all brightened.

"Yay! We finally have a manager!"

"Yeah, and it's Kazane too! That's awesome!"

The rest of lunch was nice, the boys seemed to be in a much better mood than they had been, and they were super excited for Kazane to become their manager.

"You'll have to register it in the student center, Tendou can take you after classes." Semi said, so the redhead saluted.

"Yessir SemiSemi~"

"I thought I said not to call me that."

~•~

After getting her form for the manager position in, Kazane went back to the gym with Tendou, the proud owner of a new jacket with the word Manager on the front.

"I love it so much!" She squealed happily, already wearing it.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome isn't it?" Tendou chuckled. "And we're here."

"Hey guys! We're back!" Kazane called as Tendō wheeled them back inside the gym. School had ended and the boys had gone on a run while Kazane had done her paperwork.

"Hey new manager!" Taichi smiled with a wave. "By the looks of you, it went well."

"Yep! I'm so excited to join you guys!" She smiled back at him before the two fist bumped.

"Welcome to the team, miss manager!" The boys said together, and Kazane couldn't help the grin on her face.

"I'll do my best!"

"Alright boys, we do have a practice to do." Saito reminded them, so they all said goodbye to Kazane and went back to do the drills Washijo was having them do.

It wasn't until the six on six that it happened. "Ushiwaka!" Shirabu called, sending him the first set of the game.

Kazane's eyes widened as Ushiwaka jumped, his form perfect. Memories flooded through her head of all of their interactions, of her feelings and just all of it. At the end, she remembered his expression when he had seen her and Tendou kissing.

"U-Um, I'm gonna leave now, I feel kind of overwhelmed..." Kazane glanced at Saito, who immediately nodded.

"Of course, shall I help you out?"

"No thank you, I can manage, thank you though." She smiled, then started to wheel herself out. As soon as she was outside the gym, she rummaged through her backpack and grabbed her phone.

"Hey Kazane! Hows it going?"

"Dad, can you please come get me?"

"Oh sure, I'll be right over!" Cutting the call, the female sighed as she started to shake slightly. Deciding to save her breakdown for when she got home, she erased the emotions from her face as her father pulled up a few minutes later.

"Thanks for coming to get me." She smiled at him as he got into the car with her.

"Of course, no problem Kazane!" He grinned at her as he backed out and started heading the car home.

As soon as they got there, Kazane went to her room and shut the door behind her. Wheeling over to her bed, she hoisted herself up and collapsed, burying her face in the pillows as she started to cry silently.

How could she face Ushiwaka now that she remembered him? She couldn't even face herself with how terrible she was feeling.

Kazane couldn't even imagine what he had felt when he had seen her and Tendō, the thought made her sob slightly. Not wanting to worry her parents, she tried to keep quiet, hugging her pillows as a source of comfort.

Was she supposed to pretend she still didn't remember him the next day? How could she even pull that off? Avoiding him wouldn't work, it would just be a sure way sign to tell him she definitely knew something.

And Kazane knew she was terrible at playing dumb, so was her only option to just tell him out right? She felt so bad because not only did this little incident hurt Ushiwaka, but it also got Tendō involved...

Speaking of that, she really hoped it hadn't made the two be at odds with each other, she wouldn't be able to live with herself! Hugging the pillow tighter, Kazane tried to get her thoughts off of the depressing subject so she'd stop crying.

After a few minutes trying to calm down, she succeeded in getting her breathing back to normal. Her eyes were starting to hurt from the tears, as they do after you cry. Sighing, Kazane took her phone out. She had gotten all of the boys numbers, and had been added (back) to the group chat.

After that little cry sesh, the rest of the evening went by without a hitch. Dinner came and went, and soon she was in bed and dissolving in her thoughts and memories.

(You guys thought the angst was over, haaaaa? Well you're mostly right, only a few more chapters of it and we'll be back in lovey dovey land~}

Merci!