"So..." Mako started as she sat down onto her futon.
Eri pulled out a flashlight from her backpack and turned it on, "Who's ready for a scary story?" Hikaru and Yachi immediately hugged each other and shook their heads. "C'mon, Hitoka, Yukimura. I bet Miyanoshita-san and Otaki-san's story isn't that story, right?" Akahana told them with a giggle and looked at the Ubagawa and Shinzen manager. Eri started to tap her fingers on the floor and looking at her feet. "...right...?"
"Makoto, do you have those rice balls?" Yukie asked her with a critter like smile.
Kaori only gawked, "You promised her more?!"
With a chuckle, Makoto pulled out four out of thin air. "How the hell?!" Kaori screamed as Yukie snatched them all for herself. "Yukie, you already have seven this dinner!!" Kaori shook back to reality. "What's wrong with a little snack?"
"Hold on, that's a snack for you, Shirofuku-san?!" Hoshiko's jaw dropped as Yukie nodded. "At home, I usually eat more than four and my mom would make more."
"I see you have a big appetite, Yukie." Kiyoko giggled. "I have to say, even bigger than that simpleton." Kaori groaned and rubbed her forehead. "MORE THAN BOKUTO-SENPAI!!!"
As the girls started discussing about Yukie's huge appetite, Mako waited patiently. But Eri had enough because it would take them the whole night.
"HEY!!"
Everyone stopped and turned to look at Eri. "Yes, Miyanoshita?" Emika asked. Eri gritted her teeth and turned on her flashlight again. "I told you all, me and Mako-san are going to tell a story and y'all should listen!!!"
"Sorry..."
After they told the story, Akahana couldn't sleep well but Yachi and Hikaru did. It was much scarier than she thought. "...Nee-san..." She whispered. "Pssst...Nee-san...!!" She poked her cheek and Chou grumbled. "I don't bring your stupid nightlight, shut your eyes already...!!" Chou muttered and went back to sleep.
As Akahana slowly came into a deep sleep.
WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO
"Mako, what's that...?" Naomi asked.
"Oh girls." Kaneko stood up and smiled. "I think that's a fire alarm! Which means...a fire is happening."
All of them went pale.
Hoshiko immediately shook Himura to wake up but she didn't move. "...who sleeps during a fire...?!" Hoshiko whispered to Emika and followed the others outside. Himura meanwhile, she just adjusted her position and went back to sleep.
When Kaneko joined the other coaches went to investigate, no sign of fire. It only made the coaches look at the kids. "Bokuto...?" The coach of Fukurodani said as he grunted, it was too early. Bokuto popped his head from Washio and looked nervous. "I...I thought it wouldn't go like that..."
Everyone sighed heavily and walked back to the quarters. As the girls arrived, they saw Himura, her hair was disheveled and she was glaring. "I just woke up...and found this sitting in my chest." She pulled a medium-sized lizard.
"Ew, a dead lizard?" Akahana scrunched her nose.
Himura looked at her, "It's dead now." And wiped her lip with her thumb.
~~~~~~
"Morning." Kaori greeted everyone while sending a peace sign, exiting the classroom to change her clothes.
While changing into the practice uniform she always wore, Himura watched as the managers prepared their hair. Most of them were. Only she and Yukie didn't. "You don't like tying your hair, Sara?" Yukie asked. "No biggie. Me too, I don't like tying my hair except for baths." Himura inspected her own cocoa brown hair, it was shorter than Yukie's reddish-brown hair but the differences were subtle.
"Are you ready for breakfast?" Akahana asked her and she nods.
"Miyanoshita-san and Otaki-san told us about the Kekkai. It's so scary, that I didn't get a good sleep." Akahana laughed it off but Himura was concerned. "It's not real, it's just made."
Himura found a towel on her futon and she put it on her head, tapping Akahana's shoulder, she made weird gestures with her fingers, giving the illusion of a spirit. "Bak-bakeneko!!" Akahana screamed and ran outside. "Run for your lives!! Bakeneko!!" She screams echoed in the hallways.
"Huh? Bakeneko? You must be joking." Hoshiko told her.
"Senpai, I'm not joking! A real bakeneko, it was tall as Murata-senpai!" Akahana persisted.
Hoshiko pouted and crossed her arms. "No way! Bakeneko doesn't exist, Akahana. Lemme show you." She walked to the class room, much to Akahana's constant worries. Opening the door, there was no one. "See? Nobody's here. And what? Are you gonna say the nekomata is here too?" Akahana sulked and ran to the cafeteria.
~~~~~~
Rushing back to the gym where Keiko and she was supposed to meet, Hikaru was busy pining her hair like usual. Before she could go down the stairs, she halt abruptly and accidentally scared the hell out of the Karasuno first years. "I-I'm very sorry!!" She bowed profusely, the tall blond just told her it was okay. "It's fine, Yukimura-san!" She blushed at the voice, it was Hinata. "Hi-Hinata-san...! Ah, s-sorry!" She apologized again. "Weren't you listening, I told you it's fine." Hinata started to grew concerned for the girl.
"Yukimura-san! See? I'm still intact and not in itty-bitty pieces!" Hinata stood proud and smiled.
"Rea-really? Well then--I...right then." Hikaru smiled back at him, causing the baby crow to be flustered.
"My, the shrimp has found his match." The tall blond with glasses scoffed and left.
"Stingyshima!!" Hinata shouted.
Hikaru tilted her head, "...Stingy...shima?"
Hinata nodded and told her about his teammate and how annoyed he is with him. 'Sounds like Aoike-san.' Hikaru thought. "Hinata-san, aren't you supposed to be eating breakfast now?" Hikaru asked. Hinata finally remembered and slapped his own forehead. "Shoot, you're right! Bye, Yukimura-san!" The boy ran away, Hikaru just stood there and smiled subconsciously.
"Yukimura." She squeaked and jumped to see, Shibayama. "Nekomata-san is calling for you at gym 1." Shibayama told her.
"I see...! Alright!" Hikaru straightened her back and walked down the stairs, not until she stripped on her foot. "Ar-are you o-okay?" Shibayama checked on her. The ravenette gave him a thumbs-up and help herself up. Growing worried, Shibayama sweatdropped and watched Hikaru walk down the stairs. "I-if you wanna, I can sho-show you--show you the way there." He stuttered out loud. Feeling her cheeks getting warmer, Hikaru declined the kind offer with waving her hands around in a frantic motion. "I-I'm perfectly fine! Nope--nope, n-no clumsy Hikaru here...!"
"Hika-chaaaaan!!!" She flinched and turned to see, Keiko running up the stairs. "I was waiting for you for a long time!!" She whined.
"Sorry, Kurihashi. I can go now." Hikaru told her and the chestnut jumped in glee, until she noticed Shibayama. "What is Yuki-chan doing here?" Shibayama kept his mouth shut and ran away.
"That was weird."
~~~~~~
Showing her notes, the coaches was proud of Himura. She was tasked with taking notes of the teams while Akahana was tasked with tending the team. "I see you've been working really hard there, Sara." Himura just waved her hand as "no." She wasn't working really hard, she was just doing what she was told to and it was writing down stuff.
"Have you shown this to Kuroo?" He asked.
She nods.
"Ah, good."
"Sara-san! Sara-san!" Inuoka called her and approached her with big shiny white grin on his face, something she was fond. The other girls in the gym turned to see what was going on with the manager and found her, smiling and being cheerful. "HUUUUUUH?!?!? Himura is smiling genuinely?!" Hoshiko's jaw dropped and Emika couldn't shut it. "How in the hell did she changed her face like that?" Mako asked hesitantly while shivering. Aiko just smiled and let out a heavy sigh, "Maybe Inuoka-kun is the answer."
And now they know the first years are her soft spot.
"So you'll help me later with my receives?" Inuoka asked.
She nods.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, Sara-san!" His sunshine beamed from him like a blinding light. "No biggie, Sou-kun."
The girls felt like being hit by a bus, not a school or a normal everyday bus, but a large bus transporting zoo animals. "G-g-g-g-given names?!" Eri quivered and tried to hug Mako. "Are they related?" Kaori asked. Makoto cackled like a witch, "Oh hell nah!!"
"What?!"
Most of the time, Akahana was helping by giving out the bottles and towels. For her, it was an easy job and didn't impact them in the actual match unlike Himura's job, writing statistics, she have run around refilling the bottles back and forth and not to mention cleaning the towels. But whether or not the job needed physical labor, she'll do her best at it. Whilst walking to refill the bottles again, Akahana overheard a conversation between the coaches. 'This can't be?! No way!?' She bit her lip and her nails as she scurried away to find somebody. "Himura-san, Himura-san!" The second year turned and tilted her head. "I got something to tell you." She said in a scary aura. Himura leaned down and she whispered, "The teams won't be running up the hill anymore."
Keiko was minding her own business, collecting the volleyballs with Eri and Fumi. The three kept talking about their life, school, and their clubs. "Keiko-san, I saw you were talking to someone from Nekoma while giving out breakfast." Eri said. "Is he your boyfriend~?" The chestnut hummed and remembered the guy was Inuoka, someone she deeply despise. "Oh hell no! Inuoka-kun isn't my boyfriend nor he is my friend! He's really annoying with saying I've worked so hard and he wouldn't stop asking me my favorite flower." She explained and walked away with large stomps.
"Is she alright?" Eri asked.
"Probably, she doesn't like talking about Inuoka-kun." Fumi explained.
Walking to join the managers for something they needed to do, someone called to her and she knew it wasn't pleasant for her. "Kurihashi-chan!" It was Inuoka. Keiko frowned and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want now? Aren't you suppose to be cheering for Tetsu-chan and the others?" She growled. Inuoka giggled and rubbed his neck shyly, "I just wanna ask you where are you going, Sara-san and Akahana-chan aren't here so I think you know." She already peaked her maximum rage and she just nods. "Yeah, I'm going to go now, see ya."
"Also one thing!" Inuoka raised his voice.
"Do you like carnations?"
Keiko blushed at the name of the flower, her favorite. "Yeah? So? What if I do?" She tried to do a threatening tone, but it just sounded like a kid holding their cries. "Are they your favorites?" She looked away for a bit and nodded. "Just asking. Bye, Keiko-chan!"
The blush on her face grew as Inuoka ran away. "Ke-Ke-Keiko-chan?!" He called her by her given name, not her surname. That was odd.
~~~~~~
"Hey, Keiko! Try these watermelons! They're so freaking good!" Hoshiko pulled her into the room and cut her up a slice. Both girls drooled over the slice and the juice dripping. "Thank you for the meal!" They both chomped on the fruit, it was tastier than she expected it to be. "Hoshi-chan isn't lying!!" Keiko grinned with a little of red juice dripping from her mouth. "Sheesh, if you want to eat it, eat it cleanly for God's sake." Hikaru wiped her mouth from the juice.
"If you do this long enough, you'll eventually become Keiko-chan's caretaker." Kiyoko told her and she refused to be it.
Trying to cut the watermelon, Akahana struggled with the blade. She never tried cutting the fruit up, always apples, it was harder than she expected. "Need help there, Akahana?" Kaori asked her. "No need, senpai! I got this!" She licked her lips and tried to budge it but nothing worked. "Weak." Himura said under her breath and cut the watermelon with ease. Her jaw dropped and asked Himura how she done it and was scared of her method to chop it. "Sara-chan, you almost got me worried! You were cutting that watermelon like it's some sort murder victim." Mako expressed her fear and scurried closer to Kiyoko.
"And that's why, me and Fumi-chan dubbed her as the scary manager!" Hoshiko declared out of the blue.
Fumi tried to shut her up before something bad happens to them, the ace didn't cared and knew Himura wouldn't hurt them. "Hoshiko-chan! We'll get in troub--" Before she could finish her words, a shadow cast over them. They turned their heads to the back, Himura was there with scary eyes and looking like a serial killer with the blade she was holding. "Whatchoo call me?" She muttered. "Himura, it was a joke, I swear!" Hoshiko pleaded with Fumi already accepting her demise.
Smack! Smack!
"Ouch!"
"Owww!!"
Chou watched the whole thing and laughed along with Makoto and Kaori. "That's payback for calling her that." She laughed at the two. "Chou-chan, you're so cruel!!" Fumi yelped front eh smack on the face. "Chou! You wicked bitch of the west!" Hoshiko screamed.
"I'm not the one who created the nickname, but I think sort of fits. Also, thanks for the nickname, I'll use it." She bashfully admitted and chewed the rest of her watermelon. Himura sat down beside her and frowned. 'Oh God, she's next to me...stay calm now, Chou...she's just a girl, she wouldn't hurt you.' "So is it tasty?" Chou asked unexpectedly, Himura nodded and bit it again. "You liked it?" She nodded again.
"Hey, Himura-chan." She looked up and tilted her head like cat. "Do you want to read the book together later?" Her copper eyes glowed and shimmered. "I'll take that as yes."
Eri stood up and dusted off her sweatpants. "Alright, let's give these out to the teams!"
Today marks the end of the manga and it's Oikawa's birthday (20th July)
I hope he's happy in [spoilers] team.