"So, who wants ice cream? Satori's treat!" announces Yamagata. It's Friday and they just finished their daily training.
"Hey!" The redhead dramatically turns around. "It paid last time!" he protests.
"Yeah but you 'forgot' to bring your wallet, so I had to fill in, remember?" explains Semi mildly irritated.
"Oh, I totally forgot!" The slap to his forehead loudly echoes across the locker room. "Thank you for your kindness, Eitan~" he sings and flutters his eyelids.
"Another nickname?!" Semi shoots a clearly annoyed glance at his friend but he is already skipping to the shower room.
The underclassmen are trying their hardest to stifle their giggle, even though Semi or the other seniors wouldn't react negatively. They do, however, pack their things without showering since it takes too long to wait for all the third-graders to finish first and just go take a quick shower in the communal shower a few hundred meters away from the locker room.
"So no ice cream for you guys?" asks Reon.
All of the underclassmen politely decline the invitation, mostly because they have to catch the train to go home. It's already 5.40 pm. In the end, it was only the third graders who want to go out, much to Tendou's wallet's joy.
"You're going home too, right, Taichi?"Ushijima asks before he pulls his jersey over his head and throws it into the laundry basket near the entrance to the showers. No manager means that they have to take care of washing their jerseys, bibs, and jackets themselves.
"Uh, yes..." Kawanishi stammers, wondering how he'd know.
Seeing his confused expression, Ushijima explains, "Well, I have noticed that you've been going home a lot more frequently in the last few weeks." He takes another towel out of his locker and looks over to his teammates. "Then have a nice weekend," he wishes before vanishing behind the bathroom doors as well. With the other boys, Kawanishi bids them farewell.
⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ
"BUAHAHAHA!! Eita, you always amaze me with your fashion sense!" Tendou throws back his head and lets out a loud laugh.
"Shut up," Semi mutters. After club activities, they all went to their dorms to quickly change out of their uniform. I mean, who wants to go out in their school uniform on a Friday evening?
"Well, it's too late to change anyway–"
"Hey!"
"–so we should get going now. To the train station!" Tendou announces, posing with one hand on his hip and dramatically pointing to the sky until he notices that the others already went ahead of him. "Hey! Wait for me!"
"Isn't that Taichi over there at the gate?" Yamagata asks. There's indeed a tall figure, standing at the gates with a backpack slung over one shoulder.
"It is. We should call for him, so we can go together to the train station," Ushijima proposes.
The others agree and nod. Yamagata raises his hand to wave at him and yelled, "Hey Taichi! Let's–" but suddenly stops in his tracks.
All of them notice and turn around. "Hayato? What is it?" Semi asks, confused. No answer. He even waves his hand in front of his face but no reaction. Mouth still wide agape, eyes fixed on whatever turned him into a statue. Instead of waiting for a response, they'll probably never get, the boys follow his gaze and turn around. And, oh boy, you wish you were here.
The sight in front of them triggers a different reaction in each and every one of them. If it were possible, Yamagata's jaw would drop to the ground. Semi chokes on his own saliva and starts to cough while Reon pats him on his back out of reflex. However, his gaze is still fixed on the mysterious woman, standing next to their underclassman. Even Ushijima is floored by her beauty and just stands there with his eyes widened. Tendou is the only one who interrupts their silence with a quiet "Holy shit..."
The woman may look short at first but considering that she's standing next to Taichi, she must be at least 180 cm. Her brownish strawberry blonde hair is curled into big locks that are so healthy and shiny that you can see it reflecting the sun from a mile away. She obviously spent some time on her looks. Her makeup was minimized to eyeliner, mascara, and bright cherry-red lipstick. You can see the silver jewelry sparkling under her hair when she moves around. Just as red as her lipstick is her thin bomber jacket that loosely hangs from her shoulders, exposing the black ribbed top that really emphasizes her... bosom. The tight skinny jeans also compliment her figure and perfectly hug her curves.
With a cheeky grin on her face, she plays with the car keys and talks to Taichi who, on the other hand, looks rather annoyed and nervous as if he's about to get caught for something.
"Why are you here?"
"What? Can't I pick up my little brother, so we can drive home together?" she chuckles. She's fully aware of the glances from the girls and boys who walk past them, so does Taichi. She fully enjoys all the attention but doesn't show it. Only someone who lived with her for over 10 years under the same roof, knows better.
However, both of them heard Yamagata calling for him, so they interrupt their conversation and look at Taichi's teammates. It is Ushijima who first gets a grip of himself.
"Walk."
Out of every person in this world, why them?!
If avoidable, Taichi prefers not to be the center of attention but with a literal light buoy next to him, this proves to be slightly difficult.
The closer they get to the couple, the clearer they get to see her beauty, taking away their breath. The woman turns her cheeky grin into a warm smile.
"Well, hey! Do you know Taichi?"
Semi, Reon, Tendou, and Yamagata can only stammer out a shy "hey" and nervous laugh.
"Hello. We play in the same team as Taichi. Nice to meet you." They're so glad that they have Ushijima speaking for them.
"Oh yeah, volleyball! It is my pleasure. I'm Taichi's older sister. Thank you for taking care of him. I hope he doesn't cause you any trouble." Her light makes the legs of four of the five seniors weak like jello.
It is as if their brains are all connected because, at this moment, they only have one thought:
That is Taichi's sister? They're related?!
The faint hint of shock in their faces does not escape Taichi's notice.
Great. Now I'm the guy with the hot sister. I don't even want to think what they're thinking of right now...
"Not at all," Ushijima responds, remaining calmly. Apparently, has she overcome the initial shock of meeting a literal model in real life. Who would have thought that people can be that good-looking...
"Well, we don't want to hold you up any longer, so we'll get going. Maybe I can make it to your next game!"
"We look forward to seeing you."
She waves them goodbye and walks off the school grounds with Taichi following her closely after he nods his teammates goodbye who absentmindedly wave back, except for Ushijima.
The siblings haven't even gone off a few meters when the sister said a bit too loud, "Let's go, Taipi. I parked the car a few streets away from here."
As soon as she finished her first sentence, her brother speeds up to her. When looking up, she sees Taichi, giving her the evil eye. He slightly bends down and says with a very calm voice, "I will tell mom how you always took money out of her purse for you know what."
You might think that wouldn't scare any grown-ass adult who already moved out and lives on her own, right? Well... not if you need the family car to go out that night.
"I'll give you 1,000 Yen."
A snobbish laugh escapes Taichi's mouth.
"2,000 Yen."
Taichi proceeds to take out his phone to dial their mom's number.
"What do you need so much money for?! I need it to survive, you know?" she argues.
"So I don't live on my own either?"
"What are you talking about?! Everything is paid for you!"
"And dad doesn't pay the rent of your apartment and gives you money for food or what?"
In defeat, his sister clicks her tongue and takes 2,000 Yen out of her purse which Taichi gladly accepts.
"If you pull off another move like that from before, it'll be double the amount," he adds.
She just rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Got enough money."
After they finally arrive at the parking lot, they get into the car. As they drive off, Taichi's stomach rumbles.
"What's for dinner?"
"Your favorite food, Sukiyaki. Thought I'd do something nice for you but I guess that was the last time," she jokes.
"Well maybe don't call me by that stupid nickname in front of my teammates," Taichi snarls.
She takes her eyes off the road and looks over to the passenger seat. Eyebrow raised, she asks, "What? Do they bully you? Do you want me to do something? I know some–"
"No, it's just normal teasing under guys," he interrupts. He's so tired from training that he's leaning his head against the window with his eyes closed. He's not much of a big eater but after a training session under Coach Washijo, his body is always craving carbs.
His sister looks at him a bit longer, making sure he's telling her the truth. "Okay. But if one of them ever starts anything, tell me."
No answer. Taichi has already dozed off. But he doesn't need to hear that: he knows that his sister will be there for him when times are tough.
⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ
Meanwhile, at the train station, the four boys have just passed the gates and are heading to their platform. They haven't spoken a word since the siblings left.
Semi is the first one to speak, "Taichi's sister, uh... she's really... beautiful."
"Hot," corrects Yamagata.
"Flaming hot," adds Tendou.
"Cheeto." That deserves Yamagata a finger gun snap from Tendou.
"You guys think Taichi's adopted?"
Semi furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about? They obviously look related!"
"In which universe, Eita?" Tendou objects. "They don't look related at all. She's way too hot! You think so too, right, Wakatoshi?" Tendou turns to their captain who has been quietly letting his friends have their discussion.
Everyone stops. They slowly recall the moment they caught sight of Taichi's sister: even Ushijima turned into a pillar of salt. The image of their rather stoic friend, who is obviously lacking emotional intelligence and apparently any emotion at all, acting like a normal high school student? Crushing on someone and losing his coolness?
"She's..." He hesitates. A very interesting sign of which everyone takes note of. All of them take one step forward, eagerly waiting for his response. Their intense stares urge Ushijima to answer.
"They have the same nose."
Silence, followed by a common loud sigh.
"There's our train." Ushijima is the first walk towards the white line.
Disappointed, they all follow him to the door of the approaching train.
Somehow, the moment they enter the train wagon, everyone knows that this would be the only time they'd ever speak about Taichi's sister.
Af if telepathically connected, they make a pact in their head with each other to never speak about her again, not only to prevent an awkward atmosphere during club activities next week but also to save their face which they definitely lost while staring at their underclassman's sister like some brainless Neanderthals right in front of said underclassman.