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The next following day was a living hell for the players, they were ordered to play for the whole day, which they did not mind at first. I mean c'mon the whole day of playing means a chance for them to outsmart their foes infront of them.
It's a great way to bond as well. Hopeful and energetic shouts came out of their mouths earlier. Now their legs felt sore, they felt like they were showering on their own sweat as they play for the nth time of the day.
M/n watched in the sidelines with worry for each and everyone in the training camp, albeit, knowing the brewing wickedness of the hags. He can't help but feel guilty for the boys.
All he could do was support them by giving words of encouragement and water.
"You're doing well guys, keep going..! ahaha"
He told the boys as they got to have a 5 minute break, tired smile was their only reply to him. Which the boy totally understand, the mere thought of going out there and being active for more than an hour is exhausting, he can feel his stomach churn as he imagine himself in their shoes. What an unruly sight it was.
"Your efforts will be rewarded"
He mumbled, as he pass the towels, yahaba, who heard him grabbed the boy's hand with his own sweat-dripping ones. M/n whined from the contact but quickly shushed when, he did not want the person to feel like he's disgusted with them. He is, but that's beside the point.
"Yuck- i mean, yes? You need some more water? a cold one?"
"Ah, sorry, and no...I was about to ask what did you say? I heard you mumble something about rewards..?"
M/n shook his head as he tried to hide his smile, his lips trembled as he desperately compressed the erupting smile by pressing his lips into a thin line.
"W-what? I didn't say anything aha! You're probably just hella tired ahaha!"
He replied, making an awkward wave with his hand. Looking behind yahaba and the others, to see a certain old hag.
His heart beat went back to normal when he realised the old hag wasn't eye-ing him. And that yahaba seemed fairly convinced. Yahaba was convinced but a small part him is telling him that there is something more than meets the eye.
He let go of his hand and pondered as endless thoughts about m/n clouded his mind.
── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───
"Congratulations to all of you!!"
Greeted by the coaches and managers as m/n and kiyoko hold a banner that says 'You did well!'
Everyone's seemingly tired and ruffled looks were replaced by sweaty big smiles and an energized aura.
Grilling stations and various meats were placed in each station, water and complimentary drinks and sauces were there as well. A bowl od salad and other appetizers were there as well. It was truly planned out, the players felt like they came home as champions from the nationals.
They all screamed thank you in unison, bowing in unison as well, m/n had his mouth open as he was impressed with the synchronization of the whole group.
"Don't thank us, thank your managers, especially m/n. He was the one who suggested this plan!"
Coach nekomata waved their thanks towards the boy was was holding the banner. M/n shifted in awkwardness as he felt everyone's eyes were on him. He did a little wave, which made fukurodani's ace hollered, erupting a whole scream of thank you to the boy.
m/m rubbed his cheek as he felt his cheeks heat up from all the appreciation.
Kiyoko smiled slightly at the sight of the boy, she may not have much interaction with him but she surely admires his impact on his own team AND on the other team.
M/m sweatdropped as he saw the infamous duo in karasuno and another one in nekoma bowed infront of kiyoko who only looked at them with a poker face.
"Hey, kiyoko-san, how can you keep a straight face with them?"
He whispered loud enough for the manager to hear, kiyoko smiled a little from the question. Which did not go unnoticed by her loyal worshippers.
"You'll get-"
"HEY!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU'RE ALL THAT FOR MAKING KIYOKO-SAN SMILE HUHHH??"
"YEAH? YOU WANNA FIGHT SEIJOH BRAT??"
"WE'RE BEAT YOU TO PULP"
The trio interrupted kiyoko, m/n jolt from their sudden screams but before they could even speak or, threat the boy more they received a good ol' knuckle punch.
"Oi, don't threaten m/n, he's a good kid"
"Stop scaring m/n."
"Yamamoto, do you want to run 40 laps tonight? hm?"
The three who saved m/n from the grasp of the loyal worshippers of the goddess, was herself, kiyoko, sugawara and kuroo who each had an annoyed smile in their faces. Except kiyoko of course.
"Sorry m/n, don't take their threats by heart"
Sugawara apologized as he dragged the two back to his team, while kuroo did the same and dragged the guy called yamamoto whilst he was getting scolded by their libero who suddenly appeared at kuroo's side.
"Like i said, you'll get used to it."
Kiyoko continued what she was saying earlier before she was rudely interrupted, they were both holding the banner still. Only when one of the coach told them they can put the banner down and eat did they fold it into a square-like form.
"Besides, im pretty sure you have your own worshippers in your team"
Kiyoko added, as they both walked towards their team who was right behind of one another but before m/n can ask the girl for clarification he was interrupted by someone attacking him with a hug. The person smelled like sweat and baby cologne. M/n liked the scent of the baby cologne but it was not a good mix with sweat.
"M/n-chan!! Thank you for doing this for us!!"
M/n smiled and patted oikawa's head who was burying his face in his chest. While, iwaizumi, mattsun, makki, yahaba and the rest went in and joined oikawa to hug and give their thanks to the manager in person.
He popped his out of all of them and looked at kiyoko who was mouthing a 'told you so'. M/n has a big smile and mouthed 'thank you', kiyoko only nodded as she started to tend to his teammates.
Everyone was enjoying their time with the barbecue event.
The members were scattered all around, various colours of jerseys filled the station where m/n was. Currently he was being bombarded with the players' offering.
"M/N! LITTLE ONE!! TRY MY MEAT!!"
Screamed by the ever so enthusiastic ace of fukurodani, akaashi tailing behind him.
"No! try mine instead!"
Another one hollered, this time it came from the nekoma's. It was their captain, kuroo. He was holding a plate full of various meat and little to none vegetables in the side.
"M/n-chan~ try your captain's meat stick~!"
And another one joined in, m/n felt overwhelmed as the captains corners him an awkward laugh came out from him, stepping back slowly as he has his hands to his chest in defense.
"L-let's not get hasty guys..! haha! I'm only one and you guys are like three!"
"Iwaizumi! help me please!"
The ace who was eating in peace heard his name and quickly, came into rescue.
"sorry, but m/n's prefers mine. That includes you trashykawa, now scram!"
Iwaizumi shielded the boy from the three, giving his plate of meat to the boy, encouraging to take a bite. M/n looked at him asking for confirmation, iwaizumi nodded and so he did.
He chewed slowly and put a thumbs up, making an 'mmm' sound to convince the trio more.
The trio backed down, as they felt the menacing looks given by their teammates and one particular setter from karasuno.
After that little fiasco, iwaizumi turned to m/n and asked him if he was okay, the boy nodded and thanked iwaizumi and was escorted back to their station whilst the tanned ace dragged their captain.
"Welcome back, m/n, seems like iwa-kun here helped you quite alright!"
Makki joked, slapping iwaizumi's arm playfully which iwaizumi retorted with a glare before setting their captain back to where he was earlier. This time he was sulking.
"Oi, brattykawa, stop bitching and moaning and eat!"
Iwaizumi told the boy, yet no reply was given. M/n somehow felt guilty, so he went and tapped the boy's back.
Oikawa peeked first until he saw m/n, and he fully turned. He had a pouting face going on. M/n smiled in awkwardness.
"I'll eat your meat stick if that makes you happy, deal?"
Oikawa perked up from the boy's deal and quickly showed him the meat. It was really in a stick huh? the food was beautifully prepared even for someone like oikawa, m/n can't somehow fathom it but the meat was partnered with greens that m/n wasn't a fan of but for the sake of everyone's experience in this eat out, he'll eat it.
M/n nodded and closed his eyes and open his mouth. He waited for a while, nothing entered his mouth, he opened one of his eyes and saw oikawa in a blushing mess.
"Why are you blushing? aren't you used to feeding cute girls like this?"
M/n joked as he elbowed the boy softly. Which made oikawa even more shy and flustered.
"U-unfair-! You're not as cute as them, so it's hard for me to keep calm you know"
Oikawa reasoned out, m/n who was laughing suddenly stopped and it was now his turn to feel embarrassed.
"Wh-what the hell are you even saying?"
He looked away, the others couldn't bare the growing tension between the two and one of them had enough and decided to get it done once and for all.
"Oh for fuck sake! just feed him the goddamn meat or i'll be the one doing it for you"
Kyotani screamed, his anger was making him itchy, itching to punch a certain setter. Iwaizumi gave him a warning look, which stopped him from going even further.
"He's right trashykawa, just feed him already"
Oikawa begrudgingly followed the ace's words and fed the boy with trembling hands, his heart beated faster than a horse in a race, he felt a thousand fireworks lit up inside him and danced around inside his stomach.
M/n chewed the meat for a moment before giving oikawa a big smile and a two thumbs up.
"That was delicious, oikawa san! the contrast of the vegetable with the meat was splendid! i mean, the meat was seasoned by me but still, but still, it's scrumptious! i can eat it for days!"
M/n exclaimed, wide eyes and everything. Oikawa even had his eyes widen from the boy's reaction. He did not expect it from him, especially when it comes to cooking.
"Really you mean it? all honesty? no joke?"
Oikawa held m/n's both hands, his eyes shone like the northern star from the boy's statement. M/n nodded vigourously his face matches the setter's.
The others deadpanned as they watch the two converse in jealousy.
"Enough of that asshole-kawa!"
Iwaizumi scolded oikawa who quickly retracted and dramatically replied from his best friend.
"So mean! do you think m/n-chan would like you if you keep verbally abusing your own best friend?!"
Iwaizumi was slightly taken aback from the setter's reply, but quickly reinforced himself with another aggressive retort.
"Keep saying that shit and i won't wait for you to go to school ever again"
"Wait! it was a joke! im sorry iwa-chan! i'll never do it again!"
With that, Oikawa rant towards iwaizumi, and started bugging him.
Mattsun, makki, yahaba and surprisingly kyotani and kunimi formed a beeline infront of m/n, all of them were holding some kind of meat, some were in a mix of vegetables some were pure meat.
"You need to be fair, manager~ you need to eat ours too, i hope you aren't full yet"
Makki told the boy, a teasing smile was etched om his face. M/n took a deep breath for he knew it's going to take a lot of his stomach to digest a huge amount.
── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───
Bokuto's hair flattened down, as he retreated back to akaashi who was waiting for him with a plate of onigiris. Akaashi sighed and patted the boy's back.
"Next time, don't be aggressive towards m/n okay?"
He advised to the boy.
"BUT I WASN'T KAASHI! MAYBE HE DIDN'T WANNA BE WITH ME ANYMORE"
Akaashi sighed as he knew his moment of peace and celebration was robbed from him.
"Hey bokuto-san, does your offer still stands?"
A voice from behind them emerged, the duo turned to see m/n standing there, hands behind his back. He smiled as their eyes met one another.
"Huh? I don't think offers can stand m/n, akaashi do they stand?"
He quickly whispered to the boy beside him, his eyes went back and forth from m/n to akaashi as he waits for akaashi's reply.
"Bokuto-san he doesn't literally mean it stands, he means if you're still willing to offer it to him"
Bokuto made an 'o' face as he understood what akaashi told him, he turned to m/n once more and replied more confidently.
"Yes! my offer still...uh..stands! yeah!"
M/n laughed at the boy's cluelessness, and nodded, walking towards bokuto and asking him for the meat.
"Huh? oh yeah"
Bokuto looked around his body to find the meat, only to realize he had eaten it in pure sadness earlier.
His stature curved down as he realized what he did, he turned to m/n his eyes were teary, any minute now it would spill out.
M/n panicked, and looked for akaashi for help, akaashi only sighed and turned to bokuto.
"Don't worry, bokuto-san. You can make another one, im sure m/n wouldn't mind waiting"
"that's right! don't be sad! i'm willing to wait for your amazing meat!"
M/n felt as though he said something really illegal, but ignored it and focused on the ticking time bomb infront of him but after his reply the ace seemed to calmed down and went straight to the grilling station to cook meat for m/n.
M/n wiped his non existent sweat in his forehead and gave thanks to akaashi who was enjoying his onigiris. He offered one to m/n but m/n declined respectfully. It's one of the things akaashi liked about m/n, he was nice. Respectful, you would never expect that he can be on par with bis boisterous captain.
He took a mental note to ask for his contact information, so they can stay in touch. And maybe have some of his help for bokuto.
After a while, bokuto beamed and proudly showed m/n his cooked meat.
M/n clapped and thanked the boy.
"Well? what are you waiting for? eat it!"
Bokuto exclaimed, his hands turned into a fist and he started doing a up and down motion with it. as he visibly shakes up and down.
M/n sweatdropped at the scene but took a bite and showed a satisfied smile.
"That was good, bokuto-san! Expected no less from you"
He told him, stroking the ace's ego. He laughed loudly and started boasting how he's amazing at volleyball and cooking to his teammates who was agreeing to him mindlessly.
M/n took this chance to see kuroo this time, he kind of felt bad for not accepting their offer, he did not want to end their day with a bad note.
He approached the team and surprisingly he was greeted by their most introverted team and even used as a shield which he did not see coming.
He looked at kenma who was at his behind, until he saw a shadow loom over them. He turned to see kuroo with two plates in his hand.
"Kenma, give me your psp now."
Kenma only hissed and hid behind m/n more.
Kuroo slumped down as he begged kenma to eat first before playing. M/n understanding the situation he turned to kenma and tried bargaining with him.
"Kenma-san, we're not close but you should really eat, it'll only get worse when you don't eat. Kuroo will not get off of your hair y'know"
He whispered the last part in order to avoid offending the captain who was already sulking infront of them.
Kenma looked like he wanted to disagree but given it much more thought before mumbling 'give me the plate please'. M/n felt glad and asked for kenma's plate, kuroo questioned the boy but m/n reassured him, he was still skeptical but still gave him the plate.
M/n went towards the group of cats and greeted them, a bunch of cheerful greetings were done and an offer to eat with them was done but m/n declined.
"Say, what does kenma usually eat?"
m/n asked the player closest to him, which was shibayama, their second libero. It seemed to turn the poor libero into his panic mode as he started fumbling and became a mess.
M/n decided the boy was not the best option to talk to and instead asked yaku.
"M/n! I missed you! gimme a hug!"
M/n opened his arms and hugged the libero who was giggling the whole time. After that, yaku pinched the boy's cheeks despite their height difference yaku was more menacing and m/n cannot agree more.
"So, what does kenma usually eat?"
"Hmm he usually eats anything, just give him a mix of everything and he'll be fine."
M/n nodded and thanked yaku and giving him another hug before taking a portion of meat and vegetables and a beverage for kenma.
After he was done, he looked for kenma.
"Here you go, come eat with me and we can talk about games"
That seemed to lighten kenma's mood, and nodded, following m/n to the stairs of the gym where the tsukishima guy, and bokuto and akaashi was.
"Hello! mind if we sit beside you?"
"I actually d-"
"Too late."
M/n interrupted the boy, as he sat beside tsukishima, earning a nasty glare and a groan from him. Which he only replied with a big smile before turning to kenma who was standing awkwardly.
"Oh! m/n! there you are!"
"hello, m/n"
M/n greeted them back before turning his attention towards kenma.
M/n tapped his thighs softly, kenma felt embarrassed from the boy's offer but sat anyways. It would be uncomfortable if he just stood there.
So he gulped down his dignity and sat at the boy's thighs expecting a whine from him, saying his butt felt like bones and something sharp but he was greeted with a smile.
"i hope you don't mind our position. Anyways, as promised let's talk about games"
m/n told him, kenma only nodded shyly gripping the cloth of his shorts.
M/n gave him his plate and while the boy was eating m/n was talking about games, which kenma really enjoyed. He even got to ask some recommendations from the boy.
In amidst of their conversation, a plate hovered m/n's face. He looked up to see kuroo handing him a plate and a beverage.
"Thanks for making kenma eat"
"Don't worry i cooked it well, kenma knows i'm a good cook, right kenma?"
He turned to kenma who was eating peacefully, and was stupefied from the sudden mention of his name. He nodded and went back to eating.
"Well then, if kenma agrees, then i shall accept"
He gratefully took kuroo's offer. He took a bite despite the feeling of his stomach exploding from all of it.
"Woah, you have a huge appetite, little one! you should've told me earlier i could've made you some more!"
Bokuto interjected as he joined in the conversation between kenma and m/n.
"It's fine, i wanted to taste kuroo-san's cooking anyways"
M/n lied, he felt like throwing up. He turned to his side to see tsukishima looking far away.
"Hey tsukki-guy, are you good? why aren't you with your team?"
Tsukishima turned to him and eyed him before looking forward, pushing his glass further.
"Is it wrong to have some peace and quiet? not that you'd know cuz you seem the type to be the loud and annoying one"
He replied, an irk mark appeared in m/n's temple but did not show it. M/n's petty, and he will not give this tsukki-guy the satisfaction of seeing him mad or pissed off bcs of his comments.
"I see, i won't be bugging you then."
M/n retreated back and went to put his attention to the trio infront of him, plus kenma who was now busy playing his game.
"Akaashi, didn't i tell you to keep that a secret?!"
"I'm sorry it slipped out of my mind"
M/n laughed as akaashi just outed one of bokuto's embarrassing moments in their school. Kuroo joined in but teased the ace.
"Oh, m/n?"
"yeah?"
"May i attain your contact number?"
Akaashi asked, as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Which made bokuto and kuroo pulled out theirs as well.
"Me too! me too! me too!"
"Same here"
M/n laughed and pulled out his, before showing to them his contact info.
"there, call me aight? don't be a stranger"
M/n told them, but before he put his phone back, he heard kenma call his name.
"M/n?"
"Yes kenma?"
"Can i have your number too? so we can talk about games, kuroo doesn't really like playing games, so.."
"Of course silly! no need to explain, here"
He asked for the boy's phone as he personally punched in his info and even setting his name as 'kenma's gaming buddy! <33'
Kenma retrieved his phone and smiled at the name m/n gave himself, and decided to keep it that way.
While kenma and m/n was having their own talk, kuroo and bokuto started bickering about a random thing.
M/n felt tired so he told kenma to stand up for a moment and removed himself from the circle, he let kenma sit in his previous seat and walked infront of the blonde first year.
"Wanna come? i'll be visiting suga-chan and your teammates"
He offered, his hand behind his back, a kind smile was displayed in his face.
Tsukishima only made a 'tched' sound before declining politely but unfortunately for him, m/n did not budge and pulled him out of his seat and dragged him towards his team.
Once they reached them, he wrapped his arms around the boy, albeit having a difficult time due to a small difference in their height.
"i found this little crow being all sad in the corner, so i decided to bring him back while i visit suga-chan!"
"Ah m/n, thank you for suggesting this cook-out. This is the best."
Sugawara thanked the boy, the others thanked him as well, except for the libero and the ace. Seems like they were still bitter from what happened earlier.
"It was nothing, i just thought you guys deserve a treat after working hard and what could've been a good treat than unlimited meat"
He told them, flashing them his usual smile and a thumbs up.
"Well, either way, we still are grateful for everything you've done for everyone. You were truly a delight to be with, m/n. Right, everyone?"
"YEAHH!! M/N-SAN WAS SO AMAZING AND HE GIVES THE BEST COMPLIMENTS AND HUGS TOO!"
M/n felt bashful from the hyper tangerine's compliment, even their stoic setter made an attempt to compliment him which was more than enough to make him shy.
Let's not forget about the boy with freckles and another manager of theirs, to m/n's eyes. They were like kids in their angel costumes in a christmas show for the guardians/parents.
M/n spent the rest of the day going from other teams to converse them and make sure they were having fun. A few bickerings happened because of him but all in all they were having fun.
And that's what's important.
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I like this chapter, i hope you did as well. Thank you for reading!! i love you all <33.