Nakano smiled as the boys took a fifteen minute break. They'd just finished their regular Wednesday receiving drills, and their captain had kindly granted them fifteen minutes before they would begin working intensively on serves.
When Daichi had come to her initially to discuss his plan for the five days that Kageyama and Tsukishima would be away, the coach and the captain had almost come to blows. Well, not really, but the discussion had gotten a little...intense. Daichi felt strongly that the team really needed to step up their serving game - their matches against Oikawa and Ushiwaka had proven that their serves were sub-par, and that powerful serves could really drive a game forward. Nakano had agreed wholeheartedly, until her captain had said they should drop the normal drills for the week in favor of concentrating on serving.
She pushed back against this idea, hard. "Cap, I get what you're saying," she'd said to him after sparring back and forth for several minutes, both of them getting progressively louder. She'd taken a very deep, slow breath, and forced her volume down. "But I think ignoring our regular fundamentals and only drilling serves is a mistake. Serves alone won't win at Nationals. We need to improve our serves, yes. But you'll notice that we beat both Seijoh and Shiratorizawa even with our serves as mediocre as they are right now. We are not so skilled that we can ignore our basic training needs, Cap. We need to keep the regular drills in place, or when we try to get back to them, it will be that much harder."
"But Nakano, it's only for this week, if we really focus..."
"Cap, why can't we do both? I'll run my regular drills just like always. You run practice, like always. And if you decide practice consists of a ton of serving drills, well, there ya go. Think of my drills like part of our warm ups. You wouldn't agree to letting the team practice without warm ups and cool downs, would you?"
Daichi had looked at her and laughed aloud, clapping her on the back. "Alright, Coach Legs, you got me there. We'll keep both, and you'd better prepare yourself to hear a lot of complaining."
He wasn't wrong about that, and the team hadn't even been told yet that they would spend the better part of practice today doing serving drills. Sugawara, Yamaguchi, Narita, Tanaka and Nishinoya had decided that today was a good day to step up their 'Coach Legs is an evil slave driver' routine to a new level. Nakano figured it was because Kags and Tsukki were away, and she'd not been entirely able to hide how much she missed them, especially the tall megane. And then Hinata had also failed to show for practice today, which had everyone a little worried.
Nakano had a sneaking suspicion about where the little ginger was. She kept that to herself...no point in upsetting everyone with that idea. She was pretty sure Suga was also thinking along the same lines she was, given the look he'd exchanged with her when the team first noticed their decoy was missing. If Hinata had decided to crash the Shiratorizawa training camp, they'd all find out soon enough.
Meanwhile, the 'cutie pies,' as the strawberry blonde had come to sarcastically call her five teammates who loved to tease her about her 'sadistic' coaching style, had really let her have it today, in the most loving way possible, of course. She looked over at them as they hydrated, all together in a bunch, looking like they were planning out their next verbal assault on her. She couldn't help but chuckle, wondering exactly how over the top they would go when Daichi made his announcement.
They didn't disappoint.
"Alright," Daichi called out, his voice firm, "We're going to spend the rest of this week on an intensive of our own. We're focusing on our serves, gentlemen. Everyone is going to be drilling serves until you can put them where you want them and how you want them to be moving. We've got a month left, gentlemen. Let's make it count. We're all going to be able to serve volleyballs in our sleep."
All five of the cutie pies whined and complained impressively, hands running through their hair, or draped across their foreheads in anguish. Sugawara went the extra mile, however, collapsing onto the bench in dramatic fashion, a loud groan ripping from him. "This is all her fault, isn't it? Our cruel Coach Legs convinced you to torture us like this, didn't she, Daichi? You're going to wear us down to a frazzle!"
"I still don't see what you're complaining about, Suga," Nishinoya moaned out, "I'm the one who's going to have to receive all your serves! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die of volleyball!" The libero collapsed in a heap, hanging his head and looking defeated.
Nakano looked up at Daichi and winked. Her captain smothered a chuckle, his jaw working to keep a straight face as the girl moved towards her diminutive senpai. "Awww, poor Noya-senpai. Well, we need to keep you going, so I guess there's no help for it..." The girl leaned over and gave her senpai a kiss on the head, making the libero suddenly beam at her and setting off a chorus of 'oohs' from the rest of the boys. "Think you can survive the day now?" she asked.
"With an encouragement kiss from Coach Legs? You bet!" Noya sprang to his feet. "Bring on the serves!"
The team laughed, especially Suga. "Somewhere, right now, I bet Tsukishima is growling at someone. I'm sure he felt that encouragement kiss all the way over at Shiratorizawa."
"Hey, no fair! What about the rest of us? Where's my encouragement kiss?" Tanaka whined, looking from Nakano to Kiyoko to Yachi. Yachi shrank back a bit in fear, while Kiyoko seemed to be readying herself to whack the boy over the head with a clipboard again.
"Don't worry girls, I'll take care of this too. Tanaka, Asahi, Yamaguchi - you three are with me," Nakano called out briskly, heading for the far court as Daichi got the rest of the team working on their serves.
"What do you think this is all about?" Tanaka asked Yamaguchi, who simply shrugged.
Nakano smiled at the three boys. "All right, gentlemen. Daichi asked me to work with the three of you especially to improve the power of Karasuno's serves. And that means that it's time for you two," she pointed to Tanaka and Yamaguchi, "to get a solid jump serve under your belt. Ace, you're going to teach Yams how to jump serve like a pro."
"Me?" Asahi's eyes widened.
Nakano chuckled. "Would you rather work with this one?" she asked, hooking a thumb at Tanaka.
Asahi blinked. "Right. Come on, Yamaguchi, let's get started," the big man said, leading a snickering Yamaguchi across to the other side of the court.
Tanaka looked back and forth between Nakano and the Ace. "Hey, wait a minute...I..."
Nakano laughed aloud, giving her other favorite senpai a kiss on the cheek. "There, you've gotten your encouragement. Now let's get to work, okay?"
"All right!" Tanaka bellowed, his shirt flying up and off his body as he twirled it around, "Let's do this!" Nakano rolled her eyes and tried to encourage her senpai to put his shirt back on and get back to business.
After about a hour of solid work, Tanaka already had the basics of doing a good jump serve down. Nakano was duly impressed with the young man's focus and concentration, even if he'd been a little rowdy at the start. Tanaka was clearly anxious to develop his new serve into a functional weapon for his team. I was thinking it might take a full day or even two for him get this far, Nakano thought, but he's really into this. By tomorrow, we'll be able to start working on the fine details of jump serves. He's already got the fundamental motions pretty well down.
As the blue-eyed coach was about to praise her senpai for his efforts, Kiyoko came by with water bottles and towels. "Kiyoko! Check me out!" he called, moving to attempt another jump serve. Nakano winced - she could see almost at once this was going to end badly.
Sure enough, Tanaka's toss was way off, and instead of striking the ball with his hand, he ended up sort of head-butting the thing, the ball smacking off his forehead and plowing down on to the floor. He staggered on the landing, but at least managed to keep on his feet. Nakano could see how red in the face he was, even though he kept his body turned away from the ladies. She was about to shout out some encouragement when Kiyoko walked up to him, softly chuckling. She pressed a water bottle into his hands, and draped a towel around his neck. "Keep working at it. I know you'll be able to do a great serve before long," the raven-haired girl said to him, a little blush on her own cheeks as well.
Nakano watched the exchange, fully expecting Tanaka to do something overly dramatic while yelling something about his goddess, making everyone in the room laugh. But instead, he just muttered a small 'thanks' as Kiyoko moved on. The student coach caught the eyes of her manager, and the older girl looked away quickly, blush turning even more rosy. I've wondered before about Kiyoko's crush on a teammate, and this is just making me think yet again that it's Tanaka she's sweet on, Nakano mused. But what's even more incredible is that I think Tanaka might be genuinely taken with her! She looked over to the young man, who was drinking water and staring after the dark-haired beauty.
Nakano placed a gentle hand on Tanaka's shoulder. "Hey...you ok?"
"Yeah," the boy replied, as subdued as Nakano had ever seen him. "She's just...really awesome, you know?"
"Tanaka-senpai...you really care about her, don't you?"
A small chuckle escaped him. "I fell in love with her the very first time I saw her. Asked her to marry me on the spot. And everything she's ever done since then has just convinced me I was right the first time. She's really amazing, Naka-chan. I just wish she knew..." he trailed off, looking down at his shoes and heaving a deep sigh.
Nakano stared at him in wonder. She tried to think of something to say, some way to encourage him to tell the girl how he really felt about her. But if he did, would Kiyoko take him seriously? Would she even be ready to accept those feelings? Nakano wasn't sure if Kiyoko could handle that at the moment. In the end, she settled for simply sliding her hand down her senpai's arm, pulling him into one of her patented encouraging side hugs. "I think she'll know when the time comes, Tanaka-senpai," came out of her mouth without her really thinking about it.
"Yup," he replied, "well, let's get back to it. Clearly we've still got some work to do, Coach Legs." Nakano looked up to see Tanaka's determined smile once again in place. She answered his with her own, amazed to see the strength and resiliency of her often downright wacky senpai.
🏐🏐🏐
Nakano sighed deeply as she made her way out of the girls' changing room. This was the part of her day she'd been dreading the most - the long walk home without her blonde boyfriend. Even Tadashi wouldn't be with her, as Yachi had mentioned that the freckled young man would be walking her home that evening. The little blonde had asked Nakano if she wanted to join them, at least for the first part of the walk, but the setter had declined, wanting to give her two friends the chance to spend a little time together.
As the door closed behind her, Nakano looked up to see Daichi and Asahi leaning against the railing, both smiling at her. "Cap, Ace...did you guys need something?" she asked.
"We get the pleasure of escorting you home this evening, Coach," Daichi said.
A chuckle rumbled through Asahi. "Actually, that's his job, I'm technically in charge of making sure you eat well tonight. Are you going home to dinner with your family?"
Nakano laughed. "Guys, this isn't necessary, really. I got this, you don't even live near me..."
The older boys fixed her with looks that made it very clear that nothing she said was going to dissuade them from completing their appointed tasks. And if she were being honest with herself, Nakano was rather grateful. She really was surprised by just how much she missed Kei, and not having her best friend to lean on in that situation was also rather tougher than she'd expected. She sighed, giving the boys a sweet smile.
"So, your dinner plans?" Asahi asked again.
"Yes, Ace, I'm having dinner with my parents when I get home."
"Good, then I know you'll eat well. I'll walk with you guys to Sakanoshita. Meat buns are on me," the big man said, gesturing with his arm to let Nakano lead the way.
"You guys are entirely too much," the girl said, laughing as she headed down the stairs.
"Maybe," Daichi replied, "but you know Tsukishima would be upset if he found out we all just left and let you walk home alone. Especially after all the times I made him walk you home back at the start of the year." The captain's voice held a note of wry humor, and Nakano couldn't help but chuckle again, realizing that Daichi's insistence on her being accompanied home was sort of the beginning of her relationship with the salty blonde. She turned to smile at him, and found him to be looking at her with a cocky smile. "You're welcome," he said, quirking his eyebrows at her.
The three teammates laughed heartily as they made their way out from Karasuno, chatting about the practice they'd just completed. Asahi made good on his promise, purchasing a meat bun for each of them before heading out on his way home. Daichi and Nakano continued onward, Nakano finally asking the question that had been on her mind since they'd heard the news about Hinata.
"So how angry are you at Shoyo?" she asked him, popping the last of her meat bun in her mouth.
Nakano could feel the dark aura beginning to surround Daichi as he thought about what his tiny middle blocker had done. "I am going to kill that little..."
"Cap," she said to him softly, placing a hand on his arm, "I know you're mad, but try to understand how Hinata must be feeling."
He jolted at the gentleness in her voice. "Are you trying to tell me you agree with what he did?" he asked incredulously.
Nakano shook her head. "No, of course not, and believe you me, I'll be taking him to task for it as his coach. However, before you lay into him, think about why he would do such a thing."
"Because he's just way too over excitable and way too focused on what he wants and he doesn't use whatever brain might lurking under all that orange fluff! I know he was upset he wasn't chosen for these camps, but that's no excuse for this kind of behavior!" Daichi growled out, voice growing louder as he became more agitated as he went along.
"Daichi, believe me when I tell you, Shoyo isn't just thinking of himself here. I mean, yes, he wants to get stronger for himself, but he also knows that he's the weakest player on our team, Cap. He knows he has to get stronger for the team, too, or he's gonna be holding us back, and he really does not want that."
"You think he's the weakest player on our team?"
Nakano fixed Daichi with a very direct stare. "His passing is mediocre at best, his receives are awful, and his serving is worse. He's become a decent blocker thanks to his work with the Gym 3 squad, but let's face it, compared to someone like Tsukki, he's not really good at blocking either. He jumps like a madman, he's a hell of a decoy, and that minus tempo quick is extraordinary. But Cap, compared to everyone else on the team, Hinata needs the most work, on basically everything."
Daichi gaped at the girl. "Nakano...don't you think that's kind of...harsh?"
Nakano smiled gently. "I'm not saying anything Hinata doesn't already know himself."
"What?"
"Shoyo knows he's weak, Daichi. It's why he's so desperate. Desperate enough to do something like this. Do you remember watching him play at the middle school tournament last year?"
"Yeah, who wouldn't remember seeing someone who could jump like that..."
"What about the rest of his team?"
Daichi blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Do you remember anything about the rest of his team?"
"Ummm..."
"Of course you don't. None of them were volleyball players. He cobbled together a team from his friends...basketball players, tennis players, anyone willing to help him out. But he never really got to play with an honest-to-gosh team until he came to Karasuno. He practiced with anyone who'd work with him, worked with the girls' team at his middle school when they would let him, but everything he learned about volleyball before he came here he basically learned on his own. And when you think about that, the fact that he's come this far this fast is incredible. But he knows it isn't enough. He wants to beat Kageyama, sure. He wants to stay on the court the longest, yeah. But there's something else going on in there, Cap. The last thing Hinata wants is to be the reason why Karasuno goes home from Nationals. So, please Daichi, remember that when you see him tomorrow, okay?" Nakano smiled at her captain as they reached her house. "Besides, I'm rather fond of you, and I don't want to see you have to serve time in jail for killing your middle blocker."
Daichi chuckled. "Thanks, Naka-chan. You're right, I will take into account everything you've said. And I promise not to kill him." A smirk came across his face, on par with Tsukki's best. "But after I'm done with him, he might wish I had."
The girl gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "I would expect nothing less of you, Captain. Thanks for walking me home. I'm sure my dad would be happy to drive you home, since you've gone so far out of your way for me tonight."
"No need, but thanks, Naka-chan." He hugged the girl, making her laugh. "See you tomorrow!"
He jogged away, Nakano standing and waving him goodbye from her doorstep before heading inside to dinner with her family.
🏐🏐🏐
Nakano was just finishing up her homework for the day when her phone chimed with a text notification. She sighed, looking at it and seeing it was from her golden-eyed sweetheart. She'd really been hoping he'd be able to find a quiet place he felt comfortable calling her from, as she was definitely missing the sound of his voice. But texting was better than nothing. She sighed again, shaking her head a little to clear the sad thoughts from her mind as she packed up her school things. Once her bags were ready for the morning, she flopped down on her bed, smiling to herself as she opened his text.
Lover Boy 💖
You should be so proud of me Naka-chan.
Queen Setter 🏐
Let me guess - for not killing Shoyo, right?
Lover Boy 💖
Well, I was going to say for not decking him, but yeah, I didn't kill him either, which sounds more impressive.
Queen Setter 🏐
LOL Congratulations, love. Your restraint is admirable.
Lover Boy 💖
I did yell at him, though.
Queen Setter 🏐
Good. He deserved it. I expect he'll be getting yelled at by several other people before he goes back to Shiratorizawa tomorrow.
Lover Boy 💖
Are you going to yell at him?
Queen Setter 🏐
No. I think a patented Coach Legs glare will be far more effective.
Lover Boy 💖
I don't know what's worse - the fact that he actually showed up at this camp, or that it's kind of my own fault he did. Well, me and Tadashi.
Queen Setter 🏐
Say what now?
Lover Boy 💖
Apparently he was planning to try to crash the All-Japan Youth Intensive, but heard Tadashi and I talking about how you could get yourself arrested trying to do something like that. That was when he decided to come crash the Miyagi First Years camp instead.
Queen Setter 🏐
🤦♀️ I have no words.
Lover Boy 💖
He's a complete lunatic.
Queen Setter 🏐
Actually, Kei, you probably saved his life, because if Kageyama hadn't killed him, Daichi and/or Coach Ukai probably would have. So he's going to be a ball boy for the entire camp?
Lover Boy 💖
Yep. I think it might crush his tiny soul, which will be delightful. 😏
Queen Setter 🏐
My boyfriend is so evil.
Lover Boy 💖
Yeah, but you still love me.
Queen Setter 🏐
Got that right, gorgeous. Will you do me a favor?
Lover Boy 💖
Anything.
Queen Setter 🏐
Don't go easy on him. Make sure he's working and learning. And use him to your best advantage.
Lover Boy 💖
What do you mean?
Queen Setter 🏐
Look, if we're being fair, Shoyo should have been invited to that camp. But with Coach Washijo running the thing, Hinata didn't have a chance. Washijo values height and power, and sees neither in Hinata. I'm sure he thinks Shoyo is useless without Kageyama.
Lover Boy 💖
So are you saying the only reason I got invited is because I'm tall?
Queen Setter 🏐
No, smart aleck. You got invited because you beat Washijo's ideal player - Ushijima Wakatoshi. And you totally deserve to be there. I'm saying Hinata got passed over because he's short.
Lover Boy 💖
So what do you mean by using him to my best advantage?
Queen Setter 🏐
Hinata's going to get a whole new perspective on the game being a ball boy, just like I did when I became a manager and then a coach. When that happens, he's going to change and grow as a player. Use that. Learn and grow from what he becomes. I know you still see him as a rival, Kei. So don't let him outpace you. If you keep pushing, you'll both grow stronger. And that can only help our team.
Lover Boy 💖
Is it really so different, being a coach rather than a player?
Queen Setter 🏐
It is. It's taught me a lot about the game. I think I'll be a better player for it, in the end. I hope it will be that way for Shoyo too. So what did you learn from your camp today, besides the fact that you can control your temper around Hinata. 😏
Lover Boy 💖
It was kind of a getting to know you sort of day. We ran some passing and spiking drills, stuff like that. That blocky setter from Date Tech is here too, as well as a couple of the guys from Aoba Johsai.
Queen Setter 🏐
Koganegawa is there? And Kunimi and Kindaichi, I presume. Anyone else we know?
Lover Boy 💖
The six and a half foot tall guy.
Queen Setter 🏐
Hyakuzawa? Damn, if they invited him and not Hinata, it really is about height.
Lover Boy 💖
You're not wrong about that one.
Queen Setter 🏐
Except in your case. For you, it's about overwhelming talent and sheer brilliance.
Lover Boy 💖
No one likes a kiss ass, Roses.
Queen Setter 🏐
Oh really? Are you telling me you wouldn't like it if I literally kissed your ass?
Nakano chuckled aloud to herself as it seemed to take her megane boyfriend rather a long time to respond to her text.
Lover Boy 💖
Now who's the evil one?
Queen Setter 🏐
I guess it is a little mean of me, getting you all riled up in a room full of other guys.
Lover Boy 💖
I expect you to be extra sweet to me when I see you again, Roses.
Queen Setter 🏐
With pleasure, love.
Lover Boy 💖
Mmmm, precisely.
Queen Setter 🏐
KEI!
Lover Boy 💖
😏 I win.
Queen Setter 🏐
LOL You're ridiculous.
Lover Boy 💖
Am not. Have you been over to feed Kyo yet?
Nakano facepalmed - she'd totally forgotten that Kei had asked her to feed his fish while he was away, since his mother was also traveling for business this week. A little grin crept over her face as she got up from her bed and prepared to head out - at least she'd have the chance to be in his room with his familiar scent. It wasn't quite the same, but like the texts, it was better than nothing.
Queen Setter 🏐
Just getting ready to head over now.
Lover Boy 💖
Thanks, Roses. It's been a long day, I'm going to get myself settled, I think.
Queen Setter 🏐
All right, love. I miss you! Talk to you tomorrow!
Lover Boy 💖
💕😘😏😴
Nakano laughed aloud as she grabbed the keys to both her house and the Tsukishima residence and headed out the door.
Within the space of just a few minutes she was headed upstairs to Kei's room, the house strangely quiet with no one in it but a betta fish. Nakano sighed again, then shook herself, trying hard not to slip back into her mopey mood. He'll be back in this house before you know it, she chided herself, the first day is already almost over. She was smiling again as she walked into Kei's room, breathing deeply of his scent. A part of her wanted to immediately throw herself on the soft bed and snuggle his shampoo-scented pillow, but she resisted, moving instead at once to the boy's desk and greeting the little fish that lived on it.
Kyo seemed to perk up at her approach, moving around more and eyeing the girl curiously. Nakano chuckled. "Are you happy because you know I'm here to feed you, Kyo, or do you miss Kei too and want some company?" She tipped a small amount of food into the fish's bowl, watching as the brilliant orange creature nibbled on the meal. "Or maybe it's some of both." After only a very few bites of his food, Kyo was spending more time seemingly staring at the girl than eating. A snort escaped the setter. "You're becoming very much like your owner, Kyo, ignoring your food and staring at me instead. Ah, I wish he were here."
"Your wish is my command."
Nakano squealed, whipping herself around and coming into a fighting stance out of reflex. Standing in the doorway, leaning cockily against the doorframe with a positively glorious smirk on his face, was none other than the tall blonde middle blocker himself. A war of emotions seemed to be taking place on the girl's face, as she didn't know whether to be furious at him for scaring the hell out of her, or delighted that he was here with her. In the end, the two sort of merged into an aggravated confusion. "What...how...when did you get back..." was what decided to come out of the girl's mouth.
He walked towards her, still smirking, and Nakano had never seen anything so sexy as his confident strut into his bedroom, his hands reaching out and taking a hold of one of hers, long fingers trying to get her clenched fist to relax. "I thought about coming up behind you and hugging you, Roses, but now I'm glad I didn't. You might have knocked me out cold if I had." He kissed her hand, lips lingering on her knuckles as the girl finally began to relax, tension releasing from her with an almost manic sort of giggle.
"Kei, love, what on Earth are you doing here? Don't tell me you slipped out of camp to come all the way here..."
He laughed, the smirk never faltering, his golden eyes twinkling. "Come on, Roses, did you really believe that we'd get excused absences for a first-year volleyball camp? This isn't All-Japan - just Miyagi."
"Well, they called it a mini-intensive, so I..." Nakano suddenly stopped short as she realized something. "You knew! You let me think you were going to be gone five whole days and you actually knew this whole time? Oh, you are so mean!" She pummeled his chest in mock-fury, the blows more of an excuse to touch him than doing him any real damage. "How could you be so mean to someone who loves you so much?"
"Mean? Are you telling me you're not happy that I'm actually here with you, instead of you just being here alone with my fish?" He pouted at the girl, and she laughed joyously, tossing her arms around him and holding him tight.
"Okay, yes, dammit, I am very happy you're here. But you're still mean. Did you know the whole time?"
He wrapped his long arms around the girl, cuddling her close and breathing in her sweet floral scent. "I had wondered about it, but Takeda-sensei only confirmed it to me a couple of days ago. He'd been so focused on getting the King set for his trip that it took him a bit to realize that he hadn't really made it clear to me exactly what my camp entailed. I have to be at school tomorrow and Friday, but then I will stay overnight until Sunday." He hummed in satisfaction, his nimble fingers tracing their way over the curves of Nakano's body. "Now," he rumbled, his voice dropping in tone and volume, "didn't you say something before about kissing my ass?"
"Mmmm, nice try, lover boy, but my parents are expecting me to feed a fish and come back home, not get all kinky with my gorgeous boyfriend."
The pout was back. "But I'm all alone here tonight, Roses. And you promised you'd be extra sweet to me the next time you saw me..."
"Well," she breathed, her eyes fixed on his adorable pouty lips, "I guess I can linger a little while..." She pressed her mouth on his, licking his lower lip at once, their tongues coming together in a kiss that was already becoming overheated. Wet lip-smacking sounds filled the room as Nakano's hands began to wander around Kei's back, even as his fingers began to work their way under the hem of her sweater. The couple were slowly inching their way towards the boy's bed, Nakano gasping as her sassy boyfriend moved from kissing her mouth to playing with her ear. He pulled her closer, tighter, his hips beginning to gently roll against her...
...when suddenly, he groaned as her phone went off.
A chuckle rasped out of the girl as she pulled back ever so slightly, making the boy groan and pout yet again. "Sorry, lover boy, but I know that's either my mom or my dad. I'm sure they're beginning to worry about why I've been gone so long."
He sighed, letting the girl deal with her phone, sitting down heavily on his bed. "But I've missed you, Roses," he said softly, knowing he was being ridiculous but not caring.
A few moments later, she was sitting back on the pillows, pulling her sweetheart into a warm embrace. "Thirty minutes, love. And then I really have to get home."
He smiled as her hand came to caress his beautiful blonde hair. "I'll take every moment I can get," he replied, humming in satisfaction as she lavished her love on him once more.
🏐🏐🏐
An hour later, Nakano was back in her room, finishing up her night routine and getting ready for bed. Kei had demanded every single second of his promised thirty minutes, falling headlong into needy mode and begging for cuddles and kisses and generally being a big blonde baby, which Nakano adored to no end, even as she teased him about it. She was fooling no one, however, least of all Kei, who smiled surreptitiously whenever the girl wasn't looking. He insisted on walking her home, which resulted in Nakano's mother meeting them at the door, clicking her tongue at Kei as she asked him what he'd done about dinner and the boy muttered something vague about ramen. Emiko had sent him home with leftovers that she insisted he eat as soon as he got in, and informed him in no uncertain terms that she expected to see him for dinner tomorrow evening. Nakano had chuckled at the boy's eager smile - clearly he'd been wondering how he was going to get to spend more time with her tomorrow night, and Emiko had just saved him the trouble of having to devise something clever.
She was settled in her bed, about to reach up and turn off the light, when her phone buzzed with a notification. Checking the device, she found a text from her best friend.
My Big Bro 🤗
Hey Naka-chan, are you still up?
Queen Setter 🏐
Just about to go to sleep, big bro. How's camp?
My Big Bro 🤗
I made it here okay, but it wasn't easy. I almost got lost like ten times.
Queen Setter 🏐
Oh Tobio-chan, you are something else. So tell me about it! What happened today?
My Big Bro 🤗
Well like before I even got into the building I met Sakusa.
Queen Setter 🏐
As in Sakusa Kiyoomi? Like top 3 aces Sakusa?
My Big Bro 🤗
Yep.
Queen Setter 🏐
Dang Kags. You are working with some serious people!
My Big Bro 🤗
I know. It's amazing. You should see the floor here.
Queen Setter 🏐
The floor?
My Big Bro 🤗
It's not hardwood. I dunno what it is. It's weird, and awesome.
Queen Setter 🏐
OMG Tobio you are so adorable.
My Big Bro 🤗
And that's not all - there are TVs Naka-chan.
Queen Setter 🏐
TVs?
My Big Bro 🤗
Yeah they have these big TVs mounted up in the gym and they show everything on the court that happened like 6 seconds ago so you can look up and see yourself do whatever you just did.
Queen Setter 🏐
Woah...nice.
My Big Bro 🤗
We should do that in our gym.
Queen Setter 🏐
LOL Yeah something tells me that Takeda-sensei won't be able to convince the school to fund that one.
My Big Bro 🤗
Yeah, I guess you're right. But it's really cool.
Queen Setter 🏐
So besides being thoroughly impressed with the gym, what did you actually do today?
My Big Bro 🤗
Well, mostly just get to meet everyone, and hear the coaches talk a lot. The coach for Japan's National team is here too.
Queen Setter 🏐
Dang Tobio, you are so lucky. Get everything out of this experience that you can!
My Big Bro 🤗
Did Hinata spend all day being sad about being left behind? 😏
Queen Setter 🏐
You mean you didn't hear?
My Big Bro 🤗
Hear what?
Queen Setter 🏐
Hinata crashed the camp Tsukki is at this week.
My Big Bro 🤗
HE DID WHAT?
Queen Setter 🏐
Showed up even though he wasn't invited. Tsukki almost killed him.
My Big Bro 🤗
DUMBASS! What the hell was he thinking?
Queen Setter 🏐
Apparently your taunting got to him. He was so afraid of being left behind he decided it was worth the risk of crashing the camp at Shiratorizawa. His first idea was to crash your camp.
My Big Bro 🤗
WHAT THE HELL??
Queen Setter 🏐
Luckily he overheard Tsukki and Yams talking about how if someone actually tried that, they'd probably be arrested.
My Big Bro 🤗
Being arrested would have been the least of his worries. I'd have throttled him with my bare hands.
Queen Setter 🏐
LOL Yeah I said as much to Kei. Told him he probably saved Hinata's life.
My Big Bro 🤗
Bet that ticked him off.
Queen Setter 🏐
LOL 🤣
My Big Bro 🤗
So what happened to him?
Queen Setter 🏐
Apparently Coach Washijo said he could stay...
My Big Bro 🤗
SERIOUSLY?
Queen Setter 🏐
...as a ball boy.
My Big Bro 🤗
🤣😆😂
Queen Setter 🏐
Daichi's gonna give him hell tomorrow, and I bet Coach Ukai will too. Takeda-sensei will probably also be giving him a talking to.
My Big Bro 🤗
And what about Coach Legs?
Queen Setter 🏐
He'll wish I'd killed him.
My Big Bro 🤗
Yeah right. You'll glare at him, and then you'll let him off the hook.
Queen Setter 🏐
Dude! Stop that.
My Big Bro 🤗
You understand him too well to be really mad at him, Naka-chan.
Queen Setter 🏐
What the hell?
My Big Bro 🤗
You know what it's like to have to fight to get better. I know you won't really be mad at him for that. So quit pretending you're gonna be all hard on him, Nakano. I know you better than that.
Queen Setter 🏐
Yeah, I guess you do, Tobio-chan.
My Big Bro 🤗
Don't you ever forget it Naka-chan. I'm gonna get some sleep. I think the next few days are gonna be pretty exhausting.
Queen Setter 🏐
Soak it all in, big bro. Love you.
My Big Bro 🤗
Love you too.
Nakano set her phone down again, setting it up to charge. She chuckled to herself, marveling at Kageyama's insight. He was completely correct - she really couldn't be angry at Shoyo for wanting to find a way to keep advancing. She'd give him grief over the method he chose, but the drive, the desire, the need to be better - those she could completely understand.