characters: shiratorizawa and reader.
warnings: none
word count: 3k+
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Shiratorizawa Academy is known as one of the top schools in the prefecture, not only because do their students excel in sports; they make sure that they excel in academics as well. Students are expected to perform their best, especially those who were accepted through the school's sports scholarships. Student workloads increase as they reach their second year and third year, while the first years were still lightly breezing their way through high school.
So when morning practice came (Y/n) was quite surprise when most, if not all, the upperclassmen regulars were looking quite sluggish. They were quiet, as she had observed from her spot on the bench, as they entered the gym already in their practice clothes and started stretching. She blinks, surveying the area to look for her fellow first year to see that he was as energetic as ever. Nevertheless, she just shook her head, dismissing it as some sort of morning blues; morning practice starts quite early so she understands if they were wishing that they were still in bed.
However, when afternoon practice came, she can still see that they were still looking a bit tired, stressed, was what she would call it. They seem to be back to their normal state however, as Tendou was already bothering the others like he normally did.
"Ne, ne" she called, catching Goshiki's attention "Are the senpais okay?"
Goshiki blinks at her question, as he stood beside her observing them himself. Unfortunately, Goshiki was not blessed with the same skill set as her so he just shrugs his shoulders and said, "They seem fine"
"No, no. They look..." she paused for a moment as if trying to look for the right words to say "...tense"
Goshiki hummed, rubbing his chin "Now that you mention it, Shirabu-san does look a bit cranky than usual"
"Right? Right?"
"But Ushijima-san's looking fresh as ever though" he pointed out as they turned their attention to the said captain, who as usual was donning that serious and intense look on his face as he talks to Semi. They sweatdrop, before turning to look at each other.
"It's probably because they have more requirements than us, I remember Tendou-san complaining about another research paper yesterday"
They stayed quiet for a moment before (Y/n) spoke up "What do you say we throw them a surprise party?"
He turned to look at her in surprise, as she continued to explain "We haven't done anything fun since the training camp and I'm sure the senpais would like to have a break once in a while"
At this, Goshiki immediately agreed to her suggestion, she claps her hands in delight before she started to write the idea in her notebook.
"We'll talk about it later at dinner, but for now, let's keep this a secret okay?" he nodded his head, jogging back to the court as Coach Saito blew the whistle, signifying that break was over.
Later that evening, the two of them sat at a table separate from the ones the other regulars were using. Normally, they would eat their meal with them, however, they need to start planning early if they want that party to be a success. By now, they had already picked out the date, choosing the last day of the month as it was a day off for the team, decorations had already been decided as well as the food they were going to serve.
"But, where are we going to get the money though?" Goshiki questioned as he read through the plans.
(Y/n) drummed her fingers on the table, biting her lip. Racking her brain for any ideas to raise money.
"Good evening Goshiki-kun, (L/n)-chan" they turned their head to look at the voice to see a familiar face.
"Good evening Higuchi-san" they greeted back, giving the girl a light bow. Watching the female's retreating figure as she walks away, taking a seat at the table her friends are occupying.
"Doesn't she have a crush on Kawanishi-san?"
(Y/n)'s eyebrows furrowed "She does?"
Goshiki nodded his head "I remember she asks me for a picture of him before, she even offered to pay me just for a single shot..." Goshiki paused, his eyes going wide before he turned his head to the girl beside him.
"You know what I'm thinking right?!" he asks excitedly as (Y/n) nodded her head vigorously, immediately writing it down on her notebook
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Reon watched the two with curiosity "What are they doing?" he asks, turning to look at the people sitting with him.
"They've been busy talking since practice was over" Yamagata answered, watching Goshiki talking animatedly, his hands moving around making weird gestures as (Y/n) nodded her head. Occasionally writing on the notebook she brought with her as if taking note of everything he was saying.
"They didn't even eat their food" Shirabu pointed out as they all turned to look to see that indeed, not a single one of the dishes on their tray was touched. The food tray looked liked it was pushed aside as the two of them were too busy talking to each other.
Letting out a sigh, Semi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Oi! Eat your dinner first before doing anything else!"
This caught the duo's attention as they immediately abandoned their little conversation and started gobbling down their food.
"You don't have to yell at them you know" Tendou tutted, wagging his finger at him.
Semi clicked his tongue in response before finishing his dinner "If they don't eat anything, they're going to keep bothering me to give them a snack later"
"They're bothering you because they know you'd give in anyways" Yamagata teased, grinning at him.
"You should really stop babying them Semi-san" Kawanishi added, giving him a blank look.
"...and you should not buy too many of those snacks, they are unhealthy" Ushijima just stared at him as the others snickered.
"All of you, shut up"
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Days already went by and Goshiki and (Y/n) decided to put their plan into action. The first few days were used to gather the money they needed, Goshiki was in charge of taking the pictures while (Y/n)'s was tasked of looking for buyers, it wasn't even hard considering that majority of Shiratorizawa's female population and a few from the male have a crush on either one of the boys in the volleyball team.
Goshiki, however, was having some trouble, he had to sneak around so he could get a few exclusive shots since the girls were more than willing to pay a very high price just to have a shirtless picture of either one of them. He got caught, once or twice, but he told them that it was just for a scrapbook project for his English class.
That earned him a few suspicious looks from Shirabu.
"They're onto me you know" Goshiki said one day, as they met up during lunch to discuss the progress of their plans.
(Y/n) just hummed in response, swiping through the pictures he took "Don't worry, they won't find out"
She handed to him back his phone as she opened her bento box and placed it in between them "We have enough money now, so we can start buying the things we need"
Goshiki nodded his head, taking a piece of egg roll from their shared lunch.
"I also told Sagae-kun about our little fundraising project and he told me he had a female friend who wants to take a picture with you" she wiggled her eyebrows at him, her voice teasing as a blush slowly appears on his cheeks.
"R-really?" he asks, not even daring to look at her in the eye.
"Uh-huh" she leaned in closer to him, whispering in his ear "She said that she watched you play so many times before, she even said you were cool"
She leaned back, eyeing the boy as he gaped at her. She chuckled patting his back.
"We'll meet up with her later so keep you bangs tidy, okay ace?"
She let out a laugh as Goshiki rapidly nodded his head before stuffing his face with his lunch.
And so later that evening, after practice, Goshiki and (Y/n) hurriedly stuffed their belongings into their bag as they speed walk out of the gym to meet up with Sagae at the gate. However, this didn't go unnoticed by the other regulars because once they were out of the door, Tendou called out.
"You two are in a hurry, where are you going?" they turned around to see the others walking over to them.
"We're just going out to buy something" (Y/n) scratch her cheek as they just stared at them, giving them a look that clearly says they weren't buying it. She nudges Goshiki with her shoulder as he immediately followed with his own reason.
"I-it's for our project" the fact that he just stuttered was enough to convince them that indeed they were lying.
"It's already 9 pm, curfew is in an hour" Ushijima stared them down, they gulped. The look on his face was scary and he wasn't even trying, that natural intense and firm look he has had never been a problem before, so they wondered why right now they were getting scared.
"We'll be back by 10 promise!" they didn't even wait for a response as the both of them dashed towards the gate, grabbing Sagae by the arm who had been nervously watching the exchange and ran out of the school campus.
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The next day, Semi looked around the gym to see that they were missing a few people, notably their first-year manager and their proclaimed future ace.
"Something wrong?" Reon walks up to him as the setter just keeps on looking around the room.
"It's been 30 minutes since practice started and (Y/n) and Goshiki aren't here yet" he answered, as Reon also looked around, just noticing that the two weren't actually present.
"They're in detention right now" they heard Kawanishi answered, as he walk towards them with Shirabu in tow.
Reon and Semi's eyes widened in shock "Ha?!"
Shirabu sighed, placing a hand on his hip as he explained "Apparently, those two idiots came back around 11 pm, so they had to call the guard to let them in"
Semi facepalmed as Reon just shook his head, before walking away.
Thirty minutes later, the two missing first years came in through the door panting, yelling out a greeting to the people inside.
Stomping over to them, Semi grabbed them by the collar of their shirt and dragged them to the corner of the gym.
"Explain" was all he said, crossing his arms as he watches the two exchange looks.
"I uh-uh" the both of them couldn't even form any words as their mind went blank. By now, Yamagata, Tendou and Shirabu had joined Semi, and with the three additional pairs of eyes, it became too much for them.
Fortunately, the gods were feeling a bit nice today.
"Tsutomu, go do 100 serves!" Washijo-sensei yelled.
"(Y/n), I need your notes from last week" Coach Saito called, as the two immediately excuse themselves and ducked away from the four. Letting out a sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.
After that little incident, they were required to give detailed information whenever they were out doing something that was a little too questionable, this tested their creativity in making up elaborate excuses to cover up for their actions. They had probably explored everyone inch of the school grounds as they try to find the safest place to hide as they make the decorations, to avoid any more questions.
Finally, the day of the party came, and since there was no practice, (Y/n) had to convince Coach Saito to let her borrow the gym keys. It wasn't hard considering the fact that he was busy talking to the phone when she approaches him. She didn't even have to explain herself when he immediately handed her the keys and shooed her out of the faculty room.
"Dinner is served at 7 pm so we need to be done by then" Goshiki said as they make their way to the gym, carrying the boxes filled with their decorations. It was already 4 pm and the students were using this time to study while those who have clubs were already practicing.
"I'll pick up the food later at 5:30" entering the gym, they close the door behind them and immediately started decorating. Goshiki was in charge of hanging the streamers and lights since he was the tallest between the two and the only one who could reach inaccessible places, while (Y/n) prepared the table and chairs. Covering them with cloths she borrowed from the drama club and started skirting it, creating some light frills to make it look less plain.
Two hours later, the two of them were finally done. The table was already set up with foods, drinks, and eating utensils while the firefly lights from above flickered, as a soft tune from the speaker played in the background. They stood at the side, watching the result of their hard work, still not believing that they were able to complete it all with the just the two of them.
"Now, all we have to do is call them" Goshiki shot (Y/n) a grin as she mirrored him.
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"This is tiring" Tendou complained, laying his head on the table, taking out the hair clip from his hair and placing it on top of his book. Currently, they were in Ushijima's room, having a group study for an upcoming major exam, and since all of them were scholarship holders, they have to get grades higher than the required average.
Looking up from his notes, Ushijima turned to look at the time to see that it was already 6:20 pm, and they had been studying since 3:00 pm.
"Let's take a break, we will resume after dinner"
With that, they abandoned their study materials and started scrolling through their phone, when a message from Goshiki came through their group chat. It was a picture of (Y/n) laying on the floor with her eyes close.
'She passed out! We're in the gym right now, please help'
Was all he sent before they were immediately running out of the room, not even bothering to ask him for more details. Once they were out of the dorm building, they were met with an equally worried Shirabu and Kawanishi and by the look on their face, it was clear that they had read the message as well.
So they run across the campus, reaching the gym in record time.
"(Y/n) are you alri-"
"SURPRISE!" they stop in their tracks, staring at the two first years standing in the middle of the gym, wide smiles on their face.
"What's going on?" they ran to the two, inspecting for any injury.
"What's all these?" Reon gestured to the decorations, as the others waited for them to explain.
"We notice that you guys were looking so stress so we decided to throw you a surprise party" (Y/n) explained, suddenly feeling shy.
"You two did all these for us?" Semi asks in disbelief as the two nodded their head, beside him, Tendou wiped a tear from his eye before tackling the two for a hug.
"You guys are the best kohais ever!" was all he said as the others immediately followed suit and the hug immediately became a messy tangled of limbs. A few more tears were shed, mainly from Shirabu and Kawanishi, but they wouldn't even admit that anyway, while Yamagata and Tendou just wailed. Semi, Ushijima and Reon who were a bit more in control with their emotions, tightened their arms around the group.
"Come on, come on let's eat" pulling away, Goshiki started pushing them towards the table as they stare at it in awe.
All of the dishes displayed on the table were all their favorite, as they had noted, with two cakes at the side and a few drinks. Gathering around the table, they said their thanks and started eating. Filling their plate with different kinds of food, not wanting to waste the effort their precious juniors had made.
From the sideline, Goshiki and (Y/n) observe the lively chatter their seniors were making, taking in the smiles on their faces.
Feeling a hand on their head they look up to see Ushijima giving them one of his rare smiles "Thank you" was all he said, there was no need for any long speech because just one look at him was enough to confirm that he was grateful for the surprise.
Grinning at each other, they shared a fist bump before they too started piling food on their plate.
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"So where did you get the money?" Semi questioned, turning his body away from the table to look at them.
The two stayed quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"We did a few odd jobs here and there" was Goshiki's answer, as he let out a nervous laugh, elbowing (Y/n) to the side who almost spit out her drink in surprise.
"That's the 15th lie you've told us this month, tell us the truth" Shirabu gave them a pointed look, daring them to tell another lie.
(Y/n) and Goshiki gaped at him, who knew he was actually counting.
"Well?" by now, everyone was already looking at them, and having no way out, and no more excuses to tell, they blurted out.
"Wesoldexclusivephotosofyoutoyourfans"
They blink, not understanding a single thing (Y/n) said. Taking in a deep breath, she looks at them in the eye and repeated.
"We sold exclusive photos of you to your fans"
The silence lasted for a whole minute before Tendou decided to say something "Really? That's cool!"
"Are they high quality?" Ushijima followed, a look of genuine interest on his face.
"You're not even concerned as to what kind of pictures they sold?" Reon said exasperatedly.
"How much did you sell it for?" Kawanishi questioned, as he looks at the two.
"Around 800 to 1,000 yen"
"You should've charged higher"
Semi shook his head at what Yamagata said, giving them a disapproving look.
"You're all bad influence, every single one of you"