“ 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒊𝒐 ! 𝑴𝒊𝒐'𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚 !”
.
𝟏
“ Brother, is Kotei fat ?”
That was the first question Kotei asked as soon as she entered her brother’s room. Kageyama was sitting atop his bed, fidgeting with the ball. It was a day off and he was going out of his mind not being able to sit still without playing volleyball. Maybe he should call Hinata afterall? He might have to, anyway.
“ Mhm ?” He asked not paying attention.
“ Is Kotei fat ?” She asked again showing her bloated tummy because she just had a lot of snacks. Well, she has always been a happy eater.
“ Why though ?” Kageyama raised his brow.
“ Kotei wanna have abbies like big brother!”
“ The hell are abbies ?”
She genuinely forgot what the word was so she looked back at him blankly before pointing at his stomache. He looked down not getting what she was trying to say. He is dumb after all.
By abbies she meant abs. It's after she's seen Mikasa.
“ I don't know what you're talking about. Now get out of my room.” He went back to throwing the ball against the wall and catching it when it bounced back.
Feeling greatly annoyed at the lack of attention she got down the bed. Smiling mischievously, in a swift motion she pulled Kageyama’s leg with a jerk which made the latter lose his balance and hit the back of his head against the wall.
“ KOTEI !!!”
Giggling, the girl ran out of the room.
Miwa rubbed her temple. She was hurrying in the kitchen to get going already. Putting her dish in the sink she washed her hands and picked up her bag. She can't afford to miss the first train.“ I'm leaving !”
Kotei peeked around the corner and went upto her sister to give her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. Miwa messed up her hair before yelling loudly,“ BIG SISTER'S LEAVING, YOU JERK !!”
“ I HEARD YOU !"
“ WELL THEN SAY SOMETHING ! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW !”
“ SCREW OFF !”
“ THANKS !”
Miwa huffed as both the girls shared a look. Kotei waved her hands. As if on cue the front door opened and a little mush of blonde hair peeped inside.
It was Shiro.
The boy grew flustered as soon as he saw Miwa gazing down at him.“ Uh...I came to play. B-but if you want Miwa-nee can join us.” He stuttered as he looked up at her in admiration.
“ Sorry, Shiro-kun, I'm running late for work. Next time, okay ?”
“ O-okay then.”
“ You doing good ?” She asked slipping her feet into her high heels. She was wearing a suit, full black (gotta look presentable) with her black short hair falling messily over her shoulders.
“ Y-yes !” He yelled loudly. Growing excited at his next idea he asked,“Miwa-nee, I brought this flower.” He held up a sunflower as Kotei peered from behind her sister's legs.“ It reminds me of you.”
“ Aw, how thoughtful of you.” She took it as Shiro grinned brightly.“ But I really should get going now, sweetie. I promise you I'll make it up to you later. Alright ?”
She smiled at Kotei who waved at her and she got on the streets, her heels clacking against the floor.
“ Yo !”
“ Hey !”
Kageyama heard most of the conversation from his room. He still couldn't believe that Shiro admires Miwa. What's there to like about the girl ! She's always after him whenever they're home and all they do is shout at each other.
He heard Kotei say,“ is Kotei fat ?”
“ Huh ? How'd I know ?”
“ Just tell Kotei by looking.”
As his brain slowly processed everything, Kageyama rushed out of his room before collapsing near the the kids. Shiro gave him a dumbfounded look as Kotei thought it was hilarious how he skidded across the hallway.
She was holding up her shirt, revealing her tummy for Shiro to inspect.
That's not at all acceptable ! Not to Tobio atleast.
He immediately got up and pulled down her shirt before glaring at Shiro.“ You ought not show your skin so casually to others. Expecially boys!”
Shiro gave him a confused look.
“ But Kotei showed brother,” Kotei said in a matter of fact tone.
“ That's because I am your brother !”
“ I think Kotei looks fat and chubby like a gorilla,” Shiro stated, proudly.“Oops, I insulted Mr gorilla. Please forgive me Mr gorilla for comparing you to this girl.”
“ Who you calling gorilla, Shiro dumbass !” Kotei pointed angrily.
Kageyama smacked Kotei on the head.
“ Who taught you to use that word ! No bad words in front of me !”
“ But brother always use—”
“ Shut up !” He sighed before turning to Shiro.“ And ? What do you want ?”
“ We'll play in the park. So I came to invite Kotei with us. Mio and Aoi will be there,” Shiro informed.
“ All alone ?”
“ We're six !”
“ So ?”
“...”
“ You really do have a sister complex.”
“ What'd you say !!”
Shiro shook his head in disappointment.“ It's just the park at the corner of the street.”
“ Okay, whatever.” Kotei looked up at Tobio expectantly who finally gave in.“ But stay together. And no following strangers. I'll drop by to pick you up.”
“ Sister complex,” Shiro muttered as Kageyama glared at him from the corner of his eyes.
“ Okay ! Let's go, Shiro !” She went in to bring a ball and quickly wore her sandals.
“ Come on, hurry !” And the duo left in a fit of chaos. Kageyama stared at the door for a few minutes before cursing under his breath.
Seems like he will have to meet up with Hinata afterall.
Well, he can't go on without playing volleyball.
“ Hello—”
“ Shut up, dumbass. And come to my house. We'll practice your quicks.”
“ On my way, bakayama !”
“ Don't call me that !”
...
The four kids were playing peacefully in the park. This time they were playing soccer in a decent manner. The ball was being kicked too hard than necessary. To be more precise, it was one of the balls that Kageyama had lent to her.
“ Hey ! Don't hit the ball that hard !” Kotei complained but Shiro paid no mind to it. The girl was more concerned about Mio who was having problem standing her ground due to the force. Kotei didn't want her to cry so soon.
“ Why ? You scared !”
Aoi was used to their daily bickering so let them be. He thought he's too much of an adult to intervene in these childish matters.
“ You wanna fight ?”
“ Ho ho ! Congrats on getting your first ever pronoun right !”
Too annoyed, Kotei hit the ball a bit too hard and it went out of the boundaries, hitting someone on the head in the process. Shiro snickered at that.“ Look what you did, Kotei.”
“ Shuddap !”
Aoi collapsed onto the bench, tired.“Go get the ball, Kotei. It's your fault, anyway.”
“ Fine.” She grumpily walked towards the person. The latter had stopped to pick up the ball and examine it closely. He had a grumpy look on his face as he turned to look at the culprit who approached him with careful steps.
“ Um, mister, that's Kotei's ball. Sorry, Kotei hit it the wrong way,” she bowed a bit to apologise.
The boy stared down at her with a poker face. Kotei looked up at him, too. He had short-cropped blond hair with two black stripes running across the sides of his head, just above the ears. His honey brown eyes were sharp, and appeared fierce and hostile. His gaze bore through her scared one and she gulped nervously when he made no move to give her the ball.
“ Mister...?”
The boy turned his back on her and walked away, with the ball. She stared at his retreating back. Feeling a poke in her shoulder she came face to face with Mio.
“ He's stealing Tobio-nii’s ball,” she whispered to Kotei who nodded.
Kotei hesitated.“ Kotei will have to bring it back. Kotei got no choice.”
“ But, we're not to leave the park.”
“ Kotei will die either way,” she said imagining the face he'd make when he hears she lost his ball. He loved his balls like his own kids. “ Kotei will take risk. Mio should stay back. If Kotei doesn't return tell the others how Kotei fought till Kotei's last breath.” She wiped imaginery tears and looked up, determined.“ Tatakae, Kotei !”
“ No ! Mio will go too !” Mio said, sniffling.
“ Okay.”
“...”
“...”
Mio looked dumbfounded at her blunt response.
“ Le’z go !”
“ Y-yeah !”
𝟐
“ It's a school.”
Mio nodded as they spied on the boy, together. The said person entered through the gates, heading straight towards the gym. There were no students overall. But Kotei heard a familiar noise coming from the direction in which the boy had gone.
They hesitated to step inside and just peeped around the corner.
Kotei knew the sound. The familiar squeaking of shoes and the balls being hit with a ‘bam’. As she looked up, she thought the school looked kind of familiar too but she just couldn't pinpoint her rusted memory.
“ What're you doing ?”
The girls froze.
“ Stretching is really boring.” Oikawa whined as Iwaizumi helped him stretch. The latter exerted more pressure on his back than necessary.“Ow ow ow, Iwa-chan ! Don't be so rough !”
“ You don't wanna end up with stiff shoulders, do you?”
“ Sometimes I think that you could have been a better captain than me,” Oikawa said with a sad sigh as he went limp and let Iwaizumi do the work.
“ Yeah, same.”
“ Atleast try to cheer me up !”
The gym doors slid open and in came Kyotani with a dangerous look on his face, a murderous intent in his gaze and a volleyball in his hand. Oikawa let out an exasperated sigh. He's not ready to deal with an angry Kyotani yet.
“ Iwa-chan, go !”
“ Shut up.” Not paying heed to the sulking captain, Iwaizumi walked upto Kyotani and took his bag for him.“ What's the matter, champ ? You look too grumpy.”
Kyotani huffed like a mad puppy and avoided eye contact.
“ Iwaizumi-san is the best. He's so brave,” Yahaba whispered to Kindaichi who nodded in agreement at his senpai’s valiant nature.
Once again the doors were pushed aside and in stepped Kunimi with a bored look and an amused looking Matsukawa tailing behind him. The former was holding up two little kids by their collars, one of them rebelling and the other, on the verge of tears.“ I found some spies snooping around the school gates.”
“ Let Kotei and Mio go !” Kotei kicked around in the air and tried to calm down Mio who was sniffling, lightly. The former continued yelling and wiggling about.
Oikawa perked up at the familiar voice and face. Iwaizumi took notice of them too. Hurrying towards them, the ace said,“ put them down, Kunimi. They're not your damn hostages !”
“ I just thought they were spying on behalf of our rival teams—ouch,” Kunimi let Kotei go who kicked her feet right beneath his chin.“ This brat—”
“ Kunimi !”
The first year sighed and let Mio down, a little roughly than required. Matsukawa patted his back to calm him down and pushed him to the other side of the court. By this time, Kotei was trying her best to reassure Mio.“ Hush, Mio-chan! Kotei's with you.”
“ Aw, cute.” Oikawa finally reached them and stood behind them.“ You brought another cutie with you today ? You do remember me, right ?”
Kotei recognised his face. She could never forget his face. Standing in a defensive position and shielding Mio behind her, Kotei glared up at Oikawa.“ Stay away, perv.”
“ So you do remember me !”
“ Um...she just called you a perv, Captain.”
“ And ? Do I look like I care ?”
“ No.”
“ Then shut up and go sit in the corner. As the Captain I have the authority in this gym.”
“ If you say so.” Kindaichi scratched his head and walked off to literally sit in the corner of the gym. He muttered to himself,“ but I was just pointing out...”
“ Did I hear something about authority ?” Iwaizumi creeped up behind Oikawa who froze and laughed nervously receiving a smack in return.“ How many times do I have to tell you to stop traumatizing kids !”
“ But I didn't say anything offensive at all!”
“ Don't speak at all !”
“ How mean !”
“ Fu—”
“ Zumi !” Kotei cheered cutting him off. Realising he was just going to say something really bad in front of kids, Iwaizumi cleared his throat, loudly. A little flustered he kneeled before them.
“ Who's your friend there ?”
“ This is Mio ! Mio's a crybaby !” Kotei said with a grin.
“ Wahhhh !” Mio finally burst into tears.
“ Oopsie.” Kotei chuckled sticking her tongue out.
“ Now, now, don't be scared. We're all friends here, okay ?” Iwaizumi quickly patted her in a rythmic pace on her back to stop her sobbing. “Please don't cry. For me ? Pretty please ? HEY SOMEONE PASS ME A WATER BOTTLE !!! Okay, Mio ?”Mio stared up at him blankly before bursting into tears again. Iwaizumi hesitated and looked around dumbfounded.“ Did I do something wrong?”
“ You shouted, man.”
“ Mio is sensitive to yelling,” Kotei informed as she rubbed her friend on her head.
“ Move,” Oikawa pushed Iwaizumi aside.“ It's my time to shine.” Kotei went on alert as the ‘pervert’ extended his arms towards Mio and pulled her closer.“ Okay, my name is Oikawa Tooru and don't tell anybody but I'm actually an angel in disguise,” he whispered the last part as he picked her up swiftly. The girl let out a small yelp, wrapping one arm around his neck and looking down towards Kotei who smiled at her, reassuringly.“ You wanna see my wand ? Where is it...where—hey, Makki ! Why do you always take my wand ?”
“ The hell you talking about, man ?”
“ Yeah, yeah, don't act smart with me.” He turned about and walked towards the other side.“ That guy always steals my wand.”
“ Wand ?” Mio asked, sobbing.“ Is he a bad guy?”
“ Yes he is.”
“ HEY !”
“ Mio doesn't think angels carry wands,” she thought aloud.
Oh ! Children are really smart at this age ! Oikawa thought and as if reading him like an open book Matsukawa thought, or it might be that you're just too dumb for your age.
“ Forget that. Look, I have a candy. And guess what !”
“ What ?” She tilted her head, rubbing her nose.
Oikawa gushed at the cuteness.“ I'll give it to you.”
“ E-eh ? R-really ?” She looked sad at the thought.“ But it's big brother’s—”
“ Did you just call me big brother !!”
“ mhm.”
“ Then can you call me Tooru-onii-chan ?!”
“ Toru-nii-chan ?”
“ Ah, her cuteness is lethal.” He collapsed with a nosebleed and Matsukawa caught her before she could fall too.
“ Nice catch,” Yahaba showed a thumbs up.
“ Mio is really dumb,” Kotei said, nonchalantly.
“ Oh, I see.” Iwaizumi sweatdropped. That's when something clicked in him. He glanced back at Kyotani who had changed out of his casual clothes and was glaring at the ball which he had brought in along with him.“ You're here alone ?”
“ No, Kotei's with Mio.”
“ That's not what I meant. It's—how did you come all the way here ?”
Kotei suddenly realised something. She stepped in a wide stance and pointed at Kyotani.“ That mister stole Kotei's ball !”
Bam !
Before anyone could process, Kyotani roughly spiked the ball at the girl, hard enough to push her back as she tripped on her own feet and fell back. Everyone went speechless, still not believing what happened. Iwaizumi stared at the child with a dumfounded gaze.
.
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.
.
Kotei sat up. Rubbing her hand against her forehead she brought it down to inspect it. The red liquid smudged her fingers. Her face paled but she didn't cry. It's more like she was too shocked to cry. It's not the pain but the red hue of the blood that frightened her.
“ Kotei !” Mio burst into tears as she wiggled out of Matsukawa’s grasp and ran towards the girl.“ Kotei ! There's b-blood !” She hiccuped, afraid of the scene.
“ WHAT THE HELL !! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!!” Oikawa, revived from the dead, grabbed Kyotani’a collars harshly.“ HOW DARE YOU HIT A CHILD IN FRONT OF ME !”
Kyotani scoffed.“ She hit me first.”
“ YOU'RE BLUFFING !!”
“ I'm not.”
“ EVEN SO, YOU CAN'T JUST BREAK HER SKULL!!”
“ And what will you do ?”
“ WHA—”
Oikawa took a step back mildly disappointed at his lack of authority.
“ Here's the first aid box.”
Surprisingly, Kunimi was the one to rush out at once and fetch it from the club room. Good thing the Coach was running late or they would have been done for. As the boys huddled about trying to figure out how to deal with her wound, Mio sat beside Kotei holding her hand, tightly.
“ Does it hurt ? It's okay, we've got worse,” Yahaba said as he wrapped the white piece of cloth round her head, carefully. A simple band aid was not sufficient because the bleeding wouldn't stop in the beginning. Yes, he hit her that hard. He didn't hold back at all. “ Look at this ? It still hurts sometimes,” he pointed at his own head where a faded red bump was still visible.
“ You're really brave not to cry out loud.” Matsukawa rubbed her back, in a comforting manner so as to prevent her from crying.
Kunimi cut the end with the scissors and tied a knot. Knocking twice on her head he said,“ the skull seems intact. Woah ! How hard is your skull!” He said in exaggeration although his face remained devoid of emotions, only the widening of his eyes.“ By the way, sorry for earlier. I really thought you looked kind of familiar.”
The image of Kageyama crossed his vision. He was sure that the boy had sent her to spy on them but now it seems he was completely wrong about it.
Kotei sobbed lightly.
“ It hurts ? Tell us where it hurts ?” Kindaichi asked with a sad look.
“ Tell them, Kotei,” Mio gave her hand a tug.
Kotei shook her head as she tried to hold back her tears.“ K-kotei is a g-grown up. Kotei won't cry.”
“ You are a wonderful grown up, Kotei ! Big brother Tooru is proud of you,” Oikawa said as he captured her in a hug. This time the girl didn't protest and just clutched his shirt to sob lightly in his chest. Oikawa could feel his own tears welling up in his eyes. How dramatic ! His heart slowly crumbled under her tiny palms.
“ What are you crying for, dude ?”
“ I'm an emotional guy.”
Kyotani grumbled before crouching down to do his shoe laces when he felt an intimidating aura behind him and a hand grabbed his shoulder, tightly.
Iwaizumi.
He was seriously mad.
“ You better be sorry for that shit you pulled off there,” he muttered in a low voice.
Needles to say, Kyotani respected Iwaizumi more than anyone there and maybe a little bit intimidated by him too. So, slightly nervous, he pushed back his hand.
“ I'm talking to you.”
“....”
“ Wanna say something ?”
“...”
“ I'm waiting.”
“ She started it. She even called me a thief !”
“ She never did. She's a kid. She just stated what she saw. That doesn't mean you'll go ahead and break her skull.” Instead of scolding him he tried to make him realise his mistake.
“...”
“ She's Kageyama's sister. If something serious did happen to her, you'd have been the one responsible. I know that kid. He wouldn't have let you off the hook so easily,” he said in a calm voice.
“ I will show him—”
“ Just listen to me, damn it !”
“....”
“ I'll not always be there to have your back. Think twice on your actions. Are you getting me ?”
“ ....hm.”
“ Did you get what you did wrong ?”
“....sorry.”
“ Your sorry won't do shit.”
“...”
Taking a deep breath, Iwaizumi patted him on the back before rubbing his temple.“ Go apologise.”
But it didn't happen immediately because Kotei had cried herself to sleep. It's almost like she lost her consciousness seeing all that blood. The pain must have finally kicked in and they had no choice but to lay her down on the benches along with Mio.
“ Once we're done here, I'll go drop you guys off, okay?” Iwaizumi reassured Mio and ruffled her head as she nodded.“ Good. Stay here with your friend and look after her.”
Oikawa didn't want any more mishaps to occur in a day so he proposed to play outside so that no stray ball could hurt Kotei or Mio. This proposition was emphasized on the fact that Kyotani doesn't hold back on his shots. Unfortunately, their coach had a doctor's appointment and couldn't drop by. So they practiced by themselves. Well, Oikawa as a captain is enough for the team to handle themselves.
He's not a genius but efficient.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the park...
“ Stay still, Shiro, or it'll fly away !”
“ I am still !”
Standing on top of Shiro's shoulders, Aoi tried to catch the stag beetle on the tree trunk.
“ I said stay still.”
“ And I said I am.”
“ No you're not !”
“ Yes, I am !”
“ No, you're not !”
“ Yes I am !”
“ No !”
“ Yes !”
“ No !”
“ Yes !”
“ No.”
“ Yes !”
“ No !”
In between their chaos, the beetle flew off and the boys stood looking at each other with dumbfounded faces.
“....”
“.....”
“ Yes !”
“ No!”
“ Yes !”
“ No !!!”
And while the boys were busy arguing with each other, Mio sat beside her friend regretting her life decisions. It's been not more than five to six years since she's been born and she's already in trouble at this age. It's close to a life threatening crisis for her. What did mommy say again? Oh yes, take deep breaths.
“ Why are you hyperventilating, kid?” Hanamaki asked as he came in to grab their bottles and the towels. Seems like it's break for them now.“ On second thought, it was really stupid of me to ask you that.”
Kotei fidgeted in her sleep as her eye lids fluttered open, slightly but no one noticed. She lay still in her place feeling a pain in her entire head. It's a good thing the ball didn't hit her in the face or she might have to return home with a broken nose or jaw.
“ Mio’s scared,” Mio admitted, pursing her lips.
“ What are you scared of ?” He asked approaching them and knelt down in front of her to look up at her form on the bench.
“ Mio doesn't know.”
“ You don't know what you're scared of?” He asked with a sweatdrop.
The girl nodded.
Knowing what was up, he said in a gentle tone,“ then you're just nervous. Don't worry, your friend is fine. It's too early for her to say bye bye to life.”
“ Don't say bye bye to life. We say hi to life,” Mio said in a meek voice.
“ Good thinking, kid. Oh ! I might have something for you.” He dragged himself across the floor to get a grasp of his bag and pulled it closer.
Fidgeting thought the contents, his hand touched a very familiar, comforting surface and he pulled it out for her.“ Here. Take it.”
Mio took it from him with a confused look. It was a bubble wrapper.“ Wha’z this ?”
“ It's called a stress reliever. You do it like this..,” he placed his fingers on one bubble and popped it with a satisfying sound.“ It'll help you calm down. I always keep one because I often get nervous before my matches.”
Behind his calm and collective outlook, people often fail to understand that nervousness is a quite common thing. He uses this method to calm himself first so that later he can become a strong pillar of the team and provide emotional support to the rest of the members.
Mio stared at it in awe before popping a few bubbles, simultaneously. She just couldn't express it but she felt satisfied. It's a weird sensation that she got to experience for the first time. She smiled up at him.“ Thank you. What’z your name, nice looking mister ?”
“ Nice ?” Hanamaki felt his heart melt.“ Nobody around here calls me nice. You think I'm nice ?”
Mio nodded, shyly.“ That tall angel said you stole his wand but I think you don't look so bad. And angels don't carry wands.”
“ Haha, he's just that dumb. My name is Hanamaki Takahiro,” he gave her a close eyed smile.
“ Can Mio call brother Maki ?”
“ Whatever you want.” He pinched her cheeks as she continued popping the bubbles, thinking of it as a game.
“ Thank you, Maki-san.”
“ You're welcome.”
“ Hey, how long does it take to bring a few towels ?” Matsukawa peeked from the corner with a pissed off look.
“ You need to chill, bro.” He got up and waved at Mio who waved back, lightly. Her wet cheeks dried up, gradually and she held the wrapper close to herself. She'll ask her mother to buy some of these later.“ Come on,” Hanamaki swung an arm around Matsukawa and led him outside.
𝟑
“ Sorry.”
“ Hm ?”
Kyotani looked down at his hands as he said the word. Grabbing a seat beside Kotei, that was the first thing he said. He fidgeted nervously as a pair of hawk eyes inspected him under her lashes, a grumpy but protective outlook.
“ Mio, Kotei's fine.”
Mio shook her head as she shielded her friend from the boy.
To his relief, Hanamaki interrupted at the right time, leading Mio to the side so that the boy didn't feel nervous. The girl was reluctant to leave Kotei alone with her soon-to-be murderer but complied because she couldn't really say no to Hanamaki’s smiley face and his kind offer.
“ Kotei couldn't hear,” she said loudly peering up at the boy with a mischievous smile.
“ S-sorry,” he repeated louder.
“ Eh ?”
“ I said sorry, damn it !”
Kotei nodded, satisfied. She suddenly jumped up on the bench and gave him a challenging look.“ Then let Kotei hit you too!”
“ Now, don't you think you're going a little overboard ?” His pointed gaze zeroed in on her as she shrunk back.
“ O-oi ! Why you scaring Kotei ! Kotei will complain to Zumi !”
Kyotani sighed and scratched his head. All of this was really new and bizarre for him. More like this is the first time he's apologising to someone, at all. Yes, it's really strange considering the type of person he is.“ I lost my temper back there. It was wrong of me to vent on you...”
Kotei stopped and stared at him. Looks like he finally understood his mistake. She thought whether she could let him off the hook by some snacks or favours.
“...besides, you're not worth it. I wasted my precious emotions on you. And I apologise for that.”
Is this guy for real ? ( O_O )
Kotei stared dumbfounded not understanding what he was saying but she could figure it out by his facial expressions. Huffing in frustration, she sat back down on the bench with crossed arms.“ Okay. Kotei forgives big brother.”
Kyotani gave her a side glance.“Hn.”
“ No problemo !” Kotei squeaked forgetting everything. She doesn't like fighting anyway (except with her brother).
Searching for something her face lit up when her fingers touched the familiar plastic wrapper. Smiling, she extended her hand with the candy wrapped in a fancy blue-white wrapper towards the older who stared at her hand like she was offering a bomb .“ Here! Token of friendship !”She chirped.
“ Oh..hmph.” He pursed his lips and took it in his palm before staring at it for a few seconds.
He felt something warm stir within him that pleased him. This feeling was similar to the one that he got while playing volleyball, not alone, but with his team. Of course that's why it's familiar.“ Kyotani Kentaro.”
“ Huh ?” Kotei flinched back in shock as the boy suddenly declared his name out of nowhere.
“ My name. Yours ?”
“ Kotei,” she said, eyeing the candy she handed Kyotani.
His mouth formed into an ‘o’ shape as he realised up till now she's been refering to herself in the third person. So, Kotei is her actual name. He heard from Iwaizumi earlier that she's Kageyama's sister.“ Your brother plays good...”
Kotei puffed out her chest in pride upon hearing that.
“...but he's very egoistic.”
“ Say what !”
A negligent smile played on his lips as he unwrapped the candy. But it dropped the next second. Instead of the usual orange round flavoured ball of candy there was a small, reddish-gray pebble. Kotei giggled, suppressing her smile as she covered her mouth.
The next time Yahaba, Kunimi and Iwaizumi found a furious Kyotani chasing Kotei around the gym.
“ Oh no ! Stop him before our gym becomes a crime scene !” Yahaba pleaded shaking the ace. Kunimi couldn't care less as he chugged down from his bottle, emptying it in a second.
“ It's okay. Doesn't look serious.”
Iwaizumi smiled like a proud mother watching over Kyotani playing around with Kotei. His form looked pretty relaxed and he seemed to be having fun.
“ Looks like Matsukawa-san got replaced,” Kunimi threw a sly comment regarding the fact that Mio was talking animatedly with Hanamaki who seemed mildly interested in listening to her short tales.
“ Bro, for real !” Matsukawa exaggerated, keeping a hand on his chest looking hurt.
Everything looked good.
Almost.
Well....
“ WHERE THE HELL IS KOTEI !”
𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅.