~Flashbacks~
*-*--*-*
~3 years old~
"Look, Y/n, this is your new little brother ; Julio" her mother introduced her brother.
"Can we play volleyball with him?"
Her parents started laughing.
"Not now, my little flower, he's too young, but in a few years, you'll be able to play with him"
~4 years old~
"Y/n?" Her dad called her.
"Yes?" she responded with her cute little voice.
"Guess what your mom and I bought you for your birthday?"
"What is it?" she asked, excited, jumping around.
"I know that, right now, you cannot play since it's january and winter, but tadaaa!" he screamed, taking the volleyball he had hidden behind his back in front of her face.
"I can finally play?"
"Yes" her mother answered, arriving in the living room. "We will start teaching the rules of the game and you will be able to play this summer."
"Yeahhh! I'm so excited!"
Under her parents' happy eyes, Y/n was jumping around, her volleyball in hands.
*-*--*-*
~In the summer~
"You gotta do it like this. Look, Y/n, you place your first hand like that and your second one like this and you only move your body when you bump, not your arms" her dad told her.
She was copying his every move. She was concentrated on what she was doing. Her face made her mom laugh.
"Why are you laughing, mom, I'm trying to concentrate!" Y/n complained.
"Yeah, mom, our little angel is concentrating!" her dad added. "Okay, now, you ready to receive?"
He threw the ball at her and she received her first ball. She was clumsy but for a first try, her parents were proud of her.
*-*--*-*
~5 years old~
"Look, mom, I finally got it!" Y/n exclaimed how she finally was able to set correctly.
"Wow, I'm so proud of you honey, keep getting better!"
"What did she do?" Her father asked, from inside the house, wanting to know what new move she mastered.
"She managed her first set!"
"Yeahh!" her dad shouted, proud of her little girl.
"I'm gonna be as good as you, one day, mommy, daddy, I swear!" the little girl promised.
"I don't doubt those words. You'll be better than us, I'm sure of it" her mother told her, kneeling in front of her so she could be of her height.
She smiled happily, because the words she said gave her the desire to continue training.
*-*--*-*
~6 years old~
That summer, Y/n started playing with other kids that loved the sport. She was better than them, obviously because she had started playing earlier. Well, also because she was listening to the mothers around her.
"That child, Irihata Y/n, is going to become a professional"
"Isn't she the child of the two most popular and loved volleyball players?"
"Yes, apparently, they had another kid. I bet he's gonna become a volleyball player, too"
"Do you blame them? This family has been passing their sport to their child for generations. If they created the sport, I wouldn't be surprised."
"They're really talented, too. She got that from her parents"
"She's particularly good at receiving"
"She's so lucky she started young"
"She seems happy, too. At least, her parents are not forcing her"
He heard. That little boy called Oikawa Tooru heard what those mothers were saying about the talented little girl. She introduced him to the sport, but he never got the chance to play with her or against her. He wished, that day, the last time he went to see her play, that he'd see her again someday.
And she knew, too. She knew who he was and she hoped she would see him again someday when he suddenly disappeared when the summer neared its end. She hoped that maybe, next summer, she would see him and that he was just sick for the last Sundays or he had something to do.
*-*--*-*
~7 years old~
Even though her hopes were destroyed next summer, she continued practicing to get better. She learnt he moved from his friends that came to play near the park. She never had an eye contact similar to what she had with him with another person again. She was sad but she hoped that, maybe, she would see him again someday.
Her parents were working a lot. They had Olympics and other things. They had their practices, so they didn't spend much time with their kids. Growing up, the ones taking care of the two were the grandparents. They always used to watch their matches on TV and they were pretty over excited when they saw them. They always cheered from home. They always shouted so loud it could alert the neighbours when they won and when they lost, they were sad but then, another set was coming, so the sadness was washed away.
But at that time, little Julio, who was only 4, started playing volleyball only the year before, and didn't know what was happening, so Y/n was the only one who cheered them on. She continued practicing her skills, even though her parents were rarely there to teach her things. Y/n was teaching her brother. She showed herself really patient and didn't give up because of laziness.
*-*--*-*
~8 years old~
Julio started playing with her at the park with the other kids. He got comments from the mothers, too. Y/n was proud of him, because she was the one who taught him what her parents taught her, so she knew it was thanks to her that he was that good at his sport. And now, she wasn't alone to cheer her parents on. Their grandparents were pitying their ears from their screams.
One day, their parents arrived home, thanking their own parents and asked their children to come to them. They took off their shoes and kneeled in front of their children of 5 and 8 years old.
"Listen, my little bears, we're gonna be on a break from now on, so you can count on us to teach you more and play with you more" their father explained.
"Have you gotten better?" their mother asked.
"Yes! The mothers, where we play, can't stop saying how good we are" Y/n said, proud and happy.
"Well, isn't that good news" the dad said, proud.
"Do you want to watch a movie?" their mom proposed.
"Yesss!" they screamed at the same time.
"Then what do you want to watch?" their dad asked.
"Something funny!" Julio demanded.
"Then let's search for something funny" the mom agreed.
And for once in a long time, they installed themselves comfortably on the couch, in front of the TV, their children between them and searched for a movie they would like to watch. A moment like those, every kid would want that, but for Y/n and Julio, who don't usually have those moments, they cherish them and think of them as special.
*-*--*-*
~9 years old~
They were growing and more they are growing, more they are getting better at volleyball. Their parents continue to teach them things that they don't know. Their parents were more present than the years before and were spending more quality time with their children, but soon, their teams would require their captains again, because practices were increasing in numbers.
*-*--*-*
~10 years old~
"Y/n! Y/n!" Julio came crying to his big sister. "People are making fun of me because I play volleyball"
"What did you say? Again?"
"YeSssSSssS!"
"Okay, I'll take care of them" She said, serious and angry as she started walking toward the people who were making fun of her brother.
"Oh no, the monster's there!" they cried when they saw her, running away.
"Yeah, run away, go cry to your mothers! And don't ever make fun of my brother, because I'll spike a ball in your dumb little faces"
And then she saw a shadow walking behind her and stopping. She turned nervously toward the person and realized it was the "Mean Woman" she always was so scared of.
"Irihata Y/n, come with me" she ordered her.
"Yes, ma'am"
She walked with her to her office.
"What did we say about bullying the younger, Irihata?"
"That it wasn't a good thing..."
"Then, why did you do it?"
"Because they were making fun of my brother. I just defended him"
"Then, why doesn't he come to us? We could take care of it instead of you being so mean"
"He did, but didn't get believed and no one did nothing, so I'm the one taking care of my brother. At least, I'm being useful" She stood up and walked to the door.
"Irihata-san, we're not done, so come back!"
"I am!"
She opened the door and walked away.
*-*--*-*
~11 years old~
It was her last year of elementary school and Y/n couldn't wait to go to Junior High School, which was only three years before High School, where her dreams to go to Nationals could be granted.
Her parents were rarely there, but she was never getting tired of her sport.
*-*--*-*
~12 years old~
Y/n stopped playing at the park and was now putting her time on the club she newly joined and of course, it was the volleyball club.
On her parents' side, they were closer than ever.
"How was practice today, little flower?" her dad asked her when she came home.
"It was good. I liked it."
Her mother suddenly arrived in the hall.
"How is my little libero doing? Getting better at practice?"
"I'm getting better, in fact"
"Good. I'm glad to hear that"
*-*--*-*
~13 years old~
"You have to put more effort in your works, Irihata" her homeroom teacher told her.
"I know. It's just really complicated. But I'll get better, I promise."
"Yeah, you better"
Her parents were probably gonna yell at her for failing almost all of her subjects for first semester, but as she promised, she would try and get better, even though volleyball was taking a lot of her time.
*-*--*-*
~14 years old~
"I don't owe you anything, Hiro" she heard her dad talk to the phone to someone who seemed angry.
Silence...
"I didn't steal anything"
Silence...
"If my daughter or my son deserve to take our place, to take after us, then it's what will happen. I cannot force upon them to stop playing their favorite sport, especially if I don't want to"
Silence...
"I swear to god, Hiro, if you do something to my daughter when she enters High School, you're gonna regret it"
Silence...
"It's not happening"
And he hung up. Y/n didn't feel like it was a little problem her family had right now and she had a bad feeling about all this.
"What are we gonna do?" her mother asked, worried.
"Nothing. Y/n and Julio will continue to play their sport, whatever happens."
*-*--*-*
She didn't connect the dots. She didn't even remember that conversation, since she would be able to continue playing her sport. Her father would make sure of it and she wasn't scared. But when her parents' death was passed her for a few minutes, she was scared. She tried. She tried to protect everyone, but she half succeeded, because her ennemies were smarter than her...
She cared for her parents. They cared for her. But what Y/n didn't know, is that they sacrificed themselves for their children. They tried to keep silence to their killers, but the worrying sounds that were heard from downstairs didn't stop her.
Even if she didn't see them often, their presence stayed in her every movements when she played her sport.