𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗦

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒𝟔 : 𝕊𝕋ℝ𝕆ℕ𝔾 𝔹𝕆ℕ𝔻𝕊

[ Caution : Long chapter ahead :) ]

“  𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 ! 𝑩𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔—”

.

𝟏

It was a bright Thursday and Kageyama looked forward to a good day ahead yet he knew better than anyone not to get his hopes up, high. And he was proven right, the next second, when Kotei appeared at their practice with a box of crayons and sketchpad.

“ Nii-chan, wanna see something cool ?”

“ What did you do ?” Kageyama asked cautiously approaching her. In response she gave an unsettling grin and he couldn't help but anticipate the next show of horror.

She led him outside and Hinata followed out of curiosity. Stopping near the end of the corner, she showcased her masterpiece.“ Here~”

“ KOTEI ! WHA—”

He faltered in his words as he gazed, speechless, at Kotei's scribbling on the yellow wall of the gym, with red crayons. Kotei puffed out her chest thinking her brother might be too proud to form words.

“ Woah ! That's pretty good, Kotei,” Hinata complimented her, patting her on her head as she smirked in an overbearing manner.

“ Dumbass ! Don't encourage her !”

“ Ahem !”

Both of them froze at the familiar throat clearance. It was too well known to be overlooked. Turning ever so slowly, they came face to face with their Vice Principal, a bucket filled with water to the brim in one hand and a rag in the other, “ I think I don't need to explain....,” and very liberally handed the taller of the two both the things.

“ Y-yes.” He cursed under his breath.

It was almost evening and the school was basically empty, so he didn't think the Vice Principal would around. He blamed Kotei for everything, that little runt....he will surely complain to Miwa once he gets back.

The head teacher walked away shooting a look at the child who hid behind Kageyama's leg.

“ Look what you've done !” Kageyama smacked her head without a word.

“ Wah ! But isn't it good ?” She pointed at her art.

“ Don't listen to this jerk. You're a real good artist !” Hinata said to cheer her up.

“ Is it now ? I had a really great idea just now. If you think it's that good, then why don't you take the responsibility on her behalf, hah !” He yelled almost disabling their eardrums. Keeping the bucket with a thud, he threw the rag in the bucket.“Clean up your own mess. I'm out of here,” and strutted out of the scene with intensity.

“ Your brother is so uptight all the time,” Hinata muttered and Kotei nodded, staring at his figure disappearing round the corner.“ Since I'm kind, I'll help you clean this up,” he smiled pointing at the drawing.

“ Eh ? Really ? Shoyo will do that ?” She asked with hopeful eyes.

“ Sure. But let's take a picture of it first. You worked so hard on it too.”

“ Shoyo....,” her eyes glistened as she threw herself on him,“.....please become Kotei's brother!”

“ What ? Why ?” He laughed resting a hand on her head. Nonetheless, he was happy with all the attention. Now there's a reason for Kageyama to be jealous of him.

“ Nii-chan is stupid ! But Shoyo is so nice ! Natsu-nee is so lucky~” She whined puffing her cheeks out.

“ Well, I can't deny that,” he replied, giddily.

Getting up he pulled the bucket close to the wall and handed Kotei the cloth. Although he's nice and all, he won't do the entire work for her. Thus, he taught her how to rinse the wet rag first before rubbing it on the wall, with a bit more pressure than usual. Kotei's a fast learner so it was not a problem.

Kageyama watched from the corner. Scoffing, he went back inside.

...

The third years dropped by later to practice and offered to treat their juniors to some food. It was an impromptu proposal but no-one denied, firstly, because they respected their seniors, second, they couldn't say no to free food. Kotei was with them so naturally she joined the party and stopped by a nearby restaurant.

“ Did anyone come by today, to join the club I mean ?” Daichi asked, a little too eagerly and sighed in relief when they announced the volleyball got a lot of forms on the first day. The number of willing participants were quite more than usual, mainly because Karasuno team was able to reach the Nationals.“ That's good to hear.”

“ Right ? I'm so glad Karasuno is back to being considered a powerhouse school.” Suga smiled warmly wiping Kotei's mouth with a handkerchief, who sat beside him slurping on her udon. Initially, she struggled to use the chopsticks and at the end she forgot all about them as she used her hands to eat her share.

“ Kotei ! Use the chopsticks !” Kageyama scolded from the other end of the table.

Some of them laughed, some were too engrossed in eating, while some (Tsukishima) watched the girl with disgust. Yamaguchi tried to calm him down and when it didn't affect the latter, compelled himself to be the volunteer to teach Kotei table manners. He showed her how to hold the chopsticks properly.

As Daichi was advising the former second years now third years on ways to greet the newcomers and all, Suga zoned out of it and asked Kotei,“ before I forget, do you like Aot? If I'm not wrong that's your favourite anime, right?”

“ Mhm,” she chugged down the glass of water and let out a satisfied huff, patting her bloated stomach.

“ I got these tickets by chance. It's an event...I'm not sure exactly what but it's taking place at the central plaza. The venue is close to Tokyo, so you can ask your brother to take you there,” he said quickly handing her the passes and forcing her fingers to close upon it.“ Don't say no, okay ?”

“ Aot ? Yay !” Kotei cheered hugging Suga’s arm. He chuckled pinching her cheeks.

And that's how the plan to visit the centre was made.

Thankfully, it was a Sunday and stranger than that, Kageyama was willing to be her escort for the day. It's like some newfound determination has taken over him, Kotei thought he was sticking too close to her than usual. Not that she's complaining....it just struck weird.

“ Look, nii-chan! Ereh !” At the venue, Kotei's exuberant nature got the best of her as she giddily pointed at the huge banner with a picture of the main character.

It looked like a pretty big event as the duo entered the spacious studio at the back. The entire room was decorated with things related to the anime. On one side were models of the nine Titans of Ymir built in considerable sizes and on the other end stood the main characters, equipped with their gears. At the entrance some people took photos of themselves with the cardboard cutouts of the characters and although Kageyama had known of the anime itself, he didn't think it's popularity would be this big.
(This is all made up so go along with it)

Kotei ran towards the good stuff at once, eager to look at the new merchandise and Kageyama followed closely not wanting to lose her in the crowd. He received some odd looks not for himself but for Kotei who racked through the shelves. There were mostly teens his age or older but none near Kotei's age. She might as well be the only child there.

That's the reason he sighed in relief when he noticed two more kids, nearly Kotei's age, running around laughing among themselves.

“ That's Sakusa Kiyomi !”

“ What ?” Kageyama looked around before his gaze landed on a very familiar pair, one of them waving at him, smiling.

“ SAKUSA KIYOMI !” She dashed across the room but just before she could hug him, Sakusa stepped back pulling Komori in front of him.

In his stead, Motoya gave Kotei a friendly pat on the shoulder to greet her and she happily returned the gesture, the entire time Sakusa eyeing her cautiously.

“ Why is Sakusa Kiyomi hiding?” She asked his cousin.

Because he's scared of you, he didn't say it out loud knowing the latter wouldn't let him live to see the end of it.“ He's feeling a bit under the weather but I am here to entertain you today.”

She nodded not understanding. But she got the gist of it that the latter was feeling unwell.

“ Sakusa Kiyomi, get better soon~”

Why does she keep callin me by my full name?

Kageyama stared at them blankly. What are they doing at a place like this ? Being the blunt type he is, he asked,“ are you an aot fan too?”

“ Me ? No, no, not at all. It's....,” Motoya glanced at his cousin and if looks could kill he would be six feet under the ground, buried deep. Yet, he didn't care and decided to disclose the secret.“ Kiyomi is infatuated with it. Levi is his favourite character.”

Sakusa sucked in a breath and immediately turned on his heels to walk away from them, a bit shy at the revelation. Kotei, being the way she is followed, and Kageyama stayed back with Motoya, still not believing his ears. What a shock !

Komori laughed.“ It's not serious. But he saw the hand sanitizers they were keeping here with Levi’s sticker on them. He wanted to buy some.”

“ I see.” He paused for a moment before facing Motoya again.“ Wait, who's Levi ?”

“....”

“ Hm ?”

“ You're telling me you're an AOT fan and you don't know who he is ?”

“ I don't watch it. My sister does.”
Motoya almost tripped. Wait, he had thought Kotei was only a tag along and came here to give her brother company. But he didn't expect her to turn out a fan herself. Is it even legal, to let kids watch that show ? But Kageyama was dumb. So he inferred that the latter had no idea what she was watching.

“ Ah, I watch it sometimes too. But I've watched just a few scenes. I don't know it so well.”

“ I-I see,” Komori nodded, a nervous smile visible on his face. He looked at Kotei in the distance to see her cheering with the figurine of the Armoured Titan in her hand. That's her favourite.“ Well, have fun...I guess...?”

“ That ! That !” She jumped near Sakusa’s feet pointing at a colouring book at the top shelf. He huffed getting it down for her.

“ Here.”

“ Thanks, Sakusa Kiyoomi.” She hugged the book to her chest and smiled up at the older. He was eyeing the sanitizer section in the corner for sometime and noticing his fidgety form, she deciphered he wanted it. Thus, she made effort to saunter towards the wooden framework and get hold of a small bottle.“ Here, for Sakusa Kiyoomi.”

“ Uh...,” he stared down at her. Reluctantly, he took it from her hands. This was exactly what he wanted. Feeling grateful towards the child he wondered what they do in these situations. He gingerly stretched a hand out and moved his palm softly through her hair, ruffling it lightly, with his bare hands. Kotei leaned in to the touch, liking the affection,“...thanks.”

“ No problem!” She stuck a thumbs up.

𝟐

Scouting the area, Kotei bought many things, most of them being colour books and crayons, some T-shirts, a jacket, two posters and a blue-white wings of freedom necklace.

They got out and strolled around the surrounding area. Besides the event, there were many more stores based on popular shows and other shops. A book store in particular caught their interest and Kotei pulled her brother inside. She loved filling up drawn pictures and couldn't resist all the colouring books staring down at her from behind the glass panes.

Coincidentally, they ran into another pair of duo who were looking through the books in the Manga section.

“ Oya ? Look who's here~”

“ Hey, hey, hey, Ko-chan !”

It was Kuroo and Bokuto.

“ What brings you all the way here, to Tokyo ?” Kuroo asked as Kageyama greeted them. Bokuto immediately picked up Kotei to give her a big hug and she slapped his back, feeling the embrace too tight for her comfort.
Kageyama explained the occasion in brief and was surprised to find out the cat-owl pair was there for the same thing.

“ We were just going there. But then this idiot found something else that picked his interest....,” Kuroo said pointing between Bokuto and the JoJo manga on the topmost shelf.“ Are you here alone?”

“ Just me and Kotei.”

“ Ah, I see. Sibling time, sorry to interrupt....hey ! Put her down !” Kuroo pulled the dying child from Bokuto’s bear hug who whined and handed her back to her brother.

“ But I wanted to play with her!” Bokuto pouted.

“ You can't do that. Look at them ! They wanna spend some time together, okay? It's called family time.”

“ Spend time together?”

“ Yeah.”

“ So they will spend the rest of the day together?”

“ Obviously.”

“ I see, so you want me to leave them alone so that they can spend some time together?”

Kuroo huffed.“ Yes.”

“ I see, I see,” Bokuto nodded his head thoughtfully till his bangs covered his eyes casting shadow over the upper half of his face, untill he looked up with a serious expression,“but, I refuse !”

“...”

“....”

“ No one cares what you think here.” He replied with a blank look before facing the siblings.“ We'll not bother you anymore. See you around !”

Waving at them he dragged a whining Bokuto out of the store.

“ Nii-chan, Kotei wants this !”

“ No !”

“ Yes ! Kotei wants this ! Kotei will take this!” She took a pencil bag that had a picture of Mikasa on it.

“ You've already bought many things. No more—"

“ No, Kotei wants this !”

“ Kotei, no !”

She glared up at him and he glared back. Gradually, her eyes got teary.“ Nii-chan doesn't love Kotei...*sob*.....Kotei is so sad....”

Ah, yes, the emotional blackmail tactic.

But Kageyama remained unaffected.“ No means no ! Come on, it's time to go home.”

Kotei faltered when it didn't work. So she resorted to her last method. “ Wahhhhh ! Kotei wants this ! Get Kotei this !” She threw a tantrum.

“ Kotei—”

“ Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! But this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this ! Buy this—”
She stopped when there was no reaction or response. The customers nearby stared at her and the lady at the counter giggled at her action. Kageyama was seen walking out of the store, leaving Kotei behind who cried,“ NII-CHAN!”

There was shuffling of feet heard and as Kotei followed her brother outside in ruffling feathers, a tall male ran up the escalator at impressive speed.

Oikawa, with a concerned face, spotted Kotei at once and ran towards her.“ Kotei-chan! I really found you !”
In a few seconds, Iwaizumi entered the scene too, walking nonchalantly towards the trio, greeting Kageyama with a ‘hey’.

How come all of them are here today, at the same time? Tobio thought with a sweatdrop.

“ I heard Kotei-chan’s cry from the ground floor and I ran here at once.” It's a mystery how he was able to hear from that distance.“ Kotei-chan, why are you crying ? Did Tobio-chan hit you ? You're a very bad brother!” He yelled at Kageyama hugging Kotei and shielding her away from him.

“ Nii-chan won't buy me that, Toru...,” she complained pointing at the pencil bag inside the store.

“ Why won't you buy her that, bastard! You should be ashamed of yourself as her brother!” He spat and Iwaizumi muttered something like ‘just ignore him’ to Tobio. Oikawa faced her with a lovely smile.“ Don't worry. Tooru-nii-chan will buy it for you, okay?”

“ You will ?” She hiccuped.

“ For sure. Let's go.”

He walked back towards the store carrying Kotei in his arms as the latter peeked back at Kageyama who was shooting daggers at her. She stuck her tongue out at her brother.

“ Don't mind. Let him do whatever he wants.” Iwaizumi kept a reassuring hand on his shoulder.“ I think you did the right thing by not giving in to her demands.”

“ She's become so needy, that dumbass, causing trouble for everyone,” Kageyama grumbled running a hand through his hair, messing it up.

“ You can't expect much from children.”

“ That's a given.”

Kageyama stared at Kotei in a trance, noticing how happy she was when Oikawa bought her the pencil bag. He sighed. Distancing himself from her voluntarily, was not a good idea, considering she's growing attached to the people around them more than he, himself. But perhaps it's a good thing too. Atleast there'll be no problem, in the near future, when they part ways.

𝟑

Although it was a Sunday, they didn't get the luxury of spending a family night together. Miwa was away with Sayuri, working on a theme together, apparently something to do with an upcoming photoshoot. They were to draw up some rough plans which would later be supervised and revised. Hence, the brother-sister duo was left to depend on their selves to procure for dinner.

Kageyama, being the oldest, set out to cook something for them, and as much as Kotei disliked the idea, she tried to keep it together and decided to watch tv till he was done.

The refrigerator was literally empty when he opened it to find something. Only some vegetables and........that's it. What's he supposed to do with them ? He glanced at the laughing girl who was too engrossed in some comedy show. A new found determination flared within him and he promised to make her something good. It's as if he wanted to cook for her, maybe hear a bit of praise....so he didn't order anything.

Okay, let's get to work, he silently gave a battle-cry, internally, and rolled up his shirt sleeves to get right into it.

Some time later......

“ Kotei, dinner is ready !” Kageyama’s loud yell brought Kotei tottering down the hallway to enter the kitchen with a bright smile.

“ Kotei's hungry.”

“ Yes I know. Take these,” he handed her a big tray with two bowls, one big one small, two pairs of chopsticks, two small glasses and a plate.
Kotei obediently carried out the instructions and sat quietly in her place, moving side to side, humming to herself a common tune, waiting for the food to arrive.

Kageyama kept the pot in the centre and served his hungry sister first.“ Come on, eat up,” he said trying his best to hide his excitement as he took a seat opposite to her.

“ Let's dig in !” She declared happily, picking up her small Aot designed chopsticks and taking the first bite. He looked up at to see her bearing only for a wave of crushed expectations to wash over him. She didn't look so good.“ Nii-chan, what's this ?”

“ It's called food, idiot.”

He watched her fall back to collapse on the floor.“ No, this food doesn't taste like food!” She threw a fit, a repulsed look on her face as she held up a cross sign with her hands.

“ Well, this is all we have. You have to eat it,” he muttered silently, in a dispirited tone as he took a bite, himself.“ Mhm—ahem !” He felt like throwing up but covered it up with a cough.“ I think this is pretty good for a first attempt,” despite being unable to eat more, he decided to be strong and finished it one gulp.“ See ?” He showed her his empty bowl.

“ No, no, Kotei will die if Kotei eats that !” She made a disgusted face and picking up a piece of cabbage she attempted to lick it.“ Argh ! This is so bitter !”

“ Don't complain—”

“ Nii-chan is a bad cook ! Kotei won't eat it !”

“...”

“ Nii-chan should never make food again !”

“...”

“ Give Kotei something else !” She pouted thumping her palms on the table top to add depth to her demands.“ Kotei wants Miwa-nee’s food ! Kotei don't want nii-chan—”

“ SHUT UP ! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT MAKE SOMETHING YOURSELF !”

He finally snapped, slamming down the utensils with a thud and getting up to leave the room. His footsteps resounded in the hallway as he stomped all the way to the door. Kotei shuddered as the slamming of the front door with a loud ‘BAM’ reverberated throughout the house before everything fell silent, again.
The cool night breeze hit him straight into his face as Kageyama’s house slippers reiterated his angry footsteps on the silent streat. His rushed steps were made with no particular direction in mind and he let his feet carry him to whatever place away from home. His hands clenched inside his pockets, a string of curses escaping his lips as he thought back to it.

So what if he can't cook ? What Kotei was supposed to do was be a considerate sister and be grateful for whatever he made, to acknowledge his efforts to prepare it for the entire ordeal took him a good five hours. The food didn't matter for it was not as bad as the words that she had spouted. He might be exaggerating, so be it ! Anyway Kotei doesn't love him anymore, he realises it now. There's nothing he can do, right ?

Kotei sat alone in the kitchen, her facial expression not changing from the previous shocked look she still had on.“ Nii....Chan...?” Her tiny brain tried to process what had just happened. All she remembered is that she said she didn't want to eat the bad food, and for some reason her brother became angry and stormed off the house. Why would he become angry all of a sudden ?

She scratched her head with a dumbfounded and lost look. And she gasped at a sudden realisation.“ It's Kotei's favourite show time!” And like a normal kid, she rushed towards the tv to switch it on and sighed in relief when the the opening song was just beginning to show.“ Yay, let's go!”

I bet she's watching her favourite show right now, Kageyama thought as he jogged lightly to the end of the lane to take a sharp right turn. It took him some time to reach open space and breathed the fresh night air which calmed his body and mind. The side of the canal provided a nice little walk for joggers, and following the reflection of the full moon in the water, he found himself on the narrow bridge that stretched across the water body.

“ Oh shoot, I didn't bring my phone....,” he muttered resting his elbows over the guardrail. Bringing his hands together, his head dipped in till it touched his joined arms and let out a deep breath.

Having a sibling is a pain in the butt, especially if they're younger than you.......he realises that now. Neither you can leave them nor can you give up. But quitting is not an option when they have no parents besides their siblings to depend upon.

Seriously, he swore he hated her with all his heart. Yet he didn't like it when she grew all friendly with others besides him. Maybe he didn't try hard enough to be the ideal big brother but that's not the case with Miwa. The fault must be within him.

No, that's wrong.

He didn't hate her.

It's actually the opposite.

Fighting is normal between siblings. That doesn't mean they don't love each other. Atleast that's how he knows it works. Even if he denied it, he knew that's the truth. Even so he hated how she insulted his cooking and him, in the process. She's too small to understand what she had done. The problem is she doesn't even try to understand his situation. It gets on his nerves. Each and every time, he's supposed to act the responsible one but his sister can endeavour to be sensible at times too.

Yes, he did forget to boil the vegetables before dumping them in the soup but that's not a big deal. It's the sentiments that matter.

He expected a ‘thank you’ in return instead he gets a mountain of bad remarks.

“ I'm done with her. I'll not go home today,” he declared to no one in particular and walked towards the green cover that rolled down the gradual slope by the sides of the canal. He laid down on the grass and stared up at the starry night. This felt good. Let her do whatever the hell she wants.

The little girl lay on the floor, in the front of the tv, her eyes strained on the screen. A loud gurgle filled the room and the rumbling made her shoot up from her sluggish state. She held her tummy as the hunger from earlier surfaced up and she groaned feeling the pain.

“ Nii-chan! Give Kotei foo—oh !” She remembered the said person was not home. Looking around the room she contemplated on her next actions. Getting up, she dragged herself towards the kitchen and her gaze landed on the untouched soup that rested on the table top.

What Kageyama made could not be termed as food in any way. But it looks like that's the only option left to satisfy her stomach. Initially, she didn't pay mind to his whereabouts. But now the rising anger made her red from how mad she looked and she angrily stomped her feet on the wooden floor, kicking the table leg twice in the process.

A hungry man is an angry one, in her case an angry child.

But her stomach rumbling won't stop.
“ Kotei's hungry.” She looked down at her feet with a sad gaze. Now that she looked carefully, Kageyama had just taken a few bites. He left before finishing it.“ If Kotei's hungry then nii-chan must be hungry too.”

“ Nii-chan is a bad cook ! Kotei won't eat it !”

“ Nii-chan should never make food again !”

“ Give Kotei something else !”

“ Kotei wants Miwa-nee’s food ! Kotei don't want nii-chan—”

“ SHUT UP ! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, MAKE SOMETHING YOURSELF !”

Kotei stared up at the front door. Why'd he say something like that ? Did he get mad because she said mean things about his food ? But she was honest. Honesty is the best policy, Midori-chan always says that. It's bad to lie to someone. And she did exactly that. She said the truth.

Maybe honesty is not always the best policy.....?

...

Kageyama sat silently, staring at the almost still water. The splash of white in the middle of it was a comfort to look at. It illuminated the entire space in a gentle light that softly grazed past his features. Even in the middle of the night, the whole neighborhood dazzled under the starlight which gave life to the inanimate houses, stacked one after the other, in a neat manner.

He loved to watch his hometown in this new form. Perhaps because he's always intent upon learning new tactics in volleyball, striving for its betterment that he overlooked the small things, all around him, that mattered.

“ I wonder where I went wrong.......,” he had always thought distancing himself from his sister would do both of them good. He didn't want attachments, especially when there's something else he wanted to focus on and dedicate his life to. But the plan seemed to have backfired, not on Kotei's end but on his.

Since the first time their grandfather had entered through the main door with the little bundle of joy in his arms, he knew he had to protect her at all costs. It's not her fault that their mother refused to care for her. None of them deserved it. It's a shame their parents technically abandoned them, but it's a good fortune they got the love and care of their grandfather.

Kotei must be hungry, he flinched at his sudden thought. She's too stubborn so if she said she won't eat his cooking, she won't.

He sighed.

Kotei had been precious to him from the beginning. Although he didn't want emotional attachments, it ended up being this way. And maybe that's the reason he wanted her to acknowledge his feelings too and show a bit more tolerance towards his sentiments. He wanted her to appreciate his efforts. In reality, he strived to be an ideal big brother as much as he strived to be a brilliant volleyball player.

Although he achieved succes in one of the aspirations, he failed in the other one.

And it's not based on his observation today. He's been noticing how day by day she grew closer to his teammates, more than himself. He couldn't care less at the beginning or so he thought.
In one way, it's a good thing, I guess. He ran a tired hand through his locks. Atleast the non-attachment part succeeded on Kotei's part—
Smack !

“ Ouch ! What the hell—nee-san ?” He looked up blankly at his older sister who huffed lightly as she wiped off a sweat trail. A phone was clutched in her right and. Her brows were raised up and it didn't take a genius to find out she was pissed pretty bad.“ Nee-san, what're you doing here ? Aren't you supposed to be in Tokyo ?”

“ You idiot,” she slapped him again behind his head as he shrunk back from her,“ aren't you supposed to be home ? The heck ! Don't just run away from home with the door unlocked! Ko-chan’s all alone there !”

He avoided gaze.“ Because....she said I'm a bad cook......”

“ Who the hell cares if you're a first class chef ! Stop acting like a baby ! You're a grown ass teen now ! Act your age, for god's sake !”

“ I—”

“ Shut up ! Listen to me ! I ran here all the way from Tokyo (not literally) as soon as Kotei rang me up saying you went somewhere and didn't return and it's already been six damn hours !”

“ S-six....?” He looked shocked at the revelation. It felt like just six minutes. He peered at his sister’s still unlocked screen on her phone. 1: 10 a.m.

“ And you didn't even take your phone with you ! You just stormed off without a word ! If you want to vent out, just do it in your damn room! Or call me or something ! Don't leave the house unlocked ! What if burglars got in—”

“ You're exaggerating—”

“ Don't talk back to me, you stupid, stupid...,” with each word she hit him on his shoulder and believe him when he says it hurt like hell.

“ I'm sorry ! I'm sorry ! Please forgive me ! I didn't think it through.....I was just.....so angry....”

Miwa stared at him with a are-you-serious look. Grabbing his wrist, she shot him a glare.“ You nearly gave me a heart attack....,” she muttered as she turned on her heels and dragged him towards the house.“Just...don't do it again.”

“ Sorry,” he stared at his feet, letting her lead the way.

She sighed, rubbing her temple.“ You know she's just a kid. I do know it's a pain but please try to co-operate. She's not that smart but you are.”

“ Mhm.”

Miwa's heels clacked on the silent streets as their pace gradually fastened. Their house slowly came into view and he visibly froze. His anger was still there but somehow he felt guilty too. She was all alone for that long not knowing anything. It was night time and if, hypothetically, someone did break into their house.....he couldn't imagine what would have happened.

Has she eaten something ?

On the way, his gaze landed on the super cub parked outside their house. Miwa must have travelled here on that. It's not necessarily fast and due to the late night traffic in the city, it took her almost an hour or such to reach there.

As the things finally began to settle in, he realised that he really did mess up big.

Miwa silently unlocked the door and got in.“ Ko-chan, Miwa-nee found Tobio ! Come on!”

Kageyama stood awkwardly as he slid off his slippers. A rush of shuffling feet was heard as little footsteps ran from inside the house and the next second a small weight tackled him. He retained his balance.

“ Wahhhhh! Nii-chan ! Where did nii-chan go ! Nii-chan left Kotei all alone!” She cried her eyes out as tears streamed down her face. Kageyama made a disgusted face as he noticed snort come out of her nose. What's more she buried her face in his trousers, getting it all wet and snotty.“Nii-chan !”

“....,” he looked at Miwa with a helpless gaze.

She huffed.“ She refused to eat till you got home.” Mostly because the food was bad in taste and Miwa didn't get any time to prepare something for them. But Tobio didn't need to know that.“ She's getting smarter than you. It's a good thing she called me rather than going out herself at night to find you.” She took off her shoes and continued,“ it's scary for a child to be left alone this late at night.”

“ Kotei—”

“ Nii-chan, Kotei's sowwyyy ! Okay ? Kotei's sowwy Kotei said mean things about nii-chan’s cooking ! Kotei's so bad !” She hiccuped.“ Kotei says mean things ! Kotei shouldn't have said those things !”

“ Wh-why are you apologising !” Tobio yelled which shocked Miwa who gave him a weird look.“ It's my fault I left you alone ! I should be saying sorry here !” He yelled louder as Miwa walked away, hands plugged in her ears to ease her sensitive eardrums.“You dumbass, why didn't you eat anything !”

“ Because Nii-chan cooks bad !”

“ Shut up !” He squatted before her to pull her closer and capture her in a tight embrace. She bawled in his chest like a toddler, clutching his hoodie tightly in her fists, afraid that he would leave her if she let go. Kageyama buried his face in her hair, rubbing on her shoulder in a soothing manner when his own shoulders shook, violently.

“ Wow. If you want drama, come to my house,” Miwa said sarcastically to God knows who, standing near her kitchen, taking a sip from her tea that she made just now.

“ Kotei's sorry, nii-chan ! Kotei loves nii-chan the best !”

“ Shut up, dumbass !” His arms tightened around her small form.“ I hate you !”

“ Hey, wait a minute ! Don't you dare start this shit in front of me ! I am right here ! Don't make me feel left out, damn it !” Miwa yelled slamming her cup loudly on the upper slab.

“ It's all your fault, nee-san, you always used to hit me when I was young and I picked up the habit from you !”

“ You ungrateful brat, I literally raised you in the absence of our grandfather!”

“ Kotei's hungry~”

“ LET ME FINISH MY MANGA IN PEACE !!!!!!!!”(Rinko)

🅱🅾🅽🆄🆂

Bokuto :  I see, I see......

Kuroo : .....

Bokuto : daga kotowaru !”

Kuroo : What ?

Bokuto : Hey, hey, hey one of my absolute favourite things to do is to tell someone who I think is strong ‘no’ !”

Kuroo : ......

Bokuto : .......

Kuroo : The heck ! You high or something?

Bokuto : ......

Kuroo : Dude ! You're so out of context here !

Bokuto : Huh ? But I always wanted to say that ! It makes me look cool !

Kuroo : That's a serious misconception on your part.

Bokuto : You're kidding me !

Kuroo : And what's even with that hey, hey, hey at the end ! You just ruined one of my favourite scenes ! And now I'll have nightmares!

Bokuto : I was just trying to recreate the scene though.....

Kuroo : Please don't. That was so cringe and disgusting!

Bokuto : Kuroo, you mean rooster !

Kuroo : Yes, I am ! Now come with me !

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kageyama : Uh....bye...?

Kotei  [  ޏ₍ ὸ.ό₎ރ  ] : Daga kotowawu~ ゴゴゴゴ

______________________________________

We're almost towards the end of the book ! So please look forward to the next chapters !! Hope you're staying healthy and doing fine.

Thanks for reading this chapter !

Kotei *fidgeting with a photo album*

Kotei : (gasp) Kotei turned into a boy щ⁠(⁠゜⁠ロ⁠゜⁠щ⁠)

Miwa : That's Tobio.

Tobio : ....

Kotei : Woahhhhh !!!! Nii-chan looks just like Kotei !

Tobio : No. I was clearly better looking.

Miwa (⁠☞ﾟ⁠∀ﾟ⁠)⁠☞ : You said ‘was’ ! So does that mean you're admitting that you're not the better looking one now ?

Tobio : No ! I didn't—  ಠ⁠_⁠ʖ⁠ಠ

Miwa : Oh but you clearly did, Tobio-chan~  (⁠~⁠‾⁠▿⁠‾⁠)⁠~

Kotei (ignoring them both) : Ah ! Miwa-nee looks like Kotei too.....＼⁠(⁠°⁠o⁠°⁠)⁠／  Biiiigggggggg shockuuuu~

Author : Aaaand Cut !

Kotei (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠) : Noooooo ! Kotei wants more screentime !!!!

Author (⁠ー⁠_⁠ー⁠゛⁠) : She's really becoming rebellious.... KAGEYAMA ! COME COLLECT YOUR SISTER !

....

Author : Kageyama ? Where's he gone now ?!  ༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽

Miwa : Oh, he just went off with Hinata to play volleyball ⟵⁠(⁠๑⁠¯⁠◡⁠¯⁠๑⁠)

Author ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ : But we're still left with the last bit of the book..

Miwa : Uhhh......leave it unfinished....?

Author : ಠ⁠_⁠ʖ⁠ಠ

Miwa : (⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

Kotei : KOTEI WANTS MORE SCREENTIME !!!!!!