After practice, those who were attending the study session came to Shiori's house. They collapsed onto the furniture, some even on the ground.
"I'm happy you guys are all washed up so you don't stink up the house." Shiori commented. She headed over to the fridge and took out a plate of onigiri, which caused everyone to look at her, "You each have 2 onigiri each. I'm going to take a shower." She unwrapped the plastic wrap from the plate and threw it away, going to her room.
She heard chorus of 'Ittadakimasu' erupt from the other rooms as she went into her own one, shutting the door behind her.
Shiori fished her phone out of her bag, seeing it light up, a notification from MiracleBoy and a few text messages from her childhood friends.
MiracleBoy: I just re-watched that volleyball anime! Season 3 was so good! I get thrills every time I see it!
FlyHigh: You're so lucky you have the time to watch it! I've been busy this week so I don't have any time to watch but read.
She checked her other notifications, responding to whoever had texted her.
Trashykawa: Yahoo, Ricchan! I heard from your mum that you'll be coming back soon! Is that true?! I haven't seen you in agessssssss! I miss youuuuuu!
Shiori didn't even try to make a face at her childhood friend's message. She typed a quick response.
Ricchan: It's only for the weekend. It'll be pretty short.
She opened up another text message, this time from Iwa-chan.
Iwa-chan: Shiori, tell us when you come so we can pick you up.
Shiori cracked a smile. Iwaizumi always had such direct messages.
Ricchan: Yeah, okay. Tell Trashy not to overwork himself again, okay? And you, too.
It was at that time that she got a phone call. It was her mum.
Geez, I'm sure popular today. She chuckled to herself and accepted the call.
"Hey, mum!"
-----
Yukie was incredibly tempted to grab Shiori's share of onigiri, but in the end she grabbed one and gobbled it up quickly. They were already finished, now sitting at the dining room table.
"You know, this place is really spacious." Yukie commented, smiling happily. She got up from the table and went to the sofa, flopping down onto it like seaweed. "And this is so comfortable!"
"I think Shiori said something about her dad being an animal doctor or something." Konoha remembered vaguely.
"An animal doctor? So like a vet?" Bokuto questioned.
"Somewhat. But I think he does it for all kinds of different animals, including the ones that you see on TV. You know how she loves watching those nature documentaries? Her dad sometimes appears in those too." The wing spiker explained.
"Oooh!" Bokuto brightened up, impressed. "So that's why this place is so nice!"
So that's why she loves those documentaries so much, Akaashi thought. Because she loves nature and animals. Though, I think I remember her not trying to touch a cat when it came close to her...
"What about her mum? I don't see her around." Bokuto questioned. "I've seen her dad sometimes but never her mum."
"My mum's in Miyagi. She's a science teacher." Shiori came into the room in some lounge clothes, fresh from the shower. She sat beside Yukie on the sofa.
"A science teacher? How come you suck so much at science then?" Konoha laughed.
"Well..." She sheepishly rubbed the back of her warm neck, "I tried, I really did! But it just never got through to me."
"And biology did?" Yukie giggled and sat back up, poking her friend in the abdomen. "You're a daddy's girl, aren't you?" She teased.
Shiori opened her mouth to protest, but closed it when she knew that she probably couldn't fight it. She did love her dad to bits and pieces (she loved her mum equally, of course), and his occupation was so much more interesting than boring science. Except, there was science (and math, ew) in her dad's field of work, but she wanted to completely deny it.
She got up, looking to the others, finding that their eyes were already on her. "We should start studying at least a little bit before you go home."
"Can't we have dinner first..." Bokuto whined, his stomach growling.
"Kou, you had onigiri just then. Save your stomach. I'll be making some stir fried udon later." Shiori went to her room to fetch her notebooks and some textbooks to work on.
"Udon?! YEAH!" The ace pumped his arms up into the air.
As the ace hummed a happy tune, they all brought out their study materials to begin.
Shiori came back out and plopped her books onto the end of the table. She headed to the kitchen and took her share of the onigiri, only to find that she only had 1 left.
"Yukie, you took my onigiri didn't you?" She bit into the rice as she stared at the manager, who nearly jumped from her seat.
Shirofuku smiled and turned around, rubbing the back of her head, laughing nervously, "You caught me..."
Shiori placed the empty plate into the sink, "You and your black hole of a stomach. What are you, Kirby?" She chuckled and headed over to them, eating the onigiri quickly before pinching Yukie's cheeks and pulling. "Punishment!"
"Ow..." Yukie rubbed her cheeks with a cute pout. "So mean."
"I'm not the one who stole someone else's onigiri." Shiori sang, taking her seat adjacent of Bokuto and Konoha. Yukie was seated on the other side of Konoha and Akaashi the other of Bokuto.
Akaashi flipped through his worksheets and got the one that wasn't due until the next day, the one he had been working on before. He took it out and handed it to Shiori, "Shiori-san, can you check this, please?"
"Yeah sure." She took it and looked through it, getting a red pencil and twirling it between her fingers. She corrected a couple of things, but otherwise, it was fine. She handed it back, "You're getting better."
"That's only because of your help." The setter took the sheet and gave her another one, "I have a few worksheets that I did, so please check them all."
"Oh..." She nodded at his impressive work ethic. "Alright, just hand them all over."
Wow...Yukie, Bokuto and Konoha thought.
"Anything else?" Shiori spoke in English this time, her voice teasing.
"No, that is all." The setter replied in English.
"Oh! Your pronunciation is getting better too. You been watching anything to help?"
"Only a few things."
"I'm surprised you know this much already. Even Yukie can't hold a decent conversation like this with me."
"If she hears you say that she will get mad..."
"No she won't!" Shiori laughed, grinning widely that one of her friends knew enough to talk to her in English. She leaned over the table and messed the younger one's hair. "I'm so proud of you!" She said in English.
Yukie, Bokuto and Konoha just stared at the two of them, wondering how the hell they were able to converse in such a complicated language.
"I think I heard my name..." Yukie looked to Shiori, silently asking her to elaborate.
"Oh, I was just saying that I can't hold English conversations with you yet." Shiori replied in their native tongue.
Akaashi nodded in agreement, a little dumbfounded that Shiori had messed up his already messy hair. It wasn't every day that anybody did that.
"Eh..."
"Well, don't worry too much about that. Oh, I also finished a few worksheets so can you look over them for me?" Shiori took out a folder and pulled out her worksheets for Yukie to check.
Bokuto and Konoha groaned to themselves. They hadn't done anything at all because they absolutely hated studying. They were glad that there were others there that would force them to.
Shiori glanced at the two who were now grumbling lowly and doing their work, looking like they were going to crack anytime soon from not moving (especially Bokuto).
She went back to looking at Akaashi's work, correcting it quickly. She handed it back to him, telling him that he did a good job (in English).
Yukie tapped Shiori's shoulder, "For this question..." And she proceeded to explain how Shiori could get the right answer.
-----
"Shiori-san, you said you were making stir fry udon, right?" Akaashi asked, breaking the silence. They had been studying for about 30 minutes, and Akaashi and Yukie were the main ones helping the others out.
"Uh, yeah, I did. The ingredients are all on the counter. Do you know how to use the stove and pans and stuff?" She watched him stand up and head to the kitchen.
"Yeah. Leave dinner to me."
When the setter left the room, the third years all exchanged surprised glances.
"That was so cool..." Shiori nodded slowly, mouth forming an 'o'.
Yukie agreed with a nod.
"Akaashi's so reliable." Konoha commented with a grin.
"SO COOL!" Bokuto remarked with excitement.
I can hear them...Akaashi prepared the dish.
The kitchen wasn't technically in another room, it was in the same room they were in, just parted differently. He could even see them at the dining table studying and talking to each other. It only seemed like another room because the kitchen and dining was in an elevated area whilst the living was on a lower area by a couple of steps inside the house. It was pretty unique.
However, even he could hear what was going on down there, those down there weren't able to hear what was going on up in the kitchen.
As he chopped the vegetables, he looked to where Shiori was—she was staring angrily at the worksheet, listening to Yukie as she told her how to do it.
He was sure that she would be mad at him for wanting her to play volleyball, since it seemed a sensitive topic. But, she didn't even seem to be as mad as he thought she'd be.
...did she want to play? The second year wondered to himself, remembering the expression she had earlier. What did that look mean?
He couldn't describe the expression that Shiori wore at that time. It was a mixture of so many things.
If he recalled correctly, she was watching everybody play.
He cooked the vegetables first, letting them fry on a medium high heat on the pan.
...that bothers me, Akaashi realised. Of course, his worry stems from the fact that they're friends, but also because he wanted to fix it.
It reminded him of Bokuto's emo modes; where he'd have to deduce what he was feeling at that time, or find out which weakness out of the many that were affecting him. The reason he wanted to help Bokuto was because his top plays were satisfying to watch.
The reason was similar with Shiori as well. To put it very simply, he wanted to see her play. Like Bokuto, she was very satisfying to watch when she was in top form, especially when she served.
The first time he saw her play was when he was in his last year of elementary school. Shiori was only in her first year of middle school at that time, but she had become a regular and advanced all the way to nationals with the team. It was on that stage that he saw the buds of what would become her well known serves, broadcasted on TV.
How she played had captured him. He didn't know how and why, but his eyes would be drawn to her. The way she served was different to how others did—she was calm, collected and quite intimidating, always forcing those on the opposite side of the net to become wary, and then she would unleash a serve. The serve itself was quite intense, and the run up was quiet, like the calm before a storm.
Why Akaashi was watching the girls' games, was because it was in the same program as the boys' team he was watching. It just so happened that he watched it too.
From then on, he had gone on to watch all the official games she played in when she was in Tokyo, wanting to see her play again. She was a competitor from Miyagi, going to Kitagawa Daiichi, which was known for their strong boys' volleyball team. The girls' volleyball team was only strong the years she was in it, mainly due to her strong serves that would throw off opponents and rack up points.
And so, he went to watch her live from the stadium when he was in first year middle school. Seeing the real thing and seeing it on the screen or TV was completely different. The atmosphere was more intense than he'd thought it to be, but he was excited, even if he didn't show it on his face.
When she went onto the court to unleash her serve, it was more refined than when he saw it last. It was a service ace, one that had painted the line, causing the cheers of the audience that supported Kitagawa Daiichi to raise their voices with passion.
The smile on her face she had then, was completely different to what she had now. Back then, there was the excitement, the happiness and the cheer. But now, it was like there was no joy left in her service aces, no thrill that she felt anymore.
But of course, Akaashi didn't know how she felt nor know what she thought. He only noticed her plays had changed, yet were still the same.
In Shiori's 2nd and 3rd year of middle school, she consecutively got the best server award in the nation for middle school girls', which was a huge feat that was news across the whole country.
But when she had disappeared off from the volleyball world for around 3 years, he was quite shocked. He thought she'd continue off from middle school and continue to high school, reaching more heights.
So, he didn't expect to find her in Fukurodani. Heck, the first thing he'd thought of Shiori when he met her was that she was familiar, and even her name surprised him. But, he found it impossible that the fleeting hope in his mind was right, so he brushed it off.
'She wouldn't come to Fukurodani' was his thought.
I was wrong, he added the udon into the pan. She was right in front of me this whole time.
"How's making the udon coming along?" Shiori had escaped from Yukie to get some water, quietly going up to the kitchen. She sniffed the air, her mouth-watering, "That smells so good! Akaashi, you should cook more often!"
The setter didn't say anything to that, closing his mouth so that he wouldn't say anything unnecessary. After all, she was the subject of his thoughts for the whole time he was cooking. He wouldn't want to slip up.
Shiori got her glass of water and went next to the setter, looking at the udon that was cooking. "That looks so good."
"Thanks." He murmured.
She stood there, watching him cook, then went to take out a few bowls, placing them next to the stove. Akaashi glanced over, giving a nod in thanks.
She's taller than I thought she was...Akaashi suddenly realised, matching their heights. She reached around the height of his ears.
As if in response to that thought, Shiori looked up at him with a questioning look, eyebrow raised. "I'm not that tiny." She hit him lightly on the back, "What's with that look?"
"AKAASHI! IS THE FOOD DONE YET?" Bokuto shouted from below. His stomach was already growling when he bounded to them, leaning over the counter. He pouted when he saw them together, "Akaashi! Shiori! What are you doing together—"
"I'm watching him cook."
"Cooking."
Akaashi and Shiori spoke at the same time, giving Bokuto completely expressionless looks.
"O-okay, I get it...ANYWAY! FOOD!" He looked over to the pan and his eyes sparkled.
Akaashi left out a light huff and turned off the flame, transferring the portions onto the plates, handing Bokuto the first one to shut him up. The others had come up when Bokuto went down.
"Ooh! This looks great." Yukie nearly looked like she was going to drool.
Konoha grinned and thanked Akaashi.
"Oh yeah, chopsticks." Shiori snickered when she saw Bokuto wail about forgetting to get chopsticks to eat with. To help the owl, she got the utensils and gave it to him, watching him eat happily after.
"Here's your share." Akaashi placed the plate in front of her as she handed everyone their chopsticks.
"Thanks!"
Once she tasted the food, she was just like everyone else, letting out an amazed 'wow!', then looking up at Akaashi with sparkly eyes.
"This is so good! How do you even?!" She smiled at the taste. "Teach me, Akaashi-senpai." She leaned towards him, teasing him with a grin.
The look on Akaashi's face when she did that was priceless. His almost non-expressive face had changed to a look of surprise as he sat down. It was gone after a few seconds after his surprise settled in, before he let out a light sigh.
"Hearing you call me 'senpai' even as a joke is so weird..." He stated, staring straight at her with his brows slanted.
She only grinned, "In all seriousness though, your cooking is good. Teach me sometime."
"Yeah okay."
"Me too!" Yukie had already finished her plate and went to the kitchen for more.
"Oh yeah, speaking of teaching people stuff," Konoha spoke up, having just finished his plate too. He handed it to Bokuto to get more for him when he went after Yukie. "Shiori, can you teach me how to do better serves?"
Shiori's brows rose in astonishment. It was the first time someone from her high school had asked her to help them with something like that. She was a little shocked at first, but composed herself.
"Oh, um...yeah, okay." She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a little bashful. "I'll be helping you guys out anyway so..."
She's being a little shy?! Yukie, Bokuto and Konoha stared at her with bewildered expressions, having seen an incredibly rare emotion. Normally she was confident and playful, so it was pretty shocking to see something apart from her normal attitude.
Akaashi glanced at the third years. They seemed to have momentarily stopped what they were doing, staring at Shiori, who had begun to eat again. They recovered and came back.
It's not that much of a shock, is it? Akaashi wondered.
"Org yueah! Shiahri," Bokuto spoke up, his mouth full of udon. Knowing it was her that he was talking about, the female volleyball player looked to him.
"Eat first then talk." Yukie scolded.
Bokuto took some time to chew and gulp his mouthful, before continuing. "Shiori, I forgot to ask this earlier but why aren't you playing for a team?"
Shiori's chopsticks halted, letting the udon slip out of its clutches. She quickly recovered herself from the owl's question, "Ah, well...about that..." She trailed off.
She debated whether or not to tell him what she told Akaashi. But, the setter didn't ask for why she wasn't playing for a team, but rather why she wasn't playing volleyball. It was a little different, but those difference in answers, he'd pick up on.
"Well...teams are six people, right? I haven't found any others to play with. I do play some games with temporary people though." Shiori answered.
"Nah, I mean on a team at school! You know, the girls' volleyball club?" Bokuto shook his head.
"...oh."
Shit, what am I going to say to that? Shiori pressed her lips together.
"Well, I wouldn't be a regular anyway so..." Those words came out before she could stop them, so when she finally caught herself, she trailed off, glancing at the dumbfounded looks on everyone's faces (except Akaashi's), "Ah, I mean, I wouldn't be a regular now because I haven't been practicing with them. Like, I'm in my third year now, but Inter High's soon, so they'll be practicing for that, and I don't just want to come in and break the formations or anything..." She tried to clarify, trying to cover the slip up she made earlier.
"Oh yeah!" Bokuto sat up straight, like he just remembered something, "Inter Highs are soon!"
Shiori nearly heaved a sigh of relief that Bokuto changed the topic so quickly. She didn't want to talk about why she wasn't on a team.
"Akaashi! I need to practice more straight spikes!" Bokuto clenched his hands into a fist, a fire burning in his eyes. "I need to beat those damn blockers!"
"Hah?" Shiori stared at Bokuto with a raised brow, then realised what he was talking about from the context. "Ah! It's that school that kept blocking you, right?" Kou had mentioned that there was a specific team that kept blocking him from doing his spikes, and he got really pissed about it that he was training up his straights since his crosses kept getting stuffed. He had complained to Shiori about it for a whole day whenever he got time to talk to her.
"Yeah! I'm definitely going to beat them this time!"
Shiori cheered for him, clapping her hands together a few times.
"Do your best, ace!"
A/N: hey there c: thanks for reading thus far! XD anyway, I did make a change that's probably not canon, which is the middle school nationals. In the manga + anime it's said that it's just a "junior high athletics meet" and they award them there and all that. I'm pretty sure they don't go to nationals for winning that, but in this story, they do c: