"UM—"
"What's wrong? Did you get scolded by coach again?" Shirabu asked while looking at the first year who just came out of their coach's office.
"I did but that's not the thing!" Goshiki quickly replied. It was then that the two garnered attention from the majority of the regulars. They all looked at Goshiki with curiosity. "I'm his office, I saw coach's calendar," Goshiki said as his fists tightened. "Tomorrow, it was circled!!" Goshiki revealed.
"And?"
"In [f/c] coach wrote: [Y/n]'s Birthday!!!"
"Tomorrow is our cute manager's birthday?" Tendo gasped dramatically as he rested both of his hands on his cheeks. "What a day... We have our first official match tomorrow..."
"Then we can do something after the match tomorrow?" Ohira asked. "We can ask the members who aren't going to buy a cake for us."
"Should we gift her with the love letters that we shredded?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"No..."
"Goshiki," Shirabu said as he turned over to the bowl cut boy. "[L/n] is in your class, you must have talked to her. What does she like?" Goshiki froze. He had always been too shy to bring up a conversation with the first year beauty. Shirabu read Goshiki like an open book. "Don't tell me you were too shy to talk to her...?"
"I can't help it!!"
"Our boy Goshiki, I saw, he was glaring at the people staring at our cutie manager~" Tendo said while appearing behind Goshiki. The middle blocker placed his hands on his shoulders.
"I guess thats fine," Shirabu replies. "Then are there any mascots or common theme in the stuff she uses?" Shirabu further interrogates Goshiki.
"Ummmm," Goshiki started to think back on the lessons. A common theme... "She has a lot of [f/c] items," Goshiki said. "AHHHHH!"
The gym looked towards the first year.
"I REMEMBER! [L/n] and her friends were talking about food and [L/n] said that she liked [favourite/cake/flavour] the most!!!" Goshiki shouted in realization.
"Good job."
"Bowl-cut boy is useful after all..."
This is when the gym door opened. A silence came over the items as they saw the manager that they were talking about. Shirabu sent a warning glance to Goshiki— almost saying: don't you dare ruin it bowl-cut boy. [Y/n] stopped changing her shoes midway and looked at the members. They were staring at her for far longer than usual. "Is something on my face...?" [Y/n] asked.
"Nope~ Our cute manager looks cuter than usual!" Tendo quickly said as he walked over to the first year to start conversing about the recent Shonen Jump.
"Thank goodness for Tendo," Semi sighed. "Alright, we have to act natural!"
♚
Tendo cooed at the sight while Semi smiled. What sight? It was the sight of [Y/n] resting her head on their captain's shoulder as they made their way to the tournament site. "Tendo, what are you doing?" Ushijima asked, making sure his voice is quieter than usual.
"Taking a picture," Tendo said as he positioned his phone, "it lasts longer. Don't worry Wakatoshi, I will send it to you later," Tendo snickered.
"I heard that [L/n] woke up earlier to make sure we have everything prepared," Semi said. "She's always so hardwork—"
"We will be there soon! Settle down and prepare!" Saito said to the bus. Immediately, the team settled down and watched as they arrived at their destination. Since they were a seeded team, they were exempted from playing the first round of matches. Their first opponent would be Ohgiminami.
"[L/n], wake ups We're here," Ushijima said as he gently shook the smaller girl. [Y/n] eyes snapped opened as she stared at Ushijima— still in daze after waking up. Tendo stifled a laugher as he looked at the puzzled expression that their first year manager had on.
"Our sleeping cutie woke up~ Wakatoshi is a nice pillow Eh?" Tendo asked.
"Wait..." [Y/n] looked at Tendo and then at Ushijima. "U-Ushijima-san, I'm sorry for sleeping on you!!" [Y/n] said as panic started to well up in her.
"Don't worry. I don't mind," Ushijima replied as he stood up. "We should go inside the gym."
♚
"Goshiki, go help [L/n] with the water bottles," Semi said as the team settled themselves in the viewing section. Despite Shiratorizawa not playing until later, [Y/n] still needed to prepare essentials such as water bottles.
"Hm? Of course!" Goshiki said. The first year then turned his attention to the [h/c] haired who was already walking out of the gym. "[L-L/n] wait up!"
"Now then..." Ohira said as he turned to the team. "We should continue planning."
"I can't help but be worried for [L/n] though," Kawanishi said as he turned to the exit where their manager left through. "It's like a wolves' den here." Ushijima stood up and walked out.
"Well if Ushijima is going, then everything will be fine," Ohira said. After all, no one would dare mess with Ushijima Wakatoshi, one of the top three spiker. "But seriously, we need to plan."
♚
"Goshiki, thank you for helping me," [Y/n] said as she and Goshiki filled up the water bottles. "Though you should really be resting." This is when Goshiki shook his head firmly.
"I should help you whenever I should," Goshiki said as he pointed at himself with his thumb. A star appeared out of nowhere. Despite being shy most of the times, Goshiki has these random bursts of confidence that he showed to the [h/c] haired girl. "I will become the dependable ace after all!"
"You will become an amazing ace for sure," [Y/n] smiled. She then looked over the bottles. "Hm? I think we forgot one more set," [Y/n] said while counting the water bottles. "Ah we did..."
"I can quickly go get it," Goshiki said. Before [Y/n] could reply, Goshiki ran back to get the remaining bottles.
"Goshiki-san is becoming more reliable these days," [Y/n] smiled as she finished up the remaining bottles. Once the manager was finished, she stood up and stretched her limbs. All that's left is the few remaining bottles that Goshiki had still yet to bring.
"Ohoho~"
What an unpleasant sound. Turning around, [Y/n] sighed. This wasn't anything new. "Do you need anything?" [Y/n] asked, turning to the two boys that were in front of her. [Y/n] shifted uncomfortably as they seemingly dragged their eyes up and down.
"What's your number?" One of the asked while pulling out his phone. "After my team wins, how about we go on a date?"
"No thank you," [Y/n] said— standing her ground.
"C'mon don't be shy," the other male said as he reached over to grab [Y/n]'s wrist. [Y/n] thought about it. She has a few choices. A: Kick then where it hurts the most. B: find an escape route. C: scream. D: Just let them be. Option D seemed to be the worst. Option B seemed to be impossible. It's either A or C.
But surprise!
There is a hidden option that was unlocked. Option E: Get Ushijima Wakatoshi to unleash his ability— intimidate! When Ushijima appeared and gripped onto the boy's wrist, [Y/n] sighed in relief. Surely no one would dare mess with Ushijima right? To be honest [Y/n] was surprised to see that the boys didn't see the large SHIRATORIZAWA print that was across her jacket. "What are you doing?" Ushijima asked— his eyes narrowed on the two boys in front of him. (This was the moment, that they knew they F-ed up lmao.)
"Shit! It's Ushijima! Bro you're on your own!" The first boy said as he scurried away. Meanwhile, his friend smiled nervously at Ushijima. He couldn't escape because the captain and ace of Shiratorizawa had his grip on his wrist.
"U-Ushijima-san it's alright," [Y/n] said as she patted one of his arm. Ushijima turned to [Y/n] and let go of the boy without looking at him.
"Are you alright?" [Y/n] nodded. She's probably in better condition than the boy that Ushijima just let go of.
"D-did something happen??" Goshiki asked, tilting his head as he held the bottles in his arms.
"Goshiki," Ushijima said as he turned to the first year. "Finish filling up the water bottles," Ushijima said as he took [Y/n] by the hand and led her away. "That match will start soon."
"A-ah Yes sir!"
"W-wait U-Ushijima-san..." [Y/n] said as the captain pulled her to where the rest of the team was warming up. It was then that Ushijima abruptly stopped.
"Your birthday gift," Ushijima said as he turned around. The rest of the members turned and looked at their manager. "We will gift you by winning the Inter-high." There was no need for doubts. Because Shiratorizawa will win. And they did win the Inter-high.
OMAKE
The members who were tasked in buying a cake sweatdropped. It seems that their coach bought a bigger cake... And what is that pile of shredded red and pink paper sitting in the garbage can?