You opened the doors to the gym, peeking in to see if you had recognized anyone. After class finished, Kenma had gone ahead with the rest of the team to change into their uniforms first.
You walked in noticing an older man who you assumed was the coach sitting on the bench nearby. You walked up to him and introduced yourself, asking if it was alright to watch practice.
The older man had happily agreed and introduced himself as Nekomata, "Right, Kuroo mentioned that a friend would be coming to watch, that's no problem!"
"Thank you! Let me know if I can help out with anything."
"Hmm now that you mention it would you mind filling up the rest of the boys' water bottles? I think Kuroo had already gone ahead with the other half."
You agreed, seeing it was the least you could do for barging in on their practice.
Picking up the remaining water bottles and clutching them in your arms, you walked out of the gym and found the closest water fountain in the hallway. As you went to press down the button to release the water, a sudden gush of water sprayed out like a mini geyser, leaving your top half completely soaked.
You yelped in surprise, taking a step back and bumping into something hard and hearing the sound of bottles falling to the ground. You turned around to find that something was in fact Kuroo's chest.
"Chibi-chan?" Kuroo seemed just as surprised as you, trying to not let his eyes linger on your almost transparent blouse.
If you hadn't been trying to pick up the fallen bottles on the floor, you would've noticed the blush that spread on Kuroo's face.
You rolled your eyes at yet another one of Kuroo's cringy nicknames for you.
"Sorry Kuroo, I was trying to help out but this water fountain went 'splash zone' on me!"
He chuckled and helped collect the rest of the bottles. "No worries, everyone avoids this one since it's been broken for ages. But you can consider this your hazing ritual, y'know since you're new and all," Kuroo teased, flashing a canine smile.
"What a warm welcome," you responded sarcastically. You shivered slightly, Kuroo looking down your wet shirt, then quickly averting his gaze back up to your face.
"Do you have any spare clothes? I can grab them for you?"
You shook your head, "Nope, didn't have gym class today, besides I couldn't ask you to go out of your way to help me."
Kuroo unzipped his red Nekoma track jacket, and tossed it over your head. You pulled the jacket off your face, glaring at him.
"Put it on. Can't have you getting sick on me, my conscience wouldn't let me live it down knowing I killed one of Kenma's friends."
You laughed and zipped it on, his jacket being comically large on you. "Just a bit dramatic, don't you think?"
Kuroo began to lead the both of you back to the gym, "Not at all, Chiiiibi-chan," drawling out the end of his nickname for you.
You glared at the back of his head, already imagining the cheshire grin he had on his face.
"Perfect timing guys!" Yaku ran over, giving a quick quizzical glance at you in Kuroo's jacket before continuing, "Lev accidentally served a ball right to Yamamoto's face!"
You looked past Yaku to see Yamamoto spread out on the gym floor. You brought one of the water bottles to him and knelt beside him.
"Are you alright?"
He blinked up at you from the ground, seeing you in the volleyball team's track jacket,"f-f-female manager?! Am I in heaven?"
Well at least he was conscious.
"I can't believe we finally have a female manager!" Yamamoto exclaimed before laying back onto the ground, passing out unconscious.
Nevermind.
Needless to say it was an eventful practice. After Yamamoto was situated, Coach Nekomata approached you.
"y/n since it seems you're already acquainted with the team, how would you feel about becoming the team manager? Kuroo's been taking it all on himself and it would be nice to give him a chance to focus on the training camp we're planning with some of the other schools."
You glanced at Kuroo and thought back to the dark circles you noticed on his face.
Nekomata subtly glanced at the oversized jacket you wore, clearly recognizing it as the captain's.
"Although, I'm sure Kuroo will help you anyways... the rest of the boys too," he tacked onto the end slyly.
You tried to read Nekomata's impenetrable poker face, his smiling facade revealing nothing.
"He has been pushing himself lately," you noted.
Nekomata nodded, "He's a good kid, trying to get us to nationals and have another battle at the garbage dump. That's probably why he's putting so much into the upcoming training camp."
You agreed with Nekomata, recalling Kenma telling you about their school's old rivalry with Karasuno high school, which was from Miyagi, your hometown. Admiring Kuroo's resolve you figured it would actually be kind of fun becoming the team manager, besides you could spend more time with Kenma, although your stomach was flipping at the thought of spending time with a certain rooster-boy.
"I'd be happy to join, I'm not in any sports clubs so this is the next best thing for my college applications!"
Pleased, Nekomata held his hand out for a handshake, "welcome to the team y/n."
You returned his handshake, Coach Nekomata clapped to signal for the team to gather around.
"Boys, please welcome your new manager, miss y/n!"
Kuroo took a step forward, looking visibly surprised. He glanced at Kenma, standing next to him, who shrugged in response.
His gaze turned to you, neither of you breaking eye contact. "Welcome to the team y/n!" Kuroo loudly announced and bowed, the rest of the team following his lead.
Yamamoto began to pinch his cheeks, "Am I still dreaming?!" Before he collapsed again. This certainly was going to be an eventful practice.
By the time practice wrapped up the sun was beginning to set. Coach Nekomata had left and you finished putting everything away as the rest of the team went to change back into their school uniforms.
Lev was one of the first ones to come out of the changing room. "Y/n!" He yelled, throwing an arm around your shoulder.
"We're all gonna head to the convenience store before walking home. You're coming with right? We gotta celebrate you joining the team!"
"I guess, if everyone's going. But it's not like I'm a player or anything."
Kuroo suddenly appeared and shoved Lev to the side forcing him to remove his arm from you. "Nonsense you're just as important, if not more short stack! If Kenma is the brain, you're like the arteries that let us carry blood, so that the body can function properly."
Kenma groaned, "Kuroo are you telling her more of your cheesy speeches?"
"I think it's inspiring," Lev responded, oblivious to Kuroo tactfully positioning himself between you and Lev.
You scrunched up your nose, "It is a little cheesy."
Kuroo shrugged, "Everyone's a critic."
The silence in the air was quickly broken by your rambunctious group, as you and the team headed towards the convenience store. You and Kenma waited outside and sat on the steps while the rest of the team headed in to grab snacks.
You and Kenma were in deep discussion about the new characters coming out in the MMO game you played together and were deciding if you would add any to your parties.
A bag of chips fell onto your lap. You looked up to find a smiling Kai. One by one, the rest of the players plopped a random assortment of snacks onto your lap, forming a small mountain.
"Hold out your hands, chibi-chan," Kuroo smirked.
You huffed, "I'm not even that short!" But held out your hands anyways.
Kuroo rolled his eyes, "Hush, you're still shorter than me. Here." He placed a cupcake into your hands.
"We finally got a manager!" Lev cheered.
You laughed, "Thanks guys, but I don't think I can even carry this, let alone eat all this."
"That's where the team part comes in," Kuroo winked, "teams are meant to share with each other!"
"Cheap bastards," you teased, seeing them stiffen up worried they had offended you. Once you couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing, everyone visibly relaxed and began opening up and passing around the snacks.
You participated in stuffing your mouth full with the rest of the team, inhaling the cupcake.
"Oh yeah, y/n, why do you have Kuroo's jacket on?" Lev asked.
You looked down at the jacket that overwhelmed your frame, forgetting that you even had it on.
Yaku attempted to give a noogie to Kuroo, which failed at their height difference, "You scheming bastard, not even a day and you're already putting the moves on our new manager?"
"Yeah!", Yamamoto chimed in, "Give me- I mean the rest of us a chance!"
You and Kenma snickered at the sight of Kuroo getting ganged up on by his own teammates.
"Hold on", Kuroo said with his palms up mock-surrendering, "y/n spilled something on her shirt and I gave her my jacket like the gentleman I am."
Yaku and Yamamoto looked skeptically at Kuroo.
"Hey, what kind of guy do you think I am?!" Kuroo exclaimed.
"The sketchy kind, of course," Yaku grumbled.
The weather still hadn't gotten that cold yet, but there was a breeze as the sun had already set. Noticing that Kuroo was just in his black t-shirt, you began to unzip his jacket.
"Thanks again Rooster-boy, here's your jacket."
Kuroo shook his head, "Keep it on, you need it more than me, give it back to me another time."
He placed his hands over yours, forcing you to zip the jacket back up. You prayed he couldn't feel how fast your heart was beating in your chest.
"It's getting late guys, I'm sure y/n needs to head home too," Yaku commented.
"Ok mom," Lev grumbled, "Ouch!" responding to Yaku shoving him in retaliation.
"Which way do you live y/n?" Kenma asked.
You told them your address.
"I'll walk back with you, I'm going the same way," Kuroo said.
Kenma glanced at his friend curiously, knowing very well that he and Kuroo lived a different direction from you, but figured he would keep his mouth shut as it would be safer for you to not walk home alone.
You said your goodbyes and everyone headed their own way home. There was an awkward silence between you and Kuroo as you both began to walk home.
You glanced at his face, noticing that he had been staring at you too, you both quickly turned away.
"You really need to catch up on your beauty sleep Kuroo, you're starting to look more like a raccoon than a rooster," you teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
He chuckled, "Thanks for your... concern? There's been a lot lately since we've got to get to Nationals."
"Why do you push yourself so hard? Coach told me about the 'battle at the garbage dump', is it that?"
"I guess so. Coach and volleyball has helped me out so much throughout the years. I want to make his dream a reality before I graduate. We really have a shot this year, the baby crows are pretty good and we got a good group of kids this year!"
Kuroo sneaked another glance at you, "plus we got this new manager, she can be clumsy at times, but her work ethic and drive really helps motivate the team."
You looked at him, surprised but also touched at his words. Flashing a small smile, "For a scheming captain, you're actually pretty cool sometimes."
He rolled his eyes at you as the both of you reached your house. You took his jacket off, immediately missing his piney scent that enveloped you throughout the day.
"Thanks for the jacket, but I don't think Kenma would let me live it down if I let his childhood friend freeze to death," recalling your previous conversation.
"Ha ha, how do I know that isn't exactly what you and Kenma planned," Kuroo responded sarcastically, slipping his jacket back on. He missed seeing you wearing it already, but he'd settle for your slight sweet scent that lingered on the collar.
The two of you stood awkwardly in front of your door, reluctant to leave. "Goodnight Kuroo. Thanks again for everything."
He smiled and turned to leave, "Goodnight y/n, I should thank you for agreeing to be our manager and making poor Tora's dream come true."
You snickered thinking back to Yamamoto passing out twice and headed inside after giving a final wave to Kuroo.
After that day, Kuroo would walk you home whenever practice ended late and you would find out much later that Kuroo actually did not live in your direction.