M.J. Watts

Detroit: Become Human

The Rebellion Report

Abomination (Connor x fem!oc): Living in Detroit, the capital of androids, constantly reminds Natalie Tyler of the accident that changed her life for the worst. After deciding to venture outside of her apartment after three years, her world is overturned. Once androids start to peacefully protest for their rights, she is asked to work with an RK800 prototype android that goes by the name Connor.

Revolution: With the possibility of androids seemingly growing consciousnesses, there is no doubt that Natalie Tyler would be intrigued. After only a few days, she’s torn apart and forced to choose a side, android or human, to ensure her survival through these trying times. Yet there is no guarantee that she will live through this revolt.

Ocs:

Natale Tyler

Haikyuu!!

The Redemption Games

Red Herring: Shōyō Hinata loves volleyball! There is no doubt that all he really thinks about is volleyball. His sister, however, isn’t the same way. Sakura is ready to start her first year of high school at Karasuno with her twin brother and doesn’t really want to do anything, unlike Shōyō. Though she can’t help it when she gets dragged into the antics of the volleyball club.

Spread Your Wings: So this is a collection of one-shots and stuff that have to do with Red Herring. There are cannon and non-cannon stuff in here, I’ll probably differentiate between which is which at the beginning of the chapters. There’s also AU stuff in here and I may even take requested scenarios!

Ocs:

Hinata Sakura

Endo Joji

Shimada Emi

Sato Hitoshi

Mori Aiko

Wada Katski

Ito Miki

Yokoyama Nobu

Harry Potter

The Animagus Chronicles

Foxy:  Beauxbaton’s biggest prankster has finally been expelled from the French boarding school. Having limited choices, Iris Evans is sent to join her sister at Hogwarts. As she adjusts to the new scenery, Lily’s twin makes new friends with a different array of people. Though there was no doubt that she would become friends with the Marauders.

Ups and Downs:  Iris’ first year at Hogwarts has finally come to an end. After the chaos that ensued during her fifth year, she’s ready to graduate in two years. As her relationship with Sirius picks up traction and she makes new friends, Iris wants to enjoy her time before she’s forced into adulthood.

Ocs:

Iris Evans

Wendy Hunt

Quinn Adams

Samantha Pratt

Oscar Reynolds

Derek Higgs

Matilda Brun

Ida Leblanc

Marvel

The Revival Universe

An Uncertain Future: Delphia Odinsdottir is the Goddess of Virtue. While stopping petty fights between her brothers, sparing with her friends, and practicing with her mother, Delphia has visions of the future. However, her once boring, uneventful life as Princess is disrupted by one of the most disturbing visions she had ever seen. Which leads her to run into a patriotic captain in red, white and blue.

A Change of Heart: Tony Stark is the egotistical and arrogant CEO of Stark Industries. The man who makes sure that his big brother doesn’t always make a mess is William Stark. He’s not eccentric like Tony, but he’s smart and willing to help when he finds out about Tony’s escapades as the newest superhero: Iron Man. Trouble ensues. One thing is for sure; brothers always stick together. No matter what!

Ocs:

Delphia Odinsdottir

Dr. William (Bill) Stark

Stranger Things

[REWRITING] 

The Secret Saga

Secrets of the Forest: Sophie Hopper is the adopted daughter of Jim Hopper. She hides her traumatic past behind snarky remarks and a believable smirk. While being an outcast to the world, she lives day by day to the best of her ability. However, when things start to turn upside down, Sophie is hurtled back into the life she thought she escaped.

Ocs:

Sophie Hopper

The Mute Quest

Sealed Lips: There was nothing extraordinary about Bonnie Ward. A typical teenage girl who never says all that much and doesn’t have too many friends. Hawkins never felt all the strange or special to her, but her opinion changes after being dragged into the horrors that hide in the forests. Interdimensional monsters and psychic people are not what Bonnie would have ever imagined showing up in Hawkins!

Ocs:

Bonnie Ward

Samuel Ward

Savannah Ward

David Ward 

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

The Shadow Tales

The Quiet Life of a Living Shadow: Being a psychic is not an ideal life, at least for Saiki Kusuo. Didn’t you read/watch The Disastrous Life of Saiki K to know that? Still, this isn’t about him, not really. Instead, let’s focus on his one and only friend, Akari Watanabe, who is also quite abnormal. You might not believe that Saiki would actually have a friend, but that’s what fanfictions are about, right?

Ocs:

Watanabe Akari

Watanabe Rikuto

Watanabe Miku

Watanabe Yamato

Umbrella Academy

The Academic Comics

Supersonic: Born on October 1, 1989, Number Eight grew up with a strange power much like the other 43 children. After being adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Jemma grows up with six other siblings with peculiar powers just like her and lived a not so happy childhood. Now in 2019, Reginald is found dead, the once missing Number Five reappears after 17 years, and, oh yeah, the world is ending.

Ocs:

Sakura shook her head, “How childish is he?” She asked no one in particular about Bokuto. “Throwing a tantrum like a toddler.”

Though surprisingly Karasuno had gotten a point back, thanks to another one of Bokuto’s blunders. He hadn’t dived for the ball which meant that the score was now 23-23. Ukai then called for a timeout. A moment to give the crows a quick rest and to stop the final push that Fukurodani needed for the win. As the managers plus Sakura handed out some water bottles to the boys, the coach turned to the benchwarmers, “Endo,” Ukai called out, motioning to the blonde boy.

Waltzing up to his coach, Endo smirked, “baby Ukai.”

Disregarding the nickname, Ukai just told him, “you’re getting subbed in.”

Endo blinked at him, dumbfounded, “huh?” It was literally one of the last points to be played. In Endo’s mind, the game was most likely going to be won by the owls. Why the coach would think that it would be a good idea to sub him in at a moment like this was a good idea was beyond Endo.

So he was subbed in for Nishinoya. A bit of a surprising development since Endo hasn’t been subbed in like this. Especially as something like a pinch server. Though he wasn’t going to give up the opportunity to show off. As Nishinoya bounced off the court and patted Endo on the back, Endo caught the ball and took a few deep breaths. Hopefully, all those extra serving practices with Asahi weren’t going to go to waste.

Taking one final deep breath he held the ball in his hand and focused. He wasn’t going to embarrass himself after just getting put into the game. So he backed up, threw the ball up in the air and jumped up to spike the ball. Much like with his usual spikes, reminiscent of Oikawa’s monster spikes, it was quite powerful. Not as pin-point accurate as the Great King’s spikes, but still difficult to stop. Since all Fukurodani could do was attempt to stop the ball, but it just bounced off of #3, Sarukui Yamato, arm.

For a moment, it was like anyone in the gym could hear a pin drop. Karasuno… was in the lead?! 24-23 was the new score, causing most of Karasuno to cheer. Endo smirked on his side of the court, “impressive, right?” That certainly had given his ego a boost, as if he needed anymore.

Fukurodani was quite impressed, since they hadn’t seen how he played. A killer serve like that was going to be difficult to deal with. Though why hadn’t he been put into the game sooner? If he had been a pinch server earlier in the game, maybe Karasuno could have won the game sooner.

So he was given a chance at another serve, causing Fukurodani to focus hard. After all, they were still technically down a player with Bokuto so they would have to make up for that space. Which is what Endo was focusing on. He was going to attempt to aim the spike right in the corner where Bokuto was standing. So just as before, everyone held their breath as Endo jumped up, hit his serve and watched as it flew over the net. As it was headed right for the uninterested and lost Bokuto, Akaashi jumped back from his spot to save the spike with a smirk. Endo’s brow twitched at that. Which meant that now that Fukurodani had control over the ball, they made quick work of getting a point. Unfortunately, Karasuno was not able to stop them from getting it. Making the score 24-24, a deuce. 

Only slightly dejected, Endo was subbed back out in favor of Nishinoya. “You did good!” The energetic libero called as he walked past Endo. He also got some pats on the back from the other bench-warmers, which he just smiled at.

Even if he was only on the court for a short while, literally just two rounds, Endo did feel pretty good about it. Endo earned his team a point, it felt.. almost rewarding. Sure he’s played games in the past, gotten plenty of points in the first two years on the team. Though this time it felt different. It was only a practice match, nothing too serious, and Endo didn’t feel like he really improved too much during this training camp, but it was something. This time felt like it meant more than the past two years. After all, this year felt different, like they were actually going to finals this year. Maybe he was hopeful about this year, ready to see his friends get the dream that they wanted. Or it was something else. Though he was enjoying the praise that he was getting from his teammates as he walked back over to the sideline. That definitely was a plus.

The score came to a head with it being 24-25 in Fukurodani’s favor. Though Akaashi had finally decided that it was time for their ace to get his head back into the game. Even though Tsukishima tried his best to read the setter, Akaashi sent a set right for Bokuto, giving them the win.

On the sidelines, all of Bokuto’s team cheered him on. He broke out into laughter at the praise as he shouted, “I’m the best after all! Hey! Hey! Hey!”

Yachi blinked at the shouting from Fukurodani, “he is quite a whirlwind.”

“That almost seems like an understatement,” Sakura deadpanned.

Though that made them all realize just what kind of team Fukurodani is. It’s not a one man show with the powerful ace at the helm. Bokuto was strong and loud, and annoying in Sakura’s opinion, he wasn’t as incharge as his arrogance may indicate. When he ended up depressed, his team was able to pick up the pieces and keep them in the game until their ace could get back into the groove. It worked somehow.

On the court, Asahi exclaimed, “I’m sorry! My last serve ended up being an ‘I freaked out, so please attack,’ serve!”

Endo chuckled, “we really should work on your nerves!”

“If you can figure that out on your own, you’re well off.” Ukai said as he walked over to the boys. “In that situation, how much one is going to get blamed will affect our ability to win. No one wants the game to end because of their mistake.”

Kageyama then commented to his partner, “He must be talking about you.”

Shōyō glared at him, “Shut up.”

“But there’s no one who tries to hold back a winning serve,” Ukai continued.

Asahi nodded, “Right!”

“Now that it’s over, that was definitely our loss, but there’s one thing that’s for sure… Your plays will be effective at a national level of competition.”

“Right now, your serves and combinations can’t match the other teams’.” Takeda stepped up for a little speech, “Because you started so late on them, it can’t be helped. But you mustn’t stop. You mustn’t think that this is the limit of your power. When you mix colors, they become muddled and dirty, right? But once you finish mixing you get the color black, which won’t be overtaken by any other. Please make our team’s color black, which fits us crows.” He finished strongly, before growing sheepish at a few of their questioning looks, “W-Was that metaphor a bit hard to understand?”

Daichi shook his head, “No! Thank you very much!”

“Thank you very much!” The other boys shouted as well.

“All right. This is gonna be our final training camp penalty…” Their captain said as they turned, “One lap of diving drills!”

“Right!”

“At least this time I feel like I deserve to be punished,” Endo grunted, “I got to play just a bit.” So he joined in the punishment, just like usual, though this time with a sense of acceptance. He was right. This time he did actually participate in the game that they lost, so this time he did deserve to join in on the punishment like the regulars. Though that didn’t make them hurt any less.

Sakura watched them all go with her arms crossed. The camp was finally coming to a close now that they finished their last match. As much as she was glad that the camp was over so she could go home, she also felt a bit glum. Only a little bit though. After all, she had planned on this being the last camp or trip that she joined the volleyball club on. She’s only the photographer and doesn’t need to tag along on these trips all the time. That and the main issue is that Sakura wants to separate from her brother. So it certainly is a bit of a melancholy feeling. However, change was good in this situation. Change could be difficult to deal with, but it was something that could only create something good for Sakura. Still didn’t mean that she didn’t feel a little bit sad about having to leave Shōyō’s side for longer points, but it’s an important part of her development.

So the boys started to wind down after the rest of the games finished. Some continued to practice, while others sat down for a bit to catch their breath. The likes of Shōyō, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama continued to hit some tosses since they never seem to run out of energy. Even Suga, Asahi and Endo joined in on practicing a bit more. Though even after they lost their last game, all of them were fired up, sans Tsukishima. They really had improved in little ways. Now all they had to do was prove themselves in the next tournament. Though there was one thing they had to do first.

---

There was quite a bit of excitement when everyone got outside. The grills were already hot as juicy meat sizzled on them. The managers were finishing cutting up some vegetables and setting up silverware for everyone as all the boys' mouths were watering while they waited. Sakura had been designated to help Yachi with setting out plates and helping with drinks. She had to keep Yachi from grabbing some of the food before they started.

All the coaches stood in front of the boys. Nekomata gave them all his signature smile as he said, “Thank you all for your hard work, it’s been a great training camp. And now you can fill your bellies as much as you want.” All the boys were zeroed in on the food waiting to be eaten with mouths drooling. “Let your muscles repair themselves to your heart's content.” After that, all the boys started diving into the juicy, juicy meat.

Sakura wasn’t exactly a meat person. She certainly could enjoy a good piece of meat, but she wasn’t going to be frothing at the mouth for any. Unlike her brother who looked to be ready to pounce on the grills. So after getting a rice ball from Kiyoko, Sakura had sat herself down off to the side. She honestly was fine with just watching those hooligans. Though there was no way that she was going to be left alone. Yua had walked on over, dragging a dejected Kenma with her as she skillfully held a mountain of food on two plates. Sakura just about questioned how she was able to handle holding that and dragging the pudding-head over, though she chalk that up to it being years of experience.

“Sitting alone, Hina?” Yua asked as she let go of Kenma, letting the poor boy sit down and play on his phone finally. “That won’t do!” It wasn’t like Yua was giving Sakura a choice, the duo were going to sit with her while they ate.

Sakura shook her head, but knew that Yua wasn’t going to leave her be. “I was waiting for Yachi.”

“Ahh,” Yua hummed while munching on a juicy chunk of meat, “Are you going to get some meat, Sakura?”

The orange-haired girl blinked at her, “Are you kidding, I’m not fighting those buffoons for food.” She said as she watched the boys start piling their plates full. Some of them were acting as if this was their last meal, fighting to grab as much meat as possible. Sakura grimaces in disgust, “They’re like a pack of wild animals.” Yua laughed since she was quite right.

“But you need food! Here, take this.” Yua shoved one of the plates of food into Sakura’s hands. “I was going to eat this all myself, but I can certainly share.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow but didn’t really complain. Though she did question how Yua thought she was going to eat two platefuls, piled high, of all this food. Though perhaps she could chalk it up to Yua being similar to the guys that way. It wasn’t like Sakura was super hungry since she hadn’t worked up an appetite like the boys, but she still needed something. Plus it’s been a while since she’s had something like a barbeque. So while Yua tried to share her other plate with Kenma, bribing him to at least have some corn or something, Sakura started quietly eating. It definitely was a good meal to have after this training camp. She wasn’t a player, and technically not a manager, so she didn’t really know how fulfilling it really felt to eat like this after the past week. To be fulfilled after making some improvements or evolution while the practice games must feel quite rewarding. She tried to imagine how her brother felt about this meal. He had worked hard the past month to get better so he could overcome the obstacles at the next tournament. She wished she could feel that type of fulfillment. 

“Looks like your friend  is in a bit of trouble.” Kenma commented, barely looking up from his phone, as they all turned to see the poor blonde surrounded by some of the boys. She was shaking like an anxious chihuahua as she stumbled through the grills. Eventually, it looked like Yachi was about to be jumped by a group of delinquents as the boys all surrounded her while she choked on some burnt meat. 

“Great.” Sakura sighed heavily as she stood up. 

As Yachi continued to quiver at the boys who were towering over her, who were just trying to help, Sakura walked over to her. “Come on Yachi.” She barely even gave the worried group around them any mind as she just grabbed her friend's arm and started to pull her away. Though Yachi was still in a state of shocked fear to really say anything. All she really did was babble a bit to herself as she was pulled away.

Yua laughed around her mouthful of food as she watched Sakura save her trembling friend. She did feel slightly bad for the blonde girl since she did seem super anxious. Even through the week, Yua noticed how Yachi was a bit unsure of herself when they did work as managers. So as she watched Sakura give her friend a bottle of water to help calm her down, Yua wondered just how Yachi was able to get anything done being that anxious about everything.

Though her wondering was put to the side as an overzealous puppy bounced over towards her. Bokuto greeted Yua excitedly, “Hey, Yua!”

“Boku!” Yua smiled, even more so when she saw Akashi following him, “and cousin!”

While she was distracted by the newcomers, Kenma used this as the opportunity to escape unnoticed by his overbearing friend. Though he just didn’t realize that while he tried to find refuge, Kuroo was going to find him and force him to try to get him to eat too. Kenma really couldn’t catch a break with his two friends around.

“Camp was super good this time, wasn’t it?” Bokuto asked as he plopped down beside her.

Yua smiled, “Yea, all these guys are great as usual.” She perked up, “Karasuno also is pretty good. Even if they lost most of their sets this week.” Yua lost count with how many penalty laps that they had to do. It made her cringe just thinking about how sore they must be after this week.

Akashi nodded his head and sat down to Yua’s left, “Karasuno has evolved a lot. They’ll be difficult to play against in a real match.”

“Well I can’t wait!” Bokuto exclaimed. After all, he’ll get to play against his pupil, Shōyō!

“It’ll be so sad though,” Yua whined, “I’ll have to wait to see Hina again, Karasuno’s photographer. Not unless I convince her to hang out on a weekend. Maybe using Kenma would be a good tactic, they get along well.” 

As Yua continued to mutter to herself about how to get Sakura to hang out, Bokuto perked up, “Oh yea, Hinata-chan! I know an old classmate of hers.” He then rubbed his chin, “Though she didn’t seem all that happy to know that.”

“Oh?” Yua’s curiosity peaked, “So maybe not a good classmate then.”

Bokuto just shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to ask her more, but Akashi wouldn’t let me.” He finished with a pout pointed at the other boy.

Said boy nodded his head, “you don’t have to go meddling in something that doesn’t involve you.”

“Come on, aren’t you curious!” Bokuto whipped around to Yua, “What is she like? You’re friends with her, right?”

Yua’s eyes brightened, “Mhm! We’re great friends! It took her a bit to warm up to us being friends, but I’ve whittled her down.” So the afternoon continued on with all the teams mingling and finishing up all the food. There certainly wasn’t any food left over after a while, which made clean up at least easy. Though eventually, it became time for teams to start packing up and head home.

---

By the time the sky had started to turn orange, Karasuno had finished packing up their things and were headed to the van. The training camp was now officially over. Bellies still full from their barbeque and satisfaction swirling in their minds, the boys lazily marched their way to their bus.

“I hate being the weakest one on the team but…” Shōyō started to say, “the fact that there’s so many people up above me is something that drives me to get better!” Though the boys around him just blinked at him in slight confusion. The outburst was sudden, but not super surprising coming from him.

Sakura shook her head at him, “That’s an optimistic way to look at it.”

Her brother jumped in place, “How else am I supposed to look at it?!”

“Hina!” A shout came barreling towards them. It was Yua who was sprinting over towards the departing team. With a grace in her step, the older girl jumped down the stairs with ease as she came skidding to a stop just before Sakura. She tackled the smaller girl in a hug, to Sakura’s dismay, and swung her around, “Oh I’ll miss you! We really should hang out! I’ll even get Kenma to come with!”

Sakura stared at her and blinked slowly. The eager expression on Yua’s face screamed not to say no. With purse lips, Sakura muttered out, “...sure.”

It took all of her being for Yua to not burst into tears of joy at Sakura’s (reluctant) agreement. She dropped the poor girl on the ground, nearly causing her to fall over if it wasn’t for Yamaguchi catching her before she fell. Yua started to do a victory dance, “Yes!”

From up above, Kuroo smirked at the group of crows as they descended their last staircase, “Well, see ya next time.”

Daichi nodded, “Yeah, see you next time.”

With that, the summer training camp was over.

---

Tomorrow was going to be the day. They’ll have their first games for the tournament. Spirits were high, and determination was swirling around just about everyone. Endo wouldn’t say that he was exactly determined to play, since he was certain that he wasn’t going to be put on the court. Not that he minded, of course. His friends deserved to be on the court more than him, so why would he want to. Even though he loves being the center of attention most days, he’s fine with being on the sidelines for these games. Especially since they are so important.

The team was all huddled together in front of their coach and advisor. “If we can win twice at the prelims tomorrow, we’ll go to the qualifiers in October to decide the representative team.” Takeda explained to the group, “The eight schools that make it through the first prelims will be joined by eight more powerhouse schools, and they’ll play the tournament that decides the representative team in October.”

“There are only two games in the first prelims?” Shōyō questioned.

Suga turned to him to explain, “We were able to make it into the top sixteen at the Inter-High, so we’re exempt from the first games.”

Shōyō’s eyes twinkled, “Wow! We’re awesome!”

“Of course we are!” Endo explained, “and we’ll win this tournament, easily!”

That seemed to hype everyone up even more as they started their practice with serves and receives to start off. Endo went with the flow of practice. He wasn’t nervous like the others were, though they would deny it, he was more than ready to watch the games that they’ll play. Yes, they will win their games tomorrow and make it to the finals. Endo is a cocky guy, full of himself in every aspect, but he can also be arrogant when it comes to his friends. They’ll do it, he just knows.

Throughout the practice, he joked around with his friends and only slacked off a little bit. Not as much as usual anyway. He still would get called out by Daichi and Ukai for it. Though he would just cheekily smile at them before continuing with practice.

“I’m not expecting to play these games,” he said to Asahi as they took a break from practicing their jump serves. He smiled widely at his best friend, “I’m just going to practice my cheering for you.” He started jumping up and down like he was a cheerleader, “let’s go Asahi! Asahi! Asahi!” Said boy started to blush at the enthusiastic cheers from him.

Later after practice had officially ended, darkness was starting to take over the sky. Sakura had been done with her own club for a while. Another meeting with the photography club going over the set up for the next gallery that’s happening in a few days. Of course, Sakura had finished submitting her collection of photos for the gallery. This time, she took quite a few, since she really couldn’t decide on which one was best. Plus, Shimada was more than happy to have a larger variety of photos to make their gallery larger. 

Sakura was surprised that they were doing the gallery during the summer break, since she was certain that it would be done on the last day of school before it started. However, Shimada explained that since they have only a few galleries every so often, they do one during the summer too. Ito blamed Shimada for that entirely, since she was convinced that the club didn’t used to do it like that. But Shimada somehow got it approved with her overzealous commitment to the gallery. Either way, it wasn’t like Sakura had that much of a problem with it. It at least gave her something to do besides all the volleyball stuff during the break.

She made her way towards the gym. A loud sigh left her lips as she walked up to the door. Knowing her brother, he would want to stay longer to practice. Which is exactly what she found when she entered the gym. All of the other boys were changing their shoes or already leaving the gym. However, her brother and the king was still dressed up, ready to keep practicing. 

“Imouto!” Shōyō exclaimed when he saw his sister. “Can you make some tosses to Kageyama for us!?”

Sakura just blinked at him, “No.” The two boys blanched. “I’m going home, make sure that you don’t practice too much, or you’ll be tired in the morning.”

“I don’t think that’s possible for simpletons like them,” a monotone voice said.

Sakura just glanced over at Tsukishima briefly before turning to leave, “I’ll see you at home.”

Shōyō jumped out of his stupor, as his sister had already started walking away. “Wait, you can’t go alone!”

She shrugged her shoulders, “you wanna keep practicing and I want to sleep, so I’ll go home.”

He puffed out his cheeks since he really, really wanted to keep practicing. Though making sure that she was alright to head on the trek back home is also important. How exactly was he going to get the best of both? A brilliant idea then hit his head.

“Oh!” He jumped over to a poor unsuspecting Yamaguchi, “Can you make sure that she gets home alright!?” 

Said boy jumped at the sudden shout, now finished putting his shoes on. “Uh- huh?”

“You can make sure that she makes it home safe!”

“Uh, well, I don’t really live close to you guys.” Yamaguchi said apologetically, deflating Shoyo instantly.

Tsukishima scoffed, “We live almost the complete opposite way.” Him and Yamaguchi live in the suburbs not too far, just a little bit of a walk. Not like the Hinata twins who’s home is in Yukigaoka, over the mountain, certainly much farther than them. 

Shōyō pouted, “but she can’t go alone!”

Sakura rolled her eyes, a bit fondly and somewhat annoyed. “Shō-nii no one has to walk me anywhere.”

“It’s dark out! Anything could happen to you on the ride home!” He was right to a certain extent. Anything could happen! She could get into an accident by herself, some delinquents could hassle her, aliens could abduct her for all he knows! 

She sighed deeply. Sakura does appreciate how her brother takes the title of “protective big brother” seriously when the time calls for it. She really wouldn’t have him any other way. Though she could handle the ride over on her own, that she was confident of. Besides, if something happened, she had her phone to message him or anyone else. Before she could continue to argue with him, Yamaguchi stepped in.

“It’s alright, Sakura, I don’t mind it.”

Sakura shook her head, “Tadashi-”

Yamaguchi just smiled down to her, “I don’t mind, really! We can walk you a little bit of the way.”

“‘We’?” Both Tsukishima and Sakura asked in confusion.

That’s how the trio ended up here. The street lights flickered overhead as the town was winding down. The summer heat was starting to simmer off now that the sun had gone, but there was still the feeling of humidity in the air. Walking alongside Yamaguchi and Tsukishima was not exactly what Sakura had wanted her night to end with. Not that Yamaguchi was the issue here. She still doesn’t get along with the blonde giant, even though they had that sort of heart to heart during the camp. 

After that, they didn’t talk all that much to each other besides the occasional snarky remark. Not that they really spoke to each other all that much before. Either way, it was still lessened and turned to stolen glances across the courts when they knew the other wasn’t looking. Neither of them were really sure what to think of the other now. There was still an underlying feeling of annoyance between the two but there was also something else. Not necessarily a full understanding but an inkling of a mutual agreement. One that read ‘don’t mess with each other all that much’. They didn’t respect each other enough to be friends, but they were no longer enemies. That was evident from the way that neither of them were glaring at each other from the corner of their eyes.

Yamaguchi was the only one of the trio who was contently walking along. Granted he did feel a bit of tension since he was between Sakura and Tsukki, but he did his best to disregard it. He’s known that his two friends were tense with each other ever since their first meeting. It was kind of hard to miss. He knew Tsukishima and figured that it wouldn’t really change. Tsukki wasn’t really one to make friends, he knows that from experience. However, if there was one thing he did know, it was that Sakura was on Tsukishima’s mind more often than he’d like to admit. He’s known Tsukishima long enough to at least somewhat understand him without words, and he knows that Sakura is something more than just a simple annoyance to Tsukishima.

To keep the peace for Yamaguchi’s sake, neither Tsukishima or Sakura wanted to speak. Just in case they accidentally pissed each other off. Though it was still awkward, with the silence around them as they exited the school gates. Sakura really kept her eyes forward or looking down at her bike every once in a while.

“You know,” she started, “you did really well during the camp, Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi blinked at being addressed but scratched the back of his neck. “Oh thanks, Sakura.”

“You were really cool. Your serve is getting so much better. The teams you play against won’t stand a chance against your float serve.”

Yamaguchi chuckled bashfully, “oh, I don’t know about that.”

It almost felt like Tsukishima wanted to roll his eyes. Small talk isn’t really his thing, and he did not want to engage in it. Besides, why didn't she want to say anything good about him? That annoyed him just a bit. Well, more than a bit, but he didn’t want to admit it. It’s not like he cared that Sakura was ignoring his presence during this walk. Though he shook his head and put his headphones on his head to drown out his own thoughts. He wasn’t bothered one bit. They might have had an unannounced truce with each other since the training camp, but it’s not like he wanted to be anything close to friends with her. Sakura, much like her brother, annoyed him to no end.

The trio turned the corner only a few blocks away from school before Sakura mounted her bike. “You guys can head back, I’ll tell Shōyō that you walked me further, just to appease him.” She could tell from how quiet Tsukishima was, he didn’t want to be here just like she didn’t. Being near him was unnerving in a way, giving her goosebumps that she did not appreciate at all. So she certainly wanted to just get home as soon as she could.

Yamaguchi blinked, “Oh, are you sure?”

“Yea,” she smirked lightly, “he’s definitely expecting you to walk me all the way towards the mountain, but that’s too far. I still appreciated you doing this.” She smiled at Yamaguchi who smiled back. Before she kicked off, she gave Tsukishima a glance, her brown eyes swirling under the night sky as she watched him. She said nothing else before pedaling away into the night.

Once Sakura disappeared from their sight, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima turned to head back. It was still quiet as the two headed back the way that they came. Crickets were starting to come out as they passed by the school gates once again.

“Sakura is pretty cool, huh?” Tsukishima didn’t acknowledge Yamaguchi’s words. “You know, she was the one to encourage me to chase you down that one night.”

Tsuskishima pursed his lips while glancing at Yamaguchi from the corner of his eyes. That information surprised him just a little. Well, only a little. The two of them have been friends for quite a while, so it’s not surprising that she would encourage Yamaguchi. The surprising part was that she encouraged Yamaguchi to talk to him. 

“She was even asking about you, about why you’re not that into volleyball like the others on the team.”

Tsukshima raised an eyebrow, “And what did you tell her?” He really hoped that he didn’t say much. After all, he didn’t need her knowing all about him.

“Um, well-” Tsukishima sighed out heavily in annoyance causing Yamaguchi to jump a bit. “I didn’t tell her much! She was just curious!” Yamaguchi calmed down, “Sakura is a lot like you, you know. She’s standoffish and distant most of the time, but she cares. Just like I know you do, deep down.”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said, irked at that.

There was a faint chuckle, “sorry, Tsukki.”

It didn’t matter what Sakura knew about him, Tsukshima thought. He didn’t want her approval or her worry. She didn’t need to know about his past or the betrayal he felt about his brother. What she thought did not concern him.

---

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The boys shouted back in reply, “Yeah!”

“We're gonna get this one!”

“Yeah!”

Fukurodani stood on the other side of the court, all of them looking pleased at the challenge the crows had set for them. So they set up for the start of the game with their normal line-up. Asahi served the ball over the net, a pretty strong serve, though it was received by Fukurodani’s brown-haired #11, Komi Haruki.

“It's a bit off!” Yachi jumped.

Those on the sideline watched as Akashi set up to Bokuto, who jumped up to spike, only for Tsukishima and Kageyama to block it. Though even if the block was strong, it was hit hard enough to fly out of bounds, a point for Fukurodani.

Endo whistled, “That Bokuto is hard to block, huh.” It was kind of hard to ignore such a loud guy like Bokuto, though Endo hadn’t spoken to him at all. If they were going to have to go up against some strong opponents when they made it to nationals, it was a good idea to get used to these monsters now. 

Though the game continued on, points won back and forth between Fukurodani and Karasuno. Surprisingly, the crows were keeping up with the owls. Though Bokuto really was a formidable opponent. He really is in the top five aces for a reason.

At one point, Shōyō even tricked the enemy with a feint attack! One that no one really saw coming, or thought that he would even think of doing. He certainly had Bokuto to thank for that, to the owls' chagrin.

Even with all the yelling on the court, to be honest, Sakura wasn’t paying too much attention to the game. Yes, she was watching the ball go back and forth over the net, but wasn’t really registering what was going on. Her eyes were just blankly following the ball in a repeated cycle, only pausing when a point was won. What was the score anyway? She wondered.

Though she supposed that she could attribute her inattention to the fact that her head was up in the clouds. Whether she liked it or not, one of the main things that she was focusing on was… Tsukishima. This camp has forced her to think more about him and his role on the team, to her annoyance. She had seen that he wasn’t putting his whole heart into the team a few days ago, and it had annoyed her a little. After all, if he wasn’t going to do his absolute best for the team, then Shōyō would have a harder time achieving his goal. Her talks with him, his attitude, Yua’s words, were swirling around her head. Wait? Yua’s words?

Sakura internally groaned. What Yua had been saying, insinuating about her and Tsukishima was infuriating on its own. She analyzed him a little bit, that was all. It wasn’t something like a crush or infatuation, that’s just stupid. Tsukishima gets under her skin, even if she tries to hide that fact from him. She knows all he wants to do is get a rise out of her any chance that he can get. Much like how she would like to get under his skin when he got on her nerves. That’s all it was.

Suddenly, the screams of her brother and Kageyama were what brought her out of her thoughts. She blinked owlishly at them as they cheered to themselves. Sakura leaned over to Yachi, “what did they do?”

“Did you not see it!?” The blonde girl shouted in Sakura’s face, “they hit it! They actually hit a really awesome quick attack.”

“Oh.” Sakura took a second to absorb that before smiling a bit, “about time they worked it out!” She looked over at the two idiots, a wave of relief washing over her. Whatever was stopping the freak duo from being freaky seemed to dissolve just a bit.

“You did it!” Yachi exclaimed across the court, gaining the duo's attention. She bounced around, even shaking Sakura’s shoulder in her excitement, “You did it! You did it! Nice kill, Hinata! Kageyama-kun!” Besides her, Sakura smiled at them and gave them a thumbs-up in support. Shōyō and Kageyama shared a brief look before raising their fists to the girls. That just made Yachi even more thrilled.

In the grand scheme of things, Sakura thought, they were starting to slowly put together the elements they needed to get far in a tournament. That was certainly a wonderful first step. So the game continued on, points won back and forth between teams and each of the boys getting more pumped up. Though even after that miraculous spike between Kageyama and Shoyo, they still hadn’t seemed to get it down 100%. They missed a few times, Sakura thought, it’ll get there eventually.

Karasuno continued to display the skills that they had started to develop at this camp. One being the libero set that Nishinoya was doing well with. Though it wasn’t perfect, there were clear signs of improvement. The synchronized attack also had some amazing potential. All the while, throughout the practice game, Sakura was helping Yachi understand some rules and plays throughout the game. It was certainly a relief to Yachi to know that Sakura was there to help her out when she needed it. 

Yachi glanced at Sakura. She blinked owlishly as she saw that she didn’t have her camera in her hands. It was bizarre not to see the camera glued to Sakura’s hand. Though it was just swaying back and forth around her neck, which seemed strange.

“Sakura, are you done taking pictures?”

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, “taking photos of the same game can get a bit repetitive. There aren’t too many things I could get right now that wouldn’t look the same as yesterday or anything else from the rest of this week.” She then muttered, a bit embarrassed, “plus I ran out of space on my SD card.”

Yachi blinked, “Oh, what are you going to do with the pictures you did take?”

“I’ll send a few to the yearbook after I touch them up a bit, they can pick and choose what they want to use.” She explained, “The rest will probably just sit on my SD card.” With how many SD cards she had, it would probably be a good idea to back them up somewhere, but she didn’t have a computer at the moment to do that. She’ll have to ask Shimada if she could use one of the club computers, since it’ll probably take a long time.

“Maybe you can make a portfolio with them.” Yachi suggested.

Sakura pursed her lips, “I thought about doing that a bit ago. I have tons of photos I was thinking of adding.” 

“Your photos are great! It’ll look good for school or work!” Though as Sakura thought of it, she’d have quite a lot of pictures to sort through… which would take a while.

Back with the game, the score was tied up, surprisingly. It was 18-18, and Karasuno was quite pumped about it. They were keeping up with such a power-house school like Fukurodani, and that’s a feat itself really. Even more plays were starting to flow easier with Karasuno as well. They tried a synchronized attack that worked very well. They were slowly but surely building a well oiled machine. That certainly worried Fukurodani a little bit. A time-out was then called.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Tanaka exclaimed, “We're actually neck-and-neck with Fukurodani at the last part of the game.”

Nishinoya smiled widely, “Yeah!”

Ukai gathered the team around, “That doesn't mean you should get too confident. The real battle begins now.”

“Right!” The boys all agreed.

Takeda stepped up, “It's true that we should be on our guard, but it's also true that all of the cogs you have created are now starting to fit together. Please continue to perfect them while you're playing this match.”

“Right!”

Ukai nodded his head, “Also, just as planned, you haven't been letting their ace spike too freely. Though there was that one ridiculous cut shot…” He sighed lightly, thinking back on that ridiculous play, “But that was because Tsukishima was able to put in one touch.”

Tsukishima blinked a bit at being praised, “Oh, right.” 

“If you can keep their #4 back, we just might be able to do this. Let's finish this!”

The boys all shouted, “Right!”

They played the next point, which ended up with Fukurodani getting it. Which meant that it was then Bokuto’s turn to serve. It seemed like he was getting tense and frustrated with how the game was going. The constant denial of spikes and being backed into a corner a bit had affected him. So when he served, the powerful hit went straight into the net instead of over it.

Sakura, now focused on the game again, blinked at such a mistake. “That’s interesting,” she mused as she watched Bokuto fall to his knees in despair. “He’s definitely a very emotional player.”

Yachi tilted her head at the comment, “Is that bad?”

“He’s really wearing his emotions out in the open.” Sakura explained, “He’s frustrated with how he keeps getting stopped by our defense. So he’s losing his cool a bit. Which means he’s more likely to make mistakes like missing a serve.”

Just as Sakura explained to Yachi, Bokuto was starting to lose his cool. Not only did he mess up his serve which let Karasuno tie up again with Fukurodani, but he also missed a spike. So now with a score of 20-19, Karasuno was in the lead. Which was thanks to Bokuto’s mess ups. Something that obviously made Bokuto depressed as he dramatically yelled, “Don’t toss to me anymore!”

Sakura shook her head, “why are so many of these volleyball idiots such drama queens?”

Though she didn’t expect much of an answer to that. It would be one of life’s greatest mysteries. Thanks to Bokuto’s mess ups, Karasuno was quite determined to try to win this practice match.

---

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So when it came time for their penalties, it was a no-brainer that Sakura would be taking photos of their pain. She is a sadist, there was no denying that. So while Yachi and Kiyoko prepared some water bottles for the boys, Sakura stared down the lens of her camera near them as she snapped photos of the team sprinting up the hill.

They screamed and panted as they ran up as fast as they could. She was able to capture snapshots of their pain and determination. Desperation was also sprinkled in their expressions as well, just a bit. Sakura took photos quickly, already telling herself to show these to them later to poke fun at them. 

As she was snapping pictures of the last few who were trudging up the hill, she noticed how Shōyō and Kageyama were keeping their distance from each other. Yachi had explained to her how the two boys still showed little to no sign of making up. Sure, they still practiced together, but their argument was still weighing heavy on them. Sakura hoped that it would get resolved eventually. 

While Sakura still didn’t necessarily like the King, she knew that him and Shōyō working together was important. She can’t see herself being friends with him, ever, but she at least was willing to be cordial with him for her brother’s sake. She and Kageyama had come to an understanding just before this camp to at least be nice to each other to a certain extent. They are the freak duo, they are the pair who could do some astonishing stuff on the court together. The two really needed to work out whatever it is that was bothering them in order to improve, in Sakura’s opinion.

The rest of the morning continued on with Karasuno playing against Nekoma. Sakura was pacing around the gym, not really having anything to do, and idly taking pictures where she saw something interesting. Meanwhile, Kageyama set a ball to Shōyō as he went up against Lev’s block. Though there was something different about the toss that Kageyama gave him. At least, from Shōyō’s point of view there was. He wasn’t able to hit it straight on, so instead had to feint the ball over Lev’s hands, which still got them the point. While the others congratulated them on the point, Shōyō looked annoyed as he spun to Kageyama.

“Hey!” Shōyō shouted, “You held back, didn’t you?!”

“Held… back?” Kageyama gave Shōyō a bone chilling stare, “Me? With volleyball? Say that again.” He grabbed the shorter boy’s shirt as they both glared at each other. Tension was certainly starting to rise as the two didn’t seem like they were going to back down.

Daichi walked over to them, “Hey, come on.”

“Excuse me. Can we get a time out?” Takeda asked, which was granted.

Shōyō huffed, “That wasn’t the falling toss.”

“Huh?” Yamaguhi blinked as he turned to his best friend, “It wasn’t?”

Tsukishima shrugged, “No idea. You probably need animal instincts to tell.”

Endo crossed his arms over his chest, “I think only freaks like them would be able to tell.”

“Don’t stop it, Kageyama!” Shōyō shouted as he was held back by Tanaka. It looked like Tanaka was hanging onto the scruff of a feral puppy who wanted to chase after Kageyama. If Endo had to be honest, it was quite funny.

Tanaka growled, “I said, ‘gather round’.”

From across the court, pausing in steps, Sakura watched the interaction with furrowed eyebrows. She honestly didn’t know what to think about what was going on with them. Probably something only they would understand, she thought to herself.

---

Overall, by the end of the day, Karasuno still had to do plenty of penalty laps. They were making mistakes, though everyone could tell that there was some sort of improvement with just about everyone on the team. Though the biggest concern at the moment was the freak duo. Their outburst on the court had caused a few questions to rise, especially with Ukai, who wondered why Shōyō would be upset about Kageyama trying to do that toss. It was just another hurdle that they would have to get around.

“I’m so done today,” Endo dramatically yawned as he stretched his sore arms, “my arms feel like jelly.” He’s used to working out plenty, but this was just torture.

Daichi nodded his head as he watched his friend grab his water bottle, “Don’t overwork yourself, Endo. If you want you can-” He didn’t even get to finish as Endo just started marching out of the gym.

Endo waved over his shoulder, “You don’t even have to finish, I’m already going!”

Asahi chuckled at the quick escape that his best friend was trying to make. “I suppose I’ll head out early too.”

So the boys all said their ‘see you laters’ and ‘good jobs’ as Asahi and Endo headed out together. As the pair started to leisurely walk back towards their dorm, Endo sighed, “Those guys are crazy about practicing so much. It makes me exhausted just thinking about it.”

“Most practice makes you exhausted,” Asahi chuckled lightly.

“Still.” He shrugged, “They’re definitely crazy for practicing night and day. They’re monsters.”

“Practice has been going well though.”

Endo groaned, “If by well you mean penalty after penalty after penalty. I swear my lungs are going to die if we have to do another dozen penalties.” He let out a long sigh, “Though things are going well, I suppose.

Asahi cringed in agreement, “Those definitely aren’t fun, yeah. Though I can see it, we’re all getting better!”

As the two talked, they continued their walk to the dorms where they would take a quick bath before heading to bed. A nice warm bath certainly sounded like a perfect idea in Endo’s mind. Since it would help with his sore muscles. Though only a few more days, and their training would be over, that was something to look forward to.

“Well, I suppose you are.” Endo arrogantly ran a hand through his blonde hair, “Of course, I don’t need to improve, I’m just perfect as is.”

Asahi laughed, “Yeah. Whatever you say, Joji. Though Daichi would say that you should work on your dives and spikes.”

He earned a raspberry in reply, “he would complain about anything. ‘There’s always room for improvement,’ he would say.” Endo smirked, “Your spikes are getting so much better though.” 

“Thanks.” Asahi hummed as he finished changing. He turned to watch as Endo pulled off his own shirt to change into something comfier. As he did, his mind wandered. If things did keep going the way that they were, there was a bigger chance that they would actually have a chance at going to nationals. Of course, Asahi has faith in all of his friends, he didn’t doubt that they would all try their best. Though he wondered about Endo. Yes, he knew that Endo had declared he would help them get to nationals and didn’t really have his whole heart into winning since it didn’t totally matter to him. However, Asahi knows that to help him, Endo would put his all into it. Not only that, but Asahi knows that Endo wants to prove his family, mostly his father, that he was dedicated to volleyball to a certain extent. 

It was difficult to understand, Asahi knew. Endo is a rich boy who could have everything and anything he wanted. However, Asahi knows that even if Endo was a bit materialistic, he values relationships above everything. Not having that relationship with his father hurt him, that was pretty clear to Asahi. Hopefully, when they go to nationals (because it was when, not if) then it could help Endo with improving their relationship. Asahi doesn’t know every detail, but Endo has told him plenty about his father. He’s never met Hideaki Endo, though he’s heard enough through Endo to know that he doesn’t particularly like how he treats his son. So Asahi knew that Endo wasn’t going to win for himself, not really. He was going to win for his friends and to prove his worth to his father. All the while, Asahi knows that he’s going to help Endo just as much as he was going to help Asahi.

“Distracted by my handsome face are you?”

Asahi blinked at the striking blue eyes that were now staring back at him. He really didn’t realize that he had been staring at Endo the entire time he was thinking. He jumped, “Wh-What?!”

Endo smirked while sliding over to his friend, “You’re staring a bit hard. What are you thinking about?”

He gave out a nervous laugh at the sudden close proximity, “I was thinking about how amazing it would be for both of us to go to nationals.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Very exciting.” There was a spark in his eye that was lit, which Asahi noticed. It had a sort of determination and spitefulness in it that caused chills to race up and down Asahi’s spine. Endo’s smirk widened even further, “Can’t wait to shove our win in my father’s face. I can already imagine the look on his face. He’ll have to congratulate me for it.”

After getting over the tingle that ran through his body, Asahi realized he liked that look on Endo’s face. More specifically, he liked determination. In Asahi’s mind, it just made Endo look… well, like Endo. He smiled, “We’ll be ready for it then.”

---

Thankfully, Sakura had been able to get a good night's rest the night before. She had evaded anyone she deemed annoying and stuck to Kiyoko and Yachi to help with anything they needed. Sakura was lucky to escape to their room for some early sleep since she knew that there were a few volleyball idiots who were probably searching for her last night. Not only that, but the next morning she got to eat her breakfast with relative ease.

That morning, watching Karasuno continue to lose set after set was slowly becoming boring to her. While she knew that there were a lot of learning curves for the team as a whole, she would have thought that they would get lucky to win at least one or two sets. Though here she was, watching as the crows marched out of the gym for another sprint up the hill.

They are making progress, Sakura thought to herself, though when will their individual progress start to fall in line as a team, I wonder. 

It’s great to see them all get better at receives, spikes, and blocks, but their combos were what was going to make or break them as a team. They needed to get their synchronized attack down, Nishinoya had to perfect his serve as a libero, and the freak duo had to get their quick down pat. As soon as they started putting their plays together, they would become a well oiled machine, in Sakura’s mind.

She watched them still lose their games but slowly but surely start catching up in points. The gaps were starting to get narrow. That could only mean something good, in her mind. After all, she’s been wanting to look on the positive side at this camp. Sakura can still be pessimistic about their abilities at the moment, but she can still say that they are improving.

Letting out a sigh, Sakura exited the gym after all the boys broke off into groups for their own little practice sessions. She started to walk along the walkway, towards the cafeteria when she could feel a presence looming over her. It almost made a sense of dread run down her spine. Though the sweet voice that hummed over her just caused annoyance to take its place instead.

“Hina-chan,” Yua slid in front of the shorter girl with a large smile. 

Sakura stared at her blankly before walking around her, “I don’t want to be dragged to the gym.”

“Awww, but it would have been so fun.” Yua pouted as she followed after Sakura like a lost cat. “You can be such a spoil-sport sometimes you know.”

“I just don’t want to be in a gym when I could be sleeping or studying.”

Yua shook her head. How someone could just sit around studying a whole bunch, even while at a training camp like this, baffles her. Though she just continued to bounce alongside Sakura. “Oh! I have an idea,” she said, “let’s hang out. We can get to know each other better!”

Sakura sulked, “I would rather be alone…”

“Man, you and Kenma really are similar.” Yua thought out loud, “Though come on, we can hang out for the rest of the night. Maybe grab dinner together and then head to the dorms. Besides, that’s where you were going anyway, right?”

Well, Yua had her there. Sakura was going to go back to the cafeteria for a quick bite, have a bath, study a bit, then head to bed. So it wasn’t like Sakura could really escape Yua at this point. Especially when said girl was now skipping happily besides her as they headed to the same place. Throughout their walk Yua just hummed to herself, not saying anything else, which Sakura was grateful for.

The two girls headed into the cafeteria where a few other people were already eating their own dinners. Sakura grabbed her meal and sat down, with Yua following right behind her. The orange-haired girl’s narrowed eyes drifted over to Yua every once in a while as they munched on their food. She found it a bit suspicious that the older girl was up to something. After all, ever since Sakura has met her, Yua has never really been this quiet.

“I can feel you looking at me,” Yua hummed, which caused Sakura to jump just slightly. “And I already know what you’re thinking about!”

Sakura just pursed her lips, “I doubt it.”

“You must be wondering just how I’m able to be this quiet for this long.” It brought Yua a bit of satisfaction to see that Sakura was a bit baffled that she did know what she was thinking about. Yua proudly puffed her chest, “Some would say it’s a miracle. Though I would say it’s years of practice.”

Sakura turned back down to her rice, “Well, I’m glad to see that you have some self control then.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” Yua said with a sweet smile, “Though I gotta say, you really are a lot like Kenma. Quite reserved, a bit harsh, but still a softie at heart.”

Perhaps that’s another reason why Yua wanted to get to know her more. After all, she and Kuroo had done pretty well with bringing Kenma out of his shell, so Yua was going to do the same for Sakura. First thing first was to get to know that girl after all. All Yua knew about Sakura was that she had a twin brother, they both went to Karasuno and that Sakura has an interest in photography. So now she had to learn more!

Sakura deadpanned, “Okay.”

“Which is why I’m going to force you to be my friend!” Yua said with a large smile, one that was starting to disturb Sakura a little bit. “It worked out with Kenma, so I have no doubt it’ll work the same with you.”

The younger girl stared at Yua for a second with a cringe, “I don’t really respond well to people forcing me to do anything, you know.”

“Well, now I know a little bit more about you. Besides, we should learn more about each other! To be friends we should know things like our likes, our dislikes,” Yua then bent down and whispered, “our crushes.”

Sakura’s eye twitched, “Not this again. I don’t have a crush on anyone. Let alone be infatuated with someone as despicable as Tsukishima.” Why Yua had suddenly gotten that idea in her head, Sakura would never know. Then again, she doubted she’d understand anything that Yua thinks.

Yua smirked as if she had just figured something out. “I didn’t say his name.”

Sakura just blankly stared at her like she was an idiot. “But I know you were talking about him since you were annoying me about it yesterday.”

“Oh, right.” The older girl blinked, “Still, I think that you two will work well together. Eventually. Trust me, I’m a bit of a love guru.” Yua cleared her throat, “Anyway, I suppose you should get to know me too!” “I’m a second-year, obviously you knew that, and I’ve been the Nekoma manager since the start of this year. Kenma and Kuroo are my best friends. I’ve played a whole lot of sports, I just love being athletic. Oh! I also love coffee. Any kind of coffee is my kind of coffee!” Sakura blinked at all the information that was suddenly dropped on her. Yua smiled at Sakura, “Do you like coffee? You seem like a coffee type of person. Probably black coffee.”

The other girl shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t usually drink it.”

“Ah, well, if you ever want to go to Tokyo, I can take you to this little cafe! Honestly, their coffee is some of the best in the whole world!”

So the two continued to chat a bit. Yua tried to engage Sakura as much as she could learn what she could. She found that Sakura was a bit easier to get to talk to once they started going. As much as Yua loves Kenma, she knew that it could be like pulling teeth with getting him to talk. So perhaps that was one difference between them, which she appreciated a lot.

As they continued to talk as they finished up their dinner, walking back to the dorms and getting ready for bed. They strayed from topics like their favorite colors to who they found the most annoying at camp, or what their schools were like to their hobbies. Overall, Sakura was slowly, very slowly, finding Yua not as annoying as she was before. Yes, Yua talked a lot and was being a bit invasive when trying to learn about her, but Sakura knew how to keep her answers brief.

The rest of the night, basically up until the girls fell asleep, Yua did everything she could to learn as much as possible about Sakura. By the time the other managers trickled in to also go to sleep, they were dragged in the questioning as well. It was safe to say that by the end of the night when the girls grew too tired to talk, Sakura had gained a few more friends. Something that she didn’t mind all that much.

---

It was the last day of the training camp. There was an air of satisfaction and exhaustion all around the dorms. Most of the boys were satisfied with all that they had learned while playing in this camp, but they were just as tired. In the girl’s dorm room, the Karasuno managers and photographer were gathering their things and packing them away. 

“I'm sure you must be pretty tired, Hitoka-chan.” The beautiful manager said, “Are you okay?”

Yachi blinked at her senpai’s question, “Yes! I'm sorry!”

“Today's the last day, so let's do our best.” Kiyoko said with a soft smile.

Yachi nodded her head, “Right!”

“Come on, let’s get some breakfast.” Sakura commented, “we’ll need our energy to deal with the boys.”

So the two girls left Kiyoko and headed out of their room. They made idle chat about their time at the camp while heading downstairs. Yachi’s experience was a bit nerve wracking with the responsibilities that she had been helping Kiyoko with. Sakura was content with how everything went at this camp. After all, she made up with her brother and came to an understanding about what she wanted to do after this. Plus she got some good pictures of most of the boys at the camp.

“Morning, Hinata-kun!” Yachi exclaimed as they descended the last flight of stairs.

The ball of sunshine smiled at the sight of the two girls, “Ah, Yachi-san, imouto. Morning! Man, I'm starving!”

“You are always hungry,” Sakura commented.

“Oh, yeah… You sure are full of energy this morning.” Yachi said, “You were up practicing late, too, weren't you, Hinata?”

Shōyō sheepishly scratched the back of his head, “Yeah, but I just woke up.”

Sakura sighed, “I told you not to be out too late.” If it weren’t for her, Sakura knows that her brother would be staying up late just about every night. Then he would end up having a horrible time trying to wake up. That was something she always tried to avoid with him. Since she was quite a terror in the morning already. 

“Sorry.”

“How are things shaping up?” Yachi asked.

Shōyō’s eyes sparked, “I'm practicing something super awesome right now, so look forward to it!”

“‘Super awesome’...” The tall blonde giant snickered as he passed the trio.

“What the heck, Tsukishima?!” Shōyō scowled at his fellow middle blocker.

“Nothing.”

As he continued to walk passed, Tsukishima couldn’t help but glance at Sakura a little bit longer than he would like to admit. He had surprisingly instantly noticed when she hadn’t been at the gym last night. Since he had a feeling that the others had as much a fascination about her the same way that they did with him. So Tsukishima had thought that she would have been dragged to the gym just as she had been before. Though he hadn’t seen her there at all. It wasn’t like he cared or anything, it was just a little something that he noticed. Her words had stuck with him a bit from the other day. How she described his spot on the team and even complimented him a little. Tsukishima really wasn’t sure what to think about it. While he would brush off whatever people had to say about him on the team, Sakura’s words and insinuation were ringing in the back of his head.

“Hey! Someone wake Yamaguchi up!” Tanaka shouted, knowing that the poor boy was still snoring in their dorm room. His shout broke Tsukishima from his thoughts as he realized that he and Sakura had been staring at each other for sometime. So he just shook his head and continued to walk towards breakfast.

---

Games were in full swing by mid day. All the boys were tired as they played their games. It was a significantly hot day out today, a bit of a disadvantage for the athletes. Since running around in this heat was annoying. Off to the side, Nekoma regrouped as they took a water break between their games. Obviously, they had won their game a little bit before, so they thankfully didn’t have to do any penalties. 

“Hmm…” Yaku hummed in dissatisfaction, “We can't seem to win against Fukurodani much.”

Yua showed the group of boys her clipboard, “I’ve got the stats from the camp, of course Fukurodani is on top.” She kept track of how many wins and losses each team had. So it was no surprise to see that a powerhouse school with one of the top aces was dominating the camp.

“As we thought, looks like Fukurodani's at the top right now.” Yaku sighed heavily as the whistle to another game blew, “Looks like Ubugawa and Karasuno finished.”

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see that the crows were the ones to loose. It would be more of a surprise to see that they won! Though the score was 25-23, a pretty close gap. Karasuno’s captain shouted, “One round of diving receives!” Which they all started doing like diligent soldiers.

“They have a strange dignity around them when they take their penalties.” Kuroo said as

Kenma watched them, just watching their penalties was making him tired. “Including the last away games, they've done more penalties than any other team. I definitely couldn't do it.”

“Whoa! Karasuno's Shrimpy's gotten really good at diving receives!” Yaku exclaimed as they watched Shōyō dive. Which was true. Ever since the first penalty, the little ball of sunshine was starting to get better at diving correctly on the gym floor. One would probably get better if they had to do the same thing over and over and over.

“‘Shrimpy’?” Lev started with a light chuckle, “Yaku-san, you're not much taller than Hinata.”

A shadow covered Yaku’s eyes as he turned to the tall boy. “Lev, stand over there!” He shouted as he kicked Lev in the back quite hard. The poor first-year shouted in pain as he was knocked down by the smaller boy.

Besides them, their teammates just shook their heads at the display. Kuroo sighed, “There was no saving him from that. Lev!”

“I told him not to mention Yaku-san's height… That fool.” Yamamoto said while shaking his head.

Though besides them, Yua just laughed, “Man, I love seeing how feisty our little guy is!”

“You’ll be next, Yua!” Yaku shouted at her with a menacing finger pointed in her direction as he stood over a whimpering Lev.

Huffing and puffing, the Karasuno team all sat down on the hardwood floors as they collected their breath. After having to go through another difficult game and yet another round of penalties was taking a toll. Especially on Endo. He certainly is quite fit and athletic, but even he has his limits. Ukai had been subbing him into the game even more and more so he was really starting to sweat through these games. He supposed it made sense. He couldn’t just be a bench warmer with no skill, he needed a little bit of skill in case he did get subbed in an actual game.

“Damn it.” Tanaka groaned, “We basically kept losing all the way to the end.”

Endo was laying flat on his back with his chest pumping quickly, “I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Daichi stood in front of his panting team with a determined expression, “You guys need to keep doing your best and survive.” They all looked at him in confusion, “I just happened to hear this, and I was going to keep it quiet…”

“Wh-What is it?!” Tanaka exclaimed, hanging off of Daichi’s every word.

“When all of these practice matches are over…” He paused dramatically, “Apparently, the coaches are going to treat us to a barbecue.”

Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Shōyō were in shock as they processed that news. Their eyes dilated at the thought of some delicious food like that. The image of some succulent meat was now at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

“Bar…”

“...be…”

“...cue?!” The three of them plus Kageyama then broke out into a dance, with watering mouths. 

“Meaty meat, meat, meaty meat!” Tanaka sang.

Shōyō continued with the melody, “Put 'em together, you get meat and meat!”

“Meaty meat, meat!” Nishinoya belted.

“Hooray for meat! Energy times a hundred!” The three harmonized, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Meat is god! Meat is god!”

Sakura watched them dance around with a raised eyebrow. She thought to herself, they really are a weird group. Though she did smile a little bit at the wackiness of the boys. Let it be known that Sakura did find the boys annoying at times, but they were entertaining all the same.

Sakura walked over to her brother and handed him a water bottle. “You guys are doing pretty good today.”

Shōyō smiled at his sister, “Thanks!”

Standing up from his seated spot against the wall, Tsukishima sneered, “I'll be looking forward to that super awesome thing.”

Shōyō bristled, “Just watch, you jerk!” He and his sister gave Tsukishima matching glares as he lumbered off to find Yamaguchi, no doubt.

“But… I really want to see that new quick soon,” Yachi confessed as she stood beside Sakura.

“Me, too.”

Yachi blinked, “Huh?”

Shōyō then jumped up to his feet as he waltzed over towards his setter, “Kageyama! I want to hurry up and hit that falling toss!”

He stared at his duo for a long moment. A tension appeared in his shoulders for a quick moment before it dissipated, “Don't rush. As long as I'm missing the tosses, it won't be any practice for you.” Yachi gaped at his words since she remembered what he had said during one of their arguments. She turned to Sakura with her wide eyes as the orange-haired girl was just as surprised, though not as outwardly expressive.

“I was thinking this yesterday, too, but you're really creepy when you worry about others.” Shōyō said, “I get it, but hurry up and give me tosses! I want to hit them!”

Kageyama’s eyebrow twitched, “That's why I'm practicing so hard, you dumbass!” He then tossed Shōyō like he was a ragdoll across the court.

Getting back to his feet, Shōyō shouted at Kageyama, “How long are you going to make me wait?” Though he didn’t earn much of a reply from the setter, since the gloomy king just glared.

Sakura watched the interaction, a bit of tension leaving her body that she barely even noticed was there. Had she really been worried about how her brother and Kageyama hadn’t really seen eye to eye with each other? She supposed so. Time and time again, she keeps having to remind herself that while she doesn’t necessarily enjoy Kageyama’s presence, he was an integral part of the team. The freak quick was important, and she was at least happy to see the two weren’t at each other’s throats. Or at least not at each other’s throats more than usual. This camp was really a time for issues to be resolved between everyone it seems.

The whistle blew as Karasuno gathered around their coach. Ukai started off, “Anyway, try to work the new things you've all been practicing into this match.”

“Right!” The boys shouted.

“Also, I say this every time, but put pressure on Fukurodani's #4 when he hits.”

“Yeah!”

Ukai smirked at them, “In the end, this training camp was filled with penalties, but you guys should definitely feel different now than you did in the first away games.” Each team member did improve in some way, Asahi’s spikes were stronger, their synchronized attack was pulling together, and Tsukishima’s blocks had become stronger, just to name a few improvements. Overall, every one of them had improved in one way or another, which excited them all. “Let's get an awesome win here and go eat some delicious meat!”

“Yeah!”

---

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Turning off the water at the bathroom sink, Yamaguchi stared himself down in the mirror, a determination shining in his own eyes at the thought of his best friend. He wasn’t going to let Tsukishima be lame while they’re here at this camp. Yamaguchi needed to remind his friend just how cool he was.

Leaving the bathroom, Yamaguchi rounded the corner to head back to the gym Karasuno was in only to run into Sakura. The orange-haired girl blinked up after almost running into Yamaguchi. He sheepishly smiled at her, “Sakura, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Tadashi,” she shook her head, “you gonna keep practicing with everyone?”

“Yea, I just needed a quick break.” 

“Ah, I’ve got to help Yachi with some final chores for the night, then I’m heading to bed.” Sakura yawned as the pair started to make their way back towards the gym.

In their quiet walk back, Yamaguchi was dwelling in his thoughts about Tsukishima. “Say, Sakura, have you noticed how… I-I don’t know how to say this.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Hm?”

Yamaguchi paused in his steps, causing Sakura to do the same. He nervously scratched the back of his neck as he said, “Tsukki seems to be even more withdrawn these last few days. Or not as involved in practices.”

Sakura just scoffed, “Isn’t he usually like that?”

“W-well, I guess most of the time. It’s just, even now he seems far more… distant.”

She pursed her lips, “Maybe I have noticed it. Seems like he’s been thinking about something a lot.”

Sakura didn’t really want to be talking about Tsukishima. He had been getting on her nerves a lot easier now and he seemed to be going out of his way more often to get under her skin. She had a feeling it had to do with the distance that she originally had placed between herself and Shoyo. So he saw a vulnerability in her and decided to attack. Why he always wanted to put her down was beyond her. Though miserable people tended to try and make others miserable with them.

Yamaguchi nodded his head, “I think he’s been thinking about why we play. After all, I’m pretty sure he sees this as just a club.”

“Well, it is.” She stated blandly, which didn’t help Yamaguchi’s argument. “This team is just a high school club. It’s not like your livelihoods are dependent on getting better at volleyball right now.” Then she shrugged her shoulders, “Though I see where you’re going with this. He certainly isn’t passionate like the others or as crazy about volleyball. Everyone here has a goal whether it’s to be number one, or to just improve. He doesn’t seem to have that drive.” Sakura sighed heavily through her nose, “You’ve known him longer than me, Tadashi. Has there ever been a time where he was excited about volleyball?”

Yamaguchi bit his lip, thinking back to when Tsukshima was in fact outwardly excited about the sport. He knew the reason why he had become disconnected from it, perhaps that was why he was so unenthused about all of this more than ever.

“He was. At one point, he was excited about volleyball.” He said, seeing a bit of surprise on Sakura’s face. “He didn’t used to be this mean.” Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, which caused him to cough, “well, he was a bit mean, but back then he at least was a bit more excited about playing.”

“What changed?”

Sakura was curious now. She really didn’t imagine Tsukishima actually being excited about anything, let alone volleyball. So hearing from Yamaguchi that there was a time where he was, was intriguing. The boy never expressed any emotions besides being rude or sadistic, as far as Sakura has seen. So hearing that there was a time when he wasn’t always like that was definitely going to peak her interest. Not to say that she found Tsukishima interesting… it was just different from what she’s normally known of him.

Yamaguchi sighed loudly, “He… I don’t think I should say. He was lied to when we were younger. Lied to by someone he looked up to and I think it shattered his idea about volleyball.” He remembered the moment that it seemed like Tsukishima’s world had fallen apart. Yamaguchi knew that while they were in junior high, Tsukishima idolized his older brother. The fact that his brother lied about his spot on Karasuno’s volleyball team for so long had destroyed his perception of the game. 

“If there is something bothering him, you should talk to him.” Sakura said, bringing him out of his thoughts, “You are the only one who would be able to get through to him, you know. You’re his best friend, Tadashi. He’ll have to listen to you.”

“But what do I say?” Yamaguchi asked her, almost desperately.

“Whatever you think will get through his thick head. I know you’ll find the right things to say.” She smiled up at him as she remembered their heart-to-heart a long while ago about her own love of photography. “You’re good at that.” 

At her words, a swell of determination filled Yamaguchi’s chest, “Right!” He then turned and ran off, looking for Tsukishima. He had quite a bit that he wanted to say to him now.

---

After parting ways with Yamaguchi, Sakura had headed back into the gym to make sure that Yachi didn’t have anything else that she needed help with. Sakura wasn’t going to leave her friend with a bunch of chores, she’d certainly feel too guilty. Though the blonde had said that she was all set. It seemed like Yachi was starting to really get a hang of her role as manager. Sakura could say that she was nearly a professional. So with nothing else to really do, Sakura decided it was time to head to bed. 

Well, that was the plan any way. 

“Oh, Hina~!” Sakura groaned as she saw the brown-haired menace skipping over towards her. Yua bounced over to the girl with a wide smile, “what are you up to?”

Sakura sighed, “I’m about to head to bed.”

“Boo, that’s no fun,” she blew a raspberry at her, “Why don’t you come with me back to the gym. The guys are practicing together again like yesterday. It would be cool if you came.”

Sakura scowled at her, “I don’t have a choice here do it?”

“Not at all!” Yua said brightly.

So that’s how Sakura found herself watching as the boys from Nekoma and Fukurodani practiced with each other in Gym #3. One of the biggest downsides was that Tsukishima also was there. She supposed that he came here after talking with Yamaguchi. Since Sakura is certain that Yamaguchi had tracked him down to lecture him or whatever. The freckled-boy definitely was on a mission to search for his friend when he left her. She didn’t doubt that he gave up so easily.

It also didn’t seem like Tsukishima was here on his own volition, from Sakura’s observations. These guys really like forcing us to do stuff, she thought to herself. Though she watched them all do some practice spikes and blocks with each other.  She noticed something.

While there was no intense fire or anything in Tsukishima’s expression, Sakura could just tell that something was different. His golden eyes were sharper and his blocks were growing stronger as he took in the advice that Kuroo gave him. To her, it seemed like whatever Yamaguchi had said to Tsukishima had done something to him. A passionate fire hadn’t been lit in Tsukishima, Sakura could tell, but the kindling was set. There just needed to be a spark of some kind. She certainly didn’t know what that spark would be or when it would be lit, but she hoped that it was soon. Not for Tsukishima’s sake, but for the sake of the team.

“You sure are staring hard,” Yua commented as she poked Sakura’s cheek, breaking her from her thoughts.

Said girl pushed her hand away, “don’t touch me.”

“Well, you weren’t paying attention when I was saying your name.” A sly smirk crawled across Yua’s lips, “you seemed to entranced by blondie over there.”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed at the smug expression, “I’m not entranced.”

Yua’s smirk had yet to fall, “Oh? So you weren’t staring unblinkingly at him for a while?” She shrugged sarcastically, “I suppose I saw wrong then.”

“Maybe you did,” Sakura growled.

There was a moment of peace as Yua dropped the subject, the two girls now focusing back on the drills the boys were going through. Though Yua really didn’t know when to shut her mouth.

“You can admit it, no need to be embarrassed.” Yua coyly commented as she sighed dreamily, “I remember my first crush. Ah, it’s so heartwarming to see such love blossoming.”

“What?!” Sakura exclaimed, “This has nothing to do with a crush! Especially on someone like Tsukishima!”

Yua laughed, “Deny all you want, I know what I saw!”

Scowling, Sakura got up from her spot against the wall and walked away from a laughing Yua. Why that crazy girl thought that Sakura had a crush was beyond her. Come one? Tsukishima!? Why did everyone think that?! First her own club teased her about Tsukishima just about every time she’s with them and now Yua was doing it too. It really was going to start getting on her nerves.

Pushing that out of her mind, Sakura watched as Tsukishima made another pretty decent block against Bokuto. Though now there was a different train of thought around Tsukishima that was starting to stew in her head. It infuriated her that Tsukishima was not thinking logically. Isn’t he supposed to be smart? She thought to herself. Now while she’s used to dealing with volleyball idiots and their logic being askew, this was really annoying her… For some reason. When there was a lull in play, Sakura stood up and walked towards Tsukshima as he took a sip from his water bottle.

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit.”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at her sudden words, “Huh?”

Sakura cringed lightly, seemingly regretting having said anything, but knew that there was no going back now. She sighed heavily, “I get it. You think that you’re outshined by Shōyō. In some ways, you might be. Though that doesn’t detract anything that you do on the court.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, “I don’t want to hear this.”

“I don’t care.” Sakura huffed, “Stay if you want, but I’m still going to say it.”

“Hn.”

She pursed her lips, taking a moment to find her words. She was more than aware of the piercing stare from the tall teen in front of her, though she cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. She started with saying, “Shōyō is a good middle blocker and he’s an amazing decoy, though that’s more or less his designated role. He’s meant to do that, you know. You aren’t. You’re not a decoy. He’s meant to get attention in order to deceive people. This means you have other qualities to how you play that make you just as important to the team. Your skills are more intellectually based.” She said, “You plan and think ahead and strategize much more than he would. Your blocks are more powerful and your ability to read a player is nearly unparalleled. Not to mention you’re extremely tall, so your height is an advantage. You both are night and day when compared to each other, so stop comparing yourself to him.” She said sharply, “You’re not going to get anywhere by doing that. You’ll just be a complaining, bitchy giant for the rest of your time on the team.”

Tsukishima stared at her, his eyes slightly widening. He appeared to be… baffled that she was even trying to comfort him or give him advice, especially about his comparison to her own brother. He didn’t think he’d ever see the day that she would be… encouraging him. “I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you speak.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, “Whatever, I’m leaving now.”

With nothing left to say, she just walked off. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had to say all that she did to him. Tsukishima gets on her nerves and she dislikes him to a high degree, however, there was a part of her that hated how… self loathing he is. Perhaps she hated it even more that he was being so lethargic over the club and his position in it. She must see his self-pity as stupid, anyone who does pity themselves for something as trivial as this was annoying to her. That must be the reason.

It’s not like Tsukishima was going to say ‘thank you’ or anything to her at her attempt. The last thing that he’d want to do is give her the satisfaction knowing that he did feel… a bit more secure in his position on the team. It wasn’t anything too concrete. However, it felt good to know that even someone like Sakura, who arguably doesn’t like him at all, complimented him to some degree. He certainly knows that she holds her brother up quite high on a pedestal. Tsukishima found it a bit weird and almost familiar. He did the same thing with his brother. He thought that Akiteru was the best person. His brother was the ace of Karasuno, such an amazing player, the star in Kei’s mind. 

Though when he did find out the truth, it broke any sort of trust that he would have. Not only that but it tainted the sport of volleyball completely. Though he knew that wasn’t going to happen to Sakura. That certainly caused a bit of jealousy and disdain to bubble up in Tsukishima. Her brother is one of the best players on the team, he is the self-proclaimed next “Little Giant” so it wasn’t like she would be let down like he was. He envied that.

So he watched as she said a quick goodbye to Yua and the others, to their disappointment, before heading out of the gym to head to bed. Tsukishima certainly had a lot to think about now after everything that he’s heard from those around him.

---

When the next day came, there was another round of games with all of the teams. Currently, Karasuno was up against Fukurōdani and they weren’t doing the best, though they weren’t doing the worst either. Bokuto used his immense strength to spike the ball through the Karasuno blocks.

“Eek…” Yachi squeaked, “That #4 is really intense again today.”

Sakura scoffed, “I think he’s just always intense, like he doesn’t have an off switch.” After spending enough time, forcefully, around Bokuto she knew that he just was never not intense. Though perhaps that’s what made him such a good player. He was top five for a reason.

With the score at 11-6 in Fukurōdani’s favor, Ukai had a time out called. “Even if you’re not able to stop #4’s spikes, at least try to touch it,” Ukai said to them.

“Right!”

“I see…” Yachi nodded her head as she looked up to Kiyoko, “So even if they aren’t able to stop it, if they’re able to touch the ball, it reduces the momentum?”

“Right. There are usually two goals in blocking.” She started to explain, “There’s the soft block that’s used in order to make the ball easier to receive, and the kill block that’s used to completely shut the ball out.”

Yachi shivered, “Kill… as in, killing something?”

“Yes.”

“Eek!”

Sakura patted Yachi on the shoulder, calming her down as best she could. “Depending on the scenario, each block has it’s advantages.” Sakura furter explained, “It takes a skilled blocker to decide what block to use when. I imagine most of the time it’s a split second decision to make.”

At the back of the group, Tsukishima speaks up, “We don’t have to stop it?”

“Well…” Ukai started, “If you’re able to actually shut the ball out, there’s nothing better.”

So they continued on with the next point. However, unlike the last spike that Bokuto used against Karasuno, he seemed to hesitate and instead go with a feint. Something that surprised just about everyone.

“Feint!” Tanaka screamed. Though Bokuto was still able to get the point for his team since Nishinoya was just a little too slow to save the ball.

“Wow, I totally thought they were going to come with a full-on attack there. To think it was actually a feint…” Takeda marveled, “I guess that’s what you get with an ace that went to nationals.”

Though Sakura could tell, it wasn’t what Bokuto originally wanted to do. He was scared off by Tsukishima. Whatever he had learned about blocking was starting to come in handy, especially against a strong player like Bokuto. Sakura watched as her brother and Tsukishima had a short stare down with each other before they moved to get into position again. Even with that small interaction, she could tell that it was a declaration of war between them. She couldn’t tell if this challenge was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing that she did know was that a challenge between the two middle blockers would certainly push them to get better than the other.

---

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Tanaka chuckled at his underclassmen, “Well, you guys were late last time.” He nostalgically remembered how his sister had to be the one to drive the troublesome duo to their camp. Ah, fun times.

“Being an idiot must be nice.” Tsukishima scoffed, “You can even sleep on a bus.”

The two other boys shouted at him, “What’d you say?!”

Sakura cringed, “don’t yell, it’s too early for this.”

The team plus Sakura and the managers all gathered around the bus. Some were tired this early in the morning, but almost all of them were excited. Yet another training camp to go to! The day was finally here that they would get to see some other strong schools from Tokyo! “We’ll be arriving at our destination early in the morning once again.” Takeda said, drawing all of their attention, “Ukai-kun and I will take turns driving.”

Said coach yawned, “Sorry if I nod off.”

Everyone bowed to him with a slight shout, “Thank you!”

Their advisor jumped, “It’s the middle of the night, so not so loud.”

“Oh, sorry… Habit,” Daichi chuckled in apology.

“Do you guys have everything?” Takeda said to them all, “Make sure you double-check.”

Yamaguchi turned to Shōyō by his side, “It’ll go quickly if you fall asleep.”

“I wonder if I can…” the ball of sunshine pursed his lips.

Sakura scoffed lightly under her breath, “you most certainly will.” She knew her brother could sleep anywhere at any time. A bus ride was not going to be an issue for him. Though besides her she didn’t notice the lazy stare that a blond giant was pointing at her.

Ever since they had all gathered together, Tsukishima was surveying the distance that was put between the Hinata siblings. Now that Sakura was actually here, he could see just how she was keeping herself separate from her brother. Along with that Shōyō was also doing what he could to gain her attention every once in a while. Even so, Shōyō was a bit quieter, upset with his sister’s ignorance. It was a strange sight, Tsukishima never thought he’d see the day when the twins weren’t attached at the hip. He saw that ever since they had rode up to the school together on their bikes the twins hadn’t said much to each other. Sakura kept herself besides Yachi or Yamaguchi. Meanwhile, Shōyō sends her puppy-dog eyes every once in a while and distracts himself by talking with Nishinoya and Tanaka.

Then again for a moment Tsukishima could feel himself… empathizing with Sakura. How pathetic, he thought. Him empathizing with Hinata Sakura? That’s baffling! Though he tried to push that thought away, as he should be focusing on how he was going to ignore the others to sleep a bit on the ride to the camp.

Endo yawned loudly, “why do we have to get up at this ungodly hour.”

Asahi laughed at the tired look on his friend's face, “I’m sorry you have to suffer through being awake.”

“Some of us need our beauty sleep, you know.” He not so subtly pointed at Nishinoya and Tanaka, “Some more than others.”

“OI!!” It appeared that the two heard them. Though Endo probably wanted them to. Even if it was early in the morning, he still loved riling up his friends. He just shared a laugh with Asahi before climbing into the bus. Endo was more than ready to sit next to his best friend and use Asahi’s shoulder for a nap.

So the team all piled into the bus. Some were fighting over who would sit next to who and others more than ready to get comfy in their seats for the ride over. Just as Sakura was about to follow behind Yachi when her brother stopped her.

“Imouto, do you want to sit with me?” Shōyō shyly asked as he walked up to his sister.

The girl blinked at him for a moment. She pursed his lips at him and shook her head lightly, “I said I’d sit with Yachi, sorry.”

Shōyō’s expression dropped, “oh.”

So Sakura left behind her dejected brother and climbed onto the bus. She was a bit annoyed with herself for turning him down, even after they had had distance between them for a while now, she still thought it would be a good idea to keep it up. 

Yachi noticed the expression on Sakura’s face and asked, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sakura said, getting comfortable in her seat at the window. 

“Shōyō-kun definitely seems down,” Yachi cooed, eyeing the boy as he sulked a little bit in his seat beside Kageyama. She didn’t like to see anyone upset, especially her friends. She turned to look at Sakura who pursed her lips.

“Yeah, he’ll just have to get used to it.” Her friend gave her a look. One that had Sakura sighing heavily. “I know now that I have to move forward with my plan, and Shōyō is just going to have to get used to it, since it’s my choice.” It lifted some sort of weight off of her after coming to that conclusion. She was going to use this camp as a way to make it clear to Shōyō exactly what she wanted and how she felt. Sakura didn’t want him to misunderstand any longer like he did that first time she tried to tell him. She finally came up with a good plan, in her opinion, and knew what to say this time around to make it crystal clear to him how she’s felt and how she wants to make things right.

Yachi nodded her head, “Just make sure you talk with him about it. You wouldn’t want him to think that he did something wrong…” She then paused and anxiously waved her hands, “He didn’t do anything wrong right!?”

“No. Not intentionally, at least.” Sakura nodded her head, “I will talk to him when we’ve settled in.”

---

The bus ride wasn’t as tense as Sakura thought that it would be. After not accepting the offer to sit with her brother, she felt like it would fill her with some sort of guilt. Though after the last few days of not really talking with him she had grown to not feel guilty about not being around him all the time. After getting the support that she needed from her friends and talking through everything with them, she knew now not to base her emotions off of what Shōyō was feeling. 

Once the team arrived, there were a few boys from the Nekoma team who had come to greet them and show them where to go. Sakura was happy to say hi to Kenma when he came over to them with Kuroo and Nobuyuki. Though she let out a sigh to see that Yua hadn’t tagged along to greet them. She still wasn’t sure if she wanted to say that she was friends with the eager girl. They had shared a few texts here and there, but Sakura hadn’t taken up on any of Yua’s offers to hang out.

“Hey, hey! Where’s the Skytree?” Shōyō exclaimed as soon as he jumped off the bus.

Kenma tilted his head in confusion, “Huh? The Skytree?”

“Oh! Is that the Tokyo Towers?!” Shōyō jumped as he pointed to a random tower in the distance.

“Huh?” The pudding-headed boy blinked, “That’s… Just a normal transmission tower.”

“What the hell?” Kuroo asked, “Are there no transmission towers in Miyagi? Pretty sure I’ve heard that conversation before.”

Daichi’s eyebrow twitched, “The transmission towers in Tokyo all look like the Tokyo Tower to us country folk!”

“That’s a rash thing to say.” Suga said, “Also, we’re in Saitama.”

Shōyō asked Kenma, “So we’re gonna be at a different school this time?”

“Apparently, the summer training camp is always in Shinzen. It’s nice and cool here…” Kenma then slapped his arm to kill an annoying bug, “But lots of bugs around.”

“Hinata!” Nekoma’s half-Russian giant then appeared, running down the stairs. “Did you grow any taller?!”

Kenma deadpanned, “Lev, shut up.”

“That’s a pretty rude thing to say.” Shōyō gaped, “Like I could grow in two weeks!”

Lev just smugly smirked down at him, “I grew two millimeters.” Shōyō then went into shock at that information. Yachi laughed from beside Sakura who was just shaking her head at them.

The boys all went into the gym, getting themselves ready for their first day of some grueling training camp. As soon as Sakura had stepped into the gym, Yua had seemingly made a beeline for her. Through her excited babbling, the older girl was expressing how happy she was to see her friend again and where they would be sleeping during the camp. It took Yaku nearly dragging her back to their game that Sakura was allowed a moment to breathe. Which meant that she was able to go off with Yachi and Kiyoko and help with anything that they needed.

“All right!” Ukai said to the team, “We’re gonna switch out members constantly this time around, so be prepared.”

“Right!”

So their first game of the camp was against Fukurōdani. One of the most formidable teams here at the camp, it certainly was going to be a challenge to go up against them. Some of the crows were more than determined to see how they were going to fair against their opponents. After all, it was time to show off just how much they had improved.

“Let’s try for no penalties!” Bokuto exclaimed to his teammates.

The game began with Fukurōdani serving to Karasuno. Though there was something just slightly off… When Kageyama tossed the ball to Shōyō, it missed.

Sakura blinked, “Missed?” Sure, she’s seen them miss some spikes or tosses from time to time, but this one was one of the most horrendous misses that she's seen from them. The ball was just slightly short. Though thanks to Shoyo’s quick reflexes he was able to save the ball before it could hit the ground. They’re both so… different now, Sakura thought to herself.

The game continued on with each of the boys having some sort of slight imbalance. Asahi’s spikes were powerful, but not as accurate as they should be. Their synchronized attack most certainly still needed work. Their blocks could be a bit more secure, and obviously the freak duo was having some issues as well. So the boys were completely out of sync with each other. All that practice that they had put in individually wasn’t meshing well as a team just about yet. There was yet another learning curve that they would have to get through now.

“Endo,” Ukai called, making the boy jump just slightly at the shout, “you’re getting subbed in.”

Endo pointed at his own chest, “me? I’m a sub? Wh-what about Suga or Yamaguchi?” It seemed like he was baffled at the idea that he was going to be put in instead of the other guys.

His coach just gave him a bored expression, “Is your name not Endo? Go!”

The blond scoffed, “okay, okay. Don't have a  stroke, old man.”

So he was put on the court, for what felt like the first time in quite a while. Endo certainly has been on the court before, but that was normally just at practice against his own teammates. Not necessarily against another team. Still, it was technically a practice game anyway. Plus, they were willing to try anything out to get their momentum going. Since he was subbed in, that meant that Tanaka was taken off of the court, just to shake things up a bit. That certainly did shake up the play style just a bit, but not enough to earn points against Fukurōdani. 

Endo did try his best, honestly. He was just a bit surprised to be actually put into the game. Most of the time people overlooked putting him in since he wasn’t all that good and he was never picked over his passionate teammates. Why put someone on the court you weren’t sure was going to put all of their effort into the game when you could put someone who would? It made sense that he was passed over all the time, and Endo wasn’t going to put that against anyone, since he understood. Though now that he was going to actually start focusing on getting better at volleyball, just to spite his father, perhaps it was time to change his outlook. He was going to really put his all into it. Even if that meant sweating a bit more than usual, though he was certain that it would be worth it. After all, he would love to say ‘I told you so’ to his father sooner rather than later.

Across the gym, the Nekoma team was also keeping an eye on the game between the owls and crows. “Hm… Splendid.” Nekomata said while watching Karasuno, “They’re splendidly… not in sync at all.”

Yua nodded her head before scribbling something down after watching Lev miss a dive. Most certainly keeping track of any missed receives that he has. Just so she could show Yaku her statistics later and see him scowl at the younger boy to practice them more.

They then watched as Nishinoya jumped up to actually set the ball. Their mouths were agape as Naoi exclaimed, “Jumping from the back zone and into a libero’s jump toss?” Though it didn’t really do much, since the libero ended up jumping a little too far. “I wonder what happened to Karasuno. Maybe they’re in some kind of rut?”

Nekomata laughed, “I think it’s the exact opposite. Because they’re crows, they’re omnivorous. It doesn’t matter if they’re deep in the mountains, or in the middle of Kabukicho. They eat everything there is to eat, and take advantage of those stronger than them to survive.” He explained as the other teams also kept an eye on Karasuno’s game from the corner of their eyes. “It looks like they’re in the middle of evolving at an incredible speed.”

Yua then pointed at the blond who wasn’t able to block Bokuto’s spike, “Though that one doesn’t seem to be catching up, huh?” Then again, Bokuto’s spikes could be pretty difficult to go up against. She didn’t really think a first-year would stand much of a chance against his spikes. So she really couldn’t hold it against Tsukishima. Hell, even she has issues with blocking Bokuto’s spikes!

---

After all of their many, many mistakes, Karasuno had ended up with quite a few penalty runs. Of course, the penalty was just as grueling as it was at the last training camp. However, instead of diving around the gym, they had to partake in Shinzen’s special “refreshing sprint up the grassy hill”. It was quite a refreshing sprint after doing it so many times. All of the boys were in quite a lot of pain after each round of penalties. By the end, it was just like last time, Karasuno was having a hard time standing up to 

Now that it was dark out, the moon gazed down on them after they’ve finished playing their last game of the day, Endo was laid out in the grass. He still was recovering from their last sprint up the hill, taking a breather with the rest of the team. He really was testing his athleticism today. While he certainly would exercise regularly, it wasn’t really to this extent. It was near torture in his opinion! Curse these coaches who wish to see them suffer like this. Why couldn’t one of the other teams just let them win?? He certainly would have loved winning at least one game to miss out on a penalty. 

Laid out in the grass with the other third-years and Tanaka, Endo was more than ready to go to bed. Hell, he could probably start sleeping right now. The grass that was scratching his back was extremely comfortable on his sore muscles. Besides him, Suga let out a sigh, “We amazingly lost all of our games.”

“It’s actually sort of refreshing.” Daichi smiled, perhaps a bit dazed after all of their penalties.

With a disbelieving scoff, Endo barely sat up on his elbows to glare at his captain, “If that was refreshing, then you are the biggest masochist I’ve met.”

“I haven’t done that many sprints since Coach Ukai was coaching,” Tanaka wheezed, face planted in the grass.

Daichi then sat up, “I’m gonna borrow the tablet from Ukai-san so we can review the synchronized attack video.”

“All right.”

“Sure thing.”

Asahi also got a hard look on his face, determination growing in his eyes, “I’m gonna go hit some serves. I need way more practice.”

Endo sighed heavily before groaning as he got to his feet, “Ah, geez, you guys are gonna make me feel left out if I don’t join in.” Yes, he could just go back to their shared room and go to bed for the night. However, the last thing that he wanted was to fall behind now after talking so boldly to his family before this. 

Meanwhile, in the gym, Sakura waltzed up to her brother as he was lost in his own thoughts. She knew that he was thinking about how his playstyle had changed and wasn’t exactly matching up with Kageyama’s. A big predicament for them as the freak duo obviously. Though now that they had the time, Sakura figured that it was a good moment to talk a bit.

“Shō-nii,” she said, trying to get his attention. Though that proved to be a bit difficult as he just continued to stare down at the volleyball he was holding in his hand. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking but really wanted to finally put this behind them. “Shōyō!”

He jumped out of his own mind as it had been racing with some many things. The practice matches had been abysmal and he was still not really on speaking terms with Kageyama or Sakura, so he was really not focusing all too much. However, now that his sister was actually here, in front of him, waiting for him to speak to her, he had to jump at the chance. He exclaimed, “Imouto!”

Sakura cringed at his shout, “You don’t have to be so loud.” It was slightly awkward between the two, since this had to be the longest that they had been able to be around each other. Though Shōyō looked more than eager now that they were having a conversation. Sakura cleared her throat, “we really do need to… talk.”

Shōyō had been wanting to talk with her. It was almost unbearable that they hadn’t been like they were before their big blow out a few weeks ago. They said the bare minimum to each other, didn’t interact much at school, and didn’t even ride home together, it was really driving him crazy. So he nodded his head, agreeing with her though not really knowing where to start.

“I want to make sure we understand each other,” Sakura started off slowly. “I’m not abandoning you.”

Shōyō let out a long sigh, “oh.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do, okay?” Sakura scratched the back of her neck, “I’m sorry I never talked to you about what I’ve been feeling after all this time.” It probably would have been easier to deal with if she had been honest with him all this time. Or at least told him how she had been feeling a bit more than how she was. Was she good at dealing with emotions? Not really. However, she should have been more open with her brother. It would have most likely stopped their disagreement much sooner.

“I just… didn’t think that I wouldn’t notice something upsetting you.” Shōyō had been kicking himself ever since they had their argument. He prides himself on being such a good older brother, being there for both of his sisters and doing his best to help when or when not asked. Though to have it suddenly revealed to him that he had not been able to see some sort of issue that his twin was dealing with upset him. 

She just shrugged her shoulders, “It’s my fault for not telling you, Shō. Now I’m telling you that I think it’s better if we have some space.”

“So you can do photography?” There was a slight tinge of realization in his voice. It seemed like he wasn’t taking this as a generally back thing at the moment. Since having space did seem like one of the most horrible things in Shōyō’s mind at times. “I thought that you wanted to leave me because of the fight!!”

Sakura shook her head, “No! The fight, yes, did hurt a bit, but one argument isn’t going to make me just abandon you…” Why did it kind of bother her that Shōyō thought that she would do that? Did her constant support not make it clear that she was going to be there for him no matter what? Though she shouldn’t dwell on that thought, since they are really trying to make amends here.

Sakura could see Shōyō visibly deflate in relief. He then smiled, “that’s good then!” At least he was taking this better than a few days ago. Perhaps that was because they both had clear thoughts and could explain themselves a bit better.

“So you’re not… upset?” She bit the inside of her cheek, nervous for his answer.

Shōyō tilted his head, “I… was. Though I don’t think I knew what you meant.”

“Yeah, that was pretty clear,” Sakura scoffed.

He sheepishly apologized, “I’m sorry, Imouto.” 

“I figured we both just needed time to ourselves. I’m sorry too.” She cleared her throat, “I just… This isn’t me not wanting to be around you anymore or be involved in things, I just want a chance to be myself.”

Shoyo gave her a thumbs up, “I’ll definitely support you just like I usually will!” Even if he was still a bit… wary about this, he wasn’t going to stop her from doing anything she wants. Shōyō isn’t a selfish person, especially when it comes to his family. So it wasn’t like he would stop her from doing something she enjoyed. It would be hypocritical of him to do that. Though it definitely was going to take some time to truly understand and get used to it. 

The blinding smile that he flashed at her lifted a weight off of her chest. They had cleared up any misconception between them, it was a bit easier than she initially thought. If there was one thing it was Hinata’s were stubborn and it took quite a while to change their minds. So with that in mind, Sakura thought that it would take a bit to get accustomed to their newer dynamic. Though they could save that for when they get back home after this training camp.

So she nearly skipped out of the gym, more than content with just going to bed. Progress had been made between the two! They both had a clearer understanding between them. It was really starting to look up for Sakura. 

Though it seems like the universe had to keep a balance to itself. Since as she was walking towards her room for a wonderful night’s rest, she nearly ran into a giant who was too lost in his own thoughts to notice her either. She would have apologized if it hadn’t been Tsukishima. 

“Sorry didn’t see you down there,” he sneered

Sakura deadpanned, “You really aren’t original, are you?” Really why is he like this? Sakura wondered to herself. 

“Shouldn’t you be following your brother around or something?”

She stared at him with faux-confused eyes, “I didn’t think you paid attention to what I do. Are you stalking me or something?” She said sarcastically, “Though no. I’m going to sleep. Let that idiot lose sleep if he wants.”

She was going to try and walk away from him though Tsukishima just narrowed his eyes at her, “I thought after your fight you’d be begging for him to forgive you.” Based on what he had seen and heard, the twins weren’t on talking terms. They hadn’t been for quite a while now. It was strange for him to think that the twins weren’t attached at the hip or Sakura following her brother around like a lost puppy. As long as he’s, unfortunately, known them he had rarely seen them apart. Not having her at the practices also caused him to become quite confused. Had he noticed that she was missing the first practice that she had skipped? Perhaps. Though that wasn’t because of anything other than wanting to mess with her. He enjoyed getting to poke fun at her brother and by extension her. So he was just missing out on some fun entertainment with her gone.

Sakura rolled her eyes with gritted teeth, “It’s none of your business.” Though Tsukishima smirked, which set Sakura’s mind aflame with annoyance. She wasn’t going to let him know about anything. What goes on between her and Shōyō didn’t need to involve anyone else, especially not this bitchy blonde giant.  

Tsukishima towered over her and seemed to be quite pleased with himself that he was able to get under her skin, even if it was by a little. They continued to stare each other down, eyes narrowed in annoyance and smugness. Even if they weren’t saying anything it was pretty clear what both of them were thinking about the other. Her chocolate eyes were piercing his golden ones and neither seemed to be willing to step down.

“Oh, hey, you two. Karasuno!” A voice called, startling the pair out of their staring contest. Sakura glanced over to see that it was Kuroo who was calling out to them. He was standing at the entrance of a gym alongside Bokuto. “You with the glasses. Kitten-chan!” Sakura scowled at him as Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at him, “Would you jump some blocks for us?”

The two stared at them for a moment before Tsukishima bowed, “Oh, actually, I’m done for the night. If you’ll excuse me.”

Kuroo and Bokuto blinked, “What?!”

“I’m not a player,” Sakura said, though going ignored.

“There’s no point in practicing spikes without a blocker!” Bokuto said, “Come on!”

“Why does it have to be me? Why not someone from Fukurōdani?” Tsukishima asked.

Aakashi then walked up to the door and explained, “There’s no limit to Bokuto-san’s spiking practice, so everyone runs away pretty quickly.”

Kuroo jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at Lev. “I’m too busy whipping this guy into shape.” Said boy was currently pancaked on the floor, completely exhausted from his practice that his captain had subjected him to. 

“I said I’d jump some blocks!” Lev whined, still laying in his puddle of sweat.

“Shut up!” Kuroo shouted, “If you want to continue as a regular on Nekoma’s team, you need to actually be able to receive the ball!” He then focused back on Tsukishima and patted Bokuto on the back, “He may not look it, but this guy’s one of the top five spikers in the country, so it’ll be great practice.”

Aakashi blandly said, “So he somehow didn’t make it into the top three, huh?” That instantly deflated Bokuto.

Kuroo patted Bokuto on the back in comfort, “Don’t mind.”

“Don’t raise me up just to let me get knocked down!” Bokuto whined at his friend.

The Nekoma captain then turned to Tsukishima with a smirk, “Besides, if you’re a middle blocker, you should be practicing your blocking a bit more.”

That certainly got a reaction out of Tsukishima who just glared at them before marching into the gym. Sakura was still standing outside, more than ready to head back to the manager room to go to sleep. Though it wasn’t like Kuroo was going to let her go that easily. She felt hands suddenly under her arms, lifting her from the ground.

“Come on now, kitten-chan.”

“Hey!” She shouted while being dragged in. Well, it wasn’t really dragged, Kuroo was easily able to pick her off the ground and carry her like a feral cat. “This is kidnapping!” Though he just ignored her with his usual sharp smirk as he brought her inside, to the amusement of everyone else in the gym. Why can’t I just have a normal night, Sakura mentally huffed while giving up on escaping and stopped flailing her legs.

So she was finally let go and left to sit on the sidelines. She had no doubt that if she tried to leave Kuroo or Bokuto would try to chase her down and keep her there. Sakura found their inability to leave her alone annoying. She knew that Bokuto had some weird interest in knowing her due to Sato. Kuroo was a bit more of a mystery to Sakura since she didn’t think she would have interested him at all. Why so many of these guys wanted to keep annoying her at any chance they could, she’ll never know.

She plopped down on the ground, glaring at the boys as they got themselves ready. Akaashi, seeing her displeased expression, came over to her with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about them,” he said with a small bow, “they usually can be a hassle. I figure you’d rather be resting.”

She waved her hand dismissively, “don’t worry about it. I’ll stay for a bit,” she smirked up at him, “there’s nothing wrong with me observing Karasuno’s opponents, right?” Akaashi chuckled lightly at her smug expression before jogging back over to the court. If she was going to be forced to be here by those idiots then she was going to use this time to gather some information. Perhaps they could use it to their advantage if she told Ukai some of her thoughts about these specific players

Bokuto was spiking again and again against Tsukishima. It wasn’t like it was anyway of stopping him. Sakura couldn’t deny that Bokuto was an extremely strong player. His spikes were strong and looked difficult to block. She wouldn’t really know where to start with trying to block his spikes. Sakura watched as Tsukishima was having trouble with blocking it. So from time to time, she would snicker at his failure. Which certainly irked Tsukishima quite a bit. 

If all she was going to do here was find his attempts amusing, then why be here at all. While he also found it amusing that she had been forced here, she was getting on his nerves with the subtle comments that she was making about his form.

After missing yet another spike from Bokuto, who cheered at his spike, Tsukishima turned to the smirking girl, “Didn’t you want to go to sleep?”

Sakura rolled her eyes, “I did. Though I didn’t have much of a choice but to come in.” She threw a glare at Kuroo, who just shrugged his shoulders at her.

Tsukishima pursed his lips, “And here I thought you’d have been crying since you can’t follow your brother around like a sad puppy.” That certainly got a reaction out of her, which surprised Tsukishima just a bit. Considering he thought that she had grown some pretty thick skin after all this time. Though there was a spark of insecurity in her eyes that gave him pause only for a moment, just a miniscule moment. However, it was enough of a moment for him to feel just a little bit guilty.

Sakura gnawed at her bottom lip and just stared at him. He really wasn’t letting up, was he? Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Her eyes grew narrowed while her mind started to fill with impulsive thoughts. Though could anyone really blame her if she went over to him and kicked him in the shin? She didn’t think so. However, she was going to be a better person here. So she took a moment to breathe through her nose and out her mouth before giving the boy the harshest glare she could.

“I know what you’re doing,” she stated, “I would appreciate it if you would stop, but knowing your inability to be civil, that isn’t going to happen.” She glared at him, which was returned back at her through his golden eyes, “Just know that you’re not getting anything out of me.”

With that she spun on her heels and marched out of the gym, certainly not going to stick around. She would need to calm down after having been around him for all this time. Why she even stuck around after being dragged in she’ll never know. Sakura could tell herself that it was to watch the other boys and report back to Ukai about what she saw all she wanted. Her insight isn’t really needed to help better the team, so who was she fooling? Either way, going to sleep and forgetting about that jerk was a need for her at the moment.

Though after all this time, she knew that Tsyukishima was trying to get a rise out of her. That was horribly obvious. As she’s figured out in the past, he had been trying to get under her skin in a multitude of ways. Unlike the last time she was bullied, she had stuck up for herself. Though perhaps the fact that she and Shōyō had just made up only a short time before this, it was still a bit raw for her to think about. So she wasn’t going to take this.

Back in the gym, it was still pretty quiet since Sakura had stormed out. Though Tsukishima tried to make it seem like it didn’t bother him at all. Which it didn't, obviously. Though it was still a bit tense around the gym. It was obvious that the other guys were quite disapproving of how disrespectful Tsukishima is to Sakura. 

Bokuto shook his head at him, “That was pretty mean, Tsuki-dude.” 

Tsukishima tutted, “Don’t call me that.”

“You shouldn’t be rude to people!” The owl captain exclaimed.

However, a cheshire-like smirk crawled onto Kuroo’s lips, “Oh, I see how it is. ” He slid over to the younger boy and gave him a mischievous stare. “This certainly isn’t the right way to get a girl’s attention, you know.”

Tsukishima stared at him blankly, “Huh?”

Kuroo dragged him under his arm as if he were about to tell Tsukishima a secret, “I can give you some advice if you want. It’ll be a lot better than just annoying her you know.”

It took a moment for his mind to process it, but Tsukishima finally understood what Kuroo was implying. His ears grew hot as he scowled, “that’s not what it’s like!”

Kuroo’s smirk didn’t leave his face, “sure, sure.” To Kuroo’s eyes, it was obvious why Tsukishima was being so mean to her. Tsukishima brushed off Kuroo’s arm and scowled before going back to the net. Ah, young love, Kuroo mused to himself.

---

So the next morning came, which meant more practice games, and plenty of more penalties for Karasuno. By mid-day, the team was quite exhausted since they were pushing themselves harder than they had yesterday. Just about every boy in the camp was trying to do the best that they could and improve. So Karasuno was losing just as much as they had been yesterday. The only difference being that the scores were a bit closer than before. While they weren’t perfectly in sync yet, they were on their way there.

Sakura talked with Shōyō more than she had in the entire week that they weren’t on talking terms. It seemed like as soon as they made up, Shōyō wanted to make up for lost time and made sure to talk with her when he could. Though there was one difference than usual. He gave her space. Shōyō didn’t interject himself into her conversation with others or ask her to be with him any chance he could. He had understood what she wanted, and wished to show her that. Certainly the progress that both of them wanted.

Eventually, the managers came into the gym with plates of watermelon in their hands, ready to share it with everyone. A well earned break was in order for all the teams. They all sat outside enjoying the sun and delicious watermelon. Sakura helped Yachi out with handing out watermelon before sitting down on the grass alongside the other managers to enjoy a slice herself. It was refreshing, even if she hadn’t been playing at all. She got to know a few of the other managers a bit more from the other schools. Yua had been more than happy with introducing her to them. Thankfully, most of the other girls were completely normal when compared to the likes of Yua or any of the other volleyball idiots. So that was certainly an upside in Sakura’s opinion. She got to know some of the other girls before their break was over. 

So Sakura had to go back into the gym and watch the boys continue playing. Which was quite painful since it was just Karasuno getting their ass beat just like the day before. She chatted idly with Yachi and Kiyoko as she observed the boys. They all were improving in their own ways, slowly but surely. Asahi seemed to grow some sort of determination within him, Nishinoya was working on his speed, and even Endo was working on improving. While all of the boys on the team were making some sort of improvement, there was one other thing that she noticed. Tsukishima was too stuck in his own thoughts to really make anything notable of his blocks. 

Sakura could see that he was… thinking about something. Debating in his mind, maybe? Having difficulty with something. Though it wasn’t like she cared, right? As long as he was good enough for the team to win games, then why would she care about his inner turmoil? She still certainly hadn’t gotten over what he had said the other night, though she would push that sour feeling away for the time being. She just hoped that he figured out whatever it was that he was having issues with. As much as she’d love to see him have some sort of failure, if that failure affected her brother, she didn’t want to encourage it.

---

A/n: So there's that. I'm thinking that in the next few chapters, we're gonna start hitting some developments in Sakura's relationship with Tsukishima. After all, she's getting her relationship with her brother intact and to a point that they are at an understanding, so it's time to focus on some other relationships of hers. I've always wanted to make this a slow, slow burn since I always saw that as a challenge for myself. Back when I first started writing fanfic I got characters into relationships pretty quickly and perhaps a bit unrealistically. So the relationship that Sakura and Tsukishima were going to have was going to be maybe a bit more... realistic? But definitely slow.

Thoughts on the atla live action series? I'm only half way through so I'm saving my full review of it until I get through all the episodes. Though I suppose it could be... worse. I have been sitting on an idea for an atla fanfic and though why not upload it now since there's a live action series now. I uploaded it last week and I'm happy with how it came out. The only thing is that the idea is a bit old so I'm going through my outline for it and refining some of the plot points that I created since I think I'm a bit of a better writer now lol

I've also been writing up quite a few other fanfics. New ones, when I know that I should be writing the ones that I already have in progress. However, these ideas just pop in my head and I can't help myself. However, I'm thinking of changing up how I upload and write fanfics going forward. I already tried it once and it didn't go the way that I wanted, but this time imma stick to it. I want to write out a bunch of chapters so they can go out on an actual schedule. Like one chapter a week, or maybe even one a day. Depends on how many chapters are completely written out. It's a bit of a different process since I'm use to getting feedback from you guys about the chapters as I write them. Though I think this is for the best. Let's just say that I have grow to love quite a few new shows and series and have some fics I want to write. Main one I'm focusing on is a Lost fanfic. Yes, Lost! So hopefully that'll be out.... at some point lol.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter! Until the next one, my friends!

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The one who dragged this man across the ground with little to no effort wears all black clothing, hiding every and any distinctive feature that they have. The slightly baggy tunic and pants hid anything to identify them. All that people could see was that this person was decently tall and appeared to be extremely agile from the small number of muscles that were actually visible as they pulled on the chains. No one could see their hair color due to the hood they wore that reached over the top of their head and nearly covered the top part of their face. A black cloth covered their mouth and nose, and every once in a while those who paid close attention may be able to catch a glimpse of their dull gray eyes. They were chilling, cold, and terrifying. The eyes of a killer.

Even though this person was dragging along a fully grown man who had to be twice their size, it seemed as though she were doing it with little to no effort. The soldier, for he was a soldier based on his fire nation uniform, struggled in his binds like a fish wishing to escape its net. Though he couldn’t do it despite his captor being so small.

“I beg of you, they’ll have me killed please!”

The stoic bounty hunter did not say anything to him. Silent and strong, the person continued to drag the struggling man through the crowds that parted in their wake. Even though he cried and begged for his life, the bounty hunter made no indication that she was listening. Not that she cared all too much about what happened to the man. She had a job to do, and she just wanted to get paid. It just so happened that when she tracked down fire nation soldier deserters she got paid more.

While working with the Fire nation tended to get her dirty looks and horrible names thrown in her direction, she couldn’t care about that. What mattered was getting money to feed and have shelter for another few nights. It didn’t matter who paid, just as long as it was enough. In that pursuit to find a means of surviving she made a name for herself: Mogwai. 

Ignoring the stares, the cries of her prisoner, the whispers, Mogwai approached the docks where tall fire nation ships were bobbing slightly in the water. 

“Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the Avatar for two years, and I -” A voice said.

Then another shouted out, “And you failed!” Mogwai recognised the infuriated voice of Commander Zhao. “Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now.”

The Avatar? Mogwai thought to themselves. That couldn’t be true, considering the wielder of all elements had been gone for one hundred years. There was no way, in their mind, that the Avatar could be around now. Mogwai knew that all of the air benders had been wiped out in the attack against them one hundred years ago. If there was any chance that the avatar was still around, she would know.

Once she entered the tent, still dragging the captive, the bounty hunter found that Zhao was having a meeting. Not that she really cared. She would gladly interrupt the meeting, get paid, and leave as quickly as she could. Soldiers were posted all around the room, which was to be expected, as an old man and scared boy sat at the table in the middle. Of course, Mogwai knew who that scared boy was. It was difficult not to know the stories of the banished prince and the dishonor he brought against his father. 

Now noticing their new guests, the commander composed himself. Though he continued to glare at the prince as he turned to face the entrance. “Keep them here,” Zhao ordered the other soldiers.

General Iroh looked around at the soldiers as Zhao led the bounty hunter out of the room, “More tea, please.”

Mogwai was more than happy to pawn off their crying captive to the fire nation soldiers who dragged him away. Less deadweight for them to deal with, since it was more than annoying to hear his begging as she had come all the way back here. So Mogwai turned their lethargic stare to the man that had contracted them a day prior.

The commander smiled at the bounty hunter, “Mogwai.”

The bounty hunter nodded their head, not saying a word. 

“Your reputation precedes you,” Commander Zhao complimented, pleased with the success that Mogwai had achieved. After all, it wasn’t like he could send his own men after a deserter, one skilled at hiding. He needed an outsider’s help, and who better than one of the highest regarded bounty hunters. “A job done efficiently, your payment.”

He handed them a pouch, full of the coins that they had agreed upon before she had set out on her. She opened it up slowly, keeping an eye on the commander who did the same to her. Mogwai slowly counted the coins to make sure that it was what they agreed to. Most of the time people were quite forthcoming with the payment, perhaps scared what the Mogwai would do to them if they skimpped on payment. Though from experience, she knows to always check anyway.

With the money all counted, at the correct amount that Mogwai was looking for, she raised an eyebrow at him. Silently asking him the question, ‘anything else?’

Zhao tutted, “I’m afraid I have no more work for you, however, I’ll know how to find you if… anything else comes up.” 

She just nodded her head, with nothing else to say and walked out of the tent. She was greeted by the hesitant gazes of those around the ships and once again paid them no mind. The fire nation was hated by mostly everyone else in the world. Including her. However, she wouldn’t turn down a job that paid well.

She’s not one for politics. She gave up trying to understand it a long time ago and would much rather stay uninvolved. Most people aligned themselves with their nation's decisions, backing whatever it was their leaders convinced them was right. Yumo has no alliances with any nations. She owed them nothing. She paid attention at times, but didn’t let politics rule her mind by any means. Mogwai had other things to worry about like finding food, shelter and work. No need to worry about which nation had power over the world. All that mattered was who had jobs for her and willing to pay handsomely. 

So Mogwai started stocking up on some food from the market nearby. Paying for the necessities that she would need before heading off on another trek to the next village. She’d already been staying at an inn in this village for about three days, too long in her opinion. So it was time to move on and look for work elsewhere. The usual routine for a bounty hunter like her.

After collecting her new purchases she headed back to the inn and collected her bag. It was old and ragged but sturdy enough to withstand the abuse she put it through on a daily basis. The bag was large enough to hold a good amount of food and a few of her knives and extra clothes. 

“Did you hear?” A hush voice said, “There’s an Agni Kai!”

Another gasped, “An Agni Kai?! Between who?”

“The banished prince and commander Zhao!”

Mogwai tutted while walking past the gossiping people. An Agni Kai, a silly duel between two prideful firebenders. Though considering it would be between the banished fire prince, there was surely going to be the talk of the village. Fire benders, or benders in general always seem far too arrogant for her liking. Besides, she found it more impressive when someone demonstrates skill with a weapon such as a sword or knife than something like bending. If they were to have an agni kai with just swords, then she’d be impressed.

What needed to be decided now was which way Mogwai headed next. She had been heading South and had finally hit the ocean again. So the only logical thing to do was get on a boat to head to the next piece of land. Besides, she knows just the place to head next. She’s lucky that it was close by. The perfect place for her to rest and lay low for a while. Since that fire nation soldier had been a bit more difficult to find than other bounties she had dealt with. A nice reset after a taxing job was just what she needed.

She walked over to a boat, one manned by an older man and bartered her way on. Even if the man was wary of her to begin with. After all, who would want to be stuck on a small boat with someone with such a cold stare. Only one could imagine what someone with a stare like hers would do to them. So whether it was out of fright or kindness, the man allowed her to buy passage on his boat to Kyoshi Island. It was lucky that he was headed there anyway, since he had some trading to do there.

So as they set off, the waves almost comforted Mogwai as she settled down in the furthest seat away from the man, she took off her mask to munch on some bread she just bought. Her features were completely contrary to what type of person she was. A ruthless killer didn’t have a button-like nose, or small lips. If it wasn’t for the harsh look in her stormy eyes, she would look like any other innocent fifteen year old. 

Staring out to sea as they started their journey across the ocean to the earth kingdom island, Mogwai knew that she had some time before they made it to the Island. She sighed heavily through her nose, now finished with her bread and resting against the side of the boat. Kyoshi Island had to be one of the only constant things in her life at this point. That was right next to bounty hunting. While most would describe her as a nomad, not sticking to one village for very long before moving on to the next, Kyoshi Island was one place that she had a tendency to return to every once in a while. Perhaps that was because it was quite secluded from the rest of the world and she made decent relationships with the village people. 

On that island she wasn’t Mogwai, since she never had jobs on the island or the clientele out there. Kyoshi was the place where she could just be herself. Just be Yumo. There weren’t many places or times where she could just be the normal fifteen-year-old she was. An island full of female warriors and quiet evenings was just the place to let her do that.

---

“Come here,” a soothing voice said, “look at this.” A warm hand patted down the unruly brunette hair on her head, “you see that.”

Her gray eyes looked to see that it was two fish, swimming in a circle with each other. Trapped in the small pond that they were sitting beside and having nothing else to do but swim together. She watched as they danced with each other and giggled, “they look happy.”

“As happy as a fish can be I would assume,” the man beside her pondered. The two of them shared the same bright gray eyes, shining in the light like a brand new silver chain. As well as that spark of mischievousness and curiosity as they watched the fish dance around in the water.

Yumo tilted her head, her long brown hair falling out of the bun her mother had put it in earlier that morning. She looked up at him, “So you think they get bored? Swimming nowhere?”

“Well, maybe. Though it’s not like they know anything else.”

Yumo hummed, “I’d get bored. And dizzy.”

“Dizzy?” He questioned as a mischievous smile crawled onto his lips, “Like this?!” 

Suddenly, Yumo was lifted off of the ground as the man started to spin around in a circle with her in his arms. She broke out into a fit of giggles as he spun her around. “Dad!” The nine-year-old giggled, “Stop! I’m dizzy!”

Her father chuckled, “Well, I guess that makes you a fish then, huh?” He paused the spinning and allowed her to crawl up onto his shoulders. He made sure that she was secure while sitting on his shoulders and started to head back to their camp. “Now let’s go, your mother needs help packing up the clothes.”

“Awww, but I thought we were done already!” She whined while pulling at her father’s brown hair.

He cringed lightly, “if we were done, we would be on the road already.”

Yumo pouted, “why are we leaving? I like this place,” she glanced around the small cave that they had found in the forest. She enthusiastically started ranting, “The trees are really tall, and the berries taste nice and I found this lizard thing in the cave a few days ago.”

There was a chuckle, “yes, your mom was very happy with the new friend you found.” He did sigh though, “I know it’s a hassle to keep moving like this, but think of all the adventures we can have in the next village we find!” He said happily, “There can be tons of new food to try and people to meet!”

Yumo hummed, considering the offer he pointed out to her, “I guess you’re right!”

“I’m always right!” He smiled brightly up at her.

She just pouted, “Nuh uh!”

“Yea huh!”

“No way!”

“Yes way!” 

---

Yumo knew that the fire licking at her arms was going to leave a scar. As she cried out in pain and panic, she still ran as fast as she could. Her mother and father’s desperate demands called for her to run, and run far. So she wasn’t going to disregard their commands, not now. 

The newest home that they had found, a small earth nation village deep in the mountains, had turned out to be the worst place to settle. They had been tired, wanting to just settle down in the nearest village when a group of people on rhinos attacked them. It was a blur to Yumo, since she had no idea what the people that had wanted from them. What she did know was that they were fire benders. They lit her family’s camp ablaze for no reason, in her mind, and terrorized her parents. Whether it was luck or some miracle, Yuma was able to slip away from the fire bending soldiers. Though that wasn’t without some reminders of her escape. She needed to get somewhere safe, though being in the middle of the woods, she didn’t know where to go. 

Her parents had made sure to teach her how to survive, live off of the nature around them. However, her mind was panicked and running in circles from the pain radiating upon her arm. She didn’t know what to do, where to go. Yumo was lost and fearful.

---

Yumo jumped out of her thoughts, her mind having drifted while watching the waves as they headed further out to sea. It was like this most times. She itched at the bandages around her arms. They were nearly completely covering her arms up towards her biceps and were causing quite a bit of a phantom pain at the moment. Whenever she had a moment to herself her mind wandered to the good things and the bad things of her life. It was almost like her mind was taunting her every chance it could to remind her of what she lost and how. There was no denying that it was painful, but she has to move on. She has to be indifferent to the past and keep moving forward. 

Speaking of moving forward, the boat ride took about a day to get to Kyoshi island. She had zoned out for most of the ride, letting her mind drift to subjects less than pleasant. 

“Hey, we’re here.”

Yumo grunted in acknowledgement, nodded to the man one final time before hoping off of his boat and into the village. It was familiar yet different. It had been a while since she had been on the island and it was quite refreshing. 

Yumo took off the hood on her head, letting the short, unruly brunette hair breath. It had been quite a while since she had taken it off. It felt freeing for a moment to finally allow herself to 

“Yumo!” A voice called out. “It’s so good to see you!”

She turned to see two girls in Kyoshi warrior garb running over to her. Yumo didn’t have much of a choice but to allow the two to attack her in a bone crushing hug. Even if she prepared as quickly as possible for it, it still knocked the wind out of her, and the three landed on the ground in a heap.

The two girls giggled as they bombarded Yumo with questions about her whereabouts and any new stories she had to share with them. Yumo, while not a very physical person, was more than okay with letting them crush her ribs. It brought her quite a bit of joy in her life. Perhaps that was a huge reason why she kept coming back to this island. Though she wouldn’t admit it.

“It’s been so long since you’ve been here!” One of the girls on top of Yumo, the shorter of the two, exclaimed.

She gave the girls a small, relieved smile, “it’s good to be back.”

---

Sakura had already tuned the pair out as she’s gotten used to it by now. Besides she had her own internal debate to deal with right now. When she had first been given the topic for this gallery, there was an instant idea that popped into her head. Who did she really find inspiration? Who did she see as her hero? That was obviously her brother. People might think that it was cute for her to think of her twin brother as her hero and looked up(more like down) to him and his passions. Though after their fight, after her own realization, she found herself seeing that her constant need to have him a part of every aspect of her life and vice versa was not too healthy. 

It left quite a bit of a bitter taste in her mouth, if she were to be honest. She was obviously going to keep this topic for her entry into the gallery. It was too late for her to change it. Though it wasn’t like she really wanted to. Even if they had this fight, it didn't mean she didn't value him any less.

If anything, she was using this moment as a stepping stone, at least in her eyes. One of the last odes to her brother before she finally goes all in on finding who she is as a person. A dedication to him, going to the Tokyo practice camp as her one last volleyball adventure for them both also being a part of that. Perhaps she should have said that she wasn’t going to go. Just like the last training camp, she didn’t really think that there was a need for her to be there. Getting a few photos would be nice, but she didn’t have to be there the entire time.

That was something she usually wondered about. Why Ukai and Takeda let her tag along for so long. It wasn’t like she was a manager or anything. She didn’t provide all too much, in her eyes, to the team besides helping Yachi and Kiyoko with some managerial stuff. Perhaps she made some comments about the guys and how they played, but nothing more. Maybe they had her there because she was a good way to reign in her brother and Kageyama sometimes. Whatever the reason is, she didn’t really care. She got the opportunity to be with her brother, and she was grateful for that. Though she certainly wouldn’t be asking to go along after this one. Doubt she’d really be missed, she might miss getting to see Kiyoko and the others she tolerated most days, but it would have to happen. The real question was whether she would miss it herself.

Just as Sakura was going to continue over-thinking things about her and her brother, it seemed like the bickering that had been happening in the background had suddenly become nonexistent. Looming over the once arguing pair, the angelic Mori was giving them a closed-eyed smile. Quite a menacing aura surrounding her and stealing the breath from the others in the room.  

“I think that the layout would look better with Yokoyama placed here, Ito, Shimada, Wada, Hinata and myself.” She gave them all an angelic smile that had an edge to it. Despite giving them a pleasant expression, they all knew that she was daring any of them to speak up again. A silent threat that no one wanted to see her make a promise. It caused them all to shiver, even Sakura who never really gets scared by anything.

Shimada clapped her hands loudly, causing the others to jump, “well, with that settled, we should get these to the art club too. Wada take these to them, please.”

The boy pouted, “Oh, why me?” Though he did just take the papers from her without saying anything else.

“Because you annoyed me the most, now let’s go!” Wada, sulking just a little bit, but doing as he was told. As he left, Ito stuck her tongue out at him, just being as childish as possible. Shimada then spun to scold her, “Ito! Stop antagonizing him! Now you and Yokoyama make sure that the displays are all set.”

Yokoyama stood up and saluted, “yes, ma’am.” So they grabbed Ito and started to drag her away to do as they were told. All the while, the mousy second-year was complaining about Wada as they went. Though after the two start going, it’s normal for Ito to start whining about him.

So that left Shimada, Mori and Sakura in the club room. With most of the preparations more or less done, besides some odds and ends that have to be taken care of, things were going smoothly as usual. That meant that the president and vice-president could relax. So while the others were tying up those loose ends, Shimada took this as an opportunity to slide over to Sakura.

“So are you excited?” She asked the younger girl, “Last time you were obviously quite anxious about it, so you must have gotten over your nerves this time!”

Sakura pursed her lips, “That’s not entirely how it works. But I am less nervous this time.” The initial fear of showing others her work was more or less overcome last time. She had grown confident enough in herself and her photography to be in the gallery. So it certainly wasn’t like she was going to be nervous about it this time.

“Great!” Shimada smiled, nearly jumping for joy. Obviously, she was happy for her underclassmen and her getting over her nerves. The last thing that she would want is for Sakura to end up as nervous as she was last time. “You’ll definitely enjoy this one more, I think.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “maybe.” Though she knew that Shimada was right. However, she wouldn’t want to admit that Shimada was right to her face, that would just cause the older girl’s ego to grow bigger. Sakura definitely doesn't need that, in her opinion.

Shimada nodded her head, content with her underclassmen’s lack of nerves over this. “I’m gonna finish up anything and make sure the set up is the right way.” With a short pat on Sakura’s head, Shimada skipped out of the room to supervise anything that she could find to keep herself occupied.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mori’s angelic voice asked, now that it was just her and Sakura in the room. She sat down on the chair in front of Sakura with a slightly apprehensive, yet encouraging, expression on her porcelain face. “I know that your subject is probably going to be a bit… awkward to talk about.”

Sakura thought for a moment, really trying to think about this. Yes, the subject of her photos, her hero, really was going to be awkward to talk about. Even more so if he did actually show up to the gallery. It certainly was a thought that had crossed her mind. More like it hadn’t really left her mind all too much. She cleared her throat, “I’m more than happy with who I chose as my hero. It's not like I could lie to myself about who I have viewed as my hero for basically my entire life, you know.” She drummed her fingers on the table in front of her. “My hero has always been my brother. He’s resilient and stubborn, determined and certainly never one to back down from a challenge. He’s also quite an idiot, but he has his moments.”

Mori gave her a sweet smile, “having a brother you admire is adorable, you know.” There are times that Mori wished that she had siblings. Younger or older, brother or sister, it didn’t matter to her. Though she then hears some stories about her friends and their siblings that makes her glad to not have one. Still doesn’t stop her from thinking about what it would be like.

She supposed that she could see her closest friends as siblings. Shimada was very much a sister to her, since they had joined the photography club in their first-year. The others who have come and gone in their little club held a place in her heart. She values her friends as much as she would family. Sakura certainly was a part of that sentiment too, even if they weren’t that close with each other. Mori was more than aware that Sakura liked to keep to herself, only opening up every once in a while. Shimada had really taken the younger girl under her wing, and Sakura really confided in her the most. So attempting to have a bit of a heart-to-heart with her, Mori figured that it was going to be a bit more difficult than with others. Though it was going pretty well for the time being.

Sakura blushed at her words, “Well, it’s not like he’s actually going to come to see it.”

There was a bitter undertone to her words. One that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to admit to. Either way she could still taste how sour her mood and words were. It definitely wasn’t pleasant. She did want her brother to be there for her, to support her in the same way that she has supported him. He has encouraged her and been to the first gallery, but who knew if he was going to be at this one. They hadn’t been talking to each other, at least the way that they usually have. So there was no telling if he would come to this. Sakura really hoped he did, even if she was still a bit annoyed with him.

Mori nodded her head, “Still, whether he’s there or not, you’re going to do amazing. He should be proud of you regardless.”

It wasn’t necessarily about if Sakura thought her brother was going to be proud of her or not. She is more than assured in the idea that no matter what argument or disagreement that the two could be in they would never stop supporting each other. No matter what he might say to her, or vice-versa, they would help each other achieve their goal. This misunderstanding wasn’t going to stop them from being family. They really just needed a moment. Though that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less. 

So this was that moment, a stepping-stone for both of the teens to skip their way onto a new chapter of their lives. A time where they could develop themselves in the right way as individuals. It could be hard right now, however, it certainly would have some happy outcomes at some point. 

Sakura let out a heavy sigh, “I just figured… This is a point that we can move onto a new point in our life. After this and the Tokyo camp, I think it’s best that Shōyō and I… do our own things. Actually, do our own things.”

“A good step forward.” Mori cheered her on. While she didn’t completely know how Sakura was feeling about this or her brother, she really hoped that this was a good thing for the both of them. The last thing that they would need is for something like this to just hurt them further. Mori didn’t want to see her good friend hurt or worse because of the relationship with her brother deteriorating further.

---

Tsukishima shouldn’t be here. Really he shouldn’t. Whatever had possessed him to walk towards the commotion by the art club, was completely unknown to him. He already knew what was going on there, since he had been here for the last gallery that they had. Though that time he didn’t really have a choice. The entire team had wanted to go, and Yamaguchi had asked him to come with. Of course, he went.

Perhaps that was due to his own curiosity. He had wanted to see what Sakura had done, and how he could bully her for it. Then again, his mind flashed to the last gallery when he tried to do the same thing.

 He wasn’t exactly expecting her to stand up for herself. It kind of annoyed him. He couldn’t really get too much of a good gauge on what she was about. Yes, he knew that she was protective of her brother, that she would stand up for him no matter what. However, after having her stare him down and tell him that she was confident in herself and her work definitely threw a wrench in his mind. He thought that she would be an easy target, much like her brother, and he hates that she’s quite the enigma.

So maybe it was his curiosity gnawing at him again, or some sadistic part of his mind that wanted to try and bully her again. Still there was a smarter part of his mind yelling that it really wasn’t going to work. So why the hell was he peaking at the exhibits that people were gushing about?

As usual, there weren’t all too many people at the gallery, but that didn’t mean any of the students were less than excited. Art students were explaining their work to others, enthusiastic to show off their work. Just about everyone was more than happy to explain their work and process to anyone who was willing to listen. The only one who seemed to be not as enthusiastic was Sakura. 

He watched as she talked a bit to an eccentric third-year next to her. If he remembered correctly, that was Shimada-senpai, the president of the photography club. He doesn’t know much about the older girl, never really caring to know about anyone in this club. Then again, he could care less to know about anyone else that he didn’t deem necessary. Hell, if he didn’t have to know most of his team, he knows his life would be easier.

He did his best to spy into the room and see her work. Not wanting to be seen by her and questioned why he was there, he needed to make sure that she wouldn't see him. The last thing he needs is her smug face looking up at him because he was caught.

He rolled his eyes when he saw the few shots that she was displaying. Her brother. Of course they were of him. Who else would they be about? Apparently there was something about Heroes for this gallery's theme. Not that he was really paying too much attention. Though it didn't surprise him that it was her brother that she used for her hero. Everything in her life was about him, so why would this be any different?

“Why don’t you go in?”

Tsukishima jumped a bit at the sudden voice next to him. He certainly wouldn’t admit it but it nearly gave him a heart attack. Perhaps he was too stuck in his own head to realize anyone could walk up on him. He turned to see that it was Yamaguchi.

The green-haired boy smiled at him and asked again, “Do you want to go in?”

Tsukishima grunted and turned away from his friend, “No.” He could see Yamaguchi’s expression and didn't like it all too much. It seemed like he was going to tease him about something, and it bothered him.

“I'm sure Sakura would be glad to see people she knows coming to see her work!”

Tsukishima scoffed, “I'm not here to see whatever she's done.”

Yamaguchi blinked, a tad bit confused, “so why are you standing out here like a creep?”

“I'm not being a creep!”

“So you’re just watching Sakura from afar for…?” He raised an eyebrow, proving his point that Tsukishima was being a bit creepy.

“She’s annoying,” Tsukishima clicked his tongue. 

His friend gave him a look, one that frustrated Tsukishima. Yamaguchi pursed his lips, “That isn’t an answer.”

He huffed harshly trying to say the right thing. “I don’t get how she’s able to annoy me so much. Her idiotic brother is easy to read… But I can’t understand her.” Even after being around her for a few months, he still hasn't come up with exactly how she worked. She got into 

Yamaguchi tilted his head, “So you came here to understand her?”

Had he come here because of that? Then again what was he going to understand from her by watching her from outside? “It just felt strange that she wasn’t at the practices.”

His friend’s eyes widened, “Have you been missing her?”

Tsukishima glared at him though he didn’t say anything. No. He wasn’t missing her. What was there to miss?! Though if he did go in, she would undoubtedly pester him about him showing up. Tsukishima didn’t want to have to explain himself since he wasn’t even sure why he was there. Sakura got under his skin in a way that no one else has. Tsukishima sees most people as idiots, especially the likes on his team. However, Sakura wasn’t really an idiot. He could admit that she was smart, perhaps as smart as him, though he couldn’t pinpoint why she was just… different.

“Well,” Yamaguchi said, breaking Tsukishima from his thoughts, “I’m going to go and say hi to her. If you want to keep admiring her from afar, you can.”

Tsukishima jumped at the implication, “Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.” Though with the tone of voice and teasing smile on his lips, Yamaguchi didn’t seem to actually be apologizing. He seemed to be happy in this moment to tease his friend, which he rarely ever gets to do. Though he knows just how funny Tsukishima can get sometimes about Sakura. There was an inkling that Yamaguchi had a feeling as to why. Though he was going to leave it alone for the time being, since he isn’t even sure.

Tsukishima was then left to stew with his own thoughts. He watched as Yamaguchi walked up to Sakura, and the two shared some smiles as they talked about the gallery. The way that Sakura’s face brightened at the sight of her friend didn’t sit right in Tsukishima’s head, and he wasn’t sure why. 

Perhaps he was envious. Sakura had a great relationship with her brother, if not a bit too good. Was that something he wanted? Was that why his chest was tight when he thought about her smirk and narrowed eyes? Not that he should care. He gritted his teeth before marching off. Tsuikishima didn't need to worry about this. It would just annoy him further. Though it wasn't like she left his mind right away. She lingered behind in his mind and he hated that. She really was annoying him.

While on the court, Tsukishima knew that he couldn’t compare himself to Shōyō. That little ball of sunshine was the star of the court, while Tsukishima was just a stand in until Shōyō was needed again. However, when he found out about Sakura, he had thought that he could say that he was better than her. She wasn’t athletic, so he could say that he had that over her. Academic-wise, they were more or less on the same level. However, after at least figuring out that she was insecure about her photography, he felt gratification to know he could bully her for it. Maybe it was wrong of him, he only ever really did it to take his frustrations about her brother out on her. Though he didn’t care. Why would he? Though after time has passed and he’s had a moment of time without her snarky remarks in the gym… he missed it. And he couldn’t put his finger on why…

Elsewhere, also doing his best to go unnoticed, a certain decoy was hiding amongst the small crowd in the gallery. He thanked his height at this moment as he was able to keep himself from being spotted by his sister. He had wanted to come here to see what she did since she had been excited the last time they properly talked. 

Shōyō knew the theme of the gallery. How serious Sakura took these topics to heart and how important they were. He wasn't going to miss out on it, even if they weren't exactly on talking terms. He is always excited to see her happy about her work, so why would he miss out on this? Though it certainly warmed his heart, yet struck his chest with a wave of guilt, as he saw the photos that she had taken of him.

He knew that Sakura looked up to him. As she should, in his mind. He’s the big brother, so he wants to be a hero for both of his sisters. To make sure that they are safe and happy was one of his greatest goals in life. Of course, he had his personal journey to become the next Little Giant, however, his family also came first. 

Their argument was taking a toll on him. Shōyō had been reflecting on their childhood most of the time. Wrapping his head around what Sakura had said about wanting to be her own person seemed to be a bit more difficult than he thought. Their whole life, he thought that Sakura was happy. He thought that she was content with how they were never really apart. How bad of a brother is he to not have seen that?

Though after this, he was going to try. He wanted to try to completely understand what Sakura was feeling, how he could help her, and what they would do going forward. Sure, he doesn’t really see her issue all too much, but he wants to. Shōyō wants to listen to her and see where things went wrong. Maybe then she wouldn’t want to abandon him. So with the last fleeting look at his sister as she talked happily with Yamaguchi, Shōyō headed to find his bike. He had to head home to get ready for their trip for the camp. After tomorrow, he definitely was going to do what he could to make sure that Sakura really was okay.

---

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A/n: Ngl the chapter feels disjointed. I had something, then rewrote it entirely because it just felt wrong, and then I tried again but I wrote some of it a different times. So this chapter isn't that good. Has to be one of my worst lmao Either way next chapter is finally the Tokyo camp arc!! WOOO! Really my favorite arcs from the anime! I'm so excited! Let me know what you thought. Until the next chapter, my friends!

It’s so crowded. Too noisy. Akari would love nothing more than to be embraced by shadows to relax in their cool loneliness. She could feel that Saiki felt quite the same as her, for the scowl on his face. Then again, he usually has a permanent scowl on his face. Even with the usual expression, Akari knew exactly what he was thinking. They were on the same wavelength most of the time after all.

Neither of them wanted to be at the shrine. Though due to social conventions and family priorities, they were forced to come. To partake in society, much to their dismay. Though we all love getting to read about all the wacky adventures that ensue, right? Because I sure do! Shame that we have to suffer through this terrible writing, but I’ll take what I can get.

Despite being at a shrine, Akari didn’t necessarily have a belief in any sort of deity. When one is born with some supernatural abilities they tend to really consider the existence of a higher power. Add in the fact that she then has a best friend who has abilities that could literally be considered that of a god and she really couldn’t pinpoint if there was a celestial power out there. She came to her own conclusions eventually, which were that if there was a god, they certainly had a horrible sense of humor. 

She had been labeled a demon by her paternal grandparents at birth. Thanks to the abilities that she was born with, they came to their own conclusions about her. Akari didn’t think that her striking yellow, cat-like eyes really helped her case back then either. Though from what her father tells her just about all the time, she was quite the cute baby back then. She believed it since there were a plethora of photos of her growing up. Really, mountains upon mountains of scrapbooks from her life. 

Then again, she never knew her paternal grandparents, and really didn’t care too after the stories her mother told her about them. She could understand being unnerved by her abilities at first glance. However, her parents didn’t leave her like they did, her brother wasn’t scared of his big sister having shadow-manipulation, so Akari didn’t think her grandparents had much of an excuse. Perhaps if they stuck around longer they would have realized just how harmless Akari was to everyone.

Though she wondered, if she was a demon, who would be an angel? Maybe Teruhashi, with her desirable amount of beauty, constantly being favored by the universe or god to get what she wants, and never having real misfortunes could be considered an angel. That seemed like it would make the most sense. Still, not that Akari thought that she really deserved the title. After learning about how selfish and rotten Tsukishima could be in her own thoughts, Akari had to think that she wasn’t 100% an angel as she tried to be. 

“It’s so crowded.” Kuniharu complained. There really were a lot of people out today. Just looking at it seemed tiring.

“Of course it is.” Kurumi said, “It’s New Year’s Day.”

“Good grief,” Saiki mentally grunted, “I would rather spend my New Year’s quietly at home.”

Akari shuffled herself in her slightly larger black sweater, “You and me both.” Not only was it crowded, but things were quite loud with so many people talking around them. She hated that her family wanted to go out and participate in society like this. At least there was one upside to this which was that she could spend time with her mother, since Miku took this holiday off to spend with family. Getting to spend time with her mother was always a lovely time for Akari since she rarely gets to see her most days.

Kuniharu turned to his wife, praying, “I hope I can have another happy year with my beloved wife.”

“What?” She blinked in confusion, “Why are you making that wish to me?”

“What are you talking about? It’s because you’re my goddess.” Damn, you smooth man. Really hitting his wife with the rizz right there.

“This is not how I want to start my new year,” Kusuo groaned in annoyance.

Yamato was also quite affectionate with his wife, at least a perfect amount that he knew she loved. He had his arm wrapped around her waist while placing a kiss on the side of her head every so often. While out in public, he knew to tone down his affections for her since she didn’t completely like pda. Especially within a crowd as large as this. So he wouldn’t be as outwardly loud about his love, at least right now. Though it was taking everything within him to really hold back. Especially considering this was one of the only times of the year that she swept her work away to spend time with her family whole-heartedly. 

The overly romantic man leaned into his wife’s ear, “I wish for many more magical years with you beside me, my love.”

Miku hummed, “your wish won’t come true if you tell me.”

“My first wish has already come true though!”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

Yamato became starry-eyed, “That you said yes to me all those years ago.”  Which Miku just huffed to, more than amused by her husband. Though she certainly shared his sentiment, even if she wasn’t going to show it at the moment.

So the families walked up to pray and make their wishes. Saiki and Akari went up together just after both their mothers did theirs. Saiki’s dad also came up with them, though it wasn’t like they were paying attention to him.

“A wish?” Saiki asked, “I can always grant my own wish, not that I have any. Besides, I don’t believe in any god.”

‘What’s the point when you could be considered one.’ Akari said, also praying, ‘I wish to take a nap after this.’ A very reasonable wish to have. One that I’m sure most of us have even now.

Saiki rang the bell and thought about his own wish. “Whatever. I suppose I should make a wish, too. I hope I can have a quiet New Year’s.” He really needs to learn not to say this stuff, Saiki is just jinxing himself.

Rikuto, walked up to his parents, “Mom, can we go to the store now?”

She nodded her head, “Finish praying and then we will.”

“Okay!” He fist bumped the air, triumphantly.

So Rikuto made quick work of finishing up with his prayer and making his wish(Which no doubt had to do with manga in some way), more than excited to get to the bookshop. After all, if he was going with his parents, he had the opportunity to talk his father into getting him whatever manga he wanted. Yamato would gladly buy Rikuto whatever he wanted since he adores his children. His family have him wrapped around their fingers and there’s little that Yamoto would say no to for them. Which is why Miku was there with them. Least Rikuto convinces his father into buying him one of everything.

“Are you going to stay with Kusuo for the day?” Miku asked her daughter.

Akari nodded her head, “Is it ok that I sleep over too?”

“Of course, just come home for breakfast, you know your father will have a fit if you aren’t there for his breakfast.”

With that, Yamoto hugged and kissed his daughter goodbye, the families all said their farewells, and Akari was left with the Saiki family. Though she probably should have taken the opportunity to go home with them, with what’s to come.

It seemed like Saiki thought that the Wanatabe’s had the right idea, “Okay, now we can go home…”

“What? Saiki!” Oof, you spoke too soon Saiki. Now it’s time for plot!

Saiki nearly rolled his eyes, “See? There is no god.”

It was Kaido who had shouted out to him. The blue-haired boy came waltzing over to his friends with a smile, “This must be fate.”

“This isn’t how I wanted to start my year. Your scarf is dragging.” It indeed is dragging, reminds me of the Doctor.

Akari gave her friend a small wave, “Hi Kaido.”

“Ah, Watanabe! Didn’t see you there.” No one ever does. “Are you here visiting a shrine for New Year’s? Me? I was just passing by. God doesn’t exist in this world anyway.” Technically, one could argue that Shūichi Asō is your god, or even that MJ is your god. Couldn’t everyone who writes a story and controls their characters be considered a god by said characters? Wait, does that mean that MJ is my god then?!? Oh, I’m not ready for this existential crisis right now! I need some coffee.

Looming over the teens now were Saiki’s parents. Their eyes sparkling in amazement at the new boy talking to their son. Akari also would say that she would be surprised considering she knows how Saiki could be about friendships and stuff. Though still, she knew he didn’t like that they would make a big deal about it, or that they even thought that Kaido was his friend.

“Hello! I’m Kusuo’s dad!”

“And I’m his mom! You’re so cute! Thank you so much for being friends with Ku!”

Really they were crowding the teens with how overbearing they were being right now. “What?” Kaido jumped at their sudden eagerness to thank him, “Oh! Nice to meet… I’m the Jet-Black… Kaido!”

Akari blinked owlishly, ‘did he really try to introduce himself as the Jet-Black Wings?’

“Oh, your name is Kaido?” Kurumi said happily.

The boy just continued to stutter at the attention, “I am also thankful to be his friend. Right. I am.”

Akari eyed the way that he was talking so strangely, “He really can’t talk to adults, can he?”

“Can’t you be more consistent?” Saiki said, “Make up your mind!”

Kuniharu smiled blissfully at his son, “So, you have friends other than Akari and Nendo, Kusuo.” 

He scowled, “Nendo isn’t a friend.” Akari hummed, not completely believing that statement, mainly due to the fact that Kusuo had to accept Nendo as something at this point. ‘Friend’ was better than nothing.

His mother agreed, “I was so surprised.”

“Yes. Me, too. I never expected Kusuo to have three friends.” That was a bit of a backhanded compliment from Saiki’s dad. Saying he’s surprised his son can have friends while also having the ability to make friends. If it were me, I wouldn’t let that slide. …Actually I would, because I hate confrontation. 

“No, not that.” Kurumi blushed, happiness radiating off of her, “I actually just wished for Ku to have plenty of friends. And it’s already come true!”

Saiki scowled, “Then why can’t they grant me my wish, too?”

Though Akari stared at the dazzled expression of the older woman, ‘You’re mom is actually so wholesome.’ She found it quite adorable how Saiki’s mother always did wholesome things like this. Wishing her son had friends, doing her best for him, trying to understand him(to the best of her ability), honestly Akari thought she was one of the best. Of course, her own mother was on the top of that list for her, though Kurumi is a really close second.

“Oh, I actually wished for the same thing!” Kuniharu boasted to his wife,  “You and I think so alike!”

“I don’t believe that for one second,” Akari snickered under her breath. Though Kuniharu heard that and deflated just a little bit. How could she think so little of him? Sure, she was right, but still!

After that, it was like God had a personal vendetta against Saiki. Punishing him for seemingly no reason. Or maybe there was a reason, that reason being for our entertainment. Not only had Kaido shown up, but after him it was Hairo, then Nendo, and then Teruhashi of all people. It certainly didn’t help Saiki's mood that they were all here. Something that Akari could easily feel. The pleasantries that were exchanged between them all didn’t necessarily interest Akari, not in the slightest. Not like they even saw that she was there. She didn’t really care that they were there.

Hell, Hairo didn’t even know she was standing right next to Saiki until Nendo mentioned it and said hello to her. Teruhashi also didn’t notice her until then either, but she still ignored her existence even after Akari was pointed out. Not that Akari cares, she just wants to nap. She also knew that Saiki would want to escape all of this at the moment. He wanted to be alone, something she could relate to, and figured that this was going to ruin that. Then when Kuniharu came up with a great idea, Akari knew that she had to say something.

“I know! Why don’t you all come over? We have New Year’s food.”

Kurumi was just bursting with excitement at her husband’s idea, “Yes! Please come!”

“Oh! Let’s go!” Nendo shouted.

Ever the polite young woman, Teruhashi said, “If we won’t be too much trouble.”

Saiki froze, “How come you’re not granting my wish, God?”

Akari looked from the excited group talking about going to the Saiki house and her best friend. Obviously there was only one choice that she could make here. So she cut through their conversation with her haunting voice, which gave them all chills.

“Actually,” her whispery voice called out, surprisingly easy to hear over the excitement from the others. “Ku and I have plans after this.”

“Oh?” Kurumi blinked, a bit deflated at the fact that they might not be able to meet all of these lovely friends of her sons. “You do?”

Ever the idiot, Nendo blurted out, “Must be another date for you guys!”

“Date?!” All of them exclaimed in varying degrees of shock and surprise. 

“Good job, pal.” Nendo gave him a thumbs up, seemingly congratulating on yet another date between them. He certainly supported anything his pal and gal pal did, especially dating each other.

Saiki scowled at Nendo for even suggesting that. That would definitely make everything more difficult. Especially with Teruhashi here actually able to hear that. Speaking of the perfect pretty girl, she tried to keep the facade of just simple surprise on her face, but there was an underlying annoyance in her expression. We don’t really need to have telepathy to know what she was thinking as her eye twitched while staring at Akari.

Akari just shook her head, “No. We were going to our favorite cafe for New Years.”

Saiki knew for a fact that they didn’t have any plans. At most, they probably were just going to go to one of their houses and just laze around. Maybe Saiki would play a video game while Akari napped on his bed, they weren’t really too pressed on what to do. 

Akari took Saiki’s elbow, leaving no room of argument for anyone to make. As far as they needed to know, they did have plans. They ignored the talk of their friends and Saiki’s parents behind them, all of them disheartened about them leaving but wanting to try it another time. So they navigated through the crowd until they left the shrine, safe from being bothered by their annoying friends.

As he was being led away by Akari, Saiki looked down at the back of her head with an awed expression, “Are you god?” Akari glanced up at him in confusion for a moment before giggling.

---

Yes, Akari had told them that they were going to their favorite cafe, but perhaps that was just to throw off the others. Precautions had to be taken, just in case they were going to end up being stalked by Saiki’s parents or their friends. Even though they said that this was by no means a date or anything, what they said would just end up going in one ear and out the other with them. Though it’s not like there were many places that they could go without it being busy. Most areas had people out eating, hanging out, just spending the holiday outside. Not only that but the teens couldn’t go to either of their homes at this time. If they did go to their homes then their parents would know, and they had done this to avoid Saiki’s parents as well as their friends. Plus there’s no doubt that they would hassle them due to Nendo’s ‘date’ comment. So it was best to avoid that.

Instead, Akari had suggested just getting a blanket and sitting at a park. There was no doubt in her mind that he would agree to it. Any chance that he could take to get away from people to be alone, he would certainly take. Well, almost alone. Though he certainly doesn’t mind just being with her. (Not in that way, obviously. Don’t read too far into that statement.) Saiki teleported to Akari’s house, grabbed a blanket and teleported back to her. So they made sure to set up in an area that they deemed nice enough.

“The fact that we ran into all of them at the shrine was unfortunate.”

“It really does seem like God hates me.”

“You and me both,” Akari groaned, “I just wanted to nap. Though it is quite funny how God seems to have it out for you.” Saiki just scowled as she laughed at his misery.

While Akari didn’t notice it, Saiki certainly could see their friends stalking behind them. He could hear everyone’s thoughts, of course he could hear their curious thoughts as they watched Saiki and Akari walk along the paths. Though he certainly was not going to let them bother either him or Akari after they had first escaped. He didn’t care that the group wanted to know if they were dating. They really were just a bother. Even Teruhashi’s clear jealousy towards Akari was not going to ruin his peace. After all, Akari had already done enough to get them away from them. So with the use of his powers, he made sure to evade and confuse their group of stalkers. Akari was none the wiser. Perhaps because she was more focused on finding a good spot to nap. Which they did end up finding, now without their ragtag group of tagalongs behind them.

Akari floated across the grass of the nearby park that they escaped to. While there were a few people milling around, they didn’t seem like they were going to bother the teens. So they tried to keep themselves in the most secluded part of the park. There was a small area, one with quite a few trees and bushes that separated a small clearing from the rest of the park. Just perfect.

“This actually is not how I saw today going.” Saiki said as they laid on the blanket. Well, Akari was laying down, Saiki was just sitting next to her.

“Though better than how it could have been.” Akari tiredly commented. Saiki hummed in agreement. She let out a yawn and stretched, seemingly resembling a cat, “I’m just glad I can nap now.”

Saiki peered down at her from behind his glasses and gave her an amused look, “It always baffles me how you can fall asleep anywhere. You really are quite lazy.”

Aikari chuckled under her breath,  “Lazy is my middle name.” She shuffled around a bit, making sure that she was comfortable enough on the ground.

It didn’t take long after that for Akari to doze off with some soft snoring. Not that Saiki really minded. He expected that she would since he could see how tired she was since they were at the shrine. She cuddled up next to Saiki, but made sure to not cling to him at all. Since she knows that he doesn't like physical contact. She had gotten him out of one uncomfortable situation, she certainly didn’t want to put him into another.

So Saiki just sat in silence, thinking to himself and admiring the solidarity that he had been allotted. Thank god for his friend. She really does pull him out of situations that he didn’t like just at the right times. Sure, he could probably do it himself, though he didn’t think he could say no to his parents and their pressures. Especially his mother, he could usually say no to her, but she has her moments over him. 

He glanced down at the shadow-manipulator as she snored lightly beside him. If there was one thing that he was actually happy about today, it was getting to grant Akari’s wish. While he thought that she was quite the god by saving him from having to suffer through the group of idiots coming to his house, he would try to be her god by granting her wish. He brushed lock of inky hair from Akari’s forehead. It almost looked like he was… admiring her… Though that would be silly, right?

Whatever you’re thinking about the two of them, dont! Saiki might be able to hear you and call you stupid for thinking it. Trust me, I’d know. Still, even with the soft sunlight coming down from between the leaves, the occasional chirping of birds, and murmur of people passing by, Saiki really did notice how adorable Akari looked while napping.

---

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A/n: When it came to writing this chapter, I did initially plan on writing it all out. However, as I was finishing it up and getting the dialogue, I realized that it was quite tedious. Not only that but I figured I could write a new little story line for this. Basically changed the ending of this one and added my own little ending with it. I like it, I hope you did too :)