Earlier that day, Kihira had received a text message from Yachi regarding posters for the sponsorship of the volleyball club. She needed help printing and putting up the posters, so she practically begged Kihira to do her the favour, even though she really didn't need to beg.

To assure the girl, Kihira agreed immediately. In fact, she is more than willing to do anything that will help the volleyball team as manager-on-trial. So when noon came, she got a dozen posters printed at a nearby printing shop and paid for the fee from her own pocket. Since the summer sun wasn't letting down, she had decided to cycle and tape up the posters in the evening.

It is now ten minutes to six so Kihira gets ready to carry out her first task as unofficial manager of the club. She puts on her socks as she notices, from the corner of her vision, her mother comes into her room.

"Mom!" She exclaims. "You scared me."

"Sorry dear." Her mother says, entering her room with a pile of clean towels. "Please fetch your clean laundry from the laundry room. I don't want your clothes piled up there."

"I'll do it after I come back. I'm going out for a bit." She says while adjusting her purple ankle socks. She notices her mother lean down to pick up the posters from her bed, but it is too late to stop her.

"Hmm, what is this?"

"It's uh, posters. For sponsorships for our school's boys' volleyball club."

Her mother studies the content of the poster. "Did you design this?"

"No, Yachi did. The girl who sits beside me in class. She's the manager of the volleyball team now." She explains. If this turns into another talk about how she needs to learn more skills, she will bail.

"This is very well designed."

"Yeah, her mother works at a graphic design firm. I'm supposed to help print and paste them up later." She says. "I joined their club as manager too. But just for trial."

"Manager?" Her mother asks, looking at her. "Don't you already have softball?"

"Yeah but I can handle two clubs."

The older woman puts the poster back with the others. "Don't busy yourself with too many activities."

Kihira mumbles something in agreement and continues sorting out the flyers. From the corner of her eyes she can see her mother still standing there, watching her, as if she has something left to say.

"What do they need sponsorships for?"

"They are heading to Tokyo for a training camp soon, so they need to rent a van for the journey." Kihira explains while gathering the posters into a neat pile. "They used to be champions. I want to help them. I think this new batch will do really well."

"I've heard." Her mother hums. She looks at the posters again. "Wait here."

Kihira watches her mother exit the room. Wait here? Is she doing what I think she's doing?

The woman returns with her wallet and cheque book in hand. "How much does it cost to rent a van?"

"About twelve thousand yen."

Her mother scribbles some digits onto the cheque. "Here's four thousand."

"That's- that's great!" Kihira exclaims as she receives the cheque from her, not expecting it. "Thank you mom! I'll hand it over to the teacher advisor."

She smiles and nods. "The club must have a bank account too since they were top tier players. Do you know how to answer if people who ask how they could donate?"

"Via bank in, cheque or cash. Cheque to be addressed to the club's account holder. Got it." Kihira assures her.

"Good," Her mother hums. "I knew you could be steady on your feet."

Unable to find words to respond back, Kihira quietly files the cheque into one of her folders. As her mother leaves the room, she can't help but crack a small smile.

The past week has been rather peaceful. The students of Karasuno High took their exams and finished either feeling content or regret and frustration. For Tsukishima, it was more of the former. It always has been. It was easy for him to walk right out of the classroom and into the volleyball court with no concerns.

In the days leading up to their trip to Tokyo, Coach Ukai and Daichi have been pushing them very hard. "We have to match up to them," they had said. "Let's show them we are not a joke!"

The team cheered and skipped back to practice, a stark contrast to Tsukishima's waltz of nonchalance back to his position. It was hours and hours of blocking, serving, and slams each day. While everyone else was getting more and more hyped, he was getting more and more tired. Demotivated. Like more demotivated than ever. Even Yamaguchi was trying harder than him.

Sometimes Kihira was there. On her first official day there, Kiyoko showed her and Yachi the ropes: refilling the ball cart, keep track of any upcoming practice matches, watch out for stray balls, and the likes. Sometimes she would hand out towels and water bottles, or serve some balls for Hinata and Tanaka. He thought she would just be a waste of space.

Today, he was especially tired. His arms felt heavy. His eyes droopy. He took more water breaks than anyone else. In the middle of practice, Coach Ukai calls out to him and Nishinoya. As he approaches the bench, his water bottle and towel is handed to him by Kihira.

"Thanks." He mumbles. Kihira returns to sorting out the members' bottles while he waits for Coach Ukai to finish his talk with Nishinoya.

"And Tsukishima." Ukai continues. "You kept missing the timing of your blocks today. Use your arms to power up your jumps. Keep that in mind."

He nods and goes to put down his bottle and towel when Kihira stretched out her hands. He looks at her in confusion, before realizing what the gesture meant. "It's my sweaty towel," he remarked.

"I don't care." She says. He hands it off to her and mumbles his thanks again.

On the opposite court, Daichi, Tanaka and Nishinoya are working on their receiving and Yamaguchi on his float serve. Behind Tsukishima, Sugawara practises serving with Kageyama; on his side of the court, Kihira is setting balls for Asahi to spike while he and Hinata blocks him. Yachi is running back and forth in between providing more balls for the boys and discussing the Tokyo trip with Kiyoko as Coach Ukai watches the players and correct their form and technique.

"Tsukishima, swing your arms before you jump." He calls out from the other side of the court. Tsukishima grunts under his breath and prepares to block Asahi again, only to have the ball blasting past his elbows.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. Time tends to tick by faster when you're not paying attention. At the end of practice, Daichi gathers the rest of the member for a short briefing.

"As you all know, we are leaving for the Tokyo training camp this Sunday. Besides Hinata and Kageyama, make sure the rest of you arrive here by 7.30 in the morning."

The members hum in acknowledgement, save for the mentioned four who groan and whine about their predicament. Kageyama grunts something about filling in the correct answers in the wrong spaces. Coach Ukai dismisses them for the day and the members pack up to leave for home. But of course, what is teamwork without some post-training bonding?

"Anyone down for some meat buns?" Sugawara asks excitedly at the rest of the team. The team cheers and jumps in merriment at the suggestion and begins heading out the gymnasium. Tsukishima inwardly derides at the vigour of his teammates and dismisses the idea of spending more time than he has to with this bunch. "Come on Yamaguchi, let's go."

He starts towards the opposite direction, but stops when he feels something isn't quite right. He turns around. Yamaguchi still stands at his spot and looks at the rest of the team who is about to head off. He turns back to Tsukishima. "Why don't we go with them?"

"…no." He replies. "If you want to, then go."

Yamaguchi doesn't look anymore appeased. "But…don't you wanna eat something before heading home?"

"Yeah Tsukki," a new voice joins the mix. Tsukishima frowns. Kihira eyes him as she walks past him. "Don't be so…antisocial."

Something about that smirk she gives him afterwards sets something off in him. Tsukishima's brows narrowed. "Fine."

"You guys joining?" Daichi asks.

"Yeah. All of us." Kihira answers.

"Great!"

Tsukishima chooses to walk behind the rest of the group, headphones on and hands in his pockets. He watches as they bicker and smile and laugh among themselves, even lightly elbowing each other in jest. He can see Kihira's eyes squint almost into a line and her lips spread into a smile as she laughs and talks, looking like she already belongs there despite only being with them for a little over a week. He grunts under his breath, and chooses to look at the ground for the rest of the trip there.

Come Sunday morning, the Karasuno volleyball team meet at the school gym at the scheduled time. Once a headcount was done, all of them file into the bus rented for them and begin their 5-hour journey to Tokyo. Even though she is technically their manager-on-trial, Kihira feels like she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her joining the club at the last minute and under what she thinks is a very odd status (as not-so-committed manager) just makes her feel so out of place. Never mind that she has no prior volleyball or professional sporting experience, the very fact that she is the only one on the bus with no seating partner further accentuates that.

She had approached Kiyoko about the Tokyo trip beforehand, expressing her thoughts about just being useless space that uses more of the club's funding. "Oh, don't say that," Kiyoko said, "This would be a good chance to get used to the roles of a manager. Plus, an extra hand never hurt."

Kihira can only think what having three managers would look like to the other teams. She's nervous about the trip, about meeting new people and being in the presence of so many new people. She can't remember the last time she was thrusted into a situation like this.

The bus trip started off very rowdy. Everyone on the bus was excited to be in Tokyo as for most of them, it would be their first time. By the third hour, everyone else was passed out asleep on the bus. They did have a very early morning wake up call, after all. Kihira, who took the very back seat, could see who was asleep by the jerky movements of their heads by the bus. Her eyes laid on one with blond hair. His head rested on the top of the bus seat, headphones over his ears. How nice, she thought, and she continued her musings while looking out the window.

By the last hour, everyone had woken up. Nishinoya pulled out a deck of cards he brought with him and Kihira joined them for a few rounds of card games. The bus rolls to a stop after five long hours. They get down the bus and are greeted by the members of the Nekoma High volleyball team. Their team captain shakes hands with Daichi and exchanges a few words in greeting while Nishinoya barrels through the group, exclaiming in awe at everything and anything that looks foreign.

"HOOOOOOH!" a boy with dyed mohawk drops to his knees in front of Kiyoko and Yachi, attracting everyone within the vicinity. "The girls…have multiplied!"

Tanaka proudly stands in front of him, hands on hips. "We have not one, not two, but THREE female managers!" He points towards Kihira, who was watching from a far as the two teams reconcile. She freezes in her steps as a few heads turn towards her. Taketora, still kneeling on the ground, falls to the ground in defeat.

"Three…three girl managers…" he sobs. Kiyoko motions for her to quickly follow them into the gymnasium as Taketora plays out his dramatic façade. "Why can't Nekoma ever have nice things…"

The gym is huge, fitting about 6 volleyball courts and large border spaces for running laps and warming up. Kihira let out a 'wow' at how modern and clean the inside of the gym looked, but it is expected, as one of the top sports facilities in Tokyo. They get to the dorms prepared for them and set up one of the rooms as their own before sorting out the boys' bags. Kihira notices other girls a few rooms from theirs, and asks Kiyoko, "Are they the other team's managers?"

"Should be." Kiyoko says. "I haven't met any of them yet, but the managers have a short gathering later so we will get to introduce ourselves."

"Gathering?" Yachi pipes up.

"Yup. In the group chat we planned to get together downstairs to introduce ourselves." Kiyoko explains. It makes sense they would have a group chat to ensure smooth communication of details between teams. That is what managers are for – bridging the gap from one team to another.

"Excuse me," a female voice draws their attention towards the door. Two girls in blue tops and white track pants are at their door. "Are you Karasuno's managers?"

"We are." Kiyoko gracefully steps forward, assuming responsibility. In that moment, Kihira can literally feel her certitude towards her role as manager, and it makes Kiyoko more admirable in her eyes.

The older of the two extends her hand out to Kiyoko. "I'm Shirofuku Yukie, a third year at Fukurodani Academy. This is Suzumeda Kaori."

Kaori's face immediately beams, and it feels as if her face is exuding a thousand rays of warm sunshine and flowerlike-smiles. "Hi! I'm a first year at Fukurodani!" Kihira goes to shake her hand first.

"Oh, same as us!" Yachi exclaims from behind Kihira. "I m-mean, we are not from Fukurodani but we are from Karasuno, but also first years…I'm Hitoka Yachi!"

"And I'm Iruka Kihira." Kihira gives her smile that tries the emulate the magnitude of the other girl's. Her cheeks start to hurt.

"Wait wait…so Yachi-chan." Kaori points to Yachi. "…and Kihira-chan. Right?" The two nod. "Sorry, I'm really bad at names so I have to repeat myself. To tell you a secret, I already forgot the names of half of the other managers, hehe."

"Good luck remembering our names, then." Kihira chids.

"I'm Shimizu Kiyoko." Kiyoko shakes Kaori's hand. "Nice to meet the both of you."

"Wow, they really weren't kidding when they said Karasuno's manager is really beautiful." Yukie comments. Kiyoko brushes it off as an exaggeration.

"But you are so pretty though!" Kaori says, almost gushing at Kiyoko. "Your eyelashes are so long and your eyes are so pretty! Also you're pretty tall for a girl too…"

Right then and there Yachi and Kihira feel so small next to Kiyoko. Yukie notices their uncomfortable smiles. "I m-mean, you are ALL pretty! You two are so cute and Yachi-san I really like your ponytail and-"

"It's okay, we pale in comparison to this goddess." Kihira says, boldly poking fun at her senior. They all laugh it off. A sense of satisfaction creeps in on her. She's making new friends.

After dinner that night, the boys immediately hit the sack after a long day of training. The sleeping arrangement for each school team is a large room laid with tatami, except all the female coaches and team managers were assigned a different room. Kihira had a tiring day too – of socializing and fetching balls, that is. But she wasn't sleepy at eleven thirty yet. She mentally pats herself on the back for coming fully prepared – she had downloaded episodes of her favourite TV drama onto her laptop to watch on the trip. Now is the time.

After tiptoeing to the communal seating area just outside the Karasuno's quarters, she pulls up her laptop and hit play. The quarters remain silent. Everyone else is fast asleep. She really hopes no one wakes up now and catches her staying past the designated curfew. She clicks play on episodes after episodes, unaware of the amount of time that has passed.

Four episodes in, a door creaks open. She sits up straight and looks at the door with full attention. To her amusement, out walks a disheveled Tsukishima without his glasses. He squints at her from the door, trying to make out if she's someone he knows.

"Tsukishima?"

He doesn't make any bodily reactions. "Where's the bathroom?"

It takes her a while to realize he is practically blind without his glasses. She points to the door across from where she is sitting against the wall. "It's that way."

Without saying a word, he trots towards the direction as she watches him. He is sluggish, dragging his feet, and is that a new bruise on his knee? He almost looks like he's been beaten into exhaustion.

"Wait – Tsukishima –" she leaps forward from her seat to catch him before he could enter the door. "That's the girls' bathroom."

He stops just short in front of the door and stares at it. It takes a few seconds to register that is, indeed, the girls' bathroom. "Oh."

She bursts out laughing. His confusion and lack of tact amidst his sluggish state is almost adorable. She leads him by the elbow towards the right door. "It's here dummy."

He enters the bathroom and she returns to her laptop. Even after hitting play, she can't help but keep replaying zombie-Tsukishima acting like a lost child navigating through the quarters. The more she thinks about it, the less she is able to control her fits of giggle.

He comes out shortly after. "It's not funny." He mutters, but it only makes her laugh again. He sounds so…pouty when he's tired. Like a petulant child.

"Why didn't you wear your glasses?"

"I can't find it."

"You're such a baby."

"Why are you out here anyways?" He says. "It's almost two."

"I'm not tired." She says. She moves her cursor to the edge of her screen. It really is two in the morning already. "Do you want me to help look for your glasses?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, okay, you big baby. Go back to sleep."

He rubs his eyes. "You too."

As the door shuts behind her, she stifles another fit of laughter, careful not to wake the others. But she soon finds herself a little panicky - just a little - as a warm feeling rises in her chest.

A/N: I had a draft of Chapter 9 sitting in my laptop for two years. TWO YEARS. How did I not find the discipline to come around and finally get this uploaded? Ugh.

Anyways, it's been almost 3 years. A lot has changed, but I haven't forgotten about this story :D excited to be doing some writing soon.