Well, here we go.

Chapter 1: The hunt on second-year girls

Kuroo Tetsurō was not a morning person. This didn't mean that he hated mornings. He was alright with getting up early from time to time. And, he was completely okay with those being 'catapult wakeups'. However, he really loved sleeping in. If he could, he would sleep in, roll around his bed when he woke up and go down for breakfast when it was already noontime. However, it was April. And April meant the beginning of his third and last year of high school.

So, Kuroo was up by five and ready to leave his home in less than half an hour. He knew that he needed to pick up his best friend and make certain that they both got to school on time for their morning practice. His mom was up by the time he was at the door, looking at him with tired eyes and stumbling for her morning cup of coffee.

"Have a good day, Tetsu." She waved him off and he grinned, hand raised in a greeting as he closed the door. Kenma was asleep when he arrived at his home, as usual. Kuroo had a nice chat with his parents and finally managed to drag the sleepy setter out of his home by six, fed and clothed. Really, it was like having a slightly overgrown child.

"Nekomata called in a morning practice and meeting." Kuroo pointed out as they boarded the train, Kenma's eyes never leaving his PSP. There was a new game he was trying to beat, something about needing sixty more hours to do so. Kuroo, honestly, didn't get it. While he liked games well enough, he wasn't nearly as devoted as Kenma was.

"Mm." Nodded the setter.

"This time…" Kuroo trailed off, swaying with the train movement slightly. "We'll get to the Nationals." Kenma's eyes left the PSP screen, focusing on Kuroo. The small setter nodded once again, a tiny smile on his face.

Practice was tiring, filled with stray shots and shouts about 'sorry', 'cover' or 'get the last'. But, it was a normal thing for them, until they found their groove. Kuroo's legs felt like cooked noodles when Nekomata pulled him to the side before he had the chance to go head for the showers.

"Kuroo, we need a manager." The coach told him, watching as the boys filed out, heading for the showers and the changing room. After he got a nod, the man continued. "The third-years are doing all the manager duties at this point and I don't want you to just bump the chores down a year."

"Anything specific that I should be looking for?" Kuroo asked, hand on his hip, trying to put all of his weight on one leg, before switching to the other.

"Yes." Nekomata searched his notes, before tearing out a paper from the back. Kuroo noted a list of names. "These are the names of second-years who aren't in clubs at the moment. See if any of them would be interested in picking up the manager duties here." Nekomata glanced at the door. "We need someone who can deal with these boys' antics."

"Yamamoto-proof, I got it." Kuroo snickered.

"If we luck out with second-years, we'll try to hunt down a first-year girl before they all get snatched by other clubs." The coach said. "Good luck." Kuroo headed for the showers with a nod, clutching the list in his hand. This was going to be a bother, he knew already. "And Kuroo," The boy turned back, one hand at the door. "Don't scare them too much." The captain's laughter rang out as he continued on his way.

"Won't you join a club this year?" Sakurano Niko asked, stopping her daughter in her tracks. For years it had been a debate in their neighborhood about the gist of their relationship. The rumor mill simply couldn't connect the two as mother and daughter, which wasn't really a surprise. While Sakurano Niko was a short, petite, clearly Japanese woman in her late forties, her daughter, Chiharu, was a tanned, curly haired and seemingly foreign child. It took years for one of their neighbors to ask Niko about their relation and get a completely straightforward answer. Sakurano Chiharu was half Cuban, from her father's side, inheriting wild hair, large lips, and his dark complexion. All in all, it made her stick out like a sore thumb wherever she went.

"Maybe." Chiharu replied, pushing her breakfast around her bowl with her spoon. She hadn't joined one of the numerus clubs at school in her first year. After entering high school, she wanted to make certain that her grades were good and that she had a secure future ahead of her of easy winnings. Joining a club would've offered more opportunities for making friends, but it also would've taken up her afternoons completely. Besides, none of the clubs listed as available had intrigued her.

"Chiharu, you need to make more friends." Niko frowned, sitting down next to her daughter. "High school is all about going a bit crazy, you know?" Her mother grinned.

"Maybe I should join a gang?"

"Eeeh?!" Niko's shout of surprise made her daughter burst into giggles. "I'm joking, mom." She shook her head and quickly finished off the last few bites of her breakfast. "I don't think I'd make a good yankee." She giggled.

"Well, you never know." Her mother shrugged. There was a short pause in their conversation as Chiharu straightened out her uniform and grabbed her bag. "Chiharu." Niko stopped her daughter at the door, as the girl was slipping on her shoes. "You're happy, right?" The look on her mother's face made Chiharu force a wide grin onto her lips.

"Yeah!" She energetically offered, but the smile slipped off of her face as soon as she was turned away from Niko.

"Good." Her mother added. ''Have a good day!" And Chiharu was off. As she headed towards the train station, she mused about her mother's question. Happy. Well, it wasn't that she wasn't happy. But it wasn't like she was super happy. She was more like… indifferent about it? Chiharu had friends. She had a best friend and classmates and she properly participated in all class activities. They all went out for karaoke or food from time to time. She studied together with her best friend, a girl named Kudō Akari, a vivacious seatmate who had been in her class during the first year. All in all, it was a good high school experience, Chiharu supposed.

Happy? Was she happy with that?

"Yo, Kenma." Kuroo entered the second years' classroom like he owned it and headed for his friend's desk. There were a few heads which turned, mostly girls and boys who hadn't been in Kenma's class last year. The rest, though, were used to Kuroo being a constant during breaks. "You're class three this year? Anyone still here from last semester?"

"Mm." Kenma nodded, eyes not leaving his cellphone. He was busy arranging a team play game for the afternoon. They still needed a healer to get them through the dungeon. "A few."

"Any new friends?" Kuroo sat down on the desk next to his friend's, its owner absent.

"Making new friends during homeroom is impossible." The setter deadpanned, making his friend chuckle.

"Amazing expression." Kuroo laughed at the setter's displeased face, now definitely gaining everyone's attention because of his odd guffaw. A few girls in the back giggled. "Say, do you know any of these people?" Kuroo asked, passing a paper to the setter. "They're all second-years." Kenma took the list, looking it over. "Nekomata wants me to scout them for the manager position for this year."

"Mm." The setter mused, reading through the names once more. The bell rang out, making Kuroo hop up.

"Well, I'll be back later." The captain shrugged. "Let me know if you know any of these. It'll make talking to them easier, no?" Kenma gave a tiny nod as Kuroo left the classroom and headed back up to the third floor.

"Lucky!" Akari chimed, patting her desk happily. "We're next to each other this year, too!" Chiharu nodded with a smile. "I was worried that I'd be in the same class as Nishimura this year and without Haru-chin." Akari's face scrunched up in a rather interesting expression. "That would've been the worst!"

"That's not a nice thing to say, idiiiiot." Chiharu sang out the last word with a small smile, tutting.

"But, it's the truth!" Akari defended. "I really don't get along well with her type!" Nishimura Megumi was a pretty, yet terribly fickle, girl from their first-year class. She'd made Akari absolutely miserable and self-conscious with her constant comments and jibes. All in all, while Chiharu wouldn't say it out loud, she was happy to be parted from the blonde menace.

"Gossiping already?" Fukuda Itsuki wandered over, one eyebrow raised. The tall boy from the basketball club had been with them last year, as well, finding a good dynamic with the two girls. At some point, they'd nicknamed him Ikki, which was a nickname he didn't really like and couldn't really get rid of at this point. It had somehow spread through the second-years and his basketball team, which meant that it was there to stay. Still, he often hung out with the girls.

"Not at all." Akari sighed. "Just thankful to whichever Kami was looking out for me this year." She sighed, looking up.

"That Megu-tan is in class three?" Ikki grinned.

"That I'm not in class three!" Chiharu and Akari replied in unison, before bursting into giggles.

"I kinda feel sorry for her class, though." Ikki nodded. Then, he grinned conspiratorially. "They won't know what hit them!" He guffawed.

"You're evil, Ikki!" Akari laughed.

"Definitely evil." Chiharu confirmed, despite his grumbled complains.

During the lunch break, Kuroo began his hunt on second-year girls. He chuckled whenever he thought about the nickname he'd given his operation, but it made it all the more memorable. Yaku and Kai had similar reactions when they heard the name, sending him off with wishes of 'good luck' and 'do your best'. Kai also added 'don't scar them for life', which Kuroo felt personally offended about.

"So, that's Yui-chan?" He asked, pointing at the short-haired girl who was talking with a few of her friends eagerly. She seemed lively, he supposed.

"Mm." After getting Kenma's confirmation, Kuroo attacked. All conversation among the second-year girls went quiet when he walked over, blushes spreading across their cheeks as they nudged each other.

"He's coming over. He's coming over." One girl giggled.

"Hello!" Kuroo opened quite lamely, in his opinion, but the girls didn't seem to mind. They just giggled and chorused a greeting back. "You're Endo Yui-chan, right?" The girl in question blushed, even more, looking at her feet. She nodded timidly. "I'm Kuroo Tetsurō, from the volleyball club."

"We know who you are, Kuroo-senpai." One of the taller girls chimed in with a small smile. "We saw you play last year at the Inter High."

"A second-year regular!" Another girl piped up. "So cool!" What bothered Kuroo was the fact that Yui was still looking at her shoes. Too timid, maybe? He wasn't sure if she could withstand Yamamoto if she was too shy. He was a tiger that one. A girl-obsessed tiger. Kuroo's mental image of a Yamamoto dressed in a full-body tiger costume wasn't flattering at all.

"Thanks." He grinned. "So, Yui-chan, I wanted to ask if you'd planned on joining a club this year?" She was blushing horribly at him calling her by her first name. "We're looking for a manager if you are?"

"Ah." Now, she did look up at him. "I'm sorry." Yui told him.

"Yui's joining the track team this year." The tallest of the group told him. "I kind of pushed her into it, but she wants to try it out, regardless."

"Oh, I see." Kuroo nodded. "Well, good luck!" He didn't allow his disappointment to show on his face, masking it with a grin.

"I'm sorry." Yui offered a small bow to him and he waved her off with a 'don't mind'. The girl was too sweet, too shy and overly formal with him. Yamamoto would chase her away in seconds.

"You should come watch our practice sometime, Kuroo-senpai!" The tall girl yelled after him as he was leaving, making Kuroo raise a hand and wave goodbye. But, he didn't confirm or deny. With the volleyball practice, he'd learnt during his first year not to make promises to girls. They could get quite scary, after all. He'd had a rather enthusiastic crowd following him in both his first and second year, asking him to visit their practice since he'd already visited another girl's. Since then, Kuroo watched what he said around those relentless harpies, nickname given from absolute respect for their tenacity.

Unfortunately, the rest of Kuroo's lunch break was spent in much the same fashion: utter rejection. While Kenma was helpful, pointing out girl after girl, seriously, how did he know their names despite never having talked to them, Kuroo began to doubt his charm. Some of the girls had already joined clubs or were planning to. And, others, they had part-time jobs or were planning on helping out at home more. By the end of the lunch break, he only had three names left on the list Nekomata had given him and was beginning to feel irritated with his hunt on second-year girls. It had been much more fun in his mind.

So, utterly defeated, Kuroo headed back to his floor, not daring to report to Yaku or Kai.

"Hey, isn't that a senpai?" Akari's head popped up, neck craning to see if the sentence was true. The girls closer to the door were pushing together, heads outside the classroom, before ducking back in to giggle.

"It is!"

"It's the one from the volleyball club. So tall!"

"Kuroo-senpai, right?" One of the giggling girls said. "I heard he was made captain this year."

"That's pretty hot." Another giggled.

"Haru-chin, wanna go see?" Akari practically begged. She had that expression on her face, making puppy-dog eyes at her best friend with high expectations. Chiharu sighed, knowing that she couldn't defeat that look.

"Okay." She grinned. "Let's go get you your fill of hot senpai captains for the day." But, before she could stand up, the chatter in the classroom went quiet.

"Is Sakurano Chiharu here?" The 'hot' volleyball captain had his head inside the classroom, one hand on the doorway. He is pretty good looking, Chiharu mused. If you were into the whole 'I just got out of bed' look. Akari's elbow hit her side, painfully digging in.

"That's her, over there." One of the girls who had been giggling a second ago replied on pure instinct, her finger pointing at Chiharu. The girl herself, however, didn't dare look up. Before she could do anything, though, Kuroo-senpai was at the desk in front of hers, pulling out the chair and sitting down the wrong way around. She instantly felt her irritation spike, a scowl appearing on her face.

"Hello! I'm Kuroo Tetsurō, captain of the volleyball club." He introduced himself with a grin, sounding completely confident. That was the moment Chiharu looked up at him, because even when he's sitting he's still taller than her, and she put one hand up, stopping him from speaking.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept your feelings." She deadpanned. "I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment." And the whole class went wild in seconds. Though, the most endearing thing was the way Kuroo-senpai's face went red, like some kind of a tomato bedhead, completely mortified. She'd obviously shot down his confidence into the deepest hole there was.

"Come with me for a bit." Despite his red face and absolute mortification, Kuroo-senpai grabbed her wrist, pulling her up from her seat and towards the door. Cheeks heated, Chiharu followed, ignoring Akari's laughter behind them.

Kuroo was absolutely mortified. Completely and totally. In his seventeen years on this Earth, he had never had a girl do that to him. He had rejected and accepted confessions, yes. But, he had never been shot down for an obviously misinterpreted confession of his own. To say that his face was red and that his ego was shattered would be a total understatement. In a shaky tone, he quickly explained why he was in the second years' classroom as soon as he had the girl outside of the room and next to the window, away from prying ears. Though, there was still a crowd of giggling girls and boys, pushing to see what would come next, at the door of class two.

"Oh, I see." The girl in front of him nodded. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." She gave him a tiny polite bow.

"God, please forget that and don't remind me so that I can, too." He growled, hand rising to cover his face, still red as a tomato. The smirk on her lips, eyes looking up at him, told him that she would definitely not be forgetting his mortification anytime soon.

"Alright." She replied, though, countering the smug expression.

"Jeez, is that a way to talk to your senpai?" Kuroo leaned back on one leg, hands coming up to his hips. He'd forgotten all about his goal of the hunt on second-year girls at that moment, aiming only to make her face as red as his got a few moments ago. And, her eyes did go to the floor, a red tint on her tanned cheeks. "A cold rejection, huh?"

"I'm sorry, already, alright?" The girl didn't back down, though. Her dark eyes met his with a hard stare. "Tell me more about the position, won't you, Kuroo-senpai?" She gestured for him to continue.

"It's nothing too difficult, I promise." Kuroo refocused on his goal. She was interested! And, judging by that look in her eye and her general manner, she would be able to deal with Yamamoto without too much hassle. "A manager generally supports the team. So, it's basically re-filling the water bottles, making sure we have towels and sometimes maybe washing our jerseys. Though, Yaku mostly takes care of that last one, so it's optional." He explains. "Sometimes you may need to help us scout out the competition during official matches or jot down the weak points you notice during our own plays."

"I see." Chiharu nodded. "Are there any away games? Or times when we need to leave for multiple days?"

"Sometimes." Kuroo nodded. "But, we will tell you in advance and they won't make you miss class, if that's what you're worried about." The girl took out her phone and opened up the calendar app, looking at the dates he was mentioning.

"When's practice?"

"Every day before school for an hour and after school for two or three hours."

"Weekends?"

"Depends, but we mostly get the keys to the gym and usually stay for up to six or seven hours there. If there's a match coming up soon, maybe even longer."

"And when does it start?"

"On weekdays we start around six forty in the morning or so and on weekends around seven." Kuroo lists off. "But, it's always up for a vote."

"I can't stay after school on Wednesdays."

"That's alright, as long as you come to the morning practice."

"Alright."

"Alright." There was a moment of silence, where they just looked at each other. "Then, you'll come check us out after school today?"

"Sure." The girl giggled and Kuroo almost facepalmed at his bad wording. "I'm looking forward to it."

"See you then, Chiharu-chan." And Kuroo left the second-year floor with a smirk on his face just as the bell chimed, despite the previous embarrassment. After all, he had left the girl blushing quite obviously in the corridor by calling her by her first name rather intimately. He definitely still had it!

"Oh my God, that was horrible!" Akari laughed during their last break of the day. "Did you see his face? Brutal, Haru-chin! Absolutely brutal!"

"Savage." Ikki grinned, as well, coming to join the girls at their desks.

"Please, forget about it." Chiharu's face was lowered, forehead pressed against her desk's surface. Akari and Ikki shared a look, nodding. She was definitely blushing like mad, by her position. And, not even her tan cheeks could hide the redness. "I don't know what I was thinking! Why would he confess to someone like me? In the middle of the classroom, too?!" The two friends laughed at her.

"Regardless, it was like a bad rom-com scene." Ikki nodded sagely. "I loved it!" He shamelessly guffawed at Chiharu's red face, now peeking up from her desk. She scowled.

"Sheesh! Would you quit it, dammit!" The girl defended.

"I'm sorry, Kuroo-senpai! I can't accept your youthful feelings!" Akari mocked in a high pitched-tone, her arms making ridiculously extravagant motions, like a drama queen.

"I don't sound like that!" Chiharu growled out.

"Kuroo-senpai!" Ikki joined in, his tone also painfully high.

"And it didn't go like that!" The two second-years were too far gone, though, laughing like mad. It took them a few minutes to compose themselves, before Akari turned to Chiharu, brows furrowed and mouth crooked to the side. It was her thinking face.

"Are you gonna go?" She asked. Ikki also stopped goofing off and focused on Chiharu. The girl shrugged.

"I'll go today and see how it looks." She replied. "Mom's been bugging me to join a club, after all. She's worried that I'm always alone at home when she and dad are away for work."

"You should just join our club as the manager, then." Ikki grumbled. "Momo is a third year, she needs someone to take up the torch after her."

"No way." Chiharu stuck out her tongue at him. "You boys are crazy! It's too much hassle." She'd gone last year to watch their practice with Akari, when Ikki had completely talked their ears off about it. And, it had been loud, stinky and full of boys making passes at them. She didn't want to be the zoo keeper for those guys.

"You think the volleyball team will be less trouble?" Ikki grunted out. "They're nuts, you know?"

"Really?" Akari piped up.

"Yeah, they have crazy Tora on their team. You know, that guy that creepily looks at girls from afar, Yamamoto Taketora?" The name rang a bell in Chiharu's mind, but she couldn't connect it to a face. "He was in class five last year."

"There's also Kuroo-senpai." Akari sighed. "He may be eye-candy but he looks like a real playboy, you know?" Chiharu stayed silent, taking in the information. Her friends also listed a few more names. Someone named Yaku, who was apparently a sweet third-year, but a total shorty. And, also, a second year named Fukunaga they didn't know a lot about, except that he was pretty quiet.

But, as they were arguing about the members of the Boys' Volleyball Club, Chiharu's thoughts wandered back to her lunch break. She'd gone to the teachers' lounge to ask about the clubs that still had open spots or were recruiting second-years. While the Japanese History teacher, her homeroom professor, left her alone to go and print out a list for her, Nekomata Yasufumi had waved her over from his desk. The old teacher had told her that he was the coach of the volleyball club and explained to her how they needed a manager that year. He'd asked her about what kind of a club she was looking to join and told her a bit about the boys on the team. But, there had been one sentence which had played on repeat in Chiharu's head for the rest of the day.

"They may be troublesome and loud, and occasionally annoying, but they make certain that everyone on the team is happy." Nekomata-sensei had grinned up at her from his seat. And, Chiharu couldn't help but connect that moment with the one from a few hours ago. Her mother's face, expression between worried and sad, asking her if she was happy.

Sooooo, yeaaaaaah. I did a thing. This is the thing. Tell me how you liked the thing. At this point, I'm just so eager to write about Haru and Tetsu… Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed and I will probably have the next chapter out in a week or so. Due to the length, updating this will take a bit longer that the drabbles.

All my best!

Omake:

"Did you hear?" A girl giggled to her friends right next to Kenma's desk. "Kuroo-senpai was arranging some kind of a 'friends with benefits' in the corridor earlier." Just as Kenma was preparing to block out the gossip, he stopped, paused his game, and focused on what the girls were saying. Kuroo was doing what earlier?

"I saw it!" The other girl replied. "She had the calendar on her phone open and they were choosing love hotels for different days!"

"Are you serious?" Kenma wanted to echo that sentence in a slightly different tone. That didn't… Heck, that did sound like something Kuroo would do damn it.

"Yeah! And he said he could go for six or seven hours, but it was up for a vote!" One of them almost shrieked, hands on her flushed face.

"O.M.G!" They were giggling now.

"I wonder if Kuroo-senpai would let me book a date with him, too?" Kenma was well aware of his face making one of the 'interesting expressions' he usually reserved for utter idiocy. He forced his expression to become indifferent again, so that he could go unnoticed as he eavesdropped.

"Six hours!" Another round of giggles.

"Wait, who was the girl?" Came a question Kenma really wanted to hear the answer to.

"That tanned beach bunny one, from class two. Errr… What was her name again?" The girl who had started the whole conversation scrunched up her face in concentration.

"Sakura?" Another asked.

"No, no, her last name went with Sakura." The first one replied. "Her given name is something like Chihiro."

"Oh, like the model, Sakurano Chihiro?"

"Yeah! Sakurano Chiharu! That's her name!" The first girl nodded. "Do you think she's related to Chi-chan?"

"Pffft no way! They look nothing alike!" And then, Kenma actually tuned out their gossip, returning to his game. He couldn't help the way his eyebrows furrowed, mind racing. What had Kuroo done?

This Omake had me giggling like mad, what about you guys?

On the other hand, a bit of info:

Length of story: Will have multiple chapters, around 30 or so, I hope

Length of chapters: Each will be 4k words or above

Frequency of updates: Irregular (quality over quantity)

Pairing: Kuroo/OC

Rating: T (It's Kuroo, so better be on the safe side, right?)

Timeline: Starts at the beginning of Kuroo's third year and should end around the graduation or so

I'm looking for someone to beta this, if anyone is interested, give me a holler.

Until next time!