After the weekend was over, all of the Shiratorizawa students went back to their dorms. Kazane walked back into her dorm room, finding Tendou sprawled out on his bed with a manga over his face.

She was pretty sure he was asleep.

Stealthily putting her things down, she carefully and quietly made her way over to the bunk.

Kazane froze as the redhead made a noise, shifting in his sleep. Since she was on the top bunk, it meant she had to crawl up the steps and still not make noise, which was a lot harder than it sounded.

Somehow she managed, getting into bed and moving under the blankets. Getting out her phone, she went through her new texts.

~•~

Dudes

Check it

BROOOOOOO

HERE'S ONE LMFAOOOOO

Bet

Got an even better one

Dude that would be SO much better than the original, like Charlie deserves that

HEY KAZANE

TOTALLY RIGHT THO

CHARLIE WAS AWESOME!!!

Fr

Anyway, I need sleep.

Night guys

Me too, Tendou is literally asleep beneath me

HUHHHHHHH???!????

That sounded way more sexual than I assume you meant it

Oops sorry

We have a bunk bed

Riiiight

Shiratorizawa is a boarding school

Forgot about that lmao

Haha, anyway night!!! 😘

NIGGHGHHHTTTTT

~•~

Thanks for coming over this weekend

I had a lot of fun, and so did the other third years 🥰

Sure thing! I had fun as well, we should do it again sometime!

Totally! Can't wait to see more of you!

Yeah, me too. I miss hanging out with you and Iwa 😊

We missed you too, a lot.

I hope we can get back to where we were

I doubt we can be that connected again

Because we go to different schools and aren't around each other all the time

But there's no harm in trying!

Anyway, I need sleep.

Text you some other time tho, yeah?

Yeah, sweet dreams Kaz 😘

You too! Don't stay up too late~ 🥰

~•~

The next day, school came and went, then it was time for volleyball practice. In the morning, something different had happened.

"Shirabu! Eita! Kazane!" Washijo yelled, scaring them slightly. Exchanging a look, they jogged over to him.

"Yes?"

"Yes sir?"

"Today we are going to do something different, and since Kazane isn't going to be here very long, we're going to do it this afternoon after her practice." The old coach started, "instead of doing six on six, we are going to be doing four on four."

"Oooooh sounds fun!" She grinned. After that, he dismissed them and they continued their warm up.

After her practice, she dashed off with barely a word, leaving almost all of her teammates stunned. "She's a fast one, I'll give her that." Hana mumbled as she put away her volleyball shoes.

Kazane ran through the door to the gym, then stopped as she panted slightly, leaning against the door way.

"Kazane! You're late."

"Sorry coach!" She said, and then joined the boys as they were sorted into teams.

Kazane

Goshiki

Akakura

Taichi

Shirabu

Ushiwaka

Soekawa

Yunohama

Semi

Reon

Tendou

Yamagata

Each teamed played the other two, it was a competition. Whoever got to five points first won, the other stepped off.

It was a lot of fun, Tendou blocked Ushiwaka three times which was pretty awesome. Taichi almost blocked him, but no dice.

Tendou blocked Kazane twice as well, no one else having been able to stop her. "Hehe." The redhead giggled at her as she glared at him in annoyance.

"Shake it off Kaz! Get the point back!" Goshiki told her, so she nodded. Needless to say they won that set after the screw up.

"Awwwww maaaaan!" Tendou complained as he and his team came in last.

"So, what does this exercise show us?" Coach Washijo asked them as they stood in a crescent around him and Saitou.

"Power is important." Ushiwaka said, to which the old coach nodded.

"And it showed how capable you guys are. When we go back to nationals, make everyone there remember that."

"Yes sir!"

~•~

"That pep talk at the end was kinda cool, what do you think?" Tendou asked as we walked towards the cafeteria with the rest of our team following.

"Yeah, didn't expect that Washijo would actually encourage you guys." Kazane laughed.

"Me neither, he normally doesn't do stuff like that but it's a nice change of pace." The redhead grinned, his hands on his hips. "Anyway, did you see the memes Kuroo and Bokuto sent last night? Ha! They were hilarious~"

"Yeah I agree, I really do wish Charlie was the star of the movie though." The girl sighed. "You know what sucks though?"

"What?" Tendou asked, confused as to how her mood and tone changed so fast.

"My brother is making me go with him to some training camp right before nationals! It is literally the weekend before! Akkk!"

"Whoa seriously??? That's cool though! Who's gonna be there? Which schools? Any top players? Are you gonna play?"

"Pfft I wish. Actually, both Kuroo and Bokuto will be there, along with two other schools. Even though I'm not playing, I'm still kind of excited." Kazane admitted, to which Tendou groaned.

"Maaaaan! Well, take a few pictures with Kuroo and Bokuto and send them to me, will ya? Haven't seen them in person yet, well actually I've met Bokuto I think."

"Nationals?"

"Yeah, we beat them in three."

"Ooh, was it close?"

"The first two were, but then Ushiwaka got fired up and it was just smoooooth sailing from there ya know?"

"Totally."

"What are you guys talking about?" Shirabu and Semi started walking next to the two, both sending a smile at Kazane who returned it as they entered the cafeteria.

"Just some friends and memes." She answered, to which both boys frowned.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, whatdya expect?" Tendou smirked with a chuckle as they grabbed some food and went to sit down.

"Not that, that's for sure."

"Yeah I thought you were talking about volleyball." Shirabu said.

"Well volleyball was definitely part of the conversation." Kazane snickered, "oh, I should probably tell you guys that I'm not gonna be here for three days the week before nationals."

"Huh?" Goshiki asked, his mouth already stuffed with food.

"Don't try to talk with your mouth full!" Semi reprimanded as Ushiwaka picked up where Goshiki left off.

"Why aren't you going to be here?" The ace asked.

"Family reasons." Kazane shrugged, not wanting to reexplain it. The team nodded, but weren't happy that their favorite girl wasn't going to be around for a whole three days.

"Is it serious or something fun?" Yamagata asked.

"It's probably gonna be fun, if it's not I'm gonna tear someone a new one." Kazane frowned at the thought, causing a few of the boys to crack up at her expression.

"Hey Kazane?" Tendou started as soon as they were on their way to their dorm.

"Yes?"

"... It's nothing, nevermind..." The redhead sighed, looking away as he ran a hand through his hair.

"It's obviously somethi-"

"No, it really isn't."

"It really is."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is NOT!"

"IS TOO!"

"IS NOT!"

"IS TOO JUST ADMIT IT!"

"FINE I'M SCARED I'M GONNA LOSE YOU DAMMIT!"

"....What?" Kazane whirled to look at the redhead who was looking down at the ground, panting angrily.

"When you said Kuroo and Bokuto were going to be at the training camp thing you're going to, something told me something would happen if I didn't make my feelings clear, if they aren't already clear." Tendou paused, looking Kazane straight in the eye.

"I know how you feel." She said.

"I'm still gonna say it." He said, "I like you, more than a friend, more than a teammate, more than life. Please, please don't let anyone snatch you away from us. Even if you don't end up with me, just..."

"Don't worry, I don't plan on getting a boyfriend any time soon." The female gave him a smile, wrapping her arms around him. "No one there knows me like you and the guys do, except maybe my brother, so there's no problem. And I don't know them that well, and I only really like and accept guys that I know."

"Good." Tendou laughed slightly, his grip tightening as they stood under a light.

A few meters away, a figure watched them. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but as soon as the two separated and continued on their way, so did he.

Merci!