"Thank you for the food"

The three first years of Class 4 made a praying gesture before they started eating lunch. As usual, the two boys were impressed of Ayame's bento, which she made herself.

"You can get one if you guys want to" she told them after noticing how they stare on her bento.

"Ah, it's okay. We're just impressed by your bento" Yamaguchi told her "It's really amazing as always"

"Thanks" she smiled before remembering something "Ah, by the way, Daichi-nii said that there is someone he wants to introduce to us later"

"Yeah, he also emailed us" Tsukishima said.

"I wonder who it is?" she wondered out loud "It could probably be a player or coach. Ah, geez! I can't wait for club activities so I can meet this person!"

She ate with an excited air around her. Yamaguchi couldn't help but smile, influenced by her happiness.

"Me too. I also want to meet this person"

"Sorry but I'm not as excited as you two" the megane said.

"It's okay. I already know that Tsukishima-kun is that kind of person" she said before noticing her classmate calling her "Ah, please excuse me"

She stood up from her seat. The two glanced at her lunch and were surprised that she's all done after that small talk, whereas the two barely reached the half of their own lunch.

"She really has the appetite of a beast..." the two sweat dropped.

She returned back to them with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" the freckled teen asked; until he realized it after he saw the boy whom she talked to earlier leave their room with a dejected face.

"Another confession" she sighed "And I thought it's all over..."

"It is not over, actually" the blonde said "After joining the club, the percentage of the confessions dropped to about 60%"

"You don't have to give me the statistics for it"

A certain second year duo entered Yamaguchi's mind "I have a feeling that Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san were responsible for most of it"

She sighed "I just wish that they would stop..."

"You know, Ayame, if you really want these confessions to stop..." Tsukishima suddenly said. Ayame's ears perked and the freckled teen stiffened, realizing what he is about to say "You just need a boyfriend to make it stop"

He ignored the way the megane is looking at him intensely, but he couldn't help but sweat bullets.

"Isn't that right, Yamaguchi?" he asked inquiringly.

"T-That...depends..." he gulped "But you got a point..."

Ayame recalled what the freckled teen told her about Tsukishima and the third years' teasing. Oh, how she wanted to help him in a way the megane won't be suspicious.

"Why a boyfriend?" she asked, with a hint of her usual curiosity while pretending she didn't have one.

"Well, if you have one, the other guys would back off. Obviously, it's because you're taken. Also, perhaps someone from this class would be a perfect choice since it's more convenient" Tsukishima explained, as if it was the most obvious thing "Simple solution, right?"

"...I don't get it"

"Tsk. After what I said, you're just going to say that? How clueless can you get?" the tall blonde's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Looks like...Ayame's cluelessness in this kind of thing is annoying Tsukki a lot..." he thought, feeling grateful for it "Or...maybe she's just pretending to be clueless"

*Club Activities*

"So...the person that I want to introduce to you guys is her. I'm pretty sure most of you recognize her in the past as one of Japan's best players and Miyagi's best serving specialist, with the nickname "Demon Vixen" that left a lasting impression to everyone" Daichi started.

Ayame couldn't believe it. Yamaguchi suddenly felt awkward and nervous.

"Pleased to meet you, Karasuno Volleyball Club" the woman smiled, her brown eyes showing friendliness while observing the players "I'm Mizuki Kazumi, formerly Haruka Kazumi. Aya-chan's mother and a former volleyball player"

Silence befalls in the gym.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"EEEEEEEEEH?!"

"The legendary "Demon Vixen"?!"

"One of Japan's international players and Miyagi's best servers?!"

"AND SHE IS AYAME-CHAN'S MOTHER?!"

The first years who knew were silent on that matter, but they couldn't hide their surprise when they saw her.

Kageyama, on the other hand, is trembling with excitement of having an award winning setter helping them.

Ayame was in a sort of trance-like state before blurting out in shock "M-Mom?! W-Why are you here? H-How...Wha... You didn't...t-tell me anything...about going to volleyball club...b-but...Daichi-nii...he...he never said..."

Kazumi chuckled when she saw how her daughter reacted and patted her head "Sorry, Aya-chan. I want to surprise you about my arrival"

"Auntie suddenly messaged me early in the morning saying that she'll come to the club and help out" Daichi scratched his head.

"This is great, Daichi!" Sugawara grinned before asking "But I was wondering...you're close to Mizuki-san yet, why did you introduce her to us just now?"

"I asked her before but she declined and she said that she'll only help Yamaguchi in serves" he replied "I was really surprised when she said she'll help the club for a few days"

"No wonder Ayame-chan is very knowledgeable in volleyball. Her mother is a former player" Asahi noted "And she almost looked like Ayame-chan, face and personality-wise"

"Well said, Asahi-san!" Nishinoya nodded in agreement before facing his buddy "Ryu, I could imagine...this is how Ayame-chan will look like 10 years from now!"

"True, Noya-san! She is still a beauty!!" Tanaka grinned.

"Don't tell me you guys are also after her mother as well" Ennoshita told them disapprovingly "She's a married woman, got that?"

"We know that!!"

Coach Ukai stepped forward and shook hands with her "Nice to see you again, Kazumi-san"

She smiled and karate chopped his head, much to the shock of everyone and their teacher.

"I could say the same, Keishin" she happily said while the poor man clutched his head in pain.

"G-Glad to see you haven't changed one bit, Kazumi-san..." he forced a smile, though it obviously shows pain than gladness "Loves to hit people's heads as always..."

"Thank you, Keishin. Now then" she faced the teacher, who instantly flinched from fear "The club adviser, am I correct?"

"Y-Yes, that's me. T-Takeda Ittetsu. P-Pleased to make an acquaintance with you" he shakily held out his hand.

"Oh, please, don't be scared of me, sensei" she shook hands with him "I only hit guys like Keishin and Naoi"

***

Naoi suddenly felt goosebumps on his skin and he shivered.

"I-Is it me or the air's been cold recently?"

Kuroo and Kenma looked at him confusingly before looking at each other.

"It's just probably him" Kenma noted.

"Yeah"

***

"WE TAKE BACK WHAT WE SAID!! SHE'S DEFINITELY NOT LIKE AYAME!!"

"T-That's a relief..." he nervously laughed as he mentally sighed in relief while the mentioned man sulked. The managers also greeted her politely and she returned back the gesture.

"I thank you managers for the hardwork for taking care of the team and Aya-chan" she smiled.

"We're only doing our roles for this team, Mizuki-san" Shimizu bowed and Yachi followed suit "But thank you"

"Please call me Kazumi-san so everyone will feel comfortable around me" she told everyone "Okay... well, then, everyone, I'll go straight to the point. I'm here to volunteer to help with the training and everything for a few days. I'm a busy woman so I hope you understand"

"We totally understand it, Kazumi-san" Sugawara said.

"The opportunity of having a really experienced player to help us out is already a huge blessing to us!!" Nishinoya grinned.

"But mom" Ayame suddenly asked "Why did you suddenly want to help us? Before, you said you don't want to..."

"Actually, I watched your match during the preliminaries" she said "Aya-chan's stories about the team's drastic improvement during the camp made me curious. And she's right about the team"

She recalled the time when she first saw the weirdo quick. It honestly gave her goosebumps and she didn't want to tell them. She only heard rumors and seeing it live left an impression on her.

"Y-You watched?!" the violet eyed girl's jaw dropped in shock "Without telling me? Why didn't you met up with us when you were there?"

"Sorry, dear. It was just on whim" she made a victory sign "I met up with the old man Ukai there. We had a lot of catching up to do so I didn't had the chance to join you"

"By catching up, did auntie mean..." Daichi sweat dropped.

"Through drinking sake, I guess..." she nodded "Too bad...I also want to see the older Coach Ukai..."

"Still loves alcohol, I see..."

Kazumi has high alcohol tolerance and loves to drink. The husband, however, was not. Now you know where the girl got her level of alcohol tolerance.

"Alcoholic lady..." the males thought.

"Gramps was there... Damn, I wish I saw his face when he saw the new quick..." Coach Ukai clicked his tongue.

The woman cleared her throat "Anyway, back to the team. I only saw the regulars play, so this time, I want to see everyone play"

"Ano...Auntie, we would like to say one thing" Daichi started.

"Eh? What is it?"

The whole Karasuno volleyball club members bowed a perfect 90 degree.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!"

"For suggesting that we should participate in the Tokyo Away Games and for helping us today, we thank you, Auntie Kazumi" the captain said.

She was surprised at first before cracking a smile "No need to thank me. I'm only doing what I need to do for my old school"

"I-I didn't know that you were this nice, Kazumi-san" Coach Ukai pretended to wipe a tear.

"Are you saying that I'm not nice?!" she glared at him before clearing her throat "Moving along. For the practice match, I'll be the one who will make the line up for both teams. I don't know the names of the other players yet so I'll just point to the person I'll be referring to"

For some reason, the males feel edgy about the line up she'll be making.

"Okay, Tobio, Kei, Daichi, the bearded boy and the skinny bald kid, and the boy with sandy brown hair, you'll be in team A"

Team A: Kageyama, Tsukishima, Daichi, Asahi, Narita and Kinoshita.

"Tsk. I'm on the same team with this guy?" Kageyama and Tsukishima glared at each other before Daichi grabbed their heads and forcefully made them look ahead.

"For Team B; Tadashi, Shoyo, the boy with a mole under his eye, the sleepy looking kid, the delinquent looking boy, and libero kid"

Team B: Yamaguchi, Hinata, Sugawara, Ennoshita, Tanaka and Nishinoya.

"She called Tanaka "delinquent looking boy"" the two second years snickered as the baldy turned chalk white in shock "A woman of his taste calling him that would deal a huge blow on him"

Ayame was surprised by the line-up "She separated the oddball duo and placed Tsukishima-kun on Kageyama-kun's team, the two who hardly get along..."

"Why aren't you asking anything, Aya-chan?" she smiled playfully "I know you're surprised about the line-up"

She shook her head "I know you have something in mind, mom. I don't doubt you or your plan. And besides, Shoyo-kun and Kageyama-kun were once separated during one of our practice matches. But..."

Team A sweat dropped when they saw the aura around the tall blonde and the setter.

"Hope we get along, King" the megane smirked and held out his hand mockingly.

Tick marks marked the setter's head "Why am I in the same team with this annoying smartass?"

Daichi stood next to them with his infamous scary face and grabbed their heads "Whether you guys like it or not, we are all teammates and we don't piss each other off"

"Those two need to develop a full trust with each other" Kazumi noted, referring to the middle blocker and setter "Trust is crucial in a team sports. During the prelims, I noticed that they don't get along really well and there were times were they didn't synch in nicely. Although, Daichi is there to discipline them but...they need to build that trust themselves"

Ayame nodded slowly.

"And about the first year combo" she added "I want to see them not playing as a set. Tobio's a genius setter and Shoyo's still pretty fresh but has raw skill and they are a perfect synch because of his toss. However, it's not all the time Shoyo will rely on Tobio because of his toss and I want to see if he can do the mid air battles without the genius setter. I don't know much about the team yet so I'm setting this practice match with the line-up I made so I could see them with my own eyes"

"OSU!!"

The players started warming up. Ayame is assured a bit since she knew that Hinata's quite used playing with Sugawara as the setter.

"Wait a minute..." she looked at Team A again and realization hits her like a tidal wave "The team's three tallest guys are in one team!! And Shoyo-kun's on Team B with Suga-san as the setter... I hope he'll be fine on his own"

Hinata gulped when he saw Kageyama, Tsukishima and Asahi in one team. Nervousness and excitement filled him and he converted it to energy.

"You can do it, Hinata" Sugawara patted his back with an assuring smile on his face "I can't give you a toss like Kageyama's but I'll send my best sets to you"

"Hai! Thank you, Sugawara-san!"

"Ah!! Me too, Suga-san!" Tanaka raised his hand "I'll be also counting you, Suga-san!"

"Of course I'll send my best sets to the spikers!" he grinned "Leave it to me"

"I'll give the ball to you in every receive I make, Suga-san!" Nishinoya proudly told him.

"I'll be counting on you, Nishinoya!"

"Damn, Suga's team is full of positivity..." Daichi and Asahi thought as they saw the bright and sparkly aura the opposite team has.

"Keishin, you'll be the referee" Kazumi told him and he nodded "Kiyoko and Hitoka, can you girls be the scorers of this match?"

"Hai"

Coach Ukai whistled, signaling that the match is about to start.

"This will be a three set game. The team who wins the first two set wins" the woman said "Play to your fullest, everyone!!"

"OSU!!"

***

Set 1: 25-21 (Team A wins)

Set 2: 23-25 (Team B wins)

Set 3: 27-25 (Team A wins)

The players sat on the bench and wiped their sweats and drank water as they took a break.

"Now that I've seen everyone's abilities..." Kazumi stood in front of them "I'll shape you guys to a better version of yourselves. First, for the guys who have low stamina, improve them. You can start by jogging early in the morning before school. Weak receivers should also improve their receives, that's important. In our training, I'll be brutally honest to everything so no hard feelings, okay?"

They nodded.

"Oh, and one last thing" she added "Don't piss me off. You don't want to experience that side of mine"