Both you and Mika are standing by the fence, wide eyed. Never in a million years would you think that Mika would have boys over, let alone you.

Did Oikawa and Tsukishima sleepover? But then again who am I to judge. I still can't believe Suga slept over and yes I saw him, um, shirtless?!

"Ohayo Mitsuki-san!" your mom called from the house. She was standing by the doorway, looking at all the boys in the front yard.

"Ohayo Shimizu-san! Would you look at that? All these handsome boys in our front yard! " Mika's mom observed still holding a towel in her hand. She was wearing a pink apron as she was wiping down a dish.

"Why aren't our girls super popular. It's only been, what, two days of high school? And look they're making friends so fast." you mom wipes a fake tear away.

You could feel the blood rushing to your head and Mika blushed the same shade as you.

Can we just go to school now please. I can't take more of mom's embarrassment...

Just then you see a boy with dark hair pass by your house. It was Kageyama.

Great. Just great. How am I supposed to explain this to him?!

He looks into your direction and he makes a scary face at Suga. Even if Kageyama tries to smile its scary, but this is beyond scary. It's petrifying. Oikawa was heading out with Hajime and Oikawa bumped into his shoulder intentionally. Kageyama stuck out a middle finger to him and continued walking to school.

Feisty. Well guess I owe an explanation to two people now...

"Hows everything Shimizu-san?" Mika's mom's asked

"It's very good! I have a week off from work. Kiyoko is finally awake." she replied with ease.

At that moment, you'd give anything to let your mom shut up. It was already humiliating enough that Suga is here but now that 4 other people know... this is just unbearable.

"Kiyoko is awake?!" Hajime exclaimed. You can see tears forming in his and Mika's eyes.

The only people who knew about Kiyoko were the Mitsuki family. But now Suga, Daichi, Oikawa and Tsukishima all know now, in just a matter of a day.

"KA-SAN!" you yell at your mom. You didn't want a lot of people to know. You thought it would stress out Kiyoko when she comes back. Everyone in school is going to talk about it now.

"What? It's good news! We must share it with everyone. Especially the Mitsuki family, who've been there since day one." you mom calmly explained.

You grumble something to yourself but you guess your mom was right. A year without Kiyoko was brutal. Tsukishima and Oikawa both held the same confused face. For once they were on the same page. You clear your throat interrupting everyone's thoughts,

"Well we better get to school." You tap the fence out of nervousness.

" YupYup. Wouldn't want to submit this paper late, now would we..." Mika said with the same amount of awkwardness. Mika and you glare at each other and mouth, 'lets go'.

As you pass the gate, both of you and Mika walk ahead linking arms with each other. There was so much explaining to do.

All four of you walk to school in awkward silence. Tsukishima was scuffing his feet in behind with his hands in his pockets. Suga tried to start a conversation with him, but Tsukishima just made small nods and grunts in response. He didn't seem like the talking type.

Wow, it's like no one got a wink of sleep last night...

You turn to Mika and whisper,

"I'll FaceTime you everything, I swear"

~

Arriving to school, you received your first marked assignment back from chemistry class.

Suga sat beside you; he seemed to be sitting beside you in every class except biology of course. The chemistry teacher was passing back the lab reports and he said,

"Good job you two!"

"Hey (F/N) look!" Suga exclaimed holding up the paper and a big smile formed on his face.

WE GOT 100???? And we wrote it so last minute?! Dang, Suga is smart.

You were speechless as he flips to your portion of the report. The teacher left nice comments and wrote a smiley face at the top saying 'excellent work Shimizu'.

"You're really brilliant. Especially since you wrote this the night before." He beamed at you.

"No, it was all you" you refused to believe his words.

"You're more capable than you think you are." He pats you on the shoulder and he's still smiling.

I'm the most insecure person you'd ever meet, but Suga gives me more confidence its so strange. His words are the only ones I believe in. When he said capable I don't think he was referring to just school work or test papers.

"Hopefully we do well in the paper." you mumbled to him.

"I'm sure we'll be fine" he reassures.

~

"OKAY EVERYONE GET IN FORMATION!" Mika calls out with the megaphone.

Seriously where did she get that?

You cover your ears as the squeaking of the megaphone was irritating you. All the boys huddled around you and Mika. There was still a hunt for a coach, but unfortunately no luck. You thought it would be so easy if dad was still around. He'd be a perfect match. Sadly, it was just you and Mika keeping the boys in order. Good cop, bad cop. And if it wasn't obvious, Mika was the latter.

You open the box, tearing the tape and exposing the uniforms inside. Black and orange. You were supposed to open this yesterday, but the 3 on 3 was on everyones minds. You pull out the first jersey along with the jackets.

"Okay, number 1 is Daichi..." you regret what you said and shove it back in the box. Daichi wasn't there today because of the incident. Daichi texted Suga he'd be absent because the stitches. You felt so guilty. Mika noticed this and continued on,

"Next up, number 2 is Suga." He came up to you and you shyly gave his uniform. He thanks you and you started blushing again. His smile was your weakness. Kageyama was still looking at you and the pink tint on your face faded.

Patience (F/N). At least now you've kinda talked to him.

You went through the clipboard of people and check off the names. Looking down the list, the last two names that were recently added were Asahi and Nishinoya. You explained to them that Takeda-senpai just ordered their uniforms and the shipment hasn't arrived yet. As you were about to pack up, there were two black jackets that have the letter 'M' on it at the bottom of the box. It was for you and Mika. Trying it on and for the first time, you felt a slight excitement for volleyball. Even if it was just for a moment. Mika adjusted the jacket on you and she was holding back tears. She's been waiting for this moment for so long. For you to fall in love with volleyball again. You try to avoid her gaze because you were going to cry just by looking at her. You look around the gymnasium to stop yourself,

"Wow, everyone looks so good." You murmur to Mika and she smiles at Tsukishima's direction. He was wearing the number 11 and the uniform suited him.

Tsukishima, huh.

You elbow her and tease, "So, Tsukishima..."

You didn't realize she was still holding the megaphone and she said loudly,

"OH MY GOD!"

Just then the whole team turned around at the two of you. You laugh nervously and blurt out,

"OH MIKA MEANT ' WHAT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A PICTURE!"

You try to turn the situation around, you've never seen Mika like this. Ever.

Mika fumbles with her pocket as she takes out her phone and hands it to you. You try to motion everyone closer together. Hinata and Kageyama were pulling at each others hairs. Tsukishima wasn't even paying attention and Nishinoya was climbing Asahi's back to get a better view. Suga was the only one smiling at your direction. It was chaos.

If we can't get into a decent photo, how can we ever form a proper line up...

"Everyone say KARASUNO!" Mika ordered from the megaphone. It was the only way to get their attention.

"KARASUNO!!!" The boys yelled with enthusiasm. Just seeing a team together, it made your heart full. You felt more closer to your dad than ever.

He would've been so proud.

Just then Takeda runs into the gym door and trips onto the wood floor. Creating a loud 'thud' in the process.

"Takeda-senpai! Are you alright?!" You run to him, trying to lift him from the floor.

"Yes yes. I'm excellent!" he says adjusting his glasses. He looked up to the rest of the team and smiled. His eyes scanned the orange and black uniforms. Takeda looked like a proud dad. He finally collected himself off the floor and pumped his fist into the air.

"We have a practice match with Seijoh!" He declared.

Voices filled the room in surprise as the team gleamed excitement in their eyes. They were all pumped for their first practice match. Also the fact it was with a prestigious school.

Good job Takeda-senpai!

"With my brother... hoho, this will be fun." Mika rubs her hands together in an evil way.

Oh boy.

"Wait. But we don't have our captain." Suga exclaimed raising his bandaged fingers. You realized he was still injured from yesterday. He probably can't set at his full potential. Daichi shouldn't be playing for a while either. We wouldn't want to pop open the stitches.

"Suga, maybe you can sit this one out too." you say concerned as you look at his damaged fingers and face. He looks sad but he nods in agreement.

"Wait, but we're missing two players." Nishinoya exclaimed. "That means Asahi and me can play right?!"

"Oh no you don't. You have to attend at least 3 practices to play an official match. Plus you just joined and your uniforms aren't here yet." Mika butted in. Nishinoya looked defeated as he cowered in a corner, too scared of Mika. Asahi was there to comfort him as he patted him gently in the back.

"If we don't have a full team, we won't be able to attend this practice match." Takeda explained sadly. He sighed in defeat.

"Wait I have an idea." Suga piped up. All eyes were on at him as he said with confidence,

"Mika will play for Daichi and..." he hands you his uniform,

"(F/N) will play for me."

--------------------------------- end pt. 26 ----------------------------------------