"Ayame..."

The violet eyed girl opened her eyes and saw the person she always wanted to see again. Tears pooled on the corner of her eyes as she reached out her hand to touch him.

"D-Dad..."her heart ached with longing and guilt and she wanted to bury herself in his warm arms.

"What's wrong? Why are you hesitating?" her father asked her in his kind voice.

"I....I did something very wrong...to you...I...I don't think I deserve-"

Kaito knelt and hugged his beloved daughter "Really, Aya-chan, you're so stubborn like your mother...but...keeping the pain by yourself...you're just like me"

She started crying in his embrace, letting out her anguish, guilt, and happiness that's been bubbling inside her for a long time "Dad...I-I'm very sorry...I'm sorry I-I killed you...I-I really didn't mean to. It's unforgivable but I-I hope you forgive me"

"I already forgave you a long time ago, Aya-chan. The day you pulled the trigger, I already forgave you because you are my daughter" he stroked her brown hair "It was unintentional and besides, I was grateful you tried to save me, since your father is a weak person-"

"That's not true!!" she looked up at him with tear stained eyes "You're a strong person, dad!! B-But...e-even when I shot that man...it was still wrong...a-and...and I ended up shooting you..."

He sighed and ruffled her hair "Stubborn like her mother...Aya-chan, please, you're hurting yourself with that way of thinking. I told you, I don't blame you and I would never blame you for what you did, okay?"

She sniffled and wiped her tears "O-Okay...Thank you, dad..."

"That's a good girl" he smiled and messed her hair even worse.

"Um...dad, listen, I...I told someone and then, the others about that day..."

"Then? What did they say?"

"They...became emotional...but, they still accepted me...and it made me glad"

"I couldn't be more happier than that, Aya-chan" he kissed her forehead "You found people you could trust and rely on. I definitely approve that boyfriend of yours"

He smiled widely and made a thumbs up, causing for the girl's ears to turn red in embarrassment "H-How did you-"

"I've been watching you" he replied "Kazumi's been a little overprotective to you lately and so does Daichi. Ever since that day, I guess"

She made a small smile and looked at his violet eyes.

"You know, dad, I think...this is the first time in seven years I have a good dream about you...Before, almost every night, I had this nightmare...the sound of two gunshots, a sea of blood and...and two corpses...there's also this voice whispering hateful words. But...this is the first time I didn't have that nightmare..."

"I think I know why" he placed a hand on her cheek "Because you finally forgave yourself. You told this boy...etto, what's your boyfriend's name again?"

"Y-Yamaguchi Tadashi..."

"You opened up to Tadashi and he told you to forgive yourself. You had his support and you told your friends about it as well and none of them blamed you. This made you learn to forgive yourself and to move on. The shackles of the past that once restrained you is now gone and...your dad is happy about it"

He gave her one last hug and kissed her forehead "Now, time to say goodbye, Aya-chan..."

Reality is a painful thing but she has to accept it. As much as she wanted him to stay by her side, she realized that this just a dream and her father was already long gone. And also, their training camp is still going on.

"Goodbye, dad... Thank you and...I love you..." a tear fell from her right eye and he wiped it with his thumb.

"I love you, too, Aya-chan...tell Kazumi I love her as well...goodbye...and wake up..."

***

Ayame blinked open her eyes and felt a pair of strong arms around her small frame. She looked up and saw Daichi's sleeping face. She squinted up her eyes to see her surroundings clearly...and she nearly had a shock.

The captain's arms are wrapped comfortably around her and everyone is still sleeping around them, including the managers and adults. The futons were arranged messily and she could only guess that they all fell asleep after they went emotional last night.

"Uwaaa...everyone..." she glanced at the wall clock hanging on the wall and her eyes widened "8:45 in the morning?! Crap, this is bad!! The training is probably starting by now!!"

"N-Nii-chan, wake up!" she shook the captain slightly and he groaned sleepily "Everyone, wake up before-"

The door opened and there stood Kuroo, Kai, Yaku, and Kenma (he was dragged along). The four of them stared at the scene in front them.

"What the hell happened here?" Nekoma's captain asked. Ayame didn't answer and was thinking of a reason while the rest of the members where undisturbed by Nekoma's arrival. Kuroo suddenly grinned and tiptoed past the unconscious males and swiftly opened the curtains, letting the sunlight hit the room.

"GAH!!"

"Are you guys vampires or something?" the four of them thought as they watched their reactions as soon as the morning light hit their faces.

"Okay, okay, rise and shine, everyone~" Kuroo clapped his hands cheerfully and the rest of them stirred awake and glared at him. Yawns and sleepy grumbles greeted the newcomers.

"Thank you, Kuroo-san..." Ayame flashed him a thumbs up and he returned the gesture with a grin on his face before returning back to Yaku and the others.

"Seriously, what happened here?" Yaku asked again "Why are you guys sleeping in a circle around Ayame?"

"Unless they're doing something-" Kuroo wasn't able to finish because the libero swung his hand hard on his stomach, casing for him to double over in pain.

"Don't finish your sentence, idiot"

"Let me finish first, will you?!"

Daichi, who is now awake, sighed before answering "You guys got the wrong idea. We all just had a strategy meeting last night, right, Ayame?"

"Eh? A-Ah, yes, yes we did" she nodded vigorously.

She's a bit slow, and the Nekoma guys quickly picked up that it's not true but they have no right to pry so they just stayed quiet.

"Anyway, the other schools were wondering why the whole Karasuno team is missing from practice and breakfast" Kenma told them.

"Practice is about to start, by the way" Kai added "The managers managed to leave some food so you guys better hurry"

"Ah, we haven't helped Miyanoshita-san and the others. Hitoka-chan, let's get going first" Shimizu said and the first year manager nodded "Everyone, we'll be going on ahead"

"Okay, see you girls later"

"Ryu...I just realized something..." Nishinoya suddenly gripped the baldy's shoulder in a serious manner.

"W-What is it, Noya-san?"

"Ryu..." his face darkened at first before smiling widely "We slept in a same room as Ayame-chan and Kiyoko-san!!"

"Pfft!!" Tsukishima, Sugawara, and Kuroo stifled a laugh at his statement.

"Oh!! Noya-san, you're right!!" the two of them high fived in glee before making a praying gesture "We've been blessed~!!"

"Oi! The way you two put it sounds wrong!" Daichi whacked their heads.

"It really sounds like something did happen..." Yaku sweat dropped and Kai nodded.

"As expected from Nishinoya and Tanaka to make misunderstanding statements..." Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita thought.

"What does that mean?" Ayame asked the freckled teen.

"You don't want to know" he replied, looking away with his cheeks tinted red.

Kuroo cleared his throat "If you guys don't hurry up, coach said that your penalty will double every practice match for today~"

It was the first and last time that Karasuno was moving as fast as the weirdo quick.

***

They still arrived late, even though they were hella fast.

"Go!!"

They had a practice match with Ubugawa as soon as they arrived and Tanaka ended the set by spiking the ball out unintentionally and the players did their penalty: an uphill sprint under the blazing sun.

"This will be tough for them..." Ayame said "A double sprint for each player...except for Ryu-senpai since Daichi-nii doubled his penalty, which makes it four sprints"

"That hurts for Tanaka" Coach Ukai said "Well, technically, all of us are penalized for being late"

"Ukai-san, you guys were also penalized by the coaches for being late, right?" she asked the two adults.

"Yeah, Sensei and I will be drinking with them later tonight which means, I can't help with the extra practices" he sighed "It can be a bit of a problem for me but Sensei has no problems about it"

Mr. Takeda sheepishly rubbed his head "Coach Nekomata invited us so..."

"I think it's more like a reward than a penalty for the adults...Lucky them" Ayame thought.

"Anyway, managers, what about you girls?" the man asked Shimizu and Yachi.

"Kitchen duty" the third year replied with a sigh "Usually, all of us managers are helping each other but it will be Hitoka-chan and I for today. Though, they said they will be helping but it will be solely on us"

"You two can do it" the violet eyed girl told them.

"What about you, Ayame?" the coach asked her "You're not a player, not a manager, and definitely not an adult. What did Nekomata-sensei decide on your fate?"

"Uh...I don't want to trouble Daichi-nii and the others if they knew but..." she sighed and lowered her voice "He said that I'll be Nekoma's manager for the day"

"...Yeah, that'll definitely make them go nuts" Coach Ukai glanced at the team if they heard or sensed it (the guys have sharp senses when it comes to Ayame or the girls).

"It will definitely pull their moral down..." the teacher sweat dropped when he imagined how the players will react.

"More like the complete opposite..." he sighed and scratched his head "Still, how can you explain it to them when they see you on Nekoma's side?"

"That's the problem. I don't know how to explain it to them without making them lose their composure" she said and saw Naoi calling her "Well, I'll be going. I'll leave it to you, Hitoka-chan, Shimizu-san"

"You can count on us" the third year beauty nodded.

"Ukai-san, I'll leave the rest to you"

"Sure, kid. I'll leave the extra practices to you tonight when we're out but I'll try to sneak out when I can" he ruffled her hair before pushing her to the other team.

Ayame went to Nekoma and bowed respectfully to the old director and young coach "I'll be in your care. Hope we get along"

"Respectful as always, Ayame" Coach Nekomata laughed and gently patted her shoulder "No need for the formalities. I'm the one who made your penalty and we know each other for a long time so just relax and enjoy being on Nekoma's side for a day"

"Hai!" she bowed again.

"Oya oya oya?" Kuroo paused after he saw the violet eyed girl next to their coach "What are you doing here, Ayame? I thought you're with your "nii-chan's" team"

"Kuroo, call the others. We'll explain" Naoi told him and he nodded. After a while, Nekoma players gathered around them.

"Oh! Ayame-san!" Inouka exclaimed "Neh, what's she doing here, Kuroo-san?"

"Chill, Inouka. Coach will explain" the captain grinned after a having a feeling that it is something good.

"Ahem. Okay, so for today, Ayame will be joining us temporarily as our manager for today per request by Nekomata-sensei. Guys, please take good care of her and respect her, all right?" Naoi said.

"OSU!!"

"Isn't that supposed to be the other way around? I'll be the manager, after all, albeit temporarily..."

"It's fine, don't sweat the small stuff"

"Finally....!" Yamamoto was crying tears of joy as he looked up at the heavens "We've been blessed by this beautiful day!! Thank you, heavens!!"

"All right!! Ayame-san is our manager!!" Inouka high fived with Shibayama happily.

"Even if it's just today, let's do our best to aid her!!" the first year libero said. These two are usually doing the manager tasks along with Yaku since they have no manager so having a temporary (female) manager is a big help to them.

"Yay!! We finally have a manager!!" Lev made a fist pump.

"It is definitely a beautiful day" Kuroo pretended to wipe a tear "After a long time, Nekoma finally have a manager, a cute manager. It is a dream come true"

"They're way too happy" Yaku crossed his arms as he watched the blessed faces of the males, though he is smiling a bit.

"So are you, Yaku" Kai said "Let's just leave them be. It is our chance to have a female manager, after all, even if it's for a day"

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Please take care of us" Kenma shook hands with her.

"Please do, manager Ayame-san" Fukunaga shook her other hand.

"Hai, I'll do my best!"

Meanwhile, on Karasuno's side, Shimizu just finished explaining Ayame's situation and they heard Nekoma's happy cheers.

Thanks to Ennoshita and Sugawara's fast reflexes, they managed to hold down the crying and wailing Nishinoya and Tanaka as they tried to go to Nekoma and return back their beloved kohai.

Daichi went frozen white as he saw how happy his "little sister" is with Nekoma.

Asahi was even more nervous that the captain is unusually silent and frozen white and he feared for the worst.

Hinata looked like he was about to cry when he heard her situation, thinking that she was kidnapped by Lev.

Kageyama paled, thinking that Ayame left because they weren't able to complete the quick.

Funny how the oddball duo could think such reasons, even though the real reason was explained to them.

"This is more like a punishment to the team rather than to Ayame..." Tsukishima noted.

"You could say that again" Kinoshita nodded.

"She's our ray of sunshine and inspiration, after all" Narita said "Especially to Daichi-san, Nishinoya and Tanaka"

"Nekomata-sensei really knows how to pull the strings" Mr. Takeda sweat dropped.

"Damn old man..." Coach Ukai thought.

The managers pulled the freckled teen from the team and talked to him discreetly.

"I hope you don't feel bad about that, Yamaguchi" the third year told him.

"Well, I'll be lying if I said I'm not troubled by it..." he breathed a heavy sigh "But we have no choice, right? I mean, all of us are penalized, Ayame included"

"Yeah, we're a little worried since you two are...um...in that relationship..." Yachi said, effectively making Yamaguchi's ears turn red.

"Still not used to it, I see" Shimizu noted with a small smile.

"Y-Yeah..." he rubbed his nape sheepishly "Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts, Yachi-san, Shimizu-san, but if Ayame's having fun with Nekoma, it's okay"

"Though it's torture for you guys" she said.

He flinched "Y-Yeah..."

They returned back to the team, who are still in chaos.

"It'll be awhile before we retain our composure..." he thought.

***

Ayame knew that it'll be like betraying her original teammates but she can't deny that she's having fun being Nekoma's (temporary) manager. Plus, she can closely observe their rival team and watch anything that she could learn from while having fun with the team.

Two birds with one stone? Probably.

However, she can't help but worry for her teammates. It looked like that they are performing normally and she mentally thanked the managers and Coach Ukai for their efforts.

"Left!"

"Center!"

Kenma tossed to Yamamoto and it was a clean down-the-line spike.

"All right!!" he made a fist pump at his success.

"Nice kill" the setter told him monotonously.

"Damn it, Kenma, put some energy on your words!!"

"..."

Ayame clapped her hands and called out to him "Yamamoto-san, nice kill!!"

Thunder struck the second year ace and he nearly fainted on the spot with a huge blush on his face.

"And she's done it..." Kuroo and Kenma thought.

"Oi!! Yamamoto, we're in the middle of a match!!" Yaku yelled at him.

"I was...blessed...by an angel..." he sighed dreamily.

Tanaka was glaring daggers at the Mohawk haired ace with tears streaming down his face.

"Ya bastard..."

"I hope the day ends soon..." the entire Karasuno volleyball club members silently prayed so their precious assistant coach can come back to them.