_______»×•—‖≡∞≡‖—•×«_______

Their defeat was not predicted. There was no guarantee they would've been able to defeated Itachiyama, but they weren't expecting to lose with a score of 3-1 either. As frustrating as it was for the team, no one cried. They gave it their all, and they were satisfied. There will be regrets among their plays, but all of them knew... they're coming back stronger. Until then, they'll carrying the defeat and push themselves to get much further.

The Inarizaki team were invited their usual summer training camp, conducted by the Itachiyama institute. Named after the inviters, this group is officially called the Itachi group—and Fuyuko for one was proud to be a part of it. Mainly because while others consider Itachi as a weasel, she sees a handsome anime dude instead. She mentally thanked whoever came up with such a perfect name.

She had all but a single problem. She was the only female manager among all the invited volleyball teams. She was left surrounded by vicious beasts with no one to relate to. Honestly, considering all of them were private schools—she expected at least one to have a female manager.

Her luck ran out after the nice group name though. Shiratorizawa Academy [private], Nohebi Academy [private], Itachiyama Institute [private], Kamomedai High [private] and Aoba Johsai High[private] all had male managers for some reason. She was forced to work with them. It wasn't that Fuyuko dislikes working with males—she wasn't that biased, but them being the majority and her being the only female did attract a lot of attention wherever she went.

She wasn't the only ones wary of the males though. Inarizaki Volleyball team made sure to keep an eye on their precious manager as much as they could. Going as far as to accompany her from and to her private room in the Itachiyama building. Their coaches made sure to have a talk with the other coaches about it too, going as far as to 'jokingly' threaten them.

It was sweet of them. Fuyuko was glad to have been in the team and never regretted her decision to join the team despite her current circumstances.

Then again, she had her interactions with other teams once a while, considering she was actively working as a manager—somehow being appointed as the leader by her fellow male managers. One of those interactions included Oikawa Tōru, who had once tried using his charms to win her over to help his—that too on the very first day. Let's say, it didn't go too well for him.

_______›»FLASH BACK«‹_______

Oh— his hair reminds me of Chocolate... great, I'm craving chocolate now...

Yahaba clicked his tongue when he caught sight of the only female on campus staring straight at Oikawa. "Why does he get all girls."

Matsukawa shrugged, having heard the male. "It's nothing new."

Hanamaki nodded. "Nothing we can do." At that point the team was pretty used to it, no matter how much their captain likes rubbing it on their faces.

With a stare burning to the back of his head, it didn't take long for Oikawa to make eye contact with the petite girl—wearing a short sleeved white shirt and lose basketball shorts that stopped a few inches above her knees. Oikawa instantly let out a charming smile, casually lifting a hand to wave at her. "Yo ho~ mind handing me some water?"

Fuyuko's half lidded eyes narrowed, already disliking the male with how fake his smile was. "I... don't like you..." She muttered bluntly, making the male freeze in shock. What felt like an ice blizzard hit him which had Suna, who stumble upon them shiver.

Cold.

"Eh?" Oikawa let out, while Iwaizumi who stood near him hid a snicker behind his hand.

"I'm not on duty right now, go ask someone else." Fuyuko voiced out softly, before turning and walking towards Suna.

"Why are you being so rude." Oikawa whined like a child. "You were the one staring at me in the first place."

"Your hair just reminded me of chocolate." She grumbled out with a soft pout. "Makes me crave it, so stay away from me please."

I want to feel the sweet taste of chocolate melt on my tongue.

Suna snorted, ignoring the shattering noise of Oikawa's pride as Fuyuko and him made their way out of the gym. Leaving Oikawa's team mates to tease the hell out of their usual prideful captain.

"No wonder she was chosen as manager for the school with those famous Miya Twins."

"How does it feel Oikawa? The rejection?"

"Rejection from a pretty girl at that."

"SHUT UP! AT LEAST I GET PUSSIES!"

Cue a slap to the back of his head brought to them by their favorite vice-captain.

"For once stop whining like a child Trashykawa."

_______›»FLASH BACK END«‹_______

"You have some serious problems with people's hairs." Suna teased, nudging Fuyuko as they made their way to the gym where Inarizaki boys did their extra practice.

"It's not my fault..."

"It's not their fault either."

"It's Furudate's fault." Fuyuko voiced out bluntly, gaining a curious look from Suna.

"Who?"

"Someone."

They made it back to the gym, stepping in to see the boys concentrating on increasing their individual strengths and techniques. Which didn't fail to make a smile crawl over Fuyuko's lips. "They're working hard." The girl commented, walking up to Kita and Aran who were in the middle of taking a break. The three of them watched as Atsumu drag Suna, forcing him to jump some blocks. Only making the said male sigh miserably.

"Yes, they are." Kita voiced, a smile crawling over his lips as well.

Aran took a glance at the two next to him before smiling as well, knowing well that both their Captain and Manager were proud of the team they look after—supporting them from the back.

Around an hour flew by when the twins and Suna took a break, hastily gulping down the water Fuyuko passed to them. "Fuyu-Chan, I've been meanin' to ask." Atsumu started, casually sitting down in front of Fuyuko with one elbow perched over his propped-up knee. Osamu followed after him, sitting crisscrossed next to him while Suna leaned against the wall next to the girl. "What's with yer elbow?"

That was something most of them noticed but never asked out loud. They watched as Fuyuko bring her left arm up, show off the dark black cloth covering her elbow. "Oh this? It's just an elbow support brace." She explained, before sliding it down until her wrist and bringing her left hand over her shoulder—revealing a nasty five-inch—pink colored crescent operation scar yet to fade. "It supports my elbow while I do my manager works."

Osamu slowly nodded, silently wondering how much pain Fuyuko had to endure. "That's why ya always wear long sleeves." He voiced. At first, he thought the girl was just uncomfortable with showing too much skin, but it didn't seem to be the case.

'n that's why she didn' change into a swimsuit back on our first date...

Fuyuko smiled, pulling the brace back to its original position. "A while back, my nerves were a bit weak due to the surgery, so my left hand didn't function properly. Once in a while it malfunctions, but the time in between have shortened greatly. So, rest assured."

Kita patted the girl's back. "We're glad ya informed the team bout this."

Fuyuko only nodded. "Well I knew you guys won't mind it."

Atsumu huffed out a breath. "Fuyu-Chan will always be the prettiest no matter how may scar's she gets!"

"For once I agree with him." Osamu mentioned, giving Fuyuko an encouraging smile while Suna nodded from besides her.

"What they said."

That very same night, Fuyuko and Osamu walked around the dark campus. Stopping at one gym after another and locking them up after ensuring no one's inside. Once again, Osamu volunteered to go along with her, opting to eat along with her when she's done with her work. It still shocks the team to see Osamu prioritizes anything else over food, not after everything they've witnessed him do for the sake of food.

"Does it still hurt?" Osamu asks out of nowhere, breaking the comfortable silence. Fuyuko hummed, glancing up at the male who intently stared at her left elbow—which was easy since he was walking on her left side. "Yer elbow, does it still hurt?"

"Not really." Fuyuko shrugged. "Sometimes it gets numb, but it's not painful. It's been around a year since I got it after all."

Osamu went silent for a moment. "Does this have anythin' to do with yer music problem?"

Fuyuko took a while to answer, slowly nodding as she faced front. "My doctor mentioned the possibility of me not being able to play music ever again depending on how the surgery goes. It took me around five months after the surgery for my left to work properly, so I lived in constant fear of never being able to play again." Her voice was soft, reminiscing the darkest days of her life. "I guess... my pessimistic thoughts during those days might have something to do with why I can't play anymore..."

"Ya still have those negative thoughts don'cha." Osamu knew the answer fully well, he knew because of all those times they've spent together—getting closer and getting to know to each other.

Fuyuko nodded once more, staring down at the ground. "Yes..."

Osamu stared at the girl for a moment, before reaching out to her left elbow. They both came to a halt in front of a gym in the middle of the night, Fuyuko's head turning towards Osamu's hand as he pulled the elbow brace down. "Osa-chin? What are you doing?" As confused as she was, she didn't resist, only looking up to stare at Osamu's face as he intently stared at her scar.

"Ya think this is ugly don'cha?" Osamu muttered, lightly taking steps forward, which urged her to take steps back as his hold on her left upper arm stayed firm.

Fuyuko's brows furrowed, just as Osamu's eyes flickered to make eye contact with her lavender hues. "... It is ugly to look at." She muttered out her honest opinion, getting confused when Osamu frowned in response.

Her back made contact with the gym wall, the silence among them getting too loud for her taste as she wasn't sure of the expression her male friend was making at the moment. Without another word, Osamu slipped his right hand down till he held onto her left hand, gently moving it up to place a gentle kiss on her knuckle and taking her by surprise.

"Fuyu, ya won' believe me when I say yer the prettiest girl I've met since Tsumu already said that earlier." The girl blinked, a red tint spreading on her cheeks when Osamu closed the distance in between them—leaving mere centimeters between them, and making her crane her neck up to stare up at him who tilted his head down to stare into her eyes.

The male slowly pulled her left hand up, entwining their fingers as he gently pinned them over her head—not once breaking their eye contact. In the dark, they stared into each other's eyes, while Osamu's other hand softly trailed up the side of her neck.

His fingers left behind butterfly touches, sending pleasant shivers down her spine before he cupped a side of her head, thumb locked in between her left earlobe and the start of her jaw. Fuyuko who was overwhelmed with his sudden actions, clutched onto his shirt. Feeling his butterfly touches release butterflies within her stomach.

"Ya really 're pretty..." Osamu whispered, loud enough for her to hear him. "Inside 'n out... 'n this scar only adds to that attractiveness y'know..." Osamu tilted his head up, leaving a soft kiss on her elbow, just above her scar. "It's hella badass, shows yer strong enough to survive through it." His hold left hand, bringing his hand to grasp the other side of her head before he connected their foreheads. "I like that bout ya... a lot. Yer pretty 'n strong, Fuyu..."

Their heart's continued to accelerate, as if competing with each other. Trying to beat out of their chests, as if they wanted the other person to hear it out. It was a complete ecstasy, because both Fuyuko and Osamu was sure of the other's feelings. They knew what the other felt, and they were fully prepared to accept it. After all, it wasn't a simple crush or an infatuation anymore.

Osamu smiled, leaning back and letting go of her. "Only a few gyms to go. Come on, I wanna eat." Fuyuko snickered out loud, grapping ahold of his extended hand without a second thought as they continued their patrol.

It's not the right time... I wanna make it special for 'er...

"For someone who keeps their emotions at bay, you sure have a way with words Osa-chin." Fuyuko teased, leading them down the path with a content smile.

Her smile was contagious—because in return, Osamu's smile refused to fade away. "Only for ya."

It's not time to confess to him... because I want to do this properly...

It was during their inspection, that they stumbled upon a lone Aoba Johsai player with blond hair and dark eyebags. The male soon to be adopted to Inarizaki High.

"His hair reminds me of a tennis cupcake recipe I tried out a while back." Fuyuko whispered to Osamu who snorted in response.

"Well his hair does look like a tennis ball."

They silently watched as the blond do a huge dynamic serve, face looking fierce only to have it go out of bounds. Fuyuko lightly whistled—or tried to do it, because she can't whistle to save her life. "He's strong." Not that it affected Fuyuko or Osamu though. For them, he looked like a child throwing a tantrum for some reason.

Fuyuko smiled at the boy who clicked his tongue while Osamu walked up to him. "I think that's enough practice for t'night don'cha think?"

"Ha?" The blond let out with a snarl, frown looking hostile as ever as he stared up at the grey head.

His eyes flickered down to Fuyuko who casually appeared next to Osamu, holding a water bottle and a towel that came out of nowhere. "Let's clean up, the cafeteria will close up if you take too long."

The girl extended out his drink, which made him narrow his eyes down at her hand before flickering up at her soft smile. "Come on, go ahead." Osamu urged, which had the blond reluctantly taking the bottle and the towel from Fuyuko's hand. His scowl not fading, and brows further furrowing in confusion.

Fuyuko turned to Osamu, him glancing back at her before shrugging as the other male continued to stare daggers into their souls—only to ignore him and to start cleaning the gym up. "Oi, come 'ere 'n help take down the net!" Osamu called out, standing on one side, while Fuyuko moved next to the lone wolf.

"Go on." The girl urged, lightly pushing the boys back, which had him sparing her a single glance before walking towards the other male. It didn't take long for them to properly clean the place up and lock it, before Fuyuko dragged the boy over to the last gym they had to inspect—her and Osamu pestering him about his name all the way.

"So, yer name's Kyōtani Kentarō?" Osamu asked, gaining a grunt followed by a small nod from the blond.

"So Kyo-chin it is." Fuyuko murmured to herself, her and Osamu standing on both sides of the blond as they made their way towards the cafeteria.

"Why do ya always give nicknames?" Osamu asked, a question he'd been wondering for quite a while.

He gained a shrug. "Why not? I always give nicknames to people I consider as friends."

That instantly gained Kyōtani's attention. "Friends?"

Fuyuko nodded in response. "You're our friend from now on." She declared, voice staying soft as her half-lidded eyes glanced over to Osamu. "Right? Osa-chin?"

The grey head nodded. "If ya says so." His eyes moved down to make eye contact with honey brown. "If she says so than ya should be fine."

Kyōtani was utterly confused. "You trust her that much?" His gruff voice asked, those being the longest sentence he'd uttered ever since they've met.

Osamu sent him a lopsided smirk. "Course. I trust 'er judgement."

The three of them made their entrance, seeing that there were a few still lingering around different cafeteria tables. Aoba Johsai's regulars were also there, and the moment Oikawa caught sight of Kyōtani trilling after the only female manager present in the camp, he choked on his water. "No way!"

This instantly gained others attention, and Yahaba's chopstick broke at the sight of Fuyuko handing Kyōtani a tray of food with a soft smile before dragging him by his elbow to the table Inarizaki team sat. "No way in hell that's happening."

He wasn't the only one, the rest of the third years and first years were shocked beyond words—watching as their Mad-Dog obediently take his seat next to Fuyuko with Osamu taking the one on his other side.

"Oh, who 's this Fuyuko-Chan?" Akagi wondered out, him and the rest staring at the tennis ball haired male, not a bit intimidated by his frown and the rough glare sent to everyone. I mean, why would they when they've spent time with a literal devil.

Atsumu though glared right back, not backing down while Kyōtani silently compared Atsumu with Oikawa—silently thinking they both were on a par with each other.

Fuyuko smiled at Akagi's question, lightly patting Kyōtani's head—which he permitted to by tilted his head down. Not too far away, Aoba Johsai's jaws were slacked, staring at the scene with varying expressions of shock and terror.

"This is Kyōtani Kentarō. I want to adopt him." Her casual reply gained several deadpans from her team. "Osa-chin, you don't mind adopting him with me, would you?"

Said male temporarily took his eyes away from his food, chewing and swallowing it before shrugging his shoulder. "Sure, why not. He doesn' seem bad."

Fuyuko nodded in response. "Yeah, he reminds me a bit of Alie-chin." She glanced back to her team mates. "You guys don't mind him spending time with us, right?"

Kita silently stared at the male, which had the blond staring right back, before averting his eyes away due to the shiver that suddenly racked down his spine. "It's fine, as long as he's not bein' forced."

The captain knew Fuyuko well enough to know that she somehow, always gets her way with things. Her being in the club was a huge example of that—which is another topic of a whole another degree. The Miya brothers would be shell shocked to know the real behind her joining their club.

_______»×•—‖≡∞≡‖—•×«_______

Fuyuko sat on her knees in front of Osamu—who sat on a chair. Her hands gently fumbled with his left hand, making sure there was no strain as she taped his pinkie. "I know you guys are fired up, but you should be more careful." Fuyuko voiced out loud for the whole team to hear.

"It's a week. Just a week and I've lost count of how many injuries everyone got." When she's finished taping Osamu's hand, she cupped it with her own ones, before bringing it to her forehead to place it there for a moment.

Osamu blinked, wondering what was going through her head. "Fuyu...?"

Their manager let his hand go along with a sigh. Standing up and stepping back so that she was facing everyone. "Trying hard to improve doesn't equal being reckless." Fuyuko's blunt words came out louder than her usual soft tone as she placed both hands on her hips with a small frown. "If you all continue to get injured due to your recklessness, I'll make sure the healing procedure is two times as painful."

Atsumu huffed out. "As if ya can hurt-"

"Did you say something Atsumu?" Her sharp and cold tone sent a full-on blizzard through the entire Inarizaki—which was felt by the neighboring teams in rage of her words. "Just so you know, a nice sharp blow to the vagus nerve on your neck can easily disorient you or knock you out." Atsumu clearly shank on his spot, entire being going pale as paper.

Fuyuko let out a sigh, bringing her hand to fold them across her chest. Her face relaxed as a small pout made its way on her lips. "I'm worried okay? One of these days, one of those injuries might prevent you from playing ever again. So please be careful." She closed her eyes while the rest chose to stay silent, knowing the girl knew exactly what she was talking about. "You're a team, learn each other's habits—not only the habits of your opponents. Learn, understand, and look out for each other."

Their coach let out a boisterous laugh from behind Fuyuko, making the girl glance back to him. Kurosu patted Fuyuko's head, looking quite proud while Kita smiled from the back. "Fuyuko-Chan's right, aggressiveness doesn' always give us victory. 'm confident in yer individual skills, so by the end of this trainin' camp, I want ya all to improve as a team."

Fuyuko only nodded from next to him. "Exactly what I was talking about." This gained several sweat drops from her team, all of them thinking something along the lines of...

And ya needed to threaten us to say that?!

"How lucky~ If only we had a manger to scold us."

"Mhm! Imagine getting scolded by a cutie~"

"No, she's scary... I don't want a manager if she's going to threaten us like that."

The week passed with the teams busy improving themselves, both as a team and individually. During the second week, a certain red headed female was granted permission to attend the camp. To say Atsumu was horrified, would be an understatement. The boy upon her arrival, warned his new acquaintances of her danger, telling them to stay away if they wanted to save their lives.

Fuyuko instantly took the chance to happily introduce her and Osamu's adopted son. "Kyo-chin!" The girl waved over to the male who was on his way out to find another gym to practice by himself. He took a moment to glance at her, before his gaze warily flickered over to Alice. "Come over! I want to introduce you to someone!"

Nevertheless, Kyōtani made his way over, standing next to Fuyuko—continuing his wary stare. "Alie-chin, this is Kyo-chin. Kyo-chin, Alie-chin." Alice and everyone within hearing range, sweat dropped. Staring at the girl with awkward smiles or deadpans. Hell, even Kyōtani spared her a curious slash doubtful look.

That was before Osamu appeared behind the two. Him standing tallest with his height of 183cm while Kyōtani stood at 178 and Fuyuko at 157. "Alice, this's Kyōtani Kentarō, our adopted son." Osamu then looked down at the blond. "Kyōtani, that's Rairakku Alice. Our friend."

Kyōtani looked back at Alice, their height only off by mere centimeters as the girl stood at 175cm's. He nodded with a grunt, acknowledging the dominant aura looping out of the girl. Meanwhile Alice snorted at Osamu's statement. "Not you two adopting someone as if you guys are married." She teased, not really getting the response she wanted.

Osamu averted his eyes to a side, a soft pink tint apparent on his cheek.

I won' mind marryin' 'er to be honest

Fuyuko dropped her head, ears visibly painted red.

I wonder what it would be like to have him as a husband...

Osamu and Fuyuko glanced back to each other, before letting out soft smiles, making Atsumu gag from behind them. "Ew! Disgustin'! That's gross!" Both Osamu and Fuyuko turned back to him, latter with a deadpan while his twin looked pissed off with a nerve popping out of his temple.

"Shut yer trap Tsumu!" Osamu shouted, making Atsumu pull out his tongue, a hand pulling out the lower lid of his right eye. The gray head felt his eye twitch, before turning to Kyōtani. "Don' ever respect someone like that kay? Trash like that should be disposed of somewhere outta this planet."

Kyōtani tilted his head, before remembering Oikawa belonged to that category as well. He didn't hesitate to nod. While Atsumu blew a raging fuss.

"HUH?! WHO'RE YA CALLIN' TRASH YA MONGREL!"

"TRASH! TSUMU TRASH! TRASHUMU!"

"YA GOT THAT FROM SEIJO'S VICE DIDN'CHA YA COPY CAT!"

"AT LEAST IT FITS YA!"

Alice laughed at their normal dynamic, making fists and letting them drop on their heads with her brute force. "SHUT IT!"

"OW!"

During their commotion, Oikawa had made his way over, tapping on Fuyuko's shoulder to gain her attention. "Hey~ Manager-Chan~ Mind giving back Kyoken for a second?"

Fuyuko's half lidded gaze stared straight into the fake smile of his. "Mad-Dog?"

Oikawa's blinked, realizing the term he used. "I meant Kyōtani-Chan! Mind giving him back for a bit?"

Fuyuko's gaze averted to the blond glaring at Oikawa, about ready to take action if he were to try anything. "Do you want to go with him Kyo-chin?" Kyōtani looked down, making eye contact before lightly shaking his head.

The pale lavender head instantly turned back to Oikawa, half lidded eyes narrowing into his chocolate hues. "He doesn't want to go with you." Her blunt statement had Oikawa almost backing away, because never in his life had a girl talked to him like she did—well except for his older sister that is.

Instead of backing off, he chose to childishly huff out a pout. "No fair! You can't just steal him away!"

Fuyuko huffed right back, arms folding across her chest as her half-lidded eyes narrowed daggers into his being. "I already adopted him into my family." She shot back, voice as soft as ever, but with a sharp edge to it.

Oikawa whined. "You can't do that!"

"She can." Kyōtani gruffly muttered out, not ceasing his glare which in turn had Oikawa glaring right back.

All of a sudden, Atsumu appeared next to Fuyuko. "If Fuyu-Chan says she adopted him, then he's adopted. He's a part of us now!" The blond made it seem like his argument was solid, which it is.

"You've got a problem with that?" Alice asked from next to Atsumu, her dark glare making everyone within her vicinity cower back in fear. For once Atsumu was not scared near it, which was a shock to almost everyone that knew him.

Fuyuko patted Kyōtani's back. "If he bothers you too much, just tell me okay? Give me or Osa-chin a call, and we'll do something about him." Her voice returned back to its softness, a small smile accompanying it.

Osamu blandly stared at her smile, before a smile crawled up his lips as well. "Yea, I can tell ya don' like him." He received a grunt from Kyōtani who honestly felt a bit lost, having never had that much attention and affection directed to him—by people he'd met a week ago at that. "I mean I know why. He kinda reminds me of Tsumu."

"Same here." Fuyuko agreed.

The summer days were coming to a quick end, only a few weeks left at its disposal. Time has been moving on along with their everyday developing feelings. While it was funny how they adopted a child only a month younger than them—despite them not even dating, every witness to see how they treat each other—would agree that the presence looming around them felt warmer than most other couples.

_______»×•—‖≡∞≡‖—•×«_______