12

It was bright and sunny on a Saturday morning. Not a speck of cloud could be seen in the sky. It would have been a nice day to stay at home and have the air conditioner at max. However, sadly, unfortunately, even on such a hot Saturday, there were practices.

From seven in the morning to five in the afternoon, with 15 minutes breaks and an hour lunch break, practice continued on despite the sweat-inducing, fire-breathing heat that rained down on them.

Tendou lied on the ground, panting profusely. He was lying on his own pool of sweat like the rest of the team. Well, apart from some of the experienced 3rd years and one 1st year, everyone else was in their own pool of sweat.

The manager, named Miyashita Haruka, handed Tendou and others a towel. She was also sweating, but not that much like the players.

Nishida groaned leaning against the wall. He fanned himself with his hand. "Coach, can we stop practices for the day?" Just like Tendou, he was in his own pool of sweat. "I don't think the rest of us can keep on going with this heat."

The coach shook his head. "Saito." The younger coach saluted and opened the gym doors. Everything shined as all tried to look at what the coaches were trying to show. The boys', except a select few, jaws dropped when the view became clear to see.

"I can't hear you!" Kagami shouted, blowing into the whistle.

"One, osu, two, osu…!" The girls behind her shouted. They were sweating, shirts drenched from their own set. It revealed something and it fueled the boys.

Nishida stood up, eyes flashing, and posed. "Oh!" He ran to the door. "Rin-chan!" He sang happily. Ishikawa slammed him down with his eyes closed.

But when it opened, it was flashing as well. "Not going to let you see, my Miku!" Nishida struggled beneath him.

"I have no interest in flat people, thank you!" The captain pushed him off and was about to sprint like his life depended on it, but the vice-captain took hold of his left foot.

"How dare you say that?! There is something there! There is!"

The boys sweat-dropped at their captain's and vice-captain's antics. Tendou jumped up when he saw a certain person.

"Hoshi!" He shouted and ran to the door.

Yoshikami blinked upon hearing her voice. She turned her head and locked eyes with Tendou. She waved. "Satori-kun!"

Ohira, Soekawa, Yamagata, and Semi joined in. "Yo, Yoshikami!" She waved at them as well, raising both her arms.

Tendou's eyes widened looking further down than usual. He gasped and flailed before his group of friends.

Semi narrowed his eyes at Tendou. "Oi, stop it. It's refreshing to see Yoshikami among tall girls." He tried, but failed, to push away the red head.

Soekawa nodded. "It's like watching our kid playing with bigger people." He wiped a fake tear. "She grew up so fast."

Yamagata sweat-dropped. "That just sounded weird, Soekawa…"

Tendou continued to block their view with his arms. "Stop looking! There is a cursed image! It's cursed, I tell ya!"

Ohira rolled his eyes at the red head. "Just because she's your cousin doesn't mean we can't even cheer her on." He looked back at Yoshikami and his jaw dropped. He began helping Tendou. "Tendou is right! Most definitely right! There is a cursed image!"

Ushijima sighed, getting quite irritated by the chattering. He dropped the ball and walked over to his friends.

"Oi, Ohira, Tendou, what's gotten with you two?!" Yamagata oofed when Ohira's palm hit his face.

"Stop it!" Soekawa fought back against the two.

Ushijima glared at all of them. He grabbed their shoulders and pushed them away, making them tumble down against each other.

"Ow!" They shouted in harmony. They all glared at Ushijima, but immediately shrunk at the fire behind him.

Ushijima growled at them. "Quit it and get back to practice." His head turned to face the jogging volleyball girls. "What are you even looking at?"

Ohira gasped and reached for Ushijima's arm. "No-" He saw the way Ushijima's eyes widened. "-don't look!"

But it was too late. Ushijima had seen what Ohira and Tendou had. It was something really. No one would have expected it from a short, petite girl. And it was big. Not too big. But…

"Woah, that shortie over there really has some big ones." One of the 2nd years shouted beside Ushijima.

His companion nodded in agreement. "No kidding, Fukatsu." He whistled at Yoshikami's direction.

Yoshikami heard it and looked over to the volleyball boys looking over at them. She smiled and waved. Akira looked down at the short girl and grabbed her hand.

"Don't look at them, Yoshi. Coach and Kagami-san will get mad at you." Akira said, though her eyes were mostly enraptured by the bouncing.

Yoshikami pouted. "Aw, okay, Aki-chan. If you say so." She returned to jogging. It's not like they could see the boys later so Yoshikami just wanted to show them that she was doing fine. The girls disappeared back to their gym after a few minutes.

Ohira began to sweat more, not because of the heat, oh no- he was too focused on Ushijima's actions. His eyes were shadowed over, but his composure was okay- there is no clenching fists either. Maybe Ohira was just overthinking it again like that time when he thought Ushijima was confessing his gayness to him?

Coach Washijo blew his whistle. "Now that you have the energy to chatter box over there. Get back to your practice!" The boys sighed and returned to their receives.

Though it didn't stop them from talking with one another.

"So, who do you think is cute among them, Ri?"

"That 2nd year, Izumimoto-san, is hella pretty. I'm going for her, Yanagida."

"I didn't say pretty. I'm saying cute!"

"Hm, what about the vice-captain. She is pretty and cute at the same time."

"No, no, that 2nd year, Shinnabe-chan, is the cutest."

Another 2nd year joined in. "I'm pretty sure it goes to that short girl. She has the atmosphere that she would call you 'nii-san' you know?"

"That's true, that's true."

"Yo, the 1st years seem to know her. Why not asking for her name, Fukatsu? You seem pretty interested in her."

Semi felt anger boil within him hearing them talk about Yoshikami. Like he'd tell them her name.

Ohira ignored the chattering and focused on his dig receives. They'd get a yelling from coach in three, two…

"You little brats seem to think that this practice is easy." The 2nd years froze hearing the snarl from the coach. "100 serves and laps around the academy!"

Ohira grinned happily.

"Oi, what are you grinning for, 1st year? You completely missed the receive." The last 3rd year among them rose a brow.

Ohira blushed. "Ah, sorry…" He bowed his head. He jumped upon hearing a powerful slam against wood. He looked over at Ushijima and saw a flame within his eyes.

Ushijima gritted his teeth and spiked the ball with full power again. For some reason, he was feeling really irritated. Hearing them talking about Yoshikami like that; she wasn't a thing. He snarled as he delivered another powerful spike across the gym. He felt elated that the 2nd years were punished, but it wasn't enough.

He needed to let out these feelings through the ball. He spiked another powerful serve.

Now, in the girls' gym, they were doing the same thing as the boys. They were practicing on their digs and spikes.

"So, Izumimoto-senpai, who are you interested among the boys?"

And just like the boys, the girls were chattering about their interests.

Izumimoto blushed. "Well, I think Ri-san, the wing spiker?" The girls giggled.

"I'm interested on their Captain! Don't you think he is manly and looks responsible?"

"Pfft, you haven't seen him act like a doofus. The vice-captain the one who is responsible!"

"I think the 1st year, Ushijima Wakatoshi, takes the cake though." All eyes turned to Hatsume, the vice-captain.

"Hatsume-senpai?! We…we were just…" One of the girls stammered.

The vice-captain giggled. "Oh no, this is something we must talk about. After all, we would be sleeping in the same building." The girls blushed.

Kagami just resumed her practice on serves along with Akira and Yoshikami. Though it didn't stop any of them from blushing.

"By the way, why Ushijima-san, Hatsume-senpai? He's a bit…odd." One of the 2nd years pursed her lips.

Hatsume waved her off. "He's not odd. He's just like that cold and silent type, you know." She sighed wistfully. "But beneath that coldness is a soft, gentle heart."

"That's true…he's more handsome than any of them combined as well!"

"Hearing that from Hatsume-senpai makes me fall for him."

"Me too…"

Yoshikami felt tick marks on her head. She slammed the ball a bit too hard and it hit the wall instead of the other side of the court. This brought the attention of the rest of the girls.

"Eh, is Yoshikami-chan perhaps jealous?" Hatsume teased.

Yoshikami's face exploded in red. "No, I'm not! I just don't like hearing about my friends being treated like they are things." She pouted.

"Oh no, don't misunderstand, Yoshi-chan! We're just talking about our possible love interests." One of the 2nd years named Ishii Yuka giggled. "You hang out with the 1st year boys, right? Are you interested in any of them?"

Yoshikami looked away, slapping her cheeks. "Eh, no, of course not. I think about them like…" She thought deeply. "Older brothers?" Thankfully, the girls bought it.

The girls squealed. "That's right! Yoshi-chan is just like their little sister. Look how smol and cute she is!"

The short girl sighed in relief that their topic changed. She couldn't bear it if they kept talking about Ushijima. She paused. Why would that bother her though? It's not like she likes him. She thought of him a lot, but that doesn't mean she likes him, right? Ushijima always seemed to be there when she needed him the most…

So, it's alright to think like this, right?

Ba-dump. She touched her chest, feeling something. Her cheeks felt hot, but not from the usual embarrassment. What was wrong with her?

Akira looked at Yoshikami. "Yoshi, you alright?"

The short girl snapped out of her daze. "Mhmm…yea, just thinking about how to aim…" She pointed at the net.

Jeez, what was wrong with her? She thought of Ushijima as a friend, nothing else…like an older brother.

Right?