Your eyes ease open to find Daishou still fast asleep, curled up close to you, his tail wrapped around your waist and legs. He hugs your left hand to his bare chest, seeming so at peace in this moment. Wait… Where's his shirt? You blush lightly, checking around. Your head felt fuzzy, but you locate his shirt on the other side of him, he wasn't missing any other clothes thank god.

         You glance at the time and relax, it was still too early to wake up. He shifts with a hum, drawing your attention as his eyes open slightly, blinking a few times. 

         "Good morning." You greet.

         "Morning…" He yawns, fangs poking out briefly before his head hits the pillow again. "Are you sore too? Why did we dance so much last night?"

          "No idea… There wasn't any music either. And your jokes were awful too." You tease.

       "But you still laughed so I win." He sticks out his snake tongue. You both pause and look away with blushes. 

        "That damn tongue." You huff.

        "Sorry." He covers his mouth.

        "Anyway." You sit up and loom over him making him tense slightly. "Happy birthday Daishou!" You gush cuddling him. He chuckles and hugs you back, sitting up. 

        "Thanks." He rumbles.

        "Breakfast. What do you want?" You ask him.

        "Hmm French toast. There's a nice place for that nearby." He tells you.

        "Let's get ready then." You smile patting his chest. You both pause and look down at his chest. You blush and move away at that. "Forgot you didn't have a shirt…" 

        "Where did it… Oh." He picks it up. "Why did I take my shirt off?"

        "I don't know. Maybe you got overheated? You had it on when we fell asleep." You tell him. He pauses blinking and humming as he tries to remember, a blush soon coming to his cheeks. 

        "Oh well." He coughs and grabs some clothes. "Shower time." He quickly heads out. You smile and message Mika. 

        "Okay, let's get today started." You breathe before grabbing clothes and heading down to the other shower room and taking a shower. After you shower and dress, you meet up with Daishou in the hall.

         "You know, the first thing I want to get after I furnish your room… Is a fridge. I need a fridge." He nods as his stomach growls. 

        "Yeah sounds like it." You chuckle thoughtfully.

         "I should look into that soon…" He murmurs as you both head out.

         "Then a mini stove top so you can make food." You smile a bit. He was going to love your present at least. 

         You both stop at a nearby diner to eat, you get a message from Mika to keep him busy until noon before meeting at the park. Daishou tilts his head slightly as he watches you. "So. What's the plan?"

         "Keep you to myself until noon." You respond, meeting his gaze. He pauses and looks away with a small blush at that. 

         "Why did you word it like that…" He grumbles lightly. 

         "I'm not sure what else to do besides that." You shrug. 

         "Noon huh… We could-"

         "No working on the agency today." You point at him and he scowls.

         "Fine… Then I'm at a loss too." He grumbles. 

         "Three hours…" You check your phone and smile. "How about we go to the paintball field?"

         "Hell yeah." He lights up. You chuckle and the food is brought over. 

         After you eat you both head out to the paintball field just outside of the city. There weren't a lot of people here yet, so you both decided to go on separate teams. Assigned to the red team you hurry to the red base to wait for the match to begin. You pause seeing two familiar faces. 

         "Eh? Kuguri? Tera?" You manage in surprise.

         "___! Long time no see!" Tera greets with a grin. Kuguri shifts, giving a small nod in greeting.

         "Another friend of yours Kuguri?" A blond guy next to Kuguri leans toward you. "I'm Numai, nice to meet you."

         "Nice to meet you too. It's amazing you guys are here, I came here with Daishou and he's on the other team." You comment.

         "Really? Awesome, this is going to be fun." Tera grins. "Are you two on a date or something?"

         "Maybe? I'm mainly distracting him before his birthday party." You tell them. 

         "It's his birthday huh? We'll make this fun then." Numai nods. "What's he look like?" He asks. You show them a picture from yesterday. "Got it." 

          "Oh. Look, Tsukki, ___'s here. Kuguri and Tera too." A familiar voice comments making you all look back at Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. 

          "Wow… This is becoming an interesting line up." Tera blinks in surprise.

          "How exciting." You grin. "Let's all work together one more time to take out the enemy." 

          "Heh I'm fired up. Let's do it." Tera rumbles readying his gun. 

          "This is exciting." Yamaguchi smiles lightly. 

          "Together." Kuguri nods. 

          The chime sounds and the doors open to release the teams into the mock battle field. "Daishou can sense your footfalls so step lightly when you can." You tell them briskly.

          "Right." They say together before everyone fans out. You had no idea about the other opponents but this was pretty exciting. 

          You stop at a wall leaning against it and peeking around the corner carefully before moving to the next wall. Everything was so quiet, then Yamaguchi tripped from his hiding place and suddenly four different members of the blue team appear to take aim. Tsukishima swiftly steps in to shield him, taking out two of the enemy players as he's blasted with paintballs. 

            "Tsukki!" Yamaguchi gasps as you and Tera take out the other two. 

           "Hurry up and get back to cover!" Tsukishima responds taking a knee while Tera quickly helps Yamaguchi up and back to cover. You frown lightly at that. But half of their team was down now. 

        'Don't forget who you're up against.' You remind yourself, carefully carrying on, staying low. 'These guys sure are calm… No one else is peeking out…' The sound of paintball guns going off nearby catches your attention but before you can move to check it out you sense him behind you, swiftly turning and aiming your gun, pausing as you find the barrel of his already trained on you. 

         "Your movements weren't bad. I didn't sense you." He chuckles with a smile. "But I was tracking you." His tongue flickers out. 

         "That's sneaky." You smirk a bit. 

        "You really should've seen it coming." He shrugs. "Ah well. Maybe next time," He hums, shooting you. He stiffens slightly at the same time and slowly takes a knee with you, glancing back.

        "Sorry ___, I didn't make it in time." Yamaguchi frowns, standing behind him.

        "Tch." Daishou huffs while you chuckle.

        "It's fine. Good job Yamaguchi, now go help with the rest." You tell him. He nods and quickly carries on. "So… Best two out of three?" You smirk at Daishou.

         "Alright. Loser owes ice cream." Daishou smiles back. 

         "Any interesting people on your team?" You inquire.

         "I have Hiro and Konoha actually. What about you?" He blinks.

         "Kuguri, Tera, Tsukishima, and as you saw Yamaguchi." You grin. "Weird right?"

         "You didn't plan it?"

         "No, I was really surprised actually." 

         "Oh… Huh, it is weird then." He nods and you both look over as Hiro rushes past only to get shot in the back. 

         "Oof…" You mutter just before the end alarm sounds.

         "Red team wins round one!" Someone declares and you both stand.

         "Next one will be mine." Daishou nudges you. 

         "Oh? We're going by teams and not which one of us takes the other out first?" You blink at him. 

         "If we do it that way I'll definitely win the two out of three." He shrugs.

         "Oh really? Alright. Bet." You breathe putting a hand on your hip. 

         "Well originally it was ice cream but since you're looking at me like that…" He tilts his head in thought. "If I win… You'll transfer to Nohebi." He decides, making your eyes widen. "Show me your resolve." His eyes narrow at you. You swallow and shift at that.

         So it was that sort of bet. One that would make you decide to stay with everyone at Raizu, or go to Nohebi and join Daishou. 

         "I'll wait to see your answer." Daishou breathes walking for his team's base. You blink and start for yours in deep thought. You walk in and the others straighten, looking at you as you shift and raise your head with a fiery gaze. 

         "Let's win these next two matches." You tell them. 

         "Right." They nod and get ready.

         'Sorry Daishou. But I don't want to run away and regret it.' You think to yourself. "Oh Tsukishima, that was a nice save earlier. Didn't know you had it in you." You tell him.

         "... It was nothing…" He shrugs.

         "By the way they have Hiro and Konoha on that team. If Konoha can copy Daishou's quirk we're going to have a real problem on our hands." You say looking amongst the former stranded.

         "That will be a problem." Yamaguchi nods.

         "Well if quirks are being used how about I make things interesting?" Numai smirks, a mini dense mist building in his palm.

         "Alright. Sounds fun." Tera snickers.

         "Fine by me I can smell them anyway." Tsukishima breathes.

         "Yamaguchi, can you be my back-up again? Daishou will probably want another show down with me." You tell him, pointing to yourself.

         "Oh. You sure? I wasn't much help last time." He frowns lightly.

          "Of course. The fact that you snuck up on him is amazing itself." You grin. "Help me out again. He blinks, eyes lighting up before he smiles and nods. Tsukishima peers at you both quietly before looking away. 

          "It's almost time." He states getting up.

          "Alright guys. Let's go have some more fun. Numai rumbles leading the way out as the doors open. A dense mist takes over the battlefield as everyone splits up again. 

          'I can do this. It's no different from the particles, just listen and focus.' You tell yourself, stepping lightly, pressing your feet into the ground in an attempt to feel for approaching footsteps. Times like this really made you envy the animal quirks. You feel the wall you're up against trimmer from someone else leaning on it. You swiftly duck down and spin around the wall shooting down the opponent before quickly moving to another area.

         Yamaguchi shadows you carefully with Tsukishima, peering around trying to see through the mist. You reach a stack of barrels and stop, trying to estimate how fast Daishou could find you. By your calculations he was probably already near you.

           You raise your gun instinctively, making Yamaguchi and Tsukishima take cover warily. "This fog wouldn't be your doing, would it?" Daishou's voice sounds on top of the barrels. You impulsively spin out of the way as paintballs splatter where you had been. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi swiftly fire at him but he's already gone. You quickly move around the barrels to shoot him but he dodges for the otherside. 

           Yamaguchi gasps as Daishou takes him out of the game. Tsukishima dodges and takes cover behind you. "He's so fast." He hisses. 

          "Yeah. That's my terrifying boss." You smile a bit, kicking the barrels over to make Daishou reveal himself. A snake tail wraps around one and throws it at you. You swiftly dodge firing at him as Tsukishima scrambles out of the way.

          "H-Hey! You two are going overboard." The blond gasps as you and Daishou fire at each other and swiftly take cover again.

          "I'm not losing!" You call out.

         "Oh? That so?" Daishou calls back and you can hear a grin in his voice.

         "Yes! No matter what I gotta go through I'm not running away from them! If they want to hate me or be disgusted…. Then that's just what I deserve!" You shout. 

          "If that's how they feel then they don't deserve you." Daishou retorts, suddenly sliding into view and firing at you. "So I'm not backing down." He declares as you narrowly dodge them.

          You dive behind another wall, catching your breath, tears leaving your eyes. "Dammit. Daishou…" You get up wiping your face. 

          "Are you… Crying?" His voice sounds in front of you, and you jump looking up to find him standing a few feet away looking surprised. 

          "Why do ya gotta say those sweet things? You make it really hard not to go along with you." You scoff. 

          "Because they're true." He says softly, raising his gun at you. Tsukishima swiftly steps behind you and fires at him. One of the paintballs splattering on his chest. "Tch dammit." Daishou takes a knee. "But my team's winning this one." He gives you a determined glare. "So get ready for the final round."

          Tsukishima growls, and you glance back as he moves to take a knee, revealing Hiro behind him. You blink and move to dodge but another shot from another direction hits you. You plop down at that. 

           "Dammit…" You sigh. 

           ".... So what are you two competing over?" Tsukishima inquires. 

           "If he wins. He wants me to transfer to his school." You tell him.

           "And you don't want to go." Tsukishima clarifies.

           "No… I don't want to leave my friends at Raizu." You frown.

           "They don't appreciate you. So just come to my side already." Daishou grumbles. 

          "I didn't realize you liked the idea that much." You comment.

          "I was going to go along and see what you did. But then you said that and now I'm fighting back." He folds his arms. You blink at him at that, meeting his gaze. "You're my partner, I'm not going to leave you somewhere you feel awful."

         "Blue team wins round two!" The announcement sounds.

         "The last one will decide this." Daishou says getting up and heading off. You and Tsukishima watch him go before the blond looks at you. 

         "So. Still want to win?" He inquires. You meet his analysing gaze.

         "I'm not done with Raizu yet. Let's win the next one." You respond leading the way back with him. 

         You reach the base and red team peers at you awkwardly. "Are you and Daishou fighting or something?" Yamaguchi asks you carefully.

         "They made a bet." Tsukishima assures them.

         "Let's win this last one. Okay guys?" You request.

         "Sure." Numai nods. "Don't get it but I like winning so..."

         "We're going to need a strategy for the next round since it'll probably get out of control if we don't leash it now." Tsukishima states, tossing a pointed gaze your way.

         "... Sorry for getting a barrel thrown at us." You rub your neck looking to the side. 

         "So here's what we'll do." Tsukishima starts making everyone huddle up. 

          The next round starts and your team rushes out ahead of you. You frown anxiously, shifting your hold on your gun as you follow them into the mist. You listen carefully and soon a whistle sounds to your right, making you head for the left side carefully, spotting a blue best and firing at it as you continue on. 

          "Blue zone." Numai calls. You blink and the sound of paint gun pops sound nearby. 

          "To the center then." You whisper going to the piles of tires that marked the center of the battlefield. You reach it, peering around carefully. More pops sound and you get lower, hearing another whistle sound on both sides. 'He's here.' You raise your gun, and look over as a warning whistle sounds. 

          "Your team really pulled together fast. Making it a real problem to move freely." He comments on the other side of the tires. You turn and step back as more pops sound nearby.

          "Yeah. A surprising strategist took the reigns." You smirk, raising your foot and kicking the tires as he does the same, the pile wobbles before falling apart. You fire through the opening as it reveals itself, hearing a grunt from him as the tires bounce out of the way to show you had got him in the center of his chest.

         "Damn." He gives a small proud smile. "Good shot." He breathes. You smile back and his eyes glint to behind you ever so slightly. You dive to the side, twisting about and firing at Hiro. 

          "Ah… You got me." Hiro huffs with a frown. 

          "But I got you." Konoha breathes taking aim at you since you had landed at his feet. But some pops of red paint splatter over his torso, making him stagger back.

          "Just in time." Kuguri breathes coming over to help you up.

          "Thanks Kuguri." You smile getting to your feet.

          "Red team wins Round three! Congratulations on your victory, please stop by the lockers to receive your coupons!" The announcement chimes.

           "Ah. We won." You breathe smiling a bit.

           "We almost had you." Konoha scoffs as the mist clears to show you and Kuguri had been the only ones left in the Red team. 

           "Eh? You guys went down?" You blink in surprise.

          "The ghost guy got us." Numai points at Hiro.

          "Daishou didn't want to lose." Hiro shrugs.

          "Cheats…" Tsukishima huffs unhappily.

          "Eh ya do what you can." Daishou hums thoughtfully.

          "So. You guys wanna join us for a birthday party?" You ask, checking the time. "We have thirty minutes now." 

           "Really?" Daishou blinks in surprise. "I didn't realize it took that long."

          "Right? It was a lot of fun. Let's team up next time boss." You grin at him as you all head out. He blinks at you before smiling softly. 

          "Alright. Sounds fun." He rumbles. 

          "Let's stop by the store. If we're going to a birthday party we should get Daishou some presents." Yamaguchi says.

          "Eh? It's your birthday?" Konoha huffs to him.

          "If you said so we would've fought harder." Hiro comments.

          "Eh… Don't worry about it. Even if I were to get nothing today… I'd still be pleased." Daishou shrugs, peering at you thoughtfully.

          "Aw… Boss. You're so sweet today." You pull his head down to hug it warmly. 

          "I can't walk… Or breathe like this…" Daishou blushes.

          "Heh. You two sure are closer than when we were on the island." Konoha comments.

          "We've been hanging out a lot." You grin releasing Daishou.

          "Oh. You guys were great at the Tournament." Yamaguchi gasps suddenly.

          "Eh? You thought so?" You smile sheepishly. 

          "Yeah. You two were really wrecking it with your team's… Too bad for that weird thing that happened at the end." Tera agrees nodding.

          "You're telling me. I would've liked a rematch." You hum peering at Daishou.

          "We can still do that. Hope you're ready to lose again." He smiles, tail swishing behind him.

          "No way. I'll definitely win next time." You scoff as you remove the vests and receive the coupons. Once everyone's done you and Daishou lead them to a shopping area so they could scatter as you and Daishou sit together at one of the tables in the courtyard area.

          "I'm not going to lie. I'm disappointed about the results." Daishou sighs.

          "Heh… Maybe next time boss." You pat his head.

          "Hm? But if I let you go now there's a good chance you won't stand for another bet like that." Daishou sighs leaning his chin in his palm giving you a slight pout. "But I guess I'll wait for another opportunity."  

          "Sorry birthday boy. Can I get you something else for your birthday?" You chuckle lightly. He hums pursing his lips in thought.

          "Well if you're going to offer… how about a kiss?" He hums. You smack your forehead to the table blushing at the request. He chuckles in amusement, tail swishing about. "That was a cute reaction ___.” 

           "You're the worst." You peer at him in embarrassment. 

           "You offered. Come on." He taps his cheek. You huff and get up to lean over the table to kiss his cheek but someone beats you to it.

           "Happy birthday snake bastard." Kuroo hums as you and Daishou freeze.

           "... I'm going to kill you." Daishou growls red faced.

          "Well it looked like you wanted that." Kuroo snickers.

          "Not from you! Ugh I need to bleach my face now. Yuck!" Daishou complains, wiping at his cheek in disgust.

          "You're hurting my feelings." Kuroo sighs, smirking devilishly.

          "Good! Go squirm in pain bedhead!" Daishou snaps in irritation. "What are you even doing here?!"

          "I sensed you were making ___ do something bad." Kuroo claims in a heavenly tone. You and Daishou stare at him at that. "... Don't gotta look at me like that." 

          "I'm kinda freaked out by that explanation actually." You murmur to Daishou.

          "Let's just ditch the loser." Daishou responds quietly.

          "I can hear you." Kuroo frowns. "And just so you know. Mika invited us to the party so I came over here and got you a present." He holds up a bag. Daishou leans away looking at the bag suspiciously.

          "... I don't want it." Daishou frowns. 

          "Okay… Then I'm taking ___.” Kuroo decides, picking you up. 

          "Oi!" Daishou's tail wraps around you, pulling you into his lap and wrapping his arms around you tightly. "___'s staying with me until after the party." He declares in annoyance. 

          "What a selfish guy." Kuroo frowns leaning forward. "Raizu's not going to let you take ___ away." 

          "Tch." Daishou glares, arms tightening around you. You glance at him, turning your head and kissing his cheek. He pauses and blushes hiding his face against your shoulder. 

          "You feel better now?" You pat his head.

          "Yeah." He grumbles.

          "Kuroo, save the provoking for another day. It's not cool to get people riled up on their birthday." You scold lightly.

          "Fine… Can you get off his lap now?" Kuroo frowns. You try to get up but Daishou holds you in place.

          "Nope." Daishou hums. 

          "So stubborn today." You sigh. 

          "Mhm. Very stubborn." He agrees while Kuroo scowls before the others from the paintball field join back up.

          "Ah. You're… Kuroo right?" Yamaguchi greets.

          "Yeah… Weren't you guys on the island?" Kuroo blinks at them in surprise.

          "Yeah. We all met up at the paintball field by chance." You tell Kuroo as Daishou let's you go so you both can stand. 

           "It's really weird how that happened." Tsukishima comments.

           "It's like we were all supposed to meet up today." Yamaguchi chuckles lightly.

           "Yeah. For Daishou's birthday!" You cheer getting excited. "Alright let's go party!" You add leading the way. Daishou and Kuroo chuckle,  following along with the others. 

            Soon you reach the park, spotting Mika and Dorm One amongst the picnic tables, one stacked with presents. "___! Daishou!" Mika cheers, running up to hug you both. She gives Daishou a kiss on the cheek, making him blush. "Happy birthday!" 

            "Thanks… Wow, you really out did yourself." He rumbles peering around, his eyes sparkling slightly. 

           "Dorm One came early to help." She says sheepishly.

           "Don't be modest you had everything almost set up by the time we got here." Iwaizumi chuckles lightly.

           "___!” Bokuto cries, glomping you, burying your face in his toned chest. "I love you baby! I'm so sorry!" You couldn't really respond patting his back reassuringly unable to breathe. 

            "Bokuto-san, ___ can't breathe." Akaashi frowns slightly.

            "Oh! Sorry. Are you okay?" Bokuto releases you, cupping your face.

            "I'm fine, but what do you have to be sorry about? Everything was my fault." You sigh rubbing your nose.

            "No. You were right. They would've just kept killing if they hadn't been stopped." He frowns, rubbing your cheeks. "I didn't try to understand why you did all that and I'm sorry." 

            "It's okay. I'm not mad… I just didn't want you guys to hate me… I'm sorry. I should've called before it got that bad." You tell him. 

            "Frankly, I don't care." Akaashi states making you both look at him. "The important thing is that we're all alive and safe right now. And no one is being hunted. Let's just be happy about that." 

            "Right." You and Bokuto nod.

            "Alright. Since everything seems patched up, let's begin." Daishou pulls you back to him with his tail. 

            "Right. Let's eat and party!" Oikawa chimes.

            Everyone splits up at that to eat and socialize, some of the rowdy ones dancing around the little speaker Mika had brought. Kiyoomi soon joins you, Mika and Daishou at a table. 

            "Did you have fun? Are you coming home?" He inquires.

            "Yeah I had fun." You answer and glance at Daishou in wonder about the second question.

            "I had a feeling it would be today. Go home." Daishou nods. 

            "Alright. Then yes. I'm coming home." You smile at Kiyoomi. His dark eyes soften at that and you can tell he's smiling beneath the mask.

           "Good…" He breathes, leaning on you slightly. It was a simple and warm gesture that you hadn't realized you needed until then. You sigh quietly and lean back against him. 

           "Oh ___, I called that place. They're bringing it here." Mika tells you.

           "Seriously? That's awesome." You grin. "He's going to love it."

           "... You're just teasing me now huh?" Daishou deadpans.

          "Yep." You and Mika smile.

          "So once the big present gets here we can begin?" You guess.

          "Mhm! It's actually coming up now." Mika points. "Present time!" She calls as you both get up. Daishou and Kiyoomi follow suit, everyone crowding the gift table. 

          "Geez…" Daishou smiles slightly looking at the gifts. "Thanks everyone. I really wasn't expecting so much stuff." He rubs his neck, peering at the big one as Stone brings it over on a dolly. 

           "You can't start with that one." Mika says quickly. "You gotta save ___'s for last."

           "___'s huh…" Daishou peers back at you before starting to open the gifts, his face becoming brighter with each one you and Mika had picked out for him. Some of the others were gag gifts, earning a chuckle or an eye roll. 

         Finally he comes to the fridge, tail swishing about excitedly. Mika nudges you, bouncing in anticipation while you pull her in front of yourself to hide behind her nervously as Daishou pulls off the wrapping paper and freezes. 

         "Holy shit." Iwaizumi's eyebrows raise. 

         ".... ___….” Daishou says lowly, turning to you and Mika slowly. Mika giggles swiftly moving out of the way as he approaches you with a shadowed expression. You avoid looking at him, fingertips pressing together.

         "So… You don't like it..?"

         "I love it. And how you always seem to read my mind." He cups your face, smiling devilishly. "I'm going to kiss you in front of everyone now." 

          "Oi!" The dorm objects quickly but it was too late. Daishou had already kissed you happily, pulling back with a grin while red covers your face.

          "Thanks. ___, Mika. This has been the best birthday I've ever had."

          "You're welcome!"