A few days later, Himeko was astounded to find the beautiful manager waiting outside her classroom.

"Kuroko?" the pretty lady asked.

"Yes?" Himeko squeaked out.

She smiled at her. "Your application was accepted. Do you want to come with me today?"

"Yes," she said. "Um, please."

"I'm Kiyoko Shimizu," said Kiyoko. She held out her hand to Himeko, and adjusted her frameless glasses with her other. "It's nice to meet you."

Himeko accepted her hand. "I'm Himeko Kuroko. Thank you for accepting me."

Kiyoko smiled briefly again. "Let's introduce you to the team."

დ

One by one, Kiyoko introduced Himeko to each member of the team.

The captain was a broad-shouldered man with short dark hair and dark brown eyes. Daichi Sawamura. Despite his intimidatingly muscular built, he had a friendly face and a nice smile. Himeko reflexively smiled back at him when he greeted her.

Flanking him were two other third years.

Kōshi Sugawara had a slender build with slightly thick eyebrows, light grey hair, hazel eyes, and a cute mole under his left eye. He spoke like a preschool teacher—kindly and quietly.

Ryūnosuke Tanaka was the other third year. As soon as Himeko entered the gym he did a double take and exclaimed, "Shimizu has a sister?!"

Himeko blushed—to be considered related to such a pretty girl was an extremely high compliment. "N-No. Sorry."

Ryūnosuke gaped. Although he had a loud voice and a crass way of speaking, he didn't come across as rude. He had a shaved head and sharp blue eyes.

After the third years, the second years were introduced. Chikara Ennoshita, Hisashi Kinoshita, and Kazuhito Narita. All were very polite.

Lastly were the first years.

Shōyō laughed. "I had no idea you applied for the manager position, Hime!"

"I wasn't sure I'd get it, so I didn't want to mention it," Himeko admitted.

"You two know each other?" Kiyoko inquired.

"Yes, we're friends," Himeko said. "I also know Kageyama."

"That saves some time," she said, nodding to the last of the first years.

Himeko didn't recognize them, meaning they must have been in a different class than her. The tallest bluntly introduced himself as Kei Tsukishima. He was easily the tallest player on the team with short blond hair, and golden-brown eyes. Himeko thought his smile looked closer to a condescending sneer, but she felt too nervous to ask.

The very last was a flushing boy who stammered out that his name was Tadashi Yamaguchi. He had dark grayish green hair, and freckles. He was so red in the face that Himeko worried if she either scared him, or if he was feeling sick.

Himeko cleared her throat at the end of the introductions, trying to quell the nerves fluttering inside her. "I'm Himeko Kuroko. It's wonderful to meet you all, I'll be in your care."

"Likewise," said Daichi, grinning. "Shimizu, the stuff is here, right?"

Kiyoko nodded. "Mn."

"Stuff?" Shōyō asked.

Kiyoko left the gym briefly before she returned with a cardboard box. Shōyō and Tobio stood around her as she opened the box.

As soon as Shōyō saw what was inside, he let out a delighted gasp. His almond eyes sparkled with pure joy as he pulled out a black jacket. Written in white on the black read Karasuno High School Volleyball Club. He quickly pulled it on as Tobio took out his own jacket.

Kiyoko grabbed a jacket and gave it to Himeko, much to her surprise.

"But I just joined today?" she said, eyes wide.

"I ordered the jackets the same day you applied," she said. "The sizes should be okay, but let me know if you need anything."

Himeko beamed, slipping on the jacket.

All the first years put on their new jackets. Shōyō and Tadashi were the most visibly excited.

The front door to the gym slid open with a bang. An out of breath young man had opened it up. He had a youthful face with dark curly brown hair and chocolate eyes behind glasses. His appearance was disheveled, he had clearly sprinted to the gym. "It's decided! It's decided!" The man bent over to catch his breath. "The practice match. It's against one of the top four teams in the prefecture. Aoba Johsai High School."

"The one nicknamed Seijoh?" Kōshi gasped.

"Geh."

"Yikes."

"A practice match with one of the top four!" Shōyō exclaimed with glee.

"Aoba Johsai," Tobio and Himeko quietly said, then glanced at one another. Neither looked thrilled.

The young man smiled as he stepped in. "Oh, the first years got their jackets? Hi. I'm the volleyball club adviser starting this year. I'm Ittetsu Takeda. I have no volleyball experience so I can't help with your technique, but for anything else I'll do my very best. It's good to meet you."

Aoba... huh?

Himeko felt like she had eaten a chocolate and peanut covered shrimp.

დ

Himeko's home was on a street Shōyō had to take to go home, so he walked her home after practice. After practice the following day, Shōyō was unusually pale.

Tomorrow would be their practice match with Aoba.

Himeko nervously glanced at her friend.

Is he sick? Himeko fretted.

"Shōyō?" she gently probed. "You okay?"

"Ah—um—yeah!" he squeaked out quickly. "I'm fine. Just—Just can't mess up. Can't mess up, that's all."

You don't look fine, she thought with concern. Can't mess up? Is he nervous?

He didn't appear distracted during practice.

Stage fright maybe?

He mentioned he hadn't played much in middle school because his school didn't have a team.

But it's only a practice match.

Himeko chewed on the inside of her cheek, wondering what to say. She wished she had the right words to soothe him. She wished she could put on a sunny smile for him like he had done for her.

Himeko would be lying if she said she was fine. She was anxious at the thought of going to Aoba. She wasn't prepared for a confrontation of any kind.

Which would be worse?

That he would confront her... or that he wouldn't? Which would hurt more? The fight, or the disinterest?

If she ran into him there, it would be one of those two things. She couldn't imagine him being kind to her one way or another.

After all she...

He had every right to be upset. He had every right to get angry with her.

She was the one who left without saying goodbye.

But he was the one who—

Did that even matter?

Even if her reasons were good—or so she believed—she wasn't confident he would agree.

She was anxious. Her stomach was tied so tightly in knots she didn't think she'd be able to stomach dinner, but—

She wouldn't not go.

The thought of trying to get out of the situation didn't even feel like an option to her.

A couple of months ago she ran away, but now she wasn't going to.

What had changed?

Did she find some courage? Or did she finally uncover just enough confidence to keep her ground?

Was it because she would have a friend with her?

Or was it because she felt that regardless of the outcome... she would survive?

It was the inevitable pain of the meeting that scared her.

Yet that pain would not stop her.

Her lips twitched.

It hurt to get run over by a bike, but in doing so she got to meet a wonderful friend.

That's right... she had such a good friend.

"Shōyō," she said.

"Uh—um—yeah—?"

"I'm glad you're my friend," she said, looking up at the orange sky.

"Huh?" Shōyō blinked.

Himeko offered him a grin. "To be honest, I'm kind of nervous about going to Aoba."

"R-Really?" he said. "M-Me too."

"Yeah? You're going to do great," she said.

"But if I..." Shōyō swallowed. "If I fail I could—I could get replaced."

"I don't see that happening," she said. "'Cause you won't fail."

Shōyō's cinnamon eyes shined.

დ

Himeko laid in her bed that night. Her nightly routine had become longer since she added makeup to her morning routine. She had to take care to thoroughly scrub her face before bed. She needed to ensure she wasn't breaking out in any rashes, or if her skin seemed irritated, she had to apply lotion. Life was easier without makeup, but she found a simple pleasure in using it.

Sometimes she even felt... pretty?

Sometimes.

Himeko had her bag packed and ready for tomorrow. Her and Shōyō's lunches were prepped. Her new Karasuno Volleyball uniform hung on the closet door. In addition to the jacket, she was provided with a pair of black pants and black shorts. As it was a warm day tomorrow, she had picked out the black shorts.

Plus, she had a feeling she'd have nervous sweats and didn't want to be stuck in pants all day.

She rolled over in her bed, grabbing her phone on the nightstand.

[Hajime Iwaizumi]

Himeko: Are you going to the practice match tomorrow?

Hajime: the what

Hajime: wait how do u

Hajime: no

Hajime: dont tell me ur team is facing us tomorrow?

Himeko: Yeah. Aoba also said Kageyama had to play.

Hajime: ...

Hajime: i have to take my lil brother to the dr tomorrow morning.

Hajime: i will b there asap

Himeko: I'll be okay. I just wanted to know if I was going to see you there. Would be nice. :)

Hajime: :)

Hajime: if u dnt mind waiting u can stay the night at my place and take the train out tomorrow morning

Himeko: Hahaha

Himeko: I don't think my school would let me stay

Hajime: meh

Himeko: I'm going to get some rest. Sweet dreams!

Hajime: sweet dreams princess

Himeko moved to put her phone down, but she thought about Shōyō and how nervous he was earlier. While they parted ways with a smile, Himeko knew first hand how anxiety could creep upon someone at night.

[Shōyō Hinata]

Himeko: Are you still up?

Shōyō: yea

Himeko: Did you eat dinner?

Shōyō: yeah

Himeko: (◕‿◕)

Himeko: Feeling better?

It took five minutes before Shōyō responded.

Shōyō: no

Himeko let out a quiet laugh. She rolled over onto her back and called him on her phone.

"Hello?" Shōyō quietly answered after the second ring.

"Hi," said Himeko. "Can't sleep?"

"No," he admitted.

"Then," she said slowly, softly, "can we talk until you do?"

"I don't want to keep you up—"

"This works for me too," she said. "'Cause I'm also nervous. I want to talk to a friend."

"Why are you nervous?"

"Um... remember the reason why I came to Karasuno? The... the boy I'm trying to avoid?"

"Is he at Aoba?!"

"Yeah. He's on their volleyball team, along with our friend."

"Whoa. That's like a drama!" Shōyō exclaimed.

Himeko laughed. "I hope not! That'd be a pretty lame drama."

"I'd watch it," said Shōyō.

"No way, really? Do you normally watch dramas?"

"Yep. The cheesier, the better," said Shōyō.

"That's a surprise," she said.

"Huh? How come?"

"I thought you'd only watch sports stuff."

"I do watch sports," he admitted, "but my mom always had dramas playing in the background at home. They're silly but in a good way, you know?"

"Uh-huh. Do you have a favorite?"

"Um—"

დ

At midnight, Himeko listened to Shōyō's soft breathing for another minute, and then she hung up. Their conversations jumped to many different topics, none of them relating to tomorrow or volleyball. Shōyō had slowly relaxed the longer they talked, and when Himeko sensed he was ready to sleep she started to babble about dull subjects.

She smiled to herself as she put her phone on the nightstand and rolled over in bed.

I can do this.

დ

This chapter was already getting pretty long. The reunion will have to be next chapter, then onto the kitties.

Answer: Programming. I would love to make my own vn. 

Question: How would you calm a nervous friend? Or if you'd prefer, how would you calm yourself when nervous? 

Reviews are love!