CHAPTER ONE

      Misaki Katsuragi liked to think she was good at noticing things.

      She had always been good at noting what made people tick and when people were down or when someone was trying to hide the fact that they were injured. Her observation skills were insanely high and that was what made her a good manager throughout her years at Kitagawa Daiichi and now at Aoba Johsai. What annoyed her though was when little signs slipped through her fingers and her skills would, thus, fall short in some cases.

      There was mainly one cause of this shortfall. Tooru Oikawa, the captain of the Aoba Johsai volleyball team and the same annoying person she was forced to drag to the nurse's office. He had recently healed from a knee injury and was absolutely forbidden from practising anything. And yet, he had been doing just that in secret. The idiot had ended up overworking himself and that had led to her forcefully dragging him to the nurse's office to get him checked out, in case he had injured himself further.

      "You are an idiot, Oikawa!" Misaki scolded with a dark glare, hands on her hips. "I told you not to strain yourself by practising too much and you've gone and done the exact opposite thing. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

      Oikawa cowered in fear, raising his hands in front of his face. "I'm so sorry, Misa-chan. I promise it won't happen again!"

      "It better not," Misaki kept on glaring at him. "Now, come on, let's hope the game isn't over already."

      She grabbed him by his sleeve and began dragging him towards the gym where the practice match between their school and Karasuno High was going on. It amused her slightly that she, a 5'3'' person, was able to drag someone as tall as Oikawa by one arm. But then again, she had been chasing him around since they were kids. So, she was used to it by now.

      "Misa-chan, let go, it hurts!" Oikawa whined like a child, trying to free himself from Misaki's grasp. But she had an iron-clad grip on his arm.

      People in the corridors cleared the way for them, watching in slight fear as they noticed Misaki dragging Oikawa, a dark aura surrounding her. Even Oikawa's fangirls didn't stop them, afraid of inviting the wrath of the scary manager.

     As they turned into the hallway that led to the gym, Misaki finally let go of his arm. Oikawa immediately held it, mumbling under his breath. When she looked at him and saw his pouty expression, she immediately rolled her eyes. 'What a drama queen.'

      She took a deep breath, placing a hand on her chest to calm herself down. She turned towards him, with a surprisingly calm look. Oikawa took a step backwards, wary and also fearful of the expression on her face.

      "Go inside," She motioned towards the doors at the end of the hallway. "And do what you always do. I believe in you."

      It was the same line he used in matches to motivate the team and it worked without fail, every time. With the change in his expression, Misaki knew that he took her seriously. With a scheming look on his face, Oikawa walked ahead. She trailed behind him, watching him walk with an analytical gaze.

      'Even his walk has to be perfect?' Misaki thought, feeling slightly angry. 'How annoying.'

      The door to the gym opened and Misaki winced at the excited noise that erupted as Oikawa stepped inside. It was mainly from his fangirls, every single one of whom she felt like smacking with a volleyball. She was on the verge of getting them banned from the gym.

      She offered a small wave towards the members of her team. A glance around the upper floors of the gym told her quite a few people were watching the match. She glanced around once more, but this time at the Karasuno team. The only familiar face she knew was Kageyama; the rest were completely unfamiliar, although she immediately recognized the captain. The short, orange-haired player triggered her curiosity though.

      'Is he a libero?' Misaki thought as she stood next to the bench. 'He looks only a little taller than me. But why do I feel like that's not right?'

      "Oh, you're back, Oikawa," Coach Irihita said, looking up at the tall setter. "How's your leg?"

      Oikawa dropped the scheming look off his face, giving the coach a thumbs-up. "It's perfect. I can get back to normal training. It was just a strain."

      At that, Misaki rolled her eyes. 'What a liar.'

      The coach looked at him, letting out an annoyed sigh. "Take better care of yourself. We asked especially for Kageyama, yet we only have a substitute setter. Don't embarrass me."

      "Sorry, sir," Oikawa apologised, with one of his annoying smiles.

      "Oikawa-san! Take it easy!" A group of his fangirls yelled down from the balcony. Misaki immediately snapped her attention towards them, sending them a glare. They quietened instantly, scrambling to take a backwards step.

      Oikawa carried out a short conversation with his team, learning of the match so far and dissuading their concerns about his injury. But judging by the look on Iwaizumi's face, he didn't believe him and Misaki was then sure that Oikawa would be getting hit by a ball when they were all on their way home.

      Oikawa turned to look at Karasuno, meeting Kageyama's eyes with his usual annoying smile. "Hey, long time no see, Tobio-chan. You've grown. Are you still the King?"

      Kageyama's face hardened and he turned away, looking at his teammates. 

      "Go and warm up." Coach Irihita instructed. Looking at Misaki, he added, "Misaki, stay with him and make sure he does it properly."

      "Yes, Coach," Misaki nodded.

      She and Oikawa walked side-by-side. As they walked, Oikawa turned slightly, glancing at Kageyama with his scheming smirk.

      "Stop that," Misaki told him, pinching his arm. "And go start your warm-up asap. And remember, I'm watching you."

      "Yes, yes, I'll do as you say, Misa-chan," Oikawa took off his jacket and handed it over to her. He started his warm-up with his usual stretches. With one eye on him, Misaki turned her attention to the match, where the third set had just begun.

      Her jaw dropped slightly as she saw the powerful attacks Karasuno sent at their team. Every single one of their spikes and every single one of their blocks was executed perfectly, with only a few misses. How had this team grown so strong so suddenly? It was almost like something miraculous had happened.

      The next moment her jaw dropped even further. Her guess about the orange-haired boy from before was definitely not right. He wasn't a libero; he was a middle blocker. But the strangest thing about him was his insane jump and the closed-eye quick he had just hit.

      'He wasn't looking at the toss, was he? He definitely wasn't looking at the toss. Karasuno really has a player like him, huh?'

      Misaki watched as the match progressed. Her team was doing just as well, but there was something about Karasuno that just made them appear different in this match. Finally, the final moments of the match had arrived. The score was currently 20-24 in Karasuno's favour.

      Next to her, Oikawa stood up, tying up his shoes and putting on the green sports bib. He walked over to the coach, staring at the match. "They must be feeling the heat."

      Coach Irihita looked at Misaki, who quietly nodded. "Are you ready?"

      "Of course, I am," Oikawa replied with a grin.

      A whistle rang out and the game temporarily came to a stop. Oikawa stepped up, high-fiving Kunimi. "Leave the rest to me."

      Kunimi nodded, uttering a simple "Okay."

      Misaki frowned as Oikawa's fangirls cheered again. It wasn't like she didn't like them, but sometimes the way they cheered for him that hurt her eardrums.

      "Oikawa, nice serve!" Iwaizumi yelled from near the net

      "Striking power is important, but it's meaningless if the ball can't get to the spiker," Oikawa stated. He threw the ball into the air and jumped.

      'Perfect,' Misaki instantly thought. Oikawa's jumping power was amazing and she really liked seeing his jump serves, though she would never say it to his face. 'His jumping form is perfect. Which means this jump serve is perfect.'

      The serve struck against the tall, glasses-wearing, blonde guy from Karasuno and bounced off him, landing outside the boundaries of the court. At the whistle, Misaki did a little internal cheer. Every time someone on her team scored, she did that. It made her feel awesome to see such incredible plays happening in front of her

      Then it happened.

      The orange-haired boy jumped freakishly high again and Kageyama tossed towards him. Before Misaki could even begin to understand the toss, the boy spiked the ball and it went straight past Oikawa, landing on the floor of the gym with a hard hit. She could see the shocked look on his face, and his inability to react unnerved her a little. 'That quick...just what the hell is that?'

      A long whistle rang out, signalling Karasuno's victory over Aoba Johsai.

      'We really lost to Karasuno of all the teams?' Misaki thought to herself. 'Whoever that orange-haired boy is, he is an insanely good player. And he works surprisingly well with Kageyama.'

      "Well then, I guess, I need to start my analysis of this match," Misaki mumbled to herself. "But I have the strangest feeling like that's gonna be a tough job."

      After the gym was cleaned up and everything was packed away in the equipment room and after both Misaki and Iwaizumi had hit Oikawa with a volleyball, the three were finally one of their way home with Misaki and Iwaizumi having to physically drag Oikawa away from the gym to prevent him from practising more.

      "Heh, Misa-chan, you're being really quiet today," Oikawa put an arm around Misaki's shoulders, staring at her with one of his annoying grins. "Are you thinking about the match? Don't think too hard. You don't want to hurt your pretty head."

      "Say that again and I'll break your face with a ball," Misaki replied calmly, but her tone held a threatening edge to it. She didn't bother pushing his arms off, too tired to deal with him.

     "Misaki's right," Iwaizumi said. "You saying things like that only makes me want to hit you."

      "Let him be for now, Iwaizumi," Misaki kept her tone calm, sending a sickly sweet smile at Oikawa. "Something tells me we'll get our chances soon enough."

      Iwaizumi nodded, staring at Oikawa with his usual scary expression.

      Oikawa jumped away from Misaki. "Why do the two of you keep on bullying me?" He whined, making a pouty face.

      In perfect sync, both Iwaizumi and Misaki said, "Because you deserve it."

      "You guys are really mean!"

      "Keep on saying that and you'll really get a ball on your face," Misaki said, "And it won't be an accident."

      ' Just a couple of months and I won't have to deal with him anymore. Just a couple of months,' She thought to herself. 'Just a long, long couple of months.'

First chapter in and Misaki is already done with Oikawa's shit, which kind of shows you what their dynamic would be. It's going to be hella fun to write their relationship and I'm so going to enjoy writing their dialogue.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!