Day 1

Kyotani Kentaro, known as Mad Dog, was not an easy person to text. He would often reply days late and then spam, expecting a reply within half a second.

Still, Emiko was thankful for his friendship because when she told him about her trip to Hyogo, he promised to have his phone on standby. Now, while Coach Kurosu patted her on the back and explained what the rest of the week was going to look like for team training, she was asking Mad Dog for survival tips.

He offered to come and beat Inarizaki into submission and as tempting as the offer was, she had to decline.

"At the end, you'll be given a questionnaire. Fill it out honestly. It will ask questions about Miss. Suzuki's performance and will count towards her evaluation."

She visibly cringed. For the next twelve days, she was literally defenceless. She had to choke back the sarcastic and snarky comments, she had to hold off on pranks, and all precious blackmail material had to be burned immediately. Inarizaki could do whatever they wanted and she had to endure.

It was all because she had made a promise to Ennoshita.

Emiko prayed to her ancestors for patience. A text came through; I could take them on. Just say the word.

"Miyas," The Coach narrowed his eyes. "If I find out ya let yer bias of Karasuno cloud yer judgement on her performance, I'm not gonna be happy."

Atsumu snorted. Osamu blinked.

Emiko liked to think that she was an animal who continued to survive in her environment because of her instincts. She could usually tell how honest people were on the first impression. She had steered clear of many messy friendships by following her gut.

Most recently, she knew that no matter what, she had to avoid joining the drama club. Sure, the decision landed her as a manager on the Karasuno volleyball team and as overwhelming as it was, she loved it.

Besides, from what she heard, many viewers from the last drama production complained to the school about the show. Apparently, it was not very PG 13.

"Miss. Suzuki, do ya have anythin' to say to the boys?"

She hid her phone behind her back and straightened her posture. This was it. She had to endure despite her gut telling her to book it out the gym doors.

"Call me Emiko," she mustered the friendliest smile she could, "Suzuki is so formal, right?"

Fifteen pairs of eyes glared.

"Now, now, don't all of you talk at once." Her lips faltered. She cleared her throat and spun around a few times before she found the container of homemade granola bars. She grabbed them and popped the lid off. "Right, well, I hope we all learn from each other during this event. I also made you guys healthy granola bars. As a peace offering."

Coach patted her head and left her in the team's care. With each step that he took, she felt her lifespan shortening.

As the gym doors closed, Atsumu stepped forward. He eyed the snacks and then gingerly took the container from her.

She beamed. "You're going to love them! There are three different types of chocolate in them, salted caramel, mixed nuts, oats and-"

"How nice of ya."

He then threw the open container high into the air. It landed a few feet away with a hard smack, the snacks spilling onto the floor. Then, he raised his fist and gave a battle cry. "There will be no peace!"

"Argh!" the team cheered.

She scrambled backwards, holding her phone to her chest. This was an assault on all fronts. She was exposed. There was no possible way for her to find the weakest member and manipulate them into submission, no way for her to find allies.

"That's fine," she stuttered, her eyes locking onto the exit sign, "peace is overrated anyways."

There was a vibrant glint in Atsumu's brown eyes. He gestured to the ground and smirked over his shoulder. "Clean it up, Suzuki."

She watched as the rest of the team made their way to the court. Her throat tightened when she exhaled. What kind of a statement would it make if she kicked the now uneatable food all over the gym floors and walked away?

Instead, she grabbed the box of tissues off the bench and crouched to sweep the crumbs off the floor.

She watched from under her bangs. Atsumu and another boy were sending perfect sets. The spikers had impressive jumping power and each time the ball slammed onto the court with a harsh slap. 

She had to think positively. The best she could do right now was spy on them and go back to Karasuno with information to butcher Inarizaki at nationals.

"Sorry I'm late!" a high-pitched voice sang, "I'm here now and the jerseys are-"

He screamed, tripping over her crouched body. Emiko groaned when her face smacked the ground.

The boy stumbled to his feet and hoisted her up. He held her at arm's length, round eyes flickering from her head to her toes.

"Yeah!" Atsumu cheered, "It's startin'! You," he pointed at the boy whose face had gone pale, "Ya made it on my list!"

"What?" his lips trembled. He flickered his stare to Emiko. "What list?"

The Miya twins cackled.

"I'm so sorry." The boy breathed heavily. He gestured to the washed jerseys that were now on the floor. "I couldn't see ya."

"It's cool."

"I'm Yukio Fukuda." A dimple appeared on his cheek. "Yer the new manager, right?"

She nodded. "Emiko."

He grabbed both of her hands and glowed. "Welcome to our school! I cannot wait to learn from ya. We're both fairly new to the team, so let's stick together!"

"Oh my God," she staggered forward and gripped his forearms. His skin was warm, he was not as cold-blooded as the rest of them. She nodded her head eagerly.  

"By the way, do ya know what list the Captain's talkin' about?"

"All I know is that he is a raging psychopath who wants to eat me." Then, her eyes widened with a realization. She pulled him towards the exit and gasped. "It's a recipe list!"

"A recipe list?"

"He wants to eat me. He must want to eat you too. He's put us on a list because he's a freaking cannibal and-"

"Suzuki."

She froze. Cautiously, she peeked around Yukio's body and saw Atsumu stalking towards them. His hands were on his hips and the devil's smirk on his face.

"Yukio, when I give you the signal, run."

"What are the two of ya whisperin' about?"

"Nothing," she stuttered the exact second Yukio answered, "Recipes."

He tilted his head to the side. "Right. Anyways, Suzuki, go and fetch the tape from storage. Yer the manager, yeah? Can't have ya slackin' off 'specially on the first day. Get to it. Chop-chop."

She hesitated for a second before turning on her heels. This was a simple request, one she had completed too many times for the Karasuno boys. There was no ulterior motive that she could think of. Emiko pushed the storage door open and frowned.

This was the type of mess that sent Mirae into cardiac arrest. She made a mental note to organize it later.

At Karasuno, the necessary items were placed on the lower shelves so she and Yachi could easily reach them. She scanned around and noticed a sign on the ceiling; Can ya reach? Stored on the highest shelf were the rolls of tape and the medical kits.

She jumped in vain. There was no ladder in sight and when she tested the sturdiness of the cabinets to climb up them, they shook worse than the ones at Sakenoshita's Store.

She stomped her feet and growled like a demon.

Someone coughed behind her. "Sorry," the boy blushed, "didn't know someone was in here. I was just gettin' extra volleyballs."

"Oh wow," she looked him up and down. "You're tall. Like really tall. You've gotta be what, seven feet?"

He scratched the back of his head, smiling. "I'm uh, six feet."

"Six feet?" her eyes widened. "My first year back home is six feet, he's a middle blocker. Oh wait, are you a middle blocker too?"

"I'm a wing-spiker."

"Damn," she drawled. "So you're advanced then, huh? Like one of those guys who can do everything."

"I don't know?"

"That's cool." She blinked, a lightbulb appearing over her head. "You have nice hair. It's very um, black. Yeah, very nice black hair."

The tips of his ears turned red. "Your hair is nice too- not nice. It's pretty, I mean. It looks soft. Your hair looks pretty." He mumbled under his breath and then pushed his shoulders back. He extended a hand. "My name's Riseki."

"Unique name," she slapped his hand in greeting. "You wouldn't know how many Emiko's I know, but I've never met a Riseki before."

"I've never met an Emiko-" his face flushed, "sorry, is it okay for me to call ya that?"

"Of course! I would prefer it actually. Quick question Riseki, that battle cry earlier was a joke, right? You guys are not actually going to eat me, right? I keep asking my ancestors if this is going to be the last week of my life, but they aren't answering me."

His breath hitched in his throat. "Our Captain's pretty intense and from what I know, he's made up his mind 'bout ya. But the other guys wanna know ya. I wanna know ya too."

"Really?" she threw her head back and sighed. "That's a relief. Your Captain is terrifying. You guys should probably get him some medical help. Trust me, he needs it. I have experience with people like him."

"You have experience?"

She nodded innocently. "While you are here, do you mind grabbing me the tape and medical kit from the top shelf? Please? I really cannot afford to fail at my first task as Manager."

"Oh- of course."

She watched enviously as he grabbed and handed them to her.

"Thanks, Riseki! You're a real one!"

She turned around and bounced out of the storage room. He peeped out and watched as she slowed her steps and cautiously approached Atsumu. Riseki shook his head, fighting back a smile. He wheeled the cart of volleyballs outside to where some of the team members were practicing serves. He took a spot beside Suna and noticed that his eyes were on their manager too.

"Are Osamu-san and Atsumu-san goin' through with their plan?"

"Seems like it," Suna murmured. He tore his eyes away as Yukio came running towards them with an armful of extra volleyballs.

"Being ball-boy is so scary!"

"It'll distract them from fighting each other," Suna added. "If you think about it, we're avoiding Miya drama. Though, my page might be a bit dry on content for a bit."

Yukio turned to look at them with shining eyes. "Emiko-chan is really nice. When I pushed her to the ground earlier, she didn't mind at all. She didn't even yell at me or tell me to go away and get a life! Plus, she's already agreed to be my friend."

"She ain't looking for trouble though. Can't we do somethin'? I just talked ta her and she's kinda cute." Riseki mumbled the last part.

Suna shuffled away, hiding his phone from view. "I'm not scared of the twins, obviously. But if you two are not going to harass her like they want the team to, then it's best to ignore her."

Riseki and Yukio glanced at each other and frowned.

"You must be Mirae Ando," the brown-eyed man grinned, reaching out to shake her hand once she had her seatbelt clicked on. She felt his strong grip around her mitten and answered with a firm handshake. "My name is Coach Iwasaki, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

He checked over his shoulder and when it was safe, he pulled onto the road and began the short drive back to school.

"I'm sorry for being late," he glanced at her and sighed, "truth is, the team Captain was supposed to come with me."

"Don't worry about it." She chose to smile. Her train arrived in Tokyo nearly 45 minutes ago, and she spent that time checking her phone and feeling her face go numb as she waited for the Coach to pick her up. "Was there a problem the captain had to take care of?"

"Nothing like that," he ran a hand down his face. "Sakusa is just a little- no, Sakusa is a major problem on my side."

She blinked. "The Captain is a problem?"

"He's an excellent player but not the friendliest person. He is especially cold to people he's meeting for the first time. Please, do not be offended by him. If he gives you any problems, come straight to me."

"I should be fine," she assured and believed it herself. No matter how difficult a person was, Mirae believed she could bring out the best in them. This was not just because she could manage Karasuno nor was it because she was best friends with the gremlin known as Emiko Suzuki.

Ando was not just her name. It was a title she had to live up to.

Itachyiama's campus was triple the size of Karasuno's, and the gymnasium reserved for the volleyball club was on the other side of the property in the largest building. She followed Coach Iwasaki into the school where they walked down the empty halls to the office.

It was just after five pm, so most students were either in their dorms or at their respective clubs.

As they entered the office, a student who was waiting patiently by the desk stood up and greeted them.

"Good evening Coach."

"Good evening!" He gestured to Mirae. "This is Ando, the sports manager from Karasuno. Ando, this is Himari the girls' volleyball team captain. She will be your buddy for the duration of your stay with us."

Himari smiled brightly. She was just as tall as Mirae and her body was built bigger from hours of training.

"Pleasure to meet you," Mirae bowed.

"Consider me a fan," her cheeks flushed. "I watched your sister play at nationals last year. Even before that though, I watched you two represent Yokohama in the Under 10 Tournament. Hopefully, Coach won't have any qualms about me stealing you for an hour or so. The girls on our team would love to have you during one of our practices."

Coach Iwasaka waved a hand. "Shouldn't be a problem, Himari. We've got one of the best here, we should take advantage of that."

"Yes sir!" she beamed. "Ando-chan, your dorm is right next to mine. I've got your school uniform and room keys here."

"Thanks again, Himari. You can head on over to your practice."

"Sure thing." She handed the bag and keys to Mirae. "I'll come by and pick you up after practice is done. See ya later!"

There were a few forms she needed to sign, but when they were done they went to meet the boys' team.

With a campus as large as this one, signs were pointing in different directions. Mirae was surprised to see the track team practicing on the running field in such cold weather.

They walked up the steps to the gym. Coach Iwasaki pushed the door open and entered. Mirae took a breath of cold air and followed.

"The boys just finished stretching," he nodded. "I can't wait to see how you work with them."

She exhaled a shaking breath and glanced at her fingers. Coach Iwasaki pointed out where the equipment and changing rooms were but his voice was background noise. She could not look up because a few feet away, the volleyball team had noticed their arrival and although they were in the middle of practice, her skin prickled with the suspicion that their eyes were on her.

"I'll still need a bit of time to get used to the team dynamic," she stuttered. "I should have a proper training plan by tomorrow or the day after."

"It'll be greatly appreciated." He looked over her shoulder. "Sakusa, get over here, son."

Mirae shut her eyes. The heavy feeling settled in her chest and her fingertips prickled. She was certain that if she turned around right now, every person would be ogling her. She zipped her jacket to her neck.

"Don't worry," the Coach assured her, "they'll love you."

All she could do was smile and nod.

One of her friends had once asked her what it was like to be so pretty? To be able to walk into a room and draw in attention effortlessly. To be able to recall favours with a simple smile.

Rina said it was an advantage. Mirae swallowed the bitterness in her mouth and agreed through a crafted smile.

Rina paired her beauty with wicked talent and a foul attitude. It was a strategy to have the attention she demanded while keeping people at arm's length. No one in their right mind would ever dare approach her for something as silly as a love-letter.

Mirae got the brunt of it.

She could never be as conniving as her sister nor as confident. She blushed and stuttered and to most boys, it was an invitation to declare their undying infatuation.

If it were possible, she would give her so-called beauty to someone else. The unwanted attention was an attack on her as an individual person.

A shadow fell over her and she looked up.

"Quit that will you?" Coach Iwasaki frowned. "Ando, this is Sakusa. Sakusa, this is Ando."

Her eyes grew wide at the intimidating ace spiker. His dark hair stuck out in all directions. The bored expression on his handsome face was complimented by brooding eyes. His shirt was drenched in sweat.

"Let me start off by apologizing for my sister's actions and words." Mirae bowed, swallowing back the stutter in her speech. "I'm the older twin so I should be looking out for her but she's got a very dominant personality so that's hard to do, especially since we don't live together."

A moment of silence passed before he spoke.

"It's not necessary for you to bow."

She blinked and then straightened her posture. He was looking away with furrowed brows, but the tension seemed to have left his body. Mirae exhaled through her nose.

It was time to meet the team.

The Itachiyama boys stared curiously. Coach Iwasaki's words became background noise. He didn't tell them the name of the girl coming in for the management program, for her own privacy and safety he had said.

Now the mystery was uncovered.

Nothing shocked them more than finding out that during the Miyagi city finals, when Karasuno's Coach had to leave due to a family emergency, Mirae Ando acted as the coach on the court.

"Do you think the other team lost because of her smile?" Maeda the middle blocker whispered.

Harada the wing spiker shrugged. "I bet she sweet-talked them into losing. I'd let her sweet talk me into committing a crime."

"No way," Komori nudged them. "She's beautiful, I won't deny it, but she's Ando. Don't you remember her? She was ranked as the best female setter in all of Japan."

Before they could answer him, Sakusa cut in. "The best in middle school."

Coach Iwasaki finished his speech. He stood at the front of the gym with Mirae and patted her back. "Do you have anything to add, dear?"

She stepped forward and tried not to blush under wide-eyed stares. Itachiyama boys were all much taller and bigger in build. For the first time in a while, she was the smallest in the room.

She cleared her throat. "I think this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other. I haven't been a manager for too long but what I've been working on with my team shows promising results. I hope it will help this team as well."

Coach Iwasaki smiled. He blew the whistle hanging off his neck and signalled for the boys to begin their practice game.

It was as if everyone had renewed strength and energy. The spikers were slamming the balls with greater force, the receivers were calling out mine and making efforts to get underneath the ball, and the blockers were jumping with dedication.

They would look over their shoulders and glance at Mirae in hopes of seeing her watching one of them. However, she sat on the coach's bench, hunched over a clipboard. 

Komori looked over at his cousin and noticed that he was scowling more so than usual. He walked up to him.

"You know, they're only showing off because she's cute."

"Guess we should bring girls into the gym more often."

"Yeah, for morning practice especially. Don't mind them though, it's good for morale. Our team definitely needs it."

"Whatever." Sakusa's brows furrowed as Maeda went to spike a ball but it was caught in the net. "What should it be today? Suicide runs or burpees?"

Komori's eyes widened. He had to think of something to divert his attention or they would all be subjected to Sakusa's torture.

"So you've finally come to your senses?"

"What are you talking about?"

"About Mirae Ando, and how she's not Rina Ando?"

"That witch is an assertive manipulator. This one is a stuttering mess. I was biased, I won't lie, and for the first and only time I'll concede and say that you were right."

"How nice of you," he chuckled. They were both watching Mirae who was talking to the Coach. "She's really easy on the eyes, huh? I don't know about you, but I find the stuttering cute."

"I'm not talking about this."

"You didn't deny it," Komori grinned.

"What?"

"When I called Ando cute. You didn't deny it."

Sakusa's face was red from practice already but before Komori could point out his flustered expression, he grumbled under his breath and ducked below the net. "I'm on Team B. You stay there."

Mirae thanked Coach Iwasaki for getting her the health profiles for each of the boys. She placed the papers in her binder and then turned her attention to the court.

Itachiyama's starting lineup and their subs were in their first set of a practice game. As the first serve receive went up, the setter and spiker moved in position for a hard hit. The volleyball came barreling towards her and her eyes widened at the abrupt spun. She held her arm out, deflecting it.

"Strong hit," she whistled.

"Sorry," the libero smiled. He retrieved the ball and paused in front of her. "I haven't had a chance to formally introduce myself. I'm Komori."

"Kageyama's friend from training camp!" she smiled, finally putting a face to the name.

"Yup, that's me. By the way, you should probably sit on the other bench. A lot of spiked balls come flying this way," he threw a look over his shoulder, "thanks to Sakusa's wrists."

"What's wrong with his wrists?" she frowned.

"They're kind of, how do I say this?"

Komori bent his hand backwards, muttering ow, ow, ow.

Her eyes widened as she glanced at the brooding man. He did not look like he was in any pain, but then again, Karasuno had its fair share of players who would fight through pain just to play a little longer.

"Sakusa?" she called, marching forward.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his face and glanced over.

"If there's something wrong with your wrists we should get that checked with the nurse. You'll sustain long-term injuries."

Komori stifled his laugh. "I didn't mean it like that."

"What?"

"He's got very flexible wrists. It's disgusting but normal for him, I guess."

"Oh," her face flushed pink. "I'm going to go and- uh- check on your first years."

She dashed around the court.

Komori rolled the volleyball to the other side. His teammate was preparing for another strong jump serve so he positioned himself farther back. He then noticed that Sakusa, who would usually be covering the back of his head, was staring at Ando.

He crouched down for the receive and smirked.

"Well, I'll be damned."

|Note|

Happy (early) New Year everyone! We wish you all a safe, comfortable, healthy, and happy year. Hopefully you've all taken a much needed break from school and homework, and were able to spend time with your family.

So here they are. Inarizaki and Itachiyama finally have the girls and we're that much closer to seeing how Mirae uses the taser. If only Protect the Managers Squad had given something to Emiko for protection 😋

Yukio is a character we created after finishing the first draft of this arc, mainly because we felt so bad for leaving Emiko to fend for herself. Basically, it was ten chapters of Emiko just by herself vs all of Inarizaki. Oh! And there is also Riseki, you might remember him as the pinch server in the Karasuno vs Inarizaki game.

As for Mirae, well, what do you guys think of Sakusa's first impression of her? It takes a while for him to open up (quite literally).

P. s. Happy birthday to our Captain, Daichi Sawamura. We don't know how he put up with Karasuno, but we know that without him, Hinata and Kageyama's story would have ended way differently.

P. s. s. Expect a surprise upload sometime before next Thursday 😉

Don't forget to vote!

|End Note|