When it came to playing with others, Yaotome was the least of Karasuno's worries. He didn't get provoked as easily as Shoji did and his will to play in an actual game was more apparent than Takita's.

"Can we practice again like last night?" he asked.

Noya's eyes lit up. "You betcha! Oh, but I noticed that you didn't try the rolling thunder in any of our games."

"Noya," Tanaka said as he shook his head, "if he's not careful he could hurt his shoulder doing that."

"I forgot about that. Then we'll just have to practice somersaults! You carry your weight on your shoulders so make sure to properly stretch."

He followed his upperclassmen out of the gymnasium. The sun had set a half hour ago and the air outside was much cooler. Some of the first years from the other schools were doing passing drills on the pavement, others were lying down on the grass and eating snacks.

"T-Bone, hey!"

Tadashi turned around, waving as they entered the gymnasium. "Hi guys. Did you already eat dinner?"

The boys shook their heads no.

"Mirae will bring us something later."

"Yeah," Tanaka snorted, "as if she'd let us continue practice hungry."

Tadashi felt like he should tell them to stop adding to their Manager's stress but chose against it. It was their third night at Shinzen but Mirae had already established her reputation as the overbearing mother, threatening to spoon feed them if they didn't eat their meals.

Tsukishima learned that the hard way.

Tanaka and Tadashi took turns serving to 'Tome, and Noya stood near him, critiquing his technique and offering advice. Ten minutes passed before Mirae called their names.

"Dinner," she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh beautiful goddess, I would love to take you out to dinner."

"I think she meant we have to eat our dinner," Tadashi chuckled. He tossed the volleyball into its cart and went to change into his outdoor shoes.

"I am getting hungry," as if on cue, Tanaka's stomach growled. "Alright, we can come back after we've filled up."

Noya slung his arm over Mirae's shoulder, a dream-like expression on his face. "You'll still have dinner with us, right?"

The corners of her lips lifted. "Of course, I do have to make sure that Tsukki eats. Oh, 'Tome, I'll bring you a light snack later on if you get hungry."

Yaotome smiled gratefully. He had little to no appetite for dinner and Mirae was quick to notice this on their first day. At first, she thought he was being picky. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't believe them. But they came to a mutual agreement that he could skip dinner if he promised to eat a light snack that she brought him.

"That damn Tsukishima," Noya growled as Tadashi and Mirae walked out. "I'm starting to think he's doing it on purpose."

"Doing what on purpose?" Tanaka asked.

"Things that would make Mirae focus all her attention on him. He's a scheming and smart little bastard, it's only a matter of time before he pulls a move on her."

"You think he would?"

"I know he would. I see the way he stares at her."

"We're talking about the same Tsukishima right?"

The third years continued to debate as they walked outside.

There wasn't much that 'Tome could do to practice alone so he walked back and forth, bumping the ball on his forearms. He was getting bored and considered leaving to find someone else from Karasuno he could practice with, when two other boys ran into the gym.

They threw themselves against the wall, breathing raggedly.

"You think he's gone?"

"Should be, saw him turn left around that corner."

"Thank God." The tall boy with the bigger build turned around, his eyes landing on 'Tome. He smiled and pushed himself off the wall. "Oh, you're Karasuno's libero."

'Tome recognized their uniforms. They were students from Fukurodani.

"Hey you remember him, right?" he called over his shoulder. His friend was just as tall as he was, a little smaller in build. "He has those crazy good receives."

The other boy's eyes widened. "Right, I remember him now. My name's Hibiki."

"I'm Banko. Would you mind if we practice with you?"

'Tome nodded as he passed over a volleyball.

Hibiki was a setter. 'Tome was left in wonder and awe seeing how easily he set the ball. Banko was a wing spiker, a force to be reckoned with. The two of them were on one side of the net and 'Tome on the other. It took a couple tries until he was able to receive their spikes, kill its momentum, and send the ball to the setter's position by the net.

While practicing, Banko and Hibiki threw playful comments and joked. Their easy-going personalities allowed even Yaotome to feel less awkward. It wasn't too long before even he was joking with them.

"You're getting a lot better, you know," Banko said as he wiped his forehead. "At a decent pace too."

'Tome shrugged his shoulders, lowering the water bottle from his lips. The three of them were laying on the ground, taking a small break. "It's a lot harder than I thought it'd be."

"Which is expected," Hibiki sighed. "I mean you were a setter before high school, right? So perfecting your receives as a Libero is going to take a while."

"Honestly, the fact that you're switching positions is pretty badass. Not a lot of people take that kind of a risk."

"So why did you?"

"I wanted to challenge myself. Being a setter got boring."

"I guess I can see that."

'Tome stretched out his legs. His calve muscles were aching and he already knew that it would be worse in the morning. "Who were you running away from earlier?"

Banko laughed. "Our captain."

His eyes widened. 'Tome couldn't imagine trying to run away from Ennoshita. "Why?"

"He wants all the first years to train together, but it gets so boring."

Hibiki pushed his friend's shoulder and laughed. "We came from a powerhouse school, so it might be called bragging but we know everything. The other first years on the team are average at best. Akaashi makes us all practice the basics; passing, blocking, serving. He won't let us try new things like combo plays."

"You get what we mean, right?"

'Tome nodded his head, averting his gaze.

"Hibiki, mind setting a couple more my way? I want to hit them further from the net."

"If you're planning back row spikes, Akaashi's going to lose his mind."

Banko jumped to his feet and grinned. "Good."

In the cafeteria, dinner was finished and Shoji and Takita were leaning into their seats, waiting for everyone to leave so they could slip away to their room. Takita was expecting a phone call from his girlfriend soon. He hadn't spoken to her since they came to the training camp and though he didn't want to admit it out loud, he missed hearing her gentle voice.

He even searched up the bus route to get back to Miyagi, but money-wise, that was out of the question.

He groaned again and Shoji kicked his leg.

"Shut-up."

"You shut-up."

"I'm not the one groaning like a whale."

"You're a whale." Takita sat up, resting his chin on the table.

Shoji glanced up and saw him frowning at his phone. "Just call her."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I warned her not to spam me with text messages. I warned her that I wouldn't be able to call her every night. Do you know what she's done?"

Shoji raised an eyebrow. "What'd she do?"

Takita shoved his phone into Shoji's face. "Not a single text message! No voice messages! No missed calls!" he threw his head back and groaned. "I warned her about getting too clingy and seeking attention but I didn't think I'd be the one suffering."

"Hah, you're suffering."

"Shut-up."

"You shut-up."

"No, you shut-up."

Tsukishima cleared his throat. "What are you two arguing about?"

Shoji sat up straight. Takita barely moved.

"Keep your secrets then," he mumbled. "Alright Takita, let's go. We're going to practice blocking."

"I can't," he muttered, "my head hurts, my muscles hurt, my body hurts."

"You'll live. Besides," Tsukki smirked, "Mirae said you're in perfect condition to continue with individual practice, especially because you ate your dinner right? You didn't throw it away as soon as Mirae walked away from your table, right?"

Takita quickly stood up and frowned. "You wouldn't dare."

"I might have seen something, maybe she can check the trash bag and confirm."

Takita wanted to drop down to the floor and scream. He shoved his phone into his pocket and began to march out of the cafeteria. Tsukishima smirked.

"Oh, Shoji, this is Fukurodani's first year Izu. He's a setter."

Tsukishima motioned to the timid looking boy standing near them. He waved. "Hi Shoji. Miss. Ando asked me to practice with you for a while."

Shoji scowled immediately. "I only practice with Mirae."

"She's busy helping the managers with meal plans."

Tsukishima nodded at Izu and walked after Takita.

Shoji stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. He was a good few inches taller than Izu, bigger in build too. Plastering a scowl on his face and narrowing his eyes, he was certain his signature look would intimidate Izu and make him leave. That would have been the case if a high pitched squeal didn't make him flinch.

"You're trying to be the alpha!" Akari giggled as she walked towards them, hand clutching at her heart. "You're so adorable I could just kiss you!"

Izu's smile widened. "Hi Akari! You've met Shoji?"

"Yeah, he's amazing isn't he?"

"I saw him playing against our team earlier. He's a good spiker."

Shoji blushed. "Shut-up."

Akari slapped her hands over her cheeks and squealed again. "He's so adorable when he's flustered!"

"Don't you have to help the other managers?" Shoji snapped.

"Yeah, but I don't care what kind of trouble I get into as long as I get to hear your grouchy little voice and see your adorable face." She leaned into Izu and sighed. "He's so handsome."

Shoji couldn't think straight. He muttered incoherently under his breath, grabbing onto Izu and pulling him outside.

|Note|

Poor Takita and Shoji :P

We hope these chapters make you laugh. We have a lot of fun writing them and we're so excited to share the rest of the training camp chapters!

Please don't forget to vote and comment!

|End Note|