The sun was too bright. It was like staring at Hinata's beaming face for an hour. Emiko dove her head under her pillow and groaned.

Her grandparents had knocked on her bedroom door an hour earlier and brought in her breakfast meal. It was sitting on her dresser. Uncle Keishin had called right after to check in on her, but after hearing her groan and grumble about being disturbed, he abruptly ended the call.

Now, it was quiet.

Emiko kicked her blankets to the floor and sat up. Her muscles felt heavy, the tell tale sign for whenever she lied. Her body wanted to crush her under the guilt. Still, she felt that it was better for her to stay home and deal with a guilty conscious than to worry everyone at the tournament.

Especially on the day of the quarter-finals.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced over.

Ennoshita
Just checking in to ask if you're feeling better
We miss our little cheerleader

Emiko turned her phone face down on the table.

She had never been surrounded by so many friends at once. It made her feel as though her heart was going to explode out of her chest. She giggled envisioning it already, her Uncle Keishin coming home to a human heart pumping on the ground and a fist sized hole in Emiko's chest.

She would never eat another piece of chocolate again if it meant she could see that scene.

Her phone buzzed again. She reached over and saw another series of text messages.

Hinata
Little Ukai!!! Drink lots of tea!!!

Yachi
Tadashi and I are going to stop by after the game. Would you like us to pick up some soup for you?

Tanaka
Could really use your cheer of a thousand women, so get better soon!

Takita
You alive?

Kageyama
Drink warm milk

Emiko threw herself back on the bed and groaned.

She had convinced herself that the butterflies in her chest only danced around him because they were excited to see a familiar face. After all, her one year at Kitagawa was the best year of her life.

After a month of these feelings going no where, she convinced herself that these butterflies liked to see him scowl and glare and give her attention. Emiko could never have enough attention.

Then entered Akira Iro. Emiko remembered the events of yesterday vividly and felt her stomach tighten. It was so easy to despise the airheaded strawberry blonde but after seeing her in tears yesterday, after seeing her raise her hand to slap her, Emiko felt responsible.

Akira had said that she liked Kageyama first. She was the first to admit it. She was the first to do something about it. Not to mention she claimed they were friends. So, by that default, shouldn't Emiko have backed off? Shouldn't those butterflies have died?

Emiko rolled onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow.

What was so special about Tobio Kageyama anyway? He's tall but so is Tsukishima and Emiko could never imagine thinking about him with butterflies in her chest. He's handsome but so is Ennoshita and Emiko never watched him the most during practice. So what is it? What made her feel this way?

Emiko's thoughts were interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone. She reached out from under the pillow and answered it.

"Don't get your hopes up, Uncle Keishin. I'm not dead yet."

"I'd hope not," a nasally voice answered. "Given your living situation though, I wouldn't be surprised."

Emiko scrambled off her bed. She could already see the ugly sneer of a woman who eyed her like she was a piece of lint on her skirt. "Mother."

"Oh goody, she remembers who I am."

"Of course," Emiko resisted the urge to give a sarcastic remark.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for two months now. Do you know how exhausting this little game of tag is, Dearie? I don't have all the time of the world on my hands, I'm a busy woman. Remember what I always tell you, time is money."

"Time is money," Emiko repeated. She clenched and unclenched her fists. "Which is why I've been busy too."

"At least you're doing something right. Tell me, how are your grades?"

Emiko trailed towards her study desk. She had scored perfect on the latest test she had written. "Grades are good."

"Make sure you e-mail me your transcript. I need to remember to call the Japanese Board of Education and request an overview of the curriculum. Have you been eating well?"

Her eyes trailed to where candy and cookie wrappers littered the floor. She hummed in response.

"Take a few photos and e-mail those to me as well. Full body and side profiles. I need to make sure you haven't put on any extra weight. Your baby fat has yet to burn off but don't worry. I've been talking to a surgeon in Brazil who seems promising. She'll shave off thirty pounds."

Emiko's jaw dropped.

"And you're making friends, right? Emiko, why aren't you answering me?"

"I'm here" she cleared her throat. "Sorry, I got distracted by a homework question."

"Right," her mother answered skeptically, "tell me about your friends. They're all girls, right? I do not want a repeated nightmare of two years ago when you invited twelve boys to your birthday party."

"All girls," she cringed, "yup."

"Good, good. I saw your Instagram post the other day. Tell me, who was that boy?"

"Just friends." Her throat was dry. "My friend Mirae and I went to a school event."

"The boy, Emiko."

"Kunimi and Kindaichi. I knew them from Junior High."

Her mother hummed in disapproval. "Just friends. That's fine then. The girl, Mirae, you said? She seems like a respectable girl, Pretty and thin, strong with a feminine facial structure. You should have worn a dress like hers, Dearie. That low-neck line did not suit you at all. Though with your chubby cheeks, I doubt any dress could have suited you." 

Emiko laughed drily. "Yup, I agree."

"See, this wasn't so hard, was it, Dearie? Just a quick phone call to update me on your life. Shouldn't take more than five minutes."

"No more than five minutes." Emiko glanced at her phone screen. Their conversation was at three minutes and eighteen seconds and counting.

"Your father and I have been busy, busy. We're trying to relocate our businesses to Tokyo for a while. Of course we'll have the odd conference and meeting so we'll fly out for a weekend but in all, we'll be living in the city."

"Any reason for that?"

"So you can live at home while attending university," her mother cheered. "All our friends are doing it and I couldn't help but agree with them. You'll be an adult soon but that shouldn't mean you have to move out and live on your own. Nope, Dearie, your daddy and I will be right there with you."

"University," she repeated. "I was thinking we should talk about that."

"And we will. I chose three universities in Tokyo city that are exceptionally prestigious. I'll email you the information brochures so make sure to read them and choose which one you like best. Oh! Your daddy just came. We have a business lunch to get to."

"Is that Piccina?" her father's gravelly voice asked. "Have you told her about our little surprise?"

"Oh! I nearly forgot! Dearie, free up your calendar for the fourteenth of next month. We have a special someone who is just dying to meet you! Anyway, we have to go now. Don't forget to email me your transcript and pictures." 

Without so much as a goodbye, she ended the call.

Emiko dropped to the ground and screamed. She banged her head against the floor, intending to give herself brain damage so she could forget the conversation but that nasally voice kept ringing in her ears.

"Damn demon looking witch" she hissed as she tried to break her phone. "How'd she get this number? What gives her the right? Demons!" she called, "come and take your queen back. I don't want her in my life!"

Her phone buzzed again. Emiko prepared to fling it out the window but the message was sent from Mirae. She dropped on the bed and sighed.

Mirae
Our boys won!! Semi-finals tomorrow against Date Tech :D You ready for your first on court debut as manager??

|Note|

Well, we hate Emiko's mom...

Also, has anyone watched the first episode of Haikyuu!! To The Top Part 2? We've only watched the opening scene, and we've got no words!!

One last note, we need some songs about "love" that you think would apply to Emiko and some songs that you think would apply to Mirae. Whether it's how they see love or how it's changed/affected them. We've got something planned and we're trying to draw some inspiration from songs!

We'll see you guys in the next upload, please don't forget to vote!

<3

|End Note|