chapter five: TOKYO TEMPURA RAMEN

Karasuno High School was as lively as usual, students parading and chatting in their black uniforms, the shouts from a setter and spiker breaking the peace.

"I can't believe you keep missing normal spikes, idiot!" Kageyama Tobio snarled, staring daggers at the shorter orange haired boy. "You're too fast!"

"Well, your tosses just can't handle how fast I am!" Hinata Shouyou retorted, pointing at him comically. "You're too slow!"

End of school practice always was a riot and everyone in the school was thankful that most of the noise was made after school times. Asahi Azumane and Nishinoya Yū followed sheepishly, deciding to spend to take a break with the infamous pair. With Nishinoya entering the battle at times, much to Asahi's dismay.

"G-Guys I think you should stop," Asahi chided, looking at the fight getting a little too heated. "You're bothering everyone around you..."

They were still quarrelling in the garden area now, far away from the gymnasium, a few teachers not even bothering to separate them knowing that they wouldn't be able to survive. Classmates sighed with annoyance, unfortunately used to this situation.

"Who cares," Kageyama snorted. "I just want to prove that this shorty here is wrong!"

Nishinoya laughed nervously, himself getting a little scared at the faces they were making at each other and the tension between them.

Would this ever end?

"Oh my god, can you both just shut up?" questioned an annoyed. The boys looked around, trying to find the source of the voice but to no avail. A loud intentional cough directed them towards two girls, one with toffee hair holding stack of botany books in her arms with undeniable rage and another with a calm expression clutching a small shovel. "You're disturbing everyone around here, you first years."

Kageyama and Hinata gulped loudly, shiftily gazing at the shovel she was pointing at their faces now and her intimidating presence. The calm surprisingly very short girl placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Now now, Natarii-chan," she chastised, calming her down as much as possible. "Stop complaining, now you're the one who's disturbing everyone with the racket you're making." A blush arose from Natarii's cheeks, realising her mistake.

"Gomen, Chiharu," she groaned. "But the first years are annoying and have no respect for this place whatsoever."

"I know."

A strike of lightening went through the Hinata and then Kageyama, with Asahi and Nishinoya standing confused. Nishinoya grabbed his ace's arm. "Hey, Asahi, did you - ?"

"I - I don't know!" he stuttered back to the libero, thinking about whether that was an illusion or some mind trick.

"Anyways," Natarii coolly interrupted, flicking back her long black hair effortlessly, looking like some sort of model especially with her height matching Tsukishima's just a few inches below. "Kageyama Tobio-san, Hinata Shouyou-san, please apologise to plants you have disturbed."

"Wh-what?"

What sounded like a clanging bell echoed across the volleyball players ears, not believing the request she had just made. "Apologise to the plants, please." Natarii said again, her face not expressing any emotion but sternness.

"N-Na-chii," Chiharu intervened. "They don't know about plants..." Natarii simply kept looking at them, unfazed. Chiharu tutted, gesturing for them to apologise to get it over with. Quickly, they bowed and said sorry, with the plant-obsessed girl nodding with reluctant acceptance.

"Um, sorry we got off to a bad start," Nishinoya muttered to Chiharu, her large green forest coloured eyes widening as he took her hand to shake it with a rare jittery feeling. "I'm N-Nishinoya Y-Yū, libero of the volleyball team!"

"Fujimoto Chiharu," she replied, still blushing with self-consciousness from the heated encounter while her hand was shaken forcefully. "First-year gardening club and book club manager. And I know who you are, you're the one who almost fell into the lake on sports day in middle school in that volleyball game, Nishinoya-senpai."

"W-what?!" Nishinoya spluttered, earning snickers from the first years. "That wasn't - ! I - I never, haha, said that!" Chiharu only giggled in response, watching the libero turn red faster than you could say 'Guardian Deity'.

"Hehe, I'm Shizuo Natarii, third-year gardening club president," the other girl laughed apologetically. "I'm also a book club member with Chiha because of relentless force and persuasion."

"Watch it!"

"Hinata Shouyou!" the spiker yelled out, earning a loud shush from Natarii. He rubbed the back of his head and giggled sheepishly. "You have great flowers here!"

"Thank you, Hinata-san," Natarii exclaimed, looking proud. "They are blooming greatly this spring! And you are Kageyama Tobio, I presume?"

Kageyama let out a gruff response and nodded, looking away shamefully, brooding over the fact he had embarrassed himself in front of older students maybe getting his reputation broken bit by bit.

An awkward silence passed by the two opposing forces, the calm of the girls and hyper activeness of the boys creating unwanted tension. "Hey," Chiharu mumbled, getting everyone's attention. "As an apology, do you guys want to get food with us?"

"Chiha!" Natarii gasped with nervousness, almost dropping the books on the ground. "Are you sure? Your father will make you cook it you know since they're your guests..." A firm nod sealed the deal as she grinned.

"How does ramen sound to you guys?"

• • •

And this was how the Karasuno volleyball team or squad or whatever ended up sitting in the locally loved Ramen K-O, admiring the modern architecture of the restaurant while Chiharu was thankfully finishing up the last, well Natarii's, order.

"ONE TOKYO TEMPURA RAMEN FOR SHIZUO NATARII!" Chiharu shouted deafeningly, contradicting the style of the ramen shop and herself, with whoops and cheers from other customers as she set down the bowl in front of her friend. She grumbled, muttering about 'how slow she was' and how 'it tastes horrible' jokingly.

"Tch, does she have to yell everytime?" grumbled Tsukishima Kei, the middle blocker, mouth stuffed with wake seaweed.

"She, does, Tsukishima-san," Chiharu snarled back with a grin, whipping her head away from him as she changed out of her apron that held not a single stain. "We may look clean, but we are always loud here. The atmosphere must never be brought down! And my name is Fujimoto Chiharu, the one who is treating you all here."

"Hey, Tsukki, I think you just got owned!" a certain wing spiker called out, using Yamaguchi Tadashi's nickname for him.

"Shut up, baldy!"

Tanaka Ryūnosuke barked loud with laughter, slurping up his noodles without any remorse. "This place is great! Arigato, Chiharu-san, Natarii-san!" The whole team thanked them in the blink of an eye after him, especially Hinata, who gobbling everything as if he were a lion and this was his prey.

"Slow down, Hinata-kun!" Sugawara yelped worryingly, watching the boy's chopsticks move at great speed. "You too, Kageyama-kun!"

The setter was eating fast too, as if he was trying to compete with Hinata...

Oh my god, the captain, Sawamura Daichi thought, feeling as if they were embarrassing them in front of their new found 'friends'. These guys are so...

He didn't want to finish that thought.

Although he did want to finish this ramen.

But what was really interesting, was Chiharu spilling the details of what happened to her senpai on that one sports day. "And it was hilarious, just as Nishinoya-senpai was about to save the volleyball for his team, he tripped on a rock and landed in the lake!" she exclaimed, everyone practically dying of laughter as Nishinoya felt the blood rush up to his cheeks.

He glared at his kouhai, pouting and picking at some beef in his bowl but the fact she had called him her senpai rang in his ears. Chiharu sent him a funny face as he blushed some more, trying not to both snap her in half and tackle her with a hug right then and there. 

But that face was kind of adorable...

"If I buy you ice cream, will you shut up?"

• • •

one extra long chapter for my wonderful readers, coming right up!

well hey guys, it's me and i have a little something i want to say.

thank you for all the votes that you've spammed me with just now, i feel so happy! so i made this chapter super duper long just for you all! i hope you like this chapter, as this is the other side of the story which is in karasuno's point of view in general and stuff.

that's all i have to say for now, so thank you and vote and comment please!

- michaela