Mitsumi was surprisingly enjoying the after-practice potluck with the JNT. Her plate was piled with various home-cooked dishes. She was sitting in the park with her teammates enjoying the beautiful spring weather. Some of them had kids or a significant other in attendance.

She was currently listening to Hatsukoi's three-year-old talk about her undying love for cats. It was quite adorable, and Mitsumi didn't mind the company of the child. "Want to see something, Rima-chan?" Mitsumi pulled her red ribbon with black cats on it out of her pocket. "I like cats too."

Rima's bright green eyes lit up like firecrackers. "Woah! You like cats too?" The toddler pointed to the tiny cats on the ribbon.

Mitsumi chuckled and slipped the ribbon back into her pocket. "I like cats too."

Hatsukoi caught sight of the interaction and scooped her toddler up into her arms. "I hope she wasn't a bother. She's our little chatterbox." She had to bring Rima to practice on Saturdays since her husband worked in a hospital nearby on the weekends.

"She wasn't a bother at all." Mitsumi smiled gently.

Saki sat down under the tree next to Mitsumi. "She won't admit she loves kids. She always has." She smirked and took a bite of a piece of barbequed pork. Everyone always snickered when Saki threw her introverted friend under the bus. This time was no exception. The team seemed to find some sort of entertainment in it.

Chihiro was stacking her plate for the nth time. "Don't you have a boyfriend, Mitsumi?"

The libero hadn't mentioned a thing about Koushi to anyone besides Saki and Akira. Those snitches! Chie glared at her two friends. "How do you know that?"

Madoka wriggled her eyebrows as she looked over Mitsumi. "The Spring Nationals documentary special. That setter guy is super cute. He must have nerves of steel to date you."

Of course, they would be shown together in that stupid news station documentary. She hadn't watched it yet but had it recorded on her television at home. Matsuri had brought her boyfriend, Eijiro, along. He was just as social as the captain herself. And was probably even louder than she was. Especially around Hatsukoi's husband, Kaito. To the captain, it was a shame the infamous Sugawara Koushi they had heard about from Saki and Akira wasn't in attendance.

"He's busy running errands with his cousin today. So, he couldn't come." Mitsumi tried to explain to everyone.

Tetsuya practically dived for Mitsumi's cellphone. "I want to see pictures!"

"Me too!" Nagisa chirped.

"Don't leave me out!" Aimi huffed and went over.

Mitsumi muttered a few choice words under her breath and unlocked her phone. She opened up to a few photos. "This is him. Our high schools were volleyball rivals. So, he came out for training camps a lot." She swiped through her gallery.

The Mitsumi Chie in those photos seemed to be extremely different from the Mitsumi Chie they all knew. She had a bright smile and a relaxed demeanor. Her often furrowed facial features were softened and glowing.

Chihiro blinked rapidly, "Woah, you look different."

Saki and Akira nodded in agreement. "That's what we said!"

"I wanna see!" Matsuri snatched the phone out of the libero's hands. She scrolled through the photo gallery. "Yep, you guys are going to get married."

The world froze and time stopped. "MARRIED?!" Chie shrieked in utter terror. Any form of commitment terrified her, but marriage was her worst nightmare. "There is no f-"

Akira chopped Mitsumi in the stomach, "Language!"

"I wasn't about to swear! I was about to say there is no freaking way." Mitsumi suddenly felt incredibly nauseous from the chop. "If I puke, I'm aiming for you, Akira."

Nagisa shook her head slowly, "Tsk tsk."

"So, I guess I'm targeted here too. I see how it is." Mitsumi had enough of being picked on by her teammates. But, unlike the Tokyo team, she had no dirt to blackmail them with.

...

Kaori was carrying some of the bags she and her cousin had accumulated while shopping. They had decided to take a detour through the park so they could grab some donuts from a small stand there.

"You wouldn't believe it. Kimi can literally jump higher than me." She was telling her cousin all about the potential new players they had turned up to tryouts.

The male chuckled, "Well Kimi has been working hard on that." He happily listened to her stories. Kaori wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. He suddenly yanked her to the side as she almost walked into someone.

"Suga! Hey!!!" It was Saki and the rest of the JNT. "What's up? Looking for Mitsumi?"

Shoot me. Those were the first two words that came to mind when he realized who they ran into. He was supposed to be in Harajuku right now. Well, he was, but this wasn't supposed to happen. Suga gave a small wave, "Good to see you again, Saki!"

"Quite the load you guys have." Mitsumi came out from hiding behind her teammates. "Are you headed to the station?" She was surprised by the sheer amount of bags Kaori had compared to her cousin. "I can help carry some of those."

Chihiro waved her arms up and down. "Are you not going to introduce us to your boyfriend?!" She had been begging Mitsumi since she saw photos of him.

Kaori was confused as to what was going on. "Hey..." She gave a shy wave. She noticed a group of towering figures staring at her tiny future cousin-in-law.

"I have no choice now." Mitsumi shot a glare back at everyone. She seemed to be in a crabby mood. "Anyways, this is my boyfriend, Sugawara Koushi, and his cousin, Kaori. Koushi, Kaori, this is the Japanese National Women's Volleyball Team. Although right now, they are dead to me." She pulled the sleeves of her jacket over her hands.

Kaori's eyes began to sparkle. She was standing in front of her idols. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" She gave everyone a full bow. Her bags fell out of her hands and onto the pavement, which made everyone chuckle.

"I'm so sorry I missed your gathering! We ended up finishing earlier than expected." Suga apologized to the team. It looked like they all had a good time. "We were headed home."

Mitsumi waved her hand, "Don't worry about it! Really!"

Matsuri gave a cheeky smile. The corner of her mouth turned up. "Guess there is always next time, Sugawara." She shifted her weight to her right side. "Mitsumi has leftovers for you guys."

"Captain! Stop stealing my lines." Mitsumi looked up from helping Kaori pick up her bags. Luckily, she didn't have any precious cargo. So, there was nothing to be worried about.

"Kaori, you play, right?" Hatsukoi remembered the few times Mitsumi had mentioned her in casual conversation.

Madoka looked at the teenager with a smirk. "You should get a picture with us so you can brag to everyone that your future cousin-in-law plays for us." She felt a hand smack the back of her head at the speed of light. "Ow!"

Nagisa cracked her knuckles, "That's a horrible idea!"

"Actually, that's genius." Matsuri smirked, "It'll be a good memory."

Sugawara and Mitsumi both turned pinker than the cherry blossoms around them. They both looked at each other with the most flustered expressions known to mankind. Akira and Aimi had the blackmail photos taken and saved to their phones already. Everyone piled in for a quick group photo. To Kaori's amazement, the JNT had a light atmosphere about them. TokyoU was the definition of chaotic energy. These folks were a notch down from that. Or so it seemed.

"I'll see you guys on Tuesday!" Mitsumi waved goodbye to her teammates and followed Koushi and Kaori to the station. "Sorry about them."

"At least they are nothing like our school teams." He chuckled at the thought. He was really lucky that his purchases fit into his shoulder bag. With the exception of the safe items in his hands.

Kaori couldn't believe she had a photo with the JNT. "Mitsumi, you are the coolest person on planet Earth!" Every inch of her body was buzzing in excitement. "I'm going to show this to my team tomorrow!"

"You go and do that, kid." Mitsumi yawned and swiped her train pass. "What did you guys buy?"

"Clothes and stuff for the new school year! We also picked up some new school uniforms for me since I've grown taller." Kaori was excited to start her second year. It was sad that spring break was almost over, but she looked forward to taking a special photography class. The Summer Inter-Highs were also around the corner, so she had plenty to look forward to.

The setter couldn't help but smile warmly, "We went to the stationery stores too. There's a lot of sales going on." This was one of the many instances where the silver-haired boyfriend was glad that his cousin wasn't a major blabbermouth.

"Oh, that's good to know! I need to restock my stash." Mitsumi watched as the doors to the train opened. "Home we go!"

...

Ryu knocked on Suga's bedroom door. "Koushi, big sis wanted me to give you this!" He said walking in with a black gift bag in hand. His heart rate skyrocketed at the sight of the gift bag. He waved his little cousin inside and pointed to a large box in the corner of the room. 

"Just put it over there," Suga instructed before his girlfriend could question what was happening. 

Mitsumi was currently sitting on the floor in front of her boyfriend getting a shoulder and neck massage. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion of the bag. She felt him stop and mentally groaned. "What's that bag for?"

Suga continued to knead at her tense muscles. "It's for Ninja Business." That didn't make sense one bit. Sugawara Koushi! You can do better than that! Geez! There was no way that the bright young woman would buy that. 

"Ninja Business?" She laughed at his attempt to save himself. "Whatever you say, Sherlock. You make no sense right now." Her signature cackle ripped through the bedroom. "All you have to say is that it's a secret and I won't pry." Mitsumi relaxed back into his hands, "You're a crafty one, Koushi." 

Suga gasped at her genuine laugh and finished her massage with an eye roll. "Well look at that, you are actually capable of laughing." He then rested his chin on her shoulder. His hands slowly dropped down to around her waist as he pulled her against him. Her small form instantly sank into his as she failed to formulate a response. "Tomorrow,  I'll pick you up. Wear something nice. Okay?" The bedroom door clicked closed as he pecked a kiss on her cheek. "You better get out of bed on time."