(name) was enjoying her gift to the fullest. her (hair color) swayed in the air as she shook her head to the beat and sang the lyrics to herself, people giving her weird looks in the halls. she recently broke her earphones, snapping the wire in half. it was an accident when she was supposed to cut a paper with scissors and she didn't notice the wire from her earphones on the table so she snapped it together with it. (name) felt like her world ended right then and there. she wasn't in the mood to sing that day and not even the day after that.

Kuroo was worried. he constantly heard her voice in his head at least three times a day and now it stopped for two days straight but what could he do? only wait for the voice to come back. which it did.

on the third day, (name) received a gift from her parents. they both saw how sad she was about the accident so they bought her a pair of wireless earbuds. she felt like kissing everyone in the world once she unwrapped the box and immediately put the earbuds to a test.

now, she was sliding down the school halls with the earbuds hidden behind her mass of hair, the song chocolate by 1975 blasting in her ears ever since she woke up. she was so excited she almost forgot about the team meeting they had yesterday. Takeda was so happy he arranged them a practice match with the one and only Nekoma high school, their destined rivals. coach Ukai growled at that news with excitement as well and the first years got to learn about the legendary battle at the garbage dump. and today was the day.

everyone knew they still aren't fit for winning against Nekoma after learning about their crazy good defense and adaption to the opposing team but (name) was excited nevertheless, same going for the other first years, excluding a particular salty boy. 

(name) jumped outside the school building and ran towards the club room where she changed and immediately skipped to open the gym. she was the first one there so she filled the boys' bottles like always and brought out the ball baskets. she was too short to set up the net so that had to wait. while waiting, (name) took out her earbuds from the pocket and put them in, playing the same song over and over again, jumping and dancing across the gym. the lyrics were leaving her mouth until she wasn't able to breathe and then, Kageyama and Hinata appeared in the gym with whose help (name) could set up the net, but that didn't stop her from singing and bopping her head to the beat.

Kuroo sat on the bus in the back together with Kenma next to him, again playing on his PSP. he didn't even need earphones to listen to music, he constantly has songs playing in his head, today more than ever for some reason. maybe she needed to catch up to those two days without singing. but it made Kuroo smile and calm down. he truly got used to it now and it felt weird when he didn't hear the faint voice of the girl singing random lyrics in his head.

"i hear her a lot today." he mindlessly mumbled and Kenma didn't even lift his head from his game. not like Kuroo expected him to.

"maybe it's a sign of good luck," he said, Kuroo not even hearing him because Kenma had his head tucked in the team's jacket.

"isn't it exciting? after all these years, we are meeting our destined rivals." Kuroo grinned at the setter. he has been way more energetic these past few days and everyone knew the reason for it. he teased everyone a lot more too as if he got another blow of energy recently. which he got every morning when he heard her voice as the first thing. some of them often asked him what song is she singing to which he proudly answered. he took note of each of them, he has to know what his soulmate listens to, right?

"it's cool, i guess." the second year mumbled again as he passed another level in his game. Kuroo nudged his shoulder.

"you are excited as well." the captain grinned and Kenma finally lifted his head to glare at his best friend.

"am not."

"are too."

"am not."

"whatever you say, i can see it on your face," Kuroo smirked and Kenma just scoffed while everyone chuckled at their little banter which they got quite used to now. they fell into silence until the bus pulled up to the Karasuno high school grounds. the coach left the bus first and was immediately greeted by Ukai and the Karasuno third years. 

everyone saw the tension between Kuroo and Daichi, they were taking this practice match very seriously. they shook hands, a surprise they didn't break them and then the Karasuno third years led the Nekoma team to the club room where they can change.

meanwhile, everyone did their last-minute practice while Kiyoko grabbed her clipboard and asked (name) to bring out the second ball basket for the Nekoma team. once she pulled it out, the opposing team was already inside the gym, wearing the red practice jerseys. she strolled the basked towards them while scanning the players, but her eyes got stuck on the one in the front. he was tall and huge in her eyes, having a crazy mass of black hair on his head and hazel piercing eyes. indeed, they pierced right into (name)'s eyes once he noticed her walking towards them with the basket and the girl's cheeks flushed red.

'why is he hot?' she thought to herself. 'wait, what am i thinking? i don't even know him!'

"thank you, chibi~chan." his deep voice was even more fatal to (name). she could listen to it for the rest of her life. before she had the time to give him an answer, another boy with a mohawk hairstyle pushed him away and almost crawled towards (name)'s legs.

"they have...two managers." he fell down as if an arrow hit him in the chest. "why is life so cruel to me!" he whined while Tanaka appeared next to (name), hugging her shoulders and dragging her away from the Nekoma team.

"don't you even dare think about (name)~chan in the wrong way!" he growled at them and positioned the girl next to Sugawara by the scoreboard. she just giggled and shook her head at the overreacting wing spiker but brushed it away at the sound of a whistle and everyone yelling out to have a good match.

it started fast with Kageyama and Hinata doing their freak quick and they took the lead by a couple of points but Nekoma got used to it after a while and quickly caught up, taking the lead afterward. it was obvious that a team with three first years as regulars was way more unstable than a team with just one first year as a regular.

as much as (name) wanted to keep her attention on her team and cheer for them, her eyes kept drifting off to the scheming middle blocker. her cheeks flushed a little red whenever she realized it and quickly averted her gaze, as if the tall male caught her. which he didn't, but he felt a pair of eyes on his back here and there.

"hey Suga." (name) started as she finally flipped the numbers on Karasuno's side of the scoreboard but to no vail, Nekoma still won the first set in the end. "what's the name of the tall number one?"

Sugawara's eyes trailed towards the captain he got to meet outside the gym and smirked once he noticed the manager's burning cheeks.

"Kuroo Tetsurou, a third-year, and the team's captain." he wanted to tease the girl about it a little bit but she was paying him no attention as her brows furrowed in a thinking expression. she felt her heart beating faster and her chest tightening, as if she already knew him and she felt like something was dragging her towards him.

so Kuroo Tetsurou, huh?