On Thursday, Momotari headed to the gymnasium for the third time. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to make a habit of this, but if she did, she figured it would be okay. Unless of course the volleyball team hated her. They didn't though. Well, she hoped they didn't.

She entered the gym only to find it empty. She arrived before the actual club, which at first confused her. Shouldn't the team be at practice before some bystander? But after some thought, she realized how dumb that was; she was sure they had to have the proper gear before playing. All those clothes and special shoes she found no need for were apparently really important.

Of course, they never took too long. They all appeared at roughly the same time. The captain said something to Sugawara and Tanaka, to which they freaked out. She didn't really know what they were saying since she was in the stands, but their facial expressions said a lot (and were completely hilarious, she thought).

Then all of the current members turned towards the door. Standing tall and proud (but mostly tall) were two boys she had never seen before. Well actually, one looked vaguely familiar. He was the tallest there, had blonde hair, and wore glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose. She thought maybe she had seen him in the halls before, but she wasn't sure. She did know that she would only have to see his face once to remember him. He was very distinctive.

The boy next to him wasn't like that though. He had brown hair and was average height. He sort of stood in the background compared his taller friend. The only thing that really made him unalike was what Momotari could only guess were freckles. She wasn't close enough to really see the extent of it, but he was must of had a lot for her to see them at such a distance.

She stared at the new guys while contemplating going down to meet them. It's not as if she had any reason to. She was just curious. Would the team be angry that she had disrupted their introduction and their practice? She thought about it for only a moment before deciding there was only one way to find out.

As she made her way towards them and as they started to notice her, one by one, she wanted to run back and pretend it never happened. But she didn't because she thought that would look even dumber than just continuing forward.

When all eyes were on her and she was only a bit more than a meter away, she brought her hand up to perform a small wave. "Uh hello," she said, only referring to the newcomers. "Are you two...first years?" Momotari regretted this decision.

"Why do you ask?" the bespectacled boy asked while the boy beside him just nodded.

"Oh. I was just under the impression the volleyball team had no first years. Since there seemed to be none at the practices." She turned to look at her seniors. She panicked for a moment and squeaked out, "Not that it's any of my business!" The captain simply waved her off with a smile, which actually made her calm down a bit.

The boy from before hummed a bit before saying, "You're right. It's not any of your business. Are you trying to imply that we've been slacking off by ditching practice?"

Momotari's heart rate instantly quickened as she brought up her clammy hands. "N-no! I wasn't! I just meant that—I mean—" Momotari covered her face with her hands and stayed quiet because she honestly didn't know how to reply.

To Momotari's surprise, it was actually Tanaka that came to the rescue. "Hey, don't bully our number one fan." He had some sort of malicious smile on his as he clapped a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and she started to wonder when he became so friendly towards her.

"Number one fan?" She doesn't ever remember saying she was a fan.

"You're the only one I've ever seen come to watch us practice." Oh.

"Well, what if I'm just a fan of volleyball and not you guys?" Tanaka had a clearly offended and pretty angry expression when he heard this, but had no chance to reply as Daichi came up stop him from causing any trouble.

"Anyway," he said with a constricted voice. He put on a smile and turned to face the older volleyball members before continuing, "These are the new first years, Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi."

Momotari placed her hands in her hips as she quirked an eyebrow. "So there are finally some first years," she said to herself. She hadn't meant for the others to listen to her, but she knew they were when she saw the second year give her a questioning look.

Apparently, she had missed something because all the current members of the volleyball club gave her odd looks. "What?" she asked a bit self-consciously.

Sugawara gave a sort of uneasy smile as he said "We did have some first years who wanted to join, but they're sort of...on probation."

Momotari blinked as her face scrunched up. "Why?"

Daichi and Sugawara gave each other contrite glances as Tanaka had a huge grin break out on his face. "Oh, you wouldn't believe it! The two idiots were—" he was cut off suddenly as Daichi slapped the back of Tanaka's head.

"Well there was a mishap with the vice principal. Besides, those two didn't really get along," Daichi explained.

Momotari became really interested in the story right around then. "So they were kicked out because they weren't friendly with each other? Or because of the vice principal? Or both?"

Daichi looked uneasy as a shaky grin appeared on his face. "Well, you see, I just figured—"

"Ah, what did they do anyway? I'm curious. It must have been really bad for them to be banished like that."

"Banished? I didn't—"

"Well, are they still going to join? I am sort of-" Momotari stopped talking as she saw the aggravated look one of the first years sent her.

"Maybe he would tell you if you'd shut up."

Momotari blushed a deep scarlet. "Ah, please continue. Sorry for my impudent behavior." She bowed her head.

"No. It's fine." Daichi rubbed the back of his neck as he gave her a soft smile. Momotari looked back up and dropped her tense shoulders. "Anyway, they were fighting a bit and I think it will be a good lesson for them. They'll still join the team after Saturday." Momotari thought that seemed reasonable.

Tanaka had other opinions though. "What? Don't try to soften the story! The real reason they couldn't join sooner is because you were upset they weren't listening to you!" Daichi turned to face the boisterous boy to give him a harsh look, but Tanaka wasn't paying attention. Instead, he had turned to face all the first years in the room. "Which led to the vice principal getting his wig knocked off! It was so funny! But he was really mad about it." Tanaka put his hands on his hips as he nodded his head solemnly.

After he spoke, the third years all but bullied the poor second year. The first years however were too busy processing what Tanaka had said. Apparently Tsukishima found it hilarious because he covered his mouth in order to contain his laughter. Yamaguchi had a smile on his face as he put a hand on his temple. Momotari stared at her seniors while she tried to understand just how stupid some people could be. She brought up her hand and placed it on her forehead. She sighed in shame as she thought about how she could possibly go to the same school as such morons.

Tsukishima finally stopped his chuckles as he placed his hands in his pockets. "So, that's why, huh?"

Sugawara stopped trying to calm down the captain to look over at Tsukishima. "Yeah, that's what happened. But they'll be here Saturday for a three on three with you guys."

Tsukishima gave a glance over at Yamaguchi. "I don't think we have to worry about it too much." The timid boy nodded his head enthusiastically.

Momotari moved her hand away from her face as she peeked over at the third years. "So they'll be at practices next week? Even if they lost?" She shifted her weight while she pinched the end of her hair. "That's a pretty smart way to test their skills," she said to herself.

"They'll join the club, win or lose," Daichi commented.

Tanaka jumped in to exclaim "But they won't lose because I'll be on their team!" Momotari glanced at him, surprised. "So, there's two other first years?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sugawara answered, seeing as how Tanaka kept rambling about how great he was and about how they would win for sure and then taunting the first years. "One wants to be a setter though and if they don't win, he won't be able to play that position."

Momotari listened in rapture. She thought about all of her knowledge on volleyball before her eyes widened. "Oh, but aren't you the setter Sugawara-senpai? Would he even play anyway? I mean, you're a third year and have a bit more experience."

Sugawara gave her a soft grin that put her at ease. Something about Sugawara just sent off good vibes. "Yeah, but he went to a junior high that had a top volleyball team."

Momotari played with the cuffs of her sleeves and kicked her feet against the floor. "If that's true, why is he going here?" After realizing what she said, she blushed and ran her fingers through her hair, frantically trying to correct herself. "No, no, wait! It's not that you guys aren't—well, you guys are good, but I just meant..." she trailed off slightly as she averted her eyes from the vice-captain.

Sugawara just laughed though. He waved his hand slightly when he said "No, it's fine. I get what you mean. Why doesn't he attend a top school?" She nodded her head slowly. "Well, I don't know. Maybe you should ask him."

Momotari just stared at him. She didn't think she needed to mention that she didn't know the first years, but maybe she did. Sugawara must have saw her blank look though because he added, "I just figured you'd see them eventually since you come to the practices. Actually, they could be in your class."

Momotari gave a grimace. She scoffed and sent disgusted look to the wall next to her out of politeness; she shouldn't send ugly sneers to the vice-captain. "Please. I doubt idiots like that could be in my class." She crossed her arms over her chest. She realized how that probably sounded, but she didn't care enough to correct herself.

Sugawara eyes widened and his smile dropped. "I didn't mean to insult you. What class are you in anyway?"

She looked at Sugawara shyly as she tried very hard to inconspicuously avert her eyes from his. "Class 1-5." She probably should have mentioned that earlier in her introduction. She brought her hand up to finger the clip in her hair. She just wanted to slap herself actually.

"Oh wow. That's a college prep class, isn't it?" Momotari nodded her head sheepishly. She glanced over his shoulder to see Tanaka has stopped baiting the first years.

"Well I should really let you guys get back to...volleyball stuff. So I'll just..." She threw her thumb over her shoulder before turning around to run away. What a stressful conversation.

When Momotari sat in the stands again, she thought over all the club members and she couldn't believe she had talked to so many people all at once.

She wondered if coming to see the match between the first years would be overstepping some sort of boundaries. She was really curious about the two absent. Besides, she wanted to see how all four of them were at volleyball. She wondered if any of them would be regulars. Probably that one who was the setter, but could the others be good enough to knock down the experience of the older members? She would just have to watch to see.

So that's how she ended up at the gymnasium in a jumpsuit and sandals on Saturday. She was pretty excited to see the new members, she would admit. She couldn't really be sure why, but the story she had heard about them really piqued her interest.

Still, it didn't really prepare her for when she walked in.

She saw all the usuals; Sugawara and Ennoshita were chatting with each other, Daichi and Tanaka were stretching, and the other second years that she couldn't bother to remember the names of were also off to the side. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi also seemed to be stretching, but not nearly as seriously as Tanaka. Of course, none of this particularly caught her attention.

No, the two boys she had never seen in that gym before were what caught her attention.

One boy looked only slightly familiar with his black hair, his creased eyebrows, and a snarl on his face. It took her a moment, but she soon remembered that she had ran into him once.

The other boy was a bit more noticeable. Not only was he the shortest one there and had orange hair, of all colors, but he was also very familiar. A little too familiar. It was probably because she had definitely met this boy before. In fact, Momotari knew she had. He was the one who got her interested in volleyball in the first place, after all.

Momotari wasn't really sure how to approach this situation. Should she say hi? Or should she just leave? She could just wait for him to notice her, but what if he didn't recognize her? Or worse, what if he didn't remember her at all? That would be pretty sad, she thought. She had spent a bit of time reminiscing her junior high years with him.

"Yo!" But Momotari really didn't need to worry about it at the moment. "It's our number one fan!"

Momotari put her head down to try and hide her blush as she muttered, "Don't call me that."

Tanaka strolled up to her with a large grin that somehow didn't really seem as warm or friendly as the third years'. "But you are! Right?" Momotari cast him a withering glance. "Alright, what should I call you then?"

"My name?" she suggested sarcastically.

"Which is?"

"You don't know?" she asked. Tanaka shook his head. Momotari stood up straight now. "Ah, I'm so sorry! I should have introduced myself! I'm so forgetful with that sort of thing." She scratched the back of her head. She lowered her voice a bit before saying, "I'm Momotari Hanako."

"Momo-chan!" Ah, perhaps the first years had overheard her? "Oh, Momo-chan, I almost didn't recognize you!" Or did Hinata actually remember?

Tanaka seemed to take notice as well. "Eh? You two know each other?" He turned to Momotari. "I thought you said you didn't have class with these two?"

"You heard that yesterday?"

"We don't have class together. Momo-chan is a friend from middle school!" Hinata looked right at the girl now. "Ah, you've changed a bit, huh? You cut your hair, too."

Momotari twirled her hair in her fingers. It barely reached past her chin and was always pin straight. "Yeah, I guess I did. But you haven't changed a bit, Hinata-kun." She brought her hand up to her forehead. "Ah, really. You're still short as ever."

"I grew a bit!"

"And yet I'm still taller than you." Momotari laughed a bit as Hinata grew upset with this. It had been a while since she had talked to him, but she still felt comfortable around him. She was also elated that he remembered her. She felt at ease.

"I didn't know you came to Karasuno," Momotari mentioned offhandedly.

Hinata nodded his head energetically. "Yeah! This was the school the little giant played at!" Oh. Momotari should have known. Hinata spoke of him fondly, if she remembered correctly. She had never bothered ask where the legendary ace played at though.

"Oh, well—"

"Oi! Idiot, get over here!" Both Momotari and Hinata looked up to see the boy with the dark aura standing on the court.

"Ah, you're going to play some sort of match, right? You should get going. We can catch up later." She beamed at him as he gave her thumbs up and bounded over to the court.

Momotari didn't really expect it and perhaps things weren't exactly the same, but Momotari only had one thought in her mind; Hinata would finally get to play on a real team.


So, a chapter? Sorry this one took a bit longer, but it's actually a bit more realistic to expect this from now on. Also, I apologize for any OOcness. Especially with Tsukki. I have a hard time writing him. Oops. Next will probably be the match and hmmm thats probably it so it will be a bit boring and maybe shorter idk yet.

Anyway, thanks to all the people who Favorited and followed and huuuge thanks to Chcogirl24, Kiddo626, ich, Guest, and akagami hime chan for reviewing. Especially you two guests because I can't send you guys PMs.

-LtD