Ahem. After my 'short' sabbatical from the fandom and this fic, I'm re-watching Haikyuu and writing again. Hence, here's something I think all those who're still with me will enjoy :D

My thanks goes out to the wonderful hestia8639 for betaing, all my reviewers who give me food to write :P and especially The Spade Queen for reminding me that you guys want an update :D

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Plotting and scheming

Kudō Akari was not a violent person by nature. She had grown up with three older brothers, her mother often sick, which led to the two of them being pampered like princesses. So, Akari's childhood was full of frilly dresses, play dates, fluffy animals, and messy braids. She was known in kindergarten as the girl with her own personal bodyguard squad, her three brothers easily looming over the kids in her age group. During primary school, she'd been the princess who always had a cute older brother to pick her up and walk her home. And, in middle school, she'd been the girl with whom every other member of the female population wanted to hang out, simply to get close to her brothers.

So, in high school, when Akari had met Chiharu, she'd been cautious. The girl sitting behind her was an exotic-looking cutie, after all. And Akari had learned from previous experiences that being cute often meant that you were on a hunt. A hunt for a boyfriend. So, she knew only to say good morning and casually chat about class activities. It wasn't until the second month of their first year that Akari really learned what kind of person Chiharu was.

Akari had been coming back to the classroom from lunch break, only to hear that vile creature, Megumi, and her band of gigglers asking Chiharu all sorts of questions about Akari's brothers and how they could get an invitation to her home. Akari had stopped, her hands clenching at her sides, and waited shamelessly to hear Chiharu's response. It had been one that she definitely hadn't expected. A loud smack had rung out, followed by shouting and crying. And, that was the story of how Chiharu had slapped Nishimura Megumi for badmouthing her friend, only to get ganged up on by the giggler squad and end up in the infirmary herself. Since then, Akari had stuck close to Chiharu's side, learning that the curly bedhead had almost zero interest in boys, aside from being friends with them. So, Akari had promised herself that day to do the same for Chiharu. Maybe she wouldn't be able to land a slap, terrified of the pain, but she would definitely deliver a good tongue-lashing to anyone who dared to hurt her friend.

Apparently, the day when she could make good on her promise had arrived sooner, rather than later. So, when the school day ended and Chiharu headed home with a glum expression, Akari didn't go to her club room. No, she stomped out of her classroom and straight for the third gym, the one that was commonly used by the Boys' Volleyball Club. And, the sight of an angry Kudō Akari had her fellow second-years parting like the Red Sea before Moses.

"Kuroo Tetsurō!" the girl called out from the entrance when she arrived at the gym, hands clenched at her sides. The boys were inside already, doing stretches. Their heads turned towards Akari at the shout. Then, the majority of them glanced at their captain, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Come with me!" Her tone made it clear that it was more of a command than a request.

"Is that… some kind of a battle challenge?" Yaku asked, head tilted to the side as their captain slowly approached the glaring girl. It was a funny picture, really. Kuroo towered over the girl with ease, but she looked like some sort of a ferocious jungle cat, ready to tear out his jugular at the smallest error.

"A confession?" Kai supplied. "Maybe?" he trailed off.

"A Goddess!" Yamamoto added, melting into a puddle while their captain switched shoes and followed the girl out. The boys were left to stare after the pair, before scrambling to change their own shoes and follow the odd duo in stealth mode.

Akari walked behind the gym, knowing that Kuroo would follow her. Then, when she deemed it far enough from prying ears, she stopped and whirled around, making him freeze as well.

"Oi, what's this abou-"

"You-you-you insufferable- no, conceited- urgh! Just horrible, selfish, evil-" Akari's tongue-lashing hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped, as her anger stopped her brain from being able to pile on insults.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Kuroo raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "What did I do?" Akari's eyes widened and she gaped at his lost expression. She shook her head and then moved towards him, raising a fist.

"She is a good girl." She stabbed at his chest with her index finger hard enough he nearly lost his balance. "She may be tan and look wild, but she is a good girl." The last two words were accompanied by two more jabs into his hard chest. He took a step back as the petite girl didn't show any intentions of stopping her advances. "She is shy! And she does her best!" She emphasized each sentence with a jab. "And you did-did- that!" Akari finally slapped the same sore spot on his chest with her open palm. "You insufferable piece of-" Kuroo caught her wrist before she could deliver another slap to his sore chest.

"Oi, I have no idea what you're rambling on about!" he finally yelled, stopping the girl from her thrashing around in order to free her weapon. Akari froze, grit her teeth, and brought her other hand up, aiming for his face now. But, Kuroo was too fast. He avoided the initial slap and caught her wrist when she went for another one. "Stop trying to hit me and explain, damn it!" Akari panted, out of breath from her attempts to wound the annoying senior in any way she could.

"Chiharu would never sleep with your sorry ass!" And then she managed to deliver the final blow to the shell-shocked third-year, slamming a strong kick onto his shin with the front of her shoe, causing him to yelp and sink down to grasp it. "Stop spreading nasty rumors!" And with a final slam of her school bag over Kuroo's head, Akari headed away from the battlefield. When she rounded the corner, she saw the shocked volleyball team, staring and gaping. She hissed at them, making the boys push each other to move back and towards the wall, before stomping away, her anger only slightly abated.

Chiharu headed home after sending a text to Yaku that she couldn't make the afternoon practice due to a headache. The third-year had replied almost instantly, telling her not to worry and to take care of herself. She felt a bit guilty, lying to him, but her head had been pounding during her afternoon classes a bit. Not a headache, though. She knew those. But, she knew this, as well. Her forehead was hurting, in a rhythmic beat which told her that she was anxious. Unbelievably so. She'd been minding her own business in the corridor during break time, when she'd overheard a group of second-years talking. They mentioned her name and Kuroo-senpai's, which made Chiharu halt and try to listen as inconspicuously as possible. Now, she wished that she hadn't. She should've just minded her own business and been on her way. But, for him to do something like that... He must hate her for some reason.

Chiharu had racked her brain during the last few classes of the day, trying to figure out the reason. But, she was drawing a blank. She hadn't done anything bad to Kuroo-senpai. She'd profusely apologized for her initial mistake and rejection of his non-confession. She'd also gotten both him and Yamamoto a sports drink and a health bar as thanks for their help the day before. Kuroo-senpai had thanked her with a smirk while the volleyball team's ace had done some form of a noodle dance with outlandish sounds coming from his mouth. Kuroo-senpai had apologized for the 'idiot'. All in all, Chiharu was certain that she hadn't done anything for her senpai to retaliate in such a fashion. Saying that she had asked him to go to a love hotel with him... That was too much to ignore, even for Chiharu.

So, she'd gone to the expert who was always in tune with the second-year rumor mill: Akari. At the end of classes, she had gotten three different versions of the rumor out of her reluctant friend. One was the same as she'd overheard. Kuroo-senpai had told someone how Chiharu had insisted that she'd only be their manager if he went with her to a love hotel. Regularly. The second one re-told the story of Kuroo-senpai having a schedule on his phone, which he shared with all the girls he wanted to do it with, so that they could book a time and date at their convenience. Apparently, Chiharu had had the privilege to book herself a date like that. And the last, and definitely the worst rumor, had had Akari hesitating whether to even tell her. But, after Chiharu had given her one of her looks, which told the other girl that she could take it, whatever it was, Akari had given in. The last rumor that Kuroo-senpai was spreading told a completely fabricated story of some kind of a friends with benefits arrangement, which had apparently started during the short break between Chiharu's first and second year. And, now, they were simply making it more convenient with a schedule and love hotels. Akari had told her that there had even been talk of explicit details of a completely fictional blowjob behind the third gym.

Chiharu had hit her limit. She had tolerance, yes. She knew that some of the rumors at school spun out of control, yes. She knew that she was a favorite topic, her naturally tan skin making her the ideal 'beach bunny girl'. But, she hadn't thought that by simply joining a club she'd provoke someone into completely ruining her like that. What had she done to Kuroo-senpai in order for him to say all those things? She'd just wanted to have some extracurricular activities. To please her mother. To have some fun. To make some more friends. But this… Chiharu couldn't do this. She had her pride, after all.

An empty house welcomed her home and Haru, for once, didn't call out a greeting. She didn't feel like doing it. She didn't feel like doing anything. The front of her head throbbed horribly and she felt guilty for lying to Yaku. But, she didn't know if she could trust him. He'd known Kuroo-senpai far longer than he'd known her. If it came to choosing sides, the third-years would undoubtedly stick together. So, Chiharu numbly changed into comfortable PJs, prepared a small meal for herself and turned on the TV in the living room, watching it but not really seeing anything. She needed to give a good reason why she couldn't be the manager for the club, directly to coach Nekomata at the teachers' lounge. And then, she would have to avoid the boys from the volleyball club like the plague. It seemed like an easy enough idea. It would be simple to go back to her usual routine and forget that the Boys' Volleyball Club even existed.

Chiharu stood, returning her dishes to the kitchen and placing them in the sink. Then, she turned to the emergency drawer she shared with her mother, their little secret. From there, among the numerous colorful bags of junk food, Haru grabbed the biggest bag of potato chips she could find and returned to the living room, switching to an international English channel and finding a crime show to watch. Before long, the combination of the chips, the foreign language, and the mysterious murder case in front of her, Chiharu began to drown her numbness.

When Naoi walked into the gym, expecting the boys to be finished with their stretches and running, he instantly blew a fuse. The volleyball club was sitting in a circle, first-years included for once, heads huddled together as they whisper-argued about something. Naoi waited. He knew that boys will be boys, but this was more of a council of gossiping elders. Or something. So, he gave them a few more seconds. The situation didn't change.

"Laps!" Naoi yelled out, scaring the majority of them and making them scream, jump, or back away in a hurry. Soon enough, the boys were on their feet, properly greeting the coach before running out to do their laps. Naoi sighed, heading for the coaches' bench. They had become even more troublesome this year, if that was possible. But, unlike last year, it seemed like they were more of a team. More of a group. Kuroo had been a good choice of captain, Naoi decided, as he scanned his notes.

What Naoi didn't know, though, was that the boys simply rounded the first corner of the lap before jogging down one of the grassy hills and dropping down in the same circle as before, huddling together. They were trying to get to the bottom of an important matter, after all.

The council of gossiping elders, better known as the Boys' Volleyball Gossip Club, began with their captain presenting the problem. It hadn't gone too smoothly, as it seemed like every member had a little bit of another nasty rumor to add. The first-years were the only ones who looked a tad lost, but they quickly caught onto the topic. So, once the council was in session at their new location, Kuroo presented the solutions like the leader he was.

"So. As far as I see, we have a few options. Let's narrow them down quickly." He scratched the back of his head, ruffling the bottom part of his bedhead a bit. "All in favor of Chiharu being our manager..." Thirteen hands rose, his included, unanimously. "Alright. Then it's time to fix this. I'm going to-"

"Not interfere," Kenma deadpanned, cutting the captain off. "All in favor." Twelve hands rose, Kenma's included.

"O-oi!" Kuroo balked. "What do you mean I'm not going to interfere?" He scrunched up his eyebrows.

"Kuroo, you've already made it worse, apparently," Kai spoke up before their captain could lose his wits. "Let us figure it out, alright?" Kuroo grumbled. "Lay out the plan, without you commandeering it."

"Alright, alright. I can tell when I'm outvoted." Kuroo sighed. "We need to do three things in order to fix this. One, find out who is spreading these rumors."

"Fukunaga, that's you." Kai instantly assigned the task. "You're a second-year and can get close to anyone without too much trouble. Keep your eyes and ears open for the source. Also, try not to be noticed as you're doing so." Fukunaga gave a nod. The second-year, while usually quiet, was actually pretty sociable. Contrary to appearances, he didn't have any trouble navigating through different classes or talking to people he didn't know.

"First years." Kuroo picked up where his vice-captain left off. "You're on secondary option duty. Find a person who hasn't joined a club yet and might be interested in being our manager if Chiharu decides against it, despite the rumors being stopped." There were nods among the new members of the club.

"Yaku and I will try to find the source of the third-year rumors, as they appear to be different from the ones among second-years," Kai supplied helpfully. Kuroo gave him a nod, smirking wider.

"Finally, Kenma, you're on Chiharu duty," the captain assigned. "Since you two are so chummy, it shouldn't be too much trouble finding out where her head's at." Kenma gave a mute nod. "Alright, laps!" And with a clap, everyone rose, going uphill in order to run before practice. Kuroo, however, wasn't done. He grabbed Yamamoto's elbow, holding him back. "Tora, can I ask you to spread some counter rumors?"

"What did you have in mind?" Yamamoto asked, and the two huddled together.

"I understand the situation." Nekomata-sensei nodded, leaning back in his chair. There was no smile on his face, which Chiharu had begun to associate with the man. "I'm sorry to see you go. The boys warmed up to you rather quickly and you seemed very qualified for the position." Now, he did give her a small, knowing smile.

"I'm very sorry, yet again, sensei. The workload is just too much," Chiharu explained, bowing. She gave Nekomata another small nod and left the teachers' lounge.

"Sakurano isn't staying with your club, Nekomata-sensei?" asked Hara Rie, the young Japanese History teacher. She was a short woman with a dark bob cut and kind eyes. All of her students loved her and usually addressed her by her first name, rather informally.

"Unfortunately, no." Nekomata turned in his chair. "She says that the workload is too big for her, considering her part-time job and studies. She's worried that she won't be able to manage." Rie shook her head, leaning on the desk next to Nekomata's.

"I'm worried about that girl a bit. I heard that she doesn't have many friends and isolates herself from her classmates." The young woman sighed. "I'd hoped she'd join a good club and find her place among her peers that way." The teacher hesitated for a moment. "I may be a teacher, but I've heard some nasty rumors circling about…"

"I didn't want to interfere, Hara-san." Nekomata sighed. "Those boys can usually take care of their own very well… Too bad, I would've loved seeing Sakurano blossom with us." Rie nodded, solemnly.

Chiharu's day passed in muted whispers and tiny glances which seemed to burn into her back. Now that she knew about the content of those quiet words, she knew why those looks were just like that. She would've glanced at the person she'd heard those things about, as well. So, Chiharu held her head high and stuck close to Akari, almost like a shield. Since her friend had told her about the contents of the rumors, the girl had become even chattier than usual, if possible. She talked about her brothers, school, and her club at an almost impossible pace.

Haru was thankful, though. Ikki had done his best, as well, obviously having been updated on the details by Akari. He'd insisted that the two girls hang around his practice after school and had even taken them out for a meal afterwards. Chiharu had noticed the curious and leering glances coming from Ikki's teammates, easily recognizing the tall trio of basketball players who had cornered her at the sink. But, they hadn't come close to her. They'd simply looked. Yet, Chiharu still felt like she needed a shower. A long one.

"Hey, do you think you might join my club?" Akari asked as they walked out of the small ramen place just a few streets from their school. Ikki was the last one out, waving goodbye to the cashier who already knew them by name.

"I'm not sure… I still have- Oh, Kami! Work!" Chiharu's eyes widened and she fished out her cellphone to call her colleague in complete panic. "I need to run! Thanks for the food!" The two second-years barely heard her words as the young girl rounded a corner, rushing to the train stop.

"She's… too late to go now, no?" Ikki asked, shock on his face.

"It's Chiharu. She'll probably go and offer to clean up or something." Akari laughed and led them in the opposite direction. "What do you think about these rumors, Itsuki?" The short girl looked up at him, worried.

"As nasty as they come." Ikki sighed. "I talked to Sato, though. You know, the senpai who gives me his notes every year?" Akari nodded. Ikki had an upperclassman in the club who'd been helping him out with notes, tips on teachers, and the best ways to pass classes since their first year. "He says that the rumors among the third-years were supposedly started by Chiharu."

"W-what?" Akari balked.

"And," Ikki put up a finger, silencing her, "they all depict Kuroo-senpai as the used party."

"Then…" Akari stammered.

"It's not Kuroo-senpai who's spreading them," Ikki concluded with a smile, just as Akari yelled out in shock.

"I beat up Kuroo-senpai for no reason!"

"Y-you beat up Kuroo-senpai?"

Fukunaga had always been good at getting along with people. He was quiet, listened well, and offered honest advice when asked. This was the quality that made him fairly popular among the girls in his year. While he'd only had a single girlfriend in his teenage life, that didn't seem to matter to the female population. His personality had made him a favored guide to a young maiden's love life. Fukunaga supposed that Kenma would've been in a similar situation, if only the young setter would take his eyes away from his games more often.

So, getting intel about different rumors had been a simple task for him. He'd merely talked to one person about Sakurano and Kuroo, and there was already a group of them willing to share their collective knowledge by his desk the following morning. When Fukunaga had heard the full extent of the rumors, he found himself more than a little disgusted at their nature. But, he would bear through that if it meant getting to the bottom of all this. And, he really couldn't imagine the shy girl from the gym, who'd stared at Kuroo during her introduction in hopes of being saved, doing anything as promiscuous as what the whispers depicted.

"Who'd you hear that from?" Fukunaga asked a short girl from another class, who had been his seatmate the previous year.

"Eh? Who?" She seemed to think for a moment. "I think it was a girl from class one? No, class two! I don't remember her name, though…" The girl apologized.

"It's fine, thanks." Fukunaga gave a small bow, before heading out on his way. He wanted to find the source by the end of this school day. He found Kenma sitting at his desk inside the classroom, giving him a nod before continuing onto the investigation of the female population. Fukunaga started with a brunette that he knew from his first year, who pointed him to another girl. And, from one until the next, he finally got three of them to confirm a single name: Nishimura Megumi. So, Fukunaga wrote down the girl's information and slid it onto Kenma's desk, leaving the rest to the boy. His work there was done.

Kenma, on the other hand, had another task assigned to him by Kuroo during morning practice. He was to keep the source of the rumors in his sights at all times and confirm the rumor origin. So, during breaks, contrary to his usual gaming schedule, the setter followed the blonde girl in question around, as inconspicuously as he could. He saw her talking to a girl from class one and yet another from class five, saying how she had heard rather interesting things from Chiharu. Kenma was certain that he couldn't keep his expression from becoming sour at the blatant lies and half-truths. It appeared that Nishimura Megumi had taken an innocent rumor of Kuroo and Chiharu discussing volleyball and spun it to her own liking. Kenma was even lucky enough to spot the pretty girl having lunch with an upperclassman, a young woman with glasses and her hair in a tight ponytail. Shamelessly, he snapped a picture of the scene and sent it to the team Line chat.

From there on, the boys had all commented there, deciding the best course of action to take. Unfortunately for their council of elders, though, Kuroo could be rather reckless when cornered. And, the scheming captain hated one thing more than losing in volleyball – being outmaneuvered in scheming. Naturally, the third-year hadn't shown up for their practice on time, not surprising his fellow volleyball players one bit. In fact, any of them were willing to bet a large sum of money that their captain was stalking the person they had been trying to get to become their manager. And, they had tasked Kenma with a 'capture and return' mission, much to his irritation.

That's all for now folks!

Onto my absolute favorite part
Reviews:

UnmemorableHermit:
Hello and thanks for the wonderful comment!
I think that it was a mixture of Haru being an awkward mess and her brain shortcircuiting on the spot, but man was it glorious! I'm always happy to give you guys something to laugh about :D
Hope you'll keep enjoying the story :D

The Spade Queen:
Hello! Thanks so much for the review and especially the PM, because I'm a ditz when it comes to updates xD
Kuroo fics are few in number and I completely understand the hunt for a good one. That's actually one of the reasons I wrote the side fic. And after that… It all kinda spun out of control hahahaha
If you're still looking for something Kuroo/OC to read, I could look through my alerts and give you a few names? Though there are some on AO3, as well :D
Anyways, I'm so glad that you've enjoyed reading until now, and I hope that you will keep bugging me to update in the future xD I swear that it helps!
All my best :)

Moonlightshadowxiii:
Hi! Oh my gosh three reviews I love youuuu! I'm going to answer them all in one reply :D
Ch 1: I was hoping for at least a cackle, but screaming off the top of a mountain into the abyss works too xD Glad that you enjoyed their little confession issue hahhaha
The omakes are life for me, really, so I'm super happy that you're getting a kick out of them :D
Ch 2: Yamamoto is always life! Seriously, Tanaka, Noya and him are the perfect combination of insanity hahahaha More about Haru's family is going to come soon, promise :D
I'm mostly testing out how I want to write each of the boys, hence all the omakes will definitely be from a different Nekoma player's perspective :)
Ch 3: I see I see :D I'm deciding if Haru should go for the manager position, since it's a fairly common role that FFN authors give their OCs… It's still up for debate hahaha But, I do like the idea of her meeting all the crazy volley freaks from Haikyuu :P
Thanks so much again, and I hope you're still reading!
Cheers!

Punktoacoustic:
Hi and thank you soooo much! I'm an avid fanfic reader myself and I completely get those 'I can't stop reading even though it's an ungodly hour here' fics. I'm so happy that mine is one of those for you :D
galjkghagalkjafljk Quality of writing :') Author's dream to read a comment about it! I'm glad that you've enjoyed the show up to here and I hope that you haven't given up on me in my 'brief' sabbatical from the fandom :D
Cheers!

Yesitsjennifer:
Hi! Thanks so much for the long, amazing review which fed my soul :D
I'm glad that you like the omakes, I have a lot of fun making them :) It's just me going: how ridiculous can this get, and running with the idea hahahaha
Kuroo, as confident as he is, is a high schooler :P We gotta see him being awkward about something hahaha I figured that Yaku was a good option, since he is super friendly in my head for some reason xD
I was lowkey aiming to give Haru a moment with each of the major players in Nekoma, but you've found me out! I wanted to give everyone a chance to get to know her and form their own relationship with her :D
I'm sorry for my slowpoke writing, I promise a little bit of a faster update for the next one :D
Cheers!

Shadowing:
Hi! Thanks so much for the lovely review! I'm always happy to get feedback :D
What can I say, I'm one of those authors who loooove to torture their OCs as much as possible hahaha I promise that it will get better soon, though :D
Yaku is precious and I adore writing him :) Glad that you enjoyed his reaction :D

Tora3:
Cheers! Thanks for another lovely comment!
Rumors are hell. I mean it xD I had a nasty one circle around school about me and I couldn't get rid of it for weeeeeeks xD It was baaaad. We'll see what Haru does yet :D
Oh gosh, as you can see, I'm bad at updating everywhere hahaha xD Hope you like Dangerous Liaisons though :P
Best!

sakuraddiction:
Thanks for the review! I'm always happy to hear from you :D
Wacky family antics? They are definitely coming up in the near future :D
Kenma and Haru… Gosh, they'd be a force together… We'll see what happens yet :P
Oh man, I don't know who I love more in Haikyuu, Kenma and Kuroo or Iwa and Oikawa… They are all so crazy when put together… Can you imagine Oikawa and Kuroo meeting? That would be troubleeee hahahaha
Hope you're still reading and enjoying the fic!

Yami Kozue-chii:
Happy to see you in reviews again! I'm glad that you've been enjoying the show ;)
I'm a bit of a slowpoke when it comes to writing because I end up circling through fandoms hahaha So, yeah, finally re-watching Haikyuu xD
I hope you liked the update :D

AmericanNidiot:
Thanks so much for the review! I loved that comment xD I feel like Kuroo is depicted as too smooth in fanfiction and needed him to be a tad awkward hahahaha Anyways, I hope you'll keep enjoying the story!

Omake:

An innocent, unassuming first-year girl was walking down the corridor. She felt great that day. Her high school years of romance and preparation for college had just started. She had managed to get in the same class as her best friend from middle school. Not to mention that her uniform fit perfectly and looked amazing on her. There was just one more thing to do in order to make her first year an amazing one…

"Anoo…" The girl froze in her tracks, turning around at the hand on her shoulder. "Sakamoto-chan, have you joined a club yet? Your friend told me that you were looking…" Sakamoto turned completely and found herself looking up, up, up, and… up.

"Eek!" the girl shrieked at the tall, no, humongous giant of a boy who was towering over her like some kind of a bent Mt. Fuji. He even had light colored hair, perfectly combed around his head. "Yes! No!" Sakamoto squeaked out.

"Umm, which is it?" the boy asked, head tilting to the side. "You see, I'm with the Boys' Volleyball Club and we're looking for a manager. So, if you haven't-" At some point Lev's eyes wandered away from the girl, looking after another first year he was planning on asking later.

"She's gone, Lev," Shibayama interrupted with pure pity on his face.

"Eh?!" Lev jumped and turned around, looking for Sakamoto. "When? Why? Why do they run, Shibayama-san?!" The libero just gave him a smile and encouraged him to look for another girl who hadn't joined a club.

Because you're scary as hell, Shibayama thought to himself.

Now, I'm done ;) I'll eagerly wait for feedback as I type the next chapter :D