Yayyyyy! Who's dyin of school, raise you hand up! Me!

urghhhhhh school is crazy guys, there is like this blizzard here in Japan and I still had to go to school eventhough the bus stopped

Whale, at least I am happy that I was able to get this chapter done! So enjoy guys! And shout out to Fogfire! Thank you for following me! I'm still new but I hope I'll vomit stories out like I vomits out rainbow. LOL I sound like I'm high. Maybe I am? Or more like de-high? Hmmmm? I don't know anymore lol

Disclaimerl: Chikae.


Water runs along her back, dripping onto the ground. Morning showers are always best, especially after training. Chikae made another record today, beating her last one from the time she met Tsukishima. The brat has not been around that area anymore, which is a good thing for her. She would have problems trying to avoid him and probably jeopardize her own practice.

"It's better with everyone!"

The girl knows that there is no way she can avoid this forever, but she wanted some time to think. She would need to clear her head of all that is troubling her before she can actually step up and do the job that she must do.

"Is it okay for you?"

Turning off the tab, Chikae opens the door and grabs the green towel lying on top of the dry clothes basket. Cold air hits her without warning and she shivers for a moment before quickly drying off and getting into her school uniform. Of course, the thing doesn't help warm her up that much, seeing how it's just a T-shirt and skirt. But hey, it's still better than stark naked in this kind of weather.

"Breakfast is ready." her father informs the moment she steps out of the shower room.

Smell of miso soup brings a smile to her face. Warm breakfast in first days of winter is the best thing her father can ever give her. Being able to actually sit down and have a meal with him is one thing, a meal that he cooks himself is another thing. Dad might not be the best cook ever, but he takes time to make sure that Chikae is cared for and that she knows he'll always be there for her.

That, to her is like a wish come true.

Outsiders say he looks like a punk, some of her classmates mock her for not having a dad that doesn't sit in a huge room signing business contracts, but they would never understand the happiness that this mediocre shopkeeper had given her the moment he took her in.

Chikae won't ever deny it. Her dad is not the richest nor most prestigious man in this town (who is, really?) but he loves her and that's enough.

"Thank you for the meal," the girl says, hurriedly starting her breakfast as to not be late for school.

As soon as she finishes eating, Chikae rises from the chair, and rushes out to the door. "I'll be going now," she announces, running out of the house and onto the street.

Winter airs stabs at her lungs' very tissue, but in a way, the coldness keeps her awake. Early school is no joke when it comes to winter and stupid as it sounds, if you can just feign sickness to have another fifteen minutes in your warm blanket, there's no hesitation there.

"Chikae!" Dad's voice appears behind her, and his footsteps follow suit. The girl turns back, surprised.

He's dressed lightly, still in his pajamas and apron. In his hand, a packed lunchbox.

"What are you doing out here, Dad?" she runs back towards him, "It's freezing out here!"

"You forgot your lunch box," the man explains, "Here, I packed more meat for you. Your muscles need some care."

Dad... she sighs internally, smiling at him. "Thank you," Chikae says, grabbing the box, "Now go home before you catch a cold!"

"Have a good day, alright?" he greets, wrapping his scarf on her neck. He has a big smile on as he returns to the house, only occasionally looking back to check on her.

And she waves her hand at him, ordering him to go back with a chuckles.

"I'll be going!" Chikae greets, going back to her fast-pace walking towards Karasuno High school.


"Hey, good morning to you." Koushi-san taps lightly on her shoulder as they run into each other at the gate.

Still the gentle smile that could melt anyone in his peripheral. He seems much more upbeat than the last time they met. "Did something good happen?" she asks, smiling back in return, hoping that he doesn't notice how awkward this is.

"Yep," the third-year says, "I ran into you."

He chuckles, handing her a package. "I made this, you can have it if you want."

Chikae heart drops a beat at the gesture.

Damn it.

She was avoiding him. She spent time avoiding Koushi-san for so long and now they just run into each other. Moreover, he's acting like nothing has happened, like she hadn't made things sour between them.

"Koushi-san, I-"

"I won't force it on you," he says, smiling and looking at the sky, "I like you, yes. But I will not force you to like me. And this is just desert, relax. You don't have to take it if you don't want to-"

"I do!" she speaks, way too loudly, grabbing the third-year's hand that was retracting away, "I would love to have this."

He smiles again, nodding at her. And the girl can't help but marvel at this boy for his extraordinary ability to undo the awkwardness she had caused. He didn't need to say much but he had taken a heavy load of her chest.

Chikae appreciates that a lot about him.

Koushi-san doesn't need to tell her that he is okay, that he is fine with being friends, that he has no problem with waiting. He'd act on it. He'd let her know all these things in his kind, silent but heart-warming way.

"Thank you," she says, tugging on his hand. And she means it. Chikae has a lot to thank the senior for, aside the fact that he has always been doing his best to keep her life comfortable.

The girl could always count on him for a ray of light in her dark night. Koushi-san is like an autumn full moon that always mesmerize her with his presence.

"You are very welcome." the boy answers as they step inside the main building.

Chikae pops open her shoes locker only to find a carefully folded piece of paper lying on top of her white indoor shoes.

"Interesting." the girl comments, opening the message.

Need to talk to you.

Backyard.

See you there,

Nishinoya

"You alright, Chicchan?" Koushi-san asks, closing his own locker.

"I'm fine," Chikae says, quickly tears up the piece of paper, "I'll go on to class first okay? Thanks again for the desert! I'll return the tray back to you after I'm done."

"O-Okay!" he replies, "See you around"

Sugawara sighs at the sight of Chicchan hustling to class.

What is the rush he wonders. Chicchan has been a bit weird since she saw the-

"She dropped it," the setter whispers out loud when he saw the torn piece of paper lying on the ground.

..ackyard

….talk..

See...

Nishinoya

Chicchan, Sugawara thinks in fear, dashing off to find their libero. Something doesn't add up. Nishinoya wouldn't be at school by this hour, he shouldn't be able to put this message inside her locker.

Dodging through the crowd of people, the third-year runs up to Class 2-1.

"Excuse me," he says to the first kid making eye contact, "Is Tanaka Ryuunosuke here?"

"No," the boy's classmate says, "He hasn't been here yet. I'm sure he's with the Nishinoya guy from class 2-3. Tanaka said they'll be skipping school today since test is clos-"

"Thank you," Sugawara smiles in return, changing his course to the backyard.

He takes one look through the glass window of class 2-3 and purses his lips at the sight of Chicchan, tracing her fingertips on the lines of words and soundlessly pronouncing them.

I won't let them hurt her, the third-year tells himself, Not anymore.


There standing in wait were three girls. One with long pigtails, one with short blonde dyed hair and one with short, raggedly cut hair that sticks out everywhere, only partially kept in control with gel.

Seems like I got myself into something bad, Sugawara cringes, stepping up to meet the three.

"Are you the ones looking for Chikae?" he asks.

"Oh?" the pigtails girl speaks, "Who are you?"

"Koushi Sugawara." the short hair girl chirps in, "He's with Kubota."

The way she addresses Chicchan makes him angry. Chicchan's old name. These are demons from her past. These are those that made her suffer.

"Stay away from her," he warns, only to be pushed back by a high pitched laughter from the one in pigtails.

"Did you hear that, Nae?" the girl chuckles, the pitch in her voice annoys his ears, "Seems like Kubota got herself a brand new knight. Wonder what happened to the shorty."

"Haruka," the short hair girl, Sugawara assumed name Nae, walking towards him, a cold smile plastered on her face, "Don't be mean. He's here to talk to us, no?"

"I'm here to tell you to stay away from her-"

"Or what?" the blonde hair girl steps in.

"Sugawara-san," Nae comes closer to him, "There are things that even when you know, you can't stop." the girl smiles, "We were already suspended once, our record has already been tainted, there isn't much you can do."

That smile sends chills down his spine. The third-year swallows hard at the hostility of these three, as he fights to not take a step backwards. They are serious about this. This isn't just some childish play to them. There are actually people hell bent on ruining Chicchan's life.

"I-" he tries to say but was quickly intercepted.

"You know what is the best, Sugawara-san?" The girl named Haruka crackles, "The princess's look at her knight who couldn't save her. The hurt feeling on her face when the one she loves so much sees her in the worst state she could be."

"Well now." The blonde girl speaks, "We have to return to class. Kubota is probably waiting for us anyway."

He couldn't talk a word back at them. Sugawara could only watch the three walk pass him, going after Chicchan.

They were right.

He didn't want to think about it but they were right.

There is absolutely nothing he could do to help her with the information he has. The third-year is just glad that she chose to not come here for whatever reasons. With how the three girls just talked to him, he is truly fearful for what might have happened if she had shown up.

I won't let them hurt her.

Sugawara fishes out his phone and dial the libero's number.

"Suga-san?" he answers, voice sounding like he just woke up, "Wh-"

"Come to school right now." the third-year order, "It's about Chicchan."


Chikae sits still in class, occasionally steals a glance at the libero staring intently at her. What is his problem?

Showing up late, rushing into class like he'd seen a ghost, and his intent stare at her... Nishinoya, what in the world-

School bell rings ending Modern Literature and all of the class dutifully stands up to bow.

Next is P.E huh... Well, at least she'll be able to escape the weird behavior from Nishinoya for a few moments.

The gym shines with the rare sunlight that managed to sneak through a poorly shut window. Chikae leans back against the wooden wall and marvels at all around her. The boys are up to games of volleyball, indoor soccer and basketball. But she just sits back and watches them.

The girl had no plan in making any sort of attempt on training herself. She is still sore from the morning run and great grandfather's latest training session. She is getting better at serving but her pinpoint spiking still needs a lot of work. Chikae has been wondering lately about herself and what the freak duo told her. Tsukishima has not been around her usual run area either, for whatever reason. Maybe he just thought that she is still a coward that isn't worth his time. Well, maybe she is.

She doesn't know either. All she understands is that staying this way isn't going to help.

Still...

"Hey, Ukai. Could you get that for us?" one of the boy calls out to her as the ball he dropped rolls slowly towards her.

Chikae's heart stops at the sight of it. Rigidly, she pushes herself off the ground, walking up to the object and picking it up. She can see Nishinoya staring at her again as she closes up the distance between herself and them. His gaze, it's like he's judging her, expecting something from her.

"Here." the girl says, handing back the ball as she takes on long look at the libero, and smiles.

Of course he chooses to play volleyball even in P.E, where literally no one could have helped him improve. She has been observing them play all this time, the loons from her class stand no chance against him. And because of that, she has been wondering for so long why he would continue to play with them when he knows he would never get better.

"It's better if everyone is here!"

Tobio's words flash through her mind and Chikae springs out of her thoughts, shoving the ball back to the boy and hurried herself out of the gym.

"Is this really okay with you?"

Hinata's voice resonates inside her head as the girl pushes the door of the changing room open and rushes to her locker. Popping out the key she tries to take a few pills to calm herself down.

Keyword: tries.

An unbearingly thick cologne smell thrusts out of her locker, instantly choking the girl with the heaviness it carries. The smell alone is impossible to accept, she could even go as far to say this is worse than having smell like sweat.

And without warning, an surge of ice cold water pours down on her. Chikae gasps, falling back onto the ground, as she locates the attacker.

Nae, she thinks in fright, struggles to stand up. The girl fights to see through the blurry vision hindered by water and regained her balance.

"I gotta admit," Haruka chuckles, "It's better to watch you like this. Though I gotta admit, it would have been fun too if you got yourself to the backyard instead of sending your big bad boy."

"What do you mean?", Chikae asks.

"Sugawara Koushi." Nae answers, "He came looking for us."

What?

She rises, looking straight at the three, blood rushing to her head. "What did you do to him?" the girl growls

"Oh?" Haruka laughs, "I think we hit a button right there, ladies."

"What... did you do to him?!-"

"Nothing that would hurt the handsome boy. But enough for him to know where his place is-"

"You stay away from him-"

"-or what?" Nae cuts in, "You know you can do nothing."

And she left, leaving her words to hang in the air and Chikae to stand there soaked and freezing.


The whole class is looking her way, she knows it. The moment she walked into the classroom, they all asked her to get out.

Chikae had to make a choice. It was either wet gym clothes during winter or the cologne soaked uniform. She isn't an idiot. It would be embarrassing either way anyway. But the girl had to admit, having everyone's heated eyes on her isn't the best thing in the world. Especially, when a number of those people are Nishinoya, Nae, and her gang.

The girl can feel the libero's look the most. His intention to "help her out" is just screaming off his existence and it makes her feel even worse about the situation. The three girls also made it clear to her too that if she doesn't do anything about them, they wouldn't let her get off the hook easily. They want revenge. They want her to be in their shoes.

But that doesn't justify pulling Koushi-san and Nishinoya into this.

Please stop, she thinks, reaching down on her lunch box. As Chikae takes the wrapping off, she notices that Dad even packed desert for her, along with soup.

When did he ever get the time to make this, she wonders smiling to herself. She knows he has always been working to chip in his share in her daily live, so when did he ever get the time to learn how to make all these? Ever since she moved in with him, dinner was always on her, or sometimes if grandmother feels well she'd make something for both of them. But dad has always been the one to clean up dishes in exchange for meals.

To think that he managed to make all of these food (that actually looks normal), and in the short time that she has to get ready for school...

He has always been sleeping late too-

Could it be that he waited for her to go to sleep first?

A note falls out of the wrapping and the girl picks it up, setting it down on the table before opening each boxes.

I tried to make it the way you like it, but my curry is nowhere as good as Mrs. Nishinoya's. Spent a few night working on these so give it a try wouldcha?

"Dad..." she sighs in happiness.

You big dork, Chikae chuckles, How can I say no t-

"Looks good!" a high-pitched voice startles Chikae out of her trance, "Here! I'll give you something to eat too!"

With a swift move of the hand, the girl watches as Haruka spills the content of her notebook down.

Eraser dust.

She stares at the garbage spreading all over clean white rice, spoiling the beautiful efforts of her dad with the dirty cruelty of human. She couldn't say a word, just quietly locks her eyes on the product that her dad had to work so hard for.

"Oh there's curry too I see," the vile classmate cheers, "How abou-"

"Hey!"

The girl flinches at the voice and shift her attention to the source.

Nishinoya...

"You can't do this-"

"You can't stop me, shorty." the malice laugh rings once more through the air, "I'm not doing anything that Kubota-"

"Her name is Chikae!" the libero shouts.

At this point, Chikae couldn't take it any more. The smug look on her face, the intense staring of their classmates and the desperation that Nishinoya is showing in her protection.

Is it okay?

Am I okay with this?

Running away and let people battle out my war?

"The princess doesn't need your service little prince-"

"Why you fucki-"

She grabs his wrist, gripping it back to stop the boy from whatever she fears he was about to do. She doesn't want anyone else to get hurt because she refuses to deal with her demons. "Chikae..." he calls her, either disapproving of her silence or surprised by it. She can't really tell with her eyes glaring at Haruka.

Slowly, the girl picks up the chopstick, and plops in her mouth a scoop of rice along with the eraser garbage. It tastes bad, she tries not to cringe. The dry, tasteless and dead feels from the erase dust shifts around inside her mouth. Chikae swallows, plops in another scoop.

Quickly before she could go for the next scoop, Nishinoya takes away the rice box. But she did not flinch. No, she will not show weakness. She'll end this. She'll end this circle of hurting and getting hurt.

"It's alright," the girl looks at him, his face contorts into the most painful expression she had ever seen. Maybe she had grown complacent with his smile that Chikae actually forgets Nishinoya could still be sad. Or that she had made him sad.

She takes back the box, pouring curry over it and picks up the spoon. Each mouthful was a clash between Dad's effort and late-night practice and the cruelty of those who is out to get her. Strangely enough, Chikae feels at ease each time the taste of curry triumphs over the garbage.

I'm here because there are people there for me, she thinks to herself as the girl swallow down the last spoon, I can't let people hurt them because I wasn't strong enough.

"Haruka." Chikae calls, standing up.

And without hesitation, she lunges forward, landing a firm punch on the girl's face. She watches as Haruka falls backward, shocked and angry.

Doesn't matter.

There's nothing stopping her now.

Chikae bends down, picking the vile female by her collar and leans closer, "I'm not a damn princess," she says, "And I'm sure as hell not your slave either."

The girl lands another punch, and another. The people in her class, now seem like they have snapped out of a trance, urges each other to call the homeroom teacher in panic. Chikae notices Haruka's friends rushing towards her, trying to attack. She could hear their hearts beat unevenly, their footing sloppy. Chikae turns as she grabs a poor punch, twisting her attacker's arm and slam her down the floor. The girl chokes out in pain, which make the rest fall back, hesitating.

"Cowards," she laughs, "You can't even stand your own ground, and you think you deserve to stand above others?"

"Teacher's here!" someone calls out from the end of the hallway and Chikae feels a great jerk at her arm. She trips towards the direction, and without even fully comprehend it, starts to run across the hall with Nishinoya.

She sees him pushing curious students heading towards their classroom for the commotion out of the way and makes a path for the two of them to pass through. His grip on her hand never loosens nor his head turns back to look at her.

Nishinoya is focused on the road ahead.

Maybe she should too?


"Here," the libero says, opening the door for her.

Tatami smell hits her and she takes in a deep breath before betting disgusted by a foul smell.

"Somebody has a bad foot." Chikae comments, slightly amused by the sudden flinch from Nishinoya.

"T-That's Tanaka, alright!" he defends.

"Sure, throw your friend under the bus-"

"Besides, right now you are the one who smell bad!" the boy goes on, "Here, I'll go outside so change into my Jersey okay? W-We can't have a walking perfume bottle around the school."

And without any further argument allowed, Nishinoya exits.

Chikae hugs the clothes close to her, still hearing her heart beating fast. Just now, Nishinoya blushed bright red. And for some reason she too couldn't help but blush when she looked at him.

Don't be stupid, the girl tells herself, unbuttoning her T-shirt.

She slips on the boy's T-shirt and Jersey. It feels a tad awkward to put on the volleyball team uniform but it feels nostalgic as well.

It didn't feel wrong though, as she knows her decision wasn't too. Chikae knocks lightly on the door to signal the boy that she's done preparing.

"I'm coming in," he announces and enter the room.

Nishinoya seems calmer now though a tint of a pink shade lingers on his cheek as proof to the moment they stood merely centimeters away from each other, hand in hand.

"Sorry," she says, following the boy to sit down on the tatami mat, "I couldn't help it anymore."

"You shouldn't have eaten the lunch box in the beginning-"

"Dad stayed up late making that for me," the girl cuts in, "I won't let that go to waste."

Nishinoya chuckles, tilting his head to look at her. How is it that he could always look at her so straight in the eyes and make her forget everything that she is scared of? The mesmerizing color of his pupil charms her out of her insecurities, little by little, and his smile without fail would light up her heart when she needs him to the most.

Nishinoya cares about her.

In the way that she could not care about him yet.

But Chikae knows for a fact that if given time, she might.

"You are as stubborn as ever," the libero laughs, "But I like that about you. Even though you smell like shit right now."

"I smell nice-"

"You're dipped in cologne, my friend. That is nice in no world at all."

The girl takes a long look at him, carving into her brain each feature of his face. She never realized how beautiful this boy is with his sharp and fierce traits but a passionate and gentle heart. He's the scorcher, and she's the brown dwarfs, who has, now that she realizes, never stopped reaching for his light.

But is there anything wrong with that?

"I'm not running away anymore," Chikae speaks, "I'm done hiding."

"Does that mean-"

"I'm returning to the team, Nishinoya." she decides, letting her smile tells the boy her intention.

He goes quiet for a while before pulling her into a hug. The fresh dirt scent covers her, and Chikae returns the hug. "Thank you for always being there for me," the girl whispers, "Thank you, Nishinoya."

Time seems to stop for the girl to endorse herself in complete assurance. Even if this is temporary, and she knows that it is only temporary, Chikae feels that moments like this should be the reason to help her out of the house, facing people, not the half-assed determination to pretend that everyday is another reset.

She wants this. And she'll fight for it.


Nishinoya leans back on the shelf, listen to his thoughts. They seem to run wild lately more than before whenever it comes to Chicchan.

Normally it would just be along the line of will she be okay with the bullies but lately it had gotten to the point of how would she think about him acting in certain ways or is she happy or how can he make her feel happy.

And as out of hand as he deemed them to be, the boy knows (or has been told) good enough to realized that he has feelings for her.

"Hey Nishinoya," the new comer to the room greets, "What are you doing here all by yourself?"

"Suga-san," he greets back, knowing fully the result of his action, "I won't back down anymore."

The third-year surprised face quickly turns into a smiling one, "I know", he replies, "I've always known."


Welp, that was long :) Did you enjoy it? It took me a while but I felt that it was worth it. Tell me what you think, yeah? I'll get chapter 8 up ASAP!