Um, hey everyone! I wasn't planning to update this, but after a brief hiatus from Haikyuu and catching up again on the manga, I wrote up something very quickly!

Granted, the canon plot I admit is going to be more of a backdrop for character interactions that it will be an actual plot. My writing and view of Apple's characterizations has changed since I last wrote her, I hope that is okay!

Thank you for reading!

Day Two of the Inter-High Tournament

Apollonia reread the directions for what felt like the fifth time. They weren't 'directions' per se, as much as they were general inclinations towards certain parts of the building where she was to be stationed, which would have been fine if she were actually privy with the anything other than the halls of Karasuno. She didn't want to ask any players and disrupt their routines, though she felt somewhat responsible for some of the paused conversations and hushed whispers that became all too familiar upon her passing. Apparently 'that handsome Shiro-kun,' was no longer a name she'd have to endure solely in school.

She continued to circle different hallways closer towards where she thought the gymnasium might be. Despite her eyes being glued to the paper, she tried her best to avoid any oncoming players directly in her path. However, she did not anticipate for a sudden wall to completely block her, shadows lined up like a picket fence.

When she looked over the paper, she did all she could to stifle the tortured groan in her throat.

The Seijoh third years stood in a perfect line before her, while the rest of Aobajousai rustled a couple meters away, pushing their bags against a far wall to clean an area for stretching. Oikawa took one large step from the fence, threatening to invade her space as some smaller players tried to squeeze in between them.

"Ikeman-chan! What a coincidence!"

Apollonia quirked her brow. Ikemen-chan?

Hanamaki and Matsukawa choked on laughs that seemed aimed more towards Oikawa than herself. Iwaizumi could only smack his head. "I told you not to do this, jackass."

His mutters were pointedly ignored by the Grand King, who only stepped closer. He made a broad gesture with his arms, as if welcoming her to his wing of the stadium.

"My my! You've made quite the name for yourself, haven't you?"

Apollonia bristled. "Pardon?"

"That blurb of yours," he chirped, putting emphasis on 'blurb.' "You don't even go to Seijou and yet my classmates know who you are!"

He refused to mention the many girls that had asked for her number, somehow thinking that all attractive people had each other on speed dial.

Apollonia didn't answer, just tilted her head and looked for an opening out of their one-sided confrontation. She still had to find the medical center, after all. Meanwhile, Iwaizumi gave the junior-trainer a quick once-over to try and understand why Oikawa harvested such a dislike towards her. The setter's clenched jaw said enough to confirm his suspicions, and the glare in his eye hid a woven knot of insecurity he dare not unwravel. There were many characteristics she had that were reminiscent of Ushijima: the demeanor, the facial expressions (or lack thereof), the fact that she was on a rival team containing Kageyama. All that paired with the biased recantation of their original meeting where she overtly insulted Oikawa's volleyball game sense made for a volatile cocktail of characterization that Iwaizumi felt she didn't really deserve. Actually seeing Apollonia in the flesh and hearing her voice made it hard for Iwaizumi to believe that she was capable of saying that Oikawa's skills 'sucked' and that he was, 'an asshole,' no matter what grain of truth it had regardless.

But Oikawa was stubborn, and had blinders when it came to hating people blessed with natural skill and intellect - especially those who seemed to parade it around, or hold it over others as a form of hierarchy. And though the really knew nothing about her, it was hard to recognize Apollonia as a third year doubling as a junior medical student guaranteed to a decent college, all paved by her second year of high school and not associate her with someone blessed with the privilege of taking the easy route for everything.

Too bad Iwaizumi determined such assumptions a second late, and failed to stop Oikawa from opening his big mouth anyway.

"You must be a genius if you can parade so confidently with 'Medic' on your jacket. How lucky~"

Iwaizumi tried to make a waving gesture at his neck: a silent plea to Apollonia to just ignore him. But something within Apollonia snapped. The way others had whittled her down for years, the way she herself grinded those shavings into dust - for the sake of being humble and fitting in, sacrificing her backbone in the process. It was frustrating that people could so easily judge her based on her current results without consideration of the journey. Especially with full coherence that Oikawa was blindly plucking for a nerve, any nerve, just to satiate some personal vendetta misdirected upon her. A piece of her composure shifted, but she righted it with one, slow breath.

"My intelligence didn't come easy."

All of Apollonia's years of dealing with ailments, with no social life, studying hard enough to give herself a fever, her failures, flubs, and internalized loathing had gone unspoken in her simple declaration. Yet her voice rippled through him stronger than before, like the second pulse of a thunderclap. She raised sleeves to reveal her forearms, all sorts of bony and bruised, with the tell-tale scars and calluses of a volleyball veteran. "And the things I actually learned, come from experience. Those lessons are marked into my skin, into my bones, deeper than anything."

Oikawa sniffed. He couldn't afford to empathize when the foundation of his game was to be built on his detestation for her, for Karasuno, for Shiratorizawa, for anyone in his way. She was someone he didn't want to respect - even with her honest words and resolute intentions - he couldn't fathom regarding her as anything else than a chip in his path that somehow reappeared at every turn, forcing him to question every step.

"I apologize if this is out of line, Oikawa-san, but you don't need to be defensive."

The control he had to keep from physically biting on his cheek and tongue was thrown at the window.

"Such a funny one, Ikemen-chan," he chirped in a strained volume so obvious that even Hanamaki and Matsukawa couldn't help but feel secondhand embarrassment.

"I'd appreciate if you at least tried to work with me. That's what I train for. I do not enjoy these conditions..." Apollonia admitted, her voice now audibly tired. Oikawa's ears perked, but whatever was at the end of Apollonia's admission was quickly redacted.

But I do respect you, even if you don't respect me.

Upon her own internal admission she softened, losing the smoke and mirrors of Ushijima's hard, competitive energy he dressed her in. Instead, Oikawa was left with a frighteningly vulnerable picture of Apollonia. Karasuno's Apollonia. The chronically-ill, burnt out, educationally-insatiable foreigner that was wholeheartedly committed to her craft to such an extent that she didn't seem to care if it destroyed her.

The rough clay that Oikawa used to mold her broke to reveal a person that could have been one of his greatest allies if under different circumstances.

"Time to go, Shittykawa."

Iwaizumi brought him back, shoving his back to lead them away from Apollonia. Hanamaki and Matsukawa quickly ducked their heads and held their hand up in a gesture of apology, one that was mirrored by Iwaizumi before he turned and slapped the space between Oikawa's shoulder blades.

The ordeal sucked the wind out of Apollonia, leaving her feeling defeated. She didn't even know what she was trying to preserve other than her own pride. Social interaction never felt this exhausting before, and in that moment she wanted nothing more than a nap and hot cup of coffee. But her sense of duty surged her dragging legs forward towards the far bathrooms nearest the center stage where, logically, the medical center might be located.

She only made it a few steps before a loud squeal echoed the halls, followed by a large, bony hand clasping down on her shoulder.

"Found you! Ahhh-poooooh-lloniaaa-chan!"

A ghastly boy with blown-back red hair waved frantically at her. He looked as if he were greeting an old friend, so frightening overly familiar despite the lost look on Apollonia's face.

"You don't know me - yet, but you will soon!" he said, and it took Apollonia a moment to realize he was speaking English. He tugged at his jacket's collar, emphasizing the all-too-familiar 'Shiratorizawa' on the chest, adorned in white and magenta.

With her most recent interaction with Seijoh, wariness came naturally, and Apollonia did nothing to hide it with squinting eyes and furrowed brow. Her poker face was long gone by now. Had she seen him somewhere else before, why was he speaking English, and wasn't Shiratorizawa in a completely different building?

He looked slightly out of breath, as if he ran to find her, only increasing Apollonia's suspicions. Yet the more her face pinched, the more his devious smile expanded across his cheeks.

"Your name," Apollonia asked in Japanese.

"Tendou Satori," he answered airily, "But please. English."

Apollonia's scowl dug deeper, though it didn't seem to phase Tendou one bit. Not that it would, given his priviness to the likes of Ushijima and Washijou, who might as well have eyes like sharpened swords. He only smiled brighter.

"It's more private," he answered her unasked question, though it did little to quell the caution that kept Apollonia from speaking any more than she had to. Tendou might have not done well in the academic practice of English, but his familiarity with foreign TV shows and music made speaking it a little easier than taking an exam on it. His vocabulary was limited, but he had just enough to address Apollonia as he had planned.

"Your article, interesting," he hummed holding out her modest page in the magazine, leaning in closer. "Autograph?"

He emitted red in more ways than one, and it was that same red that had speckled her vision ever since he approached her, flashing back to her only other memory of those magenta and white uniforms, when she ran into Ushijima at the grocery store.

Tendou... He was the boy with a laugh like a jackal, and a wrinkled grin to match. His stare was almost as unnerving as Ushijima's, though for entirely different reasons.

"Why," asked Apollonia after a pause much too long. Tendou bared his teeth, as if Apollonia was only playing further into whatever scheme he had. He smacked the magazine to his chest like a precious love letter, bending back on one leg.

"Aaa, Wakatoshi-kuuun! He's so shy he couldn't possibly ask himself!" Against her stoic nature, Apollonia expelled a breath that let on to her disdain. Not a chance in hell would she believe something like the almighty Ushijima Wakatoshi to be shy of someone like her for an article that wasn't worth half the theatrics Tendou was displaying.

Satisfied with his own performance, the middle blocker laughed and held the magazine out again. "Kiddi-i-i-ing! Autograph?"

Already drained from her confrontation with Oikawa, Apollonia couldn't find the gumption to determine whether or not she should appease Tendou, or abide by any cultural rule she was somehow unaware of. She answered no either way, but Tendou didn't look the least bit dejected.

"Then can I have your number? Email?"

Apollonia couldn't help but gawk, how was that any more discreet than asking for her autograph?! For a split second, she was begrudgingly grateful they were still conversing in English, and fervently ignored the creeping flush on her face. Sugawara or Hinata asking for her number was one thing, Tendou - a stranger - was another.

Tendou glanced at his watch, suddenly prickling. If he didn't get back soon, Washijou would surely have his head, and his regular spot would be under probation. Again. Looks like he had to speed things up a little bit.

"Wakatoshi-kun is horrible talking to women," Tendou announced cheerfully, making Apollonia feel sour that he could keep such an expression while saying something so offensive, in another language above all. "He wants to be friends, but since you're not player, he won't do anything!" Tendou knocked on his head with a closed fist. "Brain like a brick," he laughed wildly, "Mega volleyball idiot! But that only means you are extra interesting!"

It felt like a fever dream, it really did. The odd red-haired boy that trailed after Ushijima all but harassing her for her number for the sake of Ushijima, after Oikawa tried to bully her ego into submission, in public no less - it was all too much for a span of barely fifteen minutes. And she has still had yet to find the medical center.

Tendou glanced at his watch again, face now sheet-white. He hurriedly scribbled his email on a greasy napkin from his bag, quickly adding Ushijima's underneath before turning around and taking off in a dead sprint.

"Make it to the finals, Apollonia-chan! Let's get lunch sometime! Send me some foreign music! By-y-y-e!"

Despite their conversation being 'private,' it was fairly obvious part of the context attached to the napkin limp in Apollonia's hold. A few girls hissed at how easy it was for Tendou to just interact with her so casually, how some wanted to be 'first' or 'have a chance' without coming on as sloppy or desperate behind the Shiratorizawa blocker.

It gave her a headache, every aspect of both confrontations. But beyond all reason, Apollonia neatly folded the napkin and stuck it in the pocket of her sweatpants. She wondered if she had enough money for two coffees, and if the medical center would allow her to use a fever patch. Or two.

Shiratorizawa

Tendou hurriedly toweled the sweat off his neck as he bounded up to most of the Shiratorizawa regulars stretching, trying to slip in as if he hadn't been gone on a half-hour "bathroom break" on the other side of the building.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Semi sneered as he was nearly knocked over by the middle blocker plopping down between him and Yamagata.

"You're awfully chipper. Must have been a hell of a shit," Kawanishi quipped, but his vulgarity was quickly reprimanded by Semi and Reon.

"No-o-o-ope!" Tendou hummed. "I did the impossible! I found Apollonia-chan! And gave her Wakatoshi-kun's email!"

"Tendou, that's rude," Reon scolded, "Wakatoshi's information isn't yours to give to a stranger."

"She's not a stranger," Tendou harrumphed, "She and Wakatoshi-kun are connected by the red string of fate! I'm tangled in it myself, because I gave her mine, too! What a whirlwind of youth, eh!"

"You mean you stuck your head in where it doesn't belong," Shirabu reproached, "and you probably put Ushijima-san's reputation at risk, if not all of Shiratorizawa's."

"Shirabu is right."

The team of regulars fell silent as they snapped toward their captain. His expression was unreadable, as to be expected of Ushijima. But he did look to disapprove of Tendou's recklessness. "That's insulting to both her and our school. You shouldn't seek out our rivals so casually like that. And especially do not give out our personal information."

"It's like writing someone's number on the bathroom wall," Yamagata added, "it's kind of gross, Tendou."

"Ma-a-ah, you all don't understand," Tendou groaned. "It's fate!"

"It's you being a meddlesome jackass," Semi snapped.

"Now now," Tendou tutted with his two pointer fingers, "you're all being rude to me by not listening to the whole story! I found her, but before I spoke to her, Oikawa-kun and Ace-kun were talking to her, along with some of the other Seijoh third years! Oikawa-kun seemed to be saying something nasty to her, so naturally - I came to the rescue."

"-I highly doubt that-" Shirabu interjected tiredly.

"-Wakatoshi-kun! She wears bandages, like from that one comic! Wakatoshi-kun, you remember! Like one that hides a scar or sacred mark! And it gets all awesome and glowy during a power up!"

Semi rubbed his temples. "Tendou you're not making sense-"

"-And any enemy of Seijoh is a friend of Shiratorizawa, especially one with such a cool name, and cool super power!"

Shirabu glanced over at Reon with a look that questioned how far they were going to allow Tendou's derailment. He was pacified by Yamagata whispering to just wait for him to finish, as there was really no way to stop Tendou when he was in his own world anyway.

"She has middle blocker hands, I know it! Her fingers might be as long as mine. And her jacket didn't even reach her wrists even though the rest fit! She's a middle blocker, a good one, clearly. Fated to foil our Miracle Boy, Wakatoshi!"

"Tendou, that's literally impossible unless Wakatoshi for some reason joins a co-ed team."

"What could possibly be stronger than volleyball then," Tendou goaded. But before anyone could edge in a word (or 'shut up') edgewise, he chirped, "Lo-o-ove!"

Most of the Shiratorizawa regulars groaned and fell back on their bags.

"Tendou-san that's unfair, this isn't even about volleyball," Goshiki drawled.

"If you're just acting like Ushjima-san's matchmaker, why would it matter if she's a middle blocker at all? Doesn't Ushijima-san get confessed to at least once a month anyway," Kawanishi asked, rubbing circles over his eyes. Shirabu corrected him, mentioning that Ushijima gets confessed to at least twice a month. Semi whipped up from his horizontal position and held up his hands in a firm gesturing pleading 'STOP.'

"Goshiki-kun, Taichi, Shirabu I beg of you, don't enable him. No one enable him anymore."

Tendou was too busy brushing the invisible chip off his shoulder to be bothered, singing and dancing to a rhythm instantly recorded in his head, and only quieted when Ushijima gathered them to warm-up for their first match. Knowing Tendou, however, it would not be the last they heard of the topic, much to their disdain.

Author's Note:

So a little about the "Ikemen-chan" bit! While it is considered a compliment to be called a handsome man, it can be read as derogatory to Apollonia since she is femme (which goes over her head, since Apple legitimately does not care. Attractive is attractive right?) and adding the -chan acts as a diminutive to the name while simultaneously taking the masculinity out of the compliment. All around, it's a somewhat clever way for Oikawa to take a jab at her with cultural things that are beyond Apollonia's current understanding.

I honestly don't know when I'll be updating next, or what scenes I will write! As I said, the canon plot at this point is more of a backdrop than anything - so I'm game for suggestions if people are interested in certain scenes they want written? I feel like that might be cool since I don't have a particular plot of my own that I'm catering to. I'm interested in the character interactions mostly anyway!

Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it!