"I'm going to eat in my bedroom, I think Button is a little under the weather. He'll do better upstairs where it's quiet."

Looking to her son who carried both a plate of skewered meat and vegetables and a fluffy grey cat nestling into his neck, set her pair of tongs aside and cooed concerned.

"Oh no, you don't think he got sick from falling into that pond, do you? It's a good idea to let him rest, I'm sure Koshi would be upset if his kitty fell ill. I'll bring up some tea in a bit, honey."

Smiling gratefully, Daichi turned to head towards the stairs.

"Thanks, Mom."

Hearing her brother make yet another excuse to keep her from snuggling Suga-san's precious cat, Daichi's younger sister groaned and protested as he left the room.

"Aw, you just want to keep Button all to yourself, Nii-san." Kokoro called after him, looking to the cat forlorn as Sugawara nuzzled his face deeper into Daichi's neck, digging his claws in to hold on in case the girl got any ideas.

Chuckling, Daichi shook his head but proceeded upstairs.

"Suga will kill me if I don't start taking better care of his cat, he already gave me the third degree when I talked to him on the phone. He might be scrawny, but he can really throw a punch when he's mad."

"He's not scrawny, he's perfect! Uh- I- ahem, I mean… There is nothing wrong with his build." Kokoro corrected, cheeks aflame as Sugawara dug his claws in a little deeper.

Snickering as his embarrassed sister abandoned hounding him and went back to helping their Mom in the kitchen, Daichi stifled his laughter as he jogged up the steps and spoke under his breath to Suga.

"Ouch, alright alright, you're not scrawny so cut it out. I can't wait till you go back to normal, just so you stop scratching me."

Back in his bedroom with soft evening light giving the space a warm glow, Daichi used his foot to push the door shut behind him and crossed his room to disentangle Suga from his tank. Leaping from his arms and onto the bed, the setter did a little circle before sitting down and wrapping his tail around himself delicately. As the brunette made his way to the desk with his plate of food, Sugawara leveled him with a narrow-eyed stare, his hazel eyes shining with the desire for retribution. Why was it Daichi thought he could get away with teasing him? He thought the captain had more self-preservation than that.

"Wow, Daichi, I don't know whether you're brave or stupid, but I'm inclined to think the latter. Have you got a death wish or something because it really seems like you do?" Sugawara proposed, voice dripping false sweetness, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a Cheshire cat's grin.

"Or maybe seeing your life flash before your eyes when the first years knocked the vice principal's toupee off gave you some sort of thrill, and now you're searching for ways to repeat the experience… Is that it?"

Stiffening as he set his plate down, Daichi paled and momentarily re-lived the horror that was that awful day. Giving a shiver, the brunette looked over his shoulder at his friend who he knew was equal parts kind and chaos, before shaking his head and turning to put his hands up in surrender.

"I'll back off, okay? I seriously can't handle another prank in my locker Suga, so please stop making that face."

Head tilting up in an innocent aloofness, Sugawara blinked nonchalantly as he let his eyes roll over to his friend.

"Are you sure? I thought you were a fan of the clown mask. What about the spiders? The blown-up picture of Tanaka's bare ass? That one was my personal favorite." Suga snickered deviously as the brunette gave him a dry stare, tugging his desk chair out and falling into it unceremoniously.

"There's something wrong with you, you know that?"

"Or something so right." Suga winked, then raised on his back legs to get a better look at Daichi's plate. "You're sharing, right? Because I'm starving."

Springing from the bed, he ran over to Daichi and pawed at his leg demanding he make room for Suga to jump into his lap. Dangerously close to commenting on the entire can of cat food the silver-haired boy had eaten earlier, Daichi caught his stupid mouth just in time and changed what he was going to say.

"Weirder things than feeding my dinner to a cat have happened today, so I don't see why not. Get up here."

Moderately pleased with the response, Suga leaped up into Daichi's lap and then hopped up onto the desk, beginning to sniff the plate of food before the captain made a noise and shooed him back a little.

"You're going to get hair on everything, let me get it for you."

Sniffing indignantly, Suga sat down with a face that could only be considered a pout and laid his ears flat.

"Fine, but you don't have to shoo me away like an animal!"

Again, Daichi refrained from saying what was really on his mind in favor of a booby trap free locker but did give an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry, here."

Slipping a scallion from the skewer, he pulled a chunk of chicken off and placed it on the desk surface in front of Suga. Bending his head toward it, Sugawara gave it a sniff and a couple of licks… But then paused to look up and stare wordlessly at Daichi. Raising a skewer to his mouth, the brunette paused just before he took a bite and stared back. After a moment of silence, he lowered his food and sighed.

"What now?"

"It's too big, it needs to be smaller so I can eat it."

Shaking his head, Daichi put the kabob back on the plate, but picked up the chunk of chicken once more and began ripping it into bite size bits. Placing them at Suga's feet, he couldn't help but give a reluctant smile as Sugawara's eyes sparkled with anticipation, thanking him before pushing Daichi's hands out of the way to get to it.

"Thanks, Daichi!"

Chuckling, the captain ran a hand down the fluffy cat's back, intrigued as he felt the steady rumble of a purr vibrating beneath his palm. A satisfying calm fell over him as he listened to the soft humming Sugawara made as he ate and he found himself continuing to stroke his soft fur as he let his attention drift to the warm light spilling into the room from the setting sun.

Daichi had plenty of responsibility without throwing a pet into the mix while being the captain of the volleyball club, struggling to keep up with his college prep classes, and holding the title of the eldest son, but after spending the day looking after his friend turned feline… He was contemplating the welcome calmness petting a cat offered. With a million things to do, it was nice to just sit down and enjoy the evening with a furry creature for company. Falling into his thoughts as he stared out the window and gave a yawn, the brunette blinked sleepily as the cat under his hand turned to push his head into Daichi's palm and nuzzle it with an audible purr. Smiling wide, he rubbed Sugawara's ears then moved to scratch at his chin as the setter leaned into his touch.

"What has you all quiet and contemplative? Trying to solve world hunger or think up the cure for cancer?" Suga inquired as he continued to purr.

"Not quite, I think I might adopt a cat after this is all over."

"Yeah? It's about time you do something for fun rather than necessity, hopefully, I helped your parents warm up to the idea."

Daichi laughed and suddenly feeling playful, wrapped an arm around the cat and scooped him into his arms to hug him to his chest and bury his nose in the fluff of Suga's head. Letting out a startled cry, Sugawara struggled wide-eyed in his friend's grasp, tail poofing up as the captain squished him.

"Eh-H-hey! What are you doing?!"

Low snicker shaking the cat he held against his chest, Daichi grinned as he enjoyed how feathery soft his friend's fur was.

"Doing something for fun rather than necessity isn't this what you said I should do?"

Sputtering flustered as he pushed with all his might to squeeze out of Daichi's grip, Suga wiggled and kicked until he finally gave in and let his arms stick out straight, the other boy's warm breath ruffling the fur on his head as his nose nuzzled him.

"This is not what I meant, Daichiiii. Come on, let me go, I'm still hungry!"

"Of course, you are." Daichi laughed, taking mercy on his friend and loosening his grip enough to allow Suga to hurriedly jump from his arms and back onto the desk. Hiding his snickering behind his hand as he looked at the now crazy mused state of Suga's fur, the brunette couldn't help but to find the annoyed glare he got amusing.

"What's that supposed to mean, are you calling me fat or something?"

"With how much you've been eating at school lately, I'm surprised you're not." Daichi replied, pulling another hunk of chicken off the skewer and beginning to pull it apart.

Puffing his chest out, Sugawara raised his chin to look more dignified as he responded.

"That's because I'm bulking up, I'm not giving Kageyama that starters position easily, he's going to have to work to keep it." He nodded determined, then pushed Daichi's hand out of the way once more to begin eating again.

"I'll take that spot right out from under him if he stops giving it his all, someone has to remind these first years they're not the only players who want to be out there."

Even if Sugawara was their playful, sometimes less than mature, vice-captain, Daichi was glad to have the other boy by his side. Where he ruled with a supportive but iron fist, Suga kept things grounded and inspired tenacity. As he smiled and picked up the skewer to finally begin eating his dinner, the captain thought about how much he was going to miss volleyball when they graduated.

A couple of hours after finishing Daichi's dinner and spending some time watching videos of their previous matches on the computer, the duo was still at the desk with homework strewn across the surface, multiple books open. The sun had long since gone down, and sitting atop Daichi's Modern English textbook, Sugawara gave a large yawn before sinking into a more comfortable, loaf like position.

"I'm using that, you know?" Daichi commented, using his pencil to lift Suga's long fluffy tail so he might attempt to translate the rest of the sentence he was writing.

"At least you can do your homework, why didn't you bring my bag so you could fill out my English too? Now I'm going to have to catch up on Trig, English, and Chemistry, that should be fun."

"I told you before, my Mom would be suspicious if I brought both of our bags home. I'm sorry, I know it sucks. I'll help you catch up on it when you have fingers again. Maybe next time you'll listen to me when I say to leave weird cats alone?" He inquired, his attention back on his homework as he tapped his pencil against his lips and then began to scribble the next few words down.

"Yeah yeah, you know… Everything…" Sugawara said, his voice trailing off as he got distracted, his pupils blown wide suddenly.

Eyes chasing the pink tip of Daichi's pencil, he forgot everything they were just talking about in favor of hunching down as his rump lifted into the air and wiggled, his mind cleared of any concerning school matters. Focused as he was, the brunette did not anticipate a furry grey mass to go sliding across all his papers and tackle the pencil in his hand.

"Suga! What the heck?"

Laying on his back, the other boy had managed to pull the pencil to him that Daichi still gripped and began biting at it and kicking at his friend with his back feet. Bemused, the captain couldn't help but laugh, his head falling back as Suga left teeth marks in his writing utensil. He really hoped he wasn't transforming even more into a cat as time went on, because currently, it was just too funny for him to be concerned.

A few minutes of laughter later, Daichi's mother quietly poked her head into the room to find her son snickering and speaking in a quiet voice to his friend's cat. She could see him dangling his pencil above the fluffy thing as it sat up on its back legs and batted at the offending object, eyes big and transfixed. She found it unusual his papers and a notebook had been scattered across the floor but it warmed her heart to see her usually proper and responsible boy acting like a typical teenager, especially since it usually took the presence of Koshi to make him smile like that.

Stepping into the room, Daichi's mother tapped her knuckles on the door a couple of times to give him a warning she was entering and watched as he looked over his shoulder startled.

"Oh- Mom." He said quickly, dropping his pencil and clearing his throat. "I didn't hear you come in."

Laughing lightly, she knelt to begin gathering her son's papers and smiled up at him as she stacked them on top of the fallen notebook and handed them to him.

"Well don't stop on my account, I'm happy Button is feeling better and the two of you get along." She said giving him a little wink.

Taking the papers, Daichi let out a little breath but smiled back up at her as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thanks… I've been thinking, maybe it would be nice to have my own cat. After uh, Button goes home, of course." He added, looking over to Suga who looked back at him with encouragement in his knowing eyes.

Eyes brightening, Mrs. Sawamura smiled at her son and then came over to squeeze his shoulders tenderly as she leaned down to plant a kiss on his temple.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, sweetheart. We can run it by your Father tomorrow to make sure it's okay with him too. For now, you should be getting ready for bed, it's late. Did you finish your homework?"

Smiling back, Daichi reached up with a hand to give his Mom a squeeze in return.

"Most of it, I'll do the rest in study hall with Suga. I'll clean up for tonight."

Giving a soft hum of approval, she patted him on the shoulder and picked up the empty cup of tea from his desk before turning to head back out.

"Alright, sweet dreams my little Muffin Man, see you in the morning."

Making a choked sound as his mother shut the door behind her, Daichi looked to Sugawara as the cat coughed a laugh and hid his face in the fur on his shoulder to stifle his snickering. Turning scarlet, Daichi picked the cat up by the scruff of his neck and whispered vehemently into is friend's laughing face.

"Not a word, you hear me? I mean it Suga, or else I'll- I'll- I don't know what I'll do, but you'll regret it." He hissed, giving the cat a little shake as it appeared his threats were not so threatening.

Still stifling laughter, Suga nodded his head.

"M-My lips are sealed." He managed.

Getting to his feet, Daichi carried Suga over to the bed and deposited him without much gentleness, the grey and cream cat flopping down onto the mattress and tumbling onto his side.

"Wow captain, that was pretty mean! Maybe you shouldn't get a cat after all." He teased, sticking his tongue out at his friend as he continued to grin widely.

"Shut up or I'll dump you in my sister's room for the night." Daichi warned, face void of humor as he tugged off his tank and tossed it into his laundry basket, it was far too hot to sleep in anything more.

Ducking down, Suga hid his head beneath his front paws and scowled at his friend.

"Low blow, Daichi… You're no fun."

"Can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Move over." Daichi retorted, flicking the desk light off and turning the room dark except for the silvery glow filtering in from the full moon hanging low in the sky outside the window.

Moving to Daichi's pillow to get out of the way, Suga huffed disappointed as his friend plugged his phone in and then pulled the thin blanket back to climb beneath the covers. The brunette really did lack a sense of humor sometimes, what a buzzkill!

As the two settled in for the night, the room grew quiet with only the sound of their yawns and Daichi's rustling as he got comfortable. He was just about to tell his cat friend goodnight, but then the other boy spoke up before he could, his voice a whisper.

"Daichi?"

Turning his head, the captain looked over at Suga who'd made himself comfortable curled up at his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"… I'm scared. I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't turn back… I don't want to be like this forever."

Turning his head to look up at the ceiling, Daichi was quiet for a few seconds but then folded his arms beneath his head and gave another deep yawn.

"Well, we've already planned to go to the same university, and we can't do that if you're a cat, so I guess we're just going to have to figure it out. You're not going to stay like this Suga, I promise. You've had a long day, get some sleep." He said, then turned his head just a little to smile at his friend in that easy-going way all the Sawamuras did.

Blinking brown-hazel eyes at his friend, Suga smiled back after a moment and nodded.

"Yeah. Right, I won't stay like this. If it's possible to turn into a cat, it must be possible to turn back. Thanks."

As Daichi was closing his eyes and about to say goodnight for the second time, the brunette felt something nudging his side and then climbing onto his chest beneath the blanket. Shaking his head in protest, he let out a sigh and looked down at Suga who was making himself comfortable atop him, spinning in a circle and curling up into a tight ball.

"Suga… It's really too hot for this, can't you lay next to me?"

Looking to his friend with eyes filled with pleading hope, Sugawara buried his nose in his tail as he guilted his friend.

"I know… I'm just kind of freaked out still… This makes me feel a little better. Can't I stay here for just a little bit?"

Knowing he'd lost before he'd said a word, Daichi shook his head at his friend's shameless manipulation, but gave in with a light smile.

"Fine, have it your way." He relented, reaching a hand out from behind his head to ruffle the fur on his small head. "Goodnight Suga."

Beginning a low happy purr, he finished making himself comfortable and then looked up at Daichi mischievously and whispered; "Goodnight Muffin Man."

Letting out a grunt, Daichi squashed Suga's head beneath his hand and then tucked it back beneath his own with a scowl and closed his eyes.

"Go to sleep, you troll."

Snickering to himself again, he obliged.

…

At approximately 8:30 the next morning, Daichi's phone began its usual barking alarm, the light from the early morning sun illuminating his bedroom and aiding in rousing the duo. Taking in a deep breath, Daichi's eyes remained closed as he felt around aimlessly for the device, Suga mumbling "Five more minutes…" Fairly close to his ear.

As his hand finally found the blinking phone, Daichi's foggy mind registered a hot heavyweight pinning down his right arm and something draped across his chest. Creaking his eyes open to flip his phone open and turn off the alarm, the brunette finally registered something was off, and seeing an expanse of fair skin dotted in beauty marks realized it was Sugawara laying half on top of him… As a human!

Filled with excited relief, Daichi shook the arm that lay across his chest to wake him up.

"Suga, Suga, you're back to normal, you're not a cat, get up!"

Rubbing the sleep out of his eye and trying to become coherent enough to understand what the brunette was saying, Suga mumbled as Daichi slowly began to realize something else. Stiffening, the captain looked at his friend's bare back again and slapped a hand over his mouth as he shoved Sugawara off him and promptly fell out of the bed and onto the floor with a loud bang.

Alarmed by the sound of his friend falling, Suga jerked upright and looked around wildly as the blanket fell around him.

"Daichi! What's wrong, are you okay? What's going on?" He asked, voice heavy with sleep and disorientation as he peered over the side of the bed, the other boy waving his arms and face going red as he slapped his hands over his eyes hastily.

"You're naked! Cover up! Oh god, you were laying on top of me, oh my god…" Daichi groaned, scrubbing his eyes, and wishing he could get the image of his nude friend snuggling him, out of his head.

Finally catching on, Suga looked down to see his bare chest, and after the initial excitement of realizing he was no longer a cat, flushed from hairline to navel.

"AH! Oh my god, I was- and you were- OH GOD!"

Snatching up Daichi's covers, he wasted no time covering himself, but then there was a voice outside the door and Daichi was quickly jumping to his feet to shove Suga's head beneath the blanket. "Don't move!" He hissed, pushing him down and throwing the pillow on top to make it appear as if the bedclothes were all bunched up, the captain plopped down onto the mattress and tried to look casual as his Father opened the door and peered in.

"What's going on? I heard a loud bang and were you yelling?"

"Uh-uh… I uh…" Struggling to come up with an excuse as he tried to hide the presence of his best friend laying naked under his covers, Daichi felt sweat bead on his temples as he forced a laugh. "S-sorry, there was this huge spider. Yeah, it uh fell on my face, and uh, I fell out of bed trying to kill it."

Eyeing his son as if he'd lost his mind, his father nodded his head slowly. "Right… Well, did you kill it?"

Nodding his head a bit too eagerly to appear casual, Daichi scratched the back of his head and gave another forced laugh.

"Oh yeah, smashed it with my er… My phone! Yep, so nothing else to scream over, sorry for waking you." He apologized, bowing his head and hoping it was enough to convince him.

Continuing to stare at his son for another confusing moment, Mr. Sawamura backed out slowly and began to pull the door shut.

"If you say so… Your Mother left protein bars on the table for breakfast and a bento in the refrigerator for your lunch. Make sure to grab them." He said, closing the door behind him and shaking his head as he went.

Releasing a tense breath and letting his head hang as Sugawara's popped out from beneath the blanket, the two thanked their lucky stars it had been his father that popped in, and not one of his nosey siblings.

"That was a close one…" Suga muttered, then let his face fall flat into the blankets and groaned.

Giving a groan of his own, Daichi got to his feet and drug a hand down his face as he went to his closet and began to scavenge clothes for both him and his friend.

"This never happened, got it? We'll never hear the end of it if the guys find out and I'm not listening to Noya and Tanaka's jokes until we graduate." He muttered, gathering up a bundle for Suga and tossing it at him.

"Do you think I'd go skipping into the gym sharing this with everyone? Even I have a little shame, Daichi, come on."

A very stressful hour later, Daichi and Sugawara were trudging down the sidewalk on their way to morning practice, the latter looking worse for wear as little twigs and leaves stuck out of his already mused silver hair, his arms covered in scratches from crows the day prior, and a purplish bruise circling his left wrist from where the dog bit him. Aside from his minor injuries, the setter was covered in dirt and wore a pair of slip-on sandals that happened to be the only shoes Daichi had that weren't too big for Suga. As the two approached the place they parted ways with Asahi the day before, they didn't even notice the quiet giant until he spoke up and called their attention.

"Suga, you're back to normal!"

Looking up slightly dazed, the setter fixed his eyes on the other boy and then raised a hand in acknowledgment.

"Oi. Morning, Asahi."

Jogging to catch up with the captain and vice-captain, Asahi furrowed his brow and leaned down to look at Suga a little closer.

"Oh uh… You look a little rough Suga, what happened?"

Letting out a sigh, Daichi stuffed his hands deeper into the pockets of his shorts and offered the larger boy some information.

"He turned back to normal overnight, but we had to sneak him out of the house so my family didn't see."

Tilting his head to the side, Asahi rubbed his chin in thought. "And how did you do that?"

"I had to climb out the window." Suga huffed.

Pausing as he walked, the ace's eyes grew wide. "Wait, isn't Daichi's bedroom on the second floor?"

Continuing to walk, the short-haired brunette nodded with a grimace. "Yeah, he fell into the bushes."

"And then Daichi's little sister was in the yard, so I had to crawl through them to keep her from spotting me."

Cringing, Asahi began walking once more and shook his head at the duo.

"Yikes… Well… I'm glad you're back to normal." He said gently, laying a hand on Suga's shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze that made the other boy smile reluctantly.

"Thanks, me too."

As the three third years traveled the rest of the way to the school, they shared a comfortable silence until they got to the courtyard. They had just walked through gates that led them to the gymnasium when Daichi staggered to a sudden stop, his arms jutting out to halt his friends from going any further.

"What are you doing?" Suga asked confused, but as he turned his head to see what Daichi was looking at, he froze in horror.

There in front of them… Was a cat… But not just any cat, this cat looked identical to when Suga had been transformed, down to the little black speckle beneath the left eye, and it was looking right at them as it sat in the middle of the path to the gym.

Taking a couple of steps back, Suga shook his head and made an X with his arms.

"No, no way am I going anywhere near that thing! Shoo, shoo! Go on, get out of here!" He called, waving a hand to the cat and taking another weary step back to place himself behind Asahi.

"Why are you hiding behind me?!" Asahi demanded, back peddling and creating distance between him and the mysterious cat.

Watching the creature with narrowed eyes, Daichi was preparing himself to make a run for it but then the cat got to its feet and winked before turning away from them, and trotting in the opposite direction. Stunned, the three kept their eyes on the grey and cream animal until it disappeared into the brush and was completely gone from their sight. Looking between one another, they were all left speechless until a loud voice broke shouted to them from behind and broke them from their trance.

"HEEEY, SUGAAA! You're back to your old self, nice!" Nishinoya cried, the rest of the team following not far behind and giving various tired cheers as they walked past the third years and headed toward the club room, a few of them patting Suga on the back as they went by.

"Uh, yeah…" Suga said, looking to the bushes skeptically but after trading glances with the other two, began to walk to the club room with the rest of the team.

Once inside, Sugawara went to his bag to grab his volleyball shoes and sat down on the bench already feeling exhausted as Daichi told the rest of the guys how he had turned back into a human overnight. As everyone set their bags down and stuffed things into lockers, Tanaka came over to lean down in the vice captain's face and scrutinize him closely.

"So did the Sawamuras make you sleep outside last night, bro? Is that why you look like shit?" He inquired, straightening to cross his arms over his chest and let out a boisterous laugh.

Scowling, Sugawara slipped a sandal off and expertly chucked it at the second year who took it to the forehead and continued to laugh.

"Not that you actually care, but no. I slept in Daichi's bed, not outside."

"So his parents didn't mind he brought a cat home?" Yamaguchi inquired as he sat on the floor and slipped his knee pads on.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Suga let out a sigh.

"You could say his mom warmed up to the idea after hitting with her broom a few times first… But yeah, mostly they were fine with it."

Eyes big with alarm, the freckle-faced boy gave a sympathetic smile as he continued to get dressed.

"Oh, uh… That's good, I think."

Before he could answer, Hinata popped into the setter's line of sigh and he had to pull back to clearly see the boy and his forever wild ginger hair.

"Suga-san, did you get smaller after turning into a cat? Your clothes look like they're too big." He deduced face scrunched up as he looked the older boy over carefully.

Letting out a laugh, Daichi chuckled behind him and shook his head.

"He didn't shrink, those are my clothes. I had to loan him some since his bag was here."

"Oh yeah… Darn it, I was hoping he'd get shorter than me." Hinata mourned, but then was suddenly drowned out by his upperclassman.

"WAIT, wait on stinkin minute!" Tanaka crowed, his face contorting into the most amused expression as he looked between the two captains.

"If he changed back overnight but didn't have clothes… and he slept in your bed… HAHAHA! That must have been a great surprise to wake up to!" The loud boy cackled, doubling over in laughter as Daichi and Sugawara flushed embarrassed, avoiding eye contact and shaking their heads as the rest of the guys also began to snicker and chuckle.

Growling annoyed, Daichi slapped Tanaka on the back of the head and shoved him toward the door.

"If you don't drop it, I'll give you so many flying laps you won't have energy left to laugh." He threatened, but it only worked for a second before he burst into laughter once more.

Slapping a hand to his forehead, Suga let out an exasperated sigh as he finished lacing up his shoes and then looked to the captain who was currently glaring daggers at most of the other players. Remembering something then, the silver-haired boy called Daichi's attention and waved him over.

"Oh Daichi, come here for a second."

Perplexed, the brunette crossed the short distance and folded his arms over his chest as his angry stare lingered on Noya and Tanaka wiping the tears from their eyes and laughed.

"If you've got any ideas to make them shut up, I'm all- OOF-!"

Breath rushing out of him, Daichi doubled over as Sugawara let his fist fly and socked the other boy right in the gut. Suddenly all of the laughter ceased in the club room, and they all looked to their vice with large eyes as Daichi coughed and sputtered.

Smiling sweetly, Suga got to his feet and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"That's for letting your little sister bathe me, I'll call us even now." He grinned, turning his gaze to the rest of the boys and leveling them with a lethal grin.

"Now what were we laughing about again? Or were we headed to the gym to start practice?" He asked, his hand raising to his chin in contemplation, but his eyes meeting those of everyone in the room.

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop as they stared back, but then it was quickly bustling with movement.

"Last one to the gym is a rotten egg!" Hinata yelled, dashing out of the room with Kageyama hot on his heels.

"Oi, that's cheating, you little dumbass!"

In seconds, the entire clubroom was empty except for Suga and Daichi, who was still trying to catch his breath, the rest of the team apparently knowing what was good for them. Smirking to himself, the setter made his way out and called back to his friend as he paused in the doorway.

"Don't take too long, captain, we'll be waiting for you." He snickered, letting the door close behind him as he descended the steps.

Epilogue

"Kenma, isn't that Suga-chan?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, there's nobody around but you and me, Kuroo." The blond muttered monotoned, his eyes only raising from his phone briefly as he looked around, then going back to his screen.

"No, I'm sure that's him. That looks exactly like the cat Sawamura had, it has the black dot below its eye and everything. What's he doing here in the city?" Kuroo wondered aloud, crouching down and reaching a hand out to the fluffy feline that was staring at him far too intense to be a normal cat, and beckoning it over.

"Got lost did ya, Suga-chan? Well, aren't you lucky I'm such a generous person? Come on, I'll take you home."

Face screwing up into a disturbed frown, Kenma took a step back and shook his head.

"Stray animals are bad news, you shouldn't touch it." The younger boy warned, but Kuroo waved away his concern as the cat began a slow saunter over.

"It's hardly a stray if you know him, see that? He's coming right to me."

In the alley of a street not far from Nekoma High School, there was a blinding flash that lit up the block.

…