Golden Week. They had the first week of May off due to consecutive holidays, starting Wednesday.

Before leaving the house that morning, Ai had indulged in her mother's spiel about being careful around boys coming of age.

"Don't worry, mom. They're all good people."

"But, be careful! And, call me everyday."

"Yes, mom."

Avoiding stressing her out more than necessary was a caution she often took.

———

Ai went to gymnasium after school for practice like any other day, but as soon as she got the guys settled to the start of their routine, she left to go to the inn early.

They were staying at a reasonably old inn, and she wanted to look at their equipment and appliances so that she would know what she'd have to work with for the coming week. It gave her the chance to check some things off and run to the dollar store on errands.

She then started preparing dinner. The ingredients were delivered to the inn's kitchen, a favor called in to Shimada Mart through Coach Ukai.

It was a per-case situation where she would have to make do of the things she'd gotten for each meal.

She chose curry to make the first night, being conscious of the nutritional values. She thought of sources of animal protein and vitamins from vegetables as she made salads and other dishes.

Feeding twelve hungry high school boys plus the coach, teacher, and two managers required a lot of food.

When the guys came over after sunset, she was done with most of it. She served many bowls of pasta salad and entrées, setting the two long tables for everyone.

When Takeda-sensei and Kiyoko came to take over, kicking her out and banning her from the kitchen, she went over to the big room that would serve as the team's sleeping quarters. The fusuma door was open, so she peered inside.

"May I come in?"

Daichi noticed her from the futon closest to the doorway. They all had to lay down their own futons. "Oh, Ai."

He saw the large baskets she carried and called everyone over. "Gather 'round!"

"Is everyone here?"

She looked around just as Tanaka and Nishinoya came from the hallway, looking revived and talking about Kiyoko.

"I have two laundry baskets here that I'll place by the doorway. It doesn't matter which basket you put your clothes in; I'll wash them all. Every person also gets a laundry net, and each one has a ribbon tied to the zipper."

She picked one up to demonstrate. The ribbons were scraps she'd gotten from her mother's craft shop.

"Please memorize your ribbon. Uniforms and anything else with your name on it can go straight into the basket. Otherwise, please put your personal clothes, underwear, and socks into the nets. And don't be shy; I won't look. I'll be sure to have them washed and dried by this time tomorrow."

She was so happy that the inn had a clothes dryer. It wasn't common to have both washers and dryers installed, and people would have to hang the clothes to dry instead. "I've also written instructions, in case anyone forgets."

She taped a paper memo above the laundry baskets. She wouldn't put it past a few of them to not remember. "Any questions?"

"Yes."

Sugawara raised his hand like an enthusiastic student.

"Sugawara-senpai?"

"How do you think of everything?" he teased.

The guys laughed.

"I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little worried for you," Daichi confessed.

Nishinoya grinned. "That's our lil sis manager! She's the greatest!"

"That's right!"

Tanaka and Nishinoya stood beside her and each hooked an arm around her neck, taking advantage of her short height.

She shook her head, smiling. "I'll see you all for dinner."

She hugged the two guys before going back to the dining room.

"Alright! I want the black ribbon!" Nishinoya yelled.

"This one has stripes!"

Tanaka's voice was loud and amazed.

"Is there a green one?" Yamaguchi asked tenderly.

———

After dinner, she washed the dishes and everyone's lunch boxes, saw Kiyoko off for the night, and cleaned up the tables. She decided to go outside for some fresh air and was inspired by the night sky to sing a lullaby, Once Upon A December.

While she thought no one heard her, Hinata and Tanaka was creeped out by the mysterious song and a child who turned out to be a wet-haired Nishinoya. She heard screaming from inside, Asahi trying to defend himself, and Daichi scolding them on their volume. Ai quickly went inside and into bed in her single room, since Kiyoko had returned home to her own house.

———

The next morning, she woke up early to start making a simple but large in quantity breakfast. She promised to deliver their lunch boxes to the school gymnasium later and waved them goodbye. She was essentially a housemaid for them at this point, but she didn't mind.

That night, Sugawara had stayed up in bed, drawing the hand signals for the team, using his phone light in the dark as to not disturb the others who were sound asleep. He wanted to make himself useful if he wasn't going to get the starting position as setter.

Yawning, he ventured to the kitchen for a glass of water before he went to bed. When he entered the dining room to pass through to the kitchen, he saw Ai sleeping at the table.

She sat at the far end of one of the dining tables with only half of the lights on.

When he stepped closer, he saw that she had different notebooks open and filled with her handwriting about nutrition, Nekoma's team and players, and their own team. He flipped through some of the pages and read the parts that he could in Japanese.

His shocked expression turned into a gentle one as his heart went out to the girl who worked tirelessly for their team. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sighing, Ai slowly opened her eyes and gasped at her company. "Sugawara-senpai."

"You shouldn't be sleeping here, Ai."

His tone was soft and quiet.

"You're still up?"

"I was going to get a sip of water."

She stood up quickly. "I'll get it for you."

"No, it's ok. I can get it. You should go to bed."

She denied him and took out a glass from the cupboard.

He filled the cup with tap water and shooed her off to her room.

———

The next day, he went to Asahi and Daichi after their run. "Have you guys seen Ai's notes!?"

At first, they looked confused and shrugged. "Yeah, a few times," Daichi replied.

"They're amazing! There're so many details on so many different topics! Where does she find the time to do all that, plus our laundry and cooking?!"

His fluster was beyond normal for the usually mature Sugawara.

"Calm down, Suga."

Daichi chuckled at his friend.

"No, you don't understand! I mean, it's more than spectacular! How in the world did she learn how to do that?!"

"Uh..." Asahi started, "she said she was in a basketball club in middle school. Remember her boyfriend who came to see her last year?"

They recalled the guy with sharp red eyes and domineering aura and shuddered. "That must have been one hell of a club," Daichi finally said.

———

Friday night on the 4th of May, Ai called one of her best friends to wish her a happy birthday. They caught up on the latest, and she listened happily to how Aomine was practicing all of the time.

She asked about her relationship with Kuroko, to which she responded excitedly about a present she'd gotten from him. Ai told Momoi that Nekoma High School was coming from Tokyo to play volleyball against her team, and she kindly showed enthusiasm. Their call lasted until midnight when the date changed, and they said their good nights.

11/8/2020

Total Word Count: 1332