Ai's day started with a message from Akashi in the morning. She got up to the sound of birds chirping in the baby blue sky and slipped out of bed. The first thing she did was open her phone and read his text.

Seijuro: Happy birthday, Ai. I'll call you after practice.

The short message had her heart already bursting with happiness. Beaming at her phone, she sent a reply before she got prepared for the school day.

Ai: Thank you, Seijuro. I'll be waiting.

She greeted her parents as usual and ate breakfast with them.

Daichi and Sugawara had told her yesterday that she didn't need to come to the usual 7 am morning practice, so she had more time; the captains wanted to give her a small break on her birthday and exempted her from part of her duties. Despite her trying to reason with them, the second and third-years had all urged her to take the absence.

Spending a relaxing morning, she prepared her bag for school and left the house, telling her mother that she may be coming home late. It was a Friday, so she would have to attend both clubs. Sadō practice lasted for about three hours, and then a short hour with the guys.

Although she took her time walking to school, enjoying the bright June morning that promised to get humidly hot later on, she arrived a bit too early to go to class.

Deciding to pop into the gymnasium first, she changed course and headed across the dusty courtyard to the side of the main campus. If they were already finished, she could walk to the classrooms with everyone. If they weren't, she'd wait until they were done and possibly lend a hand to Kiyoko, should they have anything to do in the meantime.

The door was open, and she peeked inside. Everyone was standing in a group listening to the captain speak.

"...about, let's see, ten minutes early?" Daichi turned to the vice-captain for his thoughts.

"Oh, come on! She deserves more than that! Make it twenty, and then we'll all go to Sakanoshita," Sugawara persuaded. "Right, Shimizu?"

The older manager nodded with a rare smile. It shot an arrow through the hearts of her two admirers.

Then, something clicked in Tanaka, and he shook his head to clear his daydream of infatuation. "Okay, but who's gonna tell Take-chan?" he interjected.

"Oh, yeah! And, Ukai-san?" the libero snapped out of it and added.

"I'll let them know," Daichi answered. "But, don't tell her, got it?" Although it was Ennoshita and Narita who were in her same class, he stared at the two talkative ones.

Tanaka and Nishinoya went frigid and saluted their captain. Hinata also zipped his lips.

"Ai-senpai," Tsukishima spoke up when he noticed her.

Ai had taken off her shoes at the entrance and snuck up on them in her silent socks. She smiled at the group as they jumped out of their skin. "Good morning, everyone. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"A-Ai," Sugawara stuttered. "It's nothing! We were just talking about practice after school." He masked his fluster with a smile.

She glanced at their faces, picking up on the private meeting she wasn't invited to attend. "I see," she murmured, sharing a grin with Kiyoko. After a second of silence, Ai decided to let them keep their secrets. "I apologize in advance that I'll be late again because of my sadō club. I would've come to morning practice since I won't be able to do much this evening..." she offered, but it was pointless now that it was almost over and the time was up.

"I told you not to worry about it! Right, Daichi?" The vice-captain came over to rub her head, looking back at the captain for confirmation. His movements were still a bit stiff from trying to cover up his lie.

"Yup, you're good." Daichi smiled.

Ai turned to Kiyoko, but she nodded as well.

She gave the group a bow of appreciation. "Thank you for being so kind."

"That's our line." Kiyoko stepped up to her and guided her to the door. "Let's go. I wanted to discuss that thing with you."

Ai nodded and followed her to the girl's locker room. The sight of them in deep conversation made Tanaka and Nishinoya sigh dreamily, and Ennoshita clapped his hands to get their attention. The guys still had to quickly mop the floor and go change for class.

.

For the rest of the school day, Ennoshita and Narita were especially nice to her in class. They talked to her in friendly conversation and showered her with amity. Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Kinoshita also gathered to her class for lunch. Having the whole team of second-year volleyball players surrounding her intimidated the girls from sadō club, but Ai left the group to chat with her other clubmates as well.

After school, she waved goodbye to the two volleyball players in her 2-4 class and followed the girls to the tatami room. Sadō practice was as usual, but her friends gifted her a shikishi board with birthday messages from everyone in the club at the end. It was a tradition that Ai had started, so she wasn't as surprised by their gift. They had paired it with a box of simple gifts like snacks and trinkets. She thanked her three senpai, four classmates, and three underclassmen.

Ai was allowed to leave early with the club president's permission, so she excused herself from tidying up and left the tatami room with her bookbag and gifts...

.

When she arrived outside of the Second Gymnasium, the lights spilled out from the quarter-opened door, but it was suspiciously quiet. They couldn't be out on a run at this hour, could they? It was almost sunset.

As she pondered this, she silenced her steps and killed her presence. It wasn't as effective as Kuroko's, but she made sure to hide behind the door as she slid the heavy metal open. Taking her time, she took off her shoes and stepped into the gymnasium.

At once, a few firecrackers went off, and confetti flew around her.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" "Happy birthday!" "Happy birthday," several different voices echoed.

Ai's lips curved up in a smile when she saw everyone, save Tsukishima who kept his usual poker face, grinning and holding party items. "Thank you."

"Ai!" Nishinoya stepped up first and prodded a wrapped present into her hands. "Were you surprised???"

"A bit, to be honest." She gave him a long hug to express her gratitude.

The libero laughed and stuck around by her side after he released her. "Open it! It's from us second-years!"

She glanced up at the five of them and started undoing the glossy red paper.

"What is it, Ai-senpai?" Hinata asked excitedly.

Tanaka laughed. "Keep your cool, Hinata!"

The packaging revealed a deep pink cardigan in a transparent bag. She took it out and unfolded it in front of her, holding it against her uniform shirt.

"Well? Do you like it?" Nishinoya looked as proud as can be.

Ai nodded. "Yes. It's not as eccentric as I thought it would be," she said candidly.

"Ennoshita helped us pick it out," the Number 5 told them.

"Kinoshita went with Nishinoya to buy it for us," Ennoshita disclosed.

"I chose the color!" Nishinoya stated confidently.

"That explains it," Sugawara read her mind and spoke in her place.

Her classmates smiled warmly. Ai placed her bags on the floor, draped the new clothing on her arm, and went to hug her friends. "Thank you, Chikara, Ryu, Kazuhito. You too, Hisashi, for chaperoning Yū to the store."

Kinoshita blushed and squeezed her back. "You're welcome."

"We'll go next, then." Daichi nodded to Kiyoko, who handed her their collaborative gift.

The older manager smiled softly and presented the box with a cute, ribbon bow. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." Ai accepted it and opened it in front of them, knowing well that Tanaka and Nishinoya would pester her if she didn't.

It was an unusual shape, but once she peeked inside, it made sense. They'd given her a small gift basket of bath products, including bath salt, fragrant soap, a hand towel, and a petite bottle of hand cream.

"Wow!" Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka awed.

Ai smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Kiyoko-senpai, Sugawara-senpai, Sawamura-senpai, and Asahi-san."

"It's all thanks to Shimizu. We couldn't come up with anything good, so I asked her for some help." Daichi smiled, happy with the result.

"Azumane came to shop with me to pick out the scent," Kiyoko said in her gentle voice.

Asahi blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Suga and Daichi were both busy studying..."

Ai inspected the gift basket once more. All of its contents had red hues and were labeled "rose".

"We couldn't choose between that and lavender, but we figured red suits you better than lilac." The girls smiled in silent communication.

"Hinata, you guys have something too, right?" Sugawara reminded.

"Oh, yeah!" The shortest middle blocker turned to his pinch server friend. "I gave it to Yamaguchi so I could get a firecracker."

The shy first-year walked up to her and gave her their present. It was a box wrapped haphazardly with apparent effort.

She chuckled and opened it, feeling some of its contents sliding around. There was a pack of three notebooks layering the bottom, along with various items thrown in to fill the rest of the space. Ai immediately recognized all of them as merchandise from the Sakanoshita Store. A laugh was on the tip of her tongue, but she coughed it away. "Thank you, Tadashi, Kei, Tobio, Shōyō. It's very kind of you."

They spent every day from dawn till dusk at school, and the boys rarely got days off. It made sense that the only places they could go shopping were the store she worked at and Shimada Market. Besides, she appreciated the sentiment, no matter the form.

After four more bashful hugs, she admired the goodies. "Well, why don't you celebrate with me?" She plucked a pack of chocolate from the first-years' gift box and opened it, popping one into her mouth. "I can't eat everything by myself, and you must all be tired from practice." Offering the small spheres of sweet cacao to Kageyama, she alluded for all of them to help themselves to the snacks.

"Really? Awesome!" Nishinoya picked a small bottle of ramune candy and started to eat one.

"Hey, let's all go to Sakanoshita instead," Sugawara intervened just as Kageyama put a ball of chocolate to his lips.

Ennoshita nodded, intercepting the candy that was being passed from the libero to Tanaka. "Yeah, we already told Ukai-san that we'll be stopping by."

"Alright, then." Ai started to gather her things. "We should pack up and lock the gym."

The guys dispersed to get their stuff too and prepared to leave. Some of them ran outside for the club room, so she checked her phone as she waited.

"What is it?" Kiyoko asked.

"Nothing yet," she smiled. It was still early, and the captain of Rakuzan's basketball team for the second year in a row was also a part of the school council. Everyone thought her schedule was taxing, but she couldn't imagine how busy Akashi always was.

Before long, the fourteen of them were walking down the hill in a chattering group, with Hinata pushing his bicycle along. They bought curry buns and sweet drinks to clink together in celebratory cheers.

When the sky became darker, a few of them left to go home. Then, the captain decided to end the party before Ukai came out to dispel and evict them. They would meet again for practice tomorrow, anyway.

.

Ai thanked everyone again and walked home with Kinoshita and Narita. When she arrived at her house, she was surprised upon walking into her living room by a stack of packages that had arrived for her throughout the day. Presents from Akita, Kanagawa, and Kyoto, as well as four from Tokyo, all piled on the coffee table.

She opened the packages and unwrapped the gifts.

Kise had sent her a squishy dolphin charm and an autographed magazine that he was in, and Kuroko had given her the English version of the book Alice in Wonderland. From Murasakibara was a scented candle; Himuro's suggestion, as it seemed.

She saved Akashi's for last and revealed the gift with frail movements. It was a beautiful fountain pen in dark maroon. The gold metal shined while the body of the writing utensil shimmered in a million sparkles. A sigh escaped her as she thought of how she'd always wanted one. It looked very expensive, and it was the type where you could exchange the cartilage inside when it ran out of ink.

She quickly ate dinner with her family and received a present from her parents as well. Her cell phone rang just as she was clearing the dessert plates from the table, and Ai excused herself to her room to answer it.

"Ai, happy birthday."

"Thank you, Seijuro." Could the grin in her voice be more obvious?

"I hope you got the present I sent."

"Yes, I did." She picked up the pen from her desk, with all of the other presents, and perched on her bed. "I love it. It's... gorgeous."

He laughed at her loss for words. "I'm glad you like it."

She smiled and admired it in her hand. A gift from Seijuro. Unlike the perishable tulip that eventually had to decay, this object would last forever. Then, she realized something. "Now, I'll just have to learn how to use it."

"A small obstacle, I'm sure."

She bit her lip in thought and made a mental note to look up how to practice good penmanship. "Did you have a council meeting today?"

"It was more of a meeting for club presidents with the panel," he explained, and they talked about recent events in their lives. He told her about their upcoming basketball Interhigh in the Kansai region, and Ai listened with great interest. A warm nostalgia formed inside her as her long-distance boyfriend told her about the sport she also used to participate in.

After she'd pestered him enough with questions, subtly easing him into talking so that she could hear his voice more, Akashi asked her about her day. She had gotten caught in her underlying plan, so she told him about the gifts she'd received from their mutual friends. He chuckled slightly when Ai digressed that Aomine had sent her a palate of eyeshadow makeup, and she shared a snapshot of her time with her two clubs. They talked for a couple of hours, one topic leading to another in an endless conversation. Eventually, it came to her attention that she had been yawning a few times in the past few minutes.

Akashi noticed, although she thought she was being discreet, and suggested they go to sleep for the night. "You've had a long day."

"I guess so," she said, feeling her eyes drooping. They both had practice tomorrow, so it was in both of their best interests. "Thank you again for the beautiful fountain pen."

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, Ai."

She smiled into her phone, wondering if he could perceive that, too. "Good night, Seijuro."

The phone beeped, and Ai flopped back onto her bed. Another sigh escaped her lungs and through grinning lips. She thought back to all of the people with who she'd interacted that day and reflected on the kindness they'd shown her. The presents that collected beside her desk, the memories she made with everyone, the phone call with Akashi..., she had many marvelous friends.

How lucky she was. If only she could tell them how much she appreciated it all.

Reference:

A shikishi board is paper on a cardboard base with gold trimming on the edges.

That's it for this week! No episode, but it's a long chapter, so I hope you'll forgive me!

Please let me know if there are any questions about the new layout!!!

Next up:

Chapter 2.3 Townsperson B

And, June 10th - Iwaizumi's birthday special!! (For those of you who like Seijoh's ace, Iwa-chan!)

Total Word Count: 2762