Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. Any use of the anime or manga in this story is not mine either. They belong to their original creators.

Author's Note: There are scenes and dialogue that will be taken from the Manga and the Anime when it suits the story that I am writing. I've now realized based on some of the reviews that many readers may not be familiar with either. So, I've gone back and marked the two chapters appropriately in the disclaimer.

Things have been a little crazy lately. Kagome was running around, trying to get the paperwork for the team's upcoming training trip during Golden Week organized. While not all of the members would be traveling, instructions for those who were remaining in Tokyo needed to be written down. Just because both coaches and Kagome would be gone, that didn't mean that rest of the team could slack off.

As permission slips were handed out and accommodations were found, coach Nekoma began to arrange other practice matches with various schools before the match with Karasuno. The boys who were going to make the journey were buzzing with excitement—well everyone but Kenma. Kuroo smirked as he shook his head at his friend. Nothing would get Kenma's interest like a new game, unless there were interesting players that they would face. At this rate, the only players that have caught Kenma's interest have been Yamamoto and Kagome. Hopefully, Karasuno would have an interesting team for his friend to become fascinated with.

Kuroo smirked as his tiny girlfriend began to dart past him with her head buried in another list. Reaching out, he managed to catch her with one arm and swipe her lists with the other. "Ne, Kago-chan. I think it's time for you to take a break."

"Wha—? Tetsu-kun! Give those back!"

"You are running yourself ragged—again. Stop fretting over the list for a while and give your brain a break."

From across the gym Yamamoto sniggered the rest of the team watched the interaction. The poor first years were baffled as their upperclassmen began to discuss their Captain's habit of flirting with death.

Yaku smirked as he shook his head, "Meh. He won't be killed this time, but she will get him back if he hides her paperwork."

"I bet she chucks a ball at his head."

Inuoka tilted his head in confusion, "She would throw a ball at him? But Kagome-san doesn't seem to have a mean bone in her body."

Kenma glanced over as the first year and sighed, "Kagome is really nice, as long as you don't provoke her."

Yamamoto finally managed to pull himself together with a smug grin, "And Kuroo-san provokes her a lot. Never test the wrath of the Tiny Tyrant."

"Eh?"

Kagome was feeling particularly giddy today. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, arranged to meet for her birthday. Spending the day at the mall shopping for clothes, she decided to find something cute yet comfortable for her date with Kuroo. She had a lot of fun catching up with the other girls and finding out how they were enjoying their schools and club activities. It was during lunch that the questions about her relationship and how it was going began. Assuring the group that her and Kuroo were still together and happy—regardless of how he insisted on aggravating her when he could—the girls were thrilled for her.

"Mou! I'm still amazed that the two of you found each other again. And keeping that promise that you made on top of it? I'm super jealous."

Kagome blushed and tilted her head. "Don't you have anyone that you're interested in at Nohebi Academy, Yuka-chan?"

"Well… there is one guy that I might be interested in…"

"Eh? Might be?"

Yuka frowned slightly in exasperation. "Yeah, I not sure what to think of him over all. While he's cute and tall, he doesn't seem interested in much of anything. I think he might be interested in me, but I can't get a read on if he is or he's just being respectful because I'm his senpai."

Eri leaned into Yuka in interest. "Oh? Going for a younger man, Yuka-chan?"

Kagome and Ayumi giggled as Eri needled their friend while she blushed. "At this rate? Probably not. He's on the volleyball team, and the club is gaining a bit of a reputation for being good at cheating." Yuka frowned, "It certainly begs to question, that if they are willing to cheat at volleyball, what else are they willing to cheat at?"

Kagome raised a brow at how torn her friend was. "Yuka-chan, I can appreciate your dislike for cheaters in any form. But whose to say that this guy would cheat on any girlfriend that he had? You might be judging him a little too harshly in this. Plus, have you seen him participate in the cheating during a game?"

Yuka chewed on her lower lip as she shook her head, "No. He's not a regular member, so he doesn't play much. But the few times he's been on the court, I never saw him do what the upperclassmen do."

"Then behavior is probably being pushed by his senpai, and he may be following along to stay out of their way." Seeing her friend start to relax a bit as she considered her advice, Kagome gave a sly grin. "Besides, if you did start dating him and he was stupid enough to cheat, then we would all be happy to make him pay for it."

Yuka smiled at the nods and waved them off, "Meh, again there maybe nothing there anyway. I guess the rest of us will just have to hope that we'll soon find a guy that we can be blissfully happy with as you are with your boyfriend, Kagome-chan."

Kagome shook her head with a laugh before she paused at what she saw on Ayumi's face in the corner of her eye. Luckily, Eri and Yuka got up to head for the restroom, so she could turn her focus on her blushing friend.

"Ayumi-chan? Is there something you want to share?"

"Erm. I didn't want to say anything since it's still new, and you know how Eri and Yuka can get."

Chuckling softly in agreement, Kagome quickly checked to make sure that the other two were out of hearing range. "If you don't want to say anything, I'll respect that."

"No, I wanted to talk to you about it. Um, I was just asked out by Akaashi Keji."

"Eh? Akaashi? Fukuroudani's setter? That Akaashi?"

Ayumi's pinkened cheeks flushed red as she nodded. "We were study partners last year, and just got closer. I had hoped that maybe he liked me, but I knew he was busy so I figured we would only ever be friends."

Kagome grinned widely before she hugged her blossoming best friend with a light squeal in happiness. She was thrilled that the shy-quiet girl that she'd known for years was coming out of her shell, and that Akaashi was the one to see her heart of gold. "I'm so happy for you, Ayumi-chan! Akaashi is a sweet and responsible guy with the patience of a saint."

Ayumi grinned at the description. "He's had a lot of practice."

The duo giggled as they both thought of the hyperactive Ace that Akaashi had to corral on a near daily basis. "To be fair, while Bokuto can be a handful, the rest of the team has their quirks as well. They just aren't as energetic."

Laughing, Ayumi agreed. "It is hard to reach Bokuto-san's level of enthusiasm for sure."

Yuka and Eri sat back down at the table as they looked curiously at the two giggling girls. "What did we miss?"

Kagome and Ayumi shared a grin, "Nothing."

Eri and Yuka looked at each other in confusion before glancing suspiciously at their friends. They would find out what they were hiding—eventually.

Kagome finally felt like she could relax a bit after she helped the coaches herd the all the players onto the train. All the regular players, plus first years Inuoka and Shibayama, were all settled into their seats and waited for the train to take them to Miyagi Prefecture. As she leaned back into her seat next to Kuroo, she gave him a slight frown when she saw him smirking at the necklace around her neck.

"Ne, Kago-chan. I see that you're still wearing your present."

As she reached up to touch her neck, she thought back to her birthday over the past weekend.

Kuroo had taken Kagome out to lunch and a movie for her birthday before stopping at the same park that they went to on their first date. Sitting at the swings, the two reminisced on the past year and what they hoped to accomplish during the current year.

"Ne, Testu-kun. You're applying to Tokyo University, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about that too much right now."

"Huh? Why not?"

Kuroo tilted his head back and released a heavy sigh. "This is my last year in High School, Kago-chan. My last chance at making it to Nationals, so I want to be sure to give it my all. But more than that—I'm nervous"

Kagome cocked her head in confusion and frowned at him.

Giving her a self-depreciating smile, Kuroo shook his head. "After this year, I have to leave you behind. Needless to say, we don't have a very good track record with that at the moment."

Blinking in shock, Kagome stared at him for a moment. She stood up from her swing and walked to stand in front of her Rooster Head and placed her hands on his cheeks. "Tetsu-kun, I understand your anxiety. Really, I do. But the situation is different now. We're older, and we have cell phones. The shrine isn't going to up and disappear—regardless of how much you all hope that the stairs will."

Kuroo snickered a bit at that, it's not like he and the team haven't wished that the stairs weren't as numerous as they are. Kagome grinned as she watched some of the gloom disappear from his frame. "Besides, even if we are destined to repeat the separation that we went through as kids, we already know the path back to each other. We just have to look to Kenma to guide us once more."

There was a moment of silence as he blinked up at her. She could see the wheels turning in his brain as his lips widened and laughter emerged. Standing from his spot on the swing, Kuroo wrapped her in a large hug as the last of his tension melted away. "You know he was originally nervous about introducing us?"

"Eh?'

"I was monitoring his gaming—"

"Being a pest about it, I'm sure."

"—and apparently you were already exerting your Tiny Tyrant authority and keeping his and Souta's gaming in line. I guess he was afraid of us teaming up against him."

Kagome giggled as they turned and began walking back to the shrine. "Well lucky for him, we didn't need to do that."

"Would have been fun though."

When they reached the top of the shrine stairs, they paused as they saw a familiar yet annoying site. There was Hojo standing at the house, knocking on the door. Kuroo let out a quiet curse while Kagome groaned in dismay.

"You have got to be shitting me."

"He hasn't come by in months. I figured he finally gave up. Come on, he hasn't noticed us. We can go around the back and hang out where we had our picnic."

The couple crept around the delusional teen and settled themselves in the grove, grateful that the skies stayed clear as they hid. Kuroo pulled Kagome down into his lap and pulled a small wrapped package out of his pocket. Once she was settled, he handed the present to her. Giving him a smile, she opened the gift to find a necklace. Similar to the volleyball charm that she gifted him, this one had a black cat curled on top of the volleyball.

"I love it! Thank you, Tetsu-kun."

He gently took the necklace from her hands and placed it around her neck. Giving her a kiss, he hugged her as they sat. Not much longer after that, Souta texted Kagome that Hojo had just left the ground since he noticed the two sneak off to avoid the nitwit.

It wasn't until later that night, that Kagome discovered that there was more to her necklace then she knew. She had taken it off and placed it on her bedside table before she went and took her shower. When she got ready for bed and was reaching over to turn off her light. She noticed that the charm was face down, and there was something engraved on the back. As she read the message a tick began to form under her eye.

Kuroo was stretched out on his bed when he heard his phone chime. Reaching over he grinned when he saw Kagome's name, and opened the message.

-KUROO TETSUROU! What is the meaning of this?!-

He cackled wildly as he looked at the picture she sent. There on the screen was an image of the back of her new necklace that he just gave her. And on that charm, it read 'Property of Kuroo Tetsurou.'

-Hm… I think the meaning is fairly clear. Which part are you confused about?-

-You know what I mean you jerk!-

-Well it's not like I can put an actual protection charm on it, so this is the next best thing.-

Kuroo sniggered as he sent her the halo emoji, just to needle her some more.

-You are the LAST person who should be allowed to use that emoji!-

-That's awfully mean, Kago-chan. Really, I'm hurt.-

-You are so full of it! And I can feel that grin from here!-

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Kuroo knew that while Kagome was highly annoyed, she was enjoying their banter as much as he was. They texted for a few more minutes before calling it a night.

Coming back to the present, Kagome looked up at Kuroo with a deadpanned expression. "I choose to ignore your attempt at staking a claim."

"Aw, come on Kago-chan. I have to do something to keep the other guys away."

"What other guys are you trying to protect me from? Beyond Hojo—which we know that even this necklace won't keep him away at this rate—there are no other guys."

Kuroo stared down at her in disbelief, as did the other team members. "You really don't have any clue?"

Kagome frowned in confusion, "Clue about what?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Eh?"

Authors Note: Hurray it didn't take me a month to crank this out! I honestly thought that we would be at the practice match or at least the start of it by this point, but this chapter demanded to exist. Until next time!