Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.

Kagome and Kuroo walked into the nearest fast food restaurant and were relieved to see that it wasn't too busy yet. Not wanting to take a chance, Kuroo shooed Kagome off to claim an open booth for them after telling him what she wanted.

He watched her walk away to claim a spot by a window, and he frowned when he saw that he wasn't the only one watching her. Turing his attention back to the front and waited for the last person in front of him to finish placing their order. Of course, he turned away in time to miss the group that just entered the building and made a beeline for Kagome.

Kagome sat in the booth and altered her view between looking out the window to people watch and checking on Kuroo to see his progress and if he might need help bringing over the food. During her check on him her view was suddenly blocked by four bodies. "Kagome! Fancy seeing you here"

She blinked in shock and lifted her eyes, "Eri, Yuka, Ayumi. Hello." Then noticed the boy standing with them and she cringed inwardly. "Hojo-san, nice to see you again. What are all of you doing here?"

"We were on our way to the shrine to see you and saw you in the window as we were walking by."

Kagome looked at Yuka in confusion and glanced over at Ayumi to see the apologetic expression on her face. "Ano, Yuka… I told you last night that I had plans today."

"Yes, and when we ran into Hojo he said he was on his way to take you on a date. So, we decided to come along and say hi and visit a bit before leaving the two of you alone."

She gave almost a self-congratulatory grin down at Kagome as if to pat herself on her back for her brilliance. Not seeing Ayumi sigh and shake her head behind her. Hojo, from what Kagome could see in the corner of her eye was grinning from ear to ear with a blush on his face.

Feeling the twitch begin to develop under her eye, Kagome asked herself again as to why Ayumi was the only one that ever listened to her when she said she did not want to date Hojo. She was well aware that Ayumi had tried to steer the other two away from the idea that she and Hojo were a perfect match. Sadly, Ayumi's attempts were ignored and she was too soft hearted to really put her foot down with the duo.

Kagome took a deep and hopefully calming breath, "Yuka, I am not here to meet with Hojo. My date is currently getting our food and he should be here soon."

The stunned look of shock on three out of four of their faces was almost comical. If Kagome and Ayumi, weren't irritated and embarrassed respectively, they would have laughed at the picture that they made. Before anyone could regain enough control to start bombarding Kagome with demands for answers a voice broke through the silence from behind them.

"Friends of yours, Kago-chan?"

Once he collected their order, Kuroo turned to head towards the booth that he saw Kagome claim for the two of them. He was a little surprised to see that there was a group of three girls and a boy that were crowding the table, so with some caution he approached them to see if there was a situation brewing that he would need to interfere with.

As he got closer, he could hear the exasperation in Kagome's voice, "Yuka, I am not here to meet with Hojo. My date is currently getting our food and he should be here soon."

Kuroo frowned briefly when he heard the name Hojo, remembering that Souta mentioned that that was the boy who kept trying to get Kagome to go out with him. Stopping behind the group, he decided to announce his presence.

"Friends of yours, Kago-chan?" He had to bite the inside of his cheek to contain his laughter as he watched the quartet turn to face him and then slowly lift their heads to look up into his face. That look of shock that they had as they processed his height nearly made him lose his composure as he fought to keep his face blank. Looking over their collective heads at Kagome he could see the humor and relief that sparked in her eyes.

Seeing Kuroo raise a brow at her as he waited for an answer, her lips slowly curled as she knew what he was really wanting to know. She knew that he was subtlety inquiring if she needed him to step into the role of protector once again.

Shaking her head as she began the introductions, "Tetsu-kun, these are my friends Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka. We've known each other since I moved to the shrine. Hojo-san, went to the same Middle School with us. Everyone, this is Kuroo Tetsurou."

After exchanging brief hello's, Ayumi snapped to attention when she realized that Kuroo's hands were holding a tray full of food and that she and the others were blocking the table. She quickly stepped aside and nudged the others to do the same. In the shift she wound up standing next to Hojo and the table, and watched Kuroo set down the tray and turn back to their group.

Hojo shook off his shock and stood taller while looking Kuroo dead in eye as if to challenge him. "How do you know Kagome-san? You do realize that she is very ill and should not be out and about in this sort of weather."

Kuroo raised a brow at the tone and shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the shorter boy. He was silent for a moment while he contemplated the ridiculous claims. Sliding a questioning glance in Kagome's direction, he watched her roll her eyes. "She's ill, eh? Looks fine to me."

"Yes, she is ill. Her grandfather told me that she has a bad case of pneumonia, small pox, yellow fever…"

Kuroo could feel his eyes widen in disbelief at the list of illnesses that Hojo began to rattle off and a sharp grin slowly stretched across his face. 'Higurashi-san actually convinced him that Kagome was sick with all this?'

He released a snort that cut off Hojo's tirade. "You do realize that if Kago-chan actually had all of those illnesses, either at the same time or one right after the other, that she would be dead right?"

Hojo paused in confusion, which caused Kuroo to release the cackle that he had been withholding. Shaking his head quickly, Hojo regathered his wits. "You still haven't told us how you know her, and what right you have to take her on a date."

Kuroo sat down across from Kagome, and decided to bait the boy a bit more. "What business is it of yours what Kago-chan does?"

Releasing a huff in frustration, "She's to be my girlfriend, I've been waiting for her health to improve so we can go on a proper date!"

As Kagome became stone-faced and her eyes lit up with an unholy fire of fury at Hojo's claims, Kuroo rested his chin on one hand and turned his amused gaze back up to Hojo. "Are you seriously trying to call dibs on her? If that's the case then you lose, kiddo. Kago-chan and I have been engaged since she was six years old."

Ayumi was shocked at Hojo's behavior, she knew that he was infatuated with Kagome but this was borderline obsessive. Once she heard Kuroo announce that he and Kagome had been engaged since they were children, it clicked in her brain exactly who Kuroo is. This teen was the childhood friend that Kagome had tried to look for at the few volleyball tournaments that she was able to attend.

Containing her excited cheers at the thought of 'childhood soulmates reuniting,' she went ahead took advantage of the silence that reigned after Kuroo's announcement, and ushered the others towards the door. "Come on everyone, we've interfered with their date enough and their food will get cold if we keep pestering them. Kagome-chan, we need to try to get together sometime! It was nice meeting you Kuroo-san, I'm glad that the two of you found each other again."

"Bye Ayumi-chan, I'll text you later. I want to hear how you are enjoying Fukurodani Academy." Waving goodbye to the only sane member of the departing group, Kagome turned back to her companion.

"Interesting group there, Kago-chan."

Sighing heavily, she gave him a small apologetic smile, "Eri and Yuka can be bullheaded, but they mean well. Ayumi-chan is very sweet and generally doesn't put her foot down against the others. Honestly, it's a little surprising that she took the initiative and herded the others out of here." She spoke a little more about the girls' antics and how she and Ayumi would commiserate over the situations that Eri and Yuka would drag them into.

Kuroo noticed that she didn't say much about Hojo except to express irritation in his unwillingness to listen to her. "I think with him it's more that he's interested in my name than myself. He apparently had an ancestor that he's named after that married a woman named Kagome. So, I guess I should thank you for helping me crush those dreams."

Snorting in disbelief, he returned her grin, "Just doing my job. Hey, you mentioned that Ayumi-san goes to Fukurodani Academy?" Kagome nodded in confirmation as they began to dig into their lunch. "We do a lot of practice matches against them and a few other schools."

"Do they have a good team?"

Kuroo rolled his eyes, "Yeah their team is really strong. And their ace, Bokuto, is one of the top ace's in the nation... Annoying Horned Owl Bastard."

She snorted at his exaggerated grumbling, "That's pretty impressive, but you are the last person to be calling anyone annoying."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Raising a brow at his dramatics, Kagome waved him off then spotted the hand that was creeping toward her fries. She quickly slapped his hand away and scowled at his attempted claim of innocence. "I rest my case."

He smirked at her as they took a moment to focus on eating their burgers, and Kagome had to fend off Kuroo's thieving attempts a few more times. He asked Kagome about school and what club she had joined. "I haven't joined one. Nekoma doesn't have an Archery Club, but I'm not sure if I would join even if they did. I didn't learn archery because I loved it, it was more out of necessity at first and now I use it as another form of meditation."

Kuroo's eye narrowed in thought at her response and slowly crept his hand towards her coveted fries. "And Tetsu-kun, if you try to steal my fries one more time, I will use you for target practice!"

Cackling with glee, he put his hands up in mock surrender as she scowled. After her shoulders began to relax some she immediately tensed up once more when she saw the Cheshire-cat-like-grin make an appearance on his face. Frantically she pointed at him wanting to cut off whatever scheme he had brewing, "No! Whatever you are currently plotting, I want absolutely no part of it!"

"Oi, I haven't said anything."

"You don't have to! Whenever that grin makes an appearance, it usually spells bad news for me!"

Giving a dismissive wave in her direction, "You're just being paranoid, Kago-chan."

"Paranoid I may be, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

Kuroo broke out laughing until he swore his sides were going to start splitting. Once he calmed down, he nearly lost it again when he spotted the look of nervous suspicion on Kagome's face. "I was just thinking that maybe you could join the volleyball club and be our manager."

Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. Of all the ideas for him to have, that was not one that she would have guessed. However, she had her suspicions that there was more to this idea that she wasn't seeing yet. "Why would you want me to become the team's manager?"

Leaning against the table slightly, "Well for one, you would get to spend more time with me. Which should be reason enough." He paused as he watched her roll her eyes at him. "Second, you could help us practice like you used to help me—"

"I haven't played volleyball in over a year! And the last time I helped you practice, you kept complaining that I wasn't spiking the ball right!" She protested.

He smiled a waved away her objections, much to her annoyance. "Well you were doing it wrong, and we'll get you back into the groove of the game. No worries! Also, you'll get to see Kenma more of course."

Kagome watched as Kuroo trailed off and looked down at the table top while leaning back in the seat. His face became serious as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. She could tell that what was on his mind was probably the larger reason why he wanted a manager for the team. At first, she was at a loss for his reaction, but then she remembered a conversation that she had with Kenma about the club.

"This is about the third years isn't it?" Stunned that she guessed the real issue, Kuroo snapped his head up to look into her eyes. She gave him a sad smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Kenma mentioned that they were bullies and enjoyed throwing their weight around. He didn't go into detail, but I got the gist of what he was alluding to."

Releasing a sigh, Kuroo nodded and explained to her in detail as to everything that had been happening in the club after their advisor would leave them on their own. The more she heard the more enraged she felt, she couldn't believe the arrogance of the upperclassmen. There was no reason for them to treat their underclassmen the way that they were.

"I and the other second years can't keep shielding the rookies, Kago-chan. We need someone else to help keep the third years in line until our permanent advisor or coach arrives. Someone that they won't have authority over." Kuroo stopped for a moment, and reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "Kago-chan, will you please join the club and help us?"