Nine years ago...

There was a knock at the door, then a few loud voices, before Kiyoko Satora heard her sister bound up to the door of her room and knock rapidly. "Sato-chan~! Some girls asked us to play volleyball with us! Wanna come? They're at the door now!" Kiyoko Shimizu exclaimed excitedly. Her little body could barely contain the excitement. Her sister and herself usually kept to themselves. It was a wonder that anyone would ask them to play.

The younger sister of the Kiyoko sisters immediately jumped up from her place on the floor, where she'd been colouring in the new colouring book she'd gotten. "Wait for me, onee-chan~!" The miniature girl pumped her little legs as she snatched up her jacket and ran out of her room, meeting her sister, smiling with a flash of her small white teeth. "Let's go!" The pair scuttled off, screaming at the other girls to wait for them.

The ball was coming Satora's way. She could see the perfect sphere in the air, flying towards her. Satora ran towards it but as she got ready to jump, her legs wouldn't move. There was something there, grasping at her legs and preventing her from moving. She felt her knees buckle, and then all she could see was red. Muffled shouts were somewhere in the background, but she couldn't feel anything other than her body tremble.

^v^

Now...

Shimizu bit her lip and sighed, as she glanced at her subdued younger sister who followed her to the gym. Satora had finally given in to meeting the boys, after weeks of older sister mildly asking her every once in a while. It wasn't that Satora didn't want to, she just wasn't used to it. People... That was a foreign concept to her. After being homeschooled from grade school to middle school, it was a lie to say she was still comfortable around crowds. This had been Shimizu's attempt if opening her younger sister to the world.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Though they'll probably ask a lot of questions..." Shimizu told her sister who nodded numbly. The younger girl couldn't stop her insides from trembling; she felt like earthquakes were happening in her.

"They're... All boys?"

Shimizu nodded, pushing her glasses up. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I know you're especially uncomfortable with boys, but I think this will be more beneficial than harmful. Though... There are two wild cards. You'll immediately known which ones." She gave a small smile. "They're good people. I've known them for a long time now."

The shorter girl, by an inch, looked at the worn footpath which joined the school building and the gym. "Ok." They creaked open the heavy steel doors as the boys' chatter echoed around the gym. There was the usual scolds of Daichi, laughter from Nishinoya and Tanaka, and then the loud yelling from both Kageyama and Hinata. It felt like the usual circus Shimizu was always welcomed into. The third year smiled.

"Eh? Shimizu? Who's that?" Daichi called out when he heard her the doors open.

She pushed her little sister forward, "This is my little sister, Kiyoko Satora. I thought it would be good for her to meet the team and-" She was immediately cut off by the boys who charged forward to greet the girl.

"KIyoko-san~?! How come you never told us about this younger sister of yours?! She looks exactly like you!" Nishinoya yelled furiously as he rushed forward and inspected her with his wide, almost golden, eyes. "HECK! She's cute too!"

Satora clenched her fists and her face turn beetroot red, boiling in embarrassment. She'd never been complimented in such a straightforward manner. "I-I..." But she was immediately interrupted, by an older, bald, boy.

"AGH! I CANNOT STAND IT ANYMORE! THE GODDESS HERSELF HAS AN HEIR!" Tanaka cried out in wails. He forcefully wiped tears from his wet eyes. "I AM NOT CRYING!"

Shimizu whacked his bald head with her clipboard, which caused him to cry even more. "Shut up." Shaking quietly in laughter, Satora bit her lip. Goddess?

The captain of the team smiled from ear to ear. He'd never seen this side of his manager before, even after being with her for three years. "Welcome Sato-" he started to say but Hinata jumped in front of him and speculated at the taller girl whose eyes blinked in panic at the rowdy ginger head.

"Wait! WAIT! I think I've seen her somewhere before...!" Hinata wondered as he tapped his chin and scrunched up his face in focused thinking. "Aren't you a first-year?"

"She's in my class," Kageyama suddenly blurted out as he finally recognised the pale girl. She was hard to remember, but he knew that she was definitely in his class. Though she mostly blended in with the white walls, there was something about her that stood out like a sore thumb.

Hinata jerked his head up at Kageyama with a confused and annoyed face. "HAH?! How come you didn't tell us? She's in your class? No wonder! I thought I saw her before. She's the wall girl!"

Satora's panicked face changed to one of mild confusion. Barely following what they were saying at all. "Wall girl?"

The ginger haired boy nodded firmly, "Yeah! I keep seeing you near the walls, and I keep thinking you're part of the walls! I don't know why! You're just... the wall girl!"

The first year girl snorted. "Okay." Shimizu widened her eyes. Her younger sister had snorted? In front of these guys? What- What in the world was happening? She'd never seen her sister like this. Shimizu felt herself tear up, but before she let herself wail and hug her sister, she cleared her throat firmly.

"Ah. You guys should get back to practice. You can talk to her later." The boys sighed but nodded as the went back to the court and continued their practice game amongst the team.

Shimizu sat down on the bench, next to her sister. The uncomfortable silence between them broke down when Shimizu started to laugh. The younger sister stared at her sister. Her weird cackle was familiar, but weird to the ear. "Are you alright, onee-chan?"

The manager tried to catch her breath. "I-It's, hah, nothing... You- you just. HAHA. YOU SNORTED!" Doubled in laughter, Shimizu felt her body shake. Why was it so funny?

Satora tilted her head and flashed her teeth with a smile, "Onee-chan...!"

^v^

Shimizu grinned. "Today was fun, wasn't it?" Her attempt has been successful. If she had to express herself honestly right now, she'd been jumping with joy.

Her younger sister smiled shyly. "Yeah. Those guys are really funny..." She knew how much her sister had wanted her to be a part of the team, and she hadn't believed that it would work. That anyone would accept a freak like her.

"Well. Stay in the car for now. I need to go speak with the guys." Shimizu slammed the car door, making Satora jump in her seat. The younger Kiyoko snorted. Her sister really was quite excited today.

As Shimizu neared the group, she could see Kageyama bullying Hinata again; karate chopping his head. "Kiyoko!" Sugawara waved her over. When she was finally close enough, she grinned.

"Thanks for today, everyone. I've never seen my sister so happy," Shimizu admitted with a shy tone. "I'm really thankful."

Ennoshita tilted his head. "What do you mean? She's never been this happy?"

"Dang. That would be a pretty sad life for her. What did you do to her, Kiyoko-san?!" Tanaka accused. "I don't believe this but I have to!"

Shimizu glared at him. "I didn't do anything. She's been like this for nine years." Her voice was hard and thick with tears. "For nine long years. She'd suffered with a disease that makes her body weak. And she had depression along with it. She barely sees daylight, for goodness' sake. Satora was homeschooled for all those nine years. She's finally back at proper school."

The boys looked at her with disbelieving expressions. Their eyes were as big as plates, and their mouths hung open. "Sato-chan!" Nishinoya wailed, "I feel so bad for her! I will do anything in my power to make her smile again."

A small smile appeared on the third year girl's face. "That's why I have to thank you. She's never shown this much happiness."

"NEVER WILL I MAKE HER SAD AGAIN!"

"AND I'LL MAKE SURE SHE SEES SO MUCH SUN THAT SHE GETS SO TANNED THAT HINATA WILL NEVER KNOW HER AS WALL GIRL AGAIN!"

"I WILL PROTECT HER WITH ALL I HAVE! AND I WILL MAKE SURE NO ONE MESSES WITH THE GODDESS' HEIR!"

"SHE WILL SMILE EVERYDAY AS LONG AS SHE'S WITH ME!"

"Really? Because I find myself puking on the inside whenever I see you," Tsukishima pointed out sarcastically, causing Yamaguchi behind him to giggle.

"SHUT UP TSUKISHIMA - STINGYSHIMA!"

"I don't shut up, I grow up. And whenever I see you I throw up," Tsukishima pressed on with a sly smirk on his face.

"TSUKISHIMA!"