Yaku Morisuke paused for a moment as he stepped out of his mum's car. Then he turned around, wrapping his sister in his arms tightly. Her usual strawberry scent tickled his nose and the curls of her shoulder length brown hair tangled with his fingers. His sister's favourite headphones sat around her slender neck.

"Stay same, imou-chan," he murmured, letting go of her small frame. Yaku Shina beamed at him and nodded. She didn't get to open her mouth to say goodbye before he slammed the car door shut and head off for school. He was already late.

In the driver's seat in front, Yaku's mum couldn't help but smile, ignoring the morning's devastating events. She'd been blessed with such great kids, and an amazing husband to support. Even if one of them weren't completely perfect, Shina-chan was the most precious girl in her eyes. She would never deny it.

^v^

"Yaku-san!" the loudest male in the gym called to the short brunette third year. Morisuke shrugged off his track jacket and raised an eyebrow towards the disturbingly whiny voice.

"What is it now, Lev?" Morisuke asked with sigh, though it sounded more like a statement rather than a question.

His narrow green eyes were as bright as always. "How come you didn't come to morning practice, Yaku-san~? We didn't have enough Liberos for the practice game...!" Lev inquired, poking his head into Morisuke's personal space. This resulted in a twitch appearing on Morisuke's forehead.

Kuroo and Kai joined the crowd. "Oh yeah, you were missing weren't you... Yaku? Do you need some notes from the morning class? I can give them to you," Kai said. He was in the same class as Morisuke and still hadn't noticed his friend coming in late.

The afternoon practice had started quite a while ago; they were having a short break in the middle before they went off to individual training. Kenma was already exhausted, wheezing heavily against the wall as he chugged down water. A banana was ready for him in his bag and something told him that it would be disappointingly warm. He glanced towards the three surrounding Morisuke.

"Didn't you say that your sister had an appointment?" Kenma asked bluntly. The team stared; no one had known Morisuke had a sister.

"Yaku-san?! A sister?!"

Morisuke rolled his eyes. "Yes. My sister had an appointment and I had to go as well," he replied in a monotonous tone which signalled that he didn't want to be asked further about the topic.

They ignored his unamused expression. "Yaku-san! Is she older or younger?" Taketora demanded immediately. Though deep in his heart he knew that there was barely any chance of him being able to hook up with his senpai's sister. Especially if it was Yaku-san's sister...

"She's in grade school," he announced sourly.

Taketora's jaw dropped open and his eyes shone. "The youth... The soft skin... I want to touch her...!" The other boys looked at him, disgusted. Some shouted out rude comments and, of course, Yaku managed to beat him up before he could get away with such a dirty thought.

Morisuke dusted the Taketora-germs off his hands and huffed. "That will teach you! No one is touching her! It's not like she'll be seeing any of you any time soon!" He declared in a warrior-like manner. Just as he finished his sentence, there was a sharp ring from his bag. He answered the phone and the colour drained from his face.

"What is it, Yaku-san?' Shibayama asked politely, noticing his senpai's anxious face when Yaku had ended the call.

The third year gulped, "... My sister will be coming. My mum can't pick her up so she got one of the mums to drop her off here because it was convenient..." Morisuke breathed horrifyingly, "I have to walk home with her."

Kuroo was the first one to break the silence. No one else would've been able to, seeing as how protective Morisuke had been over the mere mention of the young girl. Kuroo smirked. "Well, then. I guess we'll be meeting your long lost sister for the first time," he mused.

"If I see any of you even glancing at her I will kill you myself!" Morisuke demanded at the boys. Coach Nekomata sniggered in the corner of the scene. "Do you hear me, bratty kouhais?!"

"Yes, Yaku-san!" the underclassmen boys answered unwaveringly.

^v^

Each of her step were silent as she navigated her way into the school. She'd only been here a few times and wasn't familiar with the layout, but she realised that she would probably be able to get to the gym anyhow. And with the passing time, she got to know just how wrong she'd been.

The music blasting in her ears felt like it was echoing underwater, letting out only bubbles. As the hope seeped out of her, Shina began to feel hopeless. The music blurred away and she could only try to keep the tears from her eyes.

"Mii-shan! Shina called. "Mii-shan!" She couldn't hear her own screams over the overwhelming fear thudding in her ears. If only her brother were here beside her. Like always. Shina always felt like she'd be able to do anything. If her brother was there. If only.

Her knees buckled and the unwanted tears began to tumble down like a waterfall. Shina could do nothing to stop it. Instead, she let herself break down in the middle of the high school yard. She couldn't hear her tears plop to the ground. The rain started pouring, needling her jacket. First her mum, now her brother. Why was she alone?

^v^

Morisuke paced across the gym. Practiced had ended five minutes ago and there was still no sign of Shina. She had been supposed to come in the middle of their second half of practice, but there was not a single sign of her. Most of the boys hadn't left, eager to see the sister of their amazing upperclassmen libero. And it wasn't like any of them left immediately after practice anyway. Some stayed for another half an hour of practice anyway.

Frustrated, he slammed his hand against the brick wall, immediately feeling the impact riding up his bones. Kuroo and Kai snuck a glance at their teammate. Sure, the little man was usually energetic, rough, loud, angry, more or less. But neither had seen him so stressed.

"Yaku-" Even Kenma had no time to cut in before Morisuke snatched up his track jacket and slammed open the gym door, revealing a raging storm. The scene only caused him to be more riled up.

"ARGH! I'm going out to find her! She must be missing!" he shouted. Morisuke sprinted off into the distance, leaving splatters of raindrops in his tracks. The boys shared a look, knitting their eyebrows together in worry before they also grabbed their jackets and followed Morisuke into the thundering rain. Kenma included. It was his friend after all and he couldn't just ignore the numerous worry signs he'd seen coming from Morisuke.

Morisuke was panting hard before he spotted anything. He couldn't even feel the rain soaking his black shirt, makign him shiver. He couldn't feel the cold, but he could feel the effect. Morisuke had known it was a bad idea from the very start. Skipping practice should've been the first thing he did; Shina was the priority. Shina was always the priority.

"Mii-shan!" There was a muffled, sob-strangled cry from a distance. His ears perked up and his legs were running towards the direction of the sound. Morisuke had immediately recognised her voice, her blurred speech and the way she called him. It was Shina.

Kuroo caught sight of Morisuke running off towards the sound he'd heard and called the others over, beckoning them to the right direction. Hopefully the right direction. Yes, he'd been eager and even excited to hear about this sister of Morisuke's that he had heard nothing about in the three years they had spent together. But his current worry was really about her safety. A grade-school girl? In the middle of this storm? In such a humongous and unfamiliar place? She sure was a brave girl.

She was nearly at her limit. Shina just wanted to sleep, let this all just wash away. Why was it so hard? Just to live? Shina had thought that her brother would be there every time she needed him. But that was false. He'd be there in the doctor's office, at home, just as the school gate... but out in the world, she was alone. Shina could feel her eyes closing.

"Imo-chan! Imo-chan!" Morisuke cried. His voice brought her from the fine line of unconsciousness and sleep. Shina's eyes fluttered open and a smile spread on her face, her hazel eyes barely open.

"Mii-shan?" Her voice was drained and hoarse. Pained even.

Morisuke couldn't stand seeing his sister like this. She'd gone through so much, why more? He lifted her on to his lap and wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from the rain. Shina's small figure, enveloped in his tight embrace for the second time today, had never felt so cold and lifeless. She would've been knocked out cold if it weren't for him. Morisuke hid a small smile in the mess of her light brown curls. Just for a moment, he knew they would be okay.

"There they are!"

"Hurry up!"

"TAKETORA! Don't you dare touch Yaku-chan!"

"I'll take her!"

"Quick! The storm will get heavier!"

^v^

Shina could finally feel her toes. Even if they were a bit damp in her wet socks and shoes, at least every other bit of her was nearly dry. Her older brother's track jacket was zipped up around her and he was drying off his hair with a towel, his piercing eyes never leaving her. Shina smiled at him and watched Morisuke sigh. She giggled.

There was a thump as Taketora fell to the ground, tears tumbling down his face like waterfalls. "I can't do this anymore! Yaku-chan GIGGLED! Yaku-san! Pleas give me permission to touch her cheeks!" Taketora cried.

"No way, you perverted-" Morisuke let out a string of swear words angrily, directed at the poor second year boy who couldn't see anything but young Shina.

"Does she have a name?" Kenma asked.

Morisuke's glare softened and he managed to mutter, "Shina. Yaku Shina."

The third year, Kai, beamed at the young girl. She sat on their bench, swinging her short bare legs happily as she studied them. "Shina-san? Hi. I'm Kai," he greeted. Kai hadn't ever thought Morisuke, out of all people, would have a younger sister. It was an exciting thing to see such a mini female version of his Libero.

"She's-" Morisuke began to say but then stopped as he watched his sister, clenching his jaw. She wriggled her hands out of the extra long jacket sleeves and, with trembling fingers, started to make shapes in the air. The team watched and stared at the baffling signs she made.

Friends?

Kuroo finally broke the silence. "She's deaf, isn't she Yaku? Shina-chan is signing." Some of his teammates nodded, starting to understand as they murmured among themselves. Shina grinned at him, as if he'd just gotten a question right.

"Omodashi?" Shina repeated.

"Shina-chan...!" Taketora cried softly, choking on a sob.

Morisuke couldn't stand the sight. His team. Feeling sorry for his sister. He understood the motives behind their behavior. But he couldn't bring himself to accept this. Shina was beyond amazing. She knew things people didn't and understood more than anyone could at her age. Shina was the light of his life, someone he swore to protect. What hurt more was how vunerable, broken she looked in front of them. This wasn't how the brave, smart, funny Shina should look.

He took a deep breath. "Yeah! She's deaf! Do you have a problem with that, Kuroo?! Huh, everybody? You think you can mess with her because she can't do something you can?" his dangerous voice was brought down to a hiss, "Don't think you can do things to her because she's deaf. Shina is my sister, and I'll protect her with my life."

Shina seemed to sense the tense atmosphere. But she merely smiled at her older brother. "Mii-shan!" she called out. Shina signed the rest of the sentence. Why are you getting so angry? Is it because of me? Please don't! They're your friends, right?

"She's right. None of us would do anything. Shina is perfect and we aren't barbarians," Kuroo spoke up as Morisuke gaped at him. He rolled his eyes. "I have a deaf grandma. And she's been doing fine since she's been born. Shina-chan will be alright. We're your friends after all."

"Yeah, Yaku-san! We won't let anything happen to her. She's your sister and our friend! You're stupid to think we would do anything!"

"Yaku-san! Don't worry about her! She's safe in our hands. You can trust in us! Haven't you done so for this long?"

"I'll be her personal bodyguard, if you like!"

Morisuke didn't react for a while. Since when did... He sighed and gave a soft chuckle. "Huh. Shina is always right, isn't she?" he murmured softly. "Thanks guys. I- I'm sorry."

It was as if Shina also knew the whole scene was over. She couldn't hear, but she had a sixth sense, according to Morisuke. Shina jumped up from the bench and ran towards her brother, pulling him into a tight hug. "Mii-shan."

Hi dear readers! What did you think of this chapter? It was kinda hard to write about it, because how are you supposed to write about such a character?! But I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I hope you liked it too! Heart this fanfic if you liked any of the chapters you have read so far! (There must be at least one!)
Anyway, if you didn't realise, this chapter was actually inspired by the anime movie; A Silent Voice/Koe No Katachi. I watched it just recently and couldn't believe how it brought tears to my eyes. It's an amazing masterpiece and I advise you to watch it if you haven't already. I truly cannot begin to explain its brilliance.
So that's all I wanted to say for now and I hope that you've been keeping up with this fanfic and loving the chapters. Sorry if the updates are irregular but sometimes it really just depends on what ideas actually come. Please, if you have a suggestion don't be afraid to tell me in the discussion chat. I hope that everyone is staying safe and happy! And thank you for over 700 reads and nearly 150 readers! ❤