"Ah…he's so annoying." Shiori scrolled through the barrage of texts from Oikawa as he spammed her, questioning her from every single angle. The only reason he was like this was because Ushijima was there, and from what she remembered, Oikawa and Ushijima didn't mix. Or, Oikawa just didn't like Ushijima since the latter doesn't really mind the former.

The reason why Ushijima wanted to walk with Goshiki and her was because he wanted to ask her whether or not it's weird to have their selfie from years ago as a mobile phone wallpaper. He had asked Tendou, and he had said that it was strange but also not really, but he wanted another opinion so he sought her out, even after the selfies they took with the others after their volleyball session.

That's actually kind of cute, Shiori chuckled when she remembered.

It was a good memory to hang out with them, especially after talking with the coaches afterwards. Coach Akira was alright, but Coach Washijou was a whole other story, even after seeing her capabilities.

It's not to say that he said anything about subpar abilities - Washijou actually praised Shiori when it came to serves, but then talked down everything else, asking if serves were the only thing she could do, and that if she only did this she'd be on the bench forever as a pinch server. Otherwise, if she did other plays she could make it as a libero.

So even afterwards, Washijou didn't change his stance, and left a distasteful feeling in her mouth after talking.

Damn, I'm still pissed. Shiori crossed her arms, glaring at the phone in front of her. How dare Washijou talk down to people who aren't as tall in the volleyball field?

What, so a libero is always supposed to be short? What kind of bullshit is that? She scoffed, rolling her eyes. She wasn't too fond of that idea, as there were many types of people who could play the position of libero, for example.

"Well, at least that was the only day I needed to go to the training camp." Shiori sighed to herself, shaking her head and ridding herself of any negative thoughts and emotions. She didn't like thinking about Washijou and the situation there, but she was thankful she was able to teach a thing or two when it came to volleyball serves.

It was pretty well received, she realised. After the receiving session, some had come up to her to ask how they could improve their serves. Even one of their pinch servers, Semi Eita, came along to ask some questions.

Shiori remembered him from the games of Shiratorizawa she'd watched, and thought his serves looked great already. Of course, there were other things they talked about, especially when it came to technique, and in the end they discussed a lot about the topic and how Semi could improve the trajectory and technique so it's harder to catch.

I should tell Akaashi how I went.

The sudden thought popped up into Shiori's head as she stared into space. She ignored Oikawa's messages and went straight to Akaashi's personal chat, typing a message straight away.

"Oikawa can wait." She murmured, almost chuckling at the expression and whining she could imagine the captain doing.

Shiratorizawa training camp, done! Went well, the boys there know their stuff, very productive! ?

It was around 9pm, which wasn't too late nor too early, but she wondered whether Fukurodani was still doing their training camp. After all, they were held around the same time.

Maybe, actually…Bokuto would probably want to have some exercise after dinner, and knowing the Nekoma and probably Karasuno players, they might join? She thought for a moment, question marks appearing in her head when she tried to imagine who the Karasuno volleyball players were.

She heard Oikawa complaining about them when he called her a while back, but she didn't pay him any mind since he was always complaining about something volleyball related. Since Karasuno used to be a powerhouse school, it was surprising to hear about them, so she expected to see them later on, or when she went to Miyagi. Until, Kuroo and her coach told her they were coming down while she was in Miyagi.

She glanced at her phone again, wondering if Akaashi had sent a text back yet, but he had yet to, so she placed it face down and continued about her night, citing him training and being busy to respond.

Tendou looked at his phone, staring at it with a grin on his face. On his screen was a photo taken with Shiori and the others, which he had preciously saved into his phone. It was something on his bucket list, so he was incredibly happy to have achieved it.

"Why do you keep staring at your phone so much?" Ushijima questioned, "This is the 50th time."

Now, we know Ushijima doesn't lie and states facts, so it was indeed 50 times since Tendou came into Ushiwaka's room, sat down and looked at his phone.

"Because it was with Shiori-chan!" He gushed, waving his phone in the air.

"Is she really that special to get so worked up over?" The Ace questioned, flipping a page in the Shounen Jump magazine he was reading. In his eyes, she was a fellow volleyball player he respected and liked to discuss things with.

However, to Tendou, because he was never friends with her to begin with, didn't know such a feeling.

"How could you say that!" Tendou faked offence, a hand over his chest as he doubled down in fake pain. "I'll just talk to someone who gets it!"

The Guess Monster opens up the app he talked to FlyHigh with, hoping to send the photo through to them to brag about talking and taking a photo with the Shiori Maebara. He attached the photo along with a message telling them about the situation and how happy he was.

"I'm sure they'll be much more excited!" Tendou grinned, standing in front of his best friend. He looked down and saw that he was reading the ads of the magazine, which normally, isn't something a normal person would do. "Wakatoshi, why are you reading the ads? You're supposed to read the manga!"

"Really? Why would they put ads into the magazine if we aren't supposed to read it?" Ushiwaka questioned.

Tendou smiled stiffly as he began to explain, trying to use the easiest analogies for him to understand. In those 5 minutes that he was explaining, his phone lit up in response from FlyHigh.

FlyHigh: Haha, didn't know you liked me that much. Thanks for the fun session today!

Attached to the message was a selfie of Shiori doing a peace sign in front of the camera, her laptop in the background showing a photo of Tendou during a previous match.

Tendou nearly screamed out in shock as his jaw dropped, eyes going wider than how they were usually. Unintelligible sounds came from him, which Ushijima did not understand, prompting him to look up and raise a brow, confused as to why Tendou was acting in such a way.

"Are you okay?" He asked, placing the magazine down.

"N-n-n-no!?" Tendou stammered, shocked. He hurriedly typed a message to exclaim his astonishment, in which Shiori quickly replied.

GuessMonster: You're Shiori?! Like the one at the camp?! Am I dreaming?

FlyHigh: Yeah, don't be so shocked lol

GuessMonster: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

FlyHigh: hahaha

Tendou shouted out in delight as he clapped his hands and showed Ushiwaka the messages, "Turns out I've been talking to her the whole time!"

"Who?"

"Shiori-chan!"

"Ah, okay."

"At least show some excitement, Wakatoshi!"

"Ah, yay."

"Not like this!"

Shiori wanted to laugh at how funny Tendou's reaction was. She purposely hid the fact that she was FlyHigh, for the reason that she didn't want to associate herself with someone she'd never met before, on an online platform. But now they were acquainted, so it was fine.

As she couldn't change Tendou's name on the app from GuessMonster, she asked for his details so she could talk to him normally without the help of the app. The other side obliged happily, and they exchanged numbers.

As she finished this process, her phone started vibrating, indicating an incoming call.

It was Akaashi.

Shiori picked up, putting him on loudspeaker so she didn't need to press the phone to her ear.

"Hey, 'Kaashi, how'd you go?" Shiori greeted with a grin. She knew he couldn't see her, but her tone should've given it away. She was happy to talk to him.

"Good evening Shiori-san. Karasuno's team came down, so we've been training with them. They've got a great quick with their youngest members."

"Oh really? I want to see it for myself."

"You might know them, one of them went to Kitagawa Daiichi. His name is Kageyama Tobio."

Shiori stared into space for a moment, blinking once, then twice, as her brain went through her times in middle school.

"Kageyama Tobio…?" She tilted her head slightly, but then remembered Oikawa's voice as he would say 'Tobio-chan' or something along the lines of the nickname. "Ah! I know him!"

Akaashi chuckled lightly, able to imagine her expression even over the phone.

As they talked, they caught up on some of the things each of them saw or found interesting, including Shiori's time at Shiratorizawa as well as her online friend Tendou. It was a fun time, and as they chatted throughout the evening, they eventually had to bid goodbye as they each had a busy tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I forgot I had to go check out Aoba Johsai…

Shiori checked the messages she exchanged with Iwaizumi, who happened to be talking about hanging out with her after their practice tomorrow. He was suggesting that she pop up during the practice near the end to surprise their team since they wanted to meet her.

And so, her next call was to Iwa-chan to organise all the details.

"Wow, I can't believe your expression lit up so much when talking to her," Kuroo, who stood across from Akaashi, commented with feigned surprise. He was already aware that the setter had feelings for his senior, and that Shiori was completely oblivious. He wanted to see how it went, but at the same time his strong penchant for meddling into others' dramas made him super invested yet amused at how it's unfolding. It was like a real life drama.

Akaashi's expression returned to normal once he was off the call with Shiori. He didn't care too much that Kuroo was there, as he already knew that he knew. He only made sure to call her since they finished practice after seeing her contact him, and he wanted to hear her voice. It just so happened Kuroo was there and didn't leave.

"Where's Bokuto-san?" The setter questioned, finding that Bokuto hadn't come back yet.

"I think he might be taking a shower?" Kuroo shrugged, "What, you need to practice more?"

Akaashi shook his head and proceeded to start packing up. Kuroo followed suit, making sure everything was nice and prepared for the next day.

"You know, I heard that Bokuto liked Shiori," Kuroo brought up a topic he was curious about. This seemed to get Akaashi's attention, in which he looked up, eyes alerted at the mention.

Akaashi didn't say a word, he waited for the 3rd year to continue, finding the smirk on his lips irritating.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not teasing you!" He defended himself. "I heard it from Bokuto himself, and wanted to know if you know."

After a brief pause, the setter nodded once, "I'm aware. But it's not up to me to choose either of us, nor does she have to." He finished up with the cleaning and headed to collect his stuff.

Kuroo followed suit, but didn't say anything more.

"Iwa-chan!" Shiori jumped into Iwaizumi's open arms, grinning widely and giving him a strong hug. He did the exact same, but didn't realise his strength, so nearly suffocated her a tad.

"That…was a very strong hug…" Shiori caught her breath, hand on her back. She put up her hand in a stop motion, "Tone it down next time, buddy."

The ace rolled his eyes but grinned, "Be prepared next time!"

Knowing Iwa-chan, he'd do just that…Shiori grimaced at the thought, imagining her bones breaking with the strength he possessed.

"Anyway, how's everything?" She glanced around the school gate, finding that Oikawa was nowhere to be seen. She expected him to be there, considering how clingy he was.

"He's excited to see you, but he doesn't know you're coming now. I told him you'd swing by later so he's training with the others right now." Iwaizumi tilted his head towards the gym, prompting his childhood friend to follow. He handed her a drink bottle from the bag of things he got from the convenience store.

Shiori laughed, taking the bottle. It was something they did a lot when they were younger - if Oikawa was too eager about something, he'd get too excited. So to get the best reaction out of him, they told him a later time in some events to lessen his excitement and catch him by surprise. Surprisingly, since it didn't happen all the time, his guard was always down. Sometimes they felt bad about it, but sometimes they didn't since his reaction was hilarious.

"So, I heard Oikawa broke up with his girlfriend again?" Shiori remembered one of the last calls she had with him, with him complaining about whatever was going on in his life at the moment.

"Yeah, he was mopey for a day or two and then went straight back into volleyball." Iwaizumi spoke those words as if he'd rehearsed them for a long time. It was the same pattern with all his other girlfriends, which baffled the two of them considering it was just the exact same as the last.

"Sometimes I wonder whether or not he'll get a proper one." She could hear the teenagers playing in the gym and the bounce of the volleyballs on the ground - it was all too familiar and reminded her of the old days.

"Alright, prepare yourself." Iwa-chan nudged her with his elbow, prompting her to raise an eyebrow at him.

Iwaizumi entered the gym, followed suit by Shiori, and announced that he was back. The next minute was intense - the boys had all come up to their ace, surrounding the two of them like they were celebrities.

"Oh! So you're Maebara Shiori!"

"Nice to meet you!"

"Why did you move to Tokyo?"

"Is it true you liked Oikawa back in junior high?"

There were too many questions thrown her way, and she took a step back to breathe and berate the person who asked the last question.

"What the hell did Oikawa say to you guys about me?" She looked at Iwa-chan incredulously, wondering what transpired behind the scenes.

Before he could answer, Oikawa made his grand entrance from the storeroom, waltzing over to his childhood friends and giving Shiori a tight hug to express how much he missed her.

The team watched them interact as Oikawa latched onto her like a puppy. Even stranger, was that she was petting his head like she owned said puppy.

"What's going on here?" The other members of the Aoba Johsai team looked at Iwa-chan to get some form of explanation, but he didn't do anything but express annoyance at the captain.

Needless to say, the team completely disregarded whatever Oikawa told them about Shiori, as it was clearly not that kind of relationship.

"So you mean to say, is that you told the others I liked you in junior high?" Shiori put her hands on Oikawa's shoulders, gripping them with strength as she stared at him with a smile on her face. Even though she had a smile, she was far from happy, and her irritation with her childhood friend had caused a sinister smile on her face.

Oikawa stuttered, averting his eyes and purposely avoiding eye contact because he knew he was in trouble for telling a joke. "Uh, it's not what you think it is, I was joke–"

"Honey, you think I was joking back then when I saw I wanted to knock you out when serving?" Shiori leaned in closer to the male, grabbing his cheeks with one hand and forcing him to look at her. "Eyes on me, honey."

Iwaizumi watched from the side, sighing. Shiori had dragged Oikawa away from the rest of the group to talk to him alone and he had to come along to make sure things didn't get too fiery. The rest of the team continued to practice as normal.

She only gets like this when she's actually annoyed…Iwaizumi was lucky enough that he'd never been at the brunt of such a fiery woman before, but Oikawa on the other hand, had. She's a lot more than people think…wouldn't want to get on her bad side…he shuddered, thinking about it.

As they bickered, Iwaizumi thought about what to do next. Shiori wasn't here for anything other than swinging by to visit, but he wanted to see whether she wanted to do some serves with them. After all, it'd been a long time since she had played with them specifically, and he wanted to see her updated skills up close.

He also made a mental note to go eat ramen with everyone afterwards, since he had a feeling they would be feeling completely overwhelmed having another Oikawa-type server to practice against.

"How did you manage to have such precise control, Shiori?" Iwaizumi questioned, adding a few condiments into his ramen.

Their order for their ramen had come out just now, piping hot and ready to be eaten. Along with the other members of the team, they'd come to their usual joint and sat separately so it's easier to talk.

"Practice, I guess?"

"It's no use Iwa-chan, she's a bit like a monster."

"If I'm a monster, what are you?" Shiori snagged a piece of meat from her friend's bowl, grinning when she managed to have it quickly without getting caught.

"My meat!"

"You're both monsters, but in different ways." The ace wondered how they both became like this. "Learned together, practiced together, went separate ways and now look at you two, back at it again."

"Why do you sound like my dad?"

Shiori laughed - it's been a while since she's seen a scene like this, one super reminiscent of what she had experienced growing up. It was incredibly nostalgic and made her wish she didn't move to Tokyo, but when she did think of that thought, she dismissed it, as Tokyo has been nothing short of amazing to her.

"No wonder you keep getting dumped by your girlfriends. They're realising you're kinda just…like that beneath the nice face." Shiori could only shake her head and smile.

"I know you're insulting me but why are you smiling?"

"You're a bit hopeless, honey."

As they bickered yet again, those who sat at the bar overheard them, wondering what type of conversation they were having. Of course, it was as weird as Oikawa himself, but as Shiori matched his wavelength, they wondered if they were just 2 peas in a pod, literally sharing one brain cell.