Hello again!

I know it has been a long time since the last update and I am so sorry for that. Unfortunately, RL had me shakled and I was only able to escape a couple of days ago.

So, enjoy the new chapter and see you around!

PS: Reviews would be great.

Aravae

Over the course of the next few weeks, Ichigo managed to avoid the boys of the volleyball team effectively. If Kuroo walked in her direction, she turned around and fled. Yamamoto was loud and tried to coax her into eating with them every lunch, but she managed to get away with one excuse or the other. Even some of the other second years were told by Kuroo to talk to her when they met in the hallway and it grated on her nerves.

She greeted Kenma when they met, but he didn't mention the proposition anymore and Yaku smiled at her, but didn't approach her either. So, at least two were polite enough to leave her be.

Ichigo sighed and rubbed her temples. The last four weeks had been a game of hide and seek with no end in sight. Between running from this pesky Kuroo and hiding from her father, she barely had time to breath.

All the happier she was to finally have a day by herself and not be bothered by anyone.

It was the first Saturday of the school year that she was allowed to venture outside, so she took the chance without hesitating, grabbed her things and stormed out before her father finished his sentence.

Tokyo was buzzing on this particular day and after shopping for a little while, Ichigo found a good space in the nearby park. She sat in the shade of an old tree, drink in hand and bento in front of her that she'd eaten half of.

Right in front of her, some players were playing volleyball on an open field. During summer, the city filled the place up with sand and installed a net that wasn't pretty, but served its purpose. Some university students took over the field and had played for quite a while now.

One of the boys kept glancing in her direction, but she ignored the glances as she always did and rather watched the game intently. The level of the players was high and they were playing their third set with the blue team winning. Most were exhausted by now and their technique slowly became sloppy, but they fought until the bitter end nonetheless.

Another smile was shot in her direction during a short break and Ichigo rolled her eyes. For once, she actually looked like a girl and the difference in how other people treated her was astonishing.

Certainly, she didn't do it often –wasn't even allowed to – and that was probably why the differences stood out to her especially.

And she was glad for it. Despite all her father's action, he still had to accept after a few years that she was a girl and was going to grow into a woman. With puberty coming around, she was wild and stood up to him whenever she could. She ruined his parties and meetings, talked back and defied him to no end.

It was no fun for either of them and Ichigo dealt with punishment becoming worse every time she did something wrong or didn't come home with a perfect score. That no sports team would take her in during middle school, didn't sit well with Hideaki either.

So, after she turned fourteen, she made a deal with her father: she was allowed to act and dress like the girl she was every other weekend as long as no one learned her name or connected her with the family.

She, on the other hand, had to score high in school and play the act whenever her father called. She would play the sports he told her to play and she'd stop defying him.

It worked for a while now, but Ichigo felt the restrictions coming with that deal weighing on her shoulders and her soul. It made her restless and hindered her from forming her own identity.

Instead, she learned to observe others and used them as her teacher to perfect her charade. She learned that not only clothes defined who she was. Her hair, her posture and little things like mimic and gesticulation determined what kind of person she was in front of others.

Today, she wore short, blue pants and a white top that showed more than she was normally comfortable with. But she didn't check her outfit before running out the door, so she'd deal with it.

The red shirt that she had worn in the chilly morning, was now tied around her middle and gave her more of an adventurous appearance. As if she was about to stalk off into the wild.

Normally, she tied the front of her brown hair back with only the shorter strands hanging in her face, but today, it fell freely down her sides and curled wildly.

Ichigo enjoyed this free time immensely, but after she told her father that the basketball team didn't take her in, he revoked all privileges and caged her inside their house. The discussion was one of the uglier ones and Ichigo still shivered when she thought about it. The last couple of weeks had gone by at a glacial pace and she had grown restless in her small room.

It was better than the alternative though, because she barely managed to hinder him from calling the school office and force her way into the team. It wouldn't have ended well if he'd succeeded as the relationship between her and the other players would have gone down the drain faster than she could say basketball.

Instead, she was told to find another club she could join and that he approved. So far, she had had no luck and time was running out. Not long and the only clubs available were arts and music.

"Hey!"

Ichigo furrowed her brows when one of the volleyball players approached her. He was the one who had smiled at her the entire time.

The group was done with the game for now, but instead of twelve players, there were only eleven. The twelfth one was packing his stuff and said his goodbyes just as Ichigo concentrated on the field again.

"Do you play volleyball?" Her eyes snapped back to the young man in front of her. He had short, dark hair and brown eyes that sparkled mischievously. He wore white shorts and a blue shirt and had quite the muscular build.

His smile was genuine and for a moment, Ichigo thought about saying yes. It seemed fun.

She hesitated though and glanced behind him where his friends were watching the scene unfold. The small voice in her head told her to accept the offer and enjoy a game of volleyball without pressure or fear of being discovered. Her heart begged her to do it. To have some fun.

But she knew she couldn't. Like a drug addict, she couldn't start again. It had taken her two weeks to banish the thought of going back to the gym and start training with the boys.

So, she shook her head.

"Sorry. I don't play."

His face fall, but he nodded.

"Too bad."

He turned around and returned to his friends. They soon started a set of two against two and Ichigo focused on finishing her bento.

For a while, she simply enjoyed the games, watched other pedestrians and felt the soft breeze in her face that blew away the annoying strands of hair. A smile showed on her face and she started to hum a song that her mother used to sing to her before bed.

The warm sun lured more and more people into the park. Children played and laughed, students played other sports like badminton or football and older couples strolled around judging the younger generations.

One thing broke Ichigos idyll though: loud laughing.

She turned around and choked on her spit as she recognized the young, laughing man.

"Yamamoto-san", she whispered and quickly let her hair fall into her face. She cursed under her breath and fished for her backpack to throw her stuff into it. Lucky for her, she didn't have much.

Because he was not alone. Yaku and Kenma accompanied him and didn't look happy. Who would though?

Ichigo knew they had training on Saturday, so they must have come here right after it ended. They were sweaty, bruised and especially Kenma looked as if he had gone through hell.

The group joined the other volleyball players and Ichigo packed up her stuff quickly. Her eyes darted to the boys every other second, but they didn't spot her and instead seemed to take over the field without much fight on the side of the university students.

On the contrary! The boys seemed to know each other pretty well as they greeted each other fondly, clapped backs and grinned brightly.

Ichigo grabbed her bento, jumped up and turned around with one last look at the players. Delighted, that they didn't pay heed to their surroundings, she grinned and turned around.

A little too late.

She bumped into something that was hard and soft at the same time and if it wasn't for the arm that shot out and grabbed her, she would have fallen on her behind.

"Whoa! Easy there."

Oh, she knew that voice and her insides turned to ice. She blinked and lowly looked up, only to freeze immediately as her worst nightmares became true. Her eyes grew wide and a big lump formed in her throat.

"You okay?"

She quickly avoided his gaze and stepped away from none other than Kuroo Tetsurō. He smiled brightly at her, but didn't seem to recognize her. In his hand, he had a drink from one of the street vendors nearby.

"Thank you", she choked out. For the first time, she was thankful that she didn't look like the boy she played every day in school at all. Kuroo didn't recognize her either. The longer she stayed in his company though, the more the chances rose he did see similarities.

Kuroo's smile grew wider and he winked at her. Winked! Ichigo swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes. She was certain now he wasn't onto her, but his cockiness grated on her nerves.

"Kuroo!", Yaku called, "Stop flirting and come play!"

He looked behind her and his smile changed to a grin.

"Coming!"

Ichigo ducked her head and her cheeks grew warm. What a dread! She hated that reaction and on top of that, she was still in close vicinity to the boy.

"I have to go", he said.

She nodded and stepped around the tall player, but he cut her off and rubbed his head. Gone was his mischievous expression and cockiness. Ichigo opened her mouth, but closed it again. His change in demeanour was so sudden that it surprised her for a second.

He looked to the side and needed a moment to vocalize his thoughts.

"Do you want to play with us?"

Ichigo blinked. It was the second time that day that someone asked her to play. Did she look like a volleyball player?

She didn't think so.

"And?", he asked.

This time, the answer was easy though.

"No, thanks."

She gave him no chance to stop her again and walked away without looking back.

"I am coming!", she heard Kuroo yell and closed her eyes. That had been a close one. Her heart was still beating in her chest and the blush wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried.

She shook her head and kept walking, even when she heard the familiar sound of a ball hitting flesh, the cheer of the boys and the net being hit.

No matter how much she wished for her dream to become true, it wasn't her world. And it would never be.

To her luck, she knew exactly how to dress to not raise suspicions. Good for her that she knew her rules by heart and stuck to it. No matter what.