Yachi was shaken by the reality of a person over two meters tall. She hadn't met Murasakibara when he visited their school, and Yōsen's team couldn't attend the barbecue in Saitama. Watching Hyakuzawa on the court doing warmups now had terrified the first-year.

Ai chuckled and rubbed the younger girl's back. "You'll get used to it after a while."

Yachi's head turned rustily. "R-r-really?"

She nodded. "Yes, you'll be fine. Stay by me if you'd like."

The blonde nodded back speedily and with a determined face. "I'll do that."

The referee blew the whistle, and the teams bowed in greeting. Tsukishima was up to serve, starting the game.

Kagugawa's team was composed of second-years with one first-year ace. The captain seemed like a smart setter, and the libero was good. Ai wrote what she saw on the court and left blanks in her notebook where the coach could analyze the data.

They struggled with blocking the spikes that went right over their hands. However, Nishinoya and Daichi had observed the opposing first-year before the match. From watching their previous game and the warmups with them, Kakugawa's Number 9 appeared to not be able to hit in varying courses. He only spiked cross-court in the direction his body faced. And, judging from his plays, Hyakuzawa must have recently started playing volleyball. He was a novice like Lev, but he lacked the speed, senses, and dexterity of Nekoma's first-year. Therefore, they began to disregard the possibility of straight shots, and Nishinoya received the next spike.

They were creative and did well on offense as well. Many people came to watch, and the gallery became crowded.

Hinata was behind in height and power. Simple, pure strength beyond a certain level could suddenly become something that keeps ordinary people away. At least, when faced head-on.

There was more to volleyball than aerial combat.

The first set was only at 4-2, with plenty of time to control the game.

Kageyama spoke to Daichi as Tanaka was about to serve, and the boy in a blue shirt compared the glimmer in Hinata's eyes to his dog seeing food when it was hungry. The duo pulled off the new quick attack where the ball stopped and dropped.

Each team scored until it was 14-15, Karasuno.

Whenever Hyakuzawa was in the back line, he stood in the corner, protected from incoming serves by his teammates. Additionally, this rotation brought Tsukishima to the front for the tallest block the black team had.

Kageyama's serves were powerful, but they didn't measure up to the control accuracy of Oikawa's. The libero in dark green got used to the impact and received Kageyama's demon jump serve head-on.

The senile retired Coach Ukai upstairs reviewed his lessons on tempos with his young students. Third tempo was when the spiker started running after the toss. Second tempo was when the spiker started at the same time as the toss. First tempo was where the setter tossed the ball after they had started running. However, Hinata and Kageyama's quick attack was categorized as a minus tempo, where the spiker had already jumped and was in the air, waiting to swing, when the ball is tossed to him. It was a skill unlikely to be copied; not without Kise or any other prodigy.

The first set ended, and the second set was flying by pretty quickly.

Kakugawa couldn't stop Hinata's quick attacks, and neither could Karasuno stop Hyakuzawa. It was essentially a race to get more points first with both teams going all out on offense. The other guys exuded their new skills as well with a synchronized attack in the first tempo. With four attackers moving in at once, it jarred the light green blockers.

It led to 24-19, Karasuno's match point. This rotation was their shortest block.

As Hyakuzawa was about to spike again, Daichi, Hinata, and Tanaka jumped a little slower than usual and touched the hit with a soft block. After his teammates connected the ball, the little Number 10 jumped to spike. He shot upwards again, as he did in the three-on-three in the Third Gymnasium. Hinata fell onto his back, and they won the second set. It was an amazing block out. It made her worry a bit about him getting hurt, but that was her job; worry for the athletes so that they didn't have to.

Yachi celebrated with the two elementary school boys as the guys on the court praised Hinata for the last point.

"We did it, Ai-senpai!" the other female manager cheered.

"Yay!" The boy in blue grinned.

She watched the players line up on the white line to bow to each other. "We're lucky that Hyakuzawa is still a novice to volleyball. Otherwise, with that height, he may be as troublesome as Atsu-kun's defense." She shrugged but smiled softly. Kakugawa was going to be really scary next year, once Hyakuzawa learned and gained more skills.

.

Nishinoya and Tanaka offered to hold the bags for Kiyoko, but the oldest manager declined and went to check the upstairs balcony for any forgotten belongings.

As they headed for the exit after winning their games for the day, the guys teased Hinata's "hgya" when he'd received Hyakuzawa's spike. However, when Ennoshita mentioned their summer homework, it was Tanaka and Nishinoya's turn to scream "hgya", having procrastinated on their schoolwork until then. And, since her classmate rejected helping them, the libero and wing spiker begged Ai for her assistance.

"Please, Ai!"

"I can't solve the homework problems even if I wanted to!"

Ennoshita sighed. "You can't resolve everything by asking Ai for help," he chided.

Ai didn't mind a study group, so she was about to schedule a homework session at Nishinoya's residence to expedite their studying per usual when Hinata shouted.

"Ah!!! I forgot my lunchbox!" He turned and ran back up the stairs.

Not wanting him to go alone, Ai decided to follow him. "I'll be back."

When she caught up with him, they came upon a couple of guys hitting on Kiyoko. They were persisting for her phone number, and one of the guy's dyed hairstyle and piercings made him look a little dangerous.

Hinata was frozen to the spot, so she stepped in.

"Senpai, we should go."

All heads turned to her.

"Woah," the two guys whispered under their breaths, seeing the girl in dark clothes and with magenta-red eyes.

She stared back confidently.

"Ai-chan, and Hinata," Kiyoko said, surprised.

They snapped out of their initial reaction of astonishment.

"Hey, who's this? A friend of yours?" The outgoing guy with his phone came towards her. "You're pretty. Can I get your number, too?"

She met his eyes with her fuchsia ones. "I'm afraid we don't have time to spend with you."

The guy grinned, amused by the unique color of her irises. "Don't say that. Let me take you out, miss."

It was then she noticed his tongue piercing. Before she could deny him any further, Hinata jumped in between them. He was able to distract the two people, and they let them off of the hook.

The guy with cropped caramel blond hair and piercings winked at Ai as they walked by. "Later, pretty lady."

Ai didn't recognize them or their yellow track pants, but the blond guy with piercings said they hadn't played in the prelims. His team, whatever it's name was, had been in the top four in Interhigh. If Karasuno kept winning, they would eventually see each other again.

She her gaze pierced his back as the two unknown guys left.

.

Outside, Yamaguchi stood with Tsukishima like usual.

"Ai-senpai's really knowledgeable," he said to the blond middle blocker. "The game turned out just as she said."

"I guess."

Asahi turned his head toward them and added, "She said this is only her fourth year as a sports manager, but honestly, I think she's had more high-level experience than any of us."

"Huh. Even more than the King?" Tsukishima joked.

"Will you shut up?!" Kageyama barked.

Staring at the entrance doors, Tanaka and Nishinoya stood side by side, waiting with their arms crossed.

"Don't you think Kiyoko-san's a bit late?" the wing spiker glowered.

"Ai is, too. Shall we go check?" the libero replied.

Just then, a team of guys wearing yellow track pants walked out. They stared at Karasuno's guys loitering around the front of the gymnasium, and Asahi was a bit frightened. The two second-years were ready to fight back, but Nishinoya started whistling after the captain cleared his throat as a warning. Daichi looked back at the passing guys curiously. Perhaps Ai would know who they are; she was their most trusted source of information, and he relied on it as much as the next person.

Not a minute later, Karasuno's remaining club members came outside.

"Kiyoko-san!!! We're so glad you're safe!!!" Tanaka and Nishinoya shouted in unison.

Ai glanced at everyone before walking down the short steps. She flashed a smile to the second-year trio and went to where Sugawara and Yachi stood. "Thank you, Hitoka-chan." She also nodded to the vice-captain.

"Oh, um… For what?" she asked.

"For staying with the team, of course." Ai caught the ace and Yamaguchi looking at her from afar. Daichi also seemed as if he had something to say. "Did something happen?"

Yachi shook her head. "No-nothing! We thought something happened to you because you were taking a while…"

Ai smiled and patted the girl on the top of her head once. "A queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early."

The youngest manager and the vice-captain both flickered their eyes between Ai and Kiyoko with open mouths.

"Let's get going!" the captain called. Everything around them was already soaking in the red-orange glow of the sunset, getting darker by the minute.

.

On the bus back to school, Ai sat in the aisle seat next to Ennoshita, while Kinoshita and Narita sat in the row behind them.

"Hey, Ai?" the middle blocker's voice asked.

"Yes, Kazuhito?"

"I know our opponents today might not have been the strongest, but weren't you surprised? I mean, you seldom look startled at other teams' skills."

She hummed as she thought of an answer. "In middle school, Seijuro made it a norm to score a minimum of twenty points in each match. It applied to everyone except Kuroko-kun."

"Twenty points each?!" Kinoshita exclaimed.

"I think the highest we went up to is 203 to 31 during my first-year as a manager. After a while, it was normal to end with a triple score." She remembered a particular match. "Though, Ryōta-kun took some time to get those points when there was a particularly tenacious defense."

Ennoshita repeated in a whisper, "203 to 31… No wonder…"

"No wonder what, Chikara?"

"Nope, nothing!" He shook his hands in denial. No wonder she and the basketball guys are so intimidating. They're incredibly skilled.

She continued after a second, "Well, that's not to say I don't enjoy a nice surprise. Watching skillful plays that exceed my expectations is amusing." Ai shrugged. "Besides, Kuroko-kun and Seirin won against Seijuro's Rakuzan last year. …You never know what'll happen."

———

Last Spring

Kise glanced down at the water faucet. The green-haired former teammate had left with Takao, a first-year from Shūtoku. Midorima had acquired a strange bicycle-pulled cart now that they were in high school, and the two had left to go back to Tokyo. The remnants of Mr. Ribbit's shards were cleared and properly thrown away.

Kuroko was different from before. Why didn't he focus on winning, as they did at Teikō? Victory was everything.

He had a hard time focusing on practice for the rest of the day. When it was finally over, stood in front of his locker and changed his clothes with robotic movements. Something gnawed at his brain.

When his yellow phone caught his eye, an idea came to mind. He could give her a call. It'd been a while since they'd last spoken anyway. Now was a perfect time.

Pressing a few buttons, the small forward dialed a number. The phone rang for a few seconds.

"Yes?" a cool, female voice said when the line connected.

"Hey, Ai-cchi. It's Kise."

"I know. What is it, Ryōta-kun?"

"I played a practice match against Kuroko-cchi today."

"Well, good for you." Her tone was as apathetic as ever, and her aura even over the phone was shrouded in mystery.

He took a deep breath in. "Ai-cchi, I lost for the first time in my life." It was a close match, 100-98, but a loss nonetheless.

"I see." She paused for a moment. "It was bound to happen. That's what it means to play against one another."

He laughed a bit dryly. "I thought I remembered you being nicer than this."

"I don't think I've changed all that much since Teikō."

Kise pouted to himself. "Kuroko-cchi dumped me when I asked him to come to Kaijō. He had a new partner who's from America, too."

"That's his freedom to choose, but his new light sounds intriguing. He must be skilled, then."

"Yeah. And, I saw Midorima-cchi afterward. He said our horoscope has the worst luck today," the blond groaned.

"Hmm. That would explain why the zipper on my schoolbag broke this morning."

"That's not as bad as losing," he whined.

"I suppose not." There was shuffling of papers coming from the background, as if she was working on something while calling him. "So, Seijuro isn't his only player of interest."

Kise chuckled lightly. "Guess not. Kuroko-cchi is fun to play with," he admitted. Then, he sighed before confessing, "He got hurt during the game. …It was kind of my fault."

The line was quiet. "How bad is it?"

"I don't think it was too bad. He played in the fourth quarter after laying down for a while, but it was his head, so…"

"You should go see him, Ryōta-kun. I know you and Kuroko-kun were close. Make sure he's alright, especially if you think it's your fault." This time, he heard her sigh. "I don't want your friendships to become more strained."

He smiled a little. Her kindness was still there after all. "You bet! Hey, what about you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Am I a player of interest to you, Ai-cchi?"

"That depends. Are you worth my attention, Ryōta-kun?"

He grinned. "I'll show you I am."

She breathed out a passive laugh on the other side of the phone. "I'll look forward to it." At the moment, Akashi was the only player she was interested in, as Kuroko was to Momoi. "Is that all?"

"Yup. So, I'll see you next at Interhigh, then."

There was a pause. Kise raised a confused eyebrow and was about to ask her name when she answered.

"I may or may not. I doubt I'll be seeing you at the tournament."

"What? Is your school's team not strong or something?" he joked.

"It's not my team, per se, but rather our differences in playing fields."

Kise thought she was talking about how she was a manager, which was different from how he was a basketball player. Never in his dreams would he have imagined that Ai would take up volleyball, or any other sport for that matter, in high school.

"We'll see how things play out. I expect to hear rumors about Kaijō's strength out here in Miyagi."

"Of course you will!" He zipped his bag and grabbed his gray blazer jacket. "Bye, Ai-cchi! Talk to you later!"

"Bye, Ryōta-kun. Keep me in touch."

.

Needless to say, Ai saw him in many magazines, both for modeling and for basketball. She made it a routine to flip through the rack at Sakanoshita to and find his featured article every month. Ai sometimes heard Karasuno's basketball club members in her class talking about it, but she didn't participate in those conversations, having chosen to take a break from her old sport.

Whenever Ai met with Murasakibara, she'd mention the small forward's name at least once. Kise would also text her about published interviews from time to time, to which she always answered that she had already seen it.

Total Word Count: 2742