A bit of follow-up for the previous chapter…

Akashi reluctantly let her go after about an hour of cuddling so she could finish packing.

Kuroo also called Ai that night before she left, mumbling an excuse for not being able to see her off at the station the next morning. However, to make up for it, he said that he would persistently ask Coach Nekomata for another training camp as soon as possible.

Ai giggled, asking the volleyball captain if he was abusing his status to get what he wanted. He scoffed and insisted that it was all so they could go to Spring High Nationals, and because he was a nice person.

They laughed. Ai still held the middle blocker accountable for mentoring Tsukishima, while Bokuto had taught him the reason to play volleyball.

Her childhood friend from Chiba also told her a few stories about growing up with Kenma. The two spent an hour on the phone until Ai wasn't sure how much longer Akashi could keep his composure.

It wasn't that her boyfriend didn't want her to call her friends; he respected and wanted her to have friends, even if they were guys. It was just inconvenient at times that the sports clubs she managed were all composed of male athletes, and she seemed awfully close to them. The sports players were competitive to some degree, some more than others, and Akashi didn't like to lose.

He waited out in the hallway to give his girlfriend her space, somehow upholding his patience. However, as soon as she ended the call, he entered the room swiftly and wrapped her up in a big hug again. He leaned his head against hers and secured her within his arms. Ai smiled and relished being surrounded in his embrace.

Kenma and Akaashi texted her safe travels and invited her to come to Tokyo again soon; her chat history with each setter was growing longer and longer. Fukurōdani's vice-captain told her that Bokuto wasn't as lively without her around, and Kenma would mostly reply within a minute. He didn't outwardly show his emotions, but anyone could see that the setter cared about the manager and put more effort into communication with her. After all, Kenma pausing his video games for something or someone was a rare occurrence. All of Nekoma missed her, too. Nobody could blame the Cats for wanting her as their manager.

Since Ai wasn't riding the train back to the Tōhoku region with Murasakibara, she borrowed Akashi's oven to bake cookies for his trip back to Akita. Three dozen homemade snickerdoodles should keep him pleased. They were usually meant for the holidays, but he could use some happiness after breaking his arm.

Going home on August 30th additionally meant that she would miss Aomine's birthday by a measly day. She baked an extra batch for the blue-haired ace, asking Akashi to pass them along.

———

It took roughly four hours to go from Tokyo to Miyagi prefecture. She messaged Aomine on the train, being reminded of her strange dream from two nights ago.

Ai: I'm sorry I couldn't stay for your birthday, Daiki-kun. I hope you have a happy birthday and celebrate with everyone else.

Daiki-kun: sure i guess. no big deal

She made a troubled smile at her phone, imagining him sulking and Momoi having to deal with the consequences.

Ai: I'll go back to Tokyo so we can meet again.

Daiki-kun: yeah come back soon

———

(August 31)

On her first day back for practice at Karasuno High School, Nishinoya greeted her with a huge hug. The action was short, but his big squeeze around her biceps conveyed his boundless excitement and energy of having her back.

He laughed and held her left shoulder. "Alright!!! Now, we're back in business!"

"I thought you weren't coming back," Tanaka teased.

"You must not know me well, Ryū," she said, matching his sarcasm.

Needless to say, everybody was happy to have the second-year manager with them again. Some gave her hugs upon her return to Karasuno, while others were a bit shy to initiate the contact.

"We watched your match, Ai-senpai!" Yachi beamed. "It was incredible!"

"Thank you, Hitoka-chan." She gave the blonde a side hug.

"Is the guy who broke his arm ok?" Narita asked.

"Ennoshita here was worried you were going to delay coming back so you could tend to his and that other guy's injuries." Kinoshita lightly punched the other backup wing spiker.

Ennoshita didn't miss a beat, donning a smirk. "Hey, I know you guys were thinking the same thing, too."

"Ryōta-kun wasn't injured, thankfully. He was simply burnt out. And they're both okay now. Atsu-kun's arm is on the mend." She gave them a smirk of her own, but her two classmates noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. "Besides, I think I have a certain team to help prepare for the Qualifiers coming up in less than two months. Don't I?"

The second-year guys smirked right back, sharing a moment of mutual understanding.

"Ai-senpai, did you go to the game with Kenma?" Hinata prodded with words.

"I did. His team, Keiji-kun, and Kōtarō-san watched it with me."

"Nekoma and Fukurōdani's setter..." Kageyama mumbled.

"So you weren't on the bench," Tsukishima confirmed.

"I had my reasons." She looked up to meet their tallest middle blocker in the eyes. And just like that, not even the inciteful Tsukishima could question her any further.

"Ai-senpai! Please tell me what I can do to get better, too!" Kageyama shouted suddenly.

"Oh, me too," Sugawara slid in. "We're going to have a little competition of the setters," he bantered.

"All right, all right. It's good to have you back, Ai." Daichi presented two types of smiles: one to welcome her back and one to end the chaos.

"Congrats on the match, Ai. It was really amazing," Asahi said. He stood behind Daichi, blissfully out of sight from the captain's fearsome expression.

"Thank you, Asahi-san. It really was a great game." Again, her smile seemed somehow empty.

Kiyoko conversed with her, leading Ai away from the flock to start their managers' work. The three team supporters chatted with smiles between doing their jobs. Two more days until school started again. "How was the trip back? Was the train crowded?"

"Only a little. The two hours went by in a flash." Ai fell in line with the females easily, going back to routine. Her mind automatically switched to volleyball.

"That's three hours less than taking the bus," Yachi thought aloud.

"It's just an hour and a half on the actual Shinkansen, actually. I think I'd visit more often if not for the cost."

"Right," the third-year smiled, nodding along. "But, I'm glad your game went well."

Yachi pointed to the two chairs set up on the side of the court. "We kept your notebooks over here! Shimizu-senpai and I tried to keep a record of what we did while you were gone, too."

"Thank you. Let's jump right back into it."

.

Ennoshita found the older setter sweating and standing by the door to catch any breeze he could. "Sugawara-san."

"Hm?"

"Does Ai seem a little gloomy to you?"

Sugawara's eyes widened. "Yeah, I thought she looked sad, too."

"Maybe she's just tired from the trip... Or something could have happened in Tokyo...?" The No. 6 tried thinking back to the match they all watched on Nishinoya's laptop. However, he couldn't find a reason why she'd be so glum.

"I don't know. But, I don't think she's unhappy to be back with us."

"I can go talk to her," he suggested. Ennoshita glanced outside, where Ai was probably helping Yachi fill water bottles.

"Yeah..." the setter mumbled. All the while, Sugawara wondered if she would talk to him instead if he asked her what was wrong.

"I'll tell you how it goes." The second-year nodded to his upperclassman and went to step outside and change shoes.

.

"... Has it been two months already? You're amazing at the job." Ai's voice traveled as she smiled at the youngest manager.

"No, this is nothing! Compared to you and Shimizu-senpai, I still have lots to learn!"

"You're so humble, Hitoka-chan." The girls giggled together.

Ennoshita approached them with a causal mood and smile. "Ai? Do you have a minute?"

She turned toward him. "Of course. What is it, Chikara?"

A normal response. He waved her over, watching as she touched Yachi's elbow to leave her at the water fountain. They started walking, away from the blonde and the open gymnasium doors.

"You don't have to tell me, but did something happen in Tokyo?"

She sucked in a breath. "You're quick to notice."

"We've been in the same class since the first day of our first year." They rounded the corner of the gymnasium's perimeter, and Ennoshita stopped when they got to the roofed pathway. "What happened?"

Her posture suddenly seemed so forlorn as she unusually folded into herself. Ennoshita felt his worry grow.

"I think..." Her mouth felt dry when she swallowed. "I think I lost someone important to me..."

If she was being completely honest, she sometimes felt like she wanted bereavement counseling. There were times when she felt overcome with grief. When she was alone in her room, remembering all the good times she'd spent with him in Teikō.

I just need time to process..., she thought.

Tears threatened to form in her stinging eyes again.

She blew out a breath, steadying her emotions. She shook her head, hands on her hips. "He's not dead. I should know that. ..."

I'm just never going to see him again.

He's a personality. A conscience. He'll disappear as easily as he appeared. He doesn't 'die' in the normal sense.

He's just ...gone.

I should've known that. But, she felt lost, angry, sad, numb... All the emotions of losing a close someone.

She swiped her fingers under her eyes, catching any stray tears that might have spilled.

Dissociative identity disorder was usually a reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories.

It could be caused by recurrent episodes of severe physical, emotional or sexual abuse in childhood, the absence of safe and nurturing resources to overwhelming abuse or trauma, and the ability to dissociate easily.

Information online described it as "a sense of being detached from yourself and your emotions." But, Ai didn't know if that fit what Akashi experienced. She also read that some people with dissociative disorders had a tendency toward self-persecution, self-sabotage, and even violence, both self-inflicted and outwardly directed. A few of these characteristics weren't far off the mark.

And, this psychological circumstance could be induced by stress, memories, strong emotions, senses, alcohol and substance use, special events, or specific situations.

"Ai? Hey there..." Ennoshita tried to soothe her by rubbing her back. Was she going to cry?

"Chikara... I'm never going to see him again. I lost him forever..."

"Who? Your boyfriend? Did you break up?"

All she could do was shake her head so he wouldn't misunderstand.

"Who's not dead?" Tanaka, who had strolled outside at just the right time, asked.

"Ai, come watch! Me and Asahi-san got better at our combination!" Nishinoya bounced to her side.

The libero inspired the start of a smile as he always did, but she ended up pursing her lips.

Is it wrong for me to miss him so much? The personality that shouldn't have been born in the first place... The "other half" of Seijuro?

"I wish I could've hugged him, one last time..."

Her friend wrapped his arms around the middle of her back. "We're all here for you, if it's any consolation."

"Thank you, Chikara. It is." She felt her shoulders begin to relax. "And you, too, Kazuhito, Hisashi."

The two others who were poking their heads out of the doorway laughed dryly at being caught.

"Yū. Ryū. Let's go back inside." She took their arms and let them tug her forward across the few feet to the gymnasium.

.

"How have you been, Kei?"

"Fine," he replied indifferently. "You haven't been gone that long."

She leaned her back against the tawny brown wall of their gymnasium, joining his little break. It felt like she was back home again. "I'm glad three days isn't enough for all hell to break loose. I should thank Kiyoko-senpai and Hitoka-chan again."

"Did you ..." He regressed into incoherent mumbling, contemplating whether or not he should finish the question.

"Did I, what, Kei?" she asked softly, kindly. Passively encouraging him.

"Did you find out that you like basketball more?"

She broke out into a soft smile. "I like them both the same. But, I think, maybe I like each of them more than I thought I did."

Still, that didn't explain the sorrowful looks on her face. "Then, why are you so sad?" His voice was small, almost like he was embarrassed about asking her.

She couldn't meet his eyes and instead looked at the floor. "It's not about picking one sport over the other, so you can stop worrying. I'm not going anywhere."

Tsukishima watched the red gem on her necklace shine in the summer sunlight.

"However, I do want to make a phone call for a birthday before today ends." Ai gave the first-year a small smile and walked away, wondering if her friends at Tōō liked the snickerdoodles as much as her boyfriend did.

———

(September 2)

Ai had found a nice chocolate shop online in Wakano town. She saved the address and took a bus to the neighborhood. It was the Sunday before school started again, the last day of freedom. Going out was also a good change of scenery from finishing last-minute assignments.

She arrived at the shop without much trouble and clicked the directions on her phone off at the door. The decorative little bell rang when she stepped inside.

"Welcome," the shopkeeper said kindly. The lady stood behind a glass display, attending to a couple of other customers.

Ai nodded to the staff. A waft of chocolate hit her nose, and she walked around the store to explore a bit. It wasn't too big, but many bundles of chocolatey products crowded on top of the tables and counters. There was hardly room to navigate around the assortments of sweet cacao.

"I'll take two of this one," a middle-aged woman said.

The attendant nodded and handled her purchase. The other customer, a tall male, just stood in front of the display, happily wondering what to choose.

Ai circled around and picked up a flat box with chocolate cubes in many different flavors. Murasakibara would probably like quantity rather than quality, knowing he often ate highly processed snacks. Still, chocolate from a chocolatier was a delicious delicacy.

She joined the other person at the counter as the woman left.

"Thank you so much!" The shopkeeper glanced at her and the remaining customer before turning around to organize the back, giving them time to choose.

Ai inspected the seasonal sweets on display, a few of them on a time-limited sale.

"I recommend the 'Chocolat framboise'," a light, masculine voice said.

She turned to see a tall and lean guy, perhaps a high schooler. He was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, but his spiked deep red hair was in plain view.

Ai didn't mind entertaining his conversation. "Do you come here often?"

"Sometimes," he said with a song to his voice. "First time?"

She nodded. "I moved to the area last year."

"Ohh," the stranger in casual wear mused. He glanced down at her hand. "Who's that for?"

"A friend." This was the least she could do, in addition to the cookies from before, after he broke his arm against Silver last week. Maybe Murasakibara could share it with Himuro, too.

"So," he drew out, "not a boyfriend." He grinned.

"This time." She continued to look for something in the display case.

"Ouch," he joked.

Although she couldn't place her finger on it, Ai thought she knew him from somewhere. She tried to think back as she browsed for an early present for her junior manager's birthday.

"Hmm," he hummed and also debated what to get. Then, his cell rang. "Hello," he answered, elongating the last vowel. He listened a bit before singing, "I'm out shopping!"

While he took the call, Ai asked the shopkeeper behind the showcase for some help.

"Buying chocolate! Do you want some, Semi-Semi?"

She checked the expiration date and chose the raspberry chocolate after all. Ai paid for the two items and asked the attendant to wrap them as gifts. She waited for her to bag her purchases.

"Okay! Tell Wakatoshi-kun I'll be back soon!"

And then, it hit her.

Tendō Satori. Shiratorizawa Academy, third-year. Middle blocker.

Of course. His school was nearby.

Ai had briefly reviewed the general information for the schools to be aware of, the prefecture's top powerhouse being one of them. That was three months ago, before Interhigh. Shiratorizawa hadn't been one of the teams that played at the Sendai Gymnasium for Block A, so she hadn't seen him at the tournament. Ai wasn't as savvy with information as Momoi, and it took her a hot minute to remember. She was usually good with faces, but seeing this tall man up close was somehow different. His personal air. Mysterious was one way to put it. Definitely eccentric. She was glad he jogged her memory. What were the odds? Who would have thought she'd meet him in a place like this?

By then, Tendō had put away his phone and was staring at her as much as she was at him. "Have I seen you before?"

Ai shrugged. "In a magazine maybe?" Although the team Vorpal Swords had taken a group photo at the end of the match, she doubted he would've seen the picture.

"You're too pretty to forget," he bantered melodically. Everything he said was like it had a tune that he composed by himself.

The middle blocker from Shiratorizawa smiled playfully. "Hmmm… Let me guess," he tapped a finger to his cheek. It seemed that he only taped his fingers during games, like Tsukishima. But it was the opposite of Midorima, who wore it to protect his fingers outside of basketball. "You're a sports team manager."

It was her turn to smile. "How did you know?"

"You have that kind of vibe," he said, losing interest in searching for confectionery at the moment. "But, you're elegant, too."

And here she thought the Guess Monster only reacted upon instinct. He was observant as well.

"Soccer?"

"No."

"It's not baseball..." he thought aloud.

Ai shook her head.

He snapped his long fingers. "Basketball."

Her lips curved up in a smirk.

"Aha! So, it's basketball!" He grinned.

"Thank you for waiting." The attendant came back and handed her the paper bag. "Have a nice day."

Ai nodded a thanks and turned to leave.

"Red suits you," he said.

She stopped and looked down at herself, realizing that the shop's bag was red with beige embellishments. She met his eyes. "It does to you, too."

They smiled.

"See you again, stranger." Ai walked out of the shop, letting the door close behind her as the little bell chimed again. He wasn't the only one who could leave people in mystery.

———

(September 3)

The second trimester at Karasuno High School began.

Nishinoya and Tanaka managed to finish some of their homework for a passing grade, thanks to a study session with their beloved manager, and everyone went back to their usual schedule.

Needless to say, everybody was happy to have the second-year manager with them again. Some of them gave her hugs upon her return, while others were a bit shy to initiate the contact. The three females chatted with smiles between their jobs as well.

The guys worked on their serves, as it was the ultimate offense where they could fight individually. The students also had a practice match with the Neighborhood Association again. During it, Tanaka tried a sharp cross spike and hit the rack of water bottles on the floor.

"Sorry!!!" he cried.

"It's alright, Ryu." Both Ai and Yachi jogged over to the puddle of spilled water. "I've got it. It's already dark outside. Would you get a rag from the storage room, Hitoka-chan?"

The blonde nodded and ran to retrieve it while Ai went to the water fountain to refill the bottles.

The wing spiker took a deep breath and regained focus. Behind him, Daichi whispered something to Asahi. Perhaps the coach's comment about an elementary school kid being able to stop his spikes had influenced his decision on trying Bokuto's special move.

Tsukishima continued to participate in his older brother's practice at the Karasuno General Sports Park Indoor Gymnasium. There, he worked on blocking adult spikers like Akaizawa, which led to coming to school with taped middle and ring fingers on his left hand one day.

Since the recent practices were more focused on individual training, Ai took this chance to study and memorize her sadō tea ceremonies. The culture festival in September was nearing, and without as many diligent club members, the responsibility on each person was grand. She spent her afternoons in the tatami room and stopped by the gymnasiums for an hour before going home. Coach Ukai also had her add a few shifts at Sakanoshita because of their frequent expeditions to Tokyo.

———

(September 25

Tuesday)

A beautiful autumn sunset of yellow, orange, and red spread in the sky outside, with an aesthetic array of cumulus clouds. The breeze from the open windows made Yachi shiver. Kiyoko had stopped tying her hair up in a ponytail and wore her black club jacket, but everyone else still wore short sleeves. Ai lent the first-year her Karasuno jacket and let down her long hair.

They were doing a practice game within the team, with Coach Ukai standing on the step ladder by the net. The duo tried the new quick and made it through to the other side.

Yachi smiled happily when they succeeded and kept track of their progress with X's and circles. She wrote them onto a sheet of paper with a blue clipboard and mechanical pencil.

September 24th: 21 out of 29

September 25th: 29 out of 33

After that, Asahi worked on his serves while Nishinoya concentrated on receiving them. A jump floater came towards the libero, but he couldn't get to it. Looking up, he saw that Yamaguchi had hit it, who looked as awestruck as the second-year.

They were all growing fast, and it was phenomenal.

Ai stuck around for their personal practices until after dark. On those days, both the third-year ace and Nishinoya offered to walk her home or at least to the nearest bus stop.

September 2nd is nobody's birthday. I just put it out there for reference.

Total Word Count: 3856

(Next is 2.14 Growing Fast part three, the fourth and final training camp before the qualifiers! )