Hello all and welcome to another chapter of The Zookeeper :D

My thanks goes out to my amazing beta hestia8639, who is absolutely awesome!

Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to everyone who favorited and put this story into their alerts. Especially, though, I'm grateful to my reviewers: Yami Kozue-chii, Tora3, sakuraddiction, Guest, and AmericanNidiot!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Rumor has it

Chiharu was up far too early for her taste. She wasn't against early mornings, per se. She liked them well enough. There was just something about the smell of a crisp early morning that was lovely. But, definitely not every day. She made room in her life for only so many crisp early mornings a year. So, when her alarm blared at four thirty she just wanted to smash it against the wall and continue sleeping. But, the girl managed to get up at five, after hitting the snooze button a few times. Barely.

She struggled through her morning routine and had to return back to her home twice. Once, because she'd forgotten Akari's and her own gym clothes. The second time, though, she'd remembered that she also needed gym shoes. So, all in all, Chiharu's morning was not a good one. She managed to isolate herself from the stress by plugging in her earphones and playing her favorite mix, a compilation of Cuban songs she'd grown up listening to, as loud as it could go.

When someone tapped her shoulder on the train she simply moved, thinking that they were asking for the exit. Luckily enough, the morning train was almost always half-empty. But, the hand on her shoulder was persistent with another tap. This time, Chiharu didn't move to the side, but took out a single earphone, turning around with the face of a poked dragon.

"What the hell do you- K-Kuroo-senpai!" Her voice broke over his name, mortification taking over.

"See, Kenma, it is Chiharu-chan!" The tall third-year nudged the setter, who was obviously trying to act like he didn't know either of the two loud messy haired idiots. "Oi, Kenma." Kuroo, apparently, wouldn't be deterred that morning.

"She obviously didn't want to be disturbed." Kenma deadpanned up at his friend, yawning into his PSP soon after.

"Were you up late last night?" Kuroo frowned. "You have that face that almost always means that you were up late playing."

"I was."

"W-wait a second!" Chiharu finally found her voice. "Why are you guys on this train?" She stared incredulously at the two.

"We need to get to school, Chiharu-chan." Kuroo gave her a 'duh' face. "We always take this train. Kenma lives just a bit down the street, so I go get him in the mornings. He's such a heavy sleeper. Probably because of all the odd-hours gaming he does."

"I didn't ask for your whole life story," the girl grumbled before he could continue. It seemed like Kuroo was used to holding one-sided conversations. Knowing that he was often with Kenma, though, explained it.

"Feisty this morning, are we?" The captain smirked down at her.

"Irritated," she shot back. Her mind normally would have gone insane over the fact that she'd been so frank with the boy, but this early in the morning, she didn't really have her filter on properly.

"That time of the month?" Kenma choked on air, fumbling with his PSP.

"That time of the morning." Kuroo couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. Chiharu's eyebrows rose, vanishing into her messy curls. "Does he always laugh like that?" She turned to Kenma for sanity.

"Mm." There was none to be found, as the setter nodded with a straight face.

"Wait, when did you guys become best buds?" Kuroo seemed to recover quickly.

"We were in the same class last year," Kenma piped up. "We talked." Kuroo looked from one to the other.

"Quite a bit, too," Haru added helpfully.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" he asked, tone rising with obvious disbelief.

"Nobody asked," the two second-years replied in perfect unison. As the name of their stop was called and the odd trio filed out of the train, Kuroo couldn't help thinking that Kenma and Chiharu had moments when they were a bit too similar for his liking. If they were allowed to spend any more time together, he knew that they would eventually gang up on him, one way or the other.

"So, is it that time of the month?" he cheekily asked from behind the two second-years, receiving a glare from Haru and an incredulous look from Kenma. Yes, they were going to gang up on him one way or another soon enough. The two completely ignored him, instead discussing Kenma's game in hushed tones. Needless to say, Kuroo didn't understand a word they were saying.

"Yaku, you're with Sakurano today. Show her the ropes." Nekomata gave instructions to the boys after they'd been measured for their jerseys and warmed up properly for the morning. "Shibayama, you're playing libero for the blue team. Red team, you've got Kuroo and the first years." Groans rang out, but no distinct complaints were heard. "Let's have a small match." The group dispersed, the boys heading out to the court. Chiharu was left standing with the short libero who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else except there. In absolute panic, she connected her panicked gaze with the lesser of two evils, the captain. Kuroo, though, offered her nothing except a grin and a 'go ahead' motion with his hands.

"Umm, Yaku-san, right?" Chiharu said when she realized that the short blushing boy wouldn't be the one to break their awkward, tension-filled silence. The third-year jumped at her tone and whirled around.

"Yaku Morisuke, third-year, libero!" he listed off, eyes wide. Then, he seemed to realize what he'd done and shut his mouth tightly, his blush spreading even further across his face.

"Y-Yaku-senpai, then," Chiharu tried again.

"Just Yaku is fine, Sakurano-san." His voice was so low now that she barely caught what he'd said.

"Just Haru is fine then, Yaku-san." Chiharu was honestly hoping that he would gather himself before it became even more awkward. The more tense he became the more tense she felt. All in all, she thought that this little 'getting shown the ropes' thing would go horribly.

"Haru." Yaku nodded a few times, before he took a deep breath and his shoulders finally fell down, relaxing. "Alright." When he looked at her, slightly up due to his short stature, his eyes were focused despite the blush on his cheeks. "Let's get started."

Yaku Morisuke turned out to be quite the helpful mentor and a rather nice boy, once he got over his initial shyness around her. He'd pointedly demanded throughout their teacher-student time that she call him by his first name, as well, as he wanted them to be equals. And Chiharu had given in halfway through, feeling rather comfortable around the libero. He reminded her of Ikki in ways that she just couldn't ignore.

Yaku had taken her phone and entered three new contacts: his, Kuroo's, and Kenma's. If she was having trouble with anything, couldn't make the practice on time or couldn't come at all, she was to contact them in that order. Since Yaku was apparently the most responsible member of the Nekoma team, he was usually in charge of the contact within the group. They also had a chat on Line, which he promised to send her the invite for. Kuroo was the second-best option to contact, if Yaku wasn't replying or picking up. He, though, had a bad habit of reading texts and not replying, just because he forgot, so it was best to call him. As for Kenma, texts were the preferred type of communication, replies guaranteed at lighting speed.

Next, Yaku had given her a tour of the changing rooms for both the boys' and the girls' teams. She would be sharing with the Girls' Volleyball Team, and they already had a free locker for her to use. Other than that, she needed to know about the single light blue metal storage unit in the locker room. It held all the important documents for the team and only the coach had the keys to it. Also, the towels were stored there, on the top shelf. Yaku assured her that she would get her own copy of the key soon enough and asked her not to lend it to any of the team members, no matter the circumstances. Apparently, there had been some kind of an issue during his first year where some of the documents had gotten misplaced. Since then, only the manager and the coaches were allowed to use the storage.

"You probably already have an idea what to do during regular practice, right?" Yaku asked as they walked back towards the gym, carrying towels.

"Yeah." Chiharu nodded. "Water bottles, towels, and notes on plays," she listed them off on her fingers.

"That's pretty much it," the libero confirmed. "If we're having a match, practice or in-team, you will probably be asked to flip the score or serve as the referee or spotter."

"Spotter?" Haru asked.

"You stand near the back line, on the side, and watch for the balls. If the ref can't see whether they're in or out, you will be the one to judge them," Yaku supplied. "During an official match, there are usually four or more spotters. And, if we're playing a really big game, there will also be cameras recording the lines. Then, we can accurately see how the ball hit." He looked over to the second-year, noticing her lost expression. "But, don't worry. Kuroo and Tora are the only ones to really argue balls."

"Argue… balls?"

"Yeah, they appeal to ref's decision, asking for them to rethink it." Yaku nodded. He led her into the gym, where it got much louder, the boys yelling for tosses and cheering when they scored. The two changed their shoes. "For example, the spiker's hand hits the net or he steps on the line when serving." After getting a nod, Yaku continued. "Those are the most common faults and the ref will catch them. If he doesn't, a player can argue for a fault or a double-touch, for example." Yaku stopped listing off when his charge halted. Chiharu had her face scrunched up, thinking. "Haru?"

"Morisuke, I'm going to be honest." She looked Yaku straight in the eyes. "I understood only about half of the things you just listed, and I'm not even certain I've got the right idea there. So, I'll just do my best to learn while watching and come to you with any questions I've got?" At this, Yaku laughed lightly.

"Don't worry." He grinned, motioning with his head for the bench. "Nobody expects you to know everything right away. I'll do my best to support you, of course. If there's anything you're wondering about, you've got me, Kuroo, or really anybody who's free at that moment." He scowled then. "Except Lev. Lev is an idiot." Chiharu chuckled at the expression, nodding.

"I'll be counting on everyone sans Lev, then." The two placed the towels onto the coaches' bench and sat down, side by side, watching the teams. The red team seemed to be struggling. Half of the balls they received went flying, like home runs. Yaku actually had to extend his arm a few times in front of Chiharu to prevent a headshot.

"Also, the coach hates dealing with scheduling." He seemed to recall after Naoi yelled at Lev to keep his hands up properly. Kuroo seemed to have given up on the half-Russian. "He gets plenty of calls about practice matches and away games, so you may end up dealing with his cellphone at some point. I suggest getting a good planner, because it gets pretty hectic halfway into the season."

"I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff." Haru grinned, finally in her element. "Like, answering the phone and scheduling stuff."

"That's great!" Yaku seemed relieved. "Because I've been doing it since the senpais left last year and it's not my best skill. I actually overlapped two practice matches at the end of the year." He laughed awkwardly, scratching his cheek absent-mindedly. "It was pretty lame."

"I'll be happy to save you from the evil phone, Morisuke," she said seriously. The pair stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Kuroo had been distracted. He'd expected Nekomata to give Chiharu a mentor. But, he hadn't thought that that person would be Yaku. After all, he, himself, was the obvious choice. He'd recruited her. She already knew him. They had a connection. Chiharu was already pretty comfortable with him. And, he knew the team the best. So, why Yaku?

His thoughts had lost the red team their first set. Hence, with a groan of frustration, as the libero and their potential manager had been gone for too long, Kuroo forced himself to focus. He could deal with those two later. Now, he needed to get the first years into shape. So, he re-grouped them, gave instructions and they prepared for the next set. They managed to take it somehow, with a two-point difference.

It was during that break that Kuroo noticed that the two people he'd been worrying about were back. Chiharu and Yaku were sitting next to a pile of towels on the coaches' bench, casually talking. The libero seemed to be pointing out play after play, explaining them to the girl, sometimes showing her with his hands, too. She, in turn, nodded, and giggled whenever Yaku had an annoyed face. Kuroo squinted, trying to make out what they were saying. She was full-blown laughing now. She never laughed with him or Kenma like that.

Then, it was lights out.

"Kuroo?"

"Oi, captain?"

"Nice headshot, Kai!" That was Yamamoto. A ball from the other side of the net had been spiked perfectly into Kuroo's cheek, sending him to the ground. He groaned from the floor as the team gathered around him with varying degrees of concern.

"It wasn't meant to be a headshot!" the wing spiker defended. Something cold landed on Kuroo's face while he was trying to blink his vision back into focus. Then, the cold vanished and he realized that it had been a wet towel. Chiharu's worried face came into his field of vision. Her eyes were pretty big, Kuroo realized. Like, the attractive kind of big. And warm. A warm brown color. Like chocolate. He felt like eating some chocolate.

"Kuroo-senpai, can you hear me okay?" Even her voice was trembling. She really was worried.

"Of course." He smirked up at her.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Chiharu's hand was above his face.

"Two."

"Alright." She nodded and then helped him sit up slowly. "Do you know where you are?"

"School, morning practice." She was checking his condition, Kuroo realized. "And, it's a Tuesday." His head throbbed, but it wasn't too bad. He'd had worse.

"How was the last point scored?"

"Fukunaga spiked it near the back line." Another nod from the girl.

"Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous?" Her fingers were warm on his cheek as she examined the extent of the external injury.

"Neither." Kuroo leaned back on his hands, causing Chiharu to move forward, following him. She pressed the cold towel back onto his cheek. "So, am I all good, Sakurano-sensei?" The cold towel slipped from his face. Though, Kuroo managed to catch the blank expression on the girl's face before she covered it up with a small frown.

"Looks alright." Chiharu grabbed his hand and made him hold the towel. "Hold that in place so it doesn't swell and wait a bit before playing again. If you're dizzy or nauseous, tell the coach immediately." Her voice was tight, Kuroo noted. There was something wrong. But, the girl got up, brushed off her shorts and smiled at the team. "Seems like it's all good." Cheering erupted through the small group.

"Haru, you know first-aid?" Yaku touched her arm, getting her attention. Chiharu gave a nod. "That's useful! Really useful!" Wait, Haru? Kuroo's brain went into overdrive. So, in the span of two sets she let Yaku call her by some kind of nickname while for two whole days she scowled at him calling her by her first name? What was that?

"Kuroo, can you get up?" Kenma was at his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He pushed himself to his feet. "Thanks to Chiharu-chan, I'll be playing again in no time." Her cheeks colored and she gave him a glare, before turning to walk to the coaches. Nekomata was smirking knowingly from the bench. He knew that she knew first-aid, Kuroo sighed in disbelief. That sly old man. He knew. No wonder he had been so happy to hear that Chiharu would be joining them for practice the previous day. Kuroo shook his head to himself, ignoring the slight twinge of pain that came with the movement. Unfortunately, the coach didn't let him play for the rest of the practice and he placed himself in between the captain and the would-be manager skillfully, smiling all the while. Kuroo was just glad to be out of there as soon as the red team lost, despite having Yaku as their libero.

The rest of Kuroo's day came and went in a similar fashion. His cheek swelled up, despite the cold compress he'd put on it later. And, his morning classes sapped away the last bits of strength he had. He was quite certain that he'd slept through half of them. Which meant that he needed notes.

"Oi, Misaki," Kuroo called out during the short break between his classes. The girl two seats in front of him was ignoring him with passion. Kuroo smirked and pushed himself up, sliding into the seat in front of him. Then, he had the perfect position for irritating the life out of his classmate. "Mi-sa-ki~" Kuroo sang out, tugging the end of her braid with each syllable. "Calling Misaki-sama to answer this commoner's humble summon and grace him with her-"

"Shut up, Kuroo." The third-year whipped around in her seat, tugging her hair out of his hands with a sharp movement of her head. "What do you want?" Kuroo straightened from his half-lying position on the desk and offered a nice, polite smile. Very much different from his usual smirk.

"Misaki, my love," he began. Kuroo and Takahashi Misaki had been in the same class since their first year, rather miraculously. She was a tall girl, one of the few who didn't have to crank their neck to the side in order to talk to him properly. Her eyes were dark blue, hidden behind thick glasses and she always had her hair in a braid. This was the girl who was their class president and a member of the debate club. Which meant that she was the one to deal with all of their class troublemakers, Kuroo included.

"Don't make me smack you," she threatened.

"You'll never get married with that attitude, you know?" Kuroo really couldn't help himself. He loved razzing this girl as much as he could, much to her annoyance. "Maybe someone with a dom fetish, though?"

"Well, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Misaki gave him one of her 'looks' over the top of her glasses. It was a glance that told him he was in trouble for something with her. But, for the love of God, Kuroo didn't know what it was. Surely, he hadn't razzed her since last year.

"Would I?" Kuroo's head went to the side, questioning. Misaki's eyes went wide.

"You haven't heard?" she asked incredulously. Then, she turned even more in her chair, so that she could talk easily. "Some rumors floated up from the second-year floor. And, you know I don't normally gossip, but these were about you, so I stopped to listen." Kuroo motioned for her to continue. "Some second-year girl has been saying how you set a date and a time for you guys to go to a love hotel." At this, Kuroo's eyes went wide.

"Ee- w-wait, what?" He was pretty certain that he was blushing.

"Exactly," Misaki continued. "Knowing how much of a dork you are, I figured it was a false rumor. Though, the girls in 3-2 were pretty certain that the beach bunny girl spreading them was telling the truth."

"Beach bunny girl?" Kuroo asked, frowning.

"Tanned, you know. As in, she spends all her time at the beach picking up guys." As Misaki explained in her matter-of-fact voice a single image popped into Kuroo's head. Rather tan skin, wide chocolate-colored eyes, large lips and wild curly hair that she forced into a bun. It couldn't be Chiharu, could it? "That's all I've got, though." Misaki was expectantly looking at him. "So, what did you do to scorn her?"

"Scorn her?" Kuroo tried to remember. He really did. "Nothing?" He shrugged. "Honestly, if you are talking about the girl I think you're talking about, I doubt that she was spreading a rumor. She doesn't seem capable of it." Misaki scoffed at that.

"You'd be surprised what a cornered girl could do. It's always the quiet ones." Misaki turned to the front, grabbing something off her desk, and then faced Kuroo again. "Get these back to me tomorrow, sleepyhead."

"Yes, commander!" Kuroo mock saluted with a grin, getting up, but his heart wasn't in it.

Kuroo slipped away from his usual third-year lunch group in favor of seeking out Kenma. As he walked down the second-year corridor, there were giggling, glances, and hushed whispers following him. Normally, he'd be delighted to have that kind of attention. But, this time, with the rumor running wild around the school, he felt like it was the wrong kind of attention. So, with a small grin on his face, Kuroo sought out Kenma.

"Yo, Kenma," the third-year greeted and plopped in front of the setter in a stranger's chair. The whispers and giggles in the classroom slowly died out as the novelty of Kuroo's presence wore off.

"Kuroo." Kenma had a small frown on his face. "You heard?"

"Yeah, sounds troublesome," Kuroo agreed. "You know anything?"

"Some girls were talking about you and Chiharu yesterday." The setter gave a small shrug. "I guess it spun out of control." Kuroo let out a long sigh, his head falling to the desk, right into his arms. He stretched, so that his hands were all the way on Kenma's side and he received a 'look' from his friend. Kenma wouldn't be cutting him any slack, despite his wounded status on the rumor mill.

"How bad was it?" he asked quietly.

"The usual rumors about relationships," Kenma replied with a small shake of his head. "Just leave them alone and they should go away." Giggling from the other side of the classroom caught Kuroo's attention and he looked over. A group of four girls squealed as quietly as possible, blushing, and then they put their heads as close as possible and started whispering.

"Leave them alone, huh?" Kuroo asked Kenma, pointing at the giggling squad.

Kuroo was going to leave it alone. He honestly was. Because, when it came to social matters he trusted his best friend's judgment over his own. Kenma, as awkward as he was in conversations, knew people. He knew how to deal with them and he knew how to react the best possible way for the outcome he wanted. So, Kuroo trusted Kenma's advice first and his own instincts right after it. But, he just couldn't stay silent after hearing something like that.

"Six hours?" The girl standing in a group of five next to the window giggled. "That's one serious claim to live up to."

"I heard that she had been in the motel a number of times, too," another piped up. "Something about silk sheets. That's some serious comfort there." They all giggled.

"Hello." Kuroo found his own mouth opening before he could stop it. And, by the look on their faces, they hadn't seen him passing by. And, those wide eyes and open mouths told him that they knew exactly who he was. And, Kuroo, for once, wasn't happy about being recognized. "I hope that you know those rumors are bogus, don't you?" He grinned lazily down at the girls.

"Y-yes, of course, Kuroo-senpai," one of them managed to squeak out.

"If I wanted to do it with someone, it definitely wouldn't be in a motel, regardless of the sheets." He really, really should've stayed silent, like Kenma had told him.

That's all folks!

I hope that you guys enjoyed the new chapter and that you'll be patient with me as I write like a wounded slug xD I've been obsessing over my True Blood work recently hahahaha

Here's a question for you guys, would you like Haru to be the manager of the club or not? :D
And now, onto my favorite part!

Reviews:

Yami Kozue-chii: Heeeey! Thanks for the wonderful review :) I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope that I've still got you entertained :D Bear with my wounded slug pace please hahahaha
Haru joined? Hehehehehe I'm evil, I'm sorry xD I'm already planning drama hahahaha Well, the boys will be there to back her up, promise :D
Hope you enjoyed!

Tora3: Hey! Thanks for the feedback :D Kuroo-senpai to the semi-rescue hahahaha Here's another Omake to enjoy :D Glad that you liked the Yamamoto one :)

Sakuraddiction: Cheers! Thanks for the lovely review :D Honestly, I'm making no promises regarding Haru's sister… You'll have to wait and see :) There will be more of her wacky family soon :D
Oooooh dudeI'm weak for awkward Kuroo too! He's such a dork in my eyes xD But, he's trying to work the height and the bedhead hahahahaha Here's some more of his awkwardness. Hope you enjoyed!

Guest: Hello, welcome back, and thank you very much! Reviews are food for the soul and the inspiration, 100% hahahaha
I hope that you'll keep enjoying the story :D Haru has a bit of a strained relationship with her sister. We're going to see how it develops and why it has come to this point soon enough :) Cheers and thanks again!

AmericanNidiot: Hey, thanks for the review! I'm glad that you're relating to Haru. But, I promise that there is more to her big sister drama… Stay tuned!

Omake:

Yaku Morisuke usually didn't pay attention to rumors. They were nasty, tended to spin out of control, and were often quite false. But, when the girls from his class flocked around him, a rare sight, bombarding the short libero with questions about his captain, there was really no way to not pay attention. They were asking all kinds of things, albeit a little shyly in the beginning, but once they gained momentum, they grew more confident.

It had started when one of the girls asked if Kuroo was his captain. Then, when he confirmed, two more joined the slowly gathering crowd. And, when another question was answered about Kuroo not being in a relationship to the best of his knowledge, more of them came over. At that point, Yaku was blushing from all the female attention, which wasn't a normal thing in his usual school day. But, it was the fifth or sixth question, he'd lost track by then, that got him to completely lose it.

"So, it's true that he can go for six or seven hours?" one of the giggling girls asked. Yaku's eyes went wide, blush spreading across his ears. "That's what the beach bunny said, after all. They do it all the time, apparently."

"Beach bunny?" he asked slowly.

"That Sakurano girl, from second-year. The tanned one with a crazy bedhead." Now, Yaku choked on air.

"Haru?" He asked incredulously. Then, he felt his stomach ache and his head hurt slightly. He burst out laughing, the guffawing turning into a cough when he swallowed the wrong way around. "Oh, God," he managed, before bursting into another set of cackles. "Haru and Kuroo?" And he fell onto his desk, almost crying from laughter. The girls, not interested anymore, shrugged to each other, sharing questioning looks and dispersed from around the short libero who just couldn't gather himself.

Now, I'm actually done. Looking forward to your feedback :D