Hello my wonderful readers,

I'm alive with another chapter after a bit of a break. I keep getting distracted hahahaha

My thanks goes out to all my readers, followers and those who've added this story to their favorites. Special thanks to all those who reviewed, because that motivates me to write :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Ladies and gentlemen, this is...

"Chiharu-chan?" Kuroo called out, entering the classroom. Sure enough, he found the target of his secret inquiry, a girl with a tight bun of wild dark hair on her head. She seemed to try to vanish into her desk when he called out for her, while her friend, the scary, short one, puffed out her chest, taking up the most terrifying weapon in existence, her bookbag. "I come in peace, I swear." Kuroo put up his empty hands, defensively.

"Akari, it's alright." Chiharu surprisingly piped up in a small voice. Kuroo decided that he definitely didn't like that tone on her. It didn't suit her at all. He preferred the girl who had flippantly rejected his non-confession.

"You sure?" Asked the scary friend with her bookbag gripped tight.

"Yeah." And with another glare at him, the short girl left the classroom. For a few moments, it was completely silent. Kuroo could clearly see that the dark-skinned girl was avoiding eye contact, as if he would disappear if she ignored him long enough. But, he had no intentions of vanishing just because Haru was uncomfortable. Kuroo thrived in uncomfortable, after all. A small sigh left his lips and he smirked, walking over to the desk in front of the girl's with a relaxed swagger to his long stride.

"So," Kuroo plopped down into the chair in front, delighting when Haru's eyes finally met his. "Apparently we're in some kind of a friends with benefits scheme, so I thought we'd try friends first?" He could actually see the change in the girl in front of him. In the silence that stretched between them, Haru stared straight into his eyes, unblinking. Her back straightened, her hands unclenched and she slowly closed her eyes.

"Dammit," the girl cursed under her breath. When her dark eyes opened again to look at him, it was like wasn't seeing him at all. Kuroo as quite familiar with that kind of a glint in an eye. Though, he mostly saw it in an opponent getting ready to spike as they reached the top of their jump. "I'm going to wring her neck I swear."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Kuroo didn't know how to stop the girl other than physically, as she jumped out of her seat with surprising speed. His hands caught Haru's, pulling her back down into the chair. "No maiming, please."

"Oh, there will be no maiming, I promise," Haru growled and he felt the muscles in her arms clench and unclench underneath his skin. "I'll just kill her and be done with it this time."

"I'm usually on board with a bit of rebellious acting out, but even I know that this won't end well," Kuroo was careful to talk to the obviously upset girl in a soft tone, like he was calming down a frightened animal. "Why don't you give me the details and we'll come up with a plan that doesn't end with you in jail for first degree murder?" Haru's eyes went up to his again and she stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter. Kuroo was, in all honesty, baffled.

"Have you ever had a nemesis?" Haru asked when she finally composed herself. "Like a person who's the complete opposite of you and always trying to ruin your life for some unknown reason?" Now that, Kuroo could relate to. He was well aware of the annoyed expression on his face as he let out a groan.

"One of those sneaky types?" Daishō Suguru's annoying scheming face appearing in Kuroo's mind.

"Ah, so you have," Haru gave him a sympathetic nod. "Well, welcome to the female population's version of scheming."

"Brutal," Kuroo nodded.

"Brutal doesn't cover it," Haru grumbled. "She's just a menace, that's what she is." The girl let out a soft sigh and slumped into her chair, head lolling back. A small whine-like sound left her, out of pure annoyance, the boy guessed.

"Well, rumors are rumors," Kuroo shrugged. "There's no stopping them really." Haru didn't rise from her position. "You can either wait it out or give them a juicier story." He suggested conversationally. A groan left the girl in front of him.

"I'm not stooping down to her level," her voice sounded weird from that position, Kuroo mused. "I won't attempt to outmaneuver her when it comes to rumors. I just want to sock her." He couldn't stop his chuckles after that one. He really couldn't. Kuroo had seen girls have verbal and physical fights before, but he'd never seen one actually punch another. And, with this girl, he was pretty certain that he would get that.

"Then, why don't you just let us handle it?" The third-year shrugged, successfully getting Haru's head to snap up. "We might not seem like it, but the team can do some serious damage control when necessary, even with rumors." She looked like a doe in headlights. Kuroo almost laughed. But, he managed to only keep his smug smirk on his lips.

"B-but why?" Haru asked, tilting forward. "I mean, I get that you need a manager. However, surely there are other options? I'm not even familiar with the sport!" Kuroo waved his hand to cut the girl off.

"It isn't about that at all," he shook his head. "Partially, it was our fault that this mess started. Well, mine mostly," his hand rose to mess with his hair nervously for a split second. "So, I just want to even it out." Haru opened her mouth, closed it and then did the same again. "Besides, if my generosity scores us a manager, the team would be ecstatic."

"What generosity!" She finally yelled out and hopped up from her seat. "You just said that it was your fault!" And Kuroo laughed.

Kenma returned to the gym without their Captain. As soon as the setter walked in, there were eyes on him. The team was practicing, as usual, but they spared a glance at the second-year as if they'd planned to do so. He shook his head, telling them that Kuroo was away on Kuroo business and that not even he could do anything about that. Then, he gave a small shrug, signaling that he had no idea how it would go.

"Kenma!" Naoi shouted, motioning to the court. "You're late! Get in there!" The setter nodded, mutely putting on his volleyball sneakers and walking over to his position by the net. He immediately got a ball tossed to him, which he set for Kai to spike over.

"Is she gonna kill him?" The third-year asked in a low tone when he landed. Kenma shrugged. "All options are still on the table then."

Haru didn't know what to make of Kuroo's plan. She was, first and foremost, surprised by the third-year. It was like he had some kind of compartmentalization in his head. He had laid out his plan for dealing with the rumors out for her, though she still had an inkling that he was holding something back. And then, like the whole mess had nothing to do with their need for a manager, he'd asked her to come and watch their practice game. Apparently, once she saw them play she'd be hooked on volleyball. Haru doubted it. But, she couldn't say no at the way he genuinely smiled and his whole face lit up when he talked about the sport. Besides, she had Kenma there if all else failed.

The girl didn't go straight home that day after school. She grabbed a bite to eat on the way to her work and went to make up her missed hours. Haru had gotten lucky with her part-time job. The boss was almost always away in Europe or South America, completing her new collection. So, most of the decisions were left with the manager of their home shop in Japan, who was good friends with Haru.

The studio wasn't far away from her school or home, just a few train stops away, and she made good time arriving. It was a small place, a two-story home and studio, where they did most of their developing and took some pictures. The outside was built in a modern style, decorated in red and gold with ghastly Chinese dragons which made the whole thing seem like an oriental restaurant. They got more than a few tourists coming in and asking about Chinese food. It was a running gag that the group should open up a small section outside where they could serve take-out. However, despite the odd outside of the studio, it was a well-known photography shop in the country. Mostly because of the owner's reputation, they got to work with models, film stars and various sports teams looking to promote themselves.

"Afternoon," Haru greeted, entering. The inside was completely modern, in white, black and grey, with a large countertop just as you entered. Behind it was a man in his twenties, still at the university, with an attractive face and a leisurely way about him. He was the manager and boss' right hand man, Kurosaki Satoshi.

"Hey, Haru," Satoshi greeted with a smile. As usual, he read her expression all too well. "Still doomsweek?" A single groan left the girl, sounding quite desperate, making the older boy laugh and wave her over behind the counter. "Alright, I won't pry. I'll even let you put on that silly music of yours while we have no customers." Grinned the manager, reaching over and ruffling Haru's already messy hair.

"Salsa is definitely not silly, Satoshi." She retorted, letting him make her resemble Cousin It. Haru had learned within her first week on the job that trying to go against Satoshi was pointless. He didn't seem like it, with his hoodies and cargo pants, but the young man was a force of nature. An unmovable force of nature. He liked to say that it was his star sign, Taurus, which made him so. Haru didn't believe it. But, whatever Satoshi wanted, he got. While that wasn't Haru's ideal workplace environment, seeing as they didn't like the same food or music, it was great for on-site jobs. Satoshi didn't bend the knee to their clients and he always convinced them to do exactly what he wanted, even if it took a bit of time.

Haru quickly got to work as soon as her belongings were on the hanger and her playlist was fed to the computer. With the familiar sounds of Cuba in the background, the girl swayed her hips, humming as she started sifting through numerous photos taken that day. Most of them were portraits, in need of a few touch-ups before being developed or emailed to their owners.

The girl tuned out Satoshi who was working on his most recent photos while humming under his breath. Though, the latter action did bring a smile to her face. Despite his reluctance to accept her music preferences, he had spent a lot of time listening to salsa music. Haru started sorting through photos, placing them in client subfolders under different steps of what needed to be done with the pictures. She took breaks when a client walked in to give them information about their services or take photos for IDs or passports. Satoshi was only called once, for a family portrait. The rest, Haru knew very well how to do herself.

Time passed quickly for the girl while she was working. It was always like that. If school was a slow day of boring information being forcefully fed into her brain, work was an endless pleasure, despite the seemingly tedious tasks. Sorting images, doing basic touch-ups, emailing and calling clients, even cleaning the equipment and the studio was connected to Haru's passion. And, it was an odd passion for her family.

They hadn't known what to do with her affinity for the camera at first. After all, none of the other family or extended family had an artistic bone in their body. But, for some reason, ever since she'd gotten a silly little baby blue polaroid camera for her birthday one year, Haru hadn't left photography. Looking back on those fading polaroids, they were quite bad. Though, Haru still had more than a few pinned on her corkboard, as a reminder of the origin of her passion.

The Sakurano family was a sports family, through and through. Her mother, Sakurano Niko, was a well-known sports reporter who had travelled the world with their ice-skating Olympics team more than once. Her father Dalian, despite being fully Cuban, had been a pro-athlete and then a coach for the Men's National Soccer Team. Even her brother and sister, despite having their careers in medicine and modeling, were known as athletes. Haru's brother, Daichi, had played basketball for a long time and her sister, Chihiro, had been into synchronized swimming. Haru… she was not into any sport. They'd tried, they really had, to get her to play a sport. However, Chiharu was the dud of the family. Rather than train hard and compete, the girl would take the train as far away from home as possible, to get as many shots on her camera of the unknown.

Even if she were just a grunt at her workplace, Haru enjoyed it. She got to see what it would mean to own her own studio someday. She had insight into the delicate procedures that happened behind the counter of the photography shop. She had a chance to learn from the best and hopefully become the best.

"I'm done for today," Satoshi called out, stretching in his rolling chair. "Can you lock uuooaahp?" He yawned as his body tensed, before releasing the tension along with a sigh from his mouth. He'd been sitting in the same position for hours, after all.

"Of course," Haru nodded. "Should I pay attention to anything? Leave a note for Miki in the morning?" Miki was the other part-timer, from University. She was a completely over the top goth girl who worked mornings, attending her classes in the afternoon.

"Yeah," Satoshi seemed to be half asleep, his eyes closed. "Yamashita needs his pictures for the passport ASAP. Also, the family portraits from last week need to be sent out or called in," the young man paused. "I feel like I'm forgetting a thing." Haru shook her head with a small smile.

"If you give me a hint, I could help?" She suggested. That was Satoshi, alright. As brilliant as he was when it came to work, he was horrible at tasks. If you gave him three drawn sheep, he'd probably lose one somewhere, somehow.

"I don't remember." He shrugged, giving up. "Oh, can you work overtime on Saturday? Bonus, of course." Satoshi asked as he closed his laptop and started packing his things.

"Of cours- Oh," Haru's brain stopped her with a smiling face of a certain vexing third-year. She scowled. "I can't, I'm sorry." At that, Satoshi stopped packing and turned around, a sly grin on his face.

"Ooooooh?" That was a bad 'oh'. Haru knew that sound. It was the sound of Satoshi being a little bit too interested in something. And, he'd already been too interested in Nekoma High's rumor mill.

"I just have plans. I'm sorry," Haru tried to evade him by looking back at the screen, creating a note for Miki to find in the morning.

"Sooooo," Satoshi hopped onto the counter right next to the PC keyboard, fully dressed in his jacket with his laptop bag over his shoulder. "You're going to do something with that troublesome volleyball captain, aren't you?" Curse Miki for telling him, Haru groaned.

"I'm just going to see a game."

"Oooooh!" Satoshi's legs swung over the counter and he headed for the exit. But, not before being even more childish. With the door open, he tossed a sly look at Haru and grinned. "Ooooo-ho-ho-ho-hoooo!" Then, he was gone, leaving the girl to laugh to herself.

"A game?" Kai asked in disbelief as the boys ran laps in the dark morning. "You invited her to a game?" Kuroo nodded, his bedhead flopping everywhere. The team ignored it, as usual, used to the morning messiness that was their captain.

"I don't see how a game will fix anything," Yaku piped up, panting a bit as he caught up to Kuroo and Kai. "The rumors won't just go away if Haru comes to see us play." Kuroo laughed with a self-satisfactory smile on his face.

"But, is our goal to vanquish the rumors or to get a manager?" He asked them with a knowing smirk. Yaku groaned.

"We clean up the rumors first." The libero seemed to be having none of their captain's usual nonsense that day. Maybe it was the early hour. Yaku seemed to be grumpier the earlier their practice ran. "You made a mess, Kuroo."

"I didn't!" The third-year defended in a fairly exasperated tone. "She made a mess by calling me out like a rejected confession!"

"You confessed to her?" Yamamoto chose the perfect moment to jog up to the trio and join in. "Where did you get the bravery to confess to such a beautiful Goddess?" Kuroo let out a sigh, turning to their ace.

"Like I said, she misinterpreted it as a confession. I was just-"

"Ah, at this rate, we'll lose Haru," Yaku concluded, cutting Kuroo off. "And with Lev and Inuoka scaring off all the first years, I'll be on phone duty until I graduate." Kai nodded along, causing Kuroo to finally snap.

"I see, I see," Kuroo grinned toothily, making the nearby volleyball players groan. That smile always meant trouble. "Energy of youth, isn't it?" The captain turned around, jogging backwards and nodded at the rest of the team. "Let's pick up the pace at the request of your fellow volley freaks!" And his long legs started eating up the ground much faster when he turned once again, making the whole team groan. Perhaps, they shouldn't've teased him so much.

Haru woke up at half past four feeling completely groggy. She didn't know how, but getting up in time for volleyball practice two days in a row had her sleeping pattern completely confused. It seemed that the rooster that usually pecked her awake in her brain had accepted four thirty as its new default and it had started going insane when she didn't rise by that time. So, Haru was up, feeling like she'd gotten hit by a bus. Luckily, it was Friday and her afterschool plans were nil. She would be able to return home and get some more, much needed, shut-eye.

But, it seemed that that morning she would be getting no more sleep. So, the girl rose, went through her morning routine and settled into the empty kitchen at the counter to get some quick breakfast. She didn't even bother turning on the TV to rumble in the background and create a sense of fullness to the home. Instead, Haru finished up the last of her homework and revised her history notes as she ate.

As soon as that was done, her mind wandered away from the schoolwork and back to the current drama with the Volleyball Club. Kuroo had seemed set on having her as a manager. She really didn't understand his type. Haru had known the boys for only two days and the whole team seemed a little to attached to her already. Yaku had texted her an apology, hoping that their captain hadn't overdone it and offended her. Kenma she'd seen at school the previous day and he'd even mutely nodded at her. She'd also recognized the intense stare that vanished as soon as she turned to find the source, which could only be the quite memorable Yamamoto.

Why? Haru didn't understand. She didn't know them. They didn't know her. Why couldn't they just leave her alone and pretend that all of those events from the last week hadn't happened. She would be happy with that. She could be happy with that. Happy? Well, not really happy. Indifferent. Haru knew how to be indifferent. She didn't care much for clubs or investing in them. What would that bring her? Happiness? Sense of fulfillment? Not really. There was only one thing which made her brain go into overdrive and it wasn't sport.

Photography was her thing. A camera store was her idea of a good time. An exhibition was her ideal date. Hanging around a court with a bunch of yelling boys throwing themselves after a ball was nothing special. It was the usual. It was what she'd done around her father back when he'd played. It was what she'd done around his team afterwards. And then, she'd gone to bring her brother lunch while he practiced. Even after that, Haru had watched her sister's occasional competition. Sport wasn't anything she wanted to be a part of. People who were invested in it were alright to be around, but nothing special. She didn't know how to be happy while she watched and cheered them on.

Her father always said that those who played sports were good people. Some were dishonest, but deep down, they were still good. The desire to win something as simple as a game brought out the best in people, he'd say. Were Kuroo and his team like that? Did they genuinely want her to be the manager and wished to solve the mess that had been made at the school? Haru didn't know. Her mind was a mess and she had zero energy that she could spare to deal with it. But, she'd already agreed to give them a chance. She would let them do what they could and then decide what to do when all the pieces fell in place.

With a small sigh, Haru stood from the kitchen stool. She put her dishes in the sink, grabbed her things and after her shoes were on her feet, she was out of the door. Her music for the morning was an old Cuban record. The slow rhythm of Chan Chan through her earbuds made her mood lift as she travelled to school. She didn't even dread feeling the stares of the students infected by vicious rumors that much. At least, she didn't while she was in her Cuban bubble.

A hand on her shoulder made Haru jump and whip her head around. She almost felt sorry for the closed-eyed face that she was met with. Her wild hair had obviously hit her senpai quite hard due to the quick movement.

"Listening to something good?" Kuroo opened his eyes and that lazy smirk made its way onto his lips. Haru was beginning to hate that scheming smile.

"Nothing you'd like," she retorted with a definitive tone. Her mood was not the best and, in all honesty, she just wanted him to go away for the morning. Couldn't he come and bother her in the afternoon, when her patience was awake?

"Try me," apparently Kuroo wasn't one of the guys who got the hint. "I'm quite open-minded when it comes to music." Or he did get the hint, but was simply choosing to wave at it as it passed by. Regardless, Haru shook her head and obliged, offering one earbud to him. He graciously accepted it with an extravagant bow and then motioned for her to keep walking towards the school. As if on cue while the senior was positioning the earbud, the song changed. The upbeat tempo of Mambo Number 5 was always a thing that cheered Haru up. That time was no exception.

As Kuroo frowned, walking by her but still listening, the girl started humming the melody and then joined in with the lyrics at some point. She wasn't even aware of her head slowly starting to bob to the beat. The short walk from the school entrance to the second-years' floor seemed even quicker and Haru was disappointed when she had to stop, looking up to her unusually silent companion. Kuroo, much to her surprise, was nodding along with the song and looked like was genuinely enjoying the music. As the tune finished, he took out the earbud and gave it back to her.

"Odd, but nice," the third-year smirked at her and Haru found herself smiling back. "Not my usual jam, but an interesting expansion to my narrow horizons."

"Next time you'll have to show me your preferences then." What was she saying? There would be no next time. And why was she smiling and felt so relaxed, as if she were talking to Akari?

"Till next time, then." And with a small wave, Kuroo went further up the stairs to his floor. Haru stood for a few seconds, still, before she headed to her classroom. Surprisingly, her groggy bad mood was completely gone and she couldn't stop humming the familiar tune of Mambo Number 5.

Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D

Reviews:

yunocchin08:
Thank you very much for taking the time to review :D I'm sorry I'm such a slow updater xD
If you're looking for something similar, I wrote some drabbles before this and you can find them on my profile. That is, if you haven't read them already xD
I hope you're going to keep enjoying the story :)

curlystruggle:
Oh gosh! You made me so happy with all the reviews!
I'm glad you enjoyed the first meeting between Kuroo and Haru xD I really loved writing that part and I'm glad it cracked you up :P
Chiharu's sister is a… topic? It will come up again and I swear that there are reasons to her being such a brat xD More to come on that topic :)
Hahaahahaha the omakeeees I love making omakes xD They are always the most fun :P
I swear, that evil little girl is my next topic that's coming up :D I can't wait for the rumor plot to be over so that we can get to the volleyball plot :D
thanks again for all the reviews and I hope you'll keep enjoying the show!

Moonlightshadowxiii:
Hiiiiiiiii! Your reviews are always so long they make me so happy :D
I'm sorry I made you wait again xD I'm a horrible slowpoke… I got into this online game… then I decided to do that game and also switch majors and yeahhhh the rest is history xD Something had to give and writing was that temporarily… But, not I'm free till October :D WRITING TIME!
I'm so happy you like my writing… Like, gosh, that's really the best thing a writer can hear xD No matter how much praise I get, I always have self-doubts xD
I feel giddy while reading reviews, so that makes us even? :P
Aaaah the backstory… I love backstories… Like character strength in their original form is something I'm such a huuuuge sucker for… There are fanfics which do right by it, however, most forget that their OC was a person before they met their significant other and that makes for a toxic relationship in my opinion… However, there are books which do right by character backstories :) Those make me giddy as heck xD I promise that Haru will get in with the volleyball boys, but she needs to have Haru friends and Haru time too :D
Teamwork is ughhhh I'm a sucker for teams doing stuff outside of their sport… Like, if you've seen Prince of Tennis, they have a lot of fillers where that happers *_* So much love for that show sometimes XD We will see how this whole thing develops yet, though :P I'm so glad that you like my fic T_T People like you make me write :D
Awwwwww you're a sweetheart xD I'm always happy to write, even if I have a few readers, as long as they appreciate the time and effort it takes to write and have fun reading through my stuff :D
You recommended my ficcccssss omg xD I'm so honored thanks! I'm always happy when that happens xD
Feel free to write anything to me, I'm always happy to hear what people think while reading my stuff :D I love long comments, so you could never be a bore :) The best thing to me is when the review is so long I can't view it all on my email but have to open the website to see the whole thing xD
I hope you have a great time reading this chapter :D
All my best!

Tora3:
No no no, thank you for the review XD
I always somehow seem to breeze through the anime and then end up writing nothing when I'm done XD Or, like, I'll find myself thinking up OCs and plots and be like no focus ffs girl xD It's hard haahahhaha
Totally shojo manga style! I can't help it xD I'm a shojo fan deep down :P I had to give some kind of drama though and this was the easiest one :P
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Kimikokimono:
I know I know XD I'm a horrible slowpoke with updates… I'll try to keep them semi-consistent, but I sometimes just hit a wall where I'm just sitting and staring at a blank page for half an hour xD but, yeah… I'll do my best XD

Bookdragonslayer:
Lev is love please XD I can't help it I love Nekoma people too much xD They are all hilarious I just wanna watch them for hours… I need more Nekoma screen timeeeeeeeee! Gimmie season 4 now xD Gimmie season 5 too! Gimmie Nekoma OVAs xD
Akari is a beast xD She's all nice and quiet and all that, till you piss her off xD Growing up with brothers will do that to you :P
Hope you enjoyed the update!

The Spade Queen:
Hiiii! Thanks for the review :D
Kuroo is… reckless for sure xD But, he has the charm to back it up, so he can afford to be xD I have a friend who's like that… I always forgive him for whatever he does, all he needs to do is smile xD And, like, his heart is in the right place, just like with Kuroo… so, yep :)
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Yami Kozue-chii:
Uwaaaa glad to see your name in reviews!
I have to be honest, part of me being slow is that I got really into this online game… and I've been playing super competitively for the last year xD then, I decided to switch majors, so I had to leave my college and study for an exam to get into another one… Urgh… Well, at least I'm safely in now, so I have some free time for writing until October comes :D
I promise to try and update a bit more regularly… But, I'm a lazy bum xD
All my best!

Omake:

Yamamoto Taketora didn't seem like the type to know many people. However, when push came to shove, it turned out that he knew more than a few. Not many girls. Girls were a troublesome sort for him. They somehow made his brain short-circuit and his tongue swell up and drop dead in his mouth. They were a troublesome, magical sort.

But, when it came to boys, Yamamoto knew almost everyone at school. Some he'd met through sports, others he knew from middle school and then there were even those who had been introduced to him as a 'friend of a friend' person. He didn't really know them all well, but he said hi and they greeted him back.

So, Yamamoto had quickly gotten started on the secret section of Kuroo's plan. When the unlikely ace of Nekoma thought about it, it was a logical step. What was the best way to snuff out a rumor cruising among the female population? Spread doubt from the male part. So, in casual conversation, he began hinting and talking about the topics his captain had mentioned. Soon enough, the boys he chatted with would go back to their girlfriends and would definitely mention the contradictory rumors if the topic came up.

Though, Yamamoto still couldn't help the intense grin that came onto his face whenever the thought of his success entered his brain. If he did good on his mission, they would get a manager, after all. A cute, girl for a manager. Sakurano Chiharu. He'd written down her name as a self-imposed goal. She would be their manager if he could do anything about it.

Yamamoto grinned, walking towards his classroom after a successful counter-rumor chat with a few boys from the soccer team, both with girlfriends. He cackled loudly and made a few passing girls jump and turn, before hurriedly walking away from him, whispering to each other.