Am I allowed to update this quickly? xD I kinda couldn't stop typing this chapter… Enjoy it as much as I did!

Chapter 7: The truth

Spring rain. Haru wanted to kill someone as she walked into the girls' changing room. How did she forget about the spring rain? Her mind was ready to explode at that point. Drenched to the bone, the girl started fumbling through her things, hoping to find at least something to dry off with. No luck. With a sigh, Haru dropped her bag into the locker and left the changing room. She would have to simply wait for her clothes to dry.

The morning had started perfectly for her. Her sister had been gone, over at her boyfriend's probably, and Dalian had still been at home. The father and daughter had made breakfast together while the sun still wasn't up, singing and dancing salsa as they picked the spiciest ingredients for the meal. After that, her father had driven her to the train station and she'd given him one of the tightest hugs she could manage, because he would be already gone that evening, as always. Yet, Haru's peaceful Monday morning was completely ruined by an unexpected downpour of spring rain as she was walking from the train to school. And, as her luck would have it, she'd listened to Morisuke and Kuroo who'd told her that she didn't always need to have her PE uniform for practice.

The girl gathered water bottles and started her work, hiding under the roof's edge where she could. The water bottles were soon full and she carried them into the gym. The doors were open, just like the locker for the supplies had been unlocked. Haru peeked in, surprised to see Kuroo already there. He was alone, though, pulling up the net.

"Do you need a hand?" Haru delighted in the way he gave a small jump, head whipping around.

"Geez, you're early." He breathed out, one hand on his heart. "Way to give a man a heart attack." Haru giggled, toeing her shoes off at the entrance and going to the bench with water bottles.

"So are you." She wandered to the boy who was doing complicated knots on the volleyball net in order to secure it to the poles. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"A-ah the net? It's easy," Haru didn't notice Kuroo's red face or the way his fingers began to fumble with the knot that he typically could do in his sleep. "Come here." The boy let her stand in front of him, in between his arms, as he undid the knots he'd just tied and then slowly retied them, letting her watch his fingers. "Wanna try?"

"Mhm," Haru was painfully aware of Kuroo's tall body right behind her. He radiated warmth, despite wearing just his volleyball training shorts and t-shirt. For her skin, icy from the damp uniform, it was like a break during a busy day.

"You're supposed to loops that over." His voice was low, Haru realized. She had never paid much attention to his voice. There hadn't been a reason to. He had merely been an annoying sempai. But now, he was... he was... what?

"Oh, I messed up... I think." Kuroo chuckled, the sound making puffs of air hit the shell of her cold ear. A shiver ran down her back, having nothing to do with the cold.

"Not that badly, pull this line here," his fingers came against hers, like fire touching ice. "Tug there, and done."

"You're right." Haru looked at the knot, her hands going down to the one below it. "Let me try again." As she was working, Kuroo's hands fell to his sides, but the heat of his body came even closer to her back. Finally, as Haru tied the knot, doing her very best to ignore the redness of her face, the source of warmth touched her, like a wall of a furnace gently pushing against her. And then, with a yelp, it was gone, just as she exclaimed. "Done!"

"Geez, woman, did you take an ice bath while filling bottles?" Kuroo was standing at arm's length from her when she turned, his hands rubbing at the front of his shirt furiously.

"No?"

"You're drenched!"

"I'm not!"

"You are! I touched it, you're as wet as can be!"

"It's nothing!"

"Kuroo!" A third voice joined in their rapid shouting match, making them both look to the gym door. Yaku was standing there un his training clothes, face as red as a tomato. "What are you saying to Haru! Stop harassing her with indecent comments!"

"W-wha-" Kuroo's face suddenly got very red, as well. "No, I meant her clothes! Her clothes!" At that point, Haru was also caught up with the misinterpretation of their shouting match and she moved away from Kuroo, waving her hands in front of herself in an attempt to calm Yaku down.

"I just got caught in the rain without an umbrella, Morisuke. Kuroo-sempai was being nosy." Yaku frowned at her, his hands catching hers as soon as she was close enough and then sliding up her sleeves and to her shoulders. He groped around her uniform, going to her sides, even as she tried to dance away from him and out of his grasp.

"You're drenched." Yaku finally let her go, making Haru pout.

"As I was saying," Kuroo had joined them after securing the last few knots of the net. "She needs to change." Yaku nodded decisively and she knew she was going to lose.

"Do you have gym clothes at school?" The libero asked.

"No..." Haru couldn't think of a way out of the mess. "You guys told me I didn't need them for practice, so I left them at home." Kuroo sighed, his hand going to his hair to push his bangs back from his eyes.

"Of all the times to listen..." he laughed. Haru giggled, looking up at him.

"I thought so, too."

"Then, you'll have to borrow." Yaku interjected, coming up between them and catching Haru by the elbow. "You can take my jersey. I think the match one is still in the locker."

"Ewww no." Haru tried to wriggle her arm out from his grip, but Yaku was like a steel vice.

"It's washed, don't worry." He laughed, pulling her towards the door.

"I'll enjoy that sight!" Kuroo called out, finally breaking into a guffaw, not able to hold it in anymore. Yaku didn't pay him any mind, still dragging Haru to the boys' locker room. Kuroo had actually counted seconds before Yaku came back in, face red and a terrifying scowl knotting his eyebrows. Lev and Inuoka, who had arrived in the meantime, jumped away from the third-year.

"Kuroo, it's too small. Do you have yours washed and in the locker?" Yaku put up a finger, silencing the captain. "Don't say that you told me so."

"Let's see what we can find." Kuroo conceded, tossing the ball from his hands to Kai who had just entered the gym and following their libero.

Kuroo admitted that day that he was attracted to Sakurano Chiharu. He had had a number of rather inappropriate dreams in his teenage years about multiple woman, but he'd never had such a reaction while awake and fully in control of himself. Yet, when she'd walked out of that changing room, wearing his match clothes, he'd felt his breath hitch and all the heat in his body pool suspiciously low.

She wasn't pale, like all the other girls were at school. Her skin was tan, which he suspected she'd inherited from her Cuban father. Yet, that smooth, dark skin made the red color of his jersey look all the more attractive. His shorts went almost down to her knees, making it an odd skirt-like view. And, his shirt stretched across her chest, showing where she was perfectly blessed as a girl. On his lanky form, it was comfortably loose. On her figure, it was tight, yet long enough to cover most of his shorts.

"I look ridiculous." Haru said, making his eyes trail up her form and onto her flushed face. He could see the blush for once, despite the natural tan. Her damp hair made it seem like she'd just taken a shower before putting on his uniform. Kuroo knew that Sakurano Chiharu would be his undoing then and there.

"In a way, yes." He agreed, voice tight. Her head snapped up, eyes wide.

"That's it, I'll wear my uniform." She spun around, going back towards the girls' changing room. "It'll dry eventually." Kuroo reached out, catching her hand and pulling her to him. Already, her body was warmer than before.

"Nonsense, you'll get sick." He forced himself to pull away from her soft form and tug her towards the gym. "Just wear that until your clothes are dry."

"People will talk." She sounded mortified from behind him.

"Let them." And the discussion was over.

"You're staring." Kenma's voice broke Kuroo's intense gaze on their new manager, who was talking to Nekomata.

"Am I?" The third-year refocused, spiking when the ball went up. It landed perfectly on the other side of the court. A glance at Kenma told him that he wasn't fooling his friend. He had to stop being so obvious.

"Haru is a nice girl." The setter said with a note of finality to his tone.

"I know."

"Don't be an idiot." Kenma scolded again.

"I won't."

"Do you really like her?" That made Kuroo stop for a second. He liked the girl, in a way. He didn't know her well enough to say any more that that. But, yes, he liked what he saw, at least.

"I guess."

"Don't stare until you're certain." Kenma's next toss was hard to spike. Kuroo gave his friend a half-hearted glare. "Haru is a nice girl. And she's my friend." The look in the setter's eyes told the captain that he'd just been on the receiving end of the talk. How the times had changed. Kenma had just warned him off a girl.

"I know." The rest of the practice the two boys didn't talk. Yet, they worked in perfect sync.

Ikki whistled, making Haru look up at him. She groaned instantly knowing that merciless teasing was coming.

"Looking good, Sakurano." Her longtime friend commented, plopping down in the seat next to her. "Like a porn star."

"Oh my God, Ikki!" Haru flushed, slamming the notebook she'd been revising from down on the table. She turned to the boy, noticing his appreciative gaze.

"I call it like I see it," the basketball player shrugged. "That's Kuroo-sempai's number, isn't it?" Haru couldn't stop the blush from her face. If anything, it seemed to be there to stay. The jersey was surprisingly comfortable, if a bit big on her due to the length.

"Yes." She mumbled.

"Head up, girlfriend." Ikki gave her a wink and walked off to his seat as Akari came in. The girl immediately gave Haru a look of disbelief and rushed over. And, the newly made volleyball manager could tell that that conversation wasn't going to be one that she would enjoy.

It took a week for Haru to notice the change. The rumors which she'd become so accustomed to hearing in the corridors about her were slowly going away. In fact, there were more stories about the fresh hookup that a girl in second year had had with a first-year boy. It wasn't too common for a female sempai to go out with a male kouhai. Haru paid them no mind, but she still had a bone to pick with a certain someone. So, after school, she easily picked out the dyed blonde fluffy hair, telling herself that she would only be a bit late for volleyball practice. She caught up with her target, waiting until the girl was alone to fully fall into step with her.

"Hello, Megumi." The girl startled at Haru's voice, turning around with wide eyes. The two stopped, squaring off. Megumi was everything a Japanese boy could want. Carefully dyed pale hair in lazy beach waves, bunched up with a scrunchy to one side. Her eyes were big and her mouth was small. Her skin was as pale as they come. She wore her uniform skirt short and she always had makeup on her face.

"What do you want, Sakurano?" Haru, on the other hand, was tall, tan and her body had filled out in all the right places. Alright, maybe a bit more than she liked in the backside area. Her hair was untableable and her mouth seemed too big for her face.

"Just a friendly warning, Megumi," Haru smiled. "The next time you think it would be funny to spread a rumor about me, I won't be so polite as to wait for it to pass." She thought that she was being awfully composed, not showing the girl just how much the whole ordeal had affected her. "I'll come after you with all I've got." At that, Megumi's eyes widened. "Yes, I still remember all the secrets you told me when we were 'friends'."

"You're a hypocrite, Chiharu." Megumi looked down at their feet, hands in tight fists at her sides. At that, Haru's mind went blank.

"What?"

"You're a damn hypocrite!" Megumi yelled, one hand coming up to slap Haru across the face. She was ready to retaliate, when she saw the expression on the other girl's face. Megumi was crying, face red and nose running. Her usually perfect skin was blotchy. "You pride yourself on not being interested in boys, and yet you have them all."

"Errr what?" Haru's hand dropped to her side, forgoing the slap she'd intended to slam into the other girl's cheek.

"Don't act dumb with me!" Megumi was screeching and Haru wondered how she'd ever thought that the girl was somehow superior to her. "You took Itsuki and now you decided to take Kuroo-sempai, as well. You take everyone and anyone you want, and don't care what you do to others!" Finally, it clicked.

"You… like Kuroo?" Haru asked, her anger cooling. The way Megumi simply stayed silent, crying, told her everything. "If you do, why don't you ask him out? I don't think he's attached."

"Y-you! You-" Haru didn't let the enraged mess of a girl continue.

"Don't assume things that aren't true. I just wanted to join a club, they happened to recruit me." The volleyball manager shrugged. "If you want Kuroo, go after him head-on. I don't think he's the kind of guy that likes underhanded methods." With that, Haru turned, leaving the sniveling girl in her wake. "Remember what I said, Megu-tan."

Curses spilled rather loudly in her wake, but Haru didn't care one bit about them.

The Golden Week training camp seemed to approach with unnatural speed. It felt to Haru that she had just become the official manager of the Boys' Volleyball Team when she turned around and boom, there was the training camp. The whole club activity thing hadn't been as daunting as she'd first thought it would be. In fact, she'd settled into a comfortable routine.

Her sleep had been cut a bit short, leading her to spend her lunch hour dozing off in her seat. Of course, this was when none of the boys decided to pay her an impromptu visit. By the time the camp rolled around, Akari already knew each of the team members by their name and year, addressing them rather casually. Kuroo and Yaku were the two who visited classroom 2-2 the most. Much to Akari's disappointment, most of their conversations revolved around volleyball, practice or camp plans. Coach Nekoma had been all to eager to pass on the team cellphone to Haru, along with the book the boys used to schedule their obligations and meets. She hadn't had much trouble keeping the records, but she'd found it a tad inconvenient.

Luckily, her work hadn't suffered from the new activity. Neither had her grades. When she wasn't staying late to help the boys practice or clean up, she was catching up on schoolwork. Satoshi had noticed her change in mood, teasing her endlessly about it. Yet, he'd taken some of her workload, letting the girl get settled into her new duties more easily. Haru could take the teasing because of his generosity, in the end.

It was the Golden Week which had put her a tad on edge. Her financial plan, with a few tweaks from Nekomata-sensei, had managed to win them a grant for tickets. The money was just enough to cover the train fare and some of the food supplies. The girl had told the boys that they would be going to Okinawa, making them rejoice, and then explained how they needed some extra money for the trip. Surprisingly, all of them had pitched in, even the coaches. Despite the fact that she'd donated quite a bit of her saved up money, for that new camera lens she'd been eyeing, Haru didn't mind the loss one bit. It was the camp itself which had made her anxious. After all, coach Nekomata had told her that she would be in charge of the training, due to it all being her idea. And, her father hadn't been around to give her tips anymore. She'd managed to steal Kuroo away on more than one occasion during lunch and pester him about her ideas, which he'd worked on with surprising diligence.

"You're going to break their spirits, Haru-chan." The third-year she'd grown increasingly fond of had told her after one such meeting, chuckling.

"How so?" She'd asked, face tilted and eyebrows furrowed.

"They're expecting some nice, relaxing time at the beach." Kuroo had replied, pressing a long finger in the middle of her eyebrows, making the muscles loosen. "You're gonna smash those fantasies with a sledgehammer." She hadn't been able to stop laughing for the rest of the day, imagining the team's reactions.

Kuroo Tetsurō was another mystery. At first, Haru had thought that he was simply an annoying, airheaded upperclassman. But, he's proven himself so much more. She's found out that he was actually quite a nice person. He made sure that she was always comfortable, warding Yamamoto and the first years off when they got too pushy. While his semi-flirty jokes put her on edge, often leading her to ask Kenma about Kuroo's intentions, she'd learned to deal with them. Though, the boy had finally won her over with his wide interest in music. They'd shared earbuds on a number of trips to school, switching between who was playing the tunes. She'd discovered his mild obsession with Korean pop, which he had sworn her to secrecy about. In turn, she'd divulged that she enjoyed an occasional rap song, not so censored either, which had made him guffaw his funny laugh on a full train. All in all, Haru liked Kuroo. And, moreover, she liked working with him on making the team better. He was incredibly intelligent, which had definitely thrown her off. She'd always found intelligent people magnetic somehow.

Haru yawned for the tenth time, attempting to keep her eyes open as she sat at the kitchen counter, eating her meagre breakfast. There was a salsa song playing on the speakers, directly from her phone, as she looked over the notes on their trip one final time before the meet-up. It was roughly around three-thirty in the morning and the girl could barely keep a sane thought in her head. The sun hadn't come up, her house was empty, as usual, and her bed seemed so warm and inviting from what she could recall of it. Yet, she knew that she needed to get up and leave soon, or risk being late. That was when the doorbell rang.

"At this hour?" Haru mumbled to herself, groggily walking over to the main entrance into her house. She opened the door and found an odd sight on her porch. Kuroo stood there, in his sweats, propping up a definitely asleep Kenma. The third-year's bedhead, as she'd discovered it was, looked like it had seen better days. "Why are you-" she spared a look at Kenma's snoozing face, "two here?"

"Picking you up." Kuroo said, following her into the house when she waved them in. His voice was deeper, probably because he's just woken up and hadn't spoken much, making Haru blush. Kuroo on her porch at the odd hour of the morning was somehow intimate, in a weird sense.

"Thanks," the girl replied, deciding to go with Kuroo's weird flow without complaining. The upperclassman had found out her address one day after practice on the weekends, when she'd asked him to come over and help with final arrangements for the camp. Clearly that had been a mistake of information sharing. Then again, knowing the boy, she'd been painfully aware that she would regret giving him that personal detail sooner or later. Sooner, it seemed. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Oya, home cooking?" Kuroo deposited Kenma on the couch as if he owned the place, following Haru into the kitchen. The setter was left to snore softly in the living room.

"Just some eggs and bacon." Haru hopped back into her seat, letting the boy make himself at home. He'd already done so on his first visit, he could do it again.

"Nothing spicy, I hope?" Kuroo was behind the counter, inspecting the laid-out cooking.

"Just some chili in the eggs." She delighted in the way he wrinkled his nose and then picked up a piece of bacon, the safe thing, foregoing a plate.

"Is there some of that elderberry juice you had last time?" He was already searching the fridge.

"The glasses are in the cupboard, to the right." Haru's eyes rose from the food in front of her, watching the boy in her kitchen. Normally, it was either her or her father there. Chihiro didn't cook. And, her brother had always been more interested in dissecting than roasting. She supposed that that was why he was in medical school. Her mother sometimes cooked, yet Haru had never seen her behind that counter, actually. But, Kuroo. He seemed somehow right, standing there next to the stove. His lanky arms moved, searching for the glass and then pouring the juice he had come to like. He looked somehow domestic. Like he was used to being in the kitchen at his own home, as well. Haru realized how little she actually knew about the third-year that had come into her life abruptly.

"Pass me that water bottle?" One of the lanky arms extended backwards to her and she soundlessly placed the water bottle into the open fingers. Kuroo poured juice into it.

"Taking some for the road?"

"I promised Kenma that I would give him some. He wanted to try it." Kuroo turned to her after he'd put away the juice, leaning on the counter and watching her eat slowly. "We don't usually have similar taste in food, but I think he will like this juice."

"Oh?" Noticing Kuroo's asking face, Haru elaborated. "You two have been friends for long?"

"Since diapers." The captain laughed, nodding. "We were always very different, though. Kenma was always withdrawn, so I became the talkative one. I got him into volleyball, you know?" When Haru hummed, urging him to continue, which he did. "He was hopeless at fist. And, he was never very athletic. But, I think he likes it now. He's a good setter, at least."

"That he is." The girl agreed. She finished her breakfast and picked up her notebook, waving Kuroo over. "Let's go, we'll be late."

"Sure," Haru grabbed her cellphone from the speaker stand, turning the music off, and found Kuroo in her hallway, with Kenma on his back, piggyback style.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked with a giggle as the trio left the house.

"He was probably up gaming till the odd hours of the morning. He doesn't do well with getting to school, either. I always pick him up." Kuroo walked next to her, at a strangely comfortable distance for once. She had found out that he liked to be touching her almost all the time when they were going somewhere together.

"I wish I had the luxury." The girl laughed.

"Well, you could." Kuroo winked at her and Haru couldn't stop laughing all the way to the train station.

If there are any spelling mistakes, it's my fault. It's almost 3am and I don't know what I'm reading anymore xD I wanted to get the chapter out as soon as possible for you lot, though…

Anyone liked the domestic scene as much as I did? xD

Reviews:

Moonlightshadowxiii:
Your reviews give me life, I swear xD They're so long, I love it!
I hope that I've finally lived up to the 'update, quick!' expectations with this one xD I've been typing in between college classes on my cell xD
Kuroo and his mommmmm omg xD I don't have enough words to talk about that… I just adore writing them, and I can't help but imagine him as a momma's boy and Haru as a daddy's girl xD
I'm sending you cash for that dentist's appointment xD I believe I have some cavities from the sheer fluff of that cotton candy, too xD
Oh yeah, alarm upon alarm. That's how we roll here, too xD
Oh, no worries about the explanation, I just felt like I should elaborate on it further. I'm kinda going for she likes volleyball, but she's never going to be the athletic nut the boys are xD She simply isn't into a ball smacking her in the face… Haru is more of a demon manager on the sidelines xD I'll have to check out that video! Actually, I blame my mother for all the sports videos I watch, because she likes looking up highlights for some reason…
About Kuroo and Haru, I ship them too much, also… Like I was rewatching some clips from Haikyuu and realized I was looking for my own OC in the anime -.- I'm a dingus xD I actually also wanted to go a bit steamier with this story… For some reason Kuroo always makes me wanna write some M rated shit, it's bad. I'm still debating whether I should change the rating in the longrun or do another series of oneshots, like 12 ways… Any thoughts?
Omakes make my life, to be honest. I usually write them after I've read the whole chapter again and checked for errors. They are just small additions of whatever pops into my head at the time xD But, I feel like they're the most solid part of the story xD I blame my Bleach readers for getting me into writing omakes like a doofus xD
Haru and Tetsu have a long way to go regarding bikinis and shirtlessness xD It's gonna be a fun ride! As for her choice of swimwear… We will have to wait and see :P
No, no, thank you for giving me such amazing reviews all the time and making my day! All reviews make me write like a maniac xD
All my best!

Potato-Faye:
Hey and thanks for the review!
Oh, Kuroo, Haru and the beach… Especially with his newfound realizations… This is gonna be so. Damn. Fun.
I hope you enjoyed!

Valen Goncalvez:
Gasp! And one more in a span of a two days! Feel free to be shocked xD
I hope this update was quick enough for you? :P
Hope you enjoyed the domestic scene, I seriously died for it xD

Madama Crimson:
My absolute pleasure! I somehow always think that this fandom is dead, and then I get surprised by how much support I get when I update xD
I will try and type some more soon :)
I'm definitely enjoying writing her and the Nekoma team interacting, I promise that there will be more than just these three soon, I just feel that writing Kuroo, Kenma and Yaku comes all too naturally to me…. Personal preference perhaps?
Thanks for the review!

Omake:

Yamamoto sneezed. He shivered a bit, pulling his jersey tightly around him. The boy glanced around, seeing nobody from the team around. Perhaps he had missed the time or date? That had happened a few times. He glanced at his phone, checking the messages. Sure enough, there was a group text Haru had sent them, telling them the date and time of their departure for Okinawa. He was on time, at the right place.

"Stop it." Yamamoto's head snapped up, hearing the new manager's voice. He managed to see her swat their captain's wandering hand away from her hair.

"But you should let it down." The boy retorted. He had Kenma on his back, which didn't surprise the Nekoma ace. The whole team was well aware of the weakness of their setter.

"No, it goes crazy if I do that."

"You just aren't using the right products."

"I'm not, am I?"

"No, you're not."

"Get married already." Yamamoto mumbled, sighing.

"What?" The two said in sync, heads snapping up to look at him with different expressions. Haru had a blush on her face, eyes wide. Kuroo had a teasing smirk, his signature, looking rather smug at the reaction he had elicited from them both. This was going to be a long Golden Week, Yamamoto decided. At least there was a girl to make it a bit better, even though she was obviously taken.

The phrase appears!
Hope you all enjoyed :D