Hello, and thank you again for reading this far into the story! It's summer break now so I should have more time to write, but my motivation level for pretty much anything fluctuates constantly so we'll see how this goes. We're getting closer to the training camp week arc, which I'm pretty excited about, but I also have no idea what I want to happen there so I'm a bit glad I still have a few chapters to think about that. This chapter (and the next, probably) goes into Karasuno's first Tokyo away games, so basically season 2 episodes 4 and 5-ish of the anime. Anyway, thanks once again to those who followed and favorited this story, and hope you enjoy!

~CavaKel

(P.S.: All bolded text in quotation marks is non-Japanese speech, usually English. Other languages will be specified immediately after the bold stuff.)

I don't own Haikyuu, just my OC. I also do not own the songs I put into this chapter.

-Kaida POV-

"Minasaki! Minasaki, wake up! Please!"

"Minasaki!"

Kaida still felt like she was choking, but the voice was gone, replaced with the alarmed shouts coming from above her that sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place them. A hand tried to pry her hands from her throat, and another shook her shoulders. It was all too much. She curled up into an even tighter ball in her seat, if that was possible, more tears streaming down her face. Her breathing sped up as if to match her racing heartbeat, and she shook her head as the voices kept yelling, getting louder. The hands around her wrist and shaking her shoulders were pulled away, and she faintly heard someone ordering everyone to move back, followed by the shuffling of multiple people being pushed together in one direction.

Kaida squeezed her eyes shut again and took a few deep breaths. It's alright. I'm safe. I'm with the Karasuno boys' volleyball team on our way to Tokyo. She opened her eyes again, a bit calmer now, but her heart was still racing, and her breathing still irregular. In an attempt to calm herself she began singing the softest song she could think of at the moment, for once not caring that there were other people around.

"Blackbirds singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

She repeated the verse a few more times. When it didn't work, she started singing the lullaby she'd grown up with, imagining her mother's face and soft voice as she sang Kaida to sleep with her favorite English song.

"Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me

Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow

Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever"

This time when she finished the song and the vision of her mother faded, her breathing was steady and her heart had almost gone back to normal, although the tears remained from remembering her mother's long-gone face and voice. She was glad she didn't have to use more songs, as she would've had to resort to songs that wouldn't work as well, and it would have taken longer. She took another deep breath, then looked up to see almost half the bus, including the two adults, crowded around the back of the bus where she sat. A tired-looking Ennoshita and Sawamura held most of the boys back from crowding her, and she guessed that was what she had heard earlier before she started singing. Sugawara peered out from the left of Sawamura, looking more worried than even the adults as he and a few others started peppering her with questions.

"Are you alright?"

"What was that?"

"Are you okay?"

"You were shaking and crying in your sleep, what happened?"

"Were those American songs?"

Kaida told the group that she was fine, just a nightmare, and apologized for causing such a commotion. They believed her and told her it wasn't a problem, and most of them cleared off and went back to their seats. Sugawara stayed behind to make sure she was actually fine, then went back to his seat a few moments later as well. The bus had stopped at a rest stop midway between Miyagi and Tokyo, and Kaida guessed that the two adults had been just about finished with a rest break and a driver switch when someone looked to the back and saw her in her distressed sleeping state. She retrieved her coffee from her bag where she had put it earlier and took a long drink, planning to stay awake for the rest of the ride. For the next 2 hours she looked for anything other than sleeping to do (listening to music, drawing more, writing, etc.) as the sun rose and the volleyball team traveled on towards Tokyo.

She managed to drift off into another, more peaceful nap near the end of the ride, and by the time she woke up again they had arrived in Tokyo, at Nekoma High School. Wait, Kaida thought. Nekoma? Sounds familiar. Nishinoya and Tanaka forged on ahead, gawking at a transmission tower, and Kaida heard a familiar, distinctive laugh coming from that direction as she stepped off the bus with all of her things. Is that who I think it is?

She stepped onto the curb and made her way towards the other Karasuno boys, not noticing the tall, bed-headed boy sneaking up behind her until his arm dropped around her shoulder. "Well, if it isn't-" Kuroo Testuro didn't get to finish his sentence. Startled by the sudden contact, Kaida - despite wearing a wrist cast - acted on reflex and judo-flipped her childhood friend onto the concrete in front of her, only realizing who it was when the older boy was sprawled out on the ground in front of her, winded. "Tetsu, what the hell," Kaida said as she held out a hand for him to grab. She hauled him up and just stood there as the boy dusted himself off and rubbed his back. "Sorry, I didn't think it would scare you that much. Missed me, Kai?" Kuroo asked with a grin.

"Of course, video calls don't do you or Kenma justice. I haven't seen you in forever, and somehow you became a fucking giant. Also sorry for hurling you onto the concrete, I had a rough night and got a bit jumpy. Plus you're the only one that ever tries to sneak up on me like that, and I wasn't expecting you to be here." Kaida rambled. She was smiling now, too, pulling Kuroo into a tight hug. The trio had kept in touch over the years, but talking over the phone overseas just couldn't compare to physical conversation, which was much cheaper and much more interesting.

"Well I wasn't expecting you to be here, either. You're at Karasuno now?"

"Yeah. Toshi's too busy in college and the commute is too far from where he is. I didn't want to be a bother to you guys, so I moved to Miyagi to live with Shoyo instead."

"Shoyo? As in Hinata, the orange-haired shorty on your team?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin. I thought you knew that?"

"You might have told me once a long time ago, but I forgot. No wonder Kenma and I both agreed he looked familiar when we first met him."

"Speaking of Kenma, where is he?"

"Inside already. We're going in once everyone gets settled."

"Wait, Minasaki, how do you know Kuroo-san?" Nishinoya asked, cutting off their conversation. The rest of the volleyball team had the same question, and all of them had been watching the interaction between their manager and the Nekoma team captain with curiosity.

"Oh, I've known him and Kenma since I was 6. We kept in touch when I moved to the US and then back to Japan."

"Oh yeah, you guys wanna know something cool?" Kuroo had that mischievous look in his eyes, and Kaida shook her head, already knowing what he was about to say and preparing herself for embarrassment. "When Kenma and I first met Kaida it was because we were her neighbors and her brother forced her to socialize. She was so tiny and her hair was orange like Hinata's, and she wanted to be a g-"

Kaida kicked the taller boy in the shin. "Don't you dare say it, Ondori-head." A few of the Karasuno boys snickered, and the third-years looked a bit shocked. "Ondori-head?" Tanaka and Nishinoya wheezed, doubled over in quiet laughter.

"Oi, quit with the violence! And why not?" Kuroo asked, rubbing his shin. "Wanting to be a girl ninja's not lame or anything, it's cool! Do you still do parkour and the knives and stuff?"

"Knives?!" Almost everyone on the Karasuno team stood with their mouths open in shock at that, and Sawamura and Sugawara looked more concerned than anything. Our quiet and smart first-year manager works with knives? The two third-years shuddered as they pictured a cartoon Kaida stabbing people with a kitchen knife and laughing maniacally.

"I stopped taking classes not long ago but yeah, I've still been doing everything I used to," Kaida responded, oblivious to the shocked boys behind her. "I'm waiting for this damned cast to be off before I try anything, though."

"Aw, that's too bad. Anyway, come to think of it," Kuroo turned back to the Karasuno team captain. "Aren't you missing a few people?"

Sawamura explained Shoyo and Kageyama's situation. "So the super duo's taking supplementary exams right now?" Kuroo asked as they began walking towards the school building. Kaida left the conversion to walk with Shimizu, and Sawamura was about to say something when a boy with a blonde mohawk dropped to his knees in front of the two female managers with an anguished cry. "G-Girls! Now they've got two pretty managers! And I heard one's a foreigner!"

"The hell? I'm not technically a foreigner, I was only in the US for a few years," Kaida muttered and looked to her fellow manager, who acted as if it was a normal thing as Tanaka stepped in front of the kneeling boy, gloating about Karasuno's true power or something like that. Shimizu motioned for Kaida to follow her inside, and the two girls left the boys where they were and entered the building, heading for the classroom they had converted into a sleeping arrangement for each team and a separate room for all of the managers.

On their way out of the room they bumped into the Ubugawa manager, who engaged them in polite conversation before the topic veered into volleyball, the other manager talking about how her team had been working hard on improving their serves, practicing a hundred serves every day during practice. Kaida blanched at the number, thinking it was probably a bit harsh to make everyone practice that many serves after an already probably grueling practice, but she wasn't one to talk. After all, she never really exercised apart from parkour and knife throwing, and she'd been taking a break from both while her wrist healed for the past few weeks.

The two Karasuno managers and the Ubugawa manager made their way to the gym and parted ways, going to their own respective teams. After Karasuno started warmups, Kaida let her eyes scan the room as she worked before they landed on the red and black exercise clothing of the Nekoma team, locking eyes with Kenma. She quickly put down the folded towels in her arms and sprinted across the gym, wrapping Kenma in a tight hug. "Kenma! I missed you, you got taller, too!" She said, grinning as she let go of the taller boy.

"Well, yeah, it's been a few years since we've seen each other in person." Kenma said, ignoring the shocked stares his friend was getting from his team, who rarely ever saw him interact this much with an apparent stranger. The pudding-headed boy looked over at the Karasuno team, where Kaida had come from. "So I noticed you go to Karasuno now. Where's Shoyo, by the way?"

"He and our setter, Kageyama, are taking supplementary exams. They'll be here around afternoon," Kaida said. "Well, I have to get back to my team, nice talking to you!"

"You too." Kenma said as Kaida jogged back across the gym to the Karasuno team. The moment the pretty girl left his teammates jumped him and bombarded him with questions.

"Who was she?"

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"D'you think she'd go out with me?"

"She's my childhood friend. Stop pushing me," Kenma deadpanned as his teammates continued to bother him for answers. Kuroo swooped to his rescue and redirected the attention of the team as the games began.

The matches were not going in Karasuno's favor. Each of the 4 other schools they went up against was strong: Shinzen with their combination attacks, Ubugawa with their serves, Nekoma with their receives and calculating nature, and Fukurodani with their star ace. Karasuno wasn't bad, per se, but they just weren't exactly good enough yet to be able to beat any of these teams in an official match. But that just meant they had to get stronger. It didn't help that Karasuno's power duo was busy in Miyagi with supplementary exams, so their attack power was considerably lower. Kaida found herself watching every move of each of their opponents, occasionally muttering plays like "cross," "dump," or "synchronized to number 2" before they happened. Kiyoko turned and looked at her junior in surprise, and Kaida just smiled sheepishly and pointed out how she could tell: Ubugawa's ace turns his foot before he jumps for cross shots, Shinzen's captain talks slightly more when he's about to hit in a synchronized attack, and so on, pointing out quirks and tells for multiple people throughout the day and simultaneously writing them down in messy shorthand on a pad of paper to inform the boys later, alongside propositions and ideas for new attacks and techniques for her own team to try as well. The two female managers watched as the Karasuno boys lost match after match against the other teams and did lap after lap of flying drills, and by the afternoon the boys were all sweaty and panting. Some of the other teams' members were standing on the side, wondering what was so special about the first years on the team, and that maybe Nekoma had underestimated them. Kaida just smirked. Oh, don't you worry, she thought, Our freak duo are quite something, they're just not here yet.

After another loss to Ubugawa and another flying lap around the gym, a blonde woman burst into the gym, startling a guy from the Shinzen team standing near the door. Nishinoya jumped up and called, "Ne-san!" and Tanaka smiled and muttered something as the door opened further to reveal the previously missing freak duo, who were panting in the doorway as if they, too, had been doing a flying lap. It seemed as if the entire gym simultaneously turned to look at the late arrivals, and the players who knew what was happening smiled, as did the two Karasuno managers, Coack Ukai, Takeda-sensei, and the Nekoma coach. The atmosphere immediately flipped when Hinata suddenly heaved and vomited from carsickness, and the entire gym flew into a panic as they scrambled to clean up the vomit.

After everything was sorted out and Shoyo and Kageyama were given sports bibs, the freak duo sprang back into action, shocking the teams that had not previously known about their quick attack. The Nekoma and Karasuno teams, however, just smirked and kept playing as they usually did, with the exception of Tanaka calling out the "flunking tardy boys" for showing off. The games concluded with a match between Nekoma and Ubugawa, and Shoyo, who had never seen Lev in action before, was impressed by his whip-like spike and towering height. The Shinzen captain spoke with the captains of Ubugawa and Fukurodani on the sidelines, ranting about Shoyo's speed. Kaida laughed, and the three boys looked at her for a second before returning to their conversation. Soon enough the day ended, and everyone headed back into the school building to eat and rest.

Kaida went with Shoyo as he searched for the classroom that served as the Nekoma team's sleeping quarters, and the two cousins eventually found it empty save for Kenma. They sat down on either side of the older boy just as another spiky-haired boy entered the room. He introduced himself to Kaida as Inuoka, and the four chatted about volleyball for a bit as Kenma played a video game. Two Nekoma third years and a second year Kaida didn't know entered the room as the four were discussing Shoyo's skills compared to Nekoma's new middle blocker, Lev, and Kaida noticed the shorter of the three wipe a tear from his eye as he watched Kenma talk to Shoyo. Kenma stayed the same, I guess, unlike Tetsu. He's still shy and doesn't talk all that much. She thought.

That night, Kaida left the showers with her hair down and a towel around her neck. She went back in the direction she thought she'd come from, but she didn't remember and had had one of the other managers as a guide when she'd gone to the bathroom. Now, based on her bad luck with navigation, she was probably on the other side of the school and had absolutely no idea where she was. She heard voices and turned around, spotting a few of the Fukurodani boys on the other end of the corridor. Trying not to scare them, she called out as quietly as she could while still trying to be loud enough for them to hear her.

"Bokuto-san? Konoha-san?" she called to the two boys she could see and recognize from this far away. She started walking towards the boys and called out to them again.

This had the opposite effect from what she had hoped for. The two boys turned, and upon seeing her silhouette in the moonlight they screamed bloody murder and babbled something about a ghost girl as they ran farther down the corridor and into a classroom, presumably the one they were staying at. Another boy poked his head out of the door they had come from, probably to look for what had scared his teammates so severely. Upon seeing her walking towards him, the boy's head retracted back into the classroom.

By this time Kaida was close enough to the classroom to hear a muffled smack from behind the door, followed by what sounded like someone scolding Bokuto and Konoha. "You idiots," the voice hissed, "That's Minasaki, the new Karasuno manager, even I could see that she's not a ghost."

"Well, I didn't know that! I was tired and she was too far away for me to see her face!" Bokuto said.

"You two watch too many horror movies," another voice remarked.

"We do not!"

"Yes you do."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not-"

The back-and-forth stopped and the room went silent when Kaida knocked on the door. The same brown-haired boy that had poked his head out earlier opened the door and looked out, and upon seeing her he opened it a bit wider. "Oh, hi Minasaki-san. Sorry about earlier, these two were not thinking straight." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of Bokuto and Konoha, who were sitting on the mats on the floor and looking out from behind him.

"It's alright. And if you'd like you can drop the -san, I'm not all that used to it anyway."

"Oh, well if you say so. Uh, I'm Komi."

"Nice to officially meet you. Sorry if I scared anyone earlier, I got lost and wanted to ask where the managers are sleeping."

She got directions and introductions and bid the Fukurodani team goodbye, then set off towards the managers' classroom to try and get some sleep, hopefully without any nightmares.

Alright! This took way too long to write in my opinion, I meant to post earlier but I had an AP exam to study for and I didn't really think much about this story until recently. Pardon any grammar or consistency errors you may find, I have no idea, I haven't checked. For anyone wondering, (I doubt anyone is actually wondering, but still) I looked up the canon timeline for Haikyuu and it said most of it happened in 2012, so any years or dates you see throughout this fic will reflect that and what is mentioned in the anime (I really want to read the manga but I haven't gotten to looking for it online yet and I should probably check my online library but I procrastinate things that I actually want to do and idk anymore.) Anyway, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited this story, and feel free to leave a review to point out anything or to suggest pairings, character interactions, or pretty much anything else. Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for the next chapter!

~CavaKel