I'm sorry for not posting earlier but I was in a Sowlmate mood and I have big problems with internet. It's workinig exceptionally at the moment but I don't know when it'll work again - and thus, when next chapter will come.

Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited and reviewed! :D

AnimeViolinist001 : I think Hajime is pretty observant except for obvious stuff. We'll learn even MORE about Kiku in this chapter! ;)

pinkdoughtnuts : Ahah, I didn't really try to hide that Kiku was Irihata's niece! XD Of course I did it on purpose, I do all of it on purpose, don't you know by now? I loved writing Iwaizumi's reaction - and frow nom on, the silent conversations with Irihata will only get better! XD

LuxKlara : Che gioia di sapere che hai piaciato il precedente capitolo! Un po piu di Kiku e Hanamaki in questo capitolo! ;) Saprai perché Kiku è inamorata di Hajime dal primo anno dopo, sono impaziente di scrivere questo capitolo! :D Il "...I've been quiet for too long." di Kiku sarà anche spiegato dopo nella storia. La relazione di Hajime e del padre di Kiku sarè definitivamente interesantissimo e comica!

bookdragonslayer : I'm glad you find it funny! ;D

CommandoGirl1127 : AHAH I WISH I WERE RICK RIORDAN! He's not the best writerout-there but he definitely knows how to write humor, gods and diversity! ;D (big fan of uncle Rick here~!) I think Hajime would probably catch pretty quickly Oikawa and he would like, ruffle his hair until he's not recognized anymore by his fangirls or something! XD (he wouldn't hurt him but he wouldn't let him go safe and sound either)

PaintCat : I'm glad you liked the last chapters! Kiku's past will be explained little by little! ;) There'll be some interesting things happening at the end of the Golden Week! ;)

Houshikun001 : You're very welcome~ More bold Kiku in this chapter! ;D

FanFictionAddiction4EVER : The thing is... Hajime doesn't know it, but he already knows Irihata's wife! XD The two sisters would mostly tease Iwa-chan, considering he's Kiku's dear! XD Oikawa would probably manage to charm them or something! (not in a flirty way, but in a "I'm a perfect child" way, y'know?)

rheascarlet : Kiku is geting better at socializing - thanks to Iwa-chan opening up to her, and allowing her to open up as well! ;)

Lili : Hanamaki might play pretend when it comes to Kiku and act as if he doesn't care and stuff, and there is definitely a huge gap between them compared to their childrhood, but it doesn't mean they're not attached to each other in some weird, almost-sibling way. But they'd never admit it out loud. Obviously. I can imagine Hajime sort of sighing and then, because he's rather cool and relaxed around their coach, startign to talk about this girl he's got a crush on and saying how KIku is so cute and adorable and everything without realizing even once that Irihata is her uncle. x)

Minki : Anyone would be lucky to be Iwa-chan's crush and would go "yesyesyesyesyes!" XD Hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story! ;D

Melissa Fairy : Thanks! The summary isn't as great, but isn't it better when the story is more entertaining? And... you clicked anyway, so it works! ;)

akagami hime chan: This fanfic is a huge relief for everyone who reads Sowlmate! XD I'm trying to make characers as different from each other as possible - OC's becaue it's more interesting this way and also because they're for differernt boys, so, different personalities and different ways to collide! ;) I love mixing them all together~ I can't wait for Ayakou to appear in this story! ;D

Peony-flower : Ahah, glad that Oikawa isn't OOC! He's hard, but oh-so-interesting to write! x) Thanks for the round of applause, I'm doingmy best! XD

FANFICTION

HAIKYUU! : QUIET VOICE

CHAPTER XV : Alien Mermaid

"I am a different person to different people. Annoying to one. Talented to another. Quiet to a few. Unknown to a lot. But who am I, to me?"

― Unknown

"Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of magic. But when Jill sang, it was not about the song, really. She could sing the phone book. She could sing a shopping list. Whatever she sang, whatever the words or the tune, it was so beautiful, so achingly lovely, that no one could listen and be untouched."

― Michael Grant, Lies

"He who sings scares away his woes."

― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

"He's an only child and could never understand the delicate joys of sibling abuse."

― Cynthia Hand, Hallowed

"What brothers say to tease their sisters has nothing to do with what they really think of them."

― Esther M. Friesner, Nobody's Princess

"All right everyone!" Oikawa exclaimed loudly, clapping his hands.

Slowly the chatting of this team stopped and everyone turned their attention towards their Captain and Vice-Captain.

"It's the beginning of the Golden Week training and Saturday, we'll have a practice match against Wakunan Minami! Let's make the most of it all and enjoy, all right everyone~?"

"Oooosss!" Everyone answered.

"Anything the Vice-Captain wishes to add?" Oikawa asked, hands on his hips and turning a big smile towards his friend.

Iwaizumi turned towards his team, everyone listening to him with awed eyes:

"Let's get stronger this week to win the Inter-High and go to the Nationals!" He exclaimed with a strong voice.

"OOOSSSSS!" They all shouted excitedly, like a crew answering to their ship Captain.

"The fact that they respect you more than me is truly annoying…" Oikawa muttered with a pout.

"If you were taking things more seriously, they would respect you even outside of matches," Iwaizumi shrugged.

"Iwa-chan! Does this mean you guys respect me when we're playing matches?!" Oikawa asked joyfully, bouncing around his Vice-Captain.

"We respect your serves," Iwaizumi answered, not phased at all.

"Aaaaww! So mean! What about the rest of my plays – I'm a setter!"

"Then act like one and be more responsible."

The first day of intense practice went all right even if an entire day of practice lead by Iwaizumi meant that the first-years – not used to the intense training – got exhausted pretty fast. It was only after Hajime told them to take it easy to not be too tired on the first day or get injured that they slowed down to keep up at their own rhythm. Of course, the first-years admired their senpai even more after that.

At the end of the day, once Makki and Iwaizumi (Mattsun had given up) managed to drag Oikawa away from the gymnasium to rest a little, they took their showers and baths and went to the cafeteria where the dinner would probably be ready. What they had not expected was to see most of their teammates, gathered, almost piled up on one another, at the entrance of the cafeteria, trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside through the tiny round windows.

"What are you doing?" Iwaizumi asked, frowning lightly at what new mayhem they would have caused – and it was only the first day.

"Iwaizumi-san!" Kindaichi exclaimed with flushed cheeks to be caught.

"There's someone singing," Kunimi added with his usual blank expression – but he was still leaning against the swing door.

"A girl singing!" Yahaba added, a little too excited at this.

"Uh?"

"What do you mean?" Oikawa asked.

Immediately, Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Makki leaned against the swing doors all the while making sure – like everyone else – to not put any pressure that might open them. Then, they heard the smothered voice of a girl singing – a beautiful voice that immediately made their hearts speed up because a girl was singing.

"I don't understand, we don't have a manager – why would there be a girl?" Watari asked shyly.

"We didn't go to the wrong cafeteria, did we?" Kindaichi asked in a hushed voice.

"There's only one cafeteria." Kunimi answered, holding back a roll of his eyes.

"Ah, yes…"

"I don't care who she is, her voice is beautiful…" Yahaba whispered in awe.

There was a moment of reverent silence, a silent agreement to this statement. Then, Makki blinked and smirked.

"Ah."

"What is it?" Iwaizumi asked him.

"Nothing," he answered even if the third-years could tell he was hiding something.

"What if it's a ghost singing?!" Kindaichi suddenly exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Ghosts don't exist." Mattsun intervened.

"A ghost wouldn't have such a pretty voice – it must be a mermaid!" Yahaba exclaimed.

"Mermaids don't exist as well – also there is no water, how would a mermaid even be here?" Kunimi said, as calm as ever.

"Then! She's an alien! A beautiful alien with the singing voice of a mermaid!" Oikawa exclaimed excitedly, eyes sparkling.

Everyone turned to him.

Kunimi opened his lips but Makki and Mattsun gave him signs to shut him up from behind an oblivious Oikawa. Kunimi seemed confused as to why he couldn't say that aliens weren't real either but after a glance at his enchanted Captain, he understood that saying 'aliens don't exist' would not be appreciated by him. He'd probably start crying. But Iwaizumi had the courage to actually sigh and answer to his friend:

"An alien mermaid… That's too crazy, Oikawa. Maybe a mermaid, maybe an alien, but not both."

"Wait – do you seriously think it could be a mermaid or an alien or are you making fun of him?" Mattsun asked Iwaizumi.

But before the Ace could answer, a voice resonated behind them, coming from nowhere:

"Will you enter or not? I'm hungry."

The boys all shrieked after hearing a ghost talk to them. They pushed each other, gasped more and… fell against the swing-doors. A pile of the entire team fell on the floor, pushing open the swing-doors, moaning in pain – especially for the ones under the rest of the boys. They glanced over their shoulders and held back screams when they saw the head-coach Irihata looking down at them with an exasperated look on his face.

"Oh NO! Coach Irihata is a ghost!" Someone screamed with a high-pitched voice.

"Irihata is dead!" Another shouted in panic.

"I am NOT a ghost, I'm not dead. I'm very much alive, thank you very much."

"What's happening?" Mizoguchi asked curiously from over the counter.

The boys started standing up, with some difficulty for the ones who had been under the rest of the pile, and turned their attention towards the coach. The singing had stopped, whatever spell had brought the mermaid-alien in their cafeteria was now broken.

"We heard someone singing, then the ghost of Irihata scared us," Makki explained.

"I'm not dead," Irihata repeated another time, sending an annoyed look to the boys who didn't seem disturbed by it.

Then, someone stepped out of behind Mizoguchi, looking a little surprised by the mayhem caused by the volley ball club. Hajime's eyes widened while everyone stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"AKIYAMA?!"

"Kiku?!"

Hajime had the reflex to cover his mouth when he heard himself call his classmate by her first-name but thankfully, everyone's voices had covered his. He started feeling relief when he met Irihata's gaze and raised eyebrow. Of course, the coach had been the one standing next to him and of course, he had been the only one hearing the boy screaming his niece's first name. Hajime still couldn't wrap his mind around it. He flushed and quickly looked away from both uncle and niece.

"What are you doing here, Kiku-chan?" Oikawa asked curiously, but glad to have the girl nearby Iwa-chan.

"Singing, apparently," Makki answered with a shrug.

Kiku threw him a quick glance and was about to answer when everyone stiffened, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Hold on, wait – that was you?" Mattsun asked, pointing at the girl.

"Y-you're the alien mermaid, Kiku-chan?!" Oikawa screamed, thunderstruck.

"T-the what…" Kiku hesitated, blinking.

"Why did you never mention you were an alien before, Kiku-chan?!" Oikawa continued while his teammates sighed and slammed their palms against their foreheads.

"There is no mermaid, and no alien, idiot!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, giving a light slap against his friend's shoulder, "Ki– I mean, Akiyama-san is a normal girl with a very pretty, incredibly beautiful singing voice… that's all." He finished in a murmur, glancing at the girl who blushed and smiled at his compliment.

"B-but… the alien mermaid…" Tooru whined sadly.

Everyone ignored his whimpering as Mattsun turned towards Makki:

"So, you knew it was her but you didn't say?"

"Ah, well, it was fun seeing you guys having theories about every possible creature to be." He answered with a shrug.

"You were the one singing so beautifully? It was… it was amazing!" Yahaba exclaimed, looking straight at Kiku.

The girl blushed and looked down, a shy smile on her face.

"T-thank you…"

Iwaizumi glanced at Yahaba, his body stiffening suddenly to see him talking so casually with his Kiku. Of course, the second-year was right – it had been a beautiful singing, it had been amazing. But Hajime didn't like anyone else but him complimenting Kiku – especially when it was a flirt like Yahaba.

Tooru seemed to notice this change of behavior from his friend and the way his eyes turned slightly dangerous, but didn't say a thing, only smiled and approached the counter:

"So~ Kiku-chan~ Have you become our manager?" He asked.

He knew that because of him, they couldn't have a manager – but if the girl managing was the coach's niece and not interested in him, there would be no problem, right?

"A-ah, n-no! I'm only… helping out Mizoguchi-san…" She answered hesitantly, "To prepare lunch and dinner… for you…" She continued, glancing sheepishly at Hajime.

"Ooh… how sad… I'm sure the team would be enchanted to have such a lovely manager – especially one who sings so beautifully. I, myself, am quite a good singer and I must say that–"

"OK. That's enough chit-chat." Irihata decided, pushing away the Captain.

And delivering dinner started: Mizoguchi and Kiku were preparing the trails before giving them, full of food, to the thankful, hungry boys. Irihata was the first one served and then, everyone went in some sort of clumsy line, not really caring about the proper order from their school years, everyone mixing together.

"Thank you, Akiyama-senpai!" Kindaichi exclaimed happily because his dinner had been prepared by a girl.

A few meters behind, Hajime clicked his tongue and huffed annoyingly, making his friends turn to him.

"Don't worry, Iwa-chan~ No one will steal your Kiku-chan~" Oikawa started.

"Eh?! I'm not jealous!"

"I never said you were jealous."

"You said it yourself." Mattsun intervened.

Hajime huffed, looking away from his oh-so-called friends.

"I doubt she's interested in first-years anyway," Mattsun added with a shrug.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that – she likes young ones, apparently," Makki snorted but no one understood what he meant by that.

"How did you know it was Kiku singing?" Hajime asked instead.

"She's my neighbor – she's almost always singing. I hear her singing all the time. Thankfully, she sings well so it's not much of a bother…" Makki shrugged.

Hajime stared at Hanamaki, feeling like it was just unfair – his teammate got to spend so much time with Kiku, he got to hear her singing everyday, he got to see her everyday…

"I'm not jealous…" He mumbled to himself, so low he was barely heard.

"Sure you're not!" Makki exclaimed laughing.

"Lots, please. I'm famished." Mattsun requested as he arrived to be served.

"You'll be served like everyone else, if you're still hungry after that, there'll be seconds," Mizoguchi said.

If Mattsun was annoyed he didn't show it, but as soon as Mizoguchi focused on the next bowls and plates to fill, Kiku doubled the ration on Mattsun's trail. He gave her a curious look and she grinned, lifting up her finger to her lips to keep it a secret. Smirking, he took the trail and took a few steps away while Makki arrived in front of Kiku.

"Unfair. Give me the same." He asked the girl.

"Ask nicely." She requested, looking slightly annoyed by his tone.

"I just did."

"It wasn't nice."

"Urgh."

Makki frowned and opened his lips to continue – not realizing that everyone was staring at the two neighbors curiously because it was the first time they were seeing Kiku interacting so openly and naturally.

"Come on, Taka-chan, show some respect to your elders~" Kiku continued, smirking at him.

Annoyed, he snorted at what she just called him in front of everyone. But before he could retort anything, Hajime – who was less than a meter away – blinked:

"Wait… what do you mean by that?" He asked curiously.

It seemed to remind Kiku and Takahiro that there were other people around and they both turned to him.

"She's a year older than us," Makki explained as if it was obvious.

"Eh?"

"EH?! You're a senpai, Kiku-cha… Kiku… uum…" Oikawa hesitated, not knowing how to refer to the girl anymore.

"B-but! You're in my class! You're in the same class, you're the same age, right?!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, turning towards Kiku.

She seemed a little strange that because of Hanamaki, they knew it but she forced a smile and nice expression as she answered Hajime:

"I'm eighteen years old. I'll turn nineteen this year. I repeated a school year… in Middle-school." She explained sheepishly.

Too stunned to know that the girl he liked wasn't even the same age as him but a year older, Hajime stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Until Mattsun casually brought an arm over his shoulders and whispered in his ear:

"I hope you have a kouhai kink because you'll definitely be the one screaming 'senpai'…" He teased with a smirk.

Hajime blushed and pushed him away, ignoring his suggestive tone.

Before anyone could comment, though, the glare Kiku sent in the direction of Hanamaki didn't escape the others' attention.

"You had to say it so that everyone would hear. You're such a pain in the ass!" She said, making everyone blink because it was Akiyama Kiku, she was shy and quiet and didn't tell this sort of things.

Irihata didn't seem surprised, or bothered, and continued eating dinner as usual – Hanamaki too wasn't surprised. Glad, on the contrary, she'd (finally) show her true colors, he leaned forward with a teasing smile:

"Eeeeh, You wanted to keep it a secret, senpai? That's too bad~!"

"You don't want me to tell them, do you?" She asked.

"Tell them what, it's not like you–"

"Seventh grade." She simply said with a proud smirk.

"…Don't." Hanamaki threatened, color escaping his cheeks.

"What happened in seventh grade?" Oikawa asked curiously.

Kiku was about to open her lips but Hanamaki jumped over the counter with a scream, covering her mouth with his hand, eyes wide and panicked:

"DON'T! Don't tell them! Don't tell anyone! Please!" He exclaimed, "I'll do anything you want but don't tell them…!" He added in a hushed voice so she'd be the only hearing but the room was so silent it resonated anyway.

"Hanamaki-san… is… begging…?" Kindaichi asked in incredulity.

Everyone watched as Kiku blinked at Hanamaki. Slowly, he pulled away his hand but she smiled at him in a mischievous way.

"Call me senpai." She ordered.

"…Senpai…" He muttered, closing his eyes in shame.

"Do better~"

"See, told you she had a senpai kink," Mattsun whispered in Hajime's ear, elbowing him in the same time.

"Shut up!" He exclaimed, blushing.

"…Akiyama… senpai…" Takahiro murmured, his entire body trembling when he felt everyone's eyes fixated on him with wide, very wide, shocked eyes.

I won't live the end of the day after that… He thought to himself.

"…Well, perhaps if you call me that all week long – I'll consider not telling anyone about seventh grade." Kiku decided.

"…You… little…"

"Tch, tch, tch. Seventh grade." Kiku interrupted.

Takahiro actually growled, glaring at the girl who continued to smile proudly, not even caring if the volleyball club saw her acting this way – it also meant the volleyball club seeing their respected wing-spiker being a weakling to her, and it was oh-so-worth it.

Slowly, Takahiro seemed to calm down and he reached for his pocket and pulled out his phone, looking for something in it. Not understanding what exactly was happening, people continued to watch the show – except Irihata who was used to see these two act like that.

"I wanted to keep it for later use but I could just use it now. I bet you don't want a certain someone to see this picture of you…" He started, showing the phone only to Kiku.

He made sure no one else could see – even if Oikawa and Matsukawa definitely tried to have a peek.

Kiku gasped, eyes widening and her cheeks turning red. She immediately tried to reach for the phone but the wing-spiker pulled it away and out of her reach, locking his phone screen to make sure no one would see the picture that had turned the girl into such a blushing, angry mess.

"Give it! Give it BACK, Hanamaki!" Kiku ordered, jumping to get the phone but he pulled it away just before she could reach it.

"U-uh. Not happening. Not until you take back the threat about seventh grade." He said, keeping the phone just an inch away from her fingers.

"Nnggh…!"

Kiku suddenly climbed over the counter, trying to reach for Hanamaki but he pulled away. She tried to get the phone, but he put it in his back pocket, chuckling as she tried to strangle him. But his hands grabbed her wrists as they both tried to annoy the other the most: she was trying to strangle him – or peek out his eyes, whatever would be the easiest to do – and he was keeping her away from him by holding her arms.

"Your little fight is almost cute~" He hummed.

"You ass!"

"Oooh~ What would your parents say?"

"Fuck it!"

"Languaaaage~"

"Uncle Nobuteru! Kick him out of the team! He's of no use anyway!" She yelled, without even glancing at her uncle.

"Oi! That's playing unfair!" Makki growled at her.

"Thanks for the meal," Irihata sighed, standing up as he was the only one done with dinner and he definitely did not want to deal with any of this any longer.

"Oi, you two, keep it down – just get dinner and calm down…" Mizoguchi started.

"I'll peek yar eyes out – how will you play chasing the ball around without seeing anything, uh?!" Kiku threatened Makki without hearing Mizoguchi.

"It's enough!" Mizoguchi exclaimed, everyone but the two teens arguing, taking a step back as a dangerous aura started to appear around him.

"Just try it – you'd have to reach me first, dwarf!" Makki barked.

"If I can't reach you up there, I'll get you down!"

"I SAID ENOUGH!"

Kiku – who had been on a clumsy balance over the counter and mostly holding onto Hanamaki – suddenly fell over at Mizoguchi's scream. Hanamaki gasped when she fell on him and they stumbled on the floor, both startled and frightened upon seeing the coach's dangerous look in the eyes.

"…S-sorry…" They both mumbled, lowering their heads in shame.

"Just eat dinner already! Young ones these day, seriously…" Mizoguchi muttered, shaking his head as he finished the last trails for the last players.

"Get off me…!" Hanamaki hissed, kicking Kiku away from him.

"Ouch! Have you never heard of delicacy, you…"

Her voice trailed off when Mizoguchi sent the two of them a bad look. They quickly stood up, still trying to elbow and kick and punch the other as discreetly as possible, glaring and frowns on their faces, but they stopped arguing with sound which was more than enough for the coach.

"…All right, Kiku, your father is here to take you home. I'll walk you there." Irihata intervened after checking the hour.

"Y-yes…" She mumbled, taking her bag.

Hanamaki huffed and she stuck her tongue at him childishly before running after her uncle and disappearing from the cafeteria.

Slowly, the silence that had invaded the volleyball team's cafeteria stopped and they started murmuring and chatting quietly about everything that had happened.

"…What just happened?" Iwaizumi asked, blinking in disbelief at everything he just learned about Kiku.

"Oh, my~ That's an interesting turn of events~" Oikawa hummed, chuckling to himself.

"…Seriously, what just happened?" Iwaizumi asked once again.

Still pissed off, Hanamaki went to his seat – teased mercilessly by Mattsun. Oikawa and Iwaizumi sat with them.

"What happened in seventh grade?" Mattsun asked with a grin.

"Nothing."

"What happened in seventh grade?" He repeated with the same voice.

"Nothing."

"What was on your phone?"

"Nothing!"

"Makki and Kiku-chan are like siblings who don't get along~" Oikawa said happily.

"UGH!" Hanamaki exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

Too stunned by everything that had just happened, Iwaizumi was just unable to find anything to say. He looked down at his trail of food, thinking back on the scene from a few minutes ago.

He was glad he had learned so many things, even if he was still confused.

21. Kiku was a year older than him.

22. When Kiku swears, she doesn't hold back at all.

23. She knows stuff about Hanamaki and he knows stuff about her.

24. Her voice is as beautiful as a mermaid's.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter~

Once again, I don't know when I'll post next chapter and I apologize if it takes a lot of time! "

Yours Truly,

May