Sorry I couldn't post earlier but there was no more internet and I was in a Sowlmate mood! I'm very disappointed ebcause this chapter is boring so I'll try writing more soon so I can post soon...

Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited! :D

AnimeViolinist001: Lol, I'm sure you'd be a wonderful alien-mermaid! :D PERHAPS we'll learn what happened in 7th grad and what is on Makki's phone - the thing is, I wrote about that without finding a good thing to explain it, so we'll see how it turns out... "

Houshikun001 : Kiku has more in herself than people give her credits for - and I love writing about Makki and Kiku, they're an interesting duo!

. : Thank you so much! Glad I surprised you with last chapter's revelations! :D There will be some flashabcks but I'm not sure yet whether it'll involve Kiku and Makki - perhaps vaguely. I'll defintiely write more about them!

Tamani : Yeah! Kyouken-chan would have been there, he would have been impressed by Kiku! XD

VioletRyu : More secrets next chapter! ;)

LuxKlara : Nessuno a Aoba Jousai aspettava Kiku di cantare bene - salvo Hanamaki. Perché Kiku ha mancato un' anno di scuola sarà spiegato più tardi. ;) Nel futuro, Makki cambia il suo comportamente con Kiku, per raggioni che saranno spiegati anche più tardi! :D Makki si sentirà colpevole... Non Sappiamo si Oikawa crede negli alieni ma negli manga e anime, quando Oikawa è piccolo, ha tshirts con alieni - è credeto nel fandom che Oikawa è uno fan dei alieni, come Iwaizumi è uno fan di Godzilla (anche, per i accessori che porta, ha un imagio di Godzilla sul telefono) ma si, è un dei ragioni perchè la futura storia di Oikawa si titola "Alien"! :D

pinkdoughtnuts: Kiku is great, uh? Stronger than she appearances lead to believe! Imagining Iwaizumi saying "notice me senpai" is the most hilarious thing to be! XD

akagami hime chan : I'm pretty sure there are plenty of fanarts and headcanons and fanfics of Oikawa with aliens and him getting abdcted! XD I think it's cute that he's such a geek~ It makes him more real, more like US, y'know? XD

Stellar Nymph : I thought the quotes were all from books but songs work as well! :)

CocoaFirefly : Ahah, thanks a lot! :D I hope you'll like this fanfic as much as Sowlmate! ;)

CommandoGirl1127: Kiku will lose her cool a few more times because of Hanamaki, the two of them will always get on each other's nerves - a bit like Kageyama and Hinata. Thank you for your compliment about my wrting! The pair of people concerning awkwardness... is this Ayakou? Or Kijime? Or both? XD It brought tears to my eyes to read your review - being a role model is such huge pressure! And I'm glad I manage to keep everyone IC, canon charcters and OC alike, and I'm glad my writings can help you in some way! :D *virtual hugs you*

Rhea Ellace : Iwaizumi is ALWAYS cute~ And handsome~ And cool~ AND- OK. I shut up now. Kiku is a very complex character with lots of aspects from different personalities! AND OMG. Okawa is SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE! He's like one of the greatest character to write with because he's a complex, has a deep personnality, keeps differents masks and is lots of fun! I love writing interesting character like him! :D

FANFICTION

HAIKYUU! : QUIET VOICE

CHAPTER XVI : The 'Let's Get Iwa-chan with Kiku-chan' Plan

"You're something between a dream and a miracle."

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Love Letters

"However, I've learned that the heart can't be told when and who and how it should love. The heart does whatever the hell it wants to do. The only thing we can control is whether we give our lives and our minds the chance to catch up to our hearts."

— Colleen Hoover, Maybe Someday

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Hajime… Hajime…"

It was Kiku's voice, calling him. Hajime saw Kiku standing in front of him, her hair messy and an adorable blush on her cheeks. She was wearing his Aoba Jousai's jersey and he felt so darn happy to see it on her frame, the sleeves being so long only her fingers could be seen.

"Hajime, I'm wearing your jersey," she continued with a shy smile.

He didn't answer and took in the view of the girl he liked wearing his jersey. It was so stupid, really, but it felt like it was his way of claiming her – protecting her from the cold with his jacket, protecting her from the world if it were cold to her in any way. He wanted to answer "yeah, I know" but he only looked her up and down appreciatively.

"I'm wearing only your jersey," Kiku added.

Hajime stared at her, a little shocked, as her hand rose to the zipper and started pulling it down. He saw her bare breasts bouncing lightly from the sudden move and…

"Iwa-chan!" Kiku called, continuing to zip down her jacket, "Iwa-chan!" She continued but when her lips moved, she sounded like Oikawa.

What the hell? Iwaizumi thought.

And he was kicked awake.

Hajime jumped up, pulling at his covers and giving a strangled scream.

"Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?" Hanamaki asked from a nearby futon, checking stuff on his phone.

"Eh?"

Iwaizumi looked around and saw most of the team's futons empty, most boys of the volleyball team were getting ready, some were still sitting on their futons sleepily, trying to find the courage to move out of bed.

When he didn't receive any answer, Makki glanced at the Vice-Captain and raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't wake up when your phone rang, Iwa-chan, did you not sleep well?" Oikawa asked.

Before Iwaizumi could answer, Oikawa pulled at the cover of his futon – that had made its way around Iwaizumi in the night for supplementary wrapping.

"Fuck, I did it again?" He asked.

He always somehow managed to kick whoever was sleeping nearby out of the futon and he'd end up with two futons in between his arms and legs – no one could figure out how he got tangled so much in his sleep. They were used to it now and Oikawa (or whoever was right next to Iwaizumi) was ready to be woken up in the night but it still meant less sleep than the others.

"You were repeating 'Kiku' and moaning in your sleep. It was a nice dream, I presume?" Oikawa asked while he tried to put some order on his sleeping place.

"You're having a boner?" Hanamaki asked without sugarcoating his words, still on his phone.

Hajime blushed fifty shades of red but couldn't deny that he was close to one – after his dream, and these words, it was hard to focus on not having one.

"Boners are taking care of in the last stall of the restrooms – it's the rule, Iwaizumi," Matsukawa said as he entered the room.

"I-I don't have a-a b-boner!" Iwaizumi exclaimed stubbornly.

"Yeah, sure," Makki snorted, "By the way, I just sent a message to Kiku telling her you had naughty dreams about her."

"WHAT?!"

Iwaizumi immediately tried to reach the phone but Makki managed to send the phone up in the air before it could land in his friend's hands. Mattsun caught it and by the time Iwaizumi had gotten up, untangled his legs from the futons and various covers, tripping on the way, Issei had already read the message sent by Makki. Blinking, he raised a curious eyebrow to Hanamaki who silently told him not to say anything. Without a word or even a gaze in the direction of the Ace, Matsukawa raised his arm up in the air, keeping the phone out of reach from the jumping, grunting Ace.

"You guys do know we have to be in practice in like, less than half an hour? And breakfast before that?" Oikawa, who was (for once) surprisingly calm, asked.

"If you continue to be so loud, Mizoguchi will come and yell again…" Yahaba – already dressed and ready – said.

Iwaizumi finally caught Makki's phone and quickly read the message he had sent to Kiku – but found absolutely nothing.

"I don't even have her number, you idiot," Hanamaki mocked, grabbing his phone once again.

"Y-you…!" Hajime cursed, suddenly feeling like punching something.

Once everyone had woken up, dressed, taken breakfast and moved into the gymnasium, practice started as usual. They had several breaks to keep up and lunch was in the cafeteria once again but this time, there was no alien-mermaid – to Hajime's great disappointment, even though he would never admit it outloud.

"Are you all texting your girlfriends?" Mizoguchi asked nonchalantly as he walked past the table of the third-years.

All of them – except Iwaizumi – had their eyes locked on their screens and fingers typing. Hajime glanced up at the coach curiously while Oikawa smiled at Mizoguchi:

"I don't know about Makki and Mattsun, but yes~ I miss her – I usually see her on Monday when there isn't any practice but with the Golden Week training camp… I can't see her until Saturday…"

"I'm getting laid Saturday as well," Makki piped up without bothering to glance up.

"I'm planning something too," Mattsun added.

"All of you young ones… always on your phones and with your girlfriends…" Mizoguchi sighed before turning towards a silent Iwaizumi, "And you? Iwaizumi? Planning anything with your lucky girl anytime soon?"

"Ah, uh, I don't have… a girlfriend…" He answered, a little sheepishly.

"Yet," Oikawa breathed.

"Yet~" Makki added with a snort.

"Yet!" Mattsun finished.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes while Mizoguchi turned to him completely with a smile – it felt an awful lot like an uncle being proud of his nephew's conquests.

"You have someone in view, Iwaizumi?" He asked.

"Uuuh…"

Iwaizumi had the instinct to glance at Irihata who was the uncle of the girl he actually had in view, but instead, he stared at his empty bowl. There was a moment of silence during which his three friends wondered whether or not they could tell Mizoguchi about Iwaizumi's feelings for Kiku-chan. If Mizoguchi knew, he'd tell Irihata – but he already knew.

"Iwa-chan likes KiiiAAAAh!" Oikawa shouted when he received a sharp hit at his side from his friend.

"DON'T! Say a thing!" Iwaizumi yelled, flushing.

Thankfully, Mizoguchi didn't connect the dots and only chuckled light-heartedly – he was in a good mood apparently.

"It's all right! It's perfectly fine to fall in love at this age! Ah, I remember when I was your age, there was this girl I started dating in my third-year."

"Duh, don't tell me, she dumped you?" Makki asked, raising an eyebrow.

And there went Mizoguchi's rare good mood. A pissed off expression appeared on his face as he answered angrily:

"No, she didn't dump me! We stayed together for two years! I found out she was cheating on me then she dumped me!"

"Oh, dude, that stings," Makki said, blinking.

"Coming from boys who don't have girlfriends for more than a few weeks when they're lucky – that's ironic! You don't even know what it's like to date someone out of love!" He snapped before walking away in annoyance.

"That's because we don't want to suffer and become an irritated old man like you that we don't date out of love," Makki muttered to himself with a shrug.

Oikawa glanced up at him quickly then decided to abandon his phone for the moment, putting it down and turning towards Iwa-chan.

"Except one – tell me, Iwa-chan, when will you ask Kiku-chan out?" He asked loudly.

"Shhh!" Iwa-chan exclaimed, covering his friend's mouth when several people glanced over to them – and among them, Irihata.

"Ich not lak hesoshen na, Itcha-chen…" Oikawa muttered against Iwaizumi's hand.

"What?" Mattsun asked.

Tooru pushed away the hand from his face before repeating what he had just said:

"It's not like he doesn't know, Iwa-chan. I think he knew before you did that you had a thing for his niece." He said with a shrug.

"It's not a reason to scream it on the rooftops, Oikawa!" Iwaizumi complained, frowning at his friend.

"Someday, you'll be the one screaming from the rooftops your feelings for Kiku-chan~"

"ARGH!"

Iwaizumi let himself fall against his chair, not wanting to deal with it any more. Unfortunately, the third-years were now hooked on the topic and wouldn't give up:

"But seriously, though, you like her, she likes you, why not date her?" Mattsun asked.

Hanamaki glanced at Iwaizumi, thinking back on the fact that Kiku didn't want to date him for whatever reason he couldn't comprehend. But he was curious to know what Hajime thought of the situation.

"B-because… I-it's complicated, okay?!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, flushing and glancing away.

"The only complicated thing in this story is how shy you two are," Makki intervened, "And even if coach is Kiku's uncle – he won't tell you to fuck off, so you're free to do as you please."

"Please stop reminding me that Irihata is her uncle!" Iwaizumi whined, putting his face in his hands.

"Makki is right, Iwa-chan, if you want to date Kiku-chan, you can do it! She'll definitely say yes, so there's nothing to worry about! Also, didn't you say you'd make her your girlfriend?"

"I never said that!"

"Yes, you did – you said it when we practice the three-on-three the other day!"

"I-it was! It was different!" Iwaizumi exclaimed before glancing away, "A-also… stuff happened since then… Kiku… she might like me but she doesn't seem to be willing to date me…"

"What would make you think that?" Oikawa asked genuinely confused.

Hanamaki observed closely Iwaizumi as he frowned to himself and continued in a hushed voice to not be heard by anyone else but the other third-years:

"She ran away when… that accident happened… She didn't want to talk about it either when we met in class again, and then it's like nothing had ever happened! But it did! But she acts as if nothing had happened at all! And she acts the same with everyone – whether it's me, Yahaba, Kindaichi, you or anyone, she's always blushing and shy and adorable and it's SO frustrating!"

"Uh, she doesn't act the same with me – she punches me, but well." Hanamaki said, everyone ignoring him.

"So, basically, you're so busy being jealous for no reason that you're not making any move?" Matsukawa concluded.

Hajime blinked at him, realized it was true and glanced away in a mix of frustration and embarrassment. Before anyone could add anything, Makki spoke up again:

"Kiku has always acted like that with everyone, she's shy and socially awkward – that's normal if she acts shy in front of everyone. But she's so much more relaxed near you, that's the thing, Iwaizumi – she lets down her walls when she's around you."

Everyone stared at him who was, for once, speaking honestly about Kiku and what he thought of her relationship with Hajime:

"But there's one thing you got right – she doesn't want to date you."

"Makki! How could you say that?!" Oikawa exclaimed while Iwaizumi's shoulders slumped down.

"I talked with Kiku, I asked her what she wanted – she doesn't want to date Iwaizumi. I don't think she wants to date anyone actually. Sorry for you but unless you convince her you're worth it, she'll say no." Hanamaki continued, turning towards his friend.

Hajime stared at him for a long time, taking in the weight of these words. Tooru and Issei glanced worriedly between their two friends, gazes finally resting on Iwaizumi's face…

"Iwa-chan…" Oikawa finally said, sounding sad.

Hajime's face darkened and he looked down, trying to play it cool.

"It's okay. I'm not cut out for dating anyway. And Kiku deserves someone better than me."

Takehiro raised his eyebrows, tempted to throw in another comment but he didn't have the heart to do that now. He couldn't tell Iwaizumi that the reason why Kiku didn't want to date him was because she thought he deserved better.

"Iwa-chan…" Oikawa repeated.

He threw a pleading gaze towards Makki, silently telling him to go back on his words and pretend it was just a joke. Anything that would lift up Iwaizumi's spirits but when no one piped up another word, he felt annoyance. Towards Makki for saying such thing, for Mattsun for pretending he didn't care (but Oikawa knew he cared), himself for not finding the right thing to say to motivate Iwa-chan, and Iwa-chan for giving up so easily.

For a short moment, Oikawa hesitated – sure, he wanted his friend to be with the girl he liked, but there were other motives behind Tooru's push… he regretted going so far if it meant hurting both Kiku and Hajime. But now, whatever reasons he had initially had, the only thing Oikawa wanted was to see his best friend and Kiku, who belonged together, finally together.

Suddenly standing up, Tooru's chair flew down, attracting everyone's attention in the cafeteria to him:

"I will not have this!" He declared, "Look at you! You look like a kicked puppy, Iwa-chan!"

"Eh?! Oikawa– what are you–!"

"You will date Kiku-chan even if it takes you years to make it happen!" Oikawa continued with a determined voice.

There was a heavy silence during which Hajime's face turned fifty shades of red. Everyone was staring at them, a bit shocked, that Oikawa had screamed something like that so loudly.

Irihata was gaping at the third-years, not understanding what the hell they were planning but he didn't like that it involved his niece's heart. The coach opened his lips to say something but the Ace beat him to it:

"O-oi…! W-what are you! Shut up, Trashykawa!" Iwaizumi stood up suddenly.

"B-but, I just want your happiAaaAAww!"

Tooru's voice turned into a strangled screech as Hajime grabbed his collar and started dragging him away from the cafeteria, his feet angrily stomping the floor.

"…Looks like I don't have to say a thing, after all…" Irihata murmured to himself with a half-smile while the third-years and some other curious teammates decided to follow to 'make sure they didn't go into a fight' (read: to gossip).

Mizoguchi blinked in confusion, watching the swinging doors then back at the head-coach:

"Eh? Eh? Iwaizumi wants to date Kiku-chan?" He asked in confusion.

Irihata gave him a long look before sighing and standing up:

"Took you long enough to figure it out…"

"Wait – what? It's true?" Mizoguchi continued, not understanding what was happening.

The air in Oikawa's lungs was pulsed out when his back violently met a wall. He gasped in pain and Iwaizumi felt a twinge of worry and guilt before anger won over:

"What were you thinking?! Screaming like that in front of everyone?! And among them Irihata who is Kiku's uncle…?!"

"S-stop fixating on their relationship!" Oikawa whined, "I just want you happy – and I'm not saying that to make you stop glaring at me like that no matter how frightening it is!" He exclaimed, staring back.

Iwaizumi thinned his lips, clenching his fists before realizing that he was indeed, glaring a little too viciously at his friend. He didn't stop glaring, though – Trashykawa had deserved it.

"B-but, you look very happy when you're around Kiku and perhaps it'd make you less irritable if you had a girlfriend! And Kiku-chan looks so joyful around you as well – you're the only one to make her feel like that! I know you're not blind, neither is Kiku, and if you two were giving each other a chance, you could have a really good and healthy relationship! If you weren't that stubborn, that is!" Oikawa exclaimed, frowning lightly at his friend.

Surprised, and mildly annoyed, to get scolded by Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi's anger died down to leave only astonishment. He couldn't deny that there was a bit of truth in these words…

"Makki said it – you just have to convince Kiku-chan that you're worth dating, even if that's a long shot…"

"EH…?!"

"B-BUT! She'd say yes! If you convince her!" Oikawa exclaimed, frightened when he saw the look on Iwaizumi's face.

"…Hanamaki also said that she doesn't want to date anyone at the moment…"

"…Aren't you a bit curious to find out why, then?" Oikawa muttered, pouting a little.

Iwaizumi huffed but threw a curious look at his friend, silently asking him what he meant by that. Tooru took a brave step away from the wall and pulled at his wrinkled tshirt from the earlier rough handling.

"Kiku-chan is a quiet but nice girl, she probably never interested any guy because she's not the typical attractive girl. She's kinda cute but more friendly than someone we'd see romantically. Which means that until now, no guy approached her with the intention of dating her – we can agree on that, right?" Oikawa asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"…I follow your line of thoughts for now." Iwaizumi grumbled, still frowning.

"Even when it comes to friends – she doesn't have many and she's been bullied, not just this year in your class, but it's probably something that comes back often and explains her anxiousness around people. Right?"

"Hmmpf." He nodded.

"And then you came into the picture, Iwa-chan~!" Oikawa exclaimed happily, spreading his arms around, "You took notice of her, you looked at her, you became friends, you have crush on each other that slowly turned into pure love~!"

"…I wouldn't go as far as saying it turned into 'pure love' but… what's your point, Oikawa?"

"You turned her world totally upside-down! Not only she has a good friend she can count on, but he's a guy who is attracted to her and shows his attraction – and she feels the same! She doesn't know how to act and thus, she prefers to stay safe behind the walls she has built around her! She doesn't want to date because that's way too wild for her and she doesn't know how to act for you other than as just 'friends attracted to each other' and can't imagine going any further!"

"…I can understand that much about her, thanks… but I don't see how I could convince her of anything – if she doesn't feel like dating because of her insecurities then–"

"Iwa-chan! That's it! You have to convince her that her insecurities don't matter to you! That you're ready to date her no matter what!" Oikawa exclaimed, grabbing his friend's shoulders.

Iwaizumi hesitated, glancing around. Kiku's insecurities were part of her – he couldn't ask her to erase all of her insecurities simply because of him… It'd take time and labor to convince her he was serious about her and wouldn't push her. But even if they had had lots of things happening between them… it didn't feel like their relationship had changed much over the past few weeks. They were still shy, socially-awkward Akiyama Kiku and confident, protective Iwaizumi Hajime.

Seeing the light of understanding and slowly self-convincing of how far he'd go in Iwaizumi's eyes, Oikawa smiled to himself and took a step away.

"Maybe she thinks that's just a big joke?"

Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned towards Makki and Mattsun who approached calmly – obviously after listening to the whole thing. The rest of the team was half-hidden behind a wall, wondering whether or not they could come out.

"What'd you mean?" Iwaizumi asked his friend, frowning once again.

"Well… Like Oikawa said – Kiku never interested anyone. The chances that she'd find her way in the second most popular guy's heart of our school are as thin as rice paper."

"I'd say even thinner," Makki remarked.

"In Kiku's mind, she probably thinks that if it's not a dream then it's a carefully made joke to ridicule her. The moment she'd show interest and trust in you – you'd reveal the whole thing in front of the whole school and she'd be scarred for life, and you'd have the funniest time of your life."

"EH?! How is that any fun?! I wouldn't do that! I've never thought that!" Iwaizumi yelled, insulted by this idea.

"I know! But that's probably how Kiku's mind work, right?" Mattsun continued.

"In the same time, Kiku-chan isn't stupid, she observes and understands people," Oikawa answered thoughtfully, "Iwa-chan is blunt, rough and terribly honest – she knows by now he's not this type of person."

"Well, then, she might just not like you enough to let her walls down for you," Mattsun shrugged.

"How is that helpful, Mattsun?!" Oikawa exclaimed, tired of his useless friends.

"Oh, I'm getting tired of this whole thing!" Hanamaki exclaimed before putting his hand down on Iwaizumi's shoulder, "Kiku has been in love with you since first-year – don't ask me why, I don't know, she was just in love for that long! She enjoyed your accidental, not-real kiss! Also, she doesn't want to date you! That's all I learned so far! Go ask her out before I rip my eyes out to see you two staring at each other form across the gymnasium, got it?!"

There was a long and stunned silence. Hajime's lips fell open and Oikawa's eyes widened. Mattsun only scratched his nose, looking uninterested while the second and first-years who were a few meters away were watching the scene intensely, feeling like they were in a movie theater.

"She's… liked Iwa-chan since first-year…? B-but… it doesn't make sense…?" Oikawa hesitated, blinking in disbelief.

"B-but…" Iwaizumi stammered, blushing at the idea that his Kiku has been in love with him for so long – and he had never noticed her before the first day of their third-year!

"Most girls confess their love whether they have a chance or not – Kiku-chan didn't. She's liked you for a very long time, obviously has strong feelings if it remained so long in her heart… but she doesn't want to confess or date you?" Oikawa theorized outloud before clicking his fingers, attracting everyone's attention back on him, "I SAY! It only deepens the mystery! Social anxiety or not! Something's weird! Perhaps she got her heart broken in middle-school or something! Iwa-chan! You need to figure out the truth and use it to ask her out!" Oikawa decided, clapping his hand on his shoulder.

"What…"

"That's decided! The 'Let's get Iwa-chan with Kiku-chan' plan can now start!" Oikawa exclaimed, throwing his fist to the sky.

"Wait…"

"YEAAAH!" Everyone (including the ones who had listened from afar until now) exclaimed, throwing their hands to the ceiling as well.

"OI! Do I have my word to say in this?!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, blushing terribly but no one listened to him – as per fucking usual!

Next chapter will be more interesting, I promise! "

Thank you all for your support!

The ones who read Sowlmate know it already but I wanted to put it here for the QV's readers as well:while writing Sowlmate's chapter 77, I made a comparison of Ayaka (other OC) being a quiet moon. And after some thinking time, I realized that ALL of my OC's for Haikyuu boys have personalities/are associated with a certain form of stellar, spacey stuff - Kohaku (From Evening to Dawn) is, well, the light morning sun; Kiku (Quiet Voice) is the bright, happy summer sun; Ayaka (Sowlmate) is the moon; Akane ( ~yet to come~ Deep Red) the dark night; ~Surprise Name for Oikawa's girl~ (~yet to come~ Alien) the sparkling stars.

Thank you everyone! NEXT CHAPTER : SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE KNOWS

Yours Truly,

May