As Asahi's feet hit the ground, a shout came from the door, drawing his attention. A pair of first years were standing there as the gym door slammed shut behind them, staring at Asahi with wide eyes.

"That was amazing!" the shorter of the pair shouted as he practically tripped over himself to approach Asahi. His wild orange hair bounced around his head as he stopped just in front of the taller man.

"Ah, th-thank you…" Asahi said, taking a half step back when the boy stuck his hand out.

"I'm Hinata!"

"Asahi…" He said nervously, shaking the outstretched hand lightly, hoping that Hinata didn't notice Asahi's palms were sweating.

"Are you joining our team? We could use another tall guy who can spike. It's really cool to meet you! What year are you-" The dark haired youth that Hinata had walked in with had grabbed Hinata by the head, effectively shutting him up in surprise.

"You dumbass. Do you have no manners? Who the hell yells questions at a guy you just met? Jesus."

Hinata squawked and pushed at the other boy's hand in a rage, glaring up at him, "Kageyama, what are you, my mother? I'm just having a conversation!" Asahi started edging away from the pair as they bickered, half tempted to bolt and hide behind Noya.

"It's not a conversation when you're the only one talking!"

"He was right about to answer!" They both turned to Asahi who froze, an uncomfortable smile stretching his cheeks.

"Alright guys calm down!" Noya laughed, holds his hands out and breaking the two out of their tense glaring. Kageyama crossed his arms, making a stink face still but shutting his mouth as Hinata looked up at him, smug at being freed.

"I wasn't doing anything…" He grumbled, making Noya shake his head.

"I literally just saw you, Kags. Anyway, as he said, this is Asahi, a friend of mine. He's just checking us out to see if he wants to play so can you two like… not lose your minds or something?" He said, drawing an amused smile from Hinata.

"Yeah, Kageyama."

"He addressed both of us, Hinata." They both glared at each other, making Noya sigh and grab a ball from the bin. They both snapped their eyes to it as soon as it was in his hands, looking hungry to play.

"That's what I thought, you weirdos." Noya said affectionately and tucking the ball under his arm, "Alright, did you guys see the other three?"

Hinata made a face as he opened his mouth to reply, "Yeah, Tsukki was there, but I didn't see Tanaka or Yamaguchi."

Noya hummed in understanding, "Alright cool. Everyone jog 'round the gym till those jerks get here!" The words were barely out of Noya's mouth before Hinata and Kageyama immediately took off in a slightly too-fast-to-be-a-friendly pace, eyeing each other.

"Geez, these two are weird." Noya muttered, turning to Asahi and motioning for them to jog as well.

By the time the door opened to reveal the three missing team members, the first year duo were lapping Asahi and Noya as they full-out sprinted around the gym, locked in some unspoken race.

"God, why do I even bother." A tall blond droned, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. The freckled boy beside him shot him a smile and a sidelong glance, before spotting Asahi. He opened his mouth to say something, but a boy with a growing out buzzcut barged between the pair, grinning from ear to ear.

"Noya! is this the guy you mentioned?" He practically sang, walking up to Asahi.

"Yep! The potential fresh meat, himself! Asahi, this is Ryu, or Tanaka, my roommate. Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there are Yamagucci and Tsukki respectively." Tsukki blinked as he replaced his glasses, then looked vaguely scandalized as his dark haired friend perked up in delight.

"It's great to meet you!" Tanaka said, grabbing Asahi's hand and shaking it vigorously. for a fleeting moment, Asahi wondered if all of Noya's friend's were as excitable as Noya himself was.

"L-Likewise." He stuttered, making Tsukki raise an unimpressed eyebrow. Hinata seemed to appear at Asahi's elbow, panting a little from sprinting and grinning from ear to ear.

"I saw Asahi land an incredible spike before! It just went like Bwoahh! and it bounced back almost up to the ceiling, I bet! it was nuts!" Asahi blinked a bit, processing both the compliment and the fact that Hinata and Noya seemed to both speak in sound effects.

"It was pretty nuts," Noya said, rubbing his chin seriously, "Very Bwoahh."

"Well, we're happy to have another good player on our team." Yamaguchi ventured, making Asahi smile a rub the back of his neck.

"I… well, I'm in my third year so I don't know that I would be able to come all the time… but I'm glad to be here too."

"Yeah, yeah, team stuff." Noya laughed, playfully pushing Asahi a little, "We've only got an hour and a half to do drills so lets do this after!"

That set them all in motion, filling the gym with the sounds of squeaking shoes and bouncing balls. It quickly became apparent to Asahi that there were some major weaknesses and inexperience issues, but there was also a crackle of potential. He bit his lip a little as he spiked a ball at Hinata, who got low to try and receive it. The ball bounced oddly, at an angle impossible to keep in the air, making Kageyama swear loudly.

"Get your head in the game, Dumbass!" he barked, making the shorter boy glare at him over his shoulder.

"I'd like to see you do better!"

"Guys, guys, chill out." Noya sighed as he picked up the ball, "Kageyama, just keep setting for those two! We need to get our defence up. I know I'm literally the greatest libero in the game right now, but even I can't do all of the work in a game. Plus if we do well in the tournament coming up, we'll probably pick up some more teammates right?"

Hinata huffed and nodded, getting back into place as Kageyama picked up another ball. Asahi found himself worrying that he was going to spike a ball right into Hinata's face at this rate, and Tsukki snorted from beside him.

"Man, these guys are ridiculous." He sighed, looking at Asahi, as if sizing him up. Then they both turned as Noya called for a serve and Kageyama sent the ball up into the air. They resumed their three on four practice game with vigour.

Asahi found himself getting more caught up in the game than he expected, his body falling into the familiar patterns that he had thought he had forgotten in his lengthy absence from volleyball. An energy buzzed through his mind, making him push himself hard. Noya called time after several good volleys and they all moved to the side of the court, panting hard.

"Alright guys, that was pretty good. We're going to stretch, clean up, and then get out of here. You guys all good for practice this Tuesday?" They all murmured a yes, then turned to Asahi who looked a bit unsure.

"Erm… what time does it start?" He asked, as Hinata looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Four thirty on tuesday and thursday, then three on sunday every week. Do you wanna at least come to Tuesday before you decide?" Noya asked, meeting Asahi's dark eyes.

"Um… Okay, yes. I'll come to Tuesday at least." He said, averting his gaze and trying not to meet the eyes of anyone.

"Great! Also you should text me about what Suga and Daichi say about giving us some pointers."

"Why would we need pointers from whoever those people are?" Kageyama asked in disdain.

"Because they're only the captain and setter for the school team or whatever." Noya said, rolling his eyes.

"What! oh my god! that's amazing!" Hinata bounced on his heels, nearly shivering with excitement, "You can get them to come, Asahi?"

"Well… they're my roommates. Maybe. I haven't asked yet, b-but I will ask." Asahi stammered, face flushing as everyone looked at him. He swallowed and gave them a wobbly smile, wiping his sweaty palms on his gym shorts.

"Yeah! if it works out, it'll be awesome, but for now we need to get out of here in like fifteen minutes. Everyone clean up, then stretch, then hit the showers, you smelly bastards." Noya said in a sing song voice as he started refilling the ball bin. Tsukki and Yamaguchi went to start taking the net down, as Kageyama and Tanaka followed to help Noya. Hinta lingered for a few minutes, looking contemplative before looking up at Asahi.

"Hey um… can I ask you something?" Asahi turned to him, tilting his head a bit, "Well, you're… even if you don't end up joining the team, do you think you could give me some pointers on spiking like you do? because like…" He paused for a moment, considering whether or not he should continue.

"Because?" Asahi said softly, not wanting to draw the attention of the others.

"Because I want to be the ace of this team, like, a proper proper ace, but I've also got to prove that I'm worthy of that. So… can you help me out maybe?" Asahi smiled a bit, surprised at the orange haired man.

"Um… if I can be helpful to you, I'd be happy to help. You've just got to be patient with me and um… how intense my school is." Asahi glanced to the side, a little embarrassed by how excited Hinata was.

"Oh man thanks!"

Asahi nodded, smiling shyly and Hinata took off, his shaggy hair flying back as he followed Tanaka to get the brooms from the side room.

Once the gym was clean, the seven men filed out, going into the locker room in a loud knot of testosterone and freshly released endorphins. Asahi hummed a little as he followed Noya back to his locker, waiting patiently for him to open it as Tanaka went to the one across from Noya's.

"So, Asahi, you and Noya were hanging out earlier today huh?" He said, looking over his shoulder and he rummaged through the messy locker.

"Oh, yes. We went for lunch and walked here together." Asahi said softly, scratching at his jaw and Tanaka turned back to his locker with an interested hum.

"Musta been fun! The three of us should go out for a beer or something after this heh?"

"Oh, um…" Asahi hesitated, buying himself some time by pulling his bag out of Noya's locker, "Perhaps… I can't stay for too long though because I have some reading to get done for tomorrow I think."

"Aw, someone's a good lil' student huh?" Tanaka's grin looked a little feral as he turned around.

"Well, it is pretty expensive and I'm paying for a lot of it." He admitted, smiling a bit. Noya glanced up from rummaging in his own bags, looking thoughtful at the statement.

"Fair say. I got lucky since my parents put enough away for both me and my sister." Tanaka nodded to himself, "I've gotta pay the rent and the bills though."

"That seems like a reasonable set up to me." Asahi said.

"Yeah, for real." Tanaka nodded, getting himself ready for the shower, "What year did you say you're in?"

Asahi took a minute to wonder if Tanaka asked him that already before making himself answer, "Third, so I'm almost done."

The two of them nodded before they all headed to the shower area, breaking off into the stalls to wash off. Seven showers went off in harmony. Asahi inhaled and exhaled, feeling some tension melt off his shoulders as the hot water hit them. Steam rose up around him, and he looked down at the floor, blinking a bit as he saw the vague outlines of the people on either side of him- Noya and Tanaka- in the wet tiles. Asahi felt himself go red and quickly looked up, staring at the off white curtain and getting his long hair wet. His muscles felt loose and warm, happily relaxing under the warm spray.

The first shower head shut off, and Asahi took that as a cue to finish quickly, scrubbing his hands over his face and shutting his own water off. He dried himself and hurried back to the change area with his towel wrapped around his waist. Tsukki seemed to be changing not too far away, but Asahi kept his distance, opting to check his phone while he waited for the others to return.

"How was volleyball? ;)"

Asahi narrowed his eyes slightly at the ominous text from Suga, trying to read a deeper message from it as he sat on the bench that separated the rows of lockers. Several possibilities ran through his mind and he carefully typed out a response.

"It was pretty good. Though, I think all of Noya's friends are really high energy." He hit send and immediately regretting it, realizing his mistake.

"Oh yeah? How was Noya?" Asahi groaned, covering his eyes with his huge palm and thinking.

"Good. Did your cat do anything cute while I was gone?" Asahi bit his lip as he hit send, sending up a silent prayer which was immediately answered when he got a two paragraph long text from his roommate, detailing many average cat behaviours.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips as Noya and Tanaka came around the corner, both in their towels, "Oh Asahi! that was fast." Noya said, going to his bag and starting to change. Asahi averted his eyes, squeezing some water out of his hair.

"I tend to shower quickly at the gym."

"Yeah, they're kinda gross here." Tanaka groaned, pulling on a pair of pants.

"I've been to far worse," Noya said, shuddering slightly and pulling a sweater over his head.

"Well, any public area isn't especially clean, usually." Asahi said, frowning. Hinata and Kageyama walked past them as they headed back to the section of the locker room their clothing was stashed, bickering once again.

"I guess so," Noya said, making a face and making an effort to ignore the strange duo, "I try not to think about it too much."

"Usually I'd make fun of you for that but that is actually fair." Tanaka said, pulling a beanie on.

Noya nodded wisely, smiling as he gave his limp hair one last shake. They all pulled on their jackets and slipped outside to wait for the other players to emerge. The rest of the team emerged in their respective pairs, all fresh and bundled. The sun was starting to set already as the clock pushed towards five, and the wind picked up as the last two- Hinata and Kageyama- emerged.

The team made its way through the echoing lobby and stepped into the wind, scattering in it quickly. Hinata turned as he walked off with Kageyama, waving excitedly before they turned a corner, heading for the dorms. Tsukki and Yamaguchi both said their farewells and vanished in the opposite direction, leaving the three eldest members of the team alone.

"So, we're going for beers then?" Tanaka said, rubbing his hands together and pulling his sweater around himself more tightly.

"Ah, the weather isn't looking very good." Asahi rubbed the back of his neck, swallowing.

"Yeah... How about after practice on Tuesday then?" Noya said, glancing at Tanaka who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's good for me."

"Oh…" Asahi said, biting his lip, "Well, okay. sure. I can do that." He shifted his weight to his other foot as the two shorter men grinned at each other knowingly.

"Awesome! Do you want us to walk you home, Asahi?" Noya said as he looked up at Asahi in a way that made his lips turn up at the corners, unbidden.

"No, that's alright. you two have a long bus ride ahead of you, I don't want you to stay longer on my account, especially on a Sunday."

"Oh right." Noya said lamely, making Tanaka laugh.

"Yeah, Noya, like the man said. It was cool to meet you, Asahi!" He reached out again, shaking Asahi's hand with a firm, warm hand. The force of it made Asahi worry that Tanaka was actively trying to pull him down for a second, but then Tanaka released him and nodded proudly.

"I-It was good to meet you too. T-Tuesday?" Asahi stuttered out as he fixed his jacket.

"You know it, big guy."

"Text me when you get home?" Asahi said, glancing at Noya, who nodded, a grin painting his cheeks.

"Yeah man, no problem!"

The three of them parted ways with a wave, heading off in different directions. A cold wind started to pick up, rattling the bright orange and red trees. Asahi caught himself thinking that they reminded him a little of Hinata's unbelievable hair as he rounded a corner. He smile as he trotted the last block to his house, hurrying up the stairs and rubbing his hands together.

Asahi pulled his hair out of its tie as he walked into the house, annoyed at the nearly frozen dampness that seemed to crown his head. He took a moment to stoop down and take off his shoes before slipping down the hall with light steps. the house was quiet, Daichi's door close and Suga's open enough for his cat to come and go as she pleased. Asahi licked his lips, keeping an eye out for movement behind Suga's door as he crept down the hallway.

A meow made Asahi jump and he looked back at the smug tabby with wide eyes. Suga leaned back in his chair to peer through the gap in his door, grinned and jumped up, making Asahi narrow his eyes as the pleased cat.

"Asahi!" Suga sang, drawing Daichi from his room as well as the silver haired man threw an arm around his friend's shoulder, "You look like you had a good time! Finally getting out of that shell of yours."

"I don't know if I'd go that far." Daichi drawled from where he was leaning on his doorframe.

"Yeah, I don't think so either." Suga nodded solemnly, squeezing Asahi's shoulders.

"Right, well…" Asahi said, trying to squirm away from Suga, "I do need to get to work on something I have for tomorrow so…" Suga held him tighter as his cat slinked over to rub Asahi's leg.

[Nano]

"That can wait!" Suga sang, dragging his friend into the living room and all but forcing him to sit on the couch, "I want to hear about everything, Asahi."

The taller of the pair sputtered as Suga sat down, shaking his head a little and taking a moment to compose himself. He inhaled, exhaled, then opened his eyes again to look at the grinning face across from him.

"Well… I'm not sure what to say past that it sure was a volleyball practice." Asahi said, making Suga roll his eyes.

"I'm sure you've got something to say about it." He encouraged, glancing at Daichi as he appeared in the doorway of the living room, putting on an air of indifference that was undone by the glint in his eye.

Asahi nodded a little, "Oh, yes, that does remind me of something actually. Would you two be interested in coming to a practice for them? They're not bad but… They're definitely inexperienced."

Suga blinked and exchanged a look with Daichi, who shrugged with a hint of a smile dancing on his lips. Suga squinted a little then nodded, turning back to Asahi who had begun to fidget with the hem of his shirt.

"Sure, next Sunday should be fine for us," Suga said for the both of them, a crafty gleam in his expression.

"Okay, good." Asahi said, a bit wary, "But um, I should probably get to work now…"

Suga's cat jumped onto Asahi's lap and sat, looking up at him with golden eyes and purring lightly. She blinked up at the long haired man, then settled down comfortably, closing her eyes in an instant and making Asahi wrinkle his nose at the foiled escape.

"Aww, Lady, how sweet." Suga purred, stroking her head, "I guess Asahi here will just have to stick around for your little cat nap now."

"I know you couldn't have planned this but I still feel like you did, somehow." Asahi muttered, staring down at the cat. Suga threw his head back and laughed, shaking his head. He leaned back against the arm of the couch with a satisfied look on his face and glanced at Daichi.

"Mhmm, while you're here though…" Suga grinned and Asahi groaned but gave in, petting Lady's head and going over the events of the day with his roommates.

Finally, Asahi found himself able to retreat to his room after every detail of his evening had been successfully pried from him. He dropped his bag to the floor and wobbled over to his bed, climbing into it and turning on the lamp that sat on his bedside table. The last dregs of sunset were bleeding out of the sky when he looked out the window, smiling a little at the calm scene that stretched out along the usually bustling street.

Asahi took a few long moments in steady himself, then pulled out his phone and opened a new text message.

"Today was a lot of fun," He started, then frowned and deleted that, shaking his head and starting again, "Thank you for," Asahi frowned, deleting that as well.

He sighed, slowly typing and deleting the letters several times before deciding on a final message; "Thank you for inviting me out today, I had a lot of fun! Suga and Daichi said that they'd be willing to come to next Sunday's practice to check it out and give some pointers. Maybe… you and I could get lunch together before practice again?"

Asahi sent the text before he could fret over it any further, and immediately began fretting and rereading the text. No spelling errors popped out of him, and it didn't seem awkward but nervousness ate at Asahi's stomach even when he put his phone down on the bedside table.

With a heaving sigh, Asahi got up and changed into his pyjamas and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He returned to his room and blinked, seeing the notification light on his cell phone blinking lazily.

Asahi chewed his lip and paced his room a little, grabbing his textbook and putting it on his bed. He glanced at his phone. He went and grabbed a notebook and pen from his desk, returning to his bed and looking at his phone again.

A few more moments of fidgeting and nerves gave way to a little exasperated sigh at himself and Asahi shook his head to clear it. He sat on the bed and licked his lips as he picked up the sleek black rectangle, bringing the screen to life and pulling up his texting app before looking too closely at the on screen notification.

"Ah, I just got home! It was a lot of fun with you there! and that's really really great, Asahi! :D You're the best!" The text read, making the long haired man smile before noting the absent response to his lunch invitation. He sighed, leaning back into his pillows and ignoring his books as he reread the last few messages, considering his next move. Before he started typing, his phone beeped, bringing up another message from Noya.

"Oh, and we should definitely get lunch again. and drinks on Tuesday! ;) With or without Ryu!"

Asahi felt his entire face go red and he hid it in his hands, not even trying to fight the smile that crawled onto his face. With a glance at his textbook, Asahi turned his eyes back to the screen of his phone.

"That sounds good to me. Are you getting up to anything else tonight?"

He put his phone down at that, pulling his books over and settling in with them, eyes straying to his phone and fingers lighting up the screen every few moments to see if a reply had come yet.

It wasn't long before Asahi gave up his studying to lay on his side, exchanging texts with Noya while huddled in his blankets. He fought the heaviness in his eyes more than he'd expected he'd have to; Asahi wasn't even sure when he'd rolled over to turn off his lamp but he found himself laying in the darkness with only his phone screen to illuminate his bedroom.

Words swam in front of him before finally, sleep claimed him. Asahi slept with his phone still loosely grasped in his hand, not feeling the buzz of Noya's goodnight text.

AN: /casually forgets ffn exists for a month and a half