"Yeah sure, good night." Kasumi put her phone down, exhaustion crawling under her skin. Hoshiumi has labelled her as a traitor and it was partially her fault, she admits. She had unintentionally forgotten to bring up Hinata and his; how to say it, likeness style of play. Which, fair enough when she knew how important that subject is to him.

She pushed herself off the wall, satisfied nonetheless by the information she managed to get between his arguments.

Gathering her belongings and ready to head to her room before dinner, she paused at the scene greeting her sight.

Since when did Hinata was part of their group? she wondered. After a beat Kasumi gave up on her calm evening and pulled her notebook out again in a sluggish move. There goes nothing.

It was already dark outside and a quick glance around during her phone call told her everyone else already took off. Which she should have also done, she thought, even with her pen continuously adding words after words on the pages.

Her book was disregarded and neat on the bench – the pen laying across its cover – as she closed the distance between the group and her.

"Kindaichi," she called out.

"Senpai?"

She offered him a smile. "Do you need a hand?."

It wouldn't be so much as 'helping' and more of 'assisting' and Kindaichi would know. With her responsibilities Kasumi doesn't have the time to participate actively in their training and focus more on what's needed outside of it.

However, when she does assist the coaches she was in her element as much as them and there is no mistaking her past as an active player.

Her teammate beamed in response, "Sure! We were going to work on spikes and blocks."

She acquiesced and motioned to the other to take their places. A ball tucked under her armpit, she waited for them to arrange the roles alone. Outside regular hours, her manager statue his null and doesn't require her to moderate every single action.

And thanks God for this small mercy. With the club and classes to juggle between, there's only so much time she can dedicate to herself and her mental sanity as it is.

That was how she spent the rest of the evening, setting and analysing, until dinner came along and ultimately – and effectively – distracted them.

Kasumi watched them competitively run to the refectory with nonchalance, Tsukishima lingering a few steps in front. Unlike his friends, he was anormaly quiet and tamed; which was not much of a surprise when she recalled the semi-finals.

"Are you not going with them?" Kasumi asked, genuinely curious.

She didn't get a reply right away, but when she thought he wasn't going to respond, he side-eyed her.

"I'm not stupid. Running won't make any difference; there's enough food for everyone."

Establishment hosting sport-camp was accustomed to athletes' food consumption, and usually prepared more than needed portions. There is usually a certain quantity of rest, but in the majority the staff get to bring it home. It was a win-win situation.

Kasumi internally agreed.

"That's true," she consented.

From her perspective Tsukishima was not only tall and rational but also laid back. More than Kunimi who by her standard was already lazy enough. Kasumi hasn't met a lot of player like him. Most of them live for volley, like Oikawa or Hoshiumi.

Well, at least he isn't the crazy type, she shrugged it off.

"How's your team going? Nationals are coming quicker than you might think."

It not her problem anyway.

His steps skipped a beat, but he recovered quickly. When her eyes met his, he was carefully studying her.

"We're fine," he settled on.

Clever, she thought; even with their team offside, nothing promised him that she didn't have friends in other teams to whom she could spill secrets to. She's not the type to do that but he wouldn't know.

She hummed through the beginning of a smirk.

"Nice."

They long since lost the other and the air surrounding them was still and quiet. It was pleasant and she felt more relaxed than usual. Or maybe she was just tired but somehow she felt more daring.

"What do you think of Hinata?"

He didn't react but Kasumi knew they were not close. Hinata might want to, but Tsukishima keeps pushing him away like a teenager would ignore a child. It made sense in a way, Hinata was childish and obnoxious whereas Tsukishima was collected and mature.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," Kasumi answered evenly. "But you clearly do."

He finally stopped pretending and shifted so he stood next to her. The look on his face was interesting and his body language while still tense, eased into something less hostile.

"I don't." He was palpably lied to himself first and to her secondly. "He's annoying and has enough people to worry about him."

So that's how it is.

"You're jealous," she stated.

His eyes ticked, "What?" There was bewilderment in his tone, mixed with a subtle of… something else. "No. I'm not."

She blinked, "Sure, alright."

"I'm really not. Why would I?"

He was looking at her funny, his mask of indifference set aside in a heartbeat.

They were close to the refectory, she knew, as the familiar buzz filtered her ears. She turned to him.

"There is nothing wrong with jealousy, as long as you know how to use it."

She pressed her steps and went to take a tray. They were not the last one thankfully and took their meal in silence.

Tsukishima stopped her before she went to the coaches tables.

"He's stupid and annoying and has a lot to learn. But he makes a good decoy."

She considered his answer, and offered him a nod.

"There is always a mediocre, but if I have to warn you I will only say this: brighter the light, darker her shadow and colder her absence."

She left before he could open his mouth, denying Kindaichi who wanted her to eat with him. She was done with them for today.

When she reached her table and settled down, Washijo narrowed his eyes on her. The others were focused on the conversation and didn't acknowledge her.

After a second she understood. She was beaming and failed to hide it.

But she'll be damned if she can't enjoy being annoyingly cryptic and mysterious. Confusing people was freaking delightful and a wonderful hobby.

Relaxing in her bed after doing her homework – they haven't been exempt from school work – and she noted to herself to check on at least Kunimi and Kindaichi tomorrow, if only to remind them, when her phone rang for the second time today.

A small part of her wanted to ignore it but she quickly shut it up as when she saw the caller.

"Iwaizumi-senpai?"

"Are you free to talk?"

She straightens, resting her back to the wall behind her futon. "No, I still have time."

She heard a noise from his side. "Good, how's camp?"

"It's enlightening, both Kunimi and Kindaichi are learning even if Kunimi looks dead at the end of the day."

She brought her knees to her chest and enveloped her legs with her left arm, leaning her head on the phone.

"I wouldn't guess," he chuckled.

They went to discuss the camp for a couple of minutes until it drifted to the third year and his orientation.

"I like volley but playing professionally? Not for me. I saw a college course I liked: Sports and Science."

"Really?" It was a nice turn of events. Not entirely a shocker but surprising nonetheless.

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"It's not bad, honest. Where do you want to go?"

He continued, "Somewhere with an affiliate school in Canada, there's someone I'd like to meet. So?"

She laughed, really, how were the chances?

"Canada? That's nice?"

"Okamoto," he pressed.

"I'm aiming for the Bachelor in Sports and Leisure Management in a University in Canada."

That couldn't be better.

"You're joking."

"I'm not. Honest."

There was a pause, and then, "That's awesome."