In the hallway, Ennoshita pulled her aside and karate-chopped the back of her head. She glared back at him but didn't snap, instead leaning into a yawn.

"I told you not to mess with him, but I guess it worked out," her classmate begrudgingly smiled as he recalled the muted confrontation on the court. Kitsuna swiped at him again, but he blocked it with little difficulty.

Meanwhile, the third year boys were talking with two older guys just a little bit to the side. One Kitsuna recognized as the captain when she started her first year, the other she didn't know at all. He had sunken eyes and looked like he was withering away, but there was a fire in his eyes that Kitsuna instinctively reacted to as they passed over her.

"Hm? She's on the team now, officially?," Kurokawa recognized the girl after seeing her interact with the other second year team members. He thought it was her from the stands, but the interaction with Suga was more tense than he remembered them being around each other.

"Oh, yeah. She isn't crazy like the first years we got this time 'round," Daichi gave her a rather humbling review.

"But she's got the basics better than some of them. Sort of makes a good all-rounder for the team," Asahi added on a more positive note.

"I see. She's worked pretty hard to keep you guys going, huh?," the older previous captain shared his observations. He hadn't been working with the team for almost two years now, but he remembered seeing her at practices and doing conditioning with the others during breaks. They watched as she started to faze out, wandering almost right into someone else and getting caught by a reporter.

"Oh! Can I get a few words? You're the fox among crows, right?," a smaller woman with almost unbearable charisma gushed at Kitsuna. There was some uneasiness among the ones who had seen Kitsuna the longest, especially her two handlers, but she responded relatively normally.

"Hm? Sure, I guess," Kitsuna bowed her head slightly at the woman and softened her expression.

"Woah, piercings? Karasuno kind of carries that wild vibe, doesn't it?," the reporter spoke a little too honestly there.

"I guess that's the usual first impression, but I'd say we're pretty chill compared to some others," Kitsuna tilted her head to the side with her index finger as she decided how to answer. A cameraman adjusted the lens behind the reporter, earning a split-second glance from Kitsuna.

"So, what's it like playing against such tough guys all the time? Does it ever get intimidating for you?"

"Hm? Why would it? I'm just as tough as anyone else out here," Kitsuna slipped into a slouch as another yawn escaped her mouth, covered by her hand. She tucked her hands into her jacket pockets and started tapping her heel on the ground.

"Right. Um, there's one more thing that's been popping up among the crowds. What's your type? I-I mean, do you prefer a certain height or anything?," Kitsuna's face slipped for a minute into another leering glare before she went back to thinking mode. Her eyes scanned the nearby area, and she bowed to the reporter and rushed off. She approached Asahi first, standing closer than usual and on her tiptoes. She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to match his height, but gave up with a comment no one else could make out. Then she found Yamaguchi, who was next in her all-too-personal examination. She scrutinized his face, from a mere two inches distance.

"Yeah, that somehow pisses me off," she muttered before finding her next victim. Noya had gotten curious and wandered over into her sudden and bewildering experiment. She leaned down to his level first with the same studious look she gave Yamaguchi, then stood up tall and looked down at the boy. He glared back, suddenly feeling like there was a silent insult, but that emotion was replaced with another soon. She pulled his chin up, slowly and tenderly, with her index finger. Her eyes softened, then she squinted, then she let him go and returned to the reporter. She gave one final glance at the bewildered third years, giving Suga more than just a passing glance, and turned to the equally astounded woman.

"Shorter, but not too short. I guess," Kitsuna gave what she deemed the correct answer to the woman's question.

"U-uh, right. I'll finish this up here then. There are some budding fans in the stands today for you, and they want to know. Is there a teammate you feel particularly close to? Or is there one you're aiming for, woman to woman?," the reporter went for a really bold one there.

"That's bad," Daichi signaled to Yamaguchi while Suga tried to calm Asahi. The prior captains watched this all unfold before them, both inspired by the team's closeness and flabbergasted by whatever was happening.

"Hah? Here's a question from me then. Why not ask me about the actual sport I'm playing like the others? You wouldn't ask any of the guys these kinds of things. Well, maybe Oikawa, but you better not be comparing me to that little shit," Kitsuna's tone shifted from a pleasantly polite one to one that inspired intense fight or flight responses from anyone who was met with it. Her jaw was working overtime, and her brows could hardly be distinguished from her eyelids; they were so far down into a scowl. The reporter was at her absolute limit and struggled to form a closing statement.

"Kitsuna, here's a bento. Some of us are gonna head to the stands, wanna come rest between matches with Tsukki?," Yamaguchi stepped in and broke the tension. Kitsuna happily accepted the food and gave one last polite bow to the reporter before being half-shoved away by the boy. Ennoshita apologized to the reporter for her, earning a callback from Kitsuna not to bother, and a clap back from Ennoshita who followed after her and Yamaguchi.

"She's definitely found a way in," the oldest of the alumni chuckled to himself. The third years joined him with their own nervous laughter. Daichi patted Suga's shoulders, and the others knew in an instant what his intentions were.

"You're in charge of waking her up," Daichi instructed his friend and classmate along with a hard push forward.

"Whaaat? Why me?! Again!," Suga complained but was just pushed forward again. He sulked off toward the managers, taking a bento for himself and going in the direction they pointed him to.

"Hmm."

Asahi looked at the three generations of captains, who all seemed to be on the same page just then on something. Asahi was clueless, though, and they weren't going to share. The previous captains gave their regards and left, with Daichi confirming their suspicions with just one curt nod. Asahi's composure crumbled after that as he tried to pry the secret conclusion from Daichi over lunch.