"Yo, Asahi! You're here, too?," Noya bounded across the gym and threw a punch at the man's chest with his whole weight. Literally, as he leapt up at Asahi. Further away, Kitsuna was surrounded by a small quartet of people. The same quartet that had been theorizing her absence just before her timely arrival.

"I was late, okay? What!," Kitsuna was backed against a wall with hackles raised. Her face was flushed ever so slightly, and definitely didn't seem like the sunburn she insisted it was.

"W-well! I mean!," Yachi was fumbling hard. Her face was even redder than Kitsuna's, and Yamaguchi's.

"Guys-"

"Well what? You mean what? Huh?! Whatever you're thinking isn't it! It isn't!," Kitsuna cut Ennoshita off and her voice was rising with each question or denial. Ennoshita sighed, knowing full well that she was digging her grave deeper with that reaction.

"Hoh? What's that, a hickey?," Tsukishima covered his mouth with his hand but his devious grin was still obvious. Kitsuna's hand flew up to her neck with that, a weird sort of reflex. There was nothing there, she knew it. She had checked before leaving, and Ennoshita swore there was nothing there too.

"Ah! Wait! Why did I do that?!," Kitsuna realized her error as soon as the others did. Her face went fully crimson then, and she buried her face in her hands.

"Hey! Dude, knock it off-eh?," Ennoshita went to scold Tsukishima but when he turned around the tall blonde's face was now just as red as the others.

"Looks like you got more than you bargained for," Ennoshita let that be his punishment as the coach called them all over to finish warming up.

They played Fukurodani first, dragging it out to a third set but ultimately losing. They weren't bad, and the first years they got were decent enough. They had all been improving steadily just like last year, too. There was a nervous tension on the court that was just too hard to shake. From Kitsuna especially. That meant more penalty drills, and Kitsuna was given double. She whined but did it anyway, losing steam on the last dash and sliding back down the hill on her back.

"Don't die just yet," Ennoshita held out a hand to her, a water bottle in his other one. Kitsuna allowed him to pull her up, feeling her legs' muscles screaming as she did so. She was a little unsteady, and her energy petered out super fast.

"Thanks," Kitsuna took the water and sort of sipped it while wiping the sweat off her neck with her shirt.

"Did you eat anything today?," Ennoshita asked suddenly. Kitsuna's face tightened as she thought about it, giving him his answer before she said it.

"Uh. Shit," she had forgotten about it with all the day's stress up until now. It hit her all at once, and she lost any remaining strength she had all at once.

"Dinner's soon, try to hang in there," Ennoshita laughed a little bit, though he did feel some sympathy for her.

For the next game, he asked Keishin to keep her off the court more and explained a little bit. They were able to squeeze out a win, then it was free practice until dinner. Kitsuna wandered aimlessly for a bit until she collided with something in the middle of one of the walkways. She stepped back, blinked, and saw the three she shared a car with earlier.

"I'm not slacking off-!"

"Oh, right. You didn't get breakfast or lunch, that explains it. Sorry," Daichi apologized to her and she was thrown off.

"Uh, right," Kitsuna nodded back. Daichi pushed Asahi along, leaving her with Sugawara who watched their backs disappear down the path. Kitsuna's stomach turned as she was faced with another wave of intense emotions.

"Wanna walk for a bit?," Suga finally acknowledged her in his regular old way. He pointed down a path to their left that veered away from any prying eyes or ears. Kitsuna followed him, her thoughts weighing heavy under the summer moonlight and buzzing lights.

"Hey-"

"Um. About all this, I'm sorry. I-I mean! Not quite that, but," Sugawara stopped and she nearly ran into him for a second time. Kitsuna stumbled and nearly fell, so she picked a spot near the low wall of the walkway and sank down with her back against it. Suga joined her there and went back and forth on trying to lean into her or hold her hand or just do something.

"Daichi. He said he's not mad that we..did it really. Just the timing? Or, um. He doesn't want us to treat it as a bad thing, just be more mindful of certain stuff," Suga finally managed to say mostly what he wanted to.

"What the hell was all that earlier then!," Kitsuna exclaimed. Whatever she was struggling with before was changed to a pouty little rage that fizzled out as quickly as it surfaced. She let out a long exhale and the two of them just sat there for a while under the hum of the lights and cicadas somewhere nearby. The sleepy breeze lulled their nerves to a peaceful calm, and Kitsuna snaked her fingers through Suga's as they sat.

"Hey," Suga broke the long silence after a while, speaking softly.

"Hm?," Kitsuna made a sound to acknowledge him, but was close to falling asleep now. Suga smiled at her and chuckled just a little bit.

"Um. Nothing..hurts, does it?," he stared at the opposite wall. His hands tensed up again, including the one tangled up in hers.

"N-no," she shook her head lightly as she answered, just in case her voice failed her. When he took too long to respond, she squeezed his hand back to snap him out of his daze. His whole body relaxed again and he looked over at her with a gentle smile that made the corners of his eyes push upward. It was the same smile she had fallen for again and again, but this time she didn't have to hide that feeling or push it down.

"Sorry I fell asleep so fast, last night," Kitsuna apologized for something he hadn't even considered a problem. It must have been important to her, though for what reason he couldn't quite figure out.

"No, it's fine. I didn't last much longer either," he admitted that with a pang of embarrassment that stung a little bit. "It's not like you falling asleep first is a new thing, either."

"Alright asshole," Kitsuna pinched his cheek at that last comment. They laughed it off and the drone of insects took over again. There were occasional squeaks or bangs from the different gym buildings, whose doors hung open with bug nets over the openings.

"So, um."

Sugawara shifted his weight around so that he was facing Kitsuna more directly, and used his other hand to gently guide her face toward his. His eyes didn't meet hers despite that push for her to face him.

"We keep doing stuff out of order, I think. But I really..I love you," he nearly bit his tongue on the delivery after choking on the words the first go around. He felt a sudden rise in temperature where her face was just centimeters away from his own and finally pulled his eyes over to hers. Even in the dim greenish light her face was obviously red as a barn.

"I..wh-Uh. I..love you too?," Kitsuna fumbled the phrase even harder than he did and brought a goofy smile to his lips.

Sugawara studied her face, watching her eyelids twitch as she forced herself not to look away in her embarrassment. He felt it, too. No doubt about that. He felt a strange confidence bubbling in his stomach, too. Maybe spurred on by a friend's advice again. Maybe because of the latest walls they had blasted through. He applied the slightest pressure where his fingertips met her chin. Prodding her to meet him as he went in for a kiss. Not just a panicked peck, either. Their eyes closed slowly as they started to get lost in it again.