These are thoughts

~~~

Mizuki pov.
I wake up and do the usual.

This time, I wait for Yachi to come.

"Zuki!"

"Hi Toka!"

We walk together to class.

"Are you gonna come today?" I ask her.

"Ya...Kiyoko said it's gonna be a trial membership, and I can meet the team today!"

"That's great!"

"Hey Zuki...Kiyoko said she's gonna introduce me to the team. Could you come with us?"

I nod. "Of course I can. The team's pretty nice, except Tsukishima who's really annoying sometimes."

"Thank you!" Yachi says to me.

"No problem Toka"

We take out classes, and at the end of the school day, Kiyoko comesto our class.

"Hey Kiko! Is it okay if I come with you guys?" I ask her.

"Of course Zuki. Let's go now."

I turn to Yachi.

"Ready Toka?" I ask her.

She nods.

We walk to the gym together. Yachi stays behind Kiyoko and I.

Before we enter the gym, I put my hand of Yachi's shoulder.

"Relax! It's gonna be okay!" I smile and say to her. She nods.

Kiyoko opens the door.

I peek in and wave. "Hey guys! Do you have a moment?"

"What's up?" The team gathers around.

I take Yachi's hand and I pull her between Kiyoko and I.

"She's on a trail membership to become a manager." Kiyoko says.

Yachi looks at me, worried, and I smile and give her a thumbs up.

She turns to the team.

"I-I'm Yachi Hitoka!" She introduces herself.

"Awesome!" "That's amazing!" The team says.

"You're a first year?" Asahi asks, and Yachi shrieks. She jumps behind me.

I giggle. "Everyone, could you give her some space? Toka's a bit shy."

The team backs up a little.

"Anyways, Yachi is here to say hi today. She hasn't officially joined the team yet."

Yachi steps beside me and bows. "Its nice to meet all of you!"

The whole team bows. "Same!"

She jumps behind me again, and slowly leaves the gym.

"Sorry for interrupting your practice!" She apologizes and leaves.

"So you were looking for a new manager Shimizu?" Daichi asks her.

"Yes." Kiyoko nods. "We didn't really get enough responses before, and I thought it was important to find a new manager to take my place. Especially since you are all getting stronger."

I smile and hug her. "You're awsome!"

Kiyoko smiles and hugs me back.

The team goes back to practice, and Keishin goes outside.

I walk away, and then I hear a scream.

"I-I'm gonna get killed!" Someone yells.

I peek outside the gym and I see Keishin.

"What just happened?" I ask him.

"There was a girl here." Keishin responds. "She said she was gonna get killed?"

I laugh. "By you, probably!"

He chops me on the head. "Go back to practice!"

"Owwwww, okayyyyy."

We go back and practice. After that, we change and we go back to our classes.

I see Yachi in her desk.

"Hey Toka!" I wave to her and walk over.

"Sorry if the team was intimidating or anything!" I bow and apologize.

Yachi waves her hands infront of her. "I-it's okay! I was just a little surprised!"

I raise my eyebrow and sigh. "Okay. Let's eat!"

Yachi turns her chair so that we both use my desk, and we eat and talk.

"Zuki!" I turn and see who called me. I see Hinata and Kageyama at the entrance of the class.

I wave them over. "Hey Sho and Kags! What's up?"

They walk over, and I glance at Yachi who is freaking out.

"Hey Toka, don't worry! They're just here to study, cause if they don't they won't be able to go to Tokyo." I explain to her.

"Oh, hi Yachi!" Hinata waves to her.

"H-hi!"

"I don't think I introduced them to you yet." I say to her. "That's Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo." I point to both of the boys.

"Hey." Kageyama nods.

"Toka, is it okay if they stay to study? You can help too!" I say to Yachi.

"S-sure."

The boys take a chair each and we sit together. Yachi and I help them memorize some things they need to know, and we show them how to organize their notes.

When we finish, the two boys stand to leave.

"Thank you so much Zuki and Yachi!" Hinata thanks us.

"No problem!" I give them a thumbs up.

"Could you help us study again?" Kageyama asks.

I nod and I look at Yachi.

She nods as well."Of course! Helping you guys helps me memorize the material more."

I nod, agreeing with her.

The boys leave, and Yachi slumps on my desk.

I laugh a bit and pat her head. "You okay Toka?"

"I feel like I've been in direct sunlight for too long." She responds.

I lay my head down and look at her. "Are you gonna come to the club at the end of the day?"

She thinks about it and nods.

My face lights up. "Yay!" I cheer. Yachi giggles.

Classes start again, and at the end of school, Yachi and I go to the change room to get ready.

We walk and talk together on the way to the gym. The door is open, and Hinata pops out.

"Zuki! Yachi!" He says to us. "I had an English quiz this afternoon, and some of the things you guys taught me was on it! I got a third of them right!"

We smile. I jump and highfive him. "Nice job Sho! That's amazing."

After a bit, we start warming up.

"Y-you're that scary person! From yesterday!" Yachi yells, and I turn to her. I see Keishin standing beside her.

I burst out laughing.

Keishin turns to me. "Zuki! Shut the hell up!"

I start to calm down.

"Toka, that's Keishin. He's the coach of the team, and also my brother. I shoulda told you that before, sorry!" I scratch the back of my head.

Yachi freaks out again, and bows to Keishin, apologizing.

I help her up, and then we make teams.

We start practice, with Keishin serving and we keep the ball in the air.

We do some more drills after that, and when we're done, we all gather around Keishin and Takeda.

"This is a bit sudden." Takeda says to everyone. "But Ouginishi High School requested a practice match with us, and I accepted. The match will happen tomorrow."

"Don't forget the feeling you had when you lost to Seijoh." Keishin says. "But don't hold on to that feeling at the same time. Wipe it away!"

"Yeah!" The team cheers.

We start talking to each other.

"Hey guys, have we ever gone against Ouginishi before?"

Suga shakes his head. "Not that I know of."

"Do you think they'll be strong?" Hinata asks.

"Ooh maybe!"

We leave to change. I go with Yachi to the change room.

We go back to the gym and wait for Kiyoko.

"Are you two done changing?" She asks us.

I nod.

"I'll walk with you. I have to change too." Kiyoko says as we change shoes.

"It's fine! Maybe I should walk with you-"

"Yachi, don't worry about it." Kiyoko smiles and says.

She leaves to go to the change room. I stay with Yachi beside the gym.

"What's wrong Sensei?" I hear my brother say in the gym.

Yachi and I turn. I put my finger on my lips and she nods. We start eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Apparently the bus that we were supposed to use to to to Tokyo was booked by another club." Takeda explains. "I don't think we'll get it. It's also going to cost us more than expected."

I sit down silently and think.

Hmmmm, we need more money to get a bus? How can we get more...

"Yachi!" Hinata runs up to us out of nowhere. "Are you going to be out manager?"

We look at him.

"Well..." Yachi starts.

"You will, won't you?"

Tanaka and Noya come up and ask too.

"Hey you guys, don't pressure her!" I say to them.

"But it would be awesome if you could be our manager, Toka!" I say to her.

"Zuki!" Suga yells at me.

"It's fine. I'm flattered, actually." Yachi says. "I've never really tried anything on my own, or have been needed for something. Even in drama club, I've always been an extra."

"When Zuki said that I could be the manager for your team, and Kiyoko also said I could try it out after being introduced to her, I was really happy." Yachi explains. "Me, who doesn't have any experience or knowledge about volleyball."

I hug her. "Awwwww Tokaaaaa!"

She smiles and hugs me back.

"Oh, guys by the way!" Hinata says to all of us, and pulls out his phone.

I let go of Yachi, and I look at the message.

From: Kenma
We won the first round of prelims. Round two is this week.

"Woah!" I smile. "They made it to the next round!"

Hinata shows the others and I turn to Yachi.

"That was from Kenma, someone for another volleyball team called Nekoma." I explain. "Their school is in Tokyo, so we couldn't play against them in the Interhigh preliminaries."

Yachi nods.

"Also, Toka, since you said that you don't really know much about volleyball, you can always ask me, Kiyoko, or the team!"

Yachi smiles. "Okay! Thank you Zuki!"

I smile and give her a thumbs up.

The team splits up and we go to our homes.

~~~