Finally, you arrive at the party with Asuka, Yutaro, and Matsukawa. You get out of the car and walk over to Yutaro.

"Y/N," he says to you "let's go look for my friend, Goshiki, okay?"

"Sure!"

The four of you walk inside the house. You follow Yutaro around as he looks for his friend. Asuka and Matsukawa trail behind you, holding hands. Asuka grabs on to your hand as well.

"Don't forget, I'm supposed to be watching you tonight."

"Honestly, Asuka," you respond "I'll be okay with Yutaro, but thanks."

She nods and you continue to follow Yutaro to his friend from Shiratorizawa.

Eventually, you find Goshiki with two other guys that have their back facing you.

"Kindaichi-san!" Goshiki calls out to your cousin.

"What's up Goshiki? This is my cousin, Y/N, and her friend Asuka."

"Hey girls! Hi Matsukawa."

Asuka and Matsukawa both greet Goshiki. Goshiki then pokes his friends.

"This is Semi. He's our setter and pinch server!"

"Hey," you reply "I'm a setter too!"

"Nice to meet you..."

"It's Y/N," you tell him.

"Y/N! You gotta show me your skills sometime!"

"For sure," you reply happily.

Goshiki then grabs his other friend and turns him around. Right away you recognize the fiery red hair of the tall male in front of you.

"Y/NNNN!" he says loudly.

He immediately grabs you and pulls you in for a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around you.

"T-Tendou?"

"Man, how long has it been Y/N? Too friggin long!"

He releases you from a hug and stands back to get a good look at you.

"I haven't seen you since we were both in middle school! You've grown!"

"Y-you too," you say back.

"You know this guy?" Matsukawa asks.

Ugh. Shut up Matsukawa.

"Yeah, Tendou and I used to be on the same coed team in middle school."

"That's awesome, Y/N," Yutaro tells you.

"Come on, let's all go drink!" Asuka calls out.

The guys all agree and you follow Goshiki around to where the alcohol is.

--

A little while later, you follow Tendou to a spot in the backyard where you two can catch up. You sit next to Tendou on a couch and watch as he sits cross-legged facing in towards you.

"Cute," you say to him "you still sit the same way as middle school."

"It's comfortable."

"Yeah well I can't really do that in this," you say while holding on to your skirt.

"Sure you can," he teases.

"Come on, don't be like that," you giggle back at him "I don't really want that kind of attention."

Tendou doesn't answer. Instead, he tilts his head to the side like a dog and puts a puzzled look on his face.

"What's that look for," you ask him.

"Just thinking. Oh, by the way, did you ever end up joining a real team?"

"Hell no," you respond "but I am managing Yutaro's team, so I get to practice sometimes."

"That's awesome! You're so good. I'm glad you found a way to stay involved with volleyball."

I completely forgot how sweet Tendou always was to me. He genuinely cares about what I say. In middle school we were so close. Neither of us had many friends, so we both decided we would have each other's backs. Once he graduated middle school and joined the Shiratorizawa team though, I didn't see him anymore. It really sucked. I always confided in him and told him everything about me. He was the one who really understood my feelings. However, we both agreed we were just friends.

"Hey Y/N, I've got a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"You got a boyfriend? Someone on the Seijoh team, perhaps?"

The way Tendou asks you this question doesn't make you uncomfortable at all. If anything, it seems as if he's teasing you about it, which is kinda cute. 

"N-no,  I don't want to bother anyone on Yutaro- on Kindaichi's team."

"Seriously," he questions, "I thought for sure that you were going to say it was either Oikawa or Iwaizumi."

"W-why?"

Tendou laughs.

"I seriously hate how good you are at predicting things," you whine.

"So, I'm right?"

"No!"

"Alright, I'll stop bugging you about it. I just thought it was one of them by the way they're both watching you."

You stiffen. 

They're both watching me? W-what the hell? 

As you are about to turn around, Tendou pulls you back to face him.

"Come on, Y/N. You know better than that."

"I can't tell if you're messing with me."

"I swear I'm not," he tells you "is there any chance I can get your number?"

Tendou's expression immediately changes to a serious one.

"I swear it's not like that, though. I just want to be able to hang out sometime."

"Of course you can! I really miss hanging out with you, Tendou."

Tendou pulls out his phone and gives it to you. As you type in your number, he continues to talk to you.

"Wanna go out, say after the game tomorrow? We can get lunch!"

You hand back the phone to Tendou.

"Hm, I don't know. People might think you're trying to kidnap me," you tease.

"You got me there," he responds, "but I swear I'll be the perfect gentleman."

"Okay, you convinced me," you giggle, "but you better be nice!"

"I'm always nice," Tendou says while forming a huge smile "probably nicer than those two stalkers watching us."

You punch him in the arm.

"Ow."

"Come on, let's go take shots so I can forget what you just said."

You stand up and drag Tendou back inside.

--

A little while later, you and Tendou walk up to Goshiki who's talking to Oikawa and Iwa.

A smile forms on Oikawa's face when you greet them.

"Goshiki-kun, have you met our super cute new manager?"

Goshiki smiles, "If she's you're manager, why's she walking around with Tendou?"

"I dunno man, ask Iwa. He's supposed to be the one watching out for her."

Iwa doesn't respond to Oikawa.

"Guess she's our manager now," Tendou teases.

Iwa looks up and gives Tendou a quick glare before looking away. It was quick, but since you were staring at Iwa, you noticed.

"Come on now," whines Oikawa "she's too good looking for you assholes."

Tendou laughs at Oikawa. "You're definitely right."

Oikawa pouts and looks back at Iwa.

"Iwa," Oikawa cries "back me up here. You're the only one not complimenting Y/N anyway."

You try to see the look at Iwa's face since he's probably pissed off. However, you notice your vision has gotten really blurry. You also tip to the side, bumping into Tendo.

"You alright, Y/N?"

"Mhm."

You try to regain your balance and stand up straight. Tendou tells you to look at him so you obey and face him. 

"What day is it?" he asks politely.

"Umm I don't know?"

"Okay fine. Who's that?" he says pointing to Goshiki.

"That's Goshi."

The boys all laugh at your answer, except Goshiki, who's a bit embarrassed by his new nickname.

You close your eyes tightly, hoping that when you reopen them, you'll be able to see better. When you open your eyes you see a concerned Tendou, Goshiki, Oikawa, and Iwa looking back at you.

"What?" you ask them.

Without saying anything, Tendou grabs you by the arm and pulls you into the kitchen. He tells you to sit down on a chair, so you do.

"What did I do, Tendou-chan?"

Tendou looks over at you and laughs for what feels like forever.

"Tendou-chan?" he replies "Since when did you start calling me that?"

"Right now," you tell him "I like it. It's cute."

"Shut up."

All of a sudden you feel sick. You immediately cover your mouth with your hands.

"Ten-"

Tendou already knows what's wrong. He grabs you and hurries to the bathroom with you. You sit on the floor by the toilet, waiting to hurl the alcohol out of your body.

Tendou sits next to you, staring, waiting for you to toss.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what? I'm waiting for you to-"

"Don't say it! I just meant isn't it gross to stare at someone who's about to be sick?"

"Not really. Besides, I need to be here for you when you do."

Damn, Tendou is so friggin sweet, what's the catch? 

You reach yourself over to Tendou and throw your arms around him.

"You're like the nicest person I know," you tell him "you're so annoying."

Shit, I'm about to puke.

You lean back over the toilet and begin to toss. Tendou holds out his arms and grabs on to your hair, pulling it back.

"It's okay, Y/N," Tendou tells you "better out than in."

Cheesy.

After you finish throwing up, Tendou hands you water that he grabbed from the kitchen.

"I had a feeling you would need this."

"Guess monster," you whisper while taking the bottle.

Tendou laughs "you know, that's kind of my name now."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, and to think you gave me that nickname years ago."

"Your intuition's a bitch."

Tendou laughs with you. 

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Yeah?" Tendou calls out.

"Is Y/N okay?"

END OF CHAPTER 17