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The time had gone by quickly and it was now dinner time. Before the last two scheduled games between everyone, (F/n) was pulled away from the team, along with all the managers, as they went to the kitchen to prepare the food for the boys. (F/n) was instructed to wash some potatoes and carrots after one of the managers had peeled them. Kaori helped (F/n) and instructed her how to wash the rice and she couldn’t help but giggle when she saw (F/n)’s entire arm was deep into the rice water since the rice cooker was massive compared to (F/n)’s arms.

Once the food was done and the boys were called to eat, (F/n) was given to Bokuto. Bokuto sat (F/n) on her lap to help her eat but after two bites she squirmed, wanting to be with Akaashi instead. Bokuto let her, and she was now sitting in Akaashi’s lap while Akaashi helped her eat.

“Three more bites left, (F/n),” Akaashi praised (and bargained) with her to help the girl focus on eating.

(F/n) scooped her rice and meat (to the best of her ability) and brought the spoon to her mouth. (F/n) happily chewed the food while Akaashi leaned his body to the side to take a bite out of his food.

“I’m sorry she’s interrupting your eating,” Bokuto apologized for (F/n)’s behavior.

Akaashi shook her head, “It’s okay,” he looked down at (F/n) who had one more bite left, “I’m just glad she’s actually eating,”

Meanwhile, Takumi was sitting opposite (F/n) and Akaashi. He was slowly eating his food but wasn’t sitting on anyone’s lap. He would sit on Kenma’s, but Kenma often complained about his legs getting numb due to the weight, so he opted to sit by himself on the table.

“Quit staring at (F/n) and eat your food,” Kuroo told his little brother.

(F/n) looked up and saw that Takumi was indeed staring at her. She furrowed her brows and turned her face away so she could face her brother, “Brother-owl, I finished my food,”

“Good job, baby-owl!” Bokuto cheered and ruffled her hair.

(F/n) grunted at this but Akaashi helped fix her hair for her.

“Why don’t you sit next to me (F/n) so that Akaashi can finish his dinner,” Bokuto suggested and (F/n) obeyed and sat next to her brother so that Akaashi could focus on his dinner.

“It must be nice,” Kuroo said, “She listens to you,”

Bokuto gave a confused look to his friend and quickly glanced at Takumi, “He doesn’t listen?”

“He prefers Yaku,” Kuroo rolled his eyes, “Don’t see why,” Kuroo mumbled under his breath.

“I heard that!” Yaku said from the other table, “Make sure to finish your food Takumi,”

“Okay,” Takumi finally focused on eating his food, proving Kuroo’s point.

Bokuto laughed and Akaashi breathed out a small chuckle, “Does he listen to you at home?” Akaashi asked.

Kuroo shook his head, “Nope, he only listens to our mom and dad,” Kuroo squinted at Takumi who took his last bite of food, “And if they’re not around, I end up calling Yaku to get him to actually do stuff,”

“Can I go over there?” (F/n) brought Bokuto’s attention to her while she tugged on his arm. She was pointing at the manager's table.

“Of course,” Bokuto nodded  and helped (F/n) down from the table before turning back to his friend, “It’s the opposite for me,” he explained, “Sometimes (F/n) wouldn’t even listen to anyone but me,”

“Ugh to have that luxury,” Kuroo grumbled as Takumi parkoured his way off the chair and walked toward Yaku.

Kuroo watched him unamusingly, “Didn’t even ask,”

This made Akaashi and Bokuto chuckle at the difference between (F/n) and Takumi.

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“It’s time to wash up (F/n),” Bokuto said as the night was nearing an end. Bokuto had waited till all the girls were done before he announced that he was going to wash (F/n) in the women’s bathroom. (F/n) was in the classroom that Fukurodani was going to be sleeping in, playing with her plushies while the team watched her.

“Five more minutes?” (F/n) asked Bokuto.

He shook his head, “You’ll have more time to play if you shower now,”

(F/n) huffed before getting up and walking to her brother. Her brother rummaged through his bag to find her bath produced and brought those (along with her pajamas) before hoisting her up and onto his shoulders so they could walk to the bathroom. (F/n) grabbed onto Bokuto’s hair and started messing with it as she watched other volleyball players walk past them.

-

“Don’t eat the bubbles,” Bokuto reminded (F/n) as her entire head of hair was covered in a giant bubble cloud.

(F/n) smirked and pretended to eat the bubbles, to which Bokuto playfully reacted dramatically, making the kid giggle like no tomorrow.

Eventually, Bokuto finished washing (F/n) and dried her off before putting her pajamas on her. He then hoisted her back onto his shoulders as they returned to Fukurodani’s sleeping area.

“Guess who’s all clean!” Bokuto announced as they walked through the doors of the classroom.

“Me!” (F/n) answered and everyone in the room chuckled at her enthusiasm.

Half the team then went to shower while the other half stayed (they all would’ve gone but someone needed to watch (F/n) for the time being).

“(F/n), how old are you?” Konoha asked the girl.

(F/n) held up four fingers.

“Wow, you’re already four?” Konoha nodded, “You’re really smart,”

“I get that from sister-owl and sissy-owl,” (F/n) said as she brought her two owl plushies to play with them in front of Konoha.

“Sister-owl and sissy-owl?” Konoha questioned why (F/n) would add the owl suffix at the end.

“Mhm!” (F/n) nodded, “Sister-owl is oldest, she’s pretty quiet, but sissy owl is next and she’s very loud,”

Konoha chuckled, “I see. You have a lot of siblings,”

“Yep!” (F/n) then put her hand around her mouth like she was telling a secret, “But brother-owl is my favorite,”

“Is he now?” Konoha smirked as a bit of mischief bubbled inside of him, “You know, he’s not that smart,”

(F/n) furrowed her brows, “Yes he is,” (F/n) recalled some memories she had, “He made the pain go away when I hit my head,”

“That wasn’t him,” Konoha decided to tease the little girl.

(F/n) huffed, “He helped me pack for this trip,”

Konoha smirked, “He must’ve asked for help,”

(F/n) shook her head, getting upset, “No, brother-owl is smart,”

“Ehh,” Konoha shook his head, “He’s not,”

“No, he is!” (F/n) was starting to get frustrated.

“He’s not,” Konoha said.

(F/n), at a loss for words (she didn’t have any insults to throw at him) did what all kids would’ve done. She cried.

“WAAH!” (F/n) busted into tears, her face looking down as the tears fell quickly down her face.

“Konoha what did you do?” Onaga watched as the little girl was in absolute distress.

Meanwhile, Bokuto, Akaashi, and some of the other members were walking back from showering when they heard (F/n)’s wail. Within an instant, Bokuto abandoned the group and ran to the classroom to find out why (F/n) was crying.

“Baby-owl?!” he throws open the classroom doors to find Onaga desperately trying to calm (F/n) down and very upset (F/n).

“Baby-owl what’s wrong?” he immediately went to her and scooped her up into his arms.

(F/n) cried even more, not being able to explain why she was crying.

Akaashi and the rest of the team walk into the room, “What happened?” Akaashi asked, clearly concerned for the small girl.

Anahori was the one who spoke up, “Konoha was messing with her,”

Bokuto glared at him, “What did you do?!”

“I was just teasing her because she said you were her favorite,” Konoha barely grazed on what he actually did.

“(F/n) was defending you saying you were smart and Konoha insisted that you weren’t,” Onaga told the truth.

“Dude,” Konoha looked betrayed.

“Well,” Bokuto wasn’t going to deny the fact that Konoha was kind of right.

“You know how much she looks up to him, Konoha,” Washio shook his head.

(F/n) was still crying intensely when Akaashi moved to the side where he could see (F/n)’s face.

“(F/n),” he called out gently, watching her as she sniffled but looked at him.

“Brother-owl…” she hiccuped, “Is smart,”

Akaashi nodded, “He is,” Akaashi defended her statement, “Remember at practice when he spiked the ball in a line to avoid the blockers?” Akaashi watched as (F/n) remembered that, “That was a very smart move,”

(F/n) nodded and coughed.

“And when he told you what items were important to bring and what wasn’t for the training camp,” Akaashi recalled the story that Bokuto told him about how (F/n) packed 90% toys and 10% clothes and other necessities, “That was smart,”

(F/n) started to calm down and breathe normally as Akaashi consoled her.

“Your brother is smart,” Akaashi told her, “Don’t listen to what other people tell you, okay?”

(F/n) nodded and turned her head to bury her face in Bokuto’s neck. Bokuto looked at Akaashi and smiled, nodding as thank you as he rubbed (F/n)’s back in comfort.

Everyone had calmed down once (F/n) was calmed down and Bokuto stayed standing, moving side to side as he knew (F/n) was tired and on the verge of falling asleep.

“Hello~” Yukie and Kaori knocked on the classroom door before opening it.

They saw Konoha in the very corner of the room, sulking while everyone was glaring at him.

“What’s going on?” Kaori asked in confusion.

“Konoha teased (F/n) to the point where she cried,” Onaga again, told the truth.

“What?!” Yukie was having none of that and walked over to Konoha and flicked his forehead, “Are you an idiot?”

“Yes,” Everyone in the room answered for him.

Bokuto went to Kaori and carefully handed (F/n) over to her. (F/n) was awake enough to recognize she was being transferred to someone else's arms but too sleepy enough to care who and why. Bokuto then went to (F/n)’s little area, grabbed her blanket and stuffed owls, and gave them to Yukie who was walking back to Kaori after flicking Konoha’s forehead.

“Being that she cried and was up pretty early, she should sleep fine throughout the night,” Bokuto told them, “But if she fusses and cries, bring her back here,”
Kaori and Yukie nod and they both take (F/n) to where the managers are sleeping.

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“Your brother-owl is stupid!”

“Your brother-owl is going to leave you!”

“He doesn’t love you!”

(F/n) was whimpering in her sleep before she woke up, tears streaming down her face. She had a nightmare and it had to do with Bokuto. Her eyes scanned the room frantically before she realized she was not in the same room as he brother. Determined to make sure her brother was okay, she got up from her futon, swung her baby blanket around her neck, and carried her two owl plushies, before she quietly exited the room and ventured out into the hallway.

She had no idea where she was going but was just hoping she’d eventually find the room where her brother was sleeping. She was still crying as the hallways were pretty dark and it felt like the hallways were also never-ending.

“Did you wash your hands?” a familiar voice whispered, to which (F/n) stopped to figure out where it was coming from.

“Yes, nii-chan,” another familiar voice answered and that’s when (F/n) felt a glimmer of hope.

She sniffled and walked toward the voices and saw that Kuroo and Takumi were there, standing in front of the bathrooms.

“(F/n)?” Takumi noticed her first and ran up to her. He saw that she was crying and frowned, “What’s wrong?”

Kuroo walked up to the two children, “Chibi-chan, why are you not in the manager's room?”

“Brother-owl,” (F/n) said with a frown, “I want brother-owl,” her lips trembled as all she wanted was the comfort of her older brother.

Takumi stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her face, wiping her tears, “We can take you,” he then grabbed one of (F/n)’s hands gently and looked at Kuroo, “Right, nii-chan?”

Kuroo shrugged, “Sure,” he then walked past the bathrooms, “Follow me,”

The three of them make their way through another hallway before finally reaching the classroom Fukurodani was sleeping in. Kuroo opened the door slightly and (F/n) thanked him and Takumi before she walked into the room as quietly as she could. She squinted her eyes to help her see better and found where her brother was. She walked over to her brother and shook him slightly.

“Hmm,” Bokuto groaned and opened his eyes. His eyes shot wide open when he saw (F/n) sitting next to him, “Baby-owl?”

He looked over and saw Kuroo and Takumi standing by the door. They both gave a little wave before Kuroo closed it so he and Takumi could go back to Nekoma’s room to sleep.

“Are you okay?” Bokuto whispered as he moved over in his futon so (F/n) could lie down.

“Bad dream,” (F/n) whispered before she settled in the futon.

Bokuto now understood why (F/n) was now in their room. He didn’t know what the situation was that led her to have Kuroo and Takumi bring her there, but he was grateful that they did.

“It’s okay now,” Bokuto whispered, “You’re safe with me,”

It didn’t take long for both owls to fall asleep after that.

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my favorite chapter atm <33