𝐂𝐇. 𝟏𝟓

⋅. ˚₊ ‧ 𐙚 ‧ ₊ ˚ ⋅

I walked into the gym the next morning with a full water bottle, a perfect spreadsheet of the team's rotations, and the knowledge that Oikawa would ruin at least two out of three.

It's the price I pay for being manager of this team.

Everything looked the same as always: sweat on the floors, shoes squeaking, the sound of volleyballs slamming against skin and floor. I was just setting down the bottles when I heard a voice that's now a permanent migraine in my brain.

"Manager-chaaaan~ good morning to my favorite girl in the world," Oikawa cooed, jogging up beside me with the fakest innocent smile.

I didn't even look at him. "You were quiet for an entire hour yesterday. That was the best time of my life."

"Oh?" He tilted his head. "Is this about Kageyama?"

That made me turn. "What about him?"

Oikawa squinted at me. "You were, like, super chummy with him and the little one. Hinata. Sitting with them. Laughing with them. Hugging them. Hugging, Y/N."

"Is this jealousy I hear?" I asked, loud enough for Iwaizumi to glance over.

"No! It's... observation. Deep, strategic, captain-y concern," Oikawa said, arms folded, like he had a doctorate in petty insecurity. "You barely say thank you to me, but you're out here forming emotional bonds with my arch-nemesis."

I snorted. "That's because Kageyama's not constantly calling me 'manager-chaaaan~' like a cursed anime boyfriend. And Hinata's actually sweet."

Oikawa gasped. "I'm sweet!"

"You're Splenda. Fake sweet. Artificial."

I brushed past him to finish organizing the cones for warmups, ignoring the way he followed me like a persistent chihuahua.

The rest of practice went fine—until Oikawa decided to get petty with the drills. Every time I called out times, he'd repeat them a second later in a mocking tone. If I said, "One minute break," he'd yell, "ONE MINUTE, LADIES, LISTEN TO MANAGER-CHAN."

I was already three seconds from slamming a clipboard into his stupid beautiful face when Coach Sadayuki blew his whistle.

"Everyone take five," he said. Then, to my horror, he looked directly at me and Oikawa. "You two. With me."

I blinked. "I didn't do anything."

"Exactly," Oikawa said, gesturing wildly. "She's being mean."

"I will actually strangle you," I muttered.

"Try me, m'lady," he grinned.

Coach Sadayuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is what I'm talking about."

He looked between us, clearly regretting every life decision that led to this moment. "We've got a big tournament coming up. Karasuno was just the beginning. I need you two to function."

"We do," I said.

"We really don't," he said flatly. "Starting tomorrow, you're both going to be working together on warmups and conditioning. No bickering, no yelling, no murder attempts."

I raised a hand. "Can I opt out of this team-up?"

"No."

Oikawa looked way too smug. "Guess we're teammates now, manager-chaaaan~"

"I'm going to vomit."

"Not on me, I'm fragile."

I turned to my dad—Coach Sadayuki—ready to beg for mercy, but he was already walking away, muttering something like "they'll kill each other or fall in love, I don't care anymore."

⸻

Later that day

As everyone packed up for the day, I wiped down benches, trying to ignore Oikawa very obviously hovering nearby.

"I still can't believe you hugged Kageyama," he said, leaning against the wall like some tragic love interest in a drama.

"I still can't believe you haven't been hit by a bus," I said sweetly.

"I would survive for you," he said dramatically.

I whipped around. "Why do you care who I hug?"

He shrugged. "I don't. Just... interesting. That's all. Curious, really. Purely scientific. Definitely not emotional."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're spiraling."

"I'm ascending, actually," he sniffed. "Transcending. Into my jealous era."

"That implies I'm yours to be jealous over."

He froze, pink climbing into his cheeks. "I... I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." I smirked, tossing a towel at his face before walking out of the gym.

Behind me, he groaned.

"Y/N, you're driving me insane."

I smiled to myself.

Good.