- fourteen -

〚 third person 〛

☾☾☾

Momo already knew she failed when she saw the way her teacher handed her the paper. The simple fold around the finger technique already signaled complete and total failure.

And she assumed correctly.

"A twelve?!" Yamaguchi shouted in surprise as Momo held her face in her hands, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. "This is worse than Hinata and Kageyama!"

This made Kageyama and Hinata snicker slightly. "At least we're not the dumbest."

"Oh, no, you are." Tsukishima said as he entered the club room. His eyes landed on Momo who snatched the paper out of Yamaguchi's hands and stuffed it down her shirt. "Lookin' a little pale there, shorty."

Momo smiled nervously, backing out of the club room. "I gotta, uhm, go! See you!"

Before Yamaguchi could stop her, she dashed out of the room and bounded down the stairs quickly. She nearly knocked over Kaitō who was walking in the opposite direction of her.

"The hell is her problem?" Kaitō shouted as he entered the club room, finding Yamaguchi quickly shaking his head as he stood behind Tsukishima.

'DON'T BRING IT UP!' Yamaguchi mouthed, earning a stiff nod from Kaitō who tried t change the subject subtly. Tsukishima ignored the stiff underclassmen who tried to avoid the topic of Momo.

"Hitokacchi?!?" Momo shouted as she shook the blonde female. Her soul had left her body after seeing twelve on the top of Momo's test. It was devastating.

"H-How did you manage to get this?" Yachi asked, creating depression lines around Momo's body. The small brunette shriveled up like a raisin and sat in the corner of the gym to sulk. "There, there, Momo-chan."

She patted Momo's back, staring at the piece of paper with worried eyes. "Maybe you can ask Tsukishima. He's really good at English."

Momo quickly shook her head, refusing to look at Yachi. "I don't him to know. It's embarrassing. He won't like me if he knows I'm stupid."

Yachi frowned, noticing that Momo had become a bit more negative these days. Anyone could tell that Momo was growing more and more worried about her "relationship" with Tsukishima.

"It's fine. Tsukishima won't-" The paper was snatched out of Yachi's hand, eliciting a yelp from the blonde.

"Tsukishima won't what?" Her eyes slightly widened with surprise as Tsukishima stood beside her with the paper in hand.

His eyes scanned the page, taking notice of all the red marks on it. When he noticed the number twelve on the top, he slightly smirked. He bent down beside Momo, holding the paper in front of her face.

"What's this, shorty?" Tsukishima teased as Momo closed her eyes, pouting deeply with flushed cheeks of embarrassment. Tsukishima gently tapped the paper on her head, broadening his smirk when she'd let out a muffled noise. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Tsukki, she's embarrassed. Don't pick on her." Yamaguchi chastised, earning a small snigger from Tsukishima who still waved the paper in her face.

"C'mon, shorty, ask the question you're dying to ask while I'm still feeling nice." Tsukishima prodded, watching Momo's conviction slip away.

"P-Pleas-" She swallowed, stopping herself halfway.

Tsukishima cupped his ear, leaning towards her. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

She opened her eyes, pouting up at Tsukishima who watched her with an amused expression. "Please tutor me, Tsukki-senpai."

"Hmmm, no." Tsukishima deadpanned, smirking at Momo who threw herself on the floor. A smug chuckle escaped his lips as he stood up from the floor. "Jeez, you're so dramatic. I'll do it, so stop sulking."

Momo lightened up at his words, feeling like her soul had returned to her body after hearing that. Out of pure excitement, she jumped up from the floor and latched onto Tsukishima's body. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank yo-"

"I get it. Shut up." Tsukishima muttered, peeking Momo's body off of him. She pranced over to the bench and plopped beside Yachi.

"You were just being self-conscious. Tsukishima could never dislike you because you're stupid or whatever." Yachi pointed out, continuing their conversation from earlier.

Momo nodded, feeling much better after Tsukishima agreed to help her. I'm so happy.

"Tomorrow's your last day as manager, right?" Yachi asked sadly, not wanting Momo to go. Momo nodded, realizing that this club was temporary. "You can stay, you know?"

Momo slightly perked up. "But didn't I overextend my stay?"

"Of course not! We all want you here! The first years were so distant before, but now, they're actually interacting with their upperclassmen." Yachi explained, pointing at the first years who were actually getting along with their teammates.

"You also changed them a lot! Akiyama-kun doesn't swear that much anymore. Makino-kun's working extra hard these days. Seno-kun is also speaking up more often. Nakajima-kun's being more open about himself. Kaitō's also gotten a little more level-headed." Her last sentence made Momo raised an eyebrow at her suggestively.

"Kaitō, huh?" Momo grinned at Yachi who immediately burned bright red and panicked.

"I-I, Uh, that's nothing! He just," She trailed off nervously. "Told me..to call him that because he...likes me."

"He told you!?!? What did you say?!" Before Yachi could answer, Kaitō ran over to them and gulped slightly.

"Can we go home together, Hitoka?" The name Hitoka echoed in Momo's mind, sending her to outer space since these two were moving at light speed.

After a small exchange, he ran off to start practice with the rest of the team. Momo was left dumbfounded by the new revelation.

"So I guess that was your answer." Momo said as she wiggled an eyebrow at Yachi who blushed furiously.

"He asked me out a few days ago, and I just said yes." Yachi explained, making Momo quietly cheer and hug Yachi.

"Seriously! I'm so happy for you! Kacchan's been in love with you since the beginning of the year, so it's a relief to see you feel the same way!" Momo's rambling brought surprise to Yachi's expression. "Oh, you didn't know he liked you since the beginning of the year?"

Yachi had assumed Kaitō started liking her recently, which is why he acted now. Wrong.

"Enough about me. When are you and Tsukishima gonna get together?" Yachi questioned, making Momo's cheek tinge pink as her smile turned gummy.

"Hitoka-chan, don't get me all giddy like that!" Momo giggled as she swatted the air playfully. Yachi giggled, shaking her head at Momo.

"Seriously though! You guys are-" Yachi was cut off by a volleyball flying in their direction, nearly killing them both. Momo simply jumped with surprise as it hit the wall while Yachi nearly fell off the bench.

Momo has a slow reaction time.

"Ah, sorry." Akiyama said as he shot Momo a snooty little smirk. She huffed, picking up the volleyball and holding it until he turned around. When he did, she threw it at his head with a maniacal laugh.

Akiyama nearly beat her ass for this, but was stopped by Ennoshita who forced him to get back to practice.

"We should probably get to work." Yachi said as she handed Momo a clipboard. Momo took it and felt a bit saddened, realizing this would routine would end soon.

Maybe I might stick around longer.

She gazed at the gym full of males who practiced like they always did. She always found them interesting to watch because you could tell they all loved volleyball.

I wanna stick around, see how far this team goes and cheer them on at every step of the way.

"Hey, Hitoka-chan. If you guys don't mind, I'd like to continue as a manager."