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“So? You nervous?”
You huffed, doing your best to ignore the finger poking your cheek in favor of studying the clipboard you were holding.
Lev whined your name, sounding more like a petulant toddler than a 6’4 high schooler, “Hey— don’t ignore me! It’s mean!”
“Lev!” Yaku turned around in his seat as much as he could, glaring at the first year, “Drop it!”
The taller boy fell back into his seat, pouting dramatically, “I just wanted to help her if she was nervous.”
“Pestering her isn’t helping her, is it?”
You heard Kuroo and Kai snicker from where they were seated in front of you, and you put the notes down in your lap, placing an arm on Yaku’s shoulder to sit him down.
“Lev, I appreciate that you want to help me,” You leaned into the isle of the bus to look back at him, “But poking me isn’t going to help me.”
His playful pout turned serious, and he looked sheepish at your light scolding, “Sorry.”
He looked so much like a kicked puppy you felt almost bad, and just smiled lightly at him, “If I have any questions I think you can answer I’ll come to you first, okay?”
Lev brightened almost immediately, a proud glow on his face, “Well of course! As Nekoma’s future ace I can help you with anything!”
“Except your receives.”
“Yaku!”
You shook your head, turning back around in your seat.
“Hey,” You glanced up, seeing Kai peeking back at you between his and Kuroo’s seats, “Are you feeling nervous?”
Yaku and Lev were busy bickering, and your head dropped forward a bit, “A little,” You admitted, “Meeting other schools and all these strangers sounds terrifying.”
He smiled at you, and the calmness in his eyes did as it always did, calming your racing heart, “Don’t worry. We’re pretty close with all the teams coming, everyone’s friendly, if not a bit overly competitive.”
“With that in mind,” You both jumped as Kuroo interjected, sitting on his knees to turn to you, “You have a few ground rules, our dear, little manager.”
You raised an eyebrow at your captain, “Why?”
He grinned, that stupid, cocky one he knew got under your skin, “We can’t have you being kidnapped or scared off after our first training camp, now can we?”
“Kuroo—”
He waved Kai off, and he had caught the attention of most of the team at this rate, much to your embarrassment.
“Rule one; no being alone with Bokuto, especially if Akaashi isn’t nearby. God knows that spikey haired owl would try and steal our manager to join their manager duo.”
Yaku plopped down into his seat, crossing his arms as he glared up at the captain, “I doubt Bokuto would actually—”
“Rule two! No being alone with Karasuno’s libero and that bald headed spiker of theirs.”
“Okay, that’s a rule I can get behind.” Yaku muttered.
From a few rows back Yamamoto decided to pipe in, “Don’t worry cap— I’ll keep those two away from our precious manager! After I rub it in their faces, of course.”
Kenma, who had been playing his console game with his headphones on, glanced over at his seatmate annoyed, “Sit down.”
“Are those the only rules?” You crossed your arms, mimicking how Yaku was seated.
Before Kuroo could respond, he was interrupted, “Sit down! All of you!”
Everyone fell back into their seats quickly, Kuroo’s cheeks flushing as Nekomata chuckled as Naoi scolded the team, “You all have ridden a bus enough times to know better, c’mon.”
“Sorry, coach.”
“Sorry!”
You leaned over to Yaku, “What’s with the people I’m being warned against?”
He sighed, smiling at you, “Bokuto is Fukurodani’s captain. He’s just a bit overly energetic. He and Kuroo are really good friends, so you can’t avoid him entirely. He’s nice, don’t worry about that. And Karasuno…”
He trailed off, as if debating on the proper response, “Their libero, Nishinoya, and their spiker he mentioned… Tanaka, I believe. They’re a bit… what’s the word?”
“Girl crazy?” Lev pipped up, leaning his face forward between the seats, cheeks squished.
“They have two managers there, a first and a second year. They used to rub it in our faces, well, more Yamamoto’s face that they had two managers, and we had none. Until now.”
Lev glanced at you, attempting to grin, though it looked rather funny, “You don’t mind being paraded like a trophy, do you?”
“What?” You felt your face warm at Lev’s question, and Yaku huffed, pressing his palm against Lev’s face, pushing him back.
“Ow!”
“Why’d you have to say it like that?”
Lev rubbed his nose, “What? He’s gonna wanna show her off! We got the coolest manager!”
His childish praise made your heart flutter, and you picked up the clipboard once more, staring at the papers but not processing any of the words before you.
“If he does anything stupid just let me know,” Yaku sighed, eyes closing, “I’ll run drills so hard they’ll pass out from exhaustion.”
“And the demon upperclassman shows his face once more.”
Without opening his eyes or responding he sent a strong kick against the seat in front of him, Kuroo’s startled yelp ringing through the bus.