So That's How It Is

"The net looks lower than usual."

"It's used by the public so I guess they want the height to be good for all ages."

Bokuto was raising his arm above the net to check the height and saw that his whole hand reached the top of the net. He jumped up and was able to raise the majority of his upper body over.

The others also tried to do the same and started to grab the volleyballs they brought, to do hitting lines and get used to the sand.

"Um excuse me, do you mind if we join you? My friend wanted to play some beach volleyball but it's kinda hard for us to play with just two people."

Maiko and Kanoka who followed behind her approached Haruto, Hinata and Kageyama asking if they would allow them to join. Haruto nodded his head and brought them along towards the others since it would be more enjoyable with more people.

Kanoka approached Kageyama and bowed her head towards him slightly, confusing him as he raised his eyebrows at her actions.

"Um I just want to thank you again for picking up my wallet that day."

"What wallet?"

"It was when I accidentally bumped into you…"

"....Sorry I don't remember."

Kageyama squinted his eyes trying his best to remember the moment she was talking about. While Kanoka who was beside him felt awkward as it looked like she was the only one who remembered and turned her face away.

"Ryu hurry! This is the chance where we could show Kiyoko just how cool we are."

"But doesn't Kiyoko-san already think of us as cool?"

Kanoka heard a familiar voice and looked towards where it came from. She saw Tanaka and Nishinoya and attempted to call out Tanaka.

"Ryu-chan! It has been…"

Her voice slowly got lower as she saw Tanaka smiling at Kiyoko and felt her chest turn uncomfortable.

"Oh Kanoka!! Long time no see!"

"Yeah it's been forever since we last met."

Tanaka saw Kanoka and smiled as he greeted her. Her face was stiff but she still regained a smile on her lips. She looked towards Kiyoko and saw how she bowed her head and greeted her, to which she did the same.

"How long has it been since primary school?"

"It appears to be about right. You're still energetic as usual."

"And you're still as tall as back then."

Tanaka reminisced with her for a bit before he had to say goodbye since Nishinoya was calling him to join his team, for the games that they were planning to participate in.

Kanoka waved goodbye and watched how Tanaka smiled as he talked with Nishinoya. She didn't miss the glances he would send towards Kiyoko who was sitting beside Yachi near the umbrella they brought.

"Oh…so that's how it is…"

Kanoka whispered as she tried her best to fight back the bitter feeling in her heart. Kageyama, who was near her, saw the expression she was making and stared for a bit before going up ahead to meet up with everyone.

"Have you called Akane yet?"

"Yeah she said that they would be coming in about 5 minutes…Oh there they are."

Haruto answered Mahiru's question and stared at his phone, looking at the response Akane had sent him. He eventually saw her walking towards the two nets with Ririka and the rest of the other girls he saw before.

Mahiru felt reassured from hearing Haruto's words from before but she still wanted to intently watch Ririka who was waving her hands.

"Haruto, who are these babes and why are they approaching us?.."

Daiki was nervous as he noticed a group of girls approaching them while smiling. He locked eyes with the beautiful girl who had sunglasses on her head and waved awkwardly.

He started to mumble some sentences he learned from back when he played the dating sim and wanted to see if he could test them out.

"What's up with that guy with the broccoli haircut?"

"Just ignore him."

Akane just nodded slowly to Haruto's answer and ignored Daiki. Haruto introduced his sister to everyone and they started to get along after learning more about her.

"Ehhh you fully explored the labyrinth?? I was only able to reach 98% because my team was unable to keep up with the stamina consumption."

"You have to start going to the campsites near the upper half only when you reach 79% and from there you can use your stamina more efficiently."

Out of all the people Akane talked to, Kenma was the only person other than Haruto who could understand their gamer lingo and they hit it off.

As they were talking on the side, Akaashi and Haruto were checking up on the teams to see if they could start their matches. A few people said that they wanted to rest for a bit after eating so they decided for the games to be 2vs2.

"Does everyone have a team?"

"""YESSS!"""

Everyone who planned to participate yelled out and they finally started to use the nets. Four teams in total played up to 15 and they would rotate each time so all of them could play.

"Hehe, get ready to be in awe with your sister's skills."

"Yeah whatever. Just be sure not to confuse your face with your arms when you pass alright."

After a few rotations, it was now Haruto's turn to play and he smirked at Akane across from him.

On his side was Mahiru as she wanted to form a team and he was happy to do so. While Hinata was on her team to fill in since Kenma was too tired to continue playing with her.

Akane held the ball in her hands as their team had the first serve. She threw it up and hit it straight in the middle to do a float serve.

'The wind is making this hard to receive…'

Haruto thought in his head as the ball started to move in different directions and he had to move fast. He pushed off the loose sand and got under the ball to volley it towards Mahiru who was in the middle.

She saw the pass and gave Haruto a high toss that was near the middle so he could hit. He jumped up in the air and watched how the ball wobbled slightly as it fell back down.

Haruto swung his arm with precision, watching the block Hinata placed on top of him and hit a roll shot towards a deep corner.

"I hate you so much."

Akane yelled out as she dove for the ball and got it up, hitting her face into the soft grains of sand. She braced herself to slam hard onto the ground but got surprised instead.

"What the heck. The sand is so comfy."

Akane whispered in a surprised tone as the sand was softer than she expected. Hinata quickly made his way to the ball and tried to pass it over but it fell short, letting Haruto's team get the first point.

Getting the ball from their side, Haruto passed it to Mahiru since they decided she would serve first. Mahiru threw the ball and hit it with a slight hop in her serve to get it over.

Akane squinted her eyes and watched the ball before passing it straight up. Hinata got under the ball and used his arms to set the ball near the left side of the net.

"Ahhh sorry it's a bit low!"

"Don't worry I could adjust it!"

Akane reassured Hinata and watched the ball that was in the air. She moved her body at a faster pace and instead of a usual 3 step approach, she took one step and jumped up to hit.

'She took a single step to match the timing of that low ball.'

Haruto who watched Akane's movements felt genuinely impressed by her technique and wondered how she was able to learn it if she just started to play volleyball.

Watching the ball come in his direction he opened his arms and got in place to receive it. He took a step forward but suddenly felt his center of gravity shift.

"Eh."

*Swish

Haruto's left foot dug into the smooth sand and he slipped, causing him to fall over and land directly on his face. The ball that was approaching him landed on their side, giving Akane's team a point.

"AHAHAHA make sure you don't swallow any sand while you're down there."

Akane wiped the tears from her eyes as she saw Haruto stand back again. Haruto wiped the sand off his face and narrowed his eyes at Akane laughing.

'I guess I should make you run some more huh.'

Haruto smiled as he started to plan how he should hit in places so that Akane would run more often to pass the ball. Mahiru looked at the two siblings and gave out a sigh while getting in position to pass.

***

While the two Watanabe siblings were facing each other, Kanoka was near the court watching the other court play.

"Kanoka is that the 'Ryu-chan' you talked about. You should definitely try and get close to him so you can express your feelings!!"

Maiko sat beside Kanoka and whispered in her ear while she watched Tanaka playing on the court.

"No, it's alright. I'm okay with just watching him from afar."

Maiko felt confused hearing her response and looked at Kanoka's face. She looked closely and saw the sad smile she hung on her lips.

"But didn't you say you liked him since you guys were in primary school?"

"...That's true. But now it seems like he has his eyes set on a person already and I don't want to burden him with my feelings as he has already helped me so much…"

Maiko was silent as she felt her heart hurt hearing Kanoka's response. She got up and made her way to her bag to find the snacks she was saving up in an attempt to help cheer her up.

All alone she sat with her back hunched, resting her chin on her knees as she continued to watch the games playing.

"Would you like to have some of this?..."

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.