"yo kid." y/n turned her head to the voice that called out to her, seeing the volleyball coach. "you know how to ref a volleyball game, right? official ones?"
it was the day when the training camp was going to start, and it was still pretty early. y/n was here to help set up the nets for the teams, as she was going to be heading to the music room later. by then, the teams would have already arrived.
y/n narrowed her baggy eyes at him, hesitating to answer. "why?"
"it's a yes or no question. just answer." he asked her impatiently.
"i do. why? do you need me to referee a game or something?" y/n asked, scoffing lightly.
"exactly that. even though these are practice matches, i still managed to hire some referees for this. but they cancelled on me as they were all busy over the span of the training camp, so i need someone to fill in." the man explained. "you've done it before with the team, you could referee ones at the training camp, right?"
"can't you just hire more?" y/n asked tiredly.
"ya think i didn't think of that? they're all booked for some reason!" yamiji exclaimed, full on panicking now.
"what about the other team? aren't there five teams participating? why not have the one team not playing, referee?"
he then shook his head. "can't work. another team from miyagi is invited, meaning three games would be playing at a time." the man then let out a noise of frustration. "what could be more important than our training camp?! first, the shinzen gyms are unable to be used, next, we lose our referees?! this is-"
"calm down. you're going to die from a heart attack if you keep panicking like that." y/n muttered, pulling a face as she looked at him.
he turned his head to her. "i'm not that old!"
"you're growing grey hairs- maybe you should've hired an assistant coach instead of referees..."
"you practically work as an assistant coach," hearing him say this, y/n raised a brow at him. "at like, the last thirty minutes of trainings."
"how? all i do is give them towels and water bottles. like what yukie and kaori do."
the man deadpanned at her. "the moment you come in, they all somehow start working harder. it's kinda scary, really. and on some training sessions, you start yelling at them to fix their stances or something..."
y/n blinked at him once more. "i don't yell. too much effort. i simply, tell them to fix their stances with a loud-ish voice. and i don't know why they start working harder? i'm probably just that fucking intimidating."
"language kid."
"sorry. not really."
"just- ref these games. just for the training camp." he asked her, desperate.
"what do i get out of it?"
"free matcha drinks in the mornings throughout the whole week."
"why matcha?" she asked him.
"they have less caffeine. healthier than coffee." he answered her simply.
"if i don't like it, can i go back to drinking normal coffee?"
"if i let you, will you please referee games throughout the week?"
contemplating on the answer, she gave him one with narrowed eyes. "fine."
letting an exaggerated sigh of relief, the man ruffled her hair in gratitude. "thanks kid. i'll make sure you get your caffeine when you come back from your music practice. you somehow always crave it..."
"gee, thanks old man." she grumbled, walking away from him towards the female managers, seeing what she could do to help out before she leaves.
"referee"
that was how the girl ended up in the situation where she blew the whistle, then crossing her arms over each other - signaling that the match was over.
she finished her club session around one pm, meaning the training camp had already started. she was at gym one, the one where she normally goes to for volleyball. she wasn't really introduced to the teams, as they had all started up with warm-up matches, so she had just stuck with her school's team until there was a game that needed to be ref-ed.
around three, coach yamiji told her that she needed to ref one - a match between nekoma and ubugawa high. she was still hesitant on refereeing a team, but once she remembered the old man's offer, she grabbed the whistle and walked towards the referee stand.
as the game wrapped up, y/n got down from the stand, sighing tiredly as she left the whistle on her neck. "that old man better give me some coffee in the afternoons as well..."
"konbini-chan!!" a voice called out, though, with the nickname plus the familiar voice, she was able to recognise who it was. turning around, she saw kuroo walking towards her with a small white towel around his neck.
"kuroo-san." she greeted him, nodding her head at him.
"i told you that you could call me tetsurou." the boy pouted slightly, before shaking it off. "i didn't know you could referee a game, you looked so professional up there."
y/n shrugged in response. "not really, all i did was referee a game, like any other person would. but thanks, i guess."
"i thought you were part of the music club? how come you're here?" kuroo asked her, the two walking towards y/n's bag at the bench at the side.
y/n took out her water bottle, drinking from it. "blame the old man. couldn't find any other referee so he thought i would be able to help." as she was drinking from her bottle,y/n remembered something. "by the way, what time are all the teams gathering up again?"
"coach said it was around four-thirty for a break, then dinner's at seven." the boy answered, his tone morphing into a teasing one as he leaned his head closer to hers. "why? keen to see someone here?"
she nodded, pushing his face away with her hand. "though it's not any of your business to know who it is."
the man chuckled, placing a hand over his heart. "so cold, konbini-chan."
"and you're weird." she retorted back. "also, who's the other team from miyagi? i know karasuno's here, but coach mentioned that another team from that prefecture would be joining the training camp."
"oh, you didn't hear?" kuroo asked her, as the both of them turned towards the other two teams playing on the court beside them.
y/n glared at him. "if i did, i wouldn't be asking you-"
"aoba johsai's here. seijoh." he answered, the two watching the game beside them intimately, watching as the man with spikey, black hair just spiked the ball onto the polished floor hard, bouncing high as it made contact onto the ground.
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