The next day, Izumi, Rin, and Aki were on their way home from school.
Rin turned to Aki, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Hey, Aki, are you free this Sunday?"
Aki raised an eyebrow, curious. "Yeah, why did you ask?"
Rin shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Just randomly."
Aki chuckled. "Really..."
Rin grinned. "Yeah!"
Aki couldn't help but smile and continued the banter, "Really... really?"
Rin dramatically exclaimed, "Yes, my lord!"
Before they could continue, Aki spotted her ride, a car that had come to pick her up from school. "Anyway, it looks like my ride to go back home is here. Goodbye, see you later."
Rin and Izumi waved. "See you soon, Aki."
"Goodbye, you two," Aki replied with a friendly wave as they parted ways, leaving the anticipation of the upcoming sunday hanging in the air.
"Looks like we can proceed with our plan this sunday," Izumi commented.
Rin's face lit up with excitement. "Yeah, I can't wait!"
As they chatted, they reached the school gate.
Izumi looked at Rin and asked "By the way, we're already at the gate, so I'm going to pick up my bicycle at the school parking. Is Mey-San, here to pick you up already?"
Before Rin could answer, they heard a voice calling out, "RIN-SAMA!"
Rin's eyes turned deadpan, and she turned towards Izumi, her expression saying it all.
The unexpected shouting of her maid at the school gate was bound to add a touch of humor and perhaps a bit of embarrassment to their day.
"Yeah! Yeah I got the answer"
Rin sighed and nodded. "Right."
As Izumi turned around, Rin stopped him. "Izumi, wait up!"
Izumi halted and turned to her, wondering what had prompted her sudden change of heart. "What?"
Rin hesitated for a moment before speaking. "So, it's about our next project work meeting. How about you come to our house..."
Izumi, however, had a different idea. "Oh, about that, how about we have the meeting at my house?"
Rin was taken aback. "Huh?"
Izumi was determined. "I said, how about we have our next project session at my house?"
Rin couldn't help but smile and playfully called him an idiot. "I heard that! You idiot!"
Izumi didn't back down. "Then what do you say about it?"
Rin finally relented. "It's fine, I guess..."
Their project work meeting location was settled, and they parted ways, each looking forward to a productive session at the chosen house.
—————
"To the right!"
It was Saturday, and the gym of Rixe Volleyball Association was filled with energy. Riku's powerful voice rang out as he yelled instructions during the practice match. Izumi, who was the setter, skillfully placed the ball right where Riku wanted it.
Riku, with his trained agility and power, found the ball in his sweet spot and effortlessly smashed it down towards the opponent's court.
The blockers on the other side desperately leaped, trying to secure the ball, but despite their efforts, they couldn't reach it in time.
The ball touched the court, scoring a point for Izumi's team. It was a display of teamwork and precision that left the opponents in awe.
"Yosssh!" Riku yelled, his enthusiasm undiminished.
One of their teammates chimed in, voicing the collective exhaustion. "Can you both slow down a bit? We're all tired here."
It was true; it was already the fifth practice match of the day, and everyone was feeling the strain.
But Riku wasn't ready to give in. "Come on, guys, we've only played five matches today! Show some spirit!"
Another teammate had a more grounded perspective. "We're not monsters like both of you! Just let us have some rest."
Just then, Yuki, another teammate of Izumi, approached the group. Yuki was playing as the setter for the other team.
"You look like you're in deep contemplation, Miyamura. What happened?" Yuki asked, noticing Izumi's thoughtful expression.
Izumi considered Yuki's question. "Nothing, just thinking about how to improve my setting and serves."
Yuki remembered something Izumi had mentioned earlier. "Right, you mentioned asking Coach David about teaching you the jump serve. What did he say?"
Riku, intrigued by the topic, joined in. "You want to learn the jump serve, Izumi?"
Izumi nodded, determined. "Yeah, I want to have a better chance at serving."
Riku was curious to know Coach David's response. "So, what did Coach David say about it?"
"You are too young to learn jump serve, is what he said " Izumi said with a sigh
Yuki offered his perspective. "It makes a lot of sense for him to say that."
Izumi agreed but couldn't hide his frustration. "Yeah, but it's still frustrating."
Riku pressed on. "So what did you decide to do then?"
"About variations in my serve?" Izumi asked to clarify.
"Yeah! I'm talking about that"
"Well, I'm planning to learn a floater or any different kind of serving."
Riku had a quick follow-up question, "Floater... you mean a jump floater?"
Yuki, however, corrected him, "He's talking about a normal floater, you idiot!"
Izumi decided to end the discussion for the moment. "That's enough talk for now. It looks like the others are getting back into action, so let's resume the match."
"Right," Yuki and Riku replied in unison.
With that, their practice match continued, with everyone refocused on improving their skills and teamwork.
—————
It was after the evening training, Izumi found himself in the reception hall of the club, patiently waiting for his mom to pick him up. He hadn't brought his bicycle to the club that day, so he was relying on his mom's ride.
Sitting on a sofa, he was lost in his thoughts about volleyball when the door suddenly opened.
His mom, Iori, entered the room, and her voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"Izumi!" Iori called, bringing him back to reality.
Izumi looked up and smiled. "Oh, Mom, you're already here?"
Iori nodded and with a smile gently said, "Yeah, now, shall we head out!"
With that, they headed to the car, ready to start their journey back home. As the car moved forward, mother and son chatted about various things, catching up on the day's events.
After a while, Izumi began to notice that they weren't taking their usual route home.
"Mom, why are we going on a different road?" Izumi asked, his curiosity growing.
Iori smiled and reassured him, "Oh, don't worry. We're not going home."
Izumi couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"
Iori clarified, "I mean we're going somewhere else than our home."
Izumi was intrigued and pressed further, "Where?"
"To our cake shop," Iori revealed.
Izumi raised an eyebrow. "But why?"
Iori explained, "Well, your dad and I decided that let's eat dinner at the shop instead of at home as usual."
Izumi pointed out, "But it's not dinner time yet."
Iori, however, didn't see a problem. "So what?"
Izumi continued to question, "I mean, what am I going to do there?"
Iori suggested with a smile, "How about helping out at the shop?"
Soon, they arrived at their cake shop, and Izumi found himself at the counter, taking orders from customers. He was focused on his work when he heard a voice.
"Kyouko, slow down... The cake won't run away."
He looked up and found his eyes meeting the golden brown eyes of a girl he had met before.
'It's the girl from the last time I was at the shop'
[A/N— preety small and bland chapter, sorry for that! But wanted to write Izumi (Miyamura) and Kyouko (Hori) moments in the next chapter~ I might title next chapter "Horimiya", and about this chapter's title~ I couldn't think anything fitting so just titled it whatever came to mind.
Time skip is right around the corner, I can't wait to wrap up this kid (9 year old arc)— gotta watch to some middle school based rom-com anime for some inspiration (I only planned on what to do with the volleyball part in the middle school 3 years, so suggestions for room-com part will be appreciated)]
[Also tell me which characters (crossover characters) you want to see in the story! (ㆁωㆁ)]