The car swerved, screeching around a corner with a kind of reckless freedom that would’ve made a street racer cry. Kageyama gripped the ceiling handle so hard his knuckles turned white. “AYAME, YOU RAN A RED LIGHT!!”

Ayame — Chikara’s older sister, and possibly an unlicensed getaway driver — was grinning from ear to ear behind her oversized sunglasses. “Relax, Tobio!” she yelled over the Playboi Carti song blasting through the speakers. “This is the express route to LOVE!”

“I—I literally just needed a ride to camp!” Kageyama stammered from the backseat, looking like a ghost clinging to his last life.

In the passenger seat, Chikara sat with one sock inside out, the other foot resting out the window, a sticky note stuck to her forehead and a feather twirling in her fingers.

“This car smells like toast and existential thoughts,” she mumbled.

Ayame snapped her fingers dramatically. “YOU SEE?? She’s got depth. Y’all are soulmates. You dream of volleyball, she dreams of cows. You need each other.”

Kageyama was short-circuiting. “I—I don’t NEED—! We just had a school project together!! She kept drawing cows on the whiteboard!”

“I was illustrating cellular herd theory,” Chikara replied calmly, blinking up at the sky through the windshield. “Also, I think this road is gonna time-loop.”

Ayame squealed. “She’s predicting sci-fi now?! Marry her, Tobio!”

Kageyama’s voice cracked. “I AM NOT MARRYING ANYONE!!”

The car made one final turn — it may have technically been a drift — and slammed to a stop in front of the Tokyo Training Camp.

“We’re here!” Ayame chirped. “Now go be a hot volleyball couple! Byeee~!” She peeled off, tires screaming.

Chikara slowly climbed out. “The tires are in pain,” she said solemnly. Kageyama followed, dazed. “I think I left my soul in the glove compartment…”

🏐 Tokyo Training Camp – Main Gym

Inside, the gym was already alive with the sounds of training — shoes squeaking, balls thudding, voices shouting.

Kenma sat against the wall, fingers idle on his Switch. His eyes kept drifting to the door. Karasuno had arrived a while ago, but two people were still missing.

Kageyama and…

Chikara.

Yamamoto had noticed. “I heard she stayed back at school for a project with Kageyama or something,” he told Kenma casually.

Kenma didn’t say anything. But he had definitely been looking for her.

And then— SLAM. The gym doors flew open.

“WE’RE NOT THAT LATE!!” Kageyama shouted defensively as he marched in, papers sticking out of his duffel bag.

Behind him, the real chaos stepped in.

Chikara, still wearing her school ID, a sticky note now stuck to her elbow. Her sock was still inside-out. She blinked at the gym ceiling and whispered, “This place smells like wet lightning.”

Everyone froze.

Kenma glanced up.

Yep. It was her.

“Sorry we’re late,” Kageyama muttered. “She… delayed us.”

“I had to test the wind,” Chikara added. “And explain cloud theory with chewing gum and a pigeon feather.”

“I’m scared to ask,” said Daichi, not asking.