Chapter Text
Unknown Number: The twins gave me your number. This is Sakuma Rei. I'm using a disposable number so I'll deactivate this once we get Mao-kun back. I take it you found out about Mao-kun's secret on the same day I went there? Was it two or three days ago?
Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at the sudden text he got.
Tsukishima: Two days ago. I did. He honestly isn't good in lying, so I don't know how the others aren't noticing it.
Unknown Number: It is true that he's not good in lying. However, he didn't lie when he said we are neighbors. I trust you to keep this secret. And can I ask you a favor?
Tsukishima: What is it?
Unknown Number: Can you send me updates about Mao-kun? Once in a while is enough.
Tsukishima: Sure.
Before the twins went back to Tokyo, they gave their number to Tsukishima and Suga after they found out that both Karasuno volleyball players knew about Mao's secret. But they also made them promise not to tell anyone about Mao's secret as well. Since then, Tsukishima had asked Suga to secretly take pictures of Mao while in class whenever needed and send it to the twins while Tsukishima does it during practice.
They both receive photos from the twins in the group chat they made with Suga and Tsukishima in it.
Sometimes it was Rei watching his unit mates looking like they were fighting over something.
Sometimes it was the twins posing a peace sign while a state of chaos was happening behind them. On the background, the other members of Trickstar can be seen.
The latest photo the twins sent was something that made Suga smile sadly and Tsukishima look at Mao who was trying to learn how to spike but couldn't jump high enough to do so anyway, making Mao pout and sulk while Hinata was trying to console him.
"He's acting more differently after Sakuma-san talked to him two days ago," Daichi said as he approached Suga who gave a small nod.
"He's a bit more open." Tsukishima said with a small nod before he left to go to Yamaguchi's side.
"You think he's ready to be in a match?" Daichi asked Ukai who had a small frown on his face.
"It is just a friendly match. And we did say to confuse the other team pretending to be a spiker. They'll think they'll get the details they'll need about him then we'll attack them with his real abilities during the official matches." Ukai ended with a grin.
"Hiiiii~" Oikawa greeted as he entered the gym with a wave before skipping happily towards Mao and attacked him with a hug. "Mao-chaaaan! I've missed you so much!"
"Karasuno has a new player?" Yahaba whispered to his team while Aoba Johsai stood by the entrance of the gym, watching the interaction between the magenta haired boy and their captain.
"I'm more interested to know how Oikawa knows him," Hanamaki said before Iwaizumi sighed as he approached the two.
"Oi, Trashy-kawa, leave Mao-kun alone, will you?" Iwaizumi said as he threw the volleyball at Oikawa's head.
"You're so mean, Iwa-chan! You know I can't help but give my cousin a lot of affection whenever I see him!" Oikawa pouted as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, while the rest of the Aoba Johsai members stared in shock.
But what is Oikawa's cousin doing here in Karasuno instead of Aoba Johsai?
Mao looked at Iwaizumi when he recognized the nickname, a shocked but excited look on his face. "Iwa-nii! It has been a long time!"
A fond smile appeared on Iwaizumi's face before giving Mao a small head pat "It has,"
"HOW COME YOU TREAT HIM SO KINDLY AND YET YOU HIT ME?!" Oikawa whined as he pouted even more.
"Well, for one, he doesn't have a trashy personality." Iwaizumi said as he shrugged. "And two, he's like my younger brother too."
Both teens purposely ignored Mao saying "We're the same age though?" before Mao was dragged away by Hinata and hugging his arm possessively.
"He might be your cousin but Mao-senpai belongs to Karasuno, remember that!" Nishinoya said as he pointed at the two surprised Aoba Johsai members while Hinata and Tanaka nods at what Nishinoya had said.
Mao sighed before looking at Daichi and Suga for help but both pretended not to notice his stare, teasing him a bit as well.
"HAH?! For your information, he's MY cousin!" Oikawa responded.
"But he's our teammate! Teammate overrules family status!" Tanaka responded back.
"That doesn't make any sense?!" Mao finally says, too confused on where this was going.
Suga chuckled as he secretly took a photo of what was happening and sent it to the group chat he had with the Aoi twins, Rei and Tsukishima.
"Alright! Let's go on with the friendly match!" Ukai said loudly after he re-entered the gym.
"Talk to you later, Mao-chan!" Oikawa waved before they all separated on each other's side of the court.
Oikawa raised an eyebrow at Karasuno's line up.
It was the usual one.
And Mao wasn't on it. Instead, he was sitting on the benches quietly. But somehow he felt like something was off.
"Maybe he's not yet ready to play?" Iwaizumi said softly, feeling suspicious of the line up as well.
"I would think that too but this is Mao-chan we're talking about. Behind that friendly face and kind smiles is like a prey calculating your every move and waiting to strike. Too bad Mao-chan is too kind to actually realize he has this kind of side too. If he was into sports more, that kind of talent would've been useful." Oikawa sighed at the last sentence.
"Well, isn't he in a sport at the moment?" Iwaizumi asked as if he's making Oikawa realize the obvious. "And what makes him so busy to not focus on sports?"
'Too busy being an idol,' Oikawa thought what he wanted to reply.
"So, your cousin. How is he as a player?" Hanamaki asked as they looked at Mao.
"Believe it or not, this is his first time playing volleyball." Oikawa said.
"So he's not a threat then?"
Oikawa shook his head. "He might be. Mao-chan is scary. He can learn things very quickly in a short amount of time. And don't underestimate him. He's the vice-captain of the basketball team during second year and the captain during his third year before he transferred here to Karasuno. I don't know what kind of training Mao-chan has been having, so I don't know what he has learned about volleyball since the day he transferred here."
"Captain? Dang. He actually doesn't look like it." Kindaichi said as he looked at Mao again.
"And not just that! He's also the president of the student council at the same time!" Oikawa proudly said while Iwaizumi hit him a bit.
"Why the heck do you sound like a proud mother?"
"SO MEAN, IWA-CHAN!"
The whistle soon rang in the entire gym, signaling that the game was about to start.
When Ukai asked for a member change in the middle of the match, Aoba Johsai was suddenly on guard.
'Mao-chan... Just what is your position?' Oikawa thought as he stared at Mao who was talking to Daichi about something.
Soon, Karasuno went into their positions and was ready to start the match again.
The moment Daichi served the ball, there was one thing that Aoba Johsai noticed.
Mao would make a sudden switch with players on his team whenever they would try to aim for Mao to get him to attack. It was like Karasuno had prepared for this exact strategy.
And this distracted them greatly.
They were too caught up in trying to read Mao's play style, they became too distracted to try and stop Kageyama and Hinata's quick spikes.
Not once in the five points that they managed to get since Mao entered did Mao ever touch the ball.
Mao then looked at Ukai who gave him a nod.
"Phase 2?" Daichi smirked while Mao nodded.
"The addition of Mao made a change in our play style." Suga said with a surprised look on his face. "One moment you'd think he's going to attack, then would switch with someone at the next before the ball goes near enough."
"The Trickster of the field," Yamaguchi said and Suga froze a bit at that.
As the match went on, Kageyama was about to set the ball, and Mao immediately went behind him, jumping to prepare for a strike, this made the blockers immediately jump in front of him.
Mao smirked, much to the shock of the Aoba Johsai members.
The moment Kageyama set the ball, he directed it towards in front of him, where Hinata was already preparing for a quick strike.
"SHIT!"
"HE WAS A DECOY?!"
Matsukawa and Kindaichi immediately forced themselves to drop from midair to run towards where Hinata was, but they didn't notice that Mao had landed first and still hasn't been able to move from his spot.
Kindaichi's elbow had ended up hitting Mao on the head. Hard.
It all happened so fast, the only thing that they heard was a yelp of pain followed by a thud before they processed what was happening.
Kindaichi stared in fear as he stared at the smallest third year that was on the floor.
"MAO-CHAN/MAO-KUN!" Oikawa and Iwaizumi screamed as they were the first to react, running to Mao who still hasn't moved.
Takeda and Ukai rushed towards Mao as well to check on the teen.
Oikawa gently shook Mao's shoulder and gasped in fear when he turned Mao to his back. Mao's forehead was bleeding.
"Kiyoko! The first aid kit! Now!" Ukai shouted as he and Iwaizumi kneeled beside Mao while Takeda held Oikawa comfortingly by the shoulder.
Kiyoko shakily gave the first aid kit to Ukai who was trying to stop the bleeding.
"I'll wrap his head with the bandage, support his head as much as you can," Ukai instructed to Iwaizumi who gave a nod.
Mao groaned in pain as his brown eyes fluttered open. "Oh, I'm bleeding,"
"Really? That's your first reaction?" Iwaizumi half scolded but he was still shaking after what happened.
Mao dazedly looked at Iwaizumi "Hm... Had worse. Way worse. Ricchan told me I can't cross the road on my own after that."
Everyone paled at that.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." Kindachi said shakily
"It was an accident." Oikawa said with a small smile.
Oikawa then went to Mao once Ukai was done bandaging his head and gently carried him to the bleachers. "How do you feel?"
"Dizzy," Mao mumbled as he kept his eyes closed to prevent the light from making things worse for him.
"Can I take you to the doctor?" Oikawa asked "Just to check, please?"
"Mmkay," Mao mumbled, still very dazed.
Oikawa frowned. Mao must've been really out of it to agree just like that.
"Oikawa and I are taking him to the clinic nearby. The game can continue if you want, but everyone can also go home as well." Ukai said as Oikawa carried Mao on his arms, with Mao's head resting on Oikawa's shoulder and his face nuzzled on Oikawa's neck, mostly his eyes. It was to prevent Mao from getting any more dizzy from the constant changing of lights and movements.
Suga looked at Tsukishima. "How do we explain this to Rei-san?"
"Oh god, Rei-san said he's going to visit today before he left days ago!" Hinata loudly said.
"What about me?" Rei asked from the door of the gym before his eyes widened when he saw Mao being carried and was that blood on his shirt and a bandage on his head? "Mao-kun!"
"Hm... Sakuma-senpai?" Mao mumbled as he dazedly looked towards Rei and found a familiar figure standing by the door in shock. "Ricchan,"
"Maa-kun...!" Ritsu ran towards Mao and immediately went to his side.
"Ritsu, calm down." Rei whispered and Ritsu bit down the urge to lash out. To Rei, to all these people around them.
Rei said Mao was safe here. It doesn't look like he is at all.
"Ricchan," Mao mumbled again and gently reached out towards Ritsu who held his hand tenderly, someone none of them missed.
"Yeah, Maa-kun. I'm here." Ritsu smiled a bit.
"We're taking him to the clinic, do you want to go with us?" Ukai offered the two newcomers.
Rei and Ritsu nodded before Rei looked towards the Karasuno volleyball team. "I'll text you the place Ritsu and I are renting once this is done."
When Karasuno and Aoba Johsai arrived at the apartment Rei had texted them, they all were all surprised by how spacious it was.
And it could accommodate everyone.
"How's Mao-kun?" Takeda asked Ukai the moment they saw him in the living room.
"He's fine. Mild concussion but should be okay in a day or two." Ukai sighed in relief "No stitches were needed too."
Everyone immediately felt relief wash over them at the news.
"Can we see him?" Suga asked and Oikawa's eyes immediately widened.
"No! Don't go in there if you want to live!" He said as he pointed at the closed bedroom door.
"What do you mean?" Iwaizumi asked, confused at what Oikawa meant.
"That back-haired chibi literally threatened me if I don't step out of the room. He looks so scary, Iwa-chan! How come Mao-kun has scary friends?!"
"If I'm scary, then you should meet Ecchan and the others," Ritsu's voice was suddenly heard making Oikawa screech. "Besides, Maa-kun needs some rest. How can I marry Maa-kun if he doesn't recover from this?"
Everyone looked at Ritsu this time.
"EXCUSE ME? WHO WILL MARRY WHO?!" Oikawa asked.
"Me. I will marry Maa-kun." Ritsu said with a smirk.
"OH, NO, MY BABY COUSIN ISN'T GOING TO MARRY ANYONE!"
"Too bad, it has been decided. Maa-kun and I made a promise when we were kids." Ritsu shrugged before going to the kitchen to get some soup for Mao.
"No one can even ask Mao out because Ritsu will lose it," Rei chuckled
"There's people crushing on my cousin?!"
"Why are you making it sound like its a bad thing?" Iwaizumi asked
"BECAUSE IT IS! HE'S STILL YOUNG! HE CAN'T DATE YET."
"Why date when Maa-kun and I will jump straight to getting married?" Ritsu said before disappearing in the room Mao was in.
Oikawa looked like he was about to scream while everyone heard a muffled "Ritsu, stop tormenting people you barely know." followed by a "Maa-kun, I want a kiss before you can eat this soup," before the door closed.
Oikawa had never looked so horrified in his entire life.