Mizuki Sayeko had never been fond of the whole 'soulmates' concept, not when her past warned her of the side-effects of falling too deep into the lucid, hypnotising trap. With piercing gazes, a stone-cold heart, would her soulmates ever get through...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"THIS IS THE FINAL SET," started Daichi, huddled in a circle with the rest of his teammates, "of our losing streak at these away games. Let's at least try to win this one set against the strongest school at the training camp, Fukurōdani, before we go home."
"Yeah!"
Their last set of the training camp began — crows against owls.
Mizuki could see how skilled her soulmates were, from Akaashi's confidence in his ability to pull a quick from a shaky receive to Bokuto's insane cut shot. A smile threatened to break across her face; her owl-like soulmate's reaction was adorable. "All right!" he squawked gleefully. "Did you see that, Akaashi? Hey, did you see my awesome cute shot right now?"
"I did. Amazing."
Mizuki tilted her head, arching an eyebrow.
"It was pure luck, though!"
That sounded...off.
Bokuto's head whipped into her direction, vivacious golden eyes lasering into her own. They hooked her in — like an owl capturing its prey in its claws.
"Sayeko-san! Did you see?!"
"I did. Impressive," she complimented, smiling softly. His mood brightened up immensely, and Mizuki was sure his grin stretched further, to the point that it would seem fake to anyone who didn't know the ace.
"That's amazing, even if it was just luck."
"I'd love to hit something like that."
"Fukurōdani's Bokuto-kun is a real puzzle," said Takeda, standing beside Mizuki and Ukai, both of them analysing their opponents to the best of their ability. "Even when he's your opponent, you kind of want to cheer for him. Though that might be bad because I think he's a player on a completely different level."
Mizuki bit her lip, stopping the amused grin threatening to break through. Bokuto truly was a wild one, bubbling with energy and merriment.
"True," agreed Ukai, glancing at the effect Bokuto had on his players. "He might just be a player who lifts the spirits of both his teammates and his opponents."
Mizuki followed his line of direction, seeing the looks of determination and awe on Hinata, Yamaguchi and Sugawara's faces. She drew her gaze back to her soulmate. "I think..." she started, gathering the attention of both adults beside her, "there might be more to Fukurōdani than they let on."
"What do you mean?" Takeda asked.
"I have a hunch about something."
The set continued: 6 points for Karasuno and 9 points for Fukurōdani. Mizuki watched from the side, arms crossed over each other. Kageyama set a ball to Hinata, who—
