Karasuno's Mangers: Little Ukai and The Runaway

52: The Infamous Demon Queen

The sun was too bright. It was like staring at Hinata's beaming face for an hour. Emiko dove her head under her pillow and groaned.

Her grandparents had knocked on her bedroom door an hour earlier and brought in her breakfast meal. It was sitting on her dresser. Uncle Keishin had called right after to check in on her, but after hearing her groan and grumble about being disturbed, he abruptly ended the call.

Now, it was quiet.

Emiko kicked her blankets to the floor and sat up. Her muscles felt heavy, the tell tale sign for whenever she lied. Her body wanted to crush her under the guilt. Still, she felt that it was better for her to stay home and deal with a guilty conscious than to worry everyone at the tournament.

Especially on the day of the quarter-finals.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced over.

Ennoshita
Just checking in to ask if you're feeling better
We miss our little cheerleader

Emiko turned her phone face down on the table.

She had never been surrounded by so many friends at once. It made her feel as though her heart was going to explode out of her chest. She giggled envisioning it already, her Uncle Keishin coming home to a human heart pumping on the ground and a fist sized hole in Emiko's chest.

She would never eat another piece of chocolate again if it meant she could see that scene.

Her phone buzzed again. She reached over and saw another series of text messages.

Hinata
Little Ukai!!! Drink lots of tea!!!

Yachi
Tadashi and I are going to stop by after the game. Would you like us to pick up some soup for you?

Tanaka
Could really use your cheer of a thousand women, so get better soon!

Takita
You alive?

Kageyama
Drink warm milk

Emiko threw herself back on the bed and groaned.

She had convinced herself that the butterflies in her chest only danced around him because they were excited to see a familiar face. After all, her one year at Kitagawa was the best year of her life.

After a month of these feelings going no where, she convinced herself that these butterflies liked to see him scowl and glare and give her attention. Emiko could never have enough attention.

Then entered Akira Iro. Emiko remembered the events of yesterday vividly and felt her stomach tighten. It was so easy to despise the airheaded strawberry blonde but after seeing her in tears yesterday, after seeing her raise her hand to slap her, Emiko felt responsible.

Akira had said that she liked Kageyama first. She was the first to admit it. She was the first to do something about it. Not to mention she claimed they were friends. So, by that default, shouldn't Emiko have backed off? Shouldn't those butterflies have died?

Emiko rolled onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow.

What was so special about Tobio Kageyama anyway? He's tall but so is Tsukishima and Emiko could never imagine thinking about him with butterflies in her chest. He's handsome but so is Ennoshita and Emiko never watched him the most during practice. So what is it? What made her feel this way?

Emiko's thoughts were interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone. She reached out from under the pillow and answered it.

"Don't get your hopes up, Uncle Keishin. I'm not dead yet."