Yamaguchi yawned as he passed by the school gates. He checked the time in his phone and returned it back to his pocket. Since it's early, he could only see a few students hanging out inside their class or outside to wait for the arrival of others. He opened the door of his class and saw a single person inside the room with her back facing him. She heard him enter and turned around, her violet eyes reflecting the morning sun.

"Tadashi-kun, good morning" Ayame smiled at him. He blinked and greeted her back.

"Uh...good morning, Ayame..." he said before placing his bag on his desk "Why is she acting like...it didn't happen before?"

She approached him "Ano...Tadashi-kun, thank you for escorting me. Mom told me that you accompanied nii-chan when he carried me home"

"Don't think about it" he told her "Anyway, are you okay now?"

"Yep!" she grinned at him, though he could see that her violet eyes are saying otherwise but he said nothing.

"Please...stop lying anymore...it hurts...it hurts to see you hiding something painful...I want to help you... please tell me..."

However, he smiled at her, despite what his mind is thinking.

"I see. I'm glad to hear it"

"Thanks for the concern" she replied before punching the air "Yosh!! I can't wait for morning practice!!"

"Uhm...Ayame, we have no club activities this morning. There's an inspection in the gym, remember?" he told her.

"Eh?" She flinched and lowered down her arm. She turned around and gave an awkward laugh "Hehehe...sorry, I forgot..."

"You forgot? Sensei announced it to us the other day"

"Eh?! He did?!"

"Yeah" his face suddenly turned worried "She looked shocked when I told her that Takeda-sensei announced to us...I'm pretty sure she was there...Ayame was never the type to forget things that involves club activities...What happened to her?"

"Are you really all right?" he asked again.

"Y-Yes! I-I'm fine!!" she stammered out. He heard the shakiness of her voice and knew that she's lying, again "A-Ah! W-Which reminds me! I-I'm going to the library to do my homework!"

As she scrambled to collect her things, Yamaguchi stopped her "We have no homework. And also, you weren't the type to forget homework and stuffs"

She stopped and gulped. There was a heavy silence that settled around the two until it was broken by Ayame.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered "I...I kinda had a lot of things in my mind today..."

She bit her lower lip after saying that and he saw it. She's hiding it again. He didn't say anything and he stopped bugging her, knowing full well that there are some lines that cannot be crossed.

"I understand" he said softly "I won't ask"

"Yet..." he secretly thought.

"Yeah...thanks for understanding..." she made a small smile while looking at her desk "Neh, let's go to our volleyball practice together after the inspections are done, okay?"

"Sure" he nodded.

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"T-T-T-T-T-TOGETHER?!?!?!?!" he only realized that she said that word after five seconds "W-W-Wait a minute!! Why the heck am I reacting like this?!?! I-It d-definitely doesn't sound like a date!! Stop overreacting things, idiot!!"

He slapped his cheeks, much to the violet eyed girl's surprise. She gave him a clueless look and tilted her head.

"What's wrong, Tadashi-kun?"

"N-Nothing...I just...remembered some...unimportant stuffs..." he rubbed his nape while fighting the heat creeping up to his face.

Ayame only stared at him with a questioning look.

*Club Activities*

"AYAME-CHAAAAAAN!!!" Nishinoya and Tanaka were sobbing as they pounced to hug the girl as soon as they heard her enter the gymnasium with the freckled teen. Yamaguchi quickly pulled her out of the way and the second years crashed to the ground head first.

"Typical..." Sugawara sighed while Tsukishima recorded the whole thing with a smirk.

"Y-Yuu-senpai? Ryu-senpai? Are you guys all right?" Ayame asked them worriedly. The second year duo faced the freckled teen with crying faces.

"Yamaguchi, why???" they cried out.

Both first years stared at them.

"How dare you take Ayame-chan away from us?! You're so harsh, Yamaguchi!!" Tanaka was crying his eyes out while pointing an accusing finger to the boy.

"It's not fair you can have Ayame-chan all by yourself" Nishinoya sobbed.

"E-EEH?! W-Wait, T-Tanaka-san, w-what are you talking about?! Nishinoya-san, it's nothing like that!! Y-You guys got it wrong!!" Yamaguchi blushed madly while the violet eyed girl stared at them with a clueless face.

"What did they mean by that?" she asked. Before anyone could answer her question, Daichi clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Hey!! Hurry up and practice!! Tanaka! Nishinoya! Stop the drama and get over here!!"

Ennoshita and the other second years grabbed their collars and pulled them towards the court.

"Idiots..." he sighed "Come on now. Stop saying nonsense things and start warming up"

"Ah! Ennoshita-san, where are Shoyo-kun and Ukai-san?" she asked.

"I don't know but I think they went somewhere. All I know is that Ukai-san said that they will be right back as soon as they are done"

"Thank you" she bowed.

"I'll be going then" Yamaguchi said.

"Yeah, thanks for earlier"

The freckled teen went to Sugawara's team and started warming up. Ayame sat on the bench, with her sketchpad at hand. Since their coach is still out, they can't officially start practicing so she passed time by sketching the players doing their warm-ups.

"Ano...Ayame?" a deep voice said, making her look up at the teen.

"Yes? What's wrong, Kageyama-kun?"

He bowed a perfect 90 degree angle, much to her surprise "I'm sorry about what happened the other day!"

"E-Eh?! I-It's okay! I wasn't hurt. Please don't worry about it and raise your head" she replied, gesturing for him stand straight "More importantly, are your injuries okay?"

"Yes. It was only a scratch"

"A scratch, huh? Tough guy"

"Good to hear. You can go back to your practice now. I'm fine"

"Yes. Thank you!" he bowed again and went back to the other team. The captain approached her and took a seat next to the girl.

"Ayame-chan, are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"Yes, please don't worry, nii-chan" she replied, her hand gripping the pen tightly "I have to become strong. So they won't worry about me"

"Don't push yourself, okay?"

"Roger that, captain"

The gym door opened and Coach Ukai entered. The players greeted him and he did the same. Ayame stood from her seat and approached the man.

"Ukai-san, is Shoyo-kun with you?" she asked.

"Yeah. He went to the club room to change. He'll be here soon"

They heard footsteps from outside and the voice of a certain orange haired teen.

"Tanaka-san!! I-I'm sorry about the other day!"

"No problem! Kageyama just came by, too. I'm sorry for hitting you guys" Tanaka replied "I got too worked up trying to stop you guys from fighting"

"Your punch really worked, Tanaka-san"

"But don't fight in front of girls next time!" he scolded "Yacchan's face was as pale as a ghost and Ayame-chan was shaking. Also, don't fight in front of the Vice Principal, either. Fight anywhere else"

"Right!"

Hinata and Tanaka went inside the gym and the first year saw the violet eyed girl. He approached her and quickly bowed a perfect 90 degree angle.

"Ayame! I-I'm sorry about the other day!"

"I-It's okay! You have nothing to worry about. Please raise your head" she told him "How is your injury?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore. I can play just fine"

"Is that so?" she said "You guys are really something..."

"Hinata, when we're doing some practice games, you'll be on the B team for a while" Coach Ukai said, surprising the girl "Sugawara, I'm counting on you"

"Right!"

Hinata went to Sugawara's team while Ayame stared at the man intently, making him sweat drop at the intensity of her stare.

"Ukai-san, what's with the sudden decision? Is there a reason for it?"

"W-Well, we visited my gramps, because Hinata said he wanted to fight at the top on his own"

"Then?"

"Remember what Hinata said before during the training camp?"

"Yes, that he could see the view in slow motion. Why?"

"My gramps said that there is no better toss than one that the spiker. It hit me that the problem isn't one-sided and-"

"Wait" she stopped him, her violet eyes wide in realization "Kageyama-kun's toss passes the spiker's point of impact, right? What you're saying is, you wanted a toss that stops at the point of impact so Shoyo-kun could have more options to fight at the top, right?!"

"Y-Yeah" he nodded and smiled "As expected from the genius"

"That means..." she looked at the oddball combo "You wanted them to hone their new skills separately, am I right?"

"Damn straight" he looked at her in surprise "I can't believe that you could came up with that conclusion that fast"

"I was kinda thinking about the same thing. I wanted to apply Shoyo-kun's ability to see the view in slow motion with Kageyama-kun's new stopping toss"

"Let's see if this works, then"

Ayame saw the blonde girl look at Hinata and Kageyama worriedly. She stood next to her and said "Are you worried about Shoyo-kun and Kageyama-kun?"

"E-Eh? Oh, yes..." she looked down and closed her hands together "Hinata said that he's fine but, I'm still feeling worried about them"

The violet eyed girl smiled and placed her hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, Hitoka-chan. Have faith in them. Actually, this isn't the first time they fought"

"Eh?"

"I was told that during the first day, they blew off the Vice Principal's toupee and nearly got the club in trouble because of their fight. I was surprised about it"

"Th-They did?!" her brown eyes wide in shock.

She giggled "Yeah. The point is, Hitoka-chan, we should have faith in them. Although this is the first time they fought for real, I believe that they'll be all right soon, even if it might take days or weeks. They've gotten over those things so, we should just believe in them and wait"

"Wow, Ayame-chan...y-you're amazing!" she gasped, watching her with sparkly eyes "Hai! I'll also believe in them"

"Right" she smiled and they watched the team practice.