"We didn't win a set at all..." Yamaguchi sighed as he lifted a couple of balls on the floor and placed them in the basket "Hinata and Kageyama's quick were not in synch and the synchronized attack earlier was a mess... we're so awkward compared to the powerhouse schools here..."

It was nearly evening when all practice games were done and it ended with Karasuno mostly doing the penalty after losing. Even though they are enemies on court, everyone helped each other in cleaning the gymnasium. He was about to leave after he finished his job when someone called him.

"Hey, you, the guy with a freckled face"

"And I assume that's me he's talking about..." he sighed internally as turned around and saw Ubugawa's player, calling him.

"Hai?" he approached him "Uwaa...he looked scary...a third year most likely..."

"Do you mind if you do me a favor?"

"H-Hai. What is it, senpai?"

He lifted some old equipment and handed it to him. Yamaguchi nearly dropped the equipment due to the heaviness.

"Can you take it to the storage room?"

He tried to recall its location "Storage room...oh, it is in the first floor and the door has blue mark on it, right?"

"Yeah. I actually wanted someone from Shinzen to do this since it is their school but they're cleaning the second gym right now. Will you take it there?"

He nodded "Hai. I will..."

"These are pretty heavy, though..."

"Thanks. Oh, be careful of the door. Remember that"

"Uh...right"

"What is he talking about?"

He was about to ask his friend, Tsukishima, for help but he forgot that the tall blonde didn't do some extra practices, thus, he is not present during their cleanup duties. He sighed and left the gymnasium and nearly bumped the violet eyed girl in front of the entrance. She was slightly surprised to see him until she saw him carry the heavy equipments.

"I'll help you carry them" she told him as she took some of the equipment from his arms without waiting for his reply "Are you taking them to the storage room?"

He nodded and slightly looked away "Agh... I still can't bring myself to face her..."

He didn't tell anyone, not even his bestfriend, Tsukishima, about the irritation he's feeling towards the half Russian. He always noticed it. Ever since Lev met Ayame, he developed a huge crush on the girl. He would try to impress her or talk to her when she's not busy (or sometimes, trying to catch her attention when busy) and Yamaguchi was ticked off every time he did it. An example: Earlier, during one of their breaks, Yamaguchi saw Lev trying to catch Ayame's attention to talk to him. Of course, knowing her kind personality, she obliged and chatted with him and it made the half-Russian extremely happy and he didn't like it.

Of course, he knew that he's being jealous and there's no reason to hide it.

They walked in silence inside the hallway. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ayame glance at him and she looked like she was about to say something but decided against it. She sighed and walked silently next to him until they reached a door with a blue mark.

"Is this it?" she asked and he nodded. Again, she wondered why he won't say a word to him.

He grabbed the door handle and tried to open it with one hand but it was stuck. He added his strength but it proved to be futile. Sighing, he placed the equipment he's holding on the floor and pushed the heavy door open with both hands. The door creaked open, revealing a small room full of abandoned posts, nets, and such.

"It's a bit dark...I hope there is some light here or something..." he thought while staring at the dark room. He stepped inside and glanced back at the violet eyed girl, who was hesitating to follow him. He could understand why, since he's also a bit unnerved by the darkness. He searched for any light source until he saw a switch and turned the lights on, much to their relief.

They placed the equipment on their respective places, their backs facing each other. Ayame glanced at him as he sorted the cabinet wordlessly. She was still wondering why he's acting a bit...cold to her.

She stood next to him to place the last thing on the cabinet as she suddenly asked him.

"Ne, are you mad at me?"

Yamaguchi stopped. He felt a sense of déjà vu when she said that line, since he also asked her the same question during the time she was sick. He faced her and saw the hurt expression on her face and he felt guilty.

"No, I'm not mad at you, Ayame" he replied.

"Then, why?" she pressed "Why are you acting so different?"

"Different?"

"Yes. You were avoiding me the whole day. I thought I did something that made you mad but I don't remember when. What did I exactly do to you? Please tell me" she stepped forward and looked up to face him.

He gulped "Crap...I didn't expect that it would turn out like this... How can I explain this to her? How can I just tell her that I'm feeling irritated when she's with Haiba Lev? Or more accurately, I'm jealous?"

"It's...It's not easy to say..." he answered, looking down "But, I'm not mad at you"

"But, how does that explain the way you're acting?" she gripped his arms as she pressed further.

"Because I was jealous, that's why..." he thought "Because, I... I kinda don't like Haiba Lev..."

She blinked in surprise as she heard his response and her grip loosened "Eh?"

He slightly looked away.

"Tadashi-kun, you don't like...Lev-kun?"

"Heck with it, I'm not lying and I'm not telling the truth either so I guess this should be fine..." he mentally told his self.

"Yeah" he nodded "I know he also became your friend but... his personality kinda annoys me..."

Ayame was silent. He gulped and continued.

"When he's talking to you, it kinda annoys me. The way he's trying to make you talk to him made me feel that it's not right, like he wants you to talk to him alone and...honestly, I find it selfish. I was avoiding you because... I know Haiba is your friend and I have no right to complain so...yeah" he sighed "Petty, I know..."

***

"Ano...what happened to Haiba-kun?" Shibayama whispered to Inouka. They both stared at the half-Russian who suddenly had a gloomy aura above him while cleaning the court.

"Why do I feel like someone hates me?" Lev mumbled.

The two stared at each other in confusion, not knowing what the boy meant.

***

She stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. He felt his face burn in embarrassment as the violet eyed girl laughed at him in amusement. She finally calmed down and wiped the tears on the corner of her eyes and regained her composure.

"Sorry for laughing, Tadashi-kun" she breathed "It's just...I find it funny for some reason"

"I-I know. It's a stupid reason..." he rubbed his nape in embarrassment.

She shook her head "Don't say that. I'm actually relieved. I wanted to hear the truth from you. Thank you"

"Not exactly the whole truth..." he sighed internally in relief.

"But" she added "You don't need to feel that way to Lev-kun. He's kinda like Shoyo-kun in some way and you'll get used to him"

"Yeah...I hope so" he replied before scratching his cheek with his finger "And I'm sorry about earlier. For...avoiding you"

She waved it off "It's fine. Let's just forget about it and be back to normal. I don't want everything to go awkward again"

"Ah..." he nodded "Thanks by the way, for helping me out"

"Of course. We're Karasuno. We help each other out" she smiled. Yamaguchi was glad that everything was back to normal and he's no longer jealous...mostly. Deep down, he could still feel the teeny, tiny jealousy in his heart and he tried to ignore it. They returned back to their work when he heard a creaking noise behind him. He glanced back and saw the door close with a loud bang, surprising the violet eyed girl.

"W-What happened?" she asked "Did the door...?"

The freckled teen ran to the door and grabbed its handle to open it but...

"It's locked...?" he questioned. He gritted his teeth and tried to twist it again but the door won't budge, no matter how much strength he exerted. He took a closer inspection on the door handle and his hands went slack "Damn it... this handle is broken..."

"That guy probably meant this... I'm so stupid for forgetting it!" he face palmed.

"Eh?" Ayame inspected the handle and made an 'oh' sound "You're right. It really is broken. But, how did you open the door earlier if it's broken?"

"I'm not sure but I'm guessing that the door handle on this side is the only one broken" he tried twisting it again but to no avail "Earlier, a player from Ubugawa told me to be careful of the door. I think he meant that we shouldn't let the door close while we're inside because it's broken"

"Crap it..." she cursed. He glanced at her and she bowed her head "I'm sorry. I...would say... curse words when I'm in a bad mood or something"

"Figures...That happened a few times before..." he shook his head "I don't mind. Anybody would be pissed in a situation like this"

"Right" she looked around and knocked on the door "So, should we yell for help? Ah, no, wrong decision"

"Eh? Why? Someone might help-"

"It's pointless. The location of this storage room is far from where everyone else is gathered. No one also goes to this area at this time or maybe no one would dare to"

"Why?"

"Ghosts"

"G-G-Ghosts?!" he paled after imagining what she said.

She giggled when she saw him fluster "From what I hear, anyway, yes. And also" she touched the wall "It's soundproof as well"

"...Eh?" he deadpanned.

"The whole room is made up of soundproof walls. Add that the door is heavily shut and there is no window"

His eyebrows twitched in annoyance "Why the heck is this room soundproof?"

She shrugged "I don't know. Probably used for band practice before or something. Whatever the case is, we have to find a way out here"

"How about we make a call?" he suggested.

Her violet eyes shined in agreement "Yeah! You're right! Please call them, Tadashi-kun"

"Eh? I don't have my phone with me right now. I suggested the idea because I thought you have your phone with you"

She slightly looked away and fiddled with her hair "Ano...I...don't have my phone too..."

"Oh"

Their shoulders slumped after realizing that neither of them had their phones at hand. Yamaguchi knew that they had to find other means to get out of the damn soundproof room, or else the whole team will realize that the two of them are missing after a long period of time and will get the wrong idea (probably) and cause a ruckus.

"Sorry, Tadashi-kun" she bowed.

"A-Ah, don't apologize" he shook his head and looked around "Let's look for something that can pry the door open-"

"Oh, I found our escape route!" she happily pointed at the air vent on the ceiling "We can go through there!"

"But how are we going to go up there-" he saw the violet eyed girl climbing the cabinet "W-Wait! Ayame, that's dangerous! Y-You might fall down!"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine" she kept climbing through the cabinets. Luckily, she's wearing some gym pants and a t-shirt so it's easy for her to climb without any worry. She nearly reached the topmost part and she grinned in triumph "Yosh, a few more and I-"

Her foot slipped and she lost her balance. The freckled teen panicked and he instinctively ran to her and held out his arms to catch her. It felt like everything was in slow motion when her violet orbs made a quick contact to his dark brown eyes before closing her eyes to brace the impact.

THUD.

It felt like forever when she managed to open her eyes. A few boxes were toppled down to the floor but it was the least of her worries. She was scared when she fell from the cabinet and was thankful that she didn't land on the floor in a hard way. She felt a pair of arms wrapped around her back and sensed that the both of them fell after catching her. When she opened her eyes, she could only see Yamaguchi's dark brown eyes widen in her line of vision. Her own violet eyes widen as she felt something soft on her lips that sent butterflies flying in her stomach and made her heart beat faster than normal.

It was a kiss.