The girl walked to school, making sure that her attire was alright. Geez, Suga-san... She then let out a huge yawn, rubbing her eyes as she investigated the sad sky. I have to see her again-

What did Tsukishima-kun and Yamaguchi-san say again? They knew her?

Goodness, I didn't even know that... I kind of feel bad for senpai.

But even so, Ren couldn't help but feel excited. She had been slightly stressed by the situation she had been with both Hiyori and Sayaka. It had been like the school life she had been dreaming about had been ruined with the cliché plot of a shoujo manga. Ren gave an exhale of breath; although she had met up with her older friend, she still had to tell her the fact that she... went on a date with Sugawara.

My, she won't be too happy about that...

As she approached the school gym early that morning, she peeked in pretty cautiously. It wasn't always that they would have practices before school, so she had to double check it wasn't another club. Although Karasuno's main focus was the Volleyball club, she was sure that there was a tennis club somewhere... or a hockey club of some sort. Ren then noticed the team doing some stretches, and felt a gush of relief run through her body. "Hey, Yoshida, come over here!" Coach Ukai called, making the 15 year old wave back at him, "good morning, Ukai-kun. I'm not late, am I?"

"Not at all- you're just on time." With that Ren entered the gym and placed her bag on the side, next to the entrance, "is Takeda-sensei not here?"

"He has a meeting from 6 AM to 7 AM," he then sipped on his cup of coffee, "that sucks, yeah?" Ren fixed the bottom of her plain, white shirt, "that does." Just then, the manager of the team handed her a warm cup of some type of dark liquid. "Why- What's this for, Kiyoko-senpai?!"

"I made some for you guys. It's early, isn't it?" A slight smile was evident on the third year's face, making Ren push it back in her hands, "a-as much as I want it, senpai, I d-don't drink coffee!"

"It isn't coffee though," Kiyoko chuckled lightly, having the first year look into the cup, investigating it a little further, "oh... it's tea..." She then took it back with a deadpanned expression, "thank you." After a while of the team doing the plays their coach had set up for them, they realized that the practice had passed by far more faster than what they had incorporated in to be. With that, Ren decided that she should confront the beanpole before it was too late. Picking up her backpack, she beckoned on him to come towards her.

To her dismay, practically the entire team did, and Tanaka and Noya happened to be the first. "Yoshida, I heard you went on a date with both Daichi and Sugawara!" She leaped backwards, only to be cornered from both sides, "e-eh..."

"I'd just like to say that I'll be a third year next year!" Tanaka stated, causing Ren to sweat drop, Tsukishima-kun did not tell them, did he?

"Guys, give Yoshida a break-"

"I didn't know that you were into first years, Suga!" Nishinoya shouted, interrupting the vice captain, who mouthed to Ren a 'run'. "Senpai, seriously..."

"Get to class, both of you!" Daichi came in at the right moment, having the second years sadly slouch away. "Geez, thank you so much, Daichi-san."

"No problem- that was none of their business anyways. Oh, I heard that Suga took my place after I left; thank you."

"It was nothing really," he gave a bright grin; "It was fun, anyways." Ren then tightened the grip on her bag, as her face emitted a slight rose colour, "a-anyways, what happened with Yui-senpai?"

"When I had reached, it seemed like she was very desperate in to grabbing the volleyball. She was panting and very messy looking... along with a mustache..."

"Wait... a mustache?" Ren asked, as Sugawara had his hand rub his own neck out of awkwardness. "Yeah... it was pretty weird."

--

The girl reached class on time and realized the schedule, yes, math first! She then took a huge breath and walked into the room, only to hit into something and trip backwards. Where has she seen this before? It was like déjà vu, sadly. But before she could fall backwards, something grabbed her hand almost immediately, and prevented the accident.

"Tsukishima...kun?" Her eyes met his gold ones, which seemed pretty surprised. Before he could deny this fact, she pulled her arm away from his grasp and fell backwards anyways. His eyebrow twitched upwards and he took off the headphones that his ears had worn. "Are you actually dumb-?"

"W-what were you thinking, idiot?!" She suddenly snapped, making the blonde lean back, shocked and they managed to grab some attention from everyone around the area as well. Her face turned a bright red, and she picked up the textbooks that her hands were once harnessed around. Don't touch me so familiarly... I can't fall for you anymore, otherwise-

"Yoshida-san, are you alright?" Yamaguchi came from behind her and helped her up, "th-thank you, Yamaguchi-san." From in front of her, the first year clicked his tongue and turned away, entering the classroom ultimately. She instantly pressed her teeth together, and she felt a liquid form at the corner of her eyes. Ren regretted her actions almost too quickly; her mood was changed at the drop of a hat.

She wanted to hold his hand a little longer. Pretend to get hurt, so he could act concerned. Hell, would she kill to get some type of attention from him. "...ida-san?" Ren snapped out of her sudden thoughts, and wiped any sort of sign from her orbs, "what is it Yamaguchi-san?"

He picked up a few assignments that flew out of her book and forced a smile onto his face, "don't mind Tsukki, alright? He may seem like a jerk at times but," he paused as his hair shadowed his eyes, "h-he really cares for you, ya' know?" Ren took a while to notice the freckled of the two had handed her the work and left her in the middle of the hallway. Was she an idiot? She knew that- more than anyone she had known that Tsukishima had considered her a friend, an acquaintance at least, and that was one of the few reasons she had liked him. She sighed pretty deeply and shut her eyes tightly.

It was probably a reflex, anyways.

As soon as it was lunch and the students were dismissed, Ren confronted the tallest of the class, and stood at his desk. Yamaguchi had made the excuse of going to the vending machine so he could leave the two of them to talk, although that had also made him a little uneasy. Curse this heart of his; he can never get over this feeling. "U-um... Tsukishima-kun?" He continued to look out the window, ignoring her.

"I'd like to say sorry about this morning," she started, but ended up standing there a little silently, glad Sayaka and Hiyori were busy with activities this lunch. He is totally ignoring me, damn. "Please accept my apology!" Ren then bowed down, but hit her head on the side of his desk with a loud bang. She then winced in pain as she placed her right hand on her head, knowing that it bruises easily, it would leave a mark.

But she succeeded; grabbing Tsukishima's attention that is. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah..." She looked at him pretty upset, as he gave a blank expression. "Are you a moron?" She then gasped, "what- I'm actually injured and you just sit there and take this as some sort of entertainment?" He snickered, and stood up from his chair, picking up his water bottle, "yeah."

"Y-you-!" She stopped herself from saying anymore and just dropped her shoulders low as the blonde had chucked the item at her, having her catch it and stare at it dumbfounded. "Put it on that empty head of yours."

"O-oh, thanks."

"By the way, you know her, correct?" Taking a while, Ren finally realized who he was speaking about.

--

"Ayumu-san!" Ren yelled out as she opened the club room door, as the other two first years eyed at all the artwork that hung on the walls. "Yoshi-kun, I was just about to finish!" Ayumu gave a cheeky grin as she stood up from her seat. "Yo," Ren waved at her friend, as Yamaguchi and Tsukishima walked in after her.

"So this is where you are after practice, huh, Yoshida-san?" The freckled of the four commented, investigating the room, a little amused by the decorations. "Kind of," Ren shrugged, lightening the mood with a sweet smile, "since I'm already in the Volleyball club as an assistant, I can't really join the art club though it sounds fun. The members let me hang with them, and I'm grateful for that!" Yamaguchi then scratched the nape of his neck, a little curious as to seeing the type of art Ren did. "Yeah," an unfamiliar figure nodded from behind a huge canvas he had been holding, "I'm Hatakeyama Naoyuki. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Ezakiya Fumiko, a third year in Hika-chan's class. Very pleased to meet you, Yamaguchi-san, Tsukishima-san," a female with purple hair warmly greeted, bowing to the two. "Ishinomori Kazue. I'm the club president who is also in Ayumu's class," an intimidating male with glasses greeted, bowing as well. "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi, very pleased to meet you all," he then bowed, as his blonde friend went next. "Tsukishima Kei. Nice to meet you," he mumbled quietly, not even bowing. "Anyways," Ayumu rolled her eyes due to Tsukishima's rudeness, "what brings you all here?"

"We asked Yoshida-san where you were, and she told us to follow her," Yamaguchi had explained, noticing a minor detail. "And how did you know our names, Ezakiya-senpai?" She then chuckled, looking towards her friend, "Hika-chan tends to have plenty interesting stories about you two."

Tsukishima scoffed, "what? Ayu talks about us?" Ren felt like jabbing him hard in the side, but held back, geez, no respect at all. "I have all sorts of blackmail, especially about-"

"Yeah? Well note down that I also have all sorts of blackmail. So if you are looking forward to losing to Sugawara-san, I would be more than happy to help," he sneered, making Yamaguchi step back with Ren. He knows bringing Sugawara-san up is a taboo-

"Please refrain from fighting in the club room," Ishinomori pushed his glasses upwards, causing the third year to apologize to him. "Anyways, I should be going if you will allow me to be excused. Yoshi-kun, do you want to walk home with Yamaguchi, Kei and I?"

"I-if I'm not a burden... sure," Ren gave a quick bow as the four of them exited the room, waving good bye, "see you later, Fumiko-san, Kazue-san, Naoyuki. Sorry I couldn't stay long!" They paced side by side out of the school, as Ren stood closely beside Ayumu.

--

"Hey, do you guys want to stop by the cafe? Consider it my treat, since it's not every day I can walk home with Yoshi-kun," Ayumu offered, as she removed her hair from out of her eyes. "Whatever," Tsukishima muttered, avoiding everyone's gaze. Ren thought it was the perfect time, and she grinned pretty big, "you like strawberry shortcake, right, Tsukishima-kun?"

"What? Why are you staring at me again like you did in class the other day? And you seem to know my preferred choice of food, stalker." The blonde teased, as Ren's cheeks heated up, "m-me? A stalker? You're crazy. You're so insane, it makes me want to throw a basketball at that face of yours." Ren taunted, before face palming mentally at the choice of insults. "Basketball? I'd rather a volleyball," he responded sounding bored, flicking Ren's head, close to the bruise. She brushed it off, "basketballs are more painful, for your information." She retorted, rubbing the place he had hit.

Ayumu crossed her arms, "Kei, don't hit her head, you lame excuse of a person!" She then sighed, "be more like Tadashi, won't you?"

"Be more like Tadashi, won't you?" Tsukishima ridiculed, being the annoying friend he wanted to be. "Ayumu-san, how do you live with this?" Ren gripped her backpacks straps, sighing. "Yoshi-kun," she laughed quite loudly, "does this look like the face of someone who knows why they had befriended the Himalayas?"

Ren then started to chuckle, as Yamaguchi raised his hand politely, "really? Tsukki seems easy to handle. Just give him cake and dinosaurs and he'll be just fine!"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsukki!" The females both sweat dropped, thinking the same thing, he's a masochist. Definitely. "Anyways, we're here." The four then looked up at their destination, and probably Ren's most visited cafe. The bell rang as they stepped in, and a waitress came to their escort immediately.

"Welcome," the lady smiled, looking at the first year most out of the group, "may I get your order?"

"I'll get a strawberry milkshake and strawberry shortcake," Tsukishima bluntly said, not even looking at the menu. "I'll have some French fries, I guess..." Yamaguchi shrugged eyeing over at Ren. "What would you like, Yoshi-kun?" It didn't take a while to realize that the female was stuck in her own little world, staring at the ground and playing with her fingers.

Her face had an evident pink tint plastered onto her face, gosh- if word gets out that I had been at the same cafe with countless guys, what would I do? Goodness, I'm at a cafe with Tsukishima-kun-

"Um, Yoshi-kun, are you alright?" Ayumu nudged Ren's shoulder, as she lost her thoughts, "e-eh? Sorry, sorry! I was thinking about... things." She replied, as she took her order, "may I just get a vanilla bean mocha... with whipped cream?" The first year was a bit flustered, as she imagined the incident in the morning going so many different ways. The oldest of the four nodded with a sweet smile, "I'll also just get an icetwe- I mean, ice tea."

As soon as the waitress repeated the order and left, Ren looked over to the figure on her right, a little curious. "What's an icetweaa, Ayumu-san?"

"Nothing, nothing. I was just... thinking," she chuckled nervously as the female shrugged it off. "So, Yoshida-kun. You seem awfully on edge today, huh?" Tsukishima smirked, resting his head in the palm of his hand. "O-of course not!" She denied, shaking her head back and forth constantly.

"Yeah, sure," he answered sarcastically. "And you, Kei, seem to be getting along with Yoshi-kun too nicely. Poor Tadashi, include him in your conversations!"

"A-Ayumu-san!" Ren blushed, yelling at her senpai. Yamaguchi sat there confused, but went with the flow anyways. "What? We need to weigh everyone's feeling here! Let's talk about something! Care to humour me, anyone?"

"Let's see... in class, in class. There really isn't anything I can think of..." The girl apologized, as Tsukishima mumbled out a few words. "Yeah, Yoshida was checking me out in class the other time."

"Kei, you're a brick head, you know that? She was probably thinking about how stupid you really are. Speaking of so, how do you know she was staring at you in the first place? So you were looking at her, basically." Ayumu defended the flustered girl, who was extremely tempted to punch the beanpole in the face. "Her stare was just so intense, and when I had looked at her, it seemed my predictions were, in fact, correct."

"So you did look at her. My, you are awfully hypocritical, aren't you?"

"Tch, whatever." After that, Yamaguchi changed the subject as soon as he could, "have you seen the latest update of The English Teacher on the Weekly Jump? M-man, it was intense, wasn't it? Protagonist-kun is definitely shaping up!"

"I thought Author-chan would end it there, honestly! But I guess the fans wanted more, so they continued it after all." Ren spoke out, a little surprised someone she had known liked the same manga as her. "No way, you read that too, Yoshi-kun?! I thought it'd end there!" Ayumu laughed, a little intrigued, but the teacher is too much like you, Yoshi-kun. Ayumu thought, but decided to leave it alone.

Doesn't the protagonist remind you of Yamaguchi-san as well? Is what Ren wanted to ask, but she skipped the odd question and rubbed her neck, "it would have been terrible if they had ended it there. And then there's the antagonist... I dunno- I'm having mixed feelings about him..."

"I know, the author is doing a great job at keeping the fans immersed!" Yamaguchi smiled, nodding his head up and down, but the antagonist kind of acts like Tsukki, or is it just me? Tsukishima sighed, putting his head on the table. It was enough his friend had talked non-stop about the latest chapter, and now, he won't hear the end of it.

--

As soon as they finished, Ayumu had invited Ren over for a 'study session', or at least that's what they called it when people were around. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had already thanked her for the treat. It seemed like no one was home, and that kind of disappointed the younger female. "Well, I guess they're out with my other family members. Oh, and I have a dog who is usually asleep in the back," the third year explained as Ren investigated her house a little further. "Oh, okay," she replied as they decided to sit on the couch in her living room.

"So, you wanted to talk about something?" Her senpai asked, looking at her with a hint of concern. Ayumu then crouched down next to the table to pour some tea, as Ren tried distracting herself, "a-ah, yeah, I did, I guess..."

"What about it? You'll know I'll always be here to help," the other girl smiled sweetly, making the first year glitter her eyes, everyone's so nice nowadays. "Please don't tell anyone though... I'll be dead meat if it gets out," she cleared her throat, glancing at Ayumu, who was now pouring hot water into a kettle. "Don't worry, don't worry, telling others is out of the question. It's not like I have anyone to tell anyways."

"Well, I'm having this dilemma involving...-"

"Kei, isn't it?" Ayumu answered, as Ren's eyes had expanded a bit. "How did you know?" The third year looked back at her, "I had this thought."

A/N)) Ayy- who can guess where Ayumu is from?

It's my good friend's story, @icetweaa 's Rip Tide

It's a really awesome book you all should check out, and we decided to collab our two works into a small side story. Hikari is such a lovable character, and you can get more insight of her in there. 

I recommend her story a whole bunch, it's my favorite <3 So go give her some love and support.

Thank you for this collab, Tweaa-chan~ Also, the English Teacher references only we get lmao

P.S) Ren says she doesn't want to fall for him anymore, but man, is she tripping.

Okay I love you guys- my ff has been getting a lot of support, reads, votes, etc... I wanna thank you all for that.