His reply

"Smooth. Real smooth." Akira laughed loudly after hearing what happened. "I can't believe you were shouting at him too!"

"Sh-Shut up! I got nervous, ok?!" Yume whined and covered her face with her pillow.

The entirety of their Saturday morning consisted of Akira laughing her ass off at her best friend's predicament while Yume brooded over having to see her crush on Monday. How was she supposed to face him after that pathetic confession?!

"I'm gonna die alone... Soon enough cats are going to start avoiding me on the streets..." She cried, making Akira double over in laughter.

"You're hilarious!!"

"I'm being serious..."

"Nah, you'll be fine~"

Yume pouted at her and narrowed her eyes as she casually took a cookie from the plate. "You're not helping... Plus, I'm pretty sure the whole volleyball team heard me. Heck, I'm pretty sure Tokyo even heard me!" She opened her arms out dramatically, before rolling over to her back and glaring at the ceiling. "Akira, kill me."

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm not willing to sit in jail because you decided to tell the world how you feel about him." She replied and took a cookie for herself, biting down onto it.

"Please kill me?" Yume asked, politely this time.

"I'm not changing my mind just because you said 'please'!"

"Then I'll transfer schools..."

"You're overthinking this."

"But Akira..."

"Yume, shut up and eat your cookie."

"Hmph," She munched on the cookie noisily like a hamster. "Some best friend you are."

"I am pretty amazing, aren't I~?" Akira joked, earning her a pillow to the face.

Yume sighed loudly and rolled around her bed. "Why do I have to be such an awkward person when it comes to the guys I like?" She asked her. "Pretty sure every girl has their moments." Akira replied, standing up and tugging her friend's hand. "Come on, I know what will cheer you up."

Although reluctant to leave the comforts of her bedroom, she allowed her to drag her out of the house and down the street. Yume looked up at the clear blue sky, taking in the rare scenery before her. Being an indoor person, she hated going out into the public lands. However there were times that she would peek out the door just to look at the sky.

Their neighborhood was relatively quiet and the two walked, relishing the peaceful serenity. If Yume had to choose between the city or the countryside, she'd have picked the second option in a heartbeat.

The melodious chirping of cicadas during the night would lull her to sleep. The rustling of tree leaves as she walked down a trail would be like a song to her ears. She loved the idea of it. A city's polluted air and repetitive car honking during traffic jams were nothing to compared to that. At least, in her opinion.

"LOOK OUT!"

Someone warned a little too late as something collided with the side of Yume's head, knocking her down to the ground with a loud thud.

"Yume, are you ok!?" Akira knelt beside her and tried shaking her awake. "Hey! You still alive?!"

Two pairs of footsteps jogged over to them, casting a large shadow over the girl. As her eyes slowly opened to look at the culprit of her assault, she stiffened upon recognizing the two Nekoma High students. A lazy smile plastered on Kuroo's lips as he waved.

"Glad to see you still alive. Sorry about that." He said and helped her up. "Lev spiked the ball a bit too hard."

Towering beside him was the half-Russian player, Lev, who was scratching the back of his head and bowing apologetically. "Sorry, Kamiya-senpai. I didn't see you there since you were so tiny."

"Go die." She deadpanned.

"Eh?!"

Kuroo laughed at her immediate response to his teammate's apology. Then, after hearing Yaku's call, he told Lev to retrieve the ball and head back to the group.

"What are you guys doing here?" Akira asked him, eyeing the team curiously. "Shouldn't you be practicing at school or something?"

Kuroo shrugged, "Nothing wrong with playing volleyball outdoors once in a while." He glanced at Yume, who was hopelessly staring at Kenma, and snickered.

"W-What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing," Kuroo answered. "But, you know, Kenma was really surprised after you ran away like that all of a sudden."

"Who wouldn't." Akira sneered.

"Shut up." Yume grumbled, crossing her arms. "I didn't need to hear his rejection. I already know what his answer was anyway."

"No, you don't."

She looked at the middle blocker quizzically and, before she could run away again, he held her shoulder and called for Kenma to come over. "Wait, what are you doing?!" She squeaked when she saw the blonde slowly walk closer to them.

"Hey, Kenma, got something to say to Kamiya?" He nudged her closer. Akira cheered for her from behind.

"S-Sorry..." Yume mumbled shyly and kept her eyes on her shoes. "For, you know... Yelling at your face and, uhh, running away afterwards."

Kenma blinked at her, his usual expression masking his nervousness. "It's...fine..." He said and took out a folded piece of stationary from his pocket. "Thank you...for the letter..." He averted his gaze and looked down as well. After a moment of awkward silence, he mumbled, "Sorry... I'm not good with talking to people..."

Yume immediately shook her head and looked up at him. "It's ok! I mean, I know you don't really talk to others..." Her sentence trailed off when he presented the paper in front of her eyes. "What's...this..?" She plucked the paper from his fingers and opened it, reading the letter quietly.

Kenma glanced at Kuroo, who was grinning at him with a thumbs-up. Then, he looked back at her.

"It's...my response...to your letter, that is..." He said.

I don't mind trying dating you.

Yume felt her cheeks redden in color as she read the single sentence on the stationary. Slowly, she brought her head up and looked at the blushing setter in front of her.

"I'm not good with people, and I don't want to interact with them." He told her matter-of-factly. Yume held her breath as he spoke. "But I don't mind trying..."