His thoughts

Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would say those words in his life. As if making idle conversation with his classmates was hard enough. Now dating?! Kenma was nervous about the idea, but Kuroo somehow managed to persuade him.

"I don't even know anything about dating..." He muttered while staring at the confession letter she had given him.

"Why not try it out? Who knows, you might end up liking her in the end. If you don't, then..." Kuroo trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

"I don't know..." The pudding head sighed, feeling troubled. "I wouldn't know how to deal with it if she starts crying..."

"So you're planning on rejecting her then?"

His words made him frown as he pictured his seatmate bursting into tears if he said that. How was he supposed to handle that? Why did she have to put him in this situation? Did he really want to say 'no' to her? Either way, she would probably be crying if he rejected her or dumped her. There was clearly no way out.

Kuroo tapped his head to get his attention, making him look up at the taller boy. "Kenma, do you like her?" He asked bluntly, his expression serious.

Kenma thought for a bit about how he felt before replying, "I don't like her but I don't dislike her."

The confusing response only made Kuroo shrug and sigh, "So it's neutral then..."

"Yeah..." He replied.

"So why not try it?"

"What if I don't like her?"

"But what if you do?"

Kenma gave a small pout then finally gave in, knowing Kuroo wasn't going to give it a rest until he gave the girl a definite response. It wasn't like he was being annoying about it. This was the gamer's first time being confessed to, after all. So of course Kuroo was going to let him try it out. Kind of like how he tried out volleyball when they were kids.

That conversation led to Kuroo inviting himself over to his house to help with his letter. To which Kenma never understood the purpose why until Kuroo reminded him how he was usually unable to talk to people well. In case he messed it up and caused some sort of misunderstanding, just give the girl a letter!

The second meeting turned out to be quite an accident: Lev hitting Yume with a ball to the head. In all honesty, when he saw her hitting the ground like she dropped dead, he inwardly panicked.

She was fine though...

After her brief chat with Kuroo, the middle blocker called him over to them. Kenma remembered the shocked expression she made when she read the letter he gave her. "She thought I was going to reject her..." Kenma thought to himself. The overjoyed smile on her face made him feel sort of grateful that Kuroo persuaded him into agreeing.

Beep!

His phone chimed, alerting him to a text message. When he checked to see who it was, he felt a fluttering feeling in his stomach as he saw her name appear on his screen.

To: Kozume Kenma
From: Kamiya Yume

Good morning, Kozume-kun!

The text was simple yet it made him blush. He replied back with a 'good morning' of his own, before grabbing his bag and walking to the station with Kuroo.

Ever since they exchanged emails, Yume had been sending him good morning and good night texts everyday. It was a little weird at first. But after a while, it made him feel oddly happy and the other members of the club could clearly see the glow on his face whenever he heard his phone chime.

"What do you guys even text about everyday?" Yamamoto asked him on the way to their classrooms.

Kenma didn't even look up from his phone as he replied, "She asks me about the games I play..."

"Ah, so that's why..." He and the others smiled.

Yume wasn't very good at video games, but she liked the ones with stories in them. So she would ask Kenma about the plots and, since Kenma never had anyone to talk with about his games, he would reply almost enthusiastically.

"When's your date?" Yaku asked curiously.

"Tomorrow after school," He replied.

"Heh, good luck, man!" Yamamoto gave him a slap on the back before entering his classroom. Yaku waved goodbye and left for his, which was located a floor above them.

"Tell us all about it afterwards." Kuroo told him. "Though don't go too crazy. We still have a practice match against Karasuno the day after."

"Right," He nodded. Then, after realizing what he said, he huffed. "We won't do anything crazy..."

Golden week was coming up but since the volleyball club would be busy with practices most of the time, Kenma suggested that they had their date before then.

"Oh, Kozume-kun, good morning!" A cheerful voice spoke from beside him as he sat in his seat.

"Good morning..." He gave a slight wave before taking his PSP out again.

Yume nodded, satisfied with his reply. She then sat quietly in her seat and started doodling in her notebook. Kenma frowned a bit. He wished he could say something to her. But he didn't know how to start a conversation. So the two of them sat in silence doing their own thing.

After their morning lessons ended, the lunch bell rang and Kuroo waited by the door as usual. Akira did the same, waving Yume over while holding her bento.

"HEY YUUUMEEE!!" She exclaimed and slung her arm around the other's shoulders with a mischievous grin. "Kuroo invited us for lunch! Isn't it great?"

"Oh. Really?" Yume blinked up at Kuroo questioningly.

"Yeah. You and Kenma wouldn't be able to spend any time together for a while. So why not?" He grinned at the blonde. "Bet Kenma's gonna miss you."

"Will not." Kenma retorted as they walked up to the roof.

"Will too."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will not."

Yume smiled awkwardly at the exchange, unsure how to feel about it. But she knew Kenma wasn't one to admit those types of things so she shrugged it off. "Hey, Yume, is that apple pie?" Akira pointed at the slice of pie she brought with her.

"Hm, yeah. I bought it at a shop near my house this morning before coming here." She said, taking a seat between Kenma and Akira.

"Ooh, interesting~ Kamiya, why not feed a piece to-- Oof!" Kuroo held a hand to his stomach where Kenma elbowed.

"Shut up, Kuroo..." Kenma grumbled.

Looking at Kuroo then at Kenma, she snapped her fingers in realization.

"Here Kenma~" She broke off a piece of pie with her fingers then held it up to the wide-eyed setter.

Kenma's eyebrow twitched as he was unable to turn down an offer of his favorite food. Trying his best to ignore Kuroo and Akira with their phones out, he opened his mouth and allowed her to feed him.

"...Thanks..."