"So… Sawamura Daichi, eh?" Saki mused, as she dug into her lunchbox. Her chopsticks clacked together as she shoved a large chunk of meat into her mouth. She pictured the large, handsome-looking boy from the other third year class. He had a rather responsible air about him; he seemed like the reliable type. Sake thought he suited her friend perfectly. "Well, he's good-looking. A little too boring for me, but he'd perfect for you, Yui-chan! So, when are you going to confess?"

Yui's eyes widened. "C-confess? Who said anything about confessing?"

"So you're just going to watch him from afar and give him those pretty smiles of yours?" Saki frowned, nudging her friend impatiently. She shoved another chunk of food into her mouth. "Boring! Live life a little! Develop some passions other than just that volleyball team of yours."

Yui chuckled. "No badmouthing the girls' volleyball team. You got kicked off for good reason."

Saki pouted. "I didn't get kicked off, I quit," she mumbled defensively.

"No, you got kicked off because you screamed whenever the ball headed towards you," Yui chuckled. "Although if you've gotten over your fear of flying balls, you can try out again, you know. Since I'm captain now, I'll consider it."

"I'm happy with the Athletics Club," Saki replied dismissively. "Let's talk about something else. Back to Daichi…"

Yui shook her head. "No, I'm vetoing that topic."

"Fine, you come up with something to keep me entertained while we eat, then."

Yui looked thoughtful for a moment, while Saki watched her with narrowed eyes. Despite being in different classes and no longer sharing the same activities, the two girls had managed to stay friends since middle school. They usually sat and ate lunch together. Yui had to admit that while Saki was a little spoiled and far too outspoken, she was still an interesting person to have around. Yui bit her lip and then looked up. "Oh! That's right! What happened to that thing you were telling me about yesterday? Did you manage to get them to cough up?"

Saki's eyes widened and her smile fell. "No. Apparently nobody's scared of a high school girl. And it's not like I can do martial arts or something." She sighed miserably. "If only I could get someone to threaten them for me…"

Yui nodded, but her attention was distracted when she spotted Daichi passing by with some of his friends. He noticed her and gave her a small smile and a wave. Yui waved back sweetly. Saki narrowed her eyes and turned, wondering what had gotten her friend's attention. "Eh. Sawamura again, huh? Wait a second. Who's that with him?"

Yui blinked and glanced at Saki. "What? Who?"

Saki was sitting up suddenly, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Yui winced. When Saki's eyes gleamed that way, it rarely led to something good. "That tall one with the long hair! Some of the girls in my class talk about him! Azumane Asahi! Isn't he like, in a gang or something? And he deals drugs, right?"

Yui blinked. "Asahi-kun? Well, really, those rumours are just-"

"He's perfect! I'll go ask him!" Saki cried. She abandoned her lunch box and dropped her chopsticks on the floor, taking off in a sprint towards the third-year male volleyball players. Yui had barely opened her mouth in protest before Saki had taken off.

"But those rumours aren't true…"

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Asahi was standing near the vending machines with Daichi, deciding on what drink he wanted, when he heard running footsteps approaching. Surprised, both of the boys turned around and spotted a tall slim girl sprinting towards them. Asahi braced himself, almost certain that she was going to bang into him, but she skidded to a smooth stop just a few feet away.

"Eh-um-hello..." Asahi said nervously.

Saki, a little out of breath, immediately dropped into a low bow in front of the two boys. "Azumane Asahi-san! I apologize for disturbing you! My name is Hidaka Saki, from class 3-C!" she announced earnestly, straightening up.

Asahi blinked. "Oh. Um, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hidaka-san…"

"Hey! You're a friend of Yui-chan's, aren't you? You got kicked off the girls' volleyball team because you were afraid of flying balls!" Daichi remembered suddenly, with a warm smile. To his surprise, all he got in return was a cold look from the girl before she turned back to Asahi.

"Azumane-kun, I am in dire need of your assistance! Please help a desperate girl in need!"

Asahi was too startled to respond. He glanced at Daichi for help, who simply shrugged. Besides the fact that she was afraid of volleyballs, Daichi didn't really know much about her. He gave Asahi a slight nudge and nodded. Asahi turned back to the girl. "I-I'd love to help you, Hidaka-san, but you haven't told me what you need-"

"Please, call me Saki!" Saki replied with a huge smile. "And if you'd meet me after school at the front gate, I'll explain everything! Thank you so much, Azumane-san! I am forever indebted to you!"

The bell rang, and Saki bowed again quickly, before disappearing just as quickly as she had appeared. Daichi and Asahi stared after her, neither of them quite sure what to think. They exchanged wary glances, before heading back towards class themselves.

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Asahi was a little nervous as he approached the front gate after school. He barely knew this Saki girl. Although he had to admit that it was a first time a strange girl had sought him out and asked for his help. Usually girls were either running scared from him, or, the ones that knew him, called him a wimp.

He spotted Saki waiting near the entrance. She had her back pack hitched up on her shoulder, and her hair was a light brown color, twisted up into a high ponytail. She was tall and slim, and Asahi couldn't help but notice how long her legs were. He cleared his throat and forced himself to look up at her face. "Uh, hello Saki-san…"

"Azumane-kun!" Saki called out happily. He wondered how she had suddenly gone from san to kun in the span of three periods, but decided not to comment on it. His eyes widened when Saki grabbed his hand and began to pull him down the sidewalk. "Come on, hurry up! We don't want to waste too much time. Apparently you have to get to volleyball practice, right? I have my own club practice as well."

Azumane blinked. Her grip was firm, and he followed her brisk pace hesitantly. "Uh, volleyball doesn't start for another twenty minutes, but, um… Saki-san!" She was way too fast. Azumane had to wonder if she ran track or something of the sort. He tried to protest, but he didn't have the guts to wrench his hand out of her grasp. He was afraid he might hurt her. "Wait, you haven't told me what you want me to do!"

Saki grinned and glanced back at him. "Defend my honor, of course! I mean, I know it might ruin your bad boy image a bit, but don't worry, I'll keep quiet! Besides, if you're friends with Daichi-kun, then you must be a decent person at heart!"

Asahi was mystified. What on earth was this girl talking about? He slowed to a stop as they reached a rather shady-looking side street. Azumane's eyes widened. He'd never come in this direction. He noticed a group of men standing at the other end, smoking and talking loudly. "Saki-san…"

Saki turned to face him. "Okay. So yesterday I was taking a short-cut by this road and those guys started calling out crude names after me. So I got really mad and I screamed back at them. And, um, I may have snatched the tall one's cigarette and stomped it out with my foot."

Asahi stared at the innocent-looking girl in front of him. "What?"

Saki chuckled nervously. "Yeah, he didn't like that. Anyway, I started running away as soon as I realized they were dangerous, but one of them grabbed hold of my purse and snatched it. So I need you to go and get it back."

Azumane froze in horror. He stared at the shady-looking men that were smoking at the other end of the street, and then looked back down at Saki. Her big brown eyes were blinking up at him innocently. Is this girl mad? He wondered. He could feel his heartbeat thudding, but Saki seemed unnaturally confident. She moved behind Asahi and gave him a slight push. He was about to open his mouth and tell her that he couldn't do it, when Saki yelled out. "Oye! You shitheads!" she screamed out to the group of men. "Still confident, eh? I've come to get my purse back, you better still have it, assholes!"

All the men turned to look at her.

Azumane felt his blood run cold.

One of the men casually sauntered over, and he pulled a small blue purse out of his pocket. Azumane was shaking in terror. The man was an inch or so taller than him, and had a large cigarette sticking out of his mouth. "Ah, you're back," he said to Saki, who was standing behind Asahi, using him as a shield. "I have your purse right here. Who's this? Your boyfriend?"

Asahi held his breath as the large man looked him over carefully. He could feel his heart beating like a drum. Saki was clutching onto his uniform shirt behind him, the cloth crinkling in her small fists. He tried not to flinch away when the man put his face inches away from him. "Come take it from me, big guy," the man threatened, his breath stinking of smoke.

Asahi stammered. "I-I m-mean, it's her-her purse, so y-you should really… um, you-you should return it!"

The man laughed. He looked amused as he glanced at Asahi with a smirk. "Really? You brought this stuttering little man-child to threaten me? Couldn't you find anybody better?" the man asked, glancing at Saki. Saki herself was staring at Asahi with her mouth slightly open. Why was he acting like such a wimp? She frowned and pushed his back once more.

"Azumane-kun, why are you stuttering? Just punch him already!" she insisted.

"P-punch him? But… but there's no need for v-violence!" Asahi insisted. He turned to the man and gave him a polite bow. "Please return the purse to us and we'll leave! We're sorry for the trouble!"

Saki stared at him, and angrily gave Asahi a shove. "What are you doing? Are you insane? Why are you apologizing? Beat him up and snatch the purse back, that's what I brought you here for! Can't you even do that? Damn it! I'll do it myself!" Saki cried, lunging for the purse. Asahi's eyes widened as she tried to snatch it away from the man.

The man growled, and flung his fist out to hit Saki in the face. Shocked, Asahi grabbed hold of the girl and quickly pulled her away, resulting in taking the hit to his arm. He flinched at the sharp pain and clutched his hand, barely noticing the fist that was flying into his face.

Saki watched in absolute horror as she saw the man's fist fly into Asahi's face and land there with a sickening crack. Asahi yelled out in pain, clutching his face desperately. It struck her that something was wrong. Asahi wasn't going to fight these people. A sudden panic rose up inside her, and all her confidence disappeared. What were they going to do? The other men had noticed the commotion and were coming over. Saki's eyes widened and she grabbed Asahi's arm.

"Azumane-kun! Run!" Saki yelled.

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"So… you're not in a gang?" Saki asked weakly.

Azumane shook his head. He was lying back on a bed in the nurse's office, a large plaster over his nose and a bruise forming over his right eye. Saki was standing beside him, as he swallowed the medicines that the nurse had instructed him to take and closed his eyes in pain. "N-no."

"And you don't deal in drugs? You've never been in a street fight?" she continued quietly.

Asahi shook his head silently.

"Do you even have a tattoo?"

Asahi blinked at her for a moment, before shaking his head again. "No."

Saki sighed, sitting down on the bed beside him. She had never thought that the infamous Azumane Asahi was really a complete coward and the closest he was to being cool was that he played volleyball. She felt a sudden guilt rise up in her as she looked at his battered face. "I'm so sorry, Azumane-kun. I didn't realize those rumours weren't true. I'm sorry you got beaten up!"

Asahi flushed red and cleared his throat. "I-it's okay…" he mumbled miserably. She must think I'm such a wimp.

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Asahi's face was flushed red when Saki insisted on escorting him to volleyball practice from the nurse's office. Either way, the nurse had told him to be careful, and she didn't want anything to happen to him if she left him alone. Although she had to admit that the black eye and the bandage only made him look even more like a delinquent.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Saki asked doubtfully.

"I-I'm fine, Saki-san," Asahi assured her quietly. "Thank you for coming till the gym with me, but really, it's fine, you don't need to-"

"Asahi!" a voice cried. Saki's eyes widened as the door to the volleyball gym burst open and a few players ran out, looking worried. Foremost among them was a short second-year who had a streak in his hair. He gaped up at Asahi in shock. "Asahi-kun, what happened to your face? How did you get injured? Who's the girl? Are you okay?"

A number of questions came bursting at him at once. Asahi looked extremely embarrassed. Saki realized that he probably wasn't looking forward to telling them the story of his cowardice. Besides, the volleyball team seemed like a pretty suffocating gang. Asahi had opened his mouth to speak, but Saki cut him off. "Azumane-kun rescued me," she explained, with a big smile. All the team members fell silent and turned to look at her. "There were some bullies bothering me and Azumane-kun drove them away. But he got hurt while he was defending me," Saki added simply.

Nishinoya gaped at him. "What? You chased off bullies, Asahi?"

"Yup. He was my prince," Saki gushed, with a giggle. She grabbed Asahi's arm and pulled him down, before placing a soft kiss on the uninjured side of his face. Asahi turned a deep shade of red. Saki released him and turned back to see the boys watching them with open mouths. "Well. I should go. Take care, Asahi-kun! I'll be back to nurse your wounds tomorrow!"

Asahi opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, as Saki waved goodbye and hurried away. Meanwhile, the Karasuno volleyball team had all crowded around him and were shooting questions at him.

"Asahi-kun, did you really rescue her?"

"Was that your girlfriend, senpai?"

"Waaah! Your eye is all blue! It looks so cool!"

"Asahi, will you be okay for practice?"

"She kissed you!"

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A/N – Because Asahi's so adorable! This is a one-shot for now, though I might continue it if I get a bit of encouragement. Hope you enjoyed!