"We're sorry, miss. Unfortunately, the last hardbound copy of Alice in Wonderland has been borrowed."

Hirari sighed. When Mashumaro mentioned that someone tried to fight her for a book, Hirari did not even think for one second that she could be serious. Or maybe she just exaggerated everything. Or she probably did not even leave her house for a library trip and lucky-guessed that a popular classic such as that book would be out of stock. It was a cliché choice, so Hirari thought of many reasons why Mashumaro would want to write about it.

Then again, Hirari went around the place, trying to find other interesting books she had not encountered yet. Maybe even find one suitable and unique enough to get a book report done on.

She opened her umbrella to shield herself from the sun's rays as noon came. Walking down her path home, she realized that she never really did anything during Sundays except to walk her dog to the park (although her sister would walk the dog every other day.) But she wasn't really a fan of staying outside for so long.

In any way, she didn't want to admit defeat. There was no way she was going to be seeing Mashumaro's taunting laughter. Not this time.

Tsukishima could not get them to stay away from him and it irked him so much to the point of hiding in the sleeping quarters after eating his lunch.

The morning had already started rough for him when Yamaguchi made the mistake of deciding on which books to use during the break. While it was inappropriate to discuss academics during practice, Tsukishima can never blame Yamaguchi. They were already cramming and the deadline was only a few hours away. Being in the upper classes was rough, but they managed it quite well until today.

It didn't help at all that he and Kuroo were directly head to head at some points in the rotation of the matches. "Didn't know you were the classic fairytale type, Tsukki." It was only one of the many statements that Kuroo used during their blocking confrontations on-court, but Tsukishima was already done with dealing with just one. Hearing the other taunts only managed to decrease his enthusiasm in doing the assignment. Thankfully, the rotation was changed for the last few sets and he wasted no time to condition his mind into actually doing the assignment later and not remembering Kuroo's shit-eating grin while doing it.

The next thing he knew, they were facing Fukurodani and he was given the task to block Bokuto's spikes head-on. "Your taste in books is cool, Tsukki! Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!" Bokuto yelled while mid-air, spiking through Tsukishima's block effortlessly while the blonde just silently wished that the match would end quickly because he didn't want to hear anything else.

The book wasn't even his choice to begin with.

Choosing books was a fairly easy task for Tsukishima. He would often read books as a child, so he knew some advanced novels with an insane usage of vocabulary words. But in his whole life of studying, Tsukishima never really fancied reading fiction. He was all for the facts and documented history.

He had never read Alice in Wonderland in his entire life. He knew that the reason why he decided to pick the book up was because he had never seen at least one word on its pages. Maybe, just maybe, he could try challenging himself into creating something he had never done before – a report on fiction, not to mention, the very book that was said to consist numerous symbolisms by covering up the dirt of the real world with colorful characters and bizarre events.

Of course, Tsukishima only thought that upon seeing the book on the library floor. It wasn't a priority. He'd still choose novels based on the previous world wars than a book about a girl who fell down a hole due to sheer curiosity.

Whatever that girl was doing in the library, Tsukishima pretended he didn't see.

He decided, however, to never let Bokuto and Kuroo know, unless he wanted to hear more of their stupid teasing. Unlucky for him, they still followed him all the way back to the sleeping quarters as soon as he left after lunch. Yamaguchi apologized over and over again for even taking the books out in the open, but what's done is done. Now, Tsukishima was left to deal with them for the rest of the day.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto yelled for the nth time as they tailed Tsukishima through the path walk that connected all gyms and the sleeping quarters. Kuroo was flipping through the pages of a certain book, reading all of the words out loud with pure emotion, trying to piss off the blonde who was definitely going to snap the moment Bokuto even dares to yell out another—

"Hey, hey, hey! Tsu—"

"If it's alright with you, I would like to fix my stuff now before we go by afternoon." Tsukishima snappishly turned around, still trying to be polite. They were still his seniors, after all. It was already a huge blessing that they weren't staying in Tokyo until night, giving the college prep students time to study their lessons before the school week begins. Even though they were supposed to go home earlier than usual, the day sure was taking so long to end.

Bokuto and Kuroo only tilted their heads sideways, still smiling at Tsukishima's frustrated face.

"If I were you, I wouldn't choose this, though." Kuroo closed the book, handing it over to Tsukishima. "It's a pretty common book. Even a grade-schooler would want to write about this classic."

Tsukishima hesitated briefly, his eyes looking at the book as if carefully analyzing it. "I wouldn't choose this, either." He finally replied, taking the book into his own hands with his eyes still fixated on the details of the hard cover. "It was just an option, anyway."

"Then, what would you choose if it were you, Kuroo?" Bokuto asked with challenging eyes, completely aware of Kuroo's status as one of the college prep students in Nekoma High. The question slightly put Kuroo in a daze as he put one hand on his hip and another on his chin, humming calmly.

Kuroo's eyes went down to the ground then to the sides to meet Bokuto's. "You know, honestly, I'm not a fan of reading novels. They're too deep; I can't even see them anymore."

"Then what was that thinking pose for!? And don't you read poetry books? Those are way deeper than novels!" Bokuto argued. Kuroo just smirked at him annoyingly while Tsukishima watched the dumb ordeal.

"But seriously, it's a common belief that Alice has been living the stuff of her nightmares in real life, and that doesn't sound too fun to write about. There are also signs of substance abuse and eating disorders. It's just sad. It's like posting something in social media and being the only one to react to your own post because only you get to experience it." Kuroo waved his hand in front of his face in disapproval. "It's honestly really disturbing to think about once you actually start writing a report about it."

"Hey, hey, hey! You're so deep; I can't even see you anymore! Right back at you, Kuroo!" Bokuto smacked a hand against Kuroo's back, and Kuroo remembered that being friends with a power spiker meant handprint-shaped bruises. That was definitely going to leave a mark. "I'm even amazed that you know so much about the origin of fairytales!"

Tsukishima, in belief that the seniors have finally forgotten about him and his opinion, decided to walk ahead of them. "Hey, Tsukki! Wait for us! You still haven't blocked for me individually yet! At least block for me before you pack up!" Bokuto quickly ran to catch up to the blonde, ignorant of how Tsukishima just wanted to achieve his personal space for once while on this trip.

Kuroo stood on the same spot as he watched his two companions walk farther.

He sighed, thoughts going off to a certain person. "Have you met him yet?" Glancing up at the sky, Kuroo smirked and shrugged his shoulders before following trail. "Hey, Tsukki! Let me help you shut the owl up!"

Her head was in between her two hands as she grasped her hair, almost pulling out all the strands in frustration. This was the third night she couldn't get a wink of sleep, and even if she did, all she would get were nightmares; manifestations of what she perceived to be the real world. She only had a few hours left before the school week starts. As much as she loved procrastinating, she didn't want her feelings to get all over the place. She'd rather not have feelings at all.

And only a few hours left and she still hasn't started the book report.

[To: Jirururu]

I know you're still awake, so stop trying to sleep and can you please search something for me? I just need to know the origin behind Peter Pan.

[To: Maro-chan]

… I can't believe you're making me read something that creepy at midnight. While I'm alone in my room with only my phone as the source of light.

[To: Jirururu]

HOW IS THAT CREEPY? IT'S LITERALLY A SAD STORY?

Mashumaro stood up from her bed after arguing with herself in her mind. Grabbing the laptop from the desk, she booted it and went to work. She had never really been the emotional type – it was Hirari's job to feel all emotions for the both of them – but that was only because she was never good at expressing herself.

But maybe through writing, she could if she actually tried. With no books as reference and no internet connection, she dug in deep through the corners of her mind, remembering every story and every meaning she could before she could create a masterpiece of her own. She couldn't sleep, but she isn't going to waste her time getting eaten up by her thoughts again.

Times like these, she knew she shouldn't have come to Shiratorizawa. At least she wasn't there anymore and that's what matters.

She wondered if she could face the guidance counselor tomorrow after so many days of trying to escape. The dark circles around her eyes seemed to be getting harder to hide as the days go by. Suddenly, she stopped typing, her mind catching the idea of a certain classmate. She had been sitting behind him for a few days now and they have yet to talk.

Her face flushed. How was she going to face him tomorrow after the incident at the library? That was probably the worst impression she gave off to someone!

She stopped typing, letting out a loud groan. Now she has to avoid both the freckled boy and the tall bespectacled guy now, and the latter will be even harder considering that he sits right in front of her in class. Mashumaro was now definitely sure that she'll never be able to sleep at this rate. Cursing in a mix of Japanese and English under her breath, she lied flat down on her bed hugging a pillow to her face while she screamed.

It was then that her phone vibrated once again that she sat up and threw the pillow to the side to check what was up when her phone vibrated for a second time. "… Not too excited to text me, are we?" She mumbled teasingly to no one in particular while she unlocked her phone screen.

[From: Senpai]

Check your email. Sent you a pdf of Peter Pan I managed to force Kenma to find. Knock yourself out and go to sleep, it's 1am. I know you can't sleep and it's hard, but I will try to help you in the few ways that I can.

Her eyes went wide to the size of saucers. How did he know about that? And just as if he has already expected her reaction, the next message appeared.

[From: Senpai]

I heard from Tsukki. It seems he has never even heard about you lmao try talking to him sometime like I said. And good luck with the book report, kiddo

She was definitely going to die tomorrow.

Feeling a bit of energy to keep herself up before the few hours of sleep (if she could ever get any tonight) she was dying to get, she opened her email to browse through the countless ad mails from various websites she had signed up for. Feeling relieved and a bit embarrassed to receive help from a senior, she battled herself in her mind whether or not she should still see the guidance counselor.

But then again, maybe she could still handle one more day by herself.

There was no way she could handle the day by herself now.

She woke up late, took a quick shower, and didn't bother to comb her hair or fix her disheveled uniform before running off frantically towards the direction of the school. Arriving just in time for homeroom was normal for her – and sometimes, she even skipped homeroom – and ignoring her classmates was a norm (except when they did projects together) because she hated everyone with the exception of Hirari.

But there was a certain book on her desk today.

Her pupils dilated, glancing slightly at the male sitting in front said desk, headphones on his ears while he blasted his music to deafen his surroundings. His chin rested on his hand; his eyes closed. He didn't once recognize her presence behind him nor did he turn around to at least greet her. Why would he? They were strangers. She chewed her bottom lip before sitting down and like always, they both pretended that nothing happened.

That was until their homeroom teacher arrived. Tsukishima took off his headphones, his hand digging into his bag for a pen and notebook.

"Kaji-san, you are needed in the guidance office."

She bit down her lip so hard, she could have sworn she tasted blood. She got that she was needed, but having to announce that to the whole class only induced her classmates into the latest trend and gossip that she was probably in trouble or secretly a delinquent. They did not know anything and she doesn't plan to be honest to anyone anytime soon.

Moving her chair backward, she strutted towards the door while silently wishing that everyone would stop staring at her as if she was charged for murder.

Tsukishima looked behind him subtly. The book was still on the table, untouched.