Chapter One

Yuzuki Sakamori looked out the window before entering her classroom. It was in the middle of the day, and there are less than 2 hours left before school ends. She was honestly contemplating what to eat for dinner tonight, but she looked so serious looking out the window that her classmates thought she was upset about something. She eventually snapped back to reality and went straight to her seat inside the classroom, which was in the middle of the room. She took out her phone from the space under the desk. Thinking of the ingredients for kimchi spaghetti, she typed them down on her phone. Before she could save the list, a message from Chie popped up. Chie and Yuzuki have been friends for nearly nine years. They met at an Art summer workshop when they were both 8. They became fast friends because of their similar love of anime and manga, but it was care and love for one another that brought them closer and made their friendship last.

"Hey! How's your class so far? I'm dying over here! Math class just finished, and we have History next." Chie said in her message.

Yuzuki thought of a reply. To be honest, her day has been pretty taxing so far. "Could be better, honestly. We just returned from the Home Economics lab, and now it's a self-study period," she replied. "I can't wait to go home, though. I am going to the grocery store later after school to buy ingredients for kimchi spaghetti. Do you want to come with me?"

It took a while before Chie could reply, and when she did, it said: I don't think I can today. I just received a text from our cheer captain. We have this meeting. If my meeting ends early, I can meet up with you; otherwise, it will be a raincheck. Grab some snacks for me, will you?

"Will do!" Yuzuki replied, already thinking of the snacks she's going to be buying tonight.

Everyone in Class 2-4 calls Yuzuki the Snacking Queen, for whenever they have a self-study period or breaks, she would always have either chips or sweets on hand. Nekoma High School allows its students to snack during classes. The teachers allow it because they think students should not just sit and listen to the class discussions. They also believed that allowing students to eat during class makes them concentrate better and keep their hunger at bay. Another perk specific to Nekoma High is that students can listen to music during self-directed learning (like writing, making presentations, or reading) even while the teacher is present. However, this privilege will be withheld by the teachers when students are not truthful with their activities or wasting time instead of working. The majority of the students want to keep their privileges, so they follow the rules.

"You doing alright, Yuzu?" Kai asked as he pulled out his chair. He smiled at her with that usual friendly smile of his, but when Yuzuki just blankly stared at him, he cocked his head to the side in visible confusion. Even after being classmates and friends since their first year of high school, Kai hasn't fully understood Yuzuki. Kai thought of Yuzuki as fun, cool, and entertaining to be with, but there are times when her expressions are hard to figure out.

"Oh yeah," she replied absently. "I'm just exhausted, I guess." She did feel exhausted despite her unsure response. It is just Tuesday, but she wished it was already Friday so she could sleep in, play games, or just laze around, among other things. As exhausted as she is, even though it's two days into the school week, Yuzuki enjoys school; she likes studying and learning, which is why Yuzuki opted to take college prep classes since she started high school. Students of Nekoma High can choose to be placed in college-prep classes, especially if they are looking to further their higher education studies. Supplementary coursework needs to be submitted in these classes, and the course outline is more detailed and rigorous. The other courses that are not in college-prep don't necessarily mean that the students are not aiming to enter college or university; it is just their curriculum is not as challenging. "It's only Tuesday, but my body is telling me that it's the weekend already."

Kai smiled and sighed inwardly, feeling relieved. "I feel that. I actually feel like this week is going to be extra stressful." Kai meant what he said, for he was feeling exhausted as well. "I have practice this afternoon too."

Kai is one of the three volleyball club members in their year. The other two are in class 2-5, another college-prep class, which also happens to be where Chie is. Out of all the 15 volleyball club members of Nekoma High, Yuzuki only knows the second-year students, and they are Nobuyuki Kai, Morisuke Yaku, and Tetsurou Kuroo.

Yuzuki tried to think of any instances wherein she had interacted with the other volleyball players. However, she can only recall seeing them with Kai during lunch or after school when they are about to head to their club practice or loitering along the hallways. Yuzuki only knows a few things about the other second-year members, and most of them are from hearsays. Yuzuki knows that Morisuke Yaku is an excellent player with impeccable reflexes. He can almost always receive the ball steadily either with a dig, underhand or overhand receive. Yuzuki has also heard Yaku get angry at his peers whenever they tease his short stature. Sometimes she would see him kick their bottoms or punch their arms when he's annoyed. Yuzuki thought Yaku was cute because his big personality is contained in such a small body.

Tetsurou Kuroo, on the other hand, is the tallest among all the second years and possibly out of all the club members. Yuzuki often sees Kuroo either slyly smiling as he teases his peers or with female students surrounding him. At first, Yuzuki thought he wasn't handsome; instead, she thought he was very annoying. But after taking a few quick looks at him, she realized how attractive he was; she even considered him as her type. It was not something she would act on, though, for they are too different to get along, possibly. She doesn't know much about how he is on the court, though, because all she ever hears from people is that he is 'so amazing you'll fall for him.'

For Yuzuki, knowing only one person from the volleyball team is enough. She thought that there wouldn't be any use to knowing any more of the players since she is not in any clubs that interact with them, such as the cheer club, which Chie is a member of because she is a flyer. Yuzuki is not a sporty type of girl anyway. She always describes herself as a dancing, artsy, video gaming type and would always emphasize her athleticism point of zero. "I don't think I can ever do a sports club like you, Nobu. Just thinking about it makes me want to skip and go straight home." Yuzuki said pessimistically.

"To be fair," Kai started, standing up from his seat and pushing his desk close to Yuzuki's. "We have this first year who often skips but not for the reason of having bad athleticism. Well," he trailed off, opening the book that he planned on reading through as soon as he sat back down. "If you compare him with the other members, you might ask yourself why this person is even in a sports club if they hate moving or doing strenuous activities. He wanted to quit before, but Kuroo persuaded him to stay. He's a smart player, so we didn't want to let him go either."

"It's great you were able to make him stay. I mean, he did stay, right?" Yuzuki asked apprehensively.

Kai looked up from his book. "Yeah. He's Kuroo's best friend, so he was able to talk him out of it well."

"Ohh, I see. That's good then." Yuzuki replied with a smile.

Neither of them decided to continue the conversation after that; instead, they turned their attention back to their books. Kai was studying English while Yuzuki chose to do some light reading in History. The two concentrated on their self-directed learning and would only talk to each other if they have any questions about the material. The self-study period lasts for an hour and 30 minutes, and even though the students were all preoccupied with studying, time didn't seem like it was going faster. The students were starting to get restless in their seats, which made Yuzuki realize that it was time for a short break for everyone. Without getting up from her chair, Yuzuki reached inside the backpack hanging behind her chair. She was trying to feel the contents of her bag, hoping she can pull out a large, unopened bar of chocolate wafers to share with her classmates.

Yuzuki slid the snack discreetly over to Kai's desk without saying anything. Kai chuckled and began opening the wrapper. Sharing snacks wasn't unusual for both of them; instead, it's more of their routine whenever they do self-study. Yuzuki would provide the snacks, he would open it, take his share, and Yuzuki would offer the rest to their peers. Kai had always adored Yuzuki for her generosity.

Kai then reminisced the first time Yuzuki offered him a snack. It was some time during the first or second week of classes when it happened. Kai was already seat mates with Yuzuki, but they never had a conversation with one another partly because he was slightly awkward around her. He thought that Yuzuki was snobbish because for multiple times that he tried to talk to her, she just looked at him and ignored him. He didn't take it personally, for he thought that maybe Yuzuki was just shy, but that opinion changed when she tapped his shoulder and offered him a chocolate bar. "Here," Yuzuki said back then, handing him the sweet.

Kai sat up straight. He was surprised to hear Yuzuki call his attention just to give him a snack. "Are you giving it to me?" Kai asked cautiously, double-checking if Yuzuki's attention was genuinely focused on him.

Yuzuki nodded, smiled when Kai took the chocolate from her, and then took a deep breath. "Earlier, when we were running laps during gym class, I saw you, and it made me exhausted. Like…" she trailed off as she took another chocolate bar from her backpack. "How can you run as if you're not about to die?

"I guess it's because I like running?" Kai replied unsurely. He then chuckled when Yuzuki looked at him, flabbergasted.

"I don't understand how some people can like running," Yuzuki took a bite of her chocolate then looked at Kai, urging him to eat as well. "I think people who do that as a hobby are either very athletic or masochists."

Kai bowed his head as a sign of thanks for Yuzuki's generosity. But, he was most thankful that the ice finally broke between them. The two began to talk more after that day. Kai found out that Yuzuki is just shy around people she doesn't know and takes a lot of time getting used to them. Yuzuki told him that she appreciated his effort in getting to know her, but she also apologized that she came across as distant and snobbish. Kai also didn't expect Yuzuki to be witty and funny. She would say the most outrageous things and have the most amusing expressions while telling them.

As the school year went on, Kai and Yuzuki became closer to the point where they began to call each other by their first names, although, for Kai, it was mostly because he started crushing on Yuzuki. Kai accidentally called Yuzuki Yuzu while they were chatting during the self-study period. Yuzuki was embarrassed when she heard Kai call her Yuzu, but instead of feeling awkward about it, she decided not to comment on it. Yuzuki thought that maybe Kai just considered the two of them really good friends (which they really were) hence why he called her with a nickname. That is why Yuzuki decided to do the same and called Kai Nobu. Kai almost couldn't contain his joy when Yuzuki called him with a nickname, but at the same time, he didn't want to look desperate for attention. Yuzuki didn't seem fazed by it, so why should he. Over time, Kai's feelings for Yuzuki deepened to the point that he wanted to tell his feelings. However, when he found out that Yuzuki was dumped by her boyfriend, he decided not to take advantage of her vulnerability by confessing. In the end, Kai never got to tell Yuzuki about how he felt about her. He thought they were better off as friends, and he could protect her so much more if their relationship stays the way it is.

It was as if a huge boulder was lifted from the shoulders of every student in Class 2-4 when the clock struck 2:55 pm, and their teacher dismissed them for the day. The students expressed their excitement about the day ending by stretching their bodies and exclaiming, "Finally!" when the teacher left the classroom. Yuzuki started packing away her things, beginning with some notebooks and books that she might want to study after eating dinner. Yuzuki was not in a hurry to leave, but at the same time, she was. Yuzuki also imagined how she would be cooking the kimchi spaghetti this evening and hoping to make enough to bring some for Chie tomorrow. "I should put in a lot of cheese…" Yuzuki thought to herself as she stood up from her seat and began walking towards the door.

The hallway was packed with students trying to get out of their respective classrooms. Everyone was talking all at once, and this made Yuzuki's head slightly spin. She heavily dislikes people talking all at once, but there's nothing much she can do in this situation except to try ignoring it. "This is such a huge blur," Yuzuki observed exasperatedly as she waited right outside her classroom's door, leaning on the wall beside it. Once the number of students dwindled, she sighed in relief and started heading over to Class 2-5's classroom, which was at the end of the hallway. From a distance, Yuzuki heard a male voice calling out to her. At first, she thought she just heard things, or maybe the loud noises of everyone else earlier were still ringing in her ears. But, when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she realized that she was still sane. "Oh, Nobu!"

Kai tried his best not to look like he just ran after her, when in fact, he did. Kai didn't actually know why he had to run after her, but when he saw her leave the room, he felt like he just had to talk to her one last time. "Where are you heading to?" he asked coolly and politely.

Yuzuki pointed a finger to Class 2-5's classroom. "I wanted to see Chie before I leave. What about you, Nobu?" Yuzuki started walking, and so did he.

"I'm going to fetch my club members, just in case they skip," he replied with a smile, although on the inside, he cringed at himself because Kuroo and Yaku were never the types to skip practice. He wished Yuzuki overlooked his lie.

Yuzuki nodded and continued walking. The classroom door was open, so she invited herself in, not caring if some students were still inside. "Chie!" she called out cheerfully with a wave of her hand.

Chie was still putting away her things when Yuzuki called her, and when she saw her best friend, Chie couldn't help but stop with what she was doing and go over to where Yuzuki was. "Oh my god! Seeing you right now is like a breath of fresh air." Chie hugged Yuzuki and then complained about how she didn't want to attend the meeting. After ranting for a while, Chie stopped when she saw Kai awkwardly smiling at her. "Oh, hi Kai-kun,"

"Hey, Fukuhara. Did you have a good day?"

Chie and Kai initially met because of Yuzuki. Yuzuki introduced Chie to Kai when she visited their class during a lunch break last year, and it was Chie's first time seeing a guy talking to Yuzuki so casually. It was also the first time Chie saw Yuzuki being all friendly with someone of the opposite sex. She thought that Kai was friendly and polite, while he thought of Chie as cute and funny. They never really got a chance to interact without Yuzuki's presence because Chie and Kai only see each other when they visit each other's classrooms. "I'm doing alright," Chie replied sweetly before turning her attention back to Yuzuki. "I would love you forever if you could get me out of here,"

Yuzuki rummaged through her bag and handed Chie a white chocolate bonbon wrapped in red, shiny, plastic. "Here's something to help you during the meeting."

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" Chie happily took the bonbon from Yuzuki and slid it into her skirt pocket. "So, what brings you here, Yuzuki and…" Chie stopped, looked at her surroundings and then leaned closer to Yuzuki. "with Kai-kun too," she whispered.

"Ah, he said that he was going to see his club members." Yuzuki then looked behind, trying to see if Kai was still there, but he wasn't. He had quietly slipped away from the two girls not too long ago and is now talking with his friends. "There he is." Kai was already on the other side of the room, with Kuroo and Yaku. Yuzuki thought Kai and Yaku emanated this parently vibe, with Kai as the dad and Yaku, the mom. Kuroo, on the other hand, had this menacing aura to him that she didn't particularly like.

On the other side, Kuroo caught Yuzuki looking at him. He didn't know who Yuzuki was as a person, but he smirked at her anyway. Yuzuki furrowed her eyebrows and immediately looked away. He was still staring at her, though, for he liked how she looked with her medium length hair tumbling down her shoulders with a sweet smile on her face. However, Yuzuki disliked how Kuroo smirked as if he was trying to make her notice him more. Yuzuki diverted her full attention to Chie, who was repeatedly calling out her name. "Oh, sorry, I spaced out. What were we talking about?"

"We were talking about why you're not in any clubs again this year. Are you sure you don't want to join the cheerleading club? It would be much more fun if you were there." Chie said with a pout. "My senpais are really nice and chill, but it would be great to have a friend around."

"I don't feel like doing any clubs again. It's kind of hard for me to balance chores, studying, and my non-existent social life. Plus, I'm not as talented as you."

Chie was about to convince Yuzuki more but was interrupted by her senpai, who came dashing inside the classroom, screaming her name. "Fukuhara! You better not be getting ready to leave school when you clearly said you were going to the meeting."

"Kaede-senpai! I'm not gonna run away. I'll have you know I am pretty committed to the cheer club." Chie shrugged with a grin. "See?" Chie hastily fixed her things while Kaede watched her. In Chie's mind, though, she was crying because she thought she could skip without anyone knowing. Too bad, Kaede was too hands-on whenever Chie was concerned. "Alright, senpai, take me away!" Kaede shook her head in exasperation at her kouhai's antics. She knows that Chie held a lot of promise as a flyer on the cheerleading club, so as much as possible, Kaede wants Chie to be involved in the meetings and practices. Kaede held Chie's wrist, urging her to start walking. Chie followed Kaede, waving back at Yuzuki with a pout. "I'll message you after the meeting, Yuzu-chan! Don't forget my snacks!"

"Bye-bye, Chie! Talk to you later, and see you tomorrow." Yuzuki waved at Chie, who was half-walking and being half-dragged by Kaede. When Chie disappeared from her field of vision, Yuzuki knew that she had to leave because there wasn't really anything to keep her there. She turned on her heels and headed straight for the door until Kai called her attention. She looked at him, and much to his dismay, Kuroo and Yaku looked at her too. Yuzuki felt awkward and vulnerable, mostly when Kuroo stared at her. "What's up?" Yuzuki said now, trying her best to ignore Kuroo and look normal in front of Yaku.

"I forgot to ask you," Kai started, attempting not to sound desperate to get Yuzuki's attention. "Any fun plans tonight?"

Yuzuki hummed and then replied, "Yeah, I'm going to do some grocery shopping, and I also brought some books to read. But, who knows? I might not study and just end up playing video games all night." Yuzuki chuckled at the thought of her removing the Science book from her bag, then taking a good look at it before ultimately shoving it back in her backpack. "I might pass out too after eating, so, yeah… Those are my fun plans for tonight." Yuzuki then noticed Kuroo smirk at her again, and this really irritated her. "What the heck is he smirking for?" she thought.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Well, I don't want to keep you. See you tomorrow, Yuzu." Kai smiled and waved.

"Have fun at practice," Yuzuki chirped, thankful that she didn't have practice or meetings after school. "Have a good rest of your day," she then bowed at Kai, Kuroo and Yaku. "and see you tomorrow, Nobu!" And with that, Yuzuki hurriedly left the classroom, leaving only the three boys inside.

The three guys walked silently to their club room. No one said anything to each other, especially after Yuzuki left, although Yaku and most especially Kuroo, wanted to know who this 'Yuzu' person was. Kai felt that his two friends were curious about Yuzuki, so as they were walking, he was trying to think of how to tell who she was without making them ask for more details. "I know you guys want to ask, so just go for it," Kai said with a sigh, feeling the tension grow more significant between the three of them. It's not like he had anything to hide about his relationship with Yuzuki anyway. But for some reason, he didn't want to share a lot of details about her.

"Well, first of all, what's with that Yuzu-Nobu thing, huh? Are you guys dating?" Yaku asked, suspicious.

"No," Kai replied immediately. "We're just really good friends. I accidentally called her Yuzu last year, and she responded by calling me Nobu."

Yaku hummed, still suspicious of Kai. "Alright, then why were you with her in our class earlier then?"

Kai shrugged. "I came to fetch you guys! I wanted to go to practice together. I didn't see anything wrong with that. Kuroo, back me up here, would you?"

Kuroo was just nonchalantly listening to Yaku and Kai's conversation. Although he was partly listening, he was more interested in who Yuzuki was as a person, not as who she was to Kai. Kuroo has often seen Yuzuki and thought she was charming. The first time he saw her was on the first day of classes this year when she accompanied Chie to her new class. Chie transferred from the regular courses to college-prep, and being the only person who switched classes this year, she needed the support from her best friend. Kuroo remembered Yuzuki giving Chie a bag of chips and bonbons for courage, which he thought was quite endearing. Yuzuki stayed in their classroom for a while, giving Chie time to settle while unknowingly giving Kuroo some time to look at her. "If she had longer hair, she would be prettier," he said to himself back then.

Yaku looked at Kuroo, confused why he wasn't retorting like he usually does. "I think Kuroo just went senile." Yaku teased with a grin. When Kuroo didn't respond, he slapped his arm. "Oi! Tetsurou Kuroo! Are you alive?"

Kuroo sighed. "How could I be senile when I am full of Docosahexaenoic acid?" Kuroo looked down at Yaku and smiled slyly. "I will never go senile."

Yaku grunted, put both his hands on his hips and looked up at Kuroo. "If you keep eating your beloved fish, Kuroo-san, you might just turn into one. You'll be senile and scaly."

Kuroo imitated Yaku's pose and grunted back. "Ha?!"

"Alright, let's not get carried away," Kai tried to intervene by placing his hands on his friends' backs. "Let's just go inside." Kai opened the door to their club room and immediately bowed and greeted their senpai's 'good afternoon' when he saw them changing. Kuroo and Yaku followed suit, but Kai noticed that Kuroo looked somewhat displeased. "Are you okay, Kuroo?" he asked.

Kuroo scanned the room. "Kenma's not here."

"Kozume," one of their senpais started, which caught their attention. "He arrived way before us. We saw him walking towards the gym when we were about to head to the club room."

Kuroo felt relieved that Kenma was not skipping practice even though today was not a mandatory club day. Kenma wanted to quit the club not too long ago because some of the senpais were too demanding and unfair. But, he was able to talk him out of leaving by saying that he has sharp observation skills and that he follows directions very well. Kuroo was not lying when he also said that everyone else knows that Kenma is good at the game and will be their primary asset in making the team stronger. "Oh, thank you for letting me know, senpai." Feeling better about Kenma's attendance, he went inside the club room with Kai and Yaku to get changed.

Yuzuki felt incredibly satisfied after eating the kimchi spaghetti that she made for dinner tonight. She already packed Chie's share before eating dinner so she wouldn't have a reason to say that she didn't make enough. She felt giddy at the thought of giving Chie kimchi spaghetti and snacks tomorrow at lunchtime. It always gives her joy whenever she shares food with her friends, but then she wondered how Kai would react if she gave him something aside from the usual snacks. Yuzuki looked back at the stove where the pan containing the kimchi spaghetti was. "I guess I can give Nobu some. I have my portion and Chie's already anyway. This might not be enough for Nobu but, at least I have something to give." Yuzuki said to herself and then proceeded to pack Kai's share in a small container. "I hope it would suit Nobu's taste."

After Yuzuki finished cleaning up the kitchen, she went straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She thought that she needed this bath a lot. Her body was aching from doing groceries, cooking, and studying the whole day. As she slowly dipped inside the bathtub, she began recalling the events of today. She thought that today was a good day despite being stressed out. She also contemplated how funny it was that Chie's senpai had to barge into her classroom just to make sure she goes to the meeting. She chuckled as she remembered Chie's cute pouting face as she left the classroom. But, Yuzuki's mood changed for the worse when the image of Kuroo smirking at her popped up. He didn't smirk at her once, but twice! "The nerve of that guy…." Yuzuki mumbled as she submerged her head in the water for a few seconds and then sitting right back up, gasping for air. "So annoying! I hope I never get to see that smirk of his ever again!"

A couple of blocks away, the object of Yuzuki's thoughts was currently flopped on his bed, reading a book by Naoyuki Seguchi, his favourite author. Kuroo just started reading the book last Sunday, but he was almost done with it. He flipped the book's remaining pages, trying to gauge how fast he can finish the book. "Probably tomorrow," he told himself, flipping the pages with his thumb again. Just then, a bright green piece of paper fell from the book and landed on his chest. Kuroo sat up, closed the book, and held up the note. He flipped it, and his eyes widened when he saw what was written on it.

Hello,

I hope this note finds you well. I actually don't know why I am writing this note, but I decided why not? This book by Seguchi-sensei is the first that I've read from his collection, and as I kept reading, I felt emotional, and I also felt the need to connect with someone who reads his work. Why do you like Seguchi-sensei? Is it because romance meets science fiction? For me, that was the reason why I began enjoying his books.

If you have different reasons for why you like Seguchi-sensei, I would love to hear about them.

This note might not reach anyone, and I might look weird for doing this, but whatever!

ヽ( ￣д￣)ノ

Yours,

Yuzuki Sakamori, Class 1-4.

Kuroo reread the note. The handwriting was small, neat, and crisp. He didn't realize he already had a massive grin on his face as he finished reading it for the third time. Kuroo thought of Yuzuki after practice when he passed by the convenience store on his way home with Kenma. He decided that he wanted to know more about her but didn't know how to approach her. "But, this note will make things easier for me," Kuroo said now as he bit his lip, already thinking about what he's writing in his note for Yuzuki. With a pen in his hand, he started writing on a light blue piece of paper. "Hello, Sakamori-san,"