Nishinoya Yū dreamt of a black cat by the window.

It was a day after his eight birthday and despite of the years that had passed since, if something were to remind him he would still remember the dream vividly.

He recalled standing in front of a house and had his eyes fixed on the window on the second floor. The house in itself was nothing special, just a simple two-storied building that was painted in beige with its only unique trait were the vines that had wrapped itself around it. Its curtains were drawn and a cat was curled up on the windowsill and its tail dangling lazily.

The house's gate was tightly locked though and no matter how many times he tried to climb over its walled bricked fence, it just seemed to grow higher and higher.

He remembered the frustration that bubbled in his chest every time his attempt didn't bear any fruition.

The boy needed to reach that window. He needed to cross that wall. And the strangest part was, he didn't have any idea why.

He remembered screaming something but his words were muffled and the cat stayed in its spot. It didn't make any motion of moving nor did it even acknowledged his presence. It just stayed there seemingly trapped in time. He watched as the world changed before it, watched as each season passed by and yet it continued to slumber.

Then a strong gust of wind suddenly attacked him and the next time he opened his eyes, the black cat wasn't there anymore.

Instead he saw a girl about his age from where the cat was originally sleeping. Much like the feline, she slept soundly and was completely unaware of his presence which left him to admire her beauty. Even as a little boy, he understood why his cheeks started to color and why his heart started to beat hard in his chest. He wouldn't call it love (he was still too young to understand how that worked) but seeing her made him feel emotions he couldn't put a name on.

As a child he was afraid of a lot of things.

He felt that in each corner lurked a dangerous beast ready to devour him whole. He was afraid to take any risk just in case it would lead him to his death. But strangely enough, that fear wasn't present as he gazed at the little sleeping beauty. He wanted to meet her. He wanted to talk to her, ask her for her name, and most importantly he wanted to have her open her eyes and look at him.

But in the end he never did accomplished any of those.

He dreamt of being able to successfully climb nearly half of the wall only to be pulled down by a shadowy figure. He then woke up with his face planted on his bedroom floor.

Yū never did saw her again in his dreams. She was like a fleeting memory he slowly forgot as time changed.

It was when years later that he remembered her again. The volleyball team was having its afternoon practice and Shoyō was chattering about his sister and how she's suddenly having an interest towards the story of Sleeping Beauty. The memory didn't instantly came back to him until his lowerclassman came to the part where the prince climbed the tower to kiss the princess and break the curse. And ah! He did had that kind of dream.

The boy was very surprised of how clear the memory was despite of having it buried for a long time.

Of course he didn't waste any chance of telling the younger his dream, which in turn earned him that look of complete admiration. Most of it was due to him tweaking with the story a bit. He told Shoyō that he indeed managed to climb the wall, saved the princess, and gallantly ran toward the setting sun with her in his strong arms.

Tsukishima took a jab at him by saying not only was his height that of a middle schooler but so was his dreams. Yū screamed at him to "shut the fuck up!" and "respect me, I'm your senpai!"

They ended up making Daichi mad shortly after that.

It took him a week after that conversation to find out that the princess by the window was closer that he thought.

There was really no particular deep reason about why he choose to run around the empty hallway that early morning. He just wanted to exploit the fact that he's pretty much free to do so.

On normal circumstances, teachers would scold him when he decide to pull a stunt like this but most of them didn't have the strength to deal with his boundless energy first thing in the morning. Yū took that to his advantage, of course. He practically flew through the hallway with his speed increasing as he neared his classroom.

His eyes caught sight of the open classroom door even before he neared it. That in itself was strange because not only was it common courtesy to close the door behind you, most of the students who had early morning clubs should be at their, well, respective clubs. (Except him. Practice was over in his case.)

It was indeed curious.

Grinning at the idea of catching someone doing an act that they shouldn't (because let's face it. That could only be the reason for a student to be this early) he increased his speed toward the classroom. Unfortunately for him he miscalculated his speed and went pass the door. The screeching sound that his shoes made possibly echoed throughout the vicinity and he slapped a hand over his face.

Yū inwardly cursed. He could almost hear Tsukishima say "way to go senpai. You've just informed the enemy of your arrival," in that condescending tone of his.

That statement hit a nerve even though it was just a product of his imagination.

No worries, he told himself. It wasn't like he stopped that far. With a few strides he could easily get to the door and maybe catch whatever heinous crime that was happening.

But there was no crime, he quickly found out.

There was no bald yakuza dude interrogating a poor high schooler like those he'd seen in movies, nor was there some type of cult preparing for their early morning ritual to curse their enemies. What he saw instead was something he least expected.

A lone girl was sleeping in her desk which was situated beside the window and was in direct line from the back door.

He couldn't see her face at first because it was buried deep in her folded arms but he easily took note of how disheveled she was. Strands of her hair were sticking all over the place, her uniform's blazer was crumpled and she was only wearing a single sock in her foot. It was almost as if she hastily put herself together and ran to the school. It didn't make sense, of course, considering the time. Yū contemplated on whether to make a sound and call out to her or just let her be.

In the end he didn't need to do either of the two because the girl had started to stir.

Yū didn't know what he was expecting. When he looked back at it, the moment was the perfect time to think of a faithful meeting between a boy and girl. That's how those cheesy dramas starts right? But he didn't think of it as such, too caught up with how messy this still unknown girl was. Yet it's when she finally rose up, eyes still closed, and fingers reaching up to wipe the sleep away that Yū felt his heart skip a beat and time ceased to exist.

Suddenly he's eight again and he's looking up toward the little girl sleeping soundly by the window.

But that uncrossable wall wasn't there this time and the obstacle in between them were nothing but neatly arranged chairs and tables. That instead of that dark and desolate room behind her, in its place were the large classroom windows where the sunshine was seeping through, giving her an ethereal glow that made Yū contemplate if he was still asleep and dreaming.

It was impossible for someone to look so enchanting and otherworldly especially in that very unalluring state. But here he was with his heart hammering hard in his chest and his mind completely blown away by the unnamed girl whose hair seemed to defy gravity.

Nobody has ever had this effect on him, not even Kiyoko who he was more than sure was his one true love.

He was completely speechless; blown out of his mind and even more so when she finally opened her eyes and locked in with his. The color was not what he was expecting. It was clear and bright like the sun rising above the horizon. It bore through his soul, held onto it, and cradled it in her arms and it was in that moment that he was more than convinced that this girl wasn't human.

But a simple "Hello?" proved him otherwise. It's her voice that brought him back to his senses and proved to him that yes, this was the real.

In the end all he could do was stutter something incoherent before fleeing like a madman after a classmate of hers made an appearance. Nishinoya Yū still couldn't believe the black cat by the window was proven to be a real person.

Her discovery of course lead to him to make dumb excuses just so he could catch a glimpse of her during lunchtime. Yū was still stoked that he hadn't known of her existence until that faithful morning. How could such a pretty girl even escape his radar?! It was just impossible!

But the more he observed her, the more he found out why.

It's when she's with her friends and how she seemed to disappear in the shadows—sometimes almost deliberately—that everything seemed to click. She was surrounded by all these bright personalities that always draw all sort of attention away from her and it's in their shadows that she seemed to like to stay. Unbeknownst to her though, once people do start noticing they wouldn't be able stop. That was just her effect on people.

That was the case with Yū at least.

He also found out that she was nowhere near his type. Yū liked girls who are like Kiyoko; shy and well-mannered. The type that seemed like they couldn't even dare hurt a single fly. The type that he just want to protect until the end of time.

That girl on the other hand was not like that. Their differences were more shown not from the way she talked but from the way she moved.

He'd seen her one lunchtime slouched on her seat, legs stretched and opened wide while flipping through a jump! magazine without much a care in the world. He remembered spouting some half-assed lie to Ryū about wanting bread from the cafeteria just to see her again. She wasn't in that disheveled state anymore (which was understandable because it's been three days since that incident) and if he thought she was pretty back then, she was beautiful now. But her soft features was the direct contrast of how she carried herself. He watched from his peripheral vision as her friend, a bubbly girl who sport a pair of pigtails, practically screeched at her to "close her damn legs" and "sit like a lady!"

Yū wasn't even aware of the amused smile on his face as he quickly made his way to the cafeteria.

The more his sneaking glances and dumb excuses increased the more he grew curious of the girl he first saw in his dream. He concluded during his so-called "observations" that instead of the "princess character" that he initially thought of her as, she was more of the "cool big brother" type which didn't make sense because first of all she was a girl. But it's when she would banter with her friend over things and how she would pat her on the head that made him come to that conclusion. With that being said, he was aware that simply deducing her personality from afar just wouldn't make do. He need to talk to her at some point.

The problem was he don't think his heart was ready for that yet. She was still a pretty girl and he'd rather not make a fool out of himself by being a bumbling idiot because he was way too nervous to talk to one.

Was this love? Yū was more than sure that it wasn't the case.

No matter what the strange and obscured drama the mothers in his community liked to watch may say, he was old enough to know and understand that nobody falls in love at first glance. It was even more impossible for him because he was sure if there's anyone that he actually "love" then it would definitely be Kiyoko.

It was just curiosity that drives him to want to see and talk to her. In his defense, anyone would be as intrigued as him if they found out that the person they dreamed of happened to be real. That doesn't stop him from being a flustered mess every time he thinks of approaching her though.

Either way he decided to devise a plan on how he should approach her. It needs to be perfect to avoid him making a fool out of himself, much like how he did the first time around.

The best he'd thought of was having her slip on something and him heroically coming to her aid and save her from falling. He imagined himself using his very special move—Rolling Thunder, Full Blast!—to run to her and have her fall into his arms. He'd picture them locking eyes and him, ever the handsome hero, would ask her if she's alright and she would swoon over how cool he was.

It was the perfect plan no matter how one would look at it. He have to thank those hand me downs shojō mangas from the women of his neighborhood. They deeply helped with his research.

Now the only problem was how he would put his plan into action. "How do you make somebody deliberately slip without them noticing?" That was the question Yū typed on his phone.

He had his nose stuck on the screen and was walking to the nearest vending machine. Lunchtime was almost over and usual, he excused himself from his friends to catch a glimpse of the "fair maiden" (as he used to refer to her as) in Class 1.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in her usual seat by the time he walked passed her classroom and Yū was more than disappointed. Lunchtime was the only time he could see her because he was always caught up in morning practice and she disappears like a bubble by the time school was over. So not seeing her slouched on her seat meant that he'd have to go through the rest of the day without seeing her.

Yū clicked his tongue in annoyance.

With his face stuck on his phone and him letting his feet lead him to the vending machine via sheer memory, he failed to see that not far from him stood the girl he had looked for. It's the soft blowing of the wind that brought him the word "oh" and his body immediately freezing as he realized who the owner of the voice was.

Maybe it would be comical to some with how he immediately went to a screeching halt at the sight of her, but his own action went over his head as he took in her appearance.

Even though she was simply wearing the customary girl's uniform and nothing more, Yū once again found himself speechless. Unlike from before, the distance between them was much closer and he could finally see the small freckle underneath her right eye. A beautiful mark he wished he'd noticed before. He also finally noticed that she's definitely a few centimeters taller than him, although he found himself not really minding it much. It wasn't like the difference was that big. With a few boxes of milk and his long-awaited growth spurt, he could easily catch up to her.

Then she did her strongest attack when his guard was low and his mind was calculating the number of boxed milk he needed to drink.

A pause before the most breathtaking smile that he had ever seen—next to Kiyoko's of course—slowly crossed the girl's features, and instantly, all his basic and logical reasoning flew straight to the window. He didn't even heard her utter her customary greetings. He simply had one thing in mind.

"Sleeping Beauty!" He screamed, using that name he first referred to her as, and crossed the small distance between them. Yū barely remembered the thing he spout when he got on his one knee and held her hand.

All he remembered was the shock on her face and the crow which cawed loudly overhead.

It was probably silent for more than a minute before she opened her mouth and said the words he was expecting "I'm sorry, I'm not really interested." And that stupid crow cawed again.

His—now that he'd realized, embarrassing—action slowly dawned into him, and the boy quickly grows red. Not only that he got flat-out rejected, he also made a huge fool of himself. So much for having an awesome plan.

"Well, have a great day!" Was the only thing he could reply before he was back to his two feet and ready to make his walk—run—of shame.

But alas, one mishap was never enough to satisfy the Gods. Just as he was in his hurry to save what's remained of his dignity, Nishinoya Yū slip on a banana skin—that he fucking swore wasn't there seconds ago. Of all cliche why it gotta be that?!—and started to fall.

For all his athleticism, there was no way he could avoid gravity as it continued to pull him backwards. Yū braced himself for the impact, tilting his body in the way he wouldn't suffer that many injury, but much to his surprise the impact never came. Instead he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder and stopped his fall. The smell of vanilla and strawberry immediately attacked his nostrils and he never thought such a sweet smell could be so intoxicating. The softness that he felt brushing against his arm didn't help calming his current state of mind and it became worse when he found his face closer to hers than he could ever imagined.

God, this girl was so impossibly beautiful. He remembered thinking.

"Are you okay?" Three words that might as well be spoken by an angel.

This was not right! Everything in this situation was not right! First of all, the roles were reversed! He should be the one holding her and stopping her fall! He's the hero for fucks sake! What kind of development was this?! There was no way his face could get redder than it already was!

"I-I... I—This ain't right!" Was all that he could scream before pushing himself forward and running as fast as his feet could, leaving the dumbfounded girl to stare at his disappearing form.

Okay, maybe their first real interaction wasn't the best but his name's not Nishinoya Yū if he were to give up that easily. His grandfather had drilled into his head that if he continued to be scared over everything, he was never going to be happy or enjoy his life to the fullest.

So even though he had been outright rejected he was about to march in toward her classroom. Ryū, who was very confused and shocked when he told him that he was going to man up and talk to a girl, was following him closely. He hasn't told his close friend the story yet but that was the least of his concern as he wordlessly entered Class 2-1 much to everyone's shock.

But none of them mattered because Yū's eyes were focused on the girl who had one feet propped up her seat, an opened bag of chips right in front of her, and was listening to her friend animatedly tell a story. Said friend was of course quick to shut up when she noticed him getting closer.

"Noya, what are you doing?!" He heard Ryū hissed behind him. He could hear the panic in his voice but to Yū this was a chance of a lifetime. It's either he do this or bust, there was nothing in between.

Of course when she finally turned her attention to him, he almost went to the bust route. Luckily his resolve stayed and he was standing right in front of her in no time. The surprise was very clear on her face, her bright eyes growing larger with recognition while her friend gasped and covered her mouth.

"Do you..." he started. He could easily feel how tensed the room had gotten as all eyes seemed to be on them, waiting for whatever it was that he needed from the girl. He knows what he was about to do was going to break the monotony within this place. There was barely any action that happens in this school and this small town and he was sure this story would spread like wildfire. But he doesn't care. He has to do this. He need to do this. Inhaling deeply, he finally uttered the words he had been practicing in front of the mirror.

"...like volleyball?"

And he swore everyone comically fell from their seat.

hello! i know it might be a little bit late to say this but thank you for reading and commenting etc. it makes me happy to see that a lot of people like this despite of the grammatical errors and stuffs. thank you so much!