It was late afternoon and Ayame was bored. Her mind was blank in deciding a strategy to defeat Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa, if they will fight them in the Inter High. She flipped the pencil on her fingers as she stared at them with boredom. Sighing, she grabbed her jacket and went downstairs. Her mom is in the kitchen, preparing a small snack. Ayame shuddered. Her mother was never the cook of the house and she was anxious to go out to avoid her dangerous cooking.

"Mom, I'm going out for a walk" she said, quickly putting on her shoes. Her mother approached her, holding a tray of cookies that looked perfectly fine but you know what they say, looks can be deceiving.

"Oh...okay, Aya-chan, be careful. Here, have a few cookies before you leave" her mother told her, shoving a cookie on her hand. The violet eyed girl sweat dropped and paled.

"Th-thank you, m-mom! How...thoughtful...I will eat this on the way" she twitchingly smiled, opening the door. When she opened the gate, she saw Daichi standing.

"Daichi-nii! Good to see you!" she smiled.

"Good to see you too. Is Aunt Kazumi here?" he asked.

"Yep, she's here. Oh, have a cookie, nii! I'll be going!!" she rapidly said, shoving the cookie to him.

"Uh...thanks, Ayame-chan. Did you bake this?"

"No, mom did" she said, walking farther "Mom, Daichi-nii's here!! He ate your cookie and he likes them!" she yelled, and the captain paled. One of the things Daichi greatly feared is her mother's demonic attitude and her dangerous cooking. Her mother, Kazumi, saw Daichi holding the cookie she baked and smiled.

"Ah, Daichi! Do come in! Let's have some tea and cookies while we talk, shall we?" the woman said, dragging the crying captain by the arm "I'm doomed..." he thought.

The violet eyed girl walked and walked with no exact destination in mind. The sun is almost setting, spreading a beautiful shade of orange in the sky. She stared up ahead and sighed deeply. Boys were whispering and were pushing each other to her when she walked past them. She kept walking when she saw a net outside a shop.

"A net? Is someone practicing here?" she thought. She looked on its right side and saw a sign on the top of the building: Shimada Mart.

"It's...a shop mart..." she thought, her knees trembled as she remembered what happened seven years ago. The day she...

She shook her head and mustered her courage to enter. "It's a different shop mart, Ayame! Stay calm...relax...I'm not going to have a breakdown here..." she breathed deeply as she shook her head "It wouldn't hurt to enter inside, right?"

Once she entered, she was greeted by a familiar man in the counter. His wearing an apron and glasses and he smiled while greeting her "Welcome!"

"Isn't he...from the neighborhood volleyball association?" she thought. The man looked at her and stopped.

"Wait, aren't you Tadashi's friend? Oh, wait, yes, you really are his friend. Please come with me" he dragged a confused Ayame until they reached outside, where the freckled teen is practicing. The two first years looked at each other with surprise upon seeing each other.

"Ayame?"

"Tadashi-kun?"

"W-what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I-I w-was about to ask the same thing!" she replied.

"Shi-Shimada-san! Why did you bring Ayame here?" Yamaguchi asked the man, nervous at the fact that the girl might watch him practice and he might embarrass his self.

"She's your friend and your team's assistant coach, right, Tadashi?" Shimada asked him and he nodded "Well, she might help you practice and boost your confidence while she's here. And if you'll excuse me, I have to finish working. I'll leave you two here for a while. I'll be back" and he left, leaving the first years.

"I'm sorry if Shimada-san dragged you here, Ayame..." Yamaguchi apologized, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

Ayame shook her head "It's all right...You don't have to apologize, Tadashi-kun...oh, by the way, who was that man earlier? I remember seeing him in the neighborhood association before..."

"Ah, that was Shimada Makoto, an alumnus and one of Karasuno's former players" he replied. They sat on a bench and Ayame noticed that he's making the same expression again. She thought of something to start a conversation to entertain him and hopefully, make him feel happy.

"So, why are you practicing here?" she asked. Yamaguchi was silent for a few seconds and looked at her.

"Remember the serve Shimada-san did before?"

She recalled their practice match against the neighborhood association. She remembered a man with glasses doing a serve "Yes, it was a jump float serve! It was honestly a pain dealing that serve since most of the players are having a difficulty receiving it but that's my favorite serve. That was actually impressive! Why?"

She stared at him closely for a few seconds and gasped "Oh! You asked him to teach you the jump float serve, am I right?"

"Y-yeah..." he answered "Did...did she just say that the jump float serve is her favorite serve?"

Ayame jumped from her seat and looked at him excitingly "Amazing, Tadashi-kun!!" she said, her eyes shining in excitement. Yamaguchi was surprised at her outburst and he couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Ayame..."

"He's finally smiling!! He's not wearing his previous expression anymore!!" she happily thought "I believe you can do it, Tadashi-kun!" she told him, her eyes sparkling.

"Thank you, Ayame..." he shyly told her, scratching his cheek with his finger. Just then, Shimada appeared, grinning at them "Well then Tadashi, let's start!"

Ayame sat on the bench while watching Yamaguchi having a warm up. After that, Shimada gave the ball to the freckled teen "Since I already showed you how the jump float serve works, you have to practice doing it. The jump float serve is not an easy serve to do and it will take plenty of time until you can actually do it, so for now, you can't perform the serve properly yet. Okay, let's start"

Ayame nodded her head and Yamaguchi breathed deeply. He jumped and hit the ball but...it was an out. The freckled teen sighed. Ayame clapped her hands "It's all right, Tadashi-kun!"

His second serve hit the top part of the net and fell on their side. He nervously gulped, fearing that it might happen in an official match. Ayame and Shimada are giving him words of encouragement to motivate him. His third serve barely hit the line but the ball has a spin, not like a float serve. His fourth serve had a loose spin and it was not changing direction. However, seeing Ayame watching him, believing in him, didn't discourage him to try and try.

*Minutes later*

"Okay, let's call it a night, Tadashi..." Shimada told him and he nodded. Of all the serves he did, he was able not able to do a single jump float serve past the net. It's already dark and Ayame's pretty sure her mom will go hysterics if she came home late at night all by herself.

"Ayame, it's pretty late. You can't go home by yourself this late. It's dangerous" Shimada said, before turning his attention to Yamaguchi "Tadashi can escort you home, right, Tadashi?"

"O-of course, Shimada-san" he answered. The man bade them goodbye and the first years walked home in the dark street. Ayame was being unusually quiet and freckled teen worriedly looked at her, only to find her shaking with fear. She was inching closer to him as she nervously looked at her side.

WOOF!

"Kyaaah!" she clutched his arm tightly in surprise. Yamaguchi's eyes widened and his face turned light red and his heart is beating faster and faster from the contact. Ayame, realizing that she's holding his arm, blushed and felt her heart beating faster and louder every second came to pass.

"I-I'm sorry!" she apologized, letting go. Yamaguchi smiled in embarrassment but he's a little disappointed when she removed her grip.

"It's all right, Ayame" he replied "Wait, you are afraid of dogs?"

"W-well...y-yeah, sort of...I had a bad experience with one before, when Daichi-nii and I were kids" she shuddered as she recalled what happened "There was this big dog in the park and I was really curious so I tried to pet him. But, the dog growled and chased me around until I managed to climb up on a tree"

"I remember crying while I tightly clung on the tree and kept yelling for nii-chan to help me. The savage beast kept barking at me and it looked like he'll eat me. Luckily, nii-chan heard me and chased the dog away. I never went near to a dog after that. Crazy, isn't it?" she laughed a little.

"Yeah" he smiled a little "But not all dogs are like that, you know? I'm pretty sure that one was a rabid dog"

"I was pretty naïve and too curious back then to notice stuffs like that" she said, kicking a random stone on the pavement.

"Until now, you're still naïve and full of curiosity...and you didn't even realize it" Yamaguchi thought, mentally chuckling.

"Guess I was pretty stupid for doing that back then" she mumbled, cringing slightly.

He sensed it again. The painful burden that she never told him or anyone is slowly leaking out. But he can't figure out what it is or why she's hiding it. He wanted to help but that sounded like invading her personal life.

"What's wrong?" he worriedly asked her.

She shook her head and smiled "Nothing. Just thinking random things in random times. Hehehe..."

She's hiding...behind that smile...

They continued walking in silence. However, the silence and awkward atmosphere around them was comforting and not deafening.

"So comforting...it is quiet yet...I feel at ease....but, why is my heart pounding so fast? What's going on?" she thought, placing her hand on her chest.

"The silence...why does it feel so comforting?" he thought, breathing deeply.

After a few more steps, they reached her home and Ayame hugged him, much to his surprise.

"Thank you, Tadashi-kun" she said. The freckled teen couldn't move and his face was bright red "I-it w-was nothing...I-I just wanted you to b-be s-safe..." he stuttered.

I just wanted you to be safe...

"No one has ever said something like that to me, except mom and Daichi-nii...how thoughtful of him..." she thought, blushing lightly. However, the front gate was slammed open by her hysteric mother and the two distanced themselves, trying to act normal.

"Aya-chan~! Thank goodness you're okay!!" her mother comically cried, hugging her daughter tightly.

"Aya-chan...how cute..." he thought, stifling a laugh.

"Mom, I'm all right" Ayame said and her mother touched her cheeks in relief "Oh by the way, mom, this is Yamaguchi Tadashi, a friend. He's also a volleyball player in Karasuno"

"Nice to meet you, ma'am" he politely shook hands with her "Uwaah...Ayame and her mom looked the same, besides the eye color..."

"Same here, Tadashi...thank you for escorting Aya-chan at this time...I'll repay you someday" her mother said, smiling.

"Thank you, Tadashi-kun. Please be careful on your way home" she told him worriedly. Yamaguchi smiled and waved his hand "I will...Good night, Ayame"

"Good night, Tadashi-kun"

"Oh? First name basis?" the woman thought, placing a finger on her chin "Ah~...how nice"