"OH COME ON, SMILE YUMI!!"...

"how can I?! especially when I'm here at the beach...stuck in some swim trunks that I'll never ever wear again...what a waste of money...", shiyumi weeped.

     "but we're here at the beach! there's lots of seashells and ice cream!", yachi exclaimed, trying to convince the orange-haired girl to look on the bright side.

     "yeah, but I wanted to wear a cute swimsuit as well!!! look how cute you look, hitoka!", shiyumi whined, causing yachi to bashfully chuckle.

     "please, yumi, you're too nice", yachi mumbled.

     "a-and plus, you look very cute as well!"

     shiyumi gave the blonde girl a deadpan expression.

     "yeah sure! I bet I'll get all the boys with my tangerine swim trunks and white t-shirt", shiyumi sarcastically grumbled.

"you shouldn't be too upset about it. you're surrounded by attractive guys all the time, especially this week!", yachi stated.

"where?", shiyumi asked.

yachi blinked, expecting the orange-haired girl to laugh as if she had just told a funny joke.

but she didn't.

"no seriously, where?", shiyumi repeated.

"YU—"

"shhhhh!! don't say my real name so loud! people will hear you!", shiyumi reprimanded.

     "r-right! but what do you mean where?! yumi, do you not see the boys that you play volleyball with everyday?! some girls would kill to be in your position!", yachi whispered.

     "would you kill to be in my situation?", shiyumi asked.

     "well...killing's not my thing, but my point is—"

     "OIIIII!! CHIBI-CHAN~", kuroo shouted.

     both girls suddenly snapped their heads upwards, as they nearly fainted from the view.

     "WHATCHA DOIN' THERE, SHŌYŌ-KUN?! COME JOIN US IN THE WATERS!", atsumu yelled.

     "yeah! the water's nice", osamu added on.

     "OI, BOKE! ARE YOU COMING TO PLAY BEACH VOLLEYBALL WITH US?!", kageyama asked.

     "SHŌYŌ-KUN~ DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUR SWIMMING COMPETITION!!", tendō reminded.

     "h-hitoka...is it just me, or is it really burning out here?", shiyumi asked, turning her head towards the girl, as yachi screamed.

     "S-S-SHŌYŌ, Y-YOUR NOSE!! Y-YOU'RE BLEEDING!! IMMA GO GET YOU SOME TISSUES AND ICE!!", yachi frantically informed, rushing off, as shiyumi just sat there confused.

     "huh? my nose is bleeding??"

     "chibi-chan, did you bonk your face against a wall? why's your nose bleeding?", kuroo asked, taking a seat beside the flushed girl, as he rested his hand against her forehead.

     "why's your face so red, shōyō? are you feeling okay?", kozume asked, giving the girl a bottle of cold water.

"y-yeah...I'm okay...I think I'll head to the waters later...or maybe never", shiyumi answered, muttering the last part.

"alright!! well bokuto and I will be waiting. let's go, kenma!", kuroo stated, dragging the poor pudding-headed boy towards the sea — away from his shade.

"hey, are you okay? kita wanted me to check up on you, since he's helping ushijima and akaashi grill the food".

shiyumi hesitantly shifted her gaze towards the voice, to which she had immediately regretted looking that way, as suna was standing there with his shirt unbuttoned.

"y-yeah, I'm okay", shiyumi shortly answered.

"are you sure? there looks like there's a lot of blood".

"yeah, I'm good", the girl lied.

a soft sigh had then escaped the lazy boy's lips, as he took the spot that used to belong to yachi.

     shiyumi curled up into a ball, as she covered the lower half of her face while trying to avoid eye contact.

     suna's eyes shifted to the left, never noticing how much shiyumi talked, as now it was more quiet than ever.

     "shōyō...can...I call you that too?", suna asked.

     "yeah, sure".

     another moment of silence had emerged, causing suna great distress, as he was the one that usually did the listening instead of the talking.

'is he sad? maybe mad? I can't tell when he's covering half his face'.

"shōyō, you should refer to me as rintarō...or rin, since it's shorter", suna said.

shiyumi had almost turned her head to the right, before she had reminded herself that suna's shirt was still unbuttoned.

"r-rin?", shiyumi unsurely repeated.

suna frowned, wondering why the girl won't make eye contact with him.

"mhm. now since I've allowed you to call me by my first name, could you do something for me?"

"what can I help with?", the girl asked, to which suna had slyly grinned.

"can you help me tak—"

"I-I'M BACK!! oh, sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you both", yachi bowed.

"it's alright, hitoka. thank you!", shiyumi smiled, cleaning all the blood off her hands, as she had pinched her nose for about ten minutes to stop the bleeding.

     "then if you don't mind, I'm gonna go help the other managers", yachi smiled, leaving suna and shiyumi alone once more, as now the orange-haired girl had finally looked suna in the eye.

     "you needed help taking...?"

     "a photo", suna answered.

     "but I wanted one of you for my contacts", suna explained.

     "oh! yeah, umm...should I just do a peace sign or...?"

"try this", suna said, sticking both hands up, as they imitated a fox.

"like this?", shiyumi asked, copying suna's pose, as the male had quickly snapped a picture.

     "good job", suna praised, patting the top of shiyumi's head, as the girl couldn't help but smile.

     "I finally got you to smile. are you that mad about getting dragged to the beach?", the dark-haired middle blocker asked.

     "no...I just didn't want you to see my face all bloodied up", shiyumi half-lied, wondering how long she was bound to be stuck here.

"hm~ is that so?", suna suspiciously asked.

before shiyumi could respond, the girl's world had suddenly tilted upside down, as she felt a pair of arms lift her over the kidnapper's shoulders.

"WHAT THE—"

suna immediately swiped to his camera, as shiyumi had recognized the plain swim trunks.

"WHAT THE HELL?! 'TSUMU!! LET ME GO!!", shiyumi demanded.

"YA NEED TO GET OVER YER FEAR OF THE SEA AND SWIM!!", atsumu hollered back, proudly laughing, as shiyumi attempted to wiggle out of the setter's grip.

"NOT TODAY I WON'T!", shiyumi retorted.

the girl then tried to lift her head, as it was rough when all your blood was rushing towards your head and making you slightly woozy.

though just before the girl was thrown into the sea of secrets, she had loudly summoned for her saviors.

"SHINSUKE!! 'SAMU!!"

both gray-haired males snapped their heads around, as osamu was used to his brother's tosses.

just as atsumu had let go of shiyumi, osamu had thankfully caught the exasperated girl.

atsumu started laughing, though his joy was short lived.

"atsumu, why'd you do that?", kita questioned, intensely staring at the blonde setter, who flinched in the mere presence of his captain.

"did you think throwing shōyō into the ocean would help him learn? or was it your overconfidence in him; you thinking that he'd be a fast learner because of how he plays volleyball?"

atsumu started nervously sweating, as he hesitated to face kita.

'h-how does he know all this?!'

"anyways, it doesn't matter what you think, because you should never force someone to face their fears. you should slowly ease them into it, instead of pushing it on them all at once", kita advised.

atsumu slightly scowled, as he could see his twin carrying shiyumi from the corner of his eye.

"are ya okay, shōyō-kun?", osamu asked, gently rubbing the girl's back in hopes of soothing her.

'HOLY SHIT! I ALMOST GOT EXPOSED!!'

"y-yeah", shiyumi choked out, clinging tightly onto the gray-haired miya.

"thank you, 'samu..."

"anytime", osamu mumbled.