#THE WAY VOLLEYBALL IS WHAT CONNECTS US BUT EVEN IF WE LEAVE THE COURT BEHIND THOSE SAME TIES THOSW TREASURED MOMENTS WE SHARED AND RELATIONS

[immamapletreekid]

...kageyama eventually inheriting suga's number in his third year ;-;;

[rocorambles]

Ok what about a tsundere reader (preferably male but if you don’t do male then females fine!) with yandere Oikawa, yandere Iwaizumi, yandere Matsukawa & yandere Hanamaki? Maybe (if male) their darling is on the team or something? Noncon maybe?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Being on a sports team full of yandere teammates??? Easily one of the worst scenarios to be in. And a tsundere male on top of that who pretends he hates them, pretends he doesn’t return any of their interest? He’s just asking for trouble because Oikawa can sniff out that lie in a matter of seconds. 

Warnings: Yandere, NSFW, Non-Con/Dub-Con, Stockholm Syndrome/Mind Break, Humiliation, Anal DP, Overstimulation

You love volleyball, love the sound of sneakers skidding on the court, love the satisfying thud of a ball connecting with skin, love the view of a ball arching over the net. And you remember when you had once loved your team. 

In all fairness, you still love your underclassmen, love mentoring Kindaichi and Yahaba, love teasing Kunimi and Kyoutani. But when they’re gone, off to their respective homes, you only know apprehension and disgust. Although you don’t know who that disgust is aimed at...your fellow third-years? Yourself? Both? 

You know that whatever the five of you have isn’t healthy, finding false comfort in at least putting up a front of anger and irritation whenever Oikawa’s hand finds its way on your ass, whenever Iwaizumi slams you up against a locker, whenever Matsukawa insists on washing you off in the shower, whenever Hanamaki drapes his lean figure over yours. But Oikawa’s always been eerily observant and you know he doesn’t miss the way moans threaten to slip past your lips, the way there’s no real bite behind your half-hearted shoves, the way you find yourself more often than not so conveniently left alone with the four of them.  

And today’s no exception as you purposefully slow down packing your bag, cheerfully waving off your underclassmen, body instinctively tensing when the last of them step out of the locker room, the resounding click of the door echoing in their wake. 

Not a moment too soon as a chin hooks over your shoulder, Hanamaki’s hands tightly gripping your hips, his teeth playfully tugging on your earlobe. But before you can dig your elbow into his guts and snarl at him to leave you alone, another body towers in front of you and you nervously swallow as Matsukawa smirks down at you, his fingers pulling at the hem of your shirt, easily stripping you in practiced movements as his friend holds you still. 

“Time to shower.”

It’s a well-rehearsed play, your struggle and rejections, their forcefulness and coercion. But it always ends the same way and you sob as Hanamaki’s fingers meanly twist your nipples, one of Matsukawa’s digits lodged knuckle deep into your tight ass, Oikawa and Iwaizumi watching from the sidelines, towels hardly covering their interest as you see their generous bulges from underneath the fabric. 

But then you’re moaning, hands clutching onto Hanamaki’s shoulders for balance as Matsukawa brushes against that spot inside of you that has you seeing stars and all four of them laugh as your cock twitches in interest, your hips rutting into Hanamaki’s hand as he casually palms your growing erection. 

“All those mean and nasty words and for what? At least your body is honest.” 

Oikawa always prefers to sit back and let his teammates have their fun with you first, spouting some bullshit about how being a good captain is about delaying his own gratification. But in all honesty, you think he just gets off to your demise, to the way the other three take you apart, to the humiliation and broken despair on your face as you submit to your inner desires. And you glare at him as his sickeningly sweet voice echoes in the room. 

But you don’t have time to focus on other things and your head snaps back as you’re forced to your knees, squealing as the water still rains down on your head, almost drowning you as Hanamaki shoves his cock into your mouth. It’s hard to breathe, hard to think of anything other than the steady stream drenching your face, the way your mouth and throat are stretched around the obtrusive object, the way Matsukawa’s blunt head is beginning to push against your stretched out hole. Yet you’re grateful for the water, grateful that the sound of drops pattering against the tiled floors tune out Hanamaki’s moans, the slick sound of both your holes being used, Oikawa’s leering voice, and most importantly, your own garbled wanton noises as Matsukawa rails your prostate with deadly accuracy. 

You can feel a crescendo rising inside of you, your nails digging into the palms of your hands as you use every last bit of restraint you have not to touch your own throbbing cock, knowing there would be hell to pay if you do anything without their explicit consent. But you wail in frustration when hot sticky white liquid fills both ends and the two men step away from you, your own cock still bobbing up and down, pre-cum mixing with the water swirling down the drain as you beg and plead to cum, turning imploring eyes to Iwaizumi who looks at you with green eyes full of pity and lust. 

He makes a move towards you and you eagerly present your cream-pied hole, arching your back even more, wiggling your ass enticingly. But before he can touch you, a voice you’ve come to hate lances through the air.

“He has to work for it, Iwa-chan.” 

Dread fills you, but you know what needs to be done and you crawl on all fours to where Oikawa casually sits on one of the locker room benches, obediently kneeling between his legs, panting when he mockingly nudges your painfully hard cock with his foot. 

“That looks pretty painful. I guess I should be a good captain and help you out. Come sit in my lap.” 

And as demeaning as it is to spread your legs on either side of the brunette’s body, your chest pressed against his, your face hiding in the crook of his neck as you lower your fluttering hole onto his cock, you moan as your cock presses against the hard planes of his abdomen, subtly grinding against him like a dog in rut, only stopping when a calloused hand harshly spanks your ass, chiding you about being good and staying still. 

You wait and wait, unsure exactly what you’re waiting for, unsure exactly what Oikawa has in store for you today. But your head shoots up, eyes panickedly making contact with amused chocolate brown orbs when you feel a finger tug at your already stretched out rim, making room besides Oikawa’s cock inside of you. You try to stand up, escape, but it’s impossible when two sets of hands hold down your shoulder, keeping you seated balls deep on your captain’s shaft, and a new wave of tears threaten to spill as Matsukawa and Hanamaki sneer down at your terrified face. 

And so you’re forced to endure as Iwaizumi slips in one finger, two fingers, three fingers, stretching your puckered hole more than it’s ever been, mouth opening in a silent agonized scream as he finally begins to push in alongside his best friend. It feels like forever passes before he finally stops moving and suddenly breathing seems impossible as your mind tries to comprehend the fullness, the pain, the pleasure tearing you apart as your vice captain and captain’s cocks nestle inside of you. 

But then there’s only mind-numbing pleasure as Oikawa reaches down between the two of you, his hand firmly wrapping around your cock, stroking the length as Iwaizumi and him begin to bounce you in his lap, your prostate constantly stimulated by the sheer mass inside of you, Hanamaki and Matsukawa reaching down to tug and tweak your nipples. Your orgasm hits you like a tidal wave and you scream, wail, a crude animalistic sound that only eggs the men on, Oikawa using your cum as lube as he continues to insistently stroke your softening cock, laughing when your pleasure turns to overwhelming pain, tears streaming down your face when you beg them to stop, claiming it’s too much. 

“We don’t allow quitters on our team. There’s no such thing as too much. That just means you need to push yourself harder.” 

And push you they do, breaking past limits you never even thought could be surpassed, breaking your body and mind over and over again, molding you and rebuilding you into their perfect teammate. 

But you can’t find it in yourself to really mind as Iwaizumi gently cleans your cum-covered body, dressing you in your clean change of clothes, and drags you back home, the four of them easily chatting away as if they hadn’t just used you as nothing more than a post-practice stress reliever, only Iwaizumi’s heavy hand on your lower back a reminder of the predicament you’re in. 

You love volleyball. You love Aoba Johsai. You love your underclassmen. And maybe, just maybe, you might feel something for your fellow third-years, you think, as you tuck yourself into Iwaizumi’s side, a finger hooking into the pocket of his team-issued jacket. 

[justcourttee]

It’s More Than Just a Game Pt 1

@qualitypeacepainter sent me this wonderful idea for a Daminette Volleyball AU. It will definitely have several parts and I am so excited to write it so I hope you enjoy and I hope it’s something like what you had in mind :)

“So this is what a tournament looks like?” Marinette inhaled deeply “Do you smell that Nino? Air Salonpas. It’s so satisfying.”

She didn’t bother waiting for his response, she knew he was only here for her sake. Nobody could match her excitement for this day. It took her weeks, but she finally scrambled together a makeshift team so that she could enter at least one volleyball tournament before her middle school days were over. They had exactly three days of practice, but it didn’t matter.

Marinette was here to win.

“There are a lot of good teams here, please don’t get your hopes up Mari.” Adrien reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder as if he were attempting to pull her back down to reality. “Nino and I only know the basics, this isn’t anything like baseball.”

“Yeah Marinette, I know you gave us all a crash course, but this is way different from basketball.”

“And soccer!”

Her teammates all shared the same discouraged look on their faces. They knew how hard Marinette trained. Every day after school, she’d set to herself, pass to herself, spike at the school wall while the basketball team practiced. She was always helping them out, so the least they could do was help her form a team, but volleyball was something none of them knew much of.

“You guys worry too much! You’re all super athletic and the best friends a girl could ask for. There is absolutely nothing that could get in our way-”

Her sentence was cut short as a yell of excitement echoed through the gym. Instantly her eyes locked on the source of the commotion. Gotham Middle had entered and the crowd’s excitement was all focused on them. The teams around them begin to whisper, passing drills stopping as everyone took the chance to size up the competition.

“-it’s the King of the Court-”

“-I thought they weren’t entering this tournament-”

“-we’re so screwed-”

It was as if the world was crashing down around her. Marinette knew all about Gotham Middle. They were always featured in Sports Weekly as the top school in the volleyball world. In fact, there was even one student who was being scouted for the US National team. The King of the Court, Damian Al Ghul Wayne.

“I-I think I need to use the bathroom.” Marinette clutched her stomach, her face paling the longer she stared.

“Are you okay?”  Nino tried to offer her a hand to steady herself but she simply waved him off, stumbling past him to the hallway, her eyes dazed.

It’s just one team. It’s not like they would have to play them first. Of course, they would have a warm-up game, something to get her team in the groove. Yeah, there was no doubt in her mind. She came here to win, not worry about some top-ranked school.

Slowly she stood up, taking a few deep breaths, the bathroom door a mere ten steps away.

“I’ve never even heard of Dupont Transfer Middle.”

“Apparently it’s some French school that sends students wanting to study in America. It’s like a prep for American high school. They spend their eighth-grade year there to perfect their English and take any courses that wouldn’t transfer over.”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, standing in front of the water fountain were a couple of members of Gotham Middle. The only reason they would be concerned with her school would be..no..fate wouldn’t be that cruel right?

“They barely have a six-man team, they don’t even have a libero. Did they actually think they had a chance?”

“Hey!” Three sets of eyes turned in her direction, instantly wavering her nerve. “Don’t underestimate us.”

As if on cue, her stomach lurched once more, taking any confidence she had with it. The Gotham players shared a glance before busting into laughter.

“Is she serious? I think she is.”

“Is that the captain label on her uniform? Maybe we should show her some respect.”

Instantly, they all straightened, mock saluting her before dissolving back into a fit of laughter. Marinette wanted to give them a piece of her mind, but her stomach refused to let up.

“Hey, benchwarmers. It’s time for the warm-up. Quit wasting time.”

The three silenced, their face a mixture of fear and awe. Who could command such respect? The coach? The manager? Marinette’s eyes strayed to where the voice came from, her stomach immediately dropping.

“The King,” she slapped her hand over her mouth, hoping she hadn’t said it loud enough to offend the guy in front of her. He didn’t even glance in her direction, his fierce glare completely focused on his teammates.

“Right away sir. Kasey, fill up two more.”

Damian Wayne. He couldn’t have been more 5’7”, but compared to Marinette’s 5’1”, she was in awe. It was impressive how he could command so much respect with just one look. She watched as he turned, taking a few steps toward the gym before pausing once more.

“Relax James, you act like we’ll need a lot. Just look at our opponent.”

It was as if they completely ignored his warning. Their giggles only enraged Marinette.

“What did you sa-”

“Did I stutter? Quit wasting time. You’re barely benchwarmers, quit acting as though you’re good enough to look down on your opponent.”

Marinette watched as they all paled, gathering their bottles before rushing back into the gym. None of them dared to make eye contact with him. Marinette released a chuckle of her own. He might be terrifying, but he really wasn’t a bad guy. Marinette relaxed as she stood, a friendly smile tugging at her lips.

“You know, I was just about to say something to them myself.”

His glare shifted from his retreating teammates to where she stood. Instantly she felt a shiver down her spine.

“You’re not even physically ready to sit the bench, don’t talk as if we’re on the same level. What are you even doing here anyway? Making memories? This is a tournament for people who are serious.”

“I am serious, my team is serious. We’re here to win and that means we start by defeating you.”

Damian took a step forward. Suddenly those six inches felt a lot taller than they were. Marinette fought with herself to not move away.

“You say that like it’s so easy.” The waves flowing off of him made her want to shrivel up, but her anger anchored her feet.

“I may not look like much, but I can jump. Really high. I will jump over any wall your team puts in front of me.”

He simply scoffed, only fueling her rage. Everyone always underestimates her, she hated it. She just wanted to be taken seriously in the sport she loved.

“You will simply be a stepping stone on the way to our championship.”

Before she could even respond, Damian turned his back, returning to the court, leaving her fuming in her spot. She wanted to declare war, rush him and take him out before he could even step onto the floor, but her stomach had other plans. Gripping her gut, Marinette turned to the bathroom, her face paler than before she left the gym.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Dudette! You were gone for like twenty minutes. It’s our turn to use the court. How do we warm-up?”

Marinette scanned the other side of the court to where Gotham Middle stood huddled, occasionally glancing back at her teammates. All except one. Damian stood alone, his arms crossed, his eyes closed. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he was meditating.

“Let’s work on passing. It’s something we all struggle with and I think we’ll really need it with this team.”

Five minutes passed and as they lined up for the beginning of the first set, Marinette’s eyes locked onto his from across the court. She already had a fire burning when she stepped into the gym, but it was as if he threw coal at her until she was ablaze ready to annihilate anything in her path.

“We will win.”

Her teammates shared a look of skepticism, but none voiced their concerns. They didn’t have to. It had only been ten minutes, but the score was already 12 - 0. The only one drenched in sweat was Marinette. The energy for the rest had been drained after the first service ace.

“Nino! Set me up!”

They were barely keeping the ball in the air with iffy passes that they were sure the ref was only letting slide out of pity. Nino was the only one who could decently set. It was nothing compared to the flawless and quick sets the King was serving on the other side, but Marinette could care less. All she wanted, was a chance to hit the ball.

His set was shaky, the ball wobbling as it flew, threatening to fall out of the sky at any moment. But to her, it was perfect. On instinct, Marinette jumped, her palm connecting to the ball. A satisfying thud came from the other side of the court as the gym silenced, trying to process what had happened.

“Did they just score?”

“Forget that, did you see how high she just jumped? She must’ve been a foot over the net!”

The whispers got louder until a single clap echoed from the crowd leading to another and another. As her feet touched the ground once more, Marinette immediately shot Damian a smug look. His mouth hung agape, his eyes a mixture of anger, and did she catch a hint of admiration? It was even more satisfying than the sound of the ball hitting the court.

“Why didn’t you get that?”

Marinette flinched as he turned on his teammates, his face fuming.

“Dude, you were in shock too! We didn’t think they had-”

“This is why you don’t underestimate anyone, ever. You give every team 100% of your effort.”

Damian turned back to the net, his eyes narrowing in on her. It took everything in her not to crumble as she picked up the ball, tossing it to Adrien. She had a kill. Her first one in a tournament and not even the terrifying demon behind her could stomp on her moment.

“Okay, guys! Here’s our chance. Let’s turn this around.”

Her excitement spread through the court, each of her teammate’s risking a smile. Their fire may not have been as bright as hers, but it was finally starting to shine through.

“You’re right Marinette. We can’t promise anything flashy like the King over there, but we will get you the ball. No matter what it takes.”

This was the chance she was waiting for, the chance to motivate her team. Now that she had their attention, she didn’t want to waste one second of it.

.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“It was a close game Marinette. Please don’t be upset.”

Marinette waved off her friends, her smile tight.

“They won in two sets and we barely hit double digits both times, but it’s okay guys, really. Thank you so much for helping me out. I’m going to stay for a while, so go on without me. I wanna watch some more matches.”

Her friends shared a look of skepticism, but one by one they slowly stood, all leaving until she was the only one left. Marinette sighed as she stood herself, working up the courage to step back into the gym.

“I told you it was useless.”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder only to meet an annoyingly familiar face blocking the entrance.

“Don’t you have something better to do than gloat oh glorious king?”

“Tt, I only wanted to point out that your jump was impressive, but volleyball is not a sport that you can get by with athleticism alone. You set yourself up for failure.”

It was Marinette’s turn to scoff as she brushed past him, intent on not speaking another word.

“A piece of advice for you. Drop volleyball while it’s all fun and games for you. High school has no place for a foreigner with no talent.”

“I’ll beat you.” Her voice was soft but cold. Damian didn’t speak a response, but he didn’t move either as if he were taunting her to continue. Marinette turned her head until she had a full view of his scowling face. “Whether it be when fall comes and my team smoothers yours or even if it takes ten, twenty, no fifty years, I will destroy you King of the Court. All I have to do is be the last one standing, right?”

He didn’t respond, only offered her a small grunt before exiting the doors. Her eyes followed him until the bus doors closed and Gotham Middle pulled out of the parking lot.

“I will get better, just you wait Damian Wayne.” Marinette took a step forward, her eyes zeroing in on the match in front of her. High School was only three months away. Three short months to make her declaration a reality.

She smiled, the fire in her eyes stirring with a deadly glint. 

“Next time we meet, I will destroy the King of the Court.”

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[sunaswife]

Summary: It’s been five years since you’ve seen your ex, Rin. He’s still not over you and you’re not over him. When he finds out you have children he thought he didn’t have a chance. Then he finds out they’re his? All of a sudden you’re teaching Suna how to be a single dad.

note from denise: TAGLIST CLOSED

Warnings: Fluff, angst I guess, drama, and cuteness twin overload

Previously Up Next Masterlist

Chapter seven

“Alrighty give mommy kissy.” You squatted down. Both of your kids tackled you in a hug and they kissed your cheeks. You kissed them back and pulled away. You watched as they walked to the bus.

Even though they’re homeschool, they offered a program where your kids can still go to class in person once a week so they can socialize and it won’t affect their mental health. After talking to another mother who put her kids in the same program, she recommended it and you decided that it was best.

Your kids already socialized in their volleyball practice but it wouldn’t hurt for them to talk more with other kids.

You saw as Rini helped his sister up the bus first and blocked the back of her skirt from showing her shorts underneath and you lowkey wanted to cry because he was such a gentleman. He then got in and they sat together on the right side of the bus and they waved you goodbye. You waved back and the bus began to leave.

You sighed and turned back home. You washed this morning’s dirty dishes and cleaned a bit around. After you were satisfied with the presentation of your house, you made your way to your small studio office and began answering more emails and writing topics for the new podcast episode you and Jamie had to record.

You took another sip of your barley warm tea and finally you heard the doorbell ring. You glanced at the time on your watch and realized it wasn’t 12 yet, it was probably Jamie.

You carried your laptop and placed it on the dining table and ran to the door. “I’m coming!” You yelled as Jamie rang the bell again. You opened the door revealing your two best friends and you were shocked to see Hana. She’s your best friend from highschool, the one who blocked the boy’s numbers and let you spend the night when you got kicked out.

She was also the one who was rooting for you and Suna but she was more than furious when she found out what happened. You called her on New Years and started balling your eyes out.

You told her to never date boys cause they sucked but little did you know she had a big crush on you. You were her first love.

I guess you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. So when Rin started to take your attention, she felt jealousy and loneliness but your happiness mattered more than her selfishness.

She became a fashion major in University but dropped out because she didn’t like what they were teaching. With the bit she learned and already knew, she turned into art. She made beautiful leather pieces of lingerie with straps and belts and lace and the models needed dramatic makeup and hair. And you happened to know an amazing makeup artist.

That’s where Jamie came in.

And eventually they fell in love.

Hana is always busy with her lingerie company since everything is hand crafted and not made in a factory like Jamie’s makeup products. So that’s why it was a shock to see her here during the day at least. “Come in come in. Mi casa es su casa.” You said in broken Spanish and they laughed.

Jamie sat on the dining table and sighed. She rubbed her baby bump and you asked if she wanted something to drink. You got her water as well as some wine for Hana. “So they’re really coming over?” Hana asked as she opened Jamie’s laptop and set it up for her wife.

“Yeah I hope so. If they flake I’m not gonna give him another chance. I already told the kids he’ll be here and they’re excited.” You said and she nodded. “Good.” Hana replied. You and Jamie began reading eachothers notes and topics regarding the podcast. “I think Hana is gonna have to take my place on the podcast if I pop.” Jamie mentioned randomly.

“Hell no.” Hana immediately said. “That’s a you two thing I’m not getting into it.” Hana said sternly. “But Hana, since Jamie got pregnant. You didn’t have a face for your spicy lingerie line. So I temporarily replaced her. Surely you could do the same!” You exclaimed and she rolled her eyes. “Speaking of lingerie I have something I want you to try for the next photoshoot. I’ll go get it after my smoke.” She said and you rolled your eyes with a nod.

“It’s pretty hot, like a harness thing on your wrist that connects to your thighs.” Jamie spoke up as Hana left. “Where does Hana come up with these things?” You asked and Jamie made a smirky face. “Nevermind I don’t wanna hear about your guy’s sex life.” You shuttered and she snickered.

Hana got out your front door, walked to her fancy Mercedes and took out the gift wrapped box as well as her favorite pack of smokes. She sat on the small bench in the front of your house and she lit the lighter, breathing in the nicotine. She sighed and wondered if you’re going to be okay with your ex seeing his kids.

If it was her she would refuse to let him see them and take it to court. But you weren’t like that. You always had hope and patience that you’d meet Suna again someway somehow.

She heard a car door slam and looked up to see the three tall figures get out of a car. She exhaled the smoke and they looked up to see her. “It’s been a long time, huh?” She tilted her head to the side and Suna scratched the back of his neck as he neared. “Hana I—I’m sorry for everything.” He said. “I trusted you with my best friend and you hurt her. I don’t think I could ever forgive you for hurting my first love like that.” She spoke bitterly and put out the cigarette in the small froggy bowl turned ashtray that the twins made.

“First love?” Osamu asked and Hana stayed quiet and motioned for them to follow her. Suna didn’t know what to say, after you left Hyogo Suna began bugging her for answers and she went off on him once and that’s when he realized that Hana was gay and in love with you the whole time.

Immediately when the door opened they heard yelling and singing. Obviously confused the boys looked at eachother but Hana seemed unfazed, she’s used to her wife’s chaotic nature and even though you’re pretty quiet and collected you make a complete 360 with Jamie around. You were both like Yin and Yang.

“Shh she’s been trying to get this song down for weeks.” Hana whispered as the boys followed through the small hall. They looked at the photos that adorned the wall and they saw baby photos of Suna’s kids and they truly looked like him. From the corner of his eye, Suna saw a photo of you with Shawn Mendes and smiled that you finally had a chance to meet your celebrity crush.

Suna nor the twins didn’t know what to expect when they saw you again. But they were shocked to see you in your true nature with studio headphones over your ears as you sang each note higher and higher. Jamie was yelling and slamming the table with her palm encouraging you to keep on going. Jamie used to do that in parties, drinking games were her favorite.

You finally finished the song and you took off your headphones and started screaming. “SIX WEEKS IT TOOK ME SIX FUCKING WEEKS TO COPY IT TO A T! I DID IT OH MY GOD!” You yelled and Jamie yelled again too. “BITCH I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT BUT YOU-“

“SELF-“ punch

“DOUBT-“ punch

“ALL-“ punch

“THE-“ punch

“TIME!” punch

“Alright alright I get it goddamn—if you weren’t pregnant you know I would punch you just as hard.” You scowled as you rubbed your arm. “Sorry y/n.” She apologized and chuckled. “We’re not interrupting right?” Hana spoke up causing you and Jamie to turn. The three men stood behind her and your face fell. The air shifted and you suddenly felt cold.

“No just work stuff.” You said and you quickly stood up. “Welcome to my home. You’re welcome to sit at the table.” You said and closed your laptop. “Would you like anything to drink..?” You asked, trying to be hospitable and Hana scoffed. “Give them water, you don’t have to be nice to them.” Hana said and she sat by Jamie. You bit the inside of your cheek and looked at the three men. “Water is fine..” Suna spoke up and the twins nodded.

“Sit.” Jamie said and motioned to the dining chairs. They all sat awkwardly while waiting for you to come back from the kitchen. You had your tray with their water, more tea for you and Jamie, and a glass of wine for Hana.

“Alright where do we start..” you said as you sat down next to Suna since that was the only empty spot. “The beginning.” Jamie shrugged. “I already explained what happened. I told her everything.” Jamie told the boys and immediately Atsumu scowled. “Knowing you you probably made yourself sound less bad.” He muttered, immediately Hana was about to say something but you interrupted. “Did you make the bet?” You asked the blonde, “Y..Yeah..” he frowned and shifted in the seat awkwardly, “Did you accept the bet?” You turned to Suna. “Yes..” he said guiltily. “Did you think Suna would win?” You asked Osamu. “Yeah.” “Jamie Did you think pissy— I mean Atsumu would win?” You asked her and she sighed a yes. “And did you all bet with money?” You asked. They all replied with yeahs and yes’s.

“Did you guys agree to quit because it was wrong?” You asked and they all nodded. “Then that’s all that happened. I don’t need to know anything else.” You explained.

“Look guys.” Jamie spoke up and she tapped her manicured fingers on the table nervously. “It took a long ass time for Y/N to forgive me and trust me, I ruined her life and I’m blessed to have met her. Without her I’d probably still be in an abusive relationship. Without her I wouldn’t have learned how to be humble and grateful for even waking up in the morning. She’s my best friend and I’m telling you straight up if you truly want to be her friend again. You need to work for it, Suna if you really want to be in the kids lives and earn Y/N’s trust you truly need to work for it.” she said almost desperately.

“If you ever disrespect her again. I will not hesitate to sock you in the face and I’ll call up Tobio if I have to. That goes for all of you.” Hana told the three men.

“Do you guys have anything to say?” You asked. “I would apologize but I’d rather let you see it than hear it.” Suna spoke up and you nodded. “Alright.” You said simply.

“I’m sorry, Y/N-cha—I mean Kageyama.” Atsumu said. “I’m sorry Kageyama.” Osamu finished and you nodded once more.

“Okay this is awkward. I forgave you guys a long time ago but I don’t trust either of you. Atsumu, Osamu you are not obligated to be my friend. Suna you aren’t obligated to be my friend either but I would appreciate it if we were civil with one another for the sake of the kids. If you ever have any questions regarding the kids I’ll be happy to answer.” You told him as you played with the tea bag in your cup, and they all stared at you.

Like that’s it? You forgive them? You’re not going to throw your tea at them?

“Um I kind of want to ask about the ya know..”

“Pregnancy?” Hana raised a brow and Suna nodded awkwardly. “Like when did you find out....and is that why you left?” He asked. “If its alright can we talk about that in private?” You asked and stood up. “Y-yeah sure.” Suna stuttered and he stood up as well. “Hana, Jamie you don’t mind—“ “The bus honks at 13:30 we know. We’ll be able to hear it.”

“Yeah and we have a lot of catching up to do.” Jamie fake smiled and you wanted to snort at the her disgust and their awkwardness. “Alright follow me.” You motioned down the hall. You opened the door to the kids room and you took a step in. He followed you and closed the door. You both released a sigh and you sat on Akira’s bed. “You can sit there.” You motioned to your sons bed.

He nodded and sat on the small bed. “Okay so..the pregnancy..” you started. “Mhm.” He nodded. “I found out on January 25th, I wasn’t feeling the best for a while and I couldn’t handle the discomfort anymore so I went to the hospital with my mom. The doctor asked me the basic sex questions and tested my urine. My mom came into the room when I was told the news and I was basically disowned.” You sighed and leaned back against the wall.

You hugged your knees to your chest. He could already feel the shame you must have felt in his chest. “I had to walk to the pharmacy in my school uniform to get to prenatales since my mom told me to walk home. When I finally arrived home, my room was trashed and they were asking if you happened to be the dad. I told them no. He even threatened to kick me out and I told him I didn’t know so I was kicked out and I left. I spent the night at Hana’s and the next day I resigned as the team’s manager, and gathered all my papers to transfer.” You said and he rubbed his face and sighed.

His birthday.

You found out on his birthday.

He patiently listened and asked a few questions here or there and before you knew it you barley heard the faint foot steps and the door bursting open. You both turned to see your guy’s kids standing there. “See I told you they were talking.” Akira mumbled. “Aunt Hana said something about them making out.” Rini huffed.

“She said making up not out! Are you an idiot or an idiot?!” Akira said slightly frustratedly. “I’m older than you, don’t call me an idiot.” He said and shoved her. Before you could scold your son, you saw Akira’s whole demeanor change and you knew Rini was fucked. “How many times has mom said to stop shoving girls and pushing women! If you keep at it than you’re going to be a bad husband to your future wife someday you stupid Rabbit!” She yelled as she tackled him and began smacking him around. “Get off me you nerd!” He yelled and you quickly pulled Akira away.

Rini began crying and Akira did too and you sighed and turned to Suna.

“Welcome to parenthood.”

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[softomi]

Realistically

prompt: “Even though I knew you wouldn’t show up I still waited for you”

pairing: sakusa kiyoomi x f!reader

word count: 1.5k

He was a realist, that’s how Sakusa always described himself. There was no such thing as fate, perhaps coincidences were more probable. He didn’t believed people couldn’t just naturally be good at something, there needed to be practice and hard work put into everything.

Unlike his coworkers, friends if he had to stretch for another word, they were wishful thinkers. Reliant on pre-game rituals and head over heels on thoughts of impossibility such love at first sight.

“You can’t deny that you probably fell in love at first sight.” Bokuto tried to reason with him in the locker rooms.

It was like a game they liked to play with him, as if testing his ideals.

“I didn’t.” Sakusa would respond bluntly.

Like usual, the men in the locker room would pretend to gasp, as if they wouldn’t expect that answer from him.

“It must be hard to date you.” Atsumu amuses the group, “Nothing would satisfy him. Don’t know how your girlfriend does it.” There’s small laughter as Sakusa leaves the locker rooms.

While his other teammates would leave the locker room and straight to the left to exit towards the entrance, Sakusa takes a sharp right from the door; the hallway leads him back to the gym. The place empty and abandoned contrary to its original state just two hours ago, but there remains one lone figure standing in the middle of the court. Their back facing him, head peering to the bleachers above, he can imagine their astonished expression.

“What are you doing?”

You turn on your heels, the mask on you hides the smile that’s engraved in his head, “Just seeing how it looks from your point of view.” You turn back to the bleachers, your finger pointing at one of the high seats, “I sat just right there.”

“You actually sat?” Sakusa grimaces.

“Oh.” You let out a laugh, “I didn’t sit, I stood behind the seat.” You move to step towards the male, “Ready?” There’s a safe distance between the two of you as you exit the gym.

Sakusa would even say, that in his relationship with you, everything was realistic. It wasn’t like Bokuto’s relationship who showered his significant other with bouquet upon bouquet upon bouquet. Neither was he like Atsumu who enjoyed showering his flings with endless amounts of diamonds. Realistically, Sakusa thinks, relationships are just the comfortability of being together and realistically, he would believe you think so too.

But there were times when he noticed your shifting gazes, a mere envious smile when your friends talk about their spontaneous gifts from their lovers. And you look at him, with such loving affection that it almost makes him guilty.

“Flowers?” You quirk a brow at him when he emerges after his game, a small bouquet of lilies in his hands.

The gym is silent as you take the bouquet from him. Delicate, sweet in scent, beautiful; just like him. You admire the lilies, a sparkle in your eye, “What for?”

He’s nonchalant, waving a hand, “It’s only fair that I do this once in a while.”

You couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. It was simply his way of saying ‘I love you’. You draw out one of the lilies, handing it to him, “It’s only fair that I do this once in a while too.”

Sakusa keeps the single lily you had given him in a frame tucked in the corner of his closet.

There was something about realistically that started to put a bad taste in his mouth. Because, he should have prepared himself for the realistic nature that you wouldn’t always be by his side.

It was like a bomb had dropped on him.

“I got accepted into a graduate program in Tokyo.” You had told him the day before one of his games. You wouldn’t see him until after his game, but you just had to tell him, you had to know what he thought before you made your decision on the night of his game, “Should I go?”

Should you go?

You looked at him with such eagerness and he couldn’t tell if you wanted him to tell you to stay with him. He told you he’s think about it, leaving out the door without another word.

And he thought about it long and hard. He thought out it as he spiked the ball with all his force, he thought about it as he showered in peace, he thought about it as walked the longest hallway to get to you.

“Of course, you should go.” He states, towering over you in the middle of the gym, “Realistically.” It paints his tongue with dirt, “you’ll only be half a day away.” He wants to pull you close, maybe if he stared long enough, you would see that he had thrown his realistic ideas away.

Your eyes light up, “Oh my gosh Omi.” You take a step back from him, excitedly jumping, “Are you sure?”

He didn’t want to be like one of those movies, the one where she has to choose between the love of her life or literally anything else in the world. It only made sense in a real-life context, that you would rather move forward in your life than stay and wait with him.

“Of course.” His encouragement is laced with bitterness.

“Omi!” You can’t contain the extra excitement as you leap into his arms. One of the rare times he actively catches you. You don’t notice the way he holds you just a little tighter, “But Omi.” You pull away, “I won’t be able to attend your games anymore.”

“It’s alright.” He keeps his hands on the small of your back, dipping his forehead to press against yours, “It’ll be aired anyways, you can watch then.” But it wouldn’t be the same without you there.

He was right. It wasn’t the same without you. His place was bare of you, he had hung up the frame of the lily which remained the only constant reminder of you. Missed connections, late night texts, video calls at dawn. For a half day away, it felt like opposite ends of the world.

‘I’m sorry Omi, I have to submit this draft on Friday, so I won’t be able to talk much.’

It was the last thing you sent him in a while.

If anything made it worse, it was when he left the locker rooms. It was the long, excruciating hallway as he turned right. The empty gym, the sound of silence piercing him; he’d wait there, sometimes for five minutes, on others maybe thirty minutes. As if, by some godly chance, you’d walk through the door and tease him for actually waiting. Sheepishly, he misses you.

“Hey.” You were rushed as he spontaneously called you. Usually, he’d tell you when he’d call you, “What’s up?” You tried to sound less stressed on the phone with him.

He hums for a second, “What are you doing?”

“I’m actually heading to my apartment right now. Lots and lots of research articles to read.” You mock a laugh, “It’s so much fun!”

Sakusa laughs with you, “I miss you.”

A smile crept on your lips, “You couldn’t have waited another month to say it. Now I owe Atsumu some money.” A sigh is emitted from his end, “I’ll have to admit, I’m glad it only took what, six months.”

“Where are you now?”

You push open the doors to your building, “About to take the elevators.”

“Take the stairs.” Sakusa pauses, “It’s better for you.”

“Just admit you want to talk to me longer.” You follow his command, opting for the stairs over the elevators.

“You sound out of breath already. You really don’t know how to take care of your body.”

You pause in the middle of the stairs, huffing and puffing, “I hate you so much.” Still, laughter leaves your lips, “I watched your last game, I’m glad you guys won.” You’re slowly starting back up the stairs, “You have a game today right?”

“No, I don’t.”

You frown, taking the phone away from your ear to look at the date, “No, I’m pretty sure you guys are playing today.” You reach your floor level, “Your mom was talking about it.”

“You were with my mom?”

You were resting yourself at the top of the stairs, “Yeah, we had lunch together today.” You pause, “So why are trying to tell me that you aren’t playing today?”

The door to the stairs open, your eyes are met the deep colors of his, “Because I’m not.”

In tears, you bawl in front of him, “What are you doing here?” You sob.

Sakusa is rubbing your hands with hand sanitizer. He uses his own handkerchief to wipe your tears, and he then he lets you fall into his arms, “I told you I missed you.”

“Your game?”

He runs a hand through your hair, “I missed you more.”

Extra:

“You’re so cheesy today.” He’s kept you close since his surprise visit, your back is presses against his chest as you two sit on the couch, “You know, realistically, you should be playing at the game right now.”

Sakusa’s eyes are glued onto the volleyball game displayed on the screen, “You know realistically, I would have bathed you in hand sanitizer before I let you cry on my clothes.”

You slap his chest, “You’re so mean!” You attempt to run away from him, only he’s quick to grab you by the wrist, pulling you back into him.

“Realistically.” His nose brushes against yours, “I love you.”

[clairdelunelove]

Closer Than We Seem

kyoutani kentarou x f!reader

genre: slight angst, fluff, comfort, romance, mutual pining 

warnings: cursing, implied past physical abuse, mentions of physical/verbal harassment 

synopsis: college!kyoutani demanded to know the source of the obnoxious arguing that kept him awake throughout the night. The thin walls barely filtered out the yelling and he had a 7:00 a.m. class in the morning. Venturing out to immediately put an end to it, kyou stumbles upon a person with a past that changes both their lives- and romance ensues. 

a.n: 5.0k words of some kyoutani content! enjoy!

He was sick of it.

Amber eyes, bloodshot around the edges, shifted to glance at the digital clock seated on the nightstand. The dark plastic is well worn as the illuminated screen is covered in cracks. Undoubtedly, the piece of technology was victim to his annoyed clobbering whenever the alarm went off.

Smothering a plush pillow over his ears, the blonde fervently attempts to block the commotion. His fingers press tightly against the only source of comfort that keeps his sanity at bay. A raised vein etched across his jawline as his teeth grind together and he forces out a grunt. 

2:25

“It’s been two damn hours.” 

Kyoutani’s gravelly voice is barely heard over the yelling in the next room. Disgruntled, he removes the pillow from his face and tosses it beside him with a roll of his eyes. The part-time college student is openly miffed by the lack of peaceful sleep he could be getting. He, quite honestly, didn’t appreciate showing up to morning classes with eye-bags as dark as the eyeliner that he meticulously lined his eyes with. Over the past four months, adequate rest is a miracle for him to discover each day. 

“And they’re still arguing,” Kyoutani rambles on while using the bottom of his hand to hammer the pillow onto the mattress, “who the fuck argues that long?” 

Scrunching his thin eyebrows, he tries to comprehend the mere logic behind quarrelling in the middle of the night, especially on a school night. By all means, Kyoutani isn’t a saint amongst sinners but in a couple hours the blond has a chemistry quiz, a subject he’s gloriously failing, and sleep was needed. 

Another frustrated shout rips through the popcorn textured walls which doesn’t muffle the noise due to the poor insulation covering. The voice is distinctly a male’s and it takes all of Kyoutani’s willpower not to roar back to assert his dominance. Instead, his fingertips rake through his cropped hair while letting out a grumble. 

His eyelids feel like weights are strapped to them, progressively drooping shut, as his vision becomes blurry. A rare silence drifts through his cramped dorm room. The place resembles a battle zone with clothes tossed to the bed, papers scattered over the desk, and empty protein bar wrappers cascaded on the floor. Yet, Kyoutani adored the small freedom he finally had at the university dorms. 

The silence lulls him to close his bloodshot eyes, a deep exhale flares out his pointed nose, and a relief floods through him. He might actually get some rest for once. 

“Get out!” 

At the obnoxious yell from the neighboring room, the blond is far too annoyed to logically comprehend his actions before his bruised knuckles are knocking at the wall. The numbness of rapping at the wall is barely registered over how livid Kyoutani is at the intrusion to his sleep. 

“Shut up!” 

He throws in the bellow for good measure and stops his onslaught of assault on the wall. It seems awkward scolding the wall and his hand slowly drops to his lap. His sharp eyes track the movement of his fingers, dimly noting that he needs to trim the cracked edges. Perhaps his unpolished fingertips are the reason for his missed spikes on the volleyball court lately. 

A solid thump resonates back to him, to which Kyoutani dumbly blinks at. Hairs at the back of his neck stand and he can literally feel the heat leave his ears as his blood boils. The college student’s temper has simmered down since high school but hearing the other person’s unperturbed knock ticked him off. It was almost like they were taunting him. 

“Oh that’s it,” he mumbles and kicks away the blanket that interlaced his figure. 

Stretching across the small room, his legs move on its own accord and he reaches to twist the knob of the door. Using the expanse of his muscular shoulder, he pushes the wooden structure open in hopes of confronting the rowdy student that resided next to his dorm room. 

Permanent frown plastered on his pale lips, the blond urges to dramatize the expression. He crosses his arms after knocking on the neighboring door and the action displays his athletic build as a result of years of sports. The irate appearance was perfected as a scare tactic that he used to his advantage in varying situations. Petrifying the student next door wasn’t excluded out of the list.

“Could you shut your mouth? You’re being too damn loud, man--”

Kyoutani allowed himself to commit a double take before hastily shutting his own mouth, only for it to part as a sharp inhale almost made him sputter. His onslaught of vulgarity, a script he’d previously rehearsed plenty of times, fell lost on his tongue as he eyes the female in front of him. 

You’re unfairly pretty. 

It pains him that the first thought that races within his mind is a compliment when your mascara is smudged at the edges. Your frizzy hair is at a disarray, strands sticking up even when it’s pulled into a ponytail. The hoodie that you’re wearing is far too large as the end hits above your midthigh and his thoughts short circuit when he drags his gaze upward to see that you’re already giving him a sheepish smile. 

“Sorry,” your voice pitches higher at the sudden appearance of the male, “were we being too loud?” 

“N-no? I mean yes,” Kyoutani sputters the first words and finishes his reasoning with a pathetic remark, “chemistry.” 

Your face lights up, visibly amused with his lack of speech at the moment while understandingly nodding, “you have a chemistry test?” 

“Yeah.”

“And you need to get some sleep before it?”

“Yeah.”

His responses are pitiful- even he knew- but there was only so much he could verbally say when focusing on the way your lips curved up when smiling. Plus, perhaps he was delusional with the lack of sleep, but your curiosity seemed to dip to his lean physique.

“I’m so sorry,” your eyes follow the blond’s movement of leaning against the doorframe, “we’ll try to keep it down so you can get some rest.” 

His brain disconnects with the small ounce of logic he carries when your sleeve sweeps across your nose to sniffle and he recognizes the dried tears that stain your face. Kyoutani isn't the best at handling emotions or being touchy-feely but he’s not ignorant.

“You good?” He asks while cautiously taking a step forward.

His defensive instincts, honed by years of avoiding other people, raise at the wary glint in your eyes. The blond’s inquisition is answered with a meek nod of your head and your nose scrunches to halt your sobs. Upon closer inspection, the sleeves on your hoodie is drenched in what he infers are tears.

Your feet remain rooted to the ground, neither welcoming him or pushing his intrusiveness away. He’s aware of the slight shake of your body and his golden eyes widen at how unnerved you were behaving. 

“My bad,” Kyoutani falters as his own doubts consume him, “I didn’t mean to make you cry-” 

“Who’s at the door, (Y/n)?”

The new voice, startling you with the sudden shout, comes from within the room. Distinctly, it’s the same tone that was hollering while Kyoutani was trying to sleep. The blond’s keen on how you were shifting your weight to each foot and the fidgeting only increased when footsteps resounded on the creaking floorboards. 

“Oh,” you squeak as your evasive gaze connects with his, “my dorm room neighbor.” 

Pulling your hands away from your face, a naive expression is plastered on when a male comes up behind you. The stranger is shorter and less lean than Kyoutani is. Yet, when the male captures your stare, you’re reeling back by fiddling with your fingers behind your back. 

The unpleasant male, brunet but his darker roots were peeking out, regards Kyoutani with a sniff, “can we help you?” 

Something about the male irked the blond and a frown tugs at his lips. He predicted that the guy was your boyfriend or had some type of connection with you. Being in university led to freedoms such as relationships. Although Kyoutani was a stranger to such involvement, he knew the attachment or void others were attempting to fill during these years.

“Yeah, you can,” the blond responds with a miffed scowl, “noise complaint.” 

There’s an uncomfortable silence when the brunet eyes Kyoutani with an agitated glower. It’s painstakingly silent. He’s surely showcasing his superiority within the uneasy situation. Though, the volleyball player is grateful for his decision of wearing a tattered, sleeveless shirt because the other male loosened into an apprehensive gaze. 

“She wasn’t listening to me, so,” the other male jut a thumb towards you and shrugs his shoulders, “sorry, dude.”

Raising a sharp brow, Kyoutani’s expression is dubious when noting how the blame is placed on you when the other male was clearly the only one hollering beforehand. It clicks that the uneasy flickering within your eyes is due to the other male and disgust engulfs him. 

His fist clenches, displeasure rolling off of him in waves before speaking up, “I’m pretty sure I just heard your loudass screeching. Just keep it down.” 

The brunet clams up at the jest, forehead wrinkling just enough to cause worry that lines would permanently stay there. Kyoutani watches the way the other male’s jaw tightens before he’s storming off. The blond regards the other’s lack of positivity with a roll of his eyes and mutters an insult under his breath. 

A whisper, faint but lingering in the silent air, leaves your lips, “thanks.” 

“Nah,” his amber eyes flicker to yours, “don’t need to thank me. ‘Ts about time someone put him in his place.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

“I could,” Kyoutani pauses to toe at the floorboards and the cheap tile chips at the touch, “if you’d let me.” 

The words tumble out of his mouth before it can be filtered and the result has him reeling back. His cheeks are warm, probably matching with his reddened ears. The invitation is annoyingly corny and the staleness makes him want to hurl. 

“Sounds like a deal.” 

Your response has his attention locked onto you again and he’s internally thankful that he’s not the only one embarrassed by his impromptu. Thumbing at the sleeves of your sweater, a lopsided grin etches across your face and the blond freezes up. His mind is functioning as quickly as a bullet train but his expression only stares back at you with a stupidly blank look. 

Your giggle snaps him out of his stupor before putting him into a daze over how charming the noise sounds. An entertained peek casts over him as you tuck your hair away from your face.

“I guess I’ll see you around-”

“Kentarou,” he discloses with a respectful yet hurried bow of his head, “Kyoutani Kentarou.” 

“(Y/n)(L/n). Call me (Y/n),” you mention before begrudgingly edging the door closed, “and good luck on your chemistry test, Kentarou.”

The next day, it irritates him that he can only conjure up an image of your smile when he should be solving for Planck’s constant.

-

“Whatcha doing there?” 

Keys dangling in his grasp, he halts at the front of his dorm room door. It’s unwelcomely cold today and the brisk wind has his fingers alike to popsicles. The blond’s tried to fight off the chill with his customary varsity jacket and black beanie. Ideally he didn’t toss on the hat because he couldn’t bother with styling his hair- of course not. 

You’re situated on the floor with your knees pulled up to your chest while balancing a notebook atop of your makeshift desk. The lined paper has quick notes jotted down, highlighted words, and doodled diagrams that Kyoutani is able to discreetly peer at. A twinge of satisfaction tugs at him when your study habits are exactly what he’d picture they would be. 

“Studying,” your eyes never leave your paper as you respond to him. 

Uncapping a pastel highlighter, you exaggerate the action by underlining a phrase written in your notebook and raising a brow at him. The incredulous look on your face only comes off as sarcastic as Kyoutani rolls his dark eyes at your mockery. A grin curls on your lips while raising your shoe to nudge the side of his boot. He’s recognized each one of quirks, including your friendly banter.

“No shit Sherlock,” the blond pulls his hand away from the door and tucks the keys into his pocket, “coulda sworn you were sleeping.”

Crouching on par with you, he extends a finger to poke at your cheek and indicates the dark bags underneath your eyes. It’s lighthearted payback for the attitude he received just a second ago yet there’s a concerned glint in his stare. The darkness that surrounds your eyes is apparent even with the dab of concealer you managed to slap on in the morning and an embarrassed hand covers half of your face. 

“Kyou!” 

The threat isn’t laced with malice but the jab at his shoulder sure proves that humiliation is a strong consequence of emotion. He lets out a groan while gingerly rubbing the ache that emits from the bundle of muscle you punched. 

Childishly sticking out your tongue at his dramatics, you declare, “that’s what you get.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

He pauses and then recognizes that the position you’re in is one that seemed too familiar. Your gaze flutters back to the flimsy notebook, aware of how perceptive Kyoutani was when it involved the wellbeing of yours. 

Inviting the blond to warm up to you was certainly a gradual process but you did not regret it. Shy smiles transformed into late night talks over the phone. The two of you had a special yet uncharted compassion for each other that had bloomed over the last two months. 

“What,” the words taste like venom in his mouth and he desperately wants to spit it out, “he locked you out again?” 

You feign interest in your notes, physiology facts are sprawled onto the margins, while avoiding Kyoutani’s heated gaze. His hand balls into a fist, dull fingernails digging into the soft flesh of his palm. He knows that you won’t answer the seemingly obvious question even when you’re slumped on the floor in a feeble heap and it tugs at his heart.

Unfortunately, when Kyoutani faces displeasure he’s only adept to outwardly show his emotions. Ever since he was born, it was a rule to allow oneself to be impassioned about hobbies, beliefs, and avocations. The blond applied the rule to showcasing his appreciation to the people he deemed as special, as per usual. Except, he didn’t have the best grasp on handling his intense emotions. 

“He’s always treating you like shit,” the next part comes out like a scoff that rages within him, “and you’re always falling for it.” 

The weight of the words felt like a blow to your face, leaving a stinging sensation that resonated within you. The confrontation shook you to the core. Not once has the male ever blamed you for your boyfriend’s inconsideration. 

Kyoutani’s chapped lips form around the syllables of the offense and he automatically knows that he just messed up. Curses sling together within his mind as he pitifully watches your reaction. A silent wince morphs upon your delicate face. You’re recoiling away from him, shrinking yourself into the crevice of the wall. His fingertips reach for you, the action is subconscious, and the next words spill out of his mouth like an off brand remedy. 

“Listen, (Y/n), I didn’t mean it like that-” 

“No,” you speak up with newfound acrimony, “that’s exactly what you meant.” 

Lifting your head up, your narrowed eyes connect with Kyoutani’s wide ones. A part of you desperately wishes to become agitated with the blond. Envy grips a hold of you at the thought that he’s able to live his life freely without the burden of an overbearing significant other. By all means, he had all the attributes to attest your relationship- or lack thereof. 

Your furrowed expression mellows.

Yet, his comment awakens a self reflection that you’ve casted away to maintain some dignity. Your boyfriend’s attitude toward you equated to virtually nothing. Countless nights of arguing, getting locked out, and being pushed aside were bouts of normalcy to you. It was your responsibility to get the respect that you deserved. Cutting out toxicity, even if the future frightened you, was an initial step. 

The golden hue outlining Kyoutani’s eyes, intense in many cases, recast into a softened stare. He’s mindful of the gears shifting in your head and the tremble of your bottom lip settles it. Unknowingly, you just received a life changing message with his chiding. The doors of independence and freedom swing open. An exhale passes through your lips. 

Crouching closer to you, the blond compels your attention with a tilt of his head, “sorry.” 

The apology is gruff, likely the result of his avoidance toward wrongdoings, but the intent is clearly there. Chewing on his bottom lip, he gestures toward your fragile stance with a shifty gaze. Your cowering behavior scared him immensely. It wasn’t often someone else was willing to interact with his loner self. He can’t mess this up even when his pride is screaming at him to bicker.

“It’s not your fault,” you shake your head in reassurance, “I know that it’s mine.” 

Unintentionally, your demeanor frees open with his genuine apology and you can’t help but be soothed at the gentle prod in his scrutiny. He appreciates that you’re able to acknowledge his opposition because the male wasn’t planning on taking his comment back. The truth may hurt but it’ll ultimately improve your mentality in the long run. 

Perching on the heels of his feet, he repositions himself to improve comfort. His arms are draped over his knees and the jacket bunches at the ends due to his movement. The blond is close, alarmingly near your face, and an aromatic whiff of dry cedar invades your senses. 

“You’re just,” his confession smoothly slips out, “too good for him.”

The side of his face rests against his forearm while he awaits your response. He’s content when your eyes light up, gleaming in reverence, at his blunt compliment. Lips tugging upward, your lopsided grin is all he has to witness as he hops to his feet. His palm pats at the faded denim of his jeans before offering his free hand to you. 

“C’mon,” he easily pulls you to your feet in a quick motion, “you can hangout in my dorm room, I guess.” 

“What do you mean, ‘you guess’?” 

Kyoutani catches your teasing eye roll while organizing your school materials that are cluttered on the floor. He’s nimble, stacking your books into a pile and swinging your backpack over his wiry shoulder. 

“I mean, let’s go.” 

With the grace of a dancer, the blond balances the items while fetching his keys and unlocking the door. He nudges it open and steps aside to let you enter first. Certainly the male must’ve picked up the chivalrous acts in a sappy movie or television show because your heart thumps against your chest. It’s absurd in reality. A person helping another is ordinariness yet you feel like you’re flying when he looks at you expectantly.

“Thank you,” the gratitude is a whisper as you tug your sweater tighter to your body and eagerly slide past him.

“Don’t mention it.” 

The room is comfortably warm, easing away the shivers that racked throughout you while seated in the middle of the dorm hallway. Its surprisingly tidy, which also comes across as a shock to Kyoutani because the scrunch of his nose indicates that he’s accustomed to a messy room. However, upon closer inspection, you note that the blond is the one readily cleaning because he scoots aside a stray snack bag with his elbow. An embarrassed pout conforms to his face when he hears your amused giggle.

Gently placing your stuff on the desk, he notices your awkward stance in the middle of the room and gestures to either his bed or desk chair. You respectfully, minus the internal debate you had, settle on the chair and only then does Kyoutani move over to lounge on his bed. It’s eerily silent despite how comfortable you both are with each other. 

Indefinitely, he flops onto the mattress, much like a child would, and folds his hands behind his head to stare up at the popcorn ceiling. A couple months beforehand he would’ve despised being locked up in his dorm room without having anything to do. Now, however, his nerves were bouncing off the walls.

Peering over to your rigid position, he takes your fiddling fingers and shy demeanor with scrutiny. Not once in his life did he think he’d actually invite a person into his sacred place. Yet, when his gaze locks with yours and you return a coy smile- he’s praying that this won’t be the last time.

“So, I only let you in because I don’t get this chemistry problem-”

“Kyou!”

-

Treading backward, a sense of urgency rushes through you as you narrowly avoid the aggressive hands. It’s bewildering that he’s willing to physically confront you in public. The dorm hallway was bound to have university students frequent the place and prying eyes were not on your current wishlist. 

“What are you doing? I told you that we’re over!” 

The incredulous question goes over his head as he refuses to outrightly answer or perhaps he just didn’t wish to. Before this incident, you attempted to just force in a power nap before your next class that was situated across campus. Your ex boyfriend, however, had other plans as he lingered by your dorm room while you were unaware of the unwanted surprise. 

The unruly male is clearly tipsy and his wandering hands are not in your favor as he lunges for you once more. Thankfully, you sidestep away while your shoulder bumps against the wooden frame of a door. Your blood turns to ice.

“Come here and give me a kiss, babe,” your ex boyfriend garbles. 

The stench of alcohol overwhelms your sobriety and a part of you yearns for the familiar scent of dry cedar musk. You longed for the latter of the aromas to engulf you in a reassuring embrace but grabby hands motioned for you again. A slight tug at your cardigan fuels the hatred that ignites within you. Tears pricked at the corner of your eyes, inwardly loathing how you managed to date such a pathetic excuse of a person. 

Your hands defensively jab at your ex boyfriend’s chest, “get away from me!” 

“Bitch!”

The sudden force propels him backward, giving you an inch of breathing room, before he’s barreling towards you again. His furrowed brows and snarl illustrate that you’ve unlocked danger. Sweat trickled down your temples, gathering at your hairline and your tongue sweeps across your chapped lips. The thrashing of your heart is the only sensation you’re aware of at the moment. Eyes fixated on his response, you don’t dare to blink. Your ex boyfriend raises a hand, a sign you’ve been introduced to before, and you instinctively flinch at the action.

A lean figure abruptly steps in front of you to provide protection from the physical onslaught. Dry cedar breaches your uneven inhales but you’re holding onto that scent like it was a lifeline. He was your salvation. 

Landing a hit on Kyoutani’s sturdy chest, your ex boyfriend promptly pulls away with a confused glance, “get outta the way, man-” 

“Didn’t you hear her,” the blond barks out and shoves him, “get the fuck away.” 

Waves of animosity radiate off of Kyoutani, a scene that you’ve never witnessed in your encounters with him. He’s absolutely livid. His teeth gnash together while his hands are clenched at his sides. The veins on his brow protrude as a result of his creased forehead. Kyoutani’s damp in perspiration from his hurried movement, a deduction you’ve assumed. 

The male is clad in exercise attire, probably coming back from a run, and his dri fit shirt conforms to his physique. His pullover and snug joggers were clear indicators that Kyoutani was in excellent physical shape, causing a wary stare from your ex boyfriend. 

If the muscles rippling off of Kyoutani’s body isn’t a fright factor then his black, rimmed eyes are intimidatingly adequate. Yet, your ex boyfriend has intelligence compared to a newborn so he still lurches forward to attack Kyoutani. The blond dodges, grasps your ex boyfriend’s wrist, and twists it behind the other’s back. His defensive response is swift- almost alarmingly so that you wonder if Kyoutani ever brawled before. 

“Seriously, cut the shit,” the blond warns, “leave (Y/n) alone.”

When your ex boyfriend utters a curse embedded within your name, the blond pulls the seized wrist tighter and a sickening crack echoes. Your hand flies up to your lips. Yowling in pain, your ex boyfriend’s mouth instinctively shuts to avoid further punishment. 

“‘Ts alright,” Kyoutani rolls his eyes at the other’s dramatic behavior, “I didn’t break it. Yet.” 

Your ex boyfriend’s eyes widen, irises dilated at the gruesome image conjured up in his mind, and pitifully begs, “I-I’ll leave you alone! Please. I’ll do anything! Jesus Christ, (Y/n), who is this guy?” 

Turning his cheek, your ex-boyfriend gets a glimpse of Kyoutani’s face and the recognition dawns on him. He’s seen the aggressive blond before. Months ago, when your ex boyfriend was hollering at your lack of intimacy and the other’s lined eyes glared at him to surrender. One side of the blond’s lips raise, a snarky smirk directed towards the other male. Triumphant reigns within Kyoutani. 

“Her new boyfriend.” 

Raising a freshly cut eyebrow, Kyoutani incites a victorious expression as your ex boyfriend’s eyes are downcast at the message. The blond sneers. A sense of satisfaction, you suppose that’s the rare emotion, floods within you at your offender’s misfortune. You toss Kyoutani a grateful smile and he’s left faltering. He blinks- once, twice, three times- before regaining his intimidating demeanor.

“Get the fuck outta here,” Kyoutani shoves the other male forward when acknowledging the lack of resistance, “or I swear I’ll invert your ribcage.” 

Your ex boyfriend doesn’t need to be reminded, sprinting off with his tail tucked between his legs and stumbling on his uncoordinated strides. You and Kyoutani regard the pathetic male with a deplorable frown. Then, the blond is tugging you close while burying his face into the crook of your neck. You don’t mind the sweat that gathers onto him and instead delve into comfort. A giggle resounds to reach him and he lets in a shaky inhale. He was indebted to the pure luck of running back to you. The thought of you getting injured or reliving the trauma you’ve initially faced was heartbreaking. 

“Kyou,” your nickname to him was like a secret prayer you voiced, “I love you.”

He’s steadfast, a physique of strength and warmth, giving you a perfect invitation to cling onto. Respect, loyalty, and adoration were qualities that you didn’t have to force out of him. Violence, in any form, were taboos that he never crossed. The blond is undoubtedly the beginning of your journey towards self-love. 

“I love you too.” 

The genuine moment lingers on when your teasing nature resumes upon hearing Kyoutani’s forthright confession. Your hand comes up to trace his jawline, collecting perspiration that hasn’t dried up quite yet. He’s still cradling you, fingers protectively pressed against your waist. The sentiment is seldom, yet welcomed, and Kyoutani’s drawing you closer. He’s earnest. Scrunching up your nose, you jokingly flick at his forehead and he’s grumbling at your childishness. 

“You didn’t tell me you’d gone out running,” you motion toward his frazzled state. 

“Phone died.” 

He fishes out his phone from his back pocket. Sure enough, your reflection is illuminated on the dark screen and you nod in acknowledgement. Your head dips to lay on the junction of Kyoutani’s chest. Allowing yourself to get swept up in his embrace is habitual, the addiction smothering an unmistakable itch inside you. 

He’s silent before remarking, “I got us takeout though.” 

Golden eyes don’t miss your gleaming ones and you’re beaming at the mention of food. Raising your head, the narrow stare he’s given causes him to motion to the forgotten bag that’s placed on the floor. Boxed cuisine was cast aside when Kyoutani saw the trouble you were caught up in. 

“What’d you get?” 

“Pizza,” he pauses, “and mozzarella sticks since you liked that stuff.” 

“You’re the best.”

Lifting on your tiptoes, you press a gentle kiss on his cheek and you emit a carefree giggle. His ears burn crimson yet the presumptuous grin on his face brings butterflies in your stomach. Fingers pressing into the sides of your cheeks, he responds with a chaste, insistent kiss on your lips and hums in covert satisfaction. 

It’s dizzying. Your mind is flooded with images of Kyoutani- his appeal in usual clothing, each line of muscle on his physique, and the carnal desire that swirls in his gaze when he pulls away. Your knees are putty as you’re rooted to your spot. The observant fixation is all you need to recognize when he’s aware of his effect on you and he raises a smug brow. 

“Your room or mine?” 

His question is in the form of a drawl, mostly uttered to raise impatience, but it only adds to the adoration you have for him. Your rooms are, quite literally, twenty feet apart. 

Taking a step forward, the blond grasps the large takeout bag while slipping your hand into his free one. His thumb drags across your skin and you’re shivering at his tenderness. Kyoutani proudly rakes his gaze over you, openly compliant and completely in love, before slowly chuckling. 

“Not that it matters, I guess.”

[hidden-otaku-stuff]

Flowers in Bloom - Connected by Fate

Prompt: flowers that bloom when you touch your soulmate

Pairing: Terushima Yuuji x Seijoh Girls’ Captain Reader

Tw: insecurities, feelings of inferiority, mistaken identities, an emotional breakdown, platonic intimacy

Word count: 5.7k

AN: TBH, I’ve been in a really weird place these past few months and I am so sorry for disappearing. This is the first thing that I’ve been able to finish since November, hence my temporary hiatus. I couldn’t resist joining this collab with the @celestialarchiveshq and my fingers are crossed for more updates of Escape Plan. Until then, enjoy ! 

Collab Masterlist

*****

One more. 

You slide, right arm outstretched, your hand in a fist as you feel sweat-slick legs burning against the ground. 

Just a little further.

Biting down on your lip, the sound of the ball hitting the floor supplemented the sound of your world crashing around you. (E/c) eyes watched as it bounced once, twice, until the whistle blew - signaling the end of the match. Slamming your fists on the ground, your team-mate and vice captain, Akemi, stood over you. “C’mon Capt, let’s line-up.” 

You look at your setter, giving her a stiff nod as you push yourself off the ground. You join the rest of the girls in teal as you stare at your opponents. Nobody really expected you to win. Not against Niiyama. Not against the prefecture’s favorites. You glared at Mayumi, the setter who led Niiyami. Her name every bit as defining of her play-style. Mayumi’s bright smile was blinding as she clapped the back of her teammates. 

You bow with the rest of your team, shaking hands with the Niiyama Queens.

“Perhaps at Spring Tourney,” Mayumi said, holding your hand in her callused ones. “Your serves are getting better.”

The corner of your lips twitch as you nod at her. “I’ll win next time, Mayumi.”

Her eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait to see your next attempt then, (L.Name)-san.”

Your coach calls for you, Akemi tugging on your arm once more. Mayumi’s brown eyes turn to Akemi. “Your technique is getting better, Akemi.” 

Akemi’s grip tightened on your arm, it was clear that she felt the same way with the compliments feeling like a slap to the face. “We’ll beat you next time, Mayumi. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” You both bow to the other captain once more before heading to rejoin your girls. “You know she’s just trying to rile us up.”

“Don’t I know it,” you scoff under your breath, patting her hand. You take a breath before you survey your teammates. They all looked battered, exhausted. It’d been a rough two sets against them with your team not even taking one. Glancing back at the score-board, irritation filled you. The whole time, you were only a few steps behind Niiyama, but it was clear that there was still work to be done. Clearing your throat, you drew your girls’ attention. “You all did an incredible job out there.”

Your libero burst into tears, grabbing your arms, “(Nickname)-san, I’m so sorry. If I had tried harder, I could have recovered more balls and-”

“Don’t.” You pull your arm out of Akemi’s grips, grabbing Ena’s cheeks - your thumb wiping away her tears. “Ena, you did incredible out there. This defeat doesn’t fall on any one person.” Your eyes scan the rest of your teammates as you raise your voice slightly to be heard over the ambience of the court. “We stand on the court as six, not just as one.” A whistle blew as the next team raced in. “C’mon. If we hurry now, we’ll probably be able to catch the rest of the boys’ match.” 

The rest of the girls nod, leaving the gym to head towards the Sendai City Gymnasium. You tug your teal jacket on, hoping that it’ll safeguard you from your own self-depreciative thoughts. Akemi stayed behind, squeezing your shoulder. “I’ll go with them.” The empty question hung in the air. Don’t you need time to grieve? You squeeze her hand before resting your head on it. 

“I’ll be fine.” Swallowing, you take a deep breath. “What kind of a Captain will I be if I can’t be there in front of my girls?”

“Human.” Akemi muttered, but allowed you to pull free and race towards the gym with the rest of the team. 

The loud calls of “Ole!” filled Sendai Gym as you all entered the stands, the girls’ perking up at the familiar cry. They all raced down to the very front of the stands, leaving you to watch at the entrance to the seats as Oikawa landed another powerful serve. 

“No-touch Ace!” Ena cheered, her mood brightening significantly at the sight. Your mouth felt dry as you glanced at the scoreboard. It was to no surprise that they were doing better than you had. Both teams typically made it to the semifinals, but it was apparent that this time would be an exception. Your heart clenched at the realisation that this game may have very well been your last. 

Akemi glanced up at you, seeing your lip quiver. She gave you a stern look, nodding at you. Nodding at her, you spin on your heels and race away. 

Too busy, too many people. You growl internally as (e/c) eyes dart around searching for sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the tournament. You find yourself near the locker-rooms, the hallway void of life. Back hitting the wall, you slide down as you bury your face into your arms. Molten hot tears escaping from their prison as the last brick of your self-control came tumbling down. Shoulders shook as aggressive thoughts continued to batter at you.

What kind of Captain am I if I couldn’t even keep the ball in play?

Am I even an Ace when I couldn’t smash through those blocks?

“Hey, are you okay?”

Your blood froze as you glanced up at a blurry figure in yellow and red. He crouched closer to you, directly in front of your face. “I’m fine,” you huff, sniffing. 

“Right, cause that’s the only reason why you’d be sitting in a hallway by yourself crying.” The soft tenor of his voice was soothing. “So what’s got you all teary-eyed then, princess?”

You roll your eyes, wiping your tears with the back of your hand. “Don’t call me that.”��

He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. “If that bothers you, I could always call you babygirl.”

For some reason, your heart skipped a beat at the thought. 

“Why not just call me by my name,” you fired back. 

“Well, I’d need to know your name in order to do that.” He cocked his head to the side. “Unless, you wanted me to know you.” 

Shaking your head, you relax your shoulders ever so slightly. “I’d rather let you be a face lost in the crowd to be honest.”

“Then I’ll call you princess and you can just call me your knight in shining armour,” he teased, plopping down beside you. “So what’s got my princess crying today?” Almond eyes scanned your jacket and jersey. “I’m assuming you played today.” 

You snorted, “if you meant, did I get viciously defeated by my own lack of skill, then yes, I definitely did.” 

The male frowned, eyeing you. “If you made it to the quarter-finals, I highly doubt you don’t have skills.” He wrapped an arm around you, tugging you into his side. You try to push off, not wanting your tears to stain his yellow jacket only for him to pull more insistently. “It’s okay to be upset about a loss, and it’s okay to be emotional about it. But don’t put the blame all on yourself.” His thumb rubbed against your shoulder. “Besides, after this, you can focus on putting that energy towards improving yourself for the next time.” 

“If there is a next time,” you mutter, taking in his rich woodsy scent. 

“Well there won’t be if you think like that.”   

 Sitting in silence, his words washing over you. Your sorrows, your self-deprecating thoughts, disappearing as if they were footsteps in the sand and his statements the ocean’s waves erasing them from existence. 

His phone vibrated, rumbling against your hips. 

When had you gotten so close to him? 

“That’s probably my team.” He turns towards you, a calloused hand cupping your cheek as his thumb wiped the glistening silver remnants on your cheek. “Keep your head up, princess, don’t let that crown fall.” Brown eyes met (e/c) eyes, drawing you deeper into his spell than you had anticipated. His warm breath hummed against your lips. 

Why were you leaning in? 

“Oi, Terushima!” He flinched away, drawing back abruptly as the door slammed open. “OH shit, my bad,” the imposing male apologised, backing away. “We’ll meet you outside, Capt!” 

“Sorry,” Terushima grumbled, shaking his head. “I’ll see you some other time, princess. Hopefully you aren’t crying then,” he teased before getting up and dusting his pants before making his way out - your eyes following his back. Taking a moment longer to compose yourself, you too stood up and made your way back to the stands.

“So where’d you end up?” 

“Nowhere,” you grumbled as you met Akemi at the entrance to the stands once more. The setter was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as she patiently waited for your arrival. “Where are the rest of the girls?”

“They met up with the rest of the volleyball team while we’re waiting for the others to get out of the locker-room. Did you wanna go grab dinner with the boys?” 

“We’ll grab dinner with them tomorrow after they beat Shiratorizawa,” you reply, confidence ringing in your heart. “C’mon, let’s get the girls so that we can shower and change out.” 

You turn only to collide into solid, muscular planes, causing you to yelp. Arms shot out to steady you, helping you. “Are you okay?” Looking up, eyebrows furrowed in concern. 

As you open your mouth to respond, a call of your name drew your attention away. “(Nickname)-chan!” Your best friend sang, pompously making his way to your side with a forceful smile on his face. “I didn’t hear you cheering for me today,” he pouted, throwing his arms around your shoulders and pulling you out of the ace’s grip. “Ushijima.” Oikawa cocked his head, his smile slipping into a smirk. “Checking out the competition?”

Ushijima tilted his head, raising an eyebrow at the captain’s antics. “Why would I be scared? Aoba Johsai has yet to take a set from us.” 

Oikawa’s grip on your shoulder tightened. “We’ll see how confident you are tomorrow when we crush you,” he sneered. “C’mon, (Nickname), let’s go.” Akemi rolled her eyes as Oikawa dragged you away towards your teams, muttering an apology to Ushijima before following suit. 

“You’re so rude to him,” you roll your eyes at Oikawa.

“Like you wouldn’t be if you saw Mayumi all over me,” Oikawa retorted. 

“Touche.” You sigh, making it to the Seijoh teams. “C’mon ladies, let’s go get changed and we’ll head out for the night. Good job out there, boys!” 

With final murmurs of departure, the girls slipped away towards their locker-rooms in order to shower.

*****

“Captain, your flowers!” 

“Huh?” 

You jolt, looking at your forearm. The buds that had yet to bloom all these years finally have, splatters of violet and blue encompassing your (skin-tone) flesh. The other girls crowd around you, staring in mixed responses of awe and inspiration - all in various stages of undress.

“Who is it?” Ena asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Staring at it, your mouth dries. Who could it have been? Ushijima Wakatoshi, the one who caught you? Any of the team-members on the Niiyama team? Perhaps even someone from the Date Tech team who you’d played earlier in the day? Or maybe even the guy who you picked up the bentos from for your team’s lunch? 

“I...I don’t know,” you mumble, mouth dry. You look up to see their faces. Pity and confusion filled most of their expressions. Clearing your throat, you throw on a tattered navy hoodie. “If you’re finished changing, please feel free to leave.” 

The snap of metal shook most of them out of their reverie as you closed your locker, throwing your bag over your shoulder. Akemi remained beside you as the rest of the girls finished up, quickly filing out though some threw furtive glances over their shoulders as they departed. 

“You okay, Cap?” 

“I’ll be fine, ‘Kemi. You should head out, I’m sure you’re tired.”

Akemi rolled her eyes, bumping her shoulder into yours. “I’m sure you’ll find each other again.” 

“Mmhm.” 

“G’night, Cap. See you tomorrow.”  

Rolling up the sleeve of your hoodie, you stared down at the ink. The gods really wanted to test you today, didn’t they? First by placing you in the same bracket as Niiyama, secondly by taunting you with your other half only to rip them away with barely a hint to their identity. It’s not like soulmates had matching flower tattoos, nor who could say with confidence that they knew exactly who their soulmate was unless they both knew when their flowers had bloomed? 

“You met your soulmate?” Oikawa grinned, noting the colourful display on your arm. The male was standing patiently under the street-light waiting for you. Iwaizumi had headed home first, citing exhaustion and an eagerness to sleep to prepare for the upcoming match. “Who is it?” 

“Fuck if I knew,” you shot back angrily, stomping towards him. 

His face drops, “what?” 

“I don’t know who my soulmate is, Oikawa.” You push past him, pulling your bag closer over your shoulder. “If I knew, I would have told you already dumbass.” 

His face drops, forehead creasing in concern. “Are you okay?” He says in a low voice, easily catching up to you as you both walk out of the gym.

“Does it look like I’m okay?” 

You look into the darkening sky, the violet hues reminding you of the ink that marred your skin. The permanent reminder that you had met your soulmate only to have lost them just as soon. A star danced across the sky. I wish I could meet my soulmate again.  

Oikawa eyes you carefully, for once at a loss as to what to say. You both remain quiet, only giving one another a tight hug at the crossroads where you’d turn to head to your respective homes. You squeeze each other tightly. Him, to comfort you for your disappointing day. You, to congratulate him for his wins and to wish him luck in tomorrow’s match. (E/c) eyes meet brown as you each give one another a nod. 

Tomorrow will be life-changing, you promise one another.

******

The final whistle blew once more, calling the end for another game. Another person’s career ending here on this court. 

“(L.Name)-san.” 

Surprise ricocheted through your body as you looked up to greet whoever had called your name. Above you, a looming figure of muscle entered your field of vision. “Ushijima-san?” 

“May we speak in private?”

Chewing on your lip, you look over at Akemi who shrugged before disappearing into the crowd towards the rest of the Seijoh boys. The rest of the girls had already gone ahead, slipping into the mass of teal in order to comfort their counterparts - just as the boys had done the night before. As soon as the match had ended, you’d all race down in order to greet the challengers.

Clearing your throat, you straighten your back in an attempt to match Ushijima. “What is it you wanted to talk about, Ushijima-san?”

He shifted on his feet. “I believe that we are soulmates.”

Your brain short-circuited. “Wait, what?”  

Ushijima rolled up his maroon sleeve, showcasing the hues of red and pink on his bicep - a gladioli flower. “My flowers bloomed and I noticed it after I helped you from falling.” His eyes fell onto your forearms, noting your own violet bouquet. “Did that bloom yesterday as well?”

Tongue heavy in your mouth, you could only nod. Ushijima? Ushijima Wakatoshi? One of the top aces in the country was your soulmate? Just how cruel were the fates? Not only was Ushijima the sole reason why your best friend failed to make it to nationals, but he served as a reminder to your own failures in your volleyball career. 

Ushijima hummed, the deep baritone shaking you out of your reverie. “Being that we are soulmates, I suppose this is the time that I ask for your contact information.”

“My, my contact info?”

He cocked his head, brows furrowing. “Yes, we should get to know one another, shouldn’t we?”

“Right!” You fumble for your phone, pulling it out and handing it to the ace - the phone looking small in his massive palms. He carefully inputted his number, calling himself before handing the device back to you. 

A shout of his name drew his olive eyes away from your form, a reminder that you both were still in Sendai City Gymnasium. “I need to go prepare for the award ceremony.” He looks back down at you. “I will contact you later to arrange a date.”

“Right,” you repeat, forcing your head into a nod. Ushijima bows at you before heading back towards the rest of his team. The girls escape from the boys, rejoining you at your side.

“What did Ushiwaka want with you?” Chihiro, one of the second year middle-blockers, asked, looking between you and the lumbering ace. 

“He’s my soulmate.”

“What?!?” Various cries filled the air, calling for more eyes to fall upon the group as you try to hush your team. 

“Both of our flowers bloomed yesterday, and he knows for a fact that his bloomed after he touched me.” 

“Congratulations Cap!” The girls drew you into a hug, all squeezing together. Only one person stood apart from the group, waiting patiently for her own turn. As the team withdrew, chattering about soulmates and how lucky you were to have found yours, Akemi made her way to you. She grabbed you by the biceps, resting her forehead against yours - both of your eyes fluttering shut at the intimacy of it.

“I’m happy for you, (Nickname).” 

Your throat constricted at the familiarity of her voice. “I appreciate you, ‘Kemi.” 

Akemi had been there for you ever since you had both joined the volleyball team at Kitagawa First. Just as Oikawa had Iwaizumi, you had Akemi. An ace with their setter. You stay close to her for a moment longer before pulling away and clearing your throat. “We should go take our seats for the award ceremony.”

The first years grabbed your arms, pulling you with them as they asked you about your soulmate, how you were feeling about being mated to THE Ushijima Wakatoshi. Akemi watched quietly for a moment longer before joining the group as you made your way towards the Seijoh section of the stands. 

Of course, the congratulations were quick to end as soon as your favourite setter found out what had happened.

“Ushiwaka is your soulmate?” Oikawa screeched, his face red as his voice jumped several octaves. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”  Oikawa scowled, glaring at your bluebells as if they were to blame for your predicament. It’s funny how people always looked to place the blame on things that were only involved as an unhappy circumstance.  

“Hey! It’s not like I asked for this, Oikawa.”

He crossed his arms, narrowed eyes meeting yours. “Are you sure? Because it sure seems like it,” he sneers. “Of course you’d be mated to my mortal enemy, wouldn’t you?”

Iwaizumi smacked Oikawa over the head, face darkened with irritation. “Why can’t you just be happy for (Name)? You know they’ve been stressing about this.” 

Oikawa rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and huffing. “Fine. If Ushiwaka is your soulmate, then you better be ready to comfort him when I beat him at Spring Tournament”

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi warned threateningly, rolling his sleeves up.

“And I’ll beat his ass if he ends up hurting you.”

Iwaizumi paused before looking back at you. “Same though.”

Rolling your eyes, you dragged the two into a tight hug. “I love you two, too.”

“More than Ushiwaka?” Oikawa asked cheekily, holding you close to him.

“More than Ushiwaka,” you confirmed, giggling while you patted his back affectionately. No matter who your soulmate was, that will never take away from your relationship with your best friend. 

*****

“Hey there princess!” You jolt, looking up to see a grinning male waving at you while he approached you. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“I didn’t expect to see you anytime soon,” you reply, amused as he stands in front of you, hands stuck in his pockets. 

The male shrugs, jerking his head in the direction he’d just come from. “I have college prep down the street from here, and I’ll sometimes go to the cafe afterwards just to hang-out.” He scruntises you carefully. “What brings you here?”

You readjust your bag, looking at the cafe that you’d just left. “I was meeting with my soulmate.”

Terushima paused, looking back down at you. “Your soulmate, huh?” He cocks his head. “Why don’t you seem more excited?”

Freezing, you take a moment to consider his words. Did you seem that bored? “I am excited!” You defended yourself.

He leans in closer, almond eyes meeting yours as he examines you. A shiver shoots down your spine due to the close proximity. It almost felt like he was able to see right through you - right to the deep center of your very existence. “If that was the case, wouldn’t you be leaving with him? Or her?”

Heat flared in your cheeks as you whipped your face away from his. “That’s none of your concern.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Huh?”

Terushima cocks his head, a smirk sliding onto his face. “I’m your knight-in-shining armour, princess, and I refuse to let you be unhappy even if it’s because of your soulmate.”  Huffing, you turn away from him and start the journey back home. Terushima chuckled softly, easily catching up to you. Ignoring him, you think back to your date.

All around you two, the cafe was bustling with life. Across the room, a rowdy group of boys were heckling their friend. Your finger tapped against your cup as you and your companion sit quietly. 

“What-” “How-” 

You and Ushijima both stop in your tracks, looking at one another.  

“You can go first,” Ushijima offered.

“No you.” 

Another awkward silence settled over you two. Your eyes wander, falling on another pair - evidently also on a date. But they looked so happy with one another, easily finding themselves in one conversation and losing themselves during it. Shouldn’t it be easy? After all, you were soulmates, right?

Swallowing thickly, you meet olive eyes that shine with acknowledgement. He gives you a slight nod. “Perhaps we should start at the beginning?” He offers,waiting for you to nod before continuing. “I am Ushijima Wakatoshi, a student at Shiratorizawa. I enjoy volleyball and plan on making it my career.”

The corner of your lips twitch into a faint smile. “Hi Ushijima-san. I am (L.Name, Name), a student at Aoba Johsai. I also enjoy volleyball and I hope that I can be involved with it professionally.”

At least we have that in common, you think to yourself.

Sipping from your cup, you resign yourself to the fact that it might take time for the two of you to act like ‘proper’ soulmates.

“What’s got you all twisted up?”

“What?”

Terushima rolls his eyes, kicking a rock out of his way. “Like what’s bugging you?”

“I don’t think we’re close enough for me to tell you that,” you tease, bumping into his shoulder. 

“I mean, I am your knight-in-shining armour for a reason, right?” Brown eyes carefully watch your features, waiting for your reaction. 

You remain quiet for a moment longer, pearly whites digging into your bottom lip. “So much for being lost in the crowd,” you mutter to yourself. Sighing, you look up into the sky to avoid making eye contact with the unruly male beside you. “I had my first ‘date’ with my soulmate and to be honest, it wasn’t what I imagined. Like, I always thought it’d be easy for us to hangout and just be with one another, but it almost...felt like a chore.” 

A heavy weight slipped off your chest as soon as you said it, words dragged to your lips from the deepest, darkest part of your heart. Voicing your concerns felt liberating, validating to say the least. 

Terushima remained silent, his gaze still on you. It delved deep into you, stripping you bare under his scrutiny. Your fingers fiddled with the volleyball keychain on your lanyard, squeezing it as if to distract yourself from the emotional havoc you’ve reaped on yourself. 

“Y’know, soulmates or not, it’s still a relationship. It’ll take time to develop into whatever you hope it is, and you don’t have to define it as a traditional ‘romantic’ relationship if that isn’t what suits you and your soulmate.” Terushima shrugged, fists clenched in his pockets - hidden from your view. 

Pausing, you look at him. “Have you found your soulmate, Terushima?” 

He jolts out of his thoughtful stupor, casting his gaze back onto you. He offers you a small smile. “Yeah, and she’s absolutely incredible.”

For some reason, your heart hurt hearing that. Tongue heavy in your mouth, you barely manage to choke out a “I’m happy for you.” Looking up to search for a distraction, you were both pleased and sad to find that you’d arrived at your bus station. Though you barely knew him, you found yourself drawn into conversation with him. “Well, this is my stop.” Terushima opens his mouth to say something only for your bus to pull up. “Catch you on the flip-side, Terushima.” You offer the male a small smile before boarding.

“Yeah, you definitely will,” he murmurs to himself, waving to you as your bus departs. You sink into the seat, eyes fluttering shut as you massage your temple. This soulmate thing felt like more trouble than it was worth.

*****

“Hey, it’s you!” 

Turning, you raise an eyebrow at the persistent male. The bouncing yellow-clad figure was oddly reminiscent of a Mikasa volleyball. “Terushima?”

“In the flesh,” he responded cheekily, bowing to you with a huge flourish. Embarrassment filled your body as you scowled at his antics. 

“What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?” He jabs a thumb into his chest. “About to beat Karasuno in order to play against your boys.” 

“Is that so?” You smirk. “Well, I look forward to watching you play then.” 

His grin becomes almost comically wide. “Hey, find me after the game. I have something to tell you.” 

Raising your eyebrows, you nod softly. “You better win, Sir Knight.”

“With you in the stands, I definitely will,” he responded cheekily. A call of his name dragged his attention away from you. “I better hear you cheering for me, princess!” He pressed his lips to your cheek before darting away, disappearing before you even had a chance to react. Your fingertips grazed the spot where his lips had touched your skin, electricity coursing through your veins from that second of contact. 

What on Earth was he thinking? You shake your head, making your way to the stands where Akemi was waiting for you. “What took you so long?”

“An annoying Teletubby stopped me in the hallway,” you rolled your eyes, before looking around the stadium. “Should we get closer?”

Akemi shrugged, “why not?”

The two of you made your way down to the rails, watching as the Karasuno team warmed up. “They’re definitely not what you’d expect,” you mused as you surveyed the various members. “These are the guys who beat Date Tech?” 

Akemi shrugged, “don’t underestimate them. They didn’t do too badly against Oikawa during Interhigh too.”

The whistle blew with Karasuno serving first. “Damn, that’s a nice serve,” you comment as you watched the samurai-looking male serve. 

“Man that’s intense!” You heard over the roar of the audience, your eyes immediately finding Terushima. 

“Chance ball!” Karasuno cries, only for your eyes to widen.

He couldn’t-

Terushima slams the ball back towards their court, a powerful back attack that sent chills straight down your spine. Leaning against the railing, you couldn’t help but watch his figure as he jumped around. Just who exactly was your knight-in-shining armour? Your lips quirked up into a smile as you watched Terushima jump in glee. 

What a dork, you thought fondly. 

Beside you, Akemi carefully watched your expressions - her own considerations deeply veiled. These past few months, she’d listen to you go on dates with Ushijima only to return dissatisfied with the progression of your relationship. But now, seeing this sparkle in your eye, she couldn’t help but wonder if the two of you had been mistaken after all. 

She cleared her throat. “Do you know him?”

Your eyes never left Terushima as Akemi’s question invaded your mind. “Vaguely,” you respond finally. “He’s always shown up in unexpected places.”

Akemi hummed, falling silent as she turned back to the match. Her lips pulled up. “I see.” 

As the game progressed, you couldn’t help but be drawn to Terushima. He played as if volleyball was his oxygen, his very purpose of life. The way he moved, it was clear that he was made for the sport, though his more outlandish actions filled you with more amusement than admiration. You howled with laughter when Johzenji attempted to do the synchronized attack, desperately holding onto the railing to steady yourself. Akemi rolled her eyes, chuckling under her breath. She shook her head, a hand hovering over your waist as you wiped away your tears. 

“That was too damn funny,” you admitted. 

Terushima’s eyes found you in the stands, his smile brighter than a summer’s sun. He waved, causing a sudden shyness to wash over you. Giving him a small wave back, Terushima looked like a puppy who finally got the attention it had been begging for - tail practically waving for all to see. After taking a few deep breaths, you settled back into watching the rest of the match. 

*****

“There you are!” The familiar voice called out to you, pulling you towards him as if you were two magnets. 

“You played so well out there!” You grin, though you couldn’t help the snide remark. “Too bad you couldn’t beat them.”

“Oi!” he pouted, crossing his arms. “All that matters is that we had fun, right?”

You raise an eyebrow, “sure about that?”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Nah, I wish we made it to the next round.”

“Exactly.” You both stand there quietly for a moment. “What is it that you wanted to show me?”

“Oh!” He gulped, fingers playing with one another. “C’mere.”

“Wha-”

You were cut off as Terushima yanked you towards an empty hallway. The two of you had been standing in the main lobby of the gymnasium. 

“Why are we here?” You scowled, ignoring the ambush of emotions and shocks that coursed through your body at his touch. 

“Promise me you won’t be mad?”

The sheer vulnerability in his voice had you reaching out to grab his hand, automatically agreeing. “I promise. What’s going on, Terushima?”

“You’re my soulmate.”

“What?” You stare directly into his eyes, head shaking slightly. “What do you mean?”   

He gulps, sighing before he pulled down the collar of his jersey to reveal pink and red camellias. “These bloomed after the first time that we met.”

“Wait but, Ushijima?” Shaky fingers reached out, freezing just millimeters away from the painted skin. “How do you know for sure?”

Terushima shrugged, tongue sweeping across his bottom lip. “You were the only person I touched that day.” 

“I-”

Terushima gently grasped onto your wrist. “I know you and Ushijima were seeing each other for a bit, but I promise you, I’m not lying. I know you’re my soulmate.” 

“Terushima…” Tears welled up in your eyes. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

He shrugged, “I wanted you to get to know me for me, not just because I was your soulmate.”

You roll your eyes, shoving him in the chest. “You’re the dumbest person I know.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“Because I could have been spending this time with you instead of going on dates that feel like they’re going nowhere and making me feel worse about myself.” 

His face split into a grin, his body relaxing. “So does that mean..?”

You roll your eyes, grabbing his hand in yours. “Yeah, dumbass, you’re really stuck with me now.” 

He chuckles, bringing your hand to his lips. “Princess, I’m more than okay with that!” 

*****

“Y’know, I’m not sure if thinking Ushijima was your soulmate is worse, or if this is.” Oikawa grumbled, eyeing the pierced male beside you. Oikawa covers his mouth with one hand in a stage whisper, “you know he’s a player right?” You roll your eyes. It wasn’t like that actually helped to hide his words, causing Terushima’s grip on your hand to tighten slightly. 

“You think anybody would be a terrible match for me,” you retorted. “Besides, people think you’re a player too, Oikawa.” 

“Yeah but at least I’m cute!” Your best friend argued.

Terushima offers you both a smirk. “I think of a few dozen girls who would say that I’m pretty attractive myself.”

You glare at your soulmate, easily freeing your hand from his. “Maybe you can have those girls instead then, Terushima.” 

“Wait-”

Turning your body completely, you shut Terushima out of the conversation as you and Oikawa chat about your futures, arms linked with one another. Terushima’s smirk becomes a smile as you throw him a flirty wink over his shoulder. Though he hadn’t really gotten to know you quite yet, he already knew that you were both meant to be. After all, the flowers on his chest and the flowers on your arms said as much and now that you had both really found one another again, you had the rest of your lives to figure out just how compatible you were.

*****

BONUS

“Has (Name) talked to you yet?” Akemi asked, standing beside the impressive ace as they surveyed the scene together. 

They watched as (Name) pushed her best friend off, laughing at his antics only for Terushima to take this opportunity pull him towards her, throwing an arm over her shoulder and tucking her into his side. 

Her (e/c) eyes twinkled like the lone moon in a violet sky, bright and captivating to watch. Pink lips pressed to her forehead, causing that light to shine even brighter. 

Akemi glanced over to the ace who had a blank expression on his face. “What’s on your mind?”

“I did not think that we were soulmates. Not truly.” 

“Oh?” 

Olive turned to meet brown, meeting her directly. “You knew all along.” 

 Akemi shrugged, giving him a soft smile. “Perhaps.”

“Why did you not say anything sooner?”

“How could I convince my soulmate that he was going after the wrong person?” 

Ushijima offered her a rare smile, bowing his head. “Ushijima Wakatoshi, your soulmate and the fool for thinking someone else was mine.”

She grinned, bowing back to him. “Akemi Sato, the person who allowed their soulmate to think otherwise.”

“Shall we go somewhere?” 

“Let’s.”

*****

FUN FACTS

🌸 (Name) has bluebells for her flowers. They signify gratitude and are associated with everlasting love and constancy. In Japanese, they represent ‘gratitude’

🌸 Terushjima has camellias which convey gratitude and love. Pink camellias represent longing and red signifies that a person can ‘hold a flame in [my] heart’. In Japanese, they represent ‘waiting’

🌸 Ushijima had the gladioli, which were the flower of the gladiators. Symbolising strength and moral integrity, they can also represent infatuation and passion. 

🌸 Akemi means ‘beautiful and bright’

🌸 Mayumi meants ‘Elegant, beauty, truth’

*****

general taglist:  @newfriendjen​  @kyomihann @cheerysparkle​ @seiijixcia​ @shoyomeow​ @tsumue​ @terminallyvolatile​ @aruhappy​ @crystal-lilac​

[imomomi]

  A Long Time Coming  

Summary: Miya Atsumu was a missed chance. But, it doesn’t have to be that way...

Word Count: 1762

Warnings: Slight Language

         “Get your feet off the desk,” you say, kicking the back Miya Atsumu’s chair. His brother—the twin that everyone says is the better of the two, but curses and fights just as much—snorts with laughter.

           “Oy, don’t touch me, ya scrub.”

           “Sit properly then. You might be okay with eating dirt, but I ain’t.”

           “Miss Goody-two-shoes,” he mocks. Heat rises to your neck, but you don’t bother responding. For as long as you’ve known the twins, any chance to disrupt class is readily taken. You’re already tired, having stayed up late studying for an exam later on in the day and the idea of fighting with Atsumu is exhausting. He glances over his shoulder, eyes hot on your face before he turns with a sigh.

           “You know,” he mutters, head falling into the palm of his hand. His gaze is heavy, lids blinking with a deliberate slowness that has you holding back a shudder, “You’d be a lot more interesting if you actually put up a fight, Y/N-chan.”

           “I don’t care about your opinion, Miya-san.”

           He grins, leaning close enough that you can smell the mix of laundry detergent and crisp, cologne coming from him. Osamu scoffs quietly, but doesn’t look away from his bento.

           “That’s why I like ya,” he says. You don’t like how he says it. It’s too sincere and earnest for a boy who frequently lies to you. Frustrated you roll up your notes and smack him on the head with it. Eager to escape the too-small classroom, you stand up, digging for some coins. He shouts the name of his favorite tea brand as you leave, but you pretend not to hear it.

           You don’t want to be pulled in the Miya’s circle—Atsumu’s circle because you know that years in the future, it’s him who’s going to be on T.V. doing that ridiculous pre-serve ritual. It’s better to avoid him now, than to have to forget him then.

           Crying is the last thing you expect to do on graduation day, but the tears are heavy and keep flowing despite you’re attempts at quelling them. Mitsu and Hana are lost in the crowd, calming down their nervous juniors who declare that they’ll keep the cheer team running seamlessly in honor of them.

           “Why the hell are you crying?” Atsumu asks. He leans back, looking at you with a mixture of confusion and disgust. A watery laugh leaves your mouth and for once, you can admit to being glad to see him.

           “I’m going abroad,” you explain, wiping at your eyes with the back of your hand. A streak of black follows that has you snorting at the idea of waterproof mascara.

           “Shit, really?”  

           “Yeah. Got into university in the US. You’ll have to find someone else to bother while I’m gone,” you say with a smile that falls flat in an instant.

           Atsumu rubs the back of his head, eyes boring into your face. You don’t have the courage to meet his gaze head on.

           He pulls you close and traps you between his arms. You stand shell-shocked, arms hanging awkwardly by your side at the hug. Atsumu’s chin falls onto of your head. Skin itchy, tears pricking behind your eyelids, you swallow hard. You don’t have a name to this feeling that you’ve spent the past two years denying, but you know what it is. The warmth crawling through your chest blossoms. You want to be brave and rash like he is, but Atsumu is chasing his dreams without a care of the people he leaves behind. He makes you feel small for wanting to latch on and never let go.

           “Don’t complain. I’m just gonna miss you, you stupid idiot,” he says, pulling away. He rests his hands on your shoulder and for a moment you’re worried he’s going to try and kiss you. His eyes rack your face, committing it to memory. If it’s the last time he sees you, he wants to remember how ugly you look with mascara streaming down your face and cheeks blotchy from crying.

           “You really need to work on your vocabulary, that’s redundant.” You pull his hands from your shoulders and walk away. He watches you go, wondering for the first time exactly what it was that you wanted to do. He’d never asked before. Volleyball was as much a passion as it was an obsession. He knew he was an asshole and selfish to the bone. It’d always been a far-fetched hope that you’d look his way.

           Osamu finds him a while later lingering by the school entrance, quieter than he’d ever been.

           “What’s wrong with you?”

           “Samu, I think I got rejected.”

           “Y/N? She’s too smart for you anyway.”

           “Shut up, you lazy scrub.”

           “Don’t yell at me for telling you the truth, jerk,” Osamu shouts. The back of his hand connects with Atsumu’s head, the familiar sting is a welcome relief from the odd tightening in his chest.

           The court is already packed by the time you make it in. Ticket held tightly in your hand; you wonder if you have enough time to grab some food before the game starts. It’s been years since you’d watch a volleyball match live. The time difference often meant waking up at odd hours and using a VPN to get a stream straight from Japan. Nerves flutter in your stomach, but you know the chance of actually seeing Atsumu is low. Even if you did, your lives have been diverging for so long, there wouldn’t be anything to say.

           Deciding to take a chance at getting food---you haven’t had proper onigiri in so long that even half-assed attempts make your mouth water—you wait in line. Brows furrowing, you tilt your head at the sign in front of the stand. Miya Onigiri? Surely, Atsumu wasn’t bullish enough to go plastering his name on everything?

           “Y/N?” a voice greets as you near the front of the line. You can’t help but stare at Atsumu’s face—but it’s not him, too soft, too polite to be him.

           “Osamu?” you ask hesitantly.

           “What the hell? I have seen you in forever.” He jerks forward, almost as if he was going to hug you but the counter stops him from getting to far.

           “I just got back to Japan. I…This isn’t actually that surprising. You always did have the best bentos in class,” you say, smiling warmly. Osamu matches it. He looks down the line, eyes tightening in frustration at the number of people. He wants to catch up, wants to take a picture and send it Atsumu just to screw with him, but he has work to do.

           “What do you want? It’s on the house,” he asks.

           “That’s a bad way to run a business,” you scold, lightly.

           “If it was going to fail, it would have by now,” he counters, shoving a box of onigiri into your hand. You walk away, slightly stunned as his voice chases you demanding that you meet up after the match.

           If he was a goddamn scrub like Osamu or that loser Kageyama, he’d admit that the sight of you left him breathless. But, he’s not so what comes out of his mouth instead is:

           “Couldn’t stay away?”

           You nose crinkles and the sight sends a jolt through him. He feels like he’s back in high school, doing stupid shit just to grab your attention. He’s not lucky enough to know what you’ve done the past seven years, but you’ve probably seen all the dumb articles about him.

           “To be honest, I wanted to how an Olympic setter played in person,” you say, nodding towards Kageyama. Both of you know the words aren’t true, but he scowls anyway.

           “Stick around for a bit and I’ll show ya, sweetheart.”

           “Ugh, you haven’t changed a bit.”

           “I’d say the same, but you look like you’re at least a c-cup now.”

           He expects you to yell or pull your sweater tighter, but you throw your head back and laugh. The sound warms his blood, burrows into his hollow chest, and lingers there. It hadn’t been love, not even close to the thing, back in high school. There was always that slight chance, the idea that maybe he could love you that fascinated him.

           But now, he can’t look away, can’t shake the hope that tightens its grip on his heart. It’s worth all the waiting, all the frustrating time spent pretending that he didn’t care that he was alone just to have this chance. Before where there’d been a cold, unmovable wall, there’s a slight crack just wide enough for him to squeeze through. Maybe you didn’t even realize it, maybe it wouldn’t work but, you’d come here for a reason.

           “Are you staying?”

           “The game is over.”

           “In Japan, you idiot. I know the game’s over, I played in it.”

           “I know that,” you scowl, flushing fiercely, “and yes. I…I’m living in Tokyo.”

           “Good. Come out with me on Saturday,” he stops, looking you over once more and adds, “On a date.”

           “We haven’t seen each other in years,” you protest.

           “Come on, Y/N,” he whines, hands swinging in the air, “Can’t we just skip the whole friend’s part and get to the good stuff?”

           “I could have a boyfriend. You shouldn’t just assume, I’m available for you.”

           “Well, dump him.”

           “You’re insane. Honestly, get help. And don’t beg, it makes you look like more of a loser than usual.”

           “So yes? Or yes?”

           “I’ll think about it,” you tease. Atsumu’s done playing though and before you realize what’s happening, he’s pulled you close to him. Rough hands cup your cheeks, tilting your head up as he presses his lips against yours. It’s rough and too long to for a first kiss, but Atsumu’s reason flew out of his mind the moment he saw you. He’s drinking all of your movements, the small hand burrowing in his hair, the flingers clutching at this shirt, the way you tongue slips between his lips eager and all too fleeting as you pull away.

           “What?” asks Atsumu, wide-eyed. You point at Osamu behind him, whose busy wheezing with laughter as a child stood watching the two of you in disgust.

           “Awww man, why’d you have to go and ruin the moment?”

           “Pay attention to your fans, you disgusting pig.” Osamu says. The little boy is still there, pen hanging in his hands as he shyly offers the jersey.

[whosaskingwrites]

Forget You (Kuroo x Reader)

A/N: This one is told entirely from Kuroos pov except for the very beginning. Because, Reader's pov wouldn't have been sad. As she doesn't remember him by the time they see eachother again. Edit: Y'all deadass let me not have the theme in here since the 24th. The theme has been added as of the 29th.

WARNINGS: None really? Angst Kuroo is a sad boy. Tooth rotting fluff from Bokuto i guess if that counts as a warning. Kuroo yells at you in the beginning.

Date: Saturday October 24th, 2020

Details: 5.5 pages 2,040 words

Theme: Stranger- when you get heartbroken you have the option of forgetting the person who caused the heart break as long as you say the word stranger with enough conviction while thinking about the person you want to forget.

Angst masterlist

“I can’t fucking stand you! Why are you so Goddamn annoying!” I took a step back as I looked at Kuroo “All I asked was to meet your friends! Since you talk about them all the time!” I yelled back. I didn’t know what had made him so mad we had been dating for six months having been roommates previously.

“And I told you no so why didn’t you accept that?” I shook my head “Actually you just started yelling at me-" “God see! You always have to be fucking right about everything!” I flinched as his voice raised more “You know what? Get the fuck out,” I looked up at him “w-what?” I voiced “Get your shit and get out I don’t wanna see you again. I’m breaking up with you,” My other roommate Kenma had finally come out of his room at that “Hey Kuroo-" I held up my hand to stop Kenma “No…its okay i-i'll leave but I’m leaving my stuff here until I have a new place. Kenma I leave it in your care,” my voice was shaky as I turned.

“Y/n…,” I shook my head at Kenma “I…I’ll see you later Kenma. Kuroo,” I turned a glare on him to see he was already glaring at me “I hope I never fucking see you again,” I turned on my heel leaving the apartment with heavy footsteps. It was sunset and my feet carried me to the trains I took a random one and let my feet carry me as I ended up at park. I had no idea where I was but I couldn’t find myself to care as I cried.

I wiped my tears slightly thinking about Kuroo and I knew then I didn’t want him to occupy my thoughts anymore. I looked at the sunset and focused before saying the word with as much conviction and venom as I could muster. “Stranger,” I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes.

More tears leaked out of my eyes when I recalled my roommate Kenma had kicked me out of our apartment. “Where am I?” I whispered sighing as I realized my phone was dead.

“Excuse me…Are you okay?” I turned my head looking at a guy who stood next to the bench. He had what appeared to be silver and black hair his head tilted slightly to the side casting half his face in the dying sunlight. I vaguely noticed that his eyes were gold and seemed to glow despite no light being cast on them. “I…I think so?” I voiced as I looked back at him.

“You think so? Why are you crying in the park then?” He got closer and sat on the other side of the bench. “My roommate kicked me out of our apartment and my phone is dead so…,” I looked away as he hummed “Um…You could stay at my place,” I turned back to look at him with wide eyes. “I don’t even know your name and you’re asking me to stay at your place? Do you know that makes you sound like a serial killer?” He laughed suddenly eyes crinkling in mirth.

“Sorry I’ve been told I’m too nice by my teammates. Im Bokuto Koutarou,” He held out a hand giving me a smile. I took his hand and mirrored the smile “Y/n L/n. You’re on a sports team?” His smile widened suddenly and in his excitement he pulled me closer still holding onto my hand “Yeah! Volleyball I play for the MSBY Black Jackals,” he puffed his chest with a sense of pride causing me to laugh.

“Volleyball huh? Sounds like fun,” He nodded rapidly “It is! You should come to one of my games- ah sorry! I’ve been talking about me when you’re the one who’s sad,” I shook my head with a smile as he let go of my hands eyes wide in panic “Its okay. I’m not sad anymore but I think I will take you up on that offer as long as you promise not to hurt me,” I held up my pinky towards him giggling lightly.

He smiled widely hooking his pinky with my own “I promise. This will be the best adventure of your life,” I nodded at him “I’ll hold you too that Bokuto,” He chuckled at me

“Deal Y/n,”

Two years.

It had been two years since I’d seen the love of my life. I regretted it everyday since our argument and Kenma never made me feel better about it. “No she never talks about you or asks. And I don’t bring you up,” was the last thing he told me when I asked about her. I never meant to yell or kick her out and I’d never forgiven myself for it. She had blocked my number fairly quickly and Kenma never told me where she was.

“Hey Kuroo pay attention to the game,” Kenma voiced causing me to zone back in and stop thinking about Y/n. I sighed “Why are we even here?” I asked watching Bokuto preform a cross-shot that had the audience screaming. “Bokuto said he wanted to say something and he wanted all of us there,” I shrugged “He’s probably just gonna tell us that he’s got a spot on the Japanese Olympics team,” I sighed out while Kenma clicked his tounge. “Sure…,” I looked at him “Kenma do you know something I don’t?” Before he could answer the whistle blew announcing the Black Jackals as the winners of the match.

Kenma stood “Let’s go congratulate them,” I stood with him as he walked off “Hey you didn’t answer the question!” He kept a quick pace ahead of me while I followed. We stepped onto the court Kenma immediately going to Hinata I couldn’t see Bokuto but my eyes caught sight of a familiar face standing by the Miya twins. She laughed at something Atsumu said and laughed harder when Osamu added something that caused Atsumu to glare at him.

I gasped as I looked at her she looked just as beautiful as she did the last time I saw her. H/l h/c hair cascaded down her back her e/c eyes sparkled brightly like gems she wore a Black Jackals jersey and a pair of jeans both of which hugged her figure in just the right way. I let my feet carry me towards her knowing I needed to apologize. I didn’t know why she was here but Kenma probably invited her so I could see her.

“Y/n!” I called when I was close enough she turned her eyes meeting mine. I expected many emotions to pass her face in all the times I pictured seeing her again. Anger, sadness, happiness, etc. But confusion was never one that crossed my mind. “I’m sorry…Do I know you?” she asked causing my eyes to widen in shock. “No…You couldn’t have…,” I voiced quietly. She stared at me offering a slight smile but nowhere in her expression did I see any form of recognition. And I knew then she had forgotten me entirely.

I smiled back realizing I could start over with her “Sorry I’m Kuroo Tetsuro…You’re very beautiful,” her face turned pink slightly and the Miya twins laughed. Suddenly I saw familiarity light up her eyes and I smiled thinking she remembered me. “Oh! I know you! You’re the friend that Kou always wants me to meet! He gets so sad everytime you blow him off,” she frowned slightly at the end. Causing me to frown as I realized she really didn’t remember. But I also frowned at the name it was vaguely familiar though I couldn’t place where. “Kou?” I mumbled quietly to myself.

“Excuse me! Can I have everyone’s attention?” the gym quieted down everyone knew Bokuto was announcing something so most of the audience had stayed to listen. We all turned to the source of the voice and I noted that he looked beyond nervous for whatever he planned to say.

“I’d like for my beautiful girlfriend to come here,” The twins suddenly shoved Y/n forward causing her to stumble a bit but she walked forward anyway. I froze as the name connected in my mind on why its so familiar 'Kou…Koutarou' 'She calls me Kou and its so cute!' I saw her stop next to him and they smiled at each other “Oh fuck,” I whispered to myself as Kenma slid over. Bokuto was fidgeting slightly and rocking on the balls of his feet a telling sign that he was anxious.

“I’ve got something to say and I’ve thought about it for awhile,” he sent a reassuring smile at her when he noticed she looked nervous. He took a deep breath before continuing “Two years ago I found you crying in a park. I remember you told me that your roommate kicked you out and you called me a serial killer,” she turned red as he and others laughed.

I realized then that the day they met was the same day we broke up. “I took a leap of faith that day and told you that you could stay with me even though I had no reason to,” He chucked lightly at the pink dusting her cheeks “At the time I never would predicted that by the six month mark I would have fallen in love with you,” I frowned at the collective aw leaving the audiences mouths. 'That should be me' I thought as I watched the two of them.

“And after a year and a half I’ve decided that I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to wake up with you next to me, I want to laugh at everything and nothing with you, I want to spend nights with you wrapped in my arms as we talk about whatever comes to mind,” a pink flush had taken over his face and from behind me I heard a sniffle.

“Tsumu are you crying?” I heard “Shut the fuck up Samu,” Kenma snorted next to me at the twins. “I want these things because I’m so completely and Irrevocably in love with you so…,” I watched Bokutos eyes flicker to Akaashi who nodded at him. He dropped to one knee and everything became a buzz as I zoned in on Y/n the audience gasping was barely audible to me as I watched her cover her mouth with her hand her eyes were bright and glassy and every fiber of my being screamed at me to stop this. ‘Get her back! Stop him!’ my mind screamed. I couldn’t move though I was frozen on the spot feeling like id just been doused with freezing cold water.

“Will you do me the honor of continuing this adventure and marry me?” I could hear Bokuto but it sounded so distant to me. ‘No! Say no!’ My mind screamed louder but I felt my heart crack as she nodded in response. He got back up to wrap his arms around her picking her up he spun her around a few times and buried his face in the crook of her neck pressing light kisses to her shoulder.

‘Get away from her!’ I shook my head as I watched him slip a silver band on her finger. I caught sight of the f/c gem attached to it. It was surrounded by small yellow gems that matched Bokuto's eyes. He kissed her cheek as everyone cheered and congratulated them. She pulled back pulling out a small envelope and pressing it into his hands. He looked at her and opened it before his eyes lit up even more. He whispered something to her to which she nodded at. His excitement couldn’t be contained as he picked her up again “I’m gonna be a dad!” He didn’t need the mic this time plenty loud enough without it but it reignited the audience’s excitement as they screamed again.

He placed her down wrapping an arm around her waist and finally I watched my entire world shatter and heart crumble as the love of my life kissed her fiancé and father of her children.

‘That should have been me'

————————————————————————

TAGLIST: @wonhomarshmallow

[multi-fxndom446]

An experience

Tsukishima Kei X Reader

Warnings: none

Word count: 5.2k

Summary: Kuroo makes you, a first year manager at Nekoma, go to the week long training camp where you meet Tsukishima.

~

“Come on y/n! This could be a good experience for you!” Kuroo begged you as he followed you around the Nekoma gym.

You picked up another volleyball before turning to face him, “Kuroo-San I’m not even the manager, I’m the manager in training. Why would you want me there?”

“Exactly! Managers in training still go to these!” You just shook your head and went to pick up another ball. Kuroo stood with his hands on his hips before smirking at you. “I’ll get Yaku to make you come.”

Your entire body shuddered at the thought. Yaku was small but damn he was scary. “Please don’t he scares me when he’s upset.”

“Then come! Come on it’s only your first year so you’ll have to go to more in the future anyways you might as well get used to them!” Kuroo further explained, “at the first camp a few weeks ago we met Karasunos new manager. She’s a first year like you, so you won’t be the only manager learning.”

You contemplated the idea before turning to glance at the captain, who was giving you puppy eyes and now you couldn’t resist. “If I say yes you have to help me clean the gym.” He smiled brighter then you expected him too.

“Deal.”

~

“Y/n-San! Come here for a sec!” Yamamoto was the one who called you over and you noticed he was in front of an entire team. Damn, It was already the first day of the camp and you were already nervous to be around these players. You jogged over to Yamamoto, who wrapped his arm around your shoulder upon arrival.

“Y-yes?” You only kept your eyes on him, to nervous to look at the entire team in front of you.

Yamamoto seemed to ignore you as he pointed to one of the team members. “Tanaka-san look! We have a manager in training now!” He laughed like a maniac and out of confusion you looked towards the team to see this Tanaka.

Tanaka laughed as he wrapped his arms around his two managers, “she can’t hold a light to ours.”

“Eh?!” One of them shouted, the blonde one. You noted she seemed pretty young, she could be the first year Kuroo was talking about. The two girls looked up at him with glares and you wondered why you weren’t as offended as they were about what just happened.

Your face did blush in embarrassment though as the two managers pulled away from Tanaka and then the said man was smacked on the head by the captain of the team.

“You shouldn’t say things like that Tanaka-San.” Your eyes snapped over to whoever made the comment and connected with the tall blonde. He held your gaze for a second longer before walking away.

“Tsukki!” Another one called, running after him. Your eyes followed him and this time the blush on your face wasn’t caused from embarrassment. Yamamoto left you awhile ago, you had noticed. Maybe it was when Tanaka walked away and he followed but you didn’t care.

“I’m sorry about him.” Your head quickly looked back in front of you to see the two Karasuno managers bowing before you in apology. You laughed nervously and waved your hands at them.

“It’s okay!”

“I’m Kiyoko Shimuzu, I’m a third year at Karasuno. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Kiyoko bowed slightly again.

“Oh! I’m a first year, my names Hitoka Yachi. Nice to meet you!” Yachi bowed also and you smiled in delight, at least you were making some friends.

“L/n y/n, I’m a first year at Nekoma.” You bowed before looking around at the courts, your team was getting ready to go up against Karasuno. “I’m sorry if it’s a bother, but would it be alright if I stayed with you guys for awhile? I’m kinda new to this manager thing.”

Kiyoko smiled and nodded slightly before walking towards the Karasuno coach, with you following behind.

Tsukishima had been watching you since he got onto the court, watching as Kiyoko introduced you to there coach. He couldn’t seem to look away.

“Tsukishima pay attention!” Tanaka yelled causing Tsukishima to flinch and face forwards again, trying to ignore the faint heat on his cheeks.

He had hoped no one noticed but of course Yamaguchi did. The freckled boy looked in the direction Tsukishima had been and saw you standing beside Yachi, watching the match. “Hey Suga-San?”

Suga hummed in response to focused on the match that had just started. “That girl over there, she’s Nekomas manager right?” Suga looked towards the direction Yamaguchi was talking about

“Yeah I think so, why?” Yamaguchi just shook his head in response and they both went back to watching the match.

~

“So, how was the first day?” Kuroo asked as he walked with you out of the gym. You had no idea where he was leading you but you just went with it.

“That Tanaka guy called me ugly.” You deadpanned and the rage that filled his face almost made you laugh had it not been for him trying to run away to give Tanaka a piece of his mind. “Kuroo-San! I’m kidding he didn’t directly call me ugly.”

“Damn crows.” He muttered before making a turn. You went to ask him where he was going but he seemed to already have read your mind “you’re gonna watch me practice a bit longer.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because I need to teach Lev and you need to learn more about Volleyball.” He teased you so often that you just took everything he said as teasing. “Besides you haven’t met Bokuto yet.”

“Bokuto?”

“Kuroo!!” You squeaked in surprise from the yell before turning to face the other man in the gym. He was there with his Setter. “Oh? You brought a friend?”

He smirked at you and you quickly backed up behind Kuroo who laughed in response. “Bokuto-San you’re scaring her” his setter sighed out

“Hm?” He looked between his setter and you before realizing he was right. “Ah! Akaashi! I didn’t mean to!” He cried out desperately.

“Don’t apologize to me.” Akaashi muttered, turning away from him and Bokuto ran up to you and Kuroo moved out of the way so Bokuto could grab your shoulders.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m Bokuto.” This time he gave you a genuine smile and immediately you felt more at ease. “You’re Nekomas manager right?”

“Yeah and she’s here to help” Kuroo said before Lev walked into the gym, immediately being dragged away to practice receiving.

“Here to help? Can you toss us some balls then?” Bokuto asked and you nodded. You grabbed the cart of volleyballs from them and went to where they told you to go and tossed the balls to Akaashi who set them for Bokuto.

You weren’t that far into practice but your arms were starting to hurt and thankfully they took a break to stretch and talk while Bokuto stretched next to Kuroo by the open door, waiting for someone to walk by. Tsukishima happened to be that person. When Kuroo poked his nerves Tsukishima ultimately decided to join there practice. When he walked in his eyes immediately connected with yours as you searched for who they were talking to. You blushed when you saw it was him and continued to pick up the volleyballs.

You continued to pick them up when someone held the last one in front of you. You looked up to see the blonde standing there, avoiding your gaze as you took the ball from his hands with a small thank you.

Kuroo and Bokuto shared a smirk before Kuroo grabbed Lev to make him practice again. You went back to where you were and continued to give them tosses while Tsukishima blocked this time.

After awhile longer of torturing Lev, Kuroo decided to join and help Tsukishima block. The four of them practiced for a long time after that, if your arms were hurting before they were definitely hurting now. When they stopped for a minute to talk, you went to start picking up the volleyballs again but noticed that whatever Kuroo said to Tsukishima, upset him and he started to leave the gym.

He looked over at you one more time when more of Nekoma came to join in on the practice. He narrowed his eyes at one of the first years Inouka, who wrapped his arm around your shoulders making you drop the volleyball in your grasp.

The ball rolled over to him and he picked it up, looking back to you to see you push away the first year to grab the ball but stopping when you saw he was holding it. He silently tossed it back to you before walking out the door.

You watched him go silently before you noticed his water bottle still in the gym. You dropped the ball in the cart before running over and grabbing it then running after him. He wasn’t that far.

“Um excuse me?” You were so quiet that if you were any further behind he wouldn’t have heard you. He turned towards you and his eyes widened when he saw you but he quickly went back to his cool exterior.

“What?” You blushed with embarrassment at how bored he sounded with you and held his water bottle up.

“You forgot this.” He was silent for a minute before he went to grab it.

“Thank you.” He said softly and went to turn away when you called out to him.

“Good job today!” He stopped in his tracks. Looking slightly behind his shoulder at you he just nodded and continued to walk away.

“Did you see that?” Kuroo whispered to Bokuto as they spied from the doorway. Bokuto nodded eagerly before he furrowed his eyebrows.

“See what?”

Kuroo rolled his eyes and pointed discreetly at Tsukishima. “He smiled when he turned away. Look!” Bokuto looked up at his friend, following where he was pointing before he gasped, causing Kuroo to cover his mouth with his hand and shush him.

“Someone’s got a crush!” Kuroo laughed, pulling Bokuto away from the door and back towards practice.

~

The next night was the same however Tsukishima came to them willingly. You were running late just because you were talking to the coach about the plays. He knew you weren’t very experienced and was trying to help you the best he could. You almost wanted to go to bed after the whole thing but Kuroo threatened to drag you to the gym if you didn’t show up at all.

So here you were walking in, in the middle of there practice. “Ah Kuroo-San why do you make me come here?” You sighed in exhaustion. Your presence didn’t go unnoticed and almost immediately they stopped practicing.

“Y/n-Chan!” Bokuto cheered as he ran towards you, grabbing you in a hug and swinging you around.

“Ah Bokuto-San!” Your head was getting dizzy from all of the movement. Everyone quickly came to your aid and you were almost immediately dropped. Akaashi and kuroo held Bokuto back as Tsukishima steadied you.

“Are you alright?” You almost winced at his bored tone again but you nodded anyways. What you didn’t realize was he showed you more care then he had for anyone else in awhile.

His hold on you lingered for awhile longer before he saw Kuroo turn to them and he let go. “Ah, y/n I’m sorry I forgot I told you to come tonight. You can go get some rest if you’d like.” You looked between him and Tsukishima, who seemed slightly disappointed.

“No it’s okay I’ll toss for your guys again.” You smiled to Kuroos confusion. He knew you didn’t want to be here. He was about to ask you when his eyes glanced towards Tsukishima who had the faintest smile and he smirked.

“Oi Tsukishima!” The tall blonde walked over to Kuroo who still had a smirk on his face. “Go all out yeah?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He seemed genuinely confused.

“No, if you want to impress my manager show her something impressive.” And before Tsukishima could deny it Kuroo walked away, leaving the blushing blonde behind.

You helped them practice again that night, you loved seeing how hard they worked and how each night Tsukishima seemed to get more into it. The practice was shorter then the other night and after you helped clean everything up you all were heading out. Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi were all walking ahead of you while you and Tsukishima walked together silently.

“Good job today.” You finally broke the silence with the same thing you said to him the night before and looked up at him with a small smile which caused his heart to melt just a little bit.

“Thanks.” And then it was quiet again but a comfortable quiet. “How’s being a manager?”

You were a little surprised by his question but smiled again nonetheless. “I mean I don’t know to much but I’m learning and I’m getting pretty close to the guys so it’s nice.”

“Pretty close?”you were completely oblivious to the question hiding underneath.

“Mm, all the third years and second years are like my older, overprotective brothers.” You explained and he felt more at ease with the friend zone title you gave more then half of your team. But there were still the first years.

“And the first years?”

“Some are about as inexperienced as I am so that’s nice but they’re also just like my annoying brothers.” He almost sighed in relief before he noticed the three walking in front of them, staring at him.

You all walked on in silence the rest of the way and you were the first to say your goodbyes and Kuroo would’ve been to but he decided to walk more with the others. When Akaashi and Bokuto said there good nights Kuroo finally turned to the tall blonde.

“So did you impress her?” He smirked, walking with Tsukishima who was trying to escape his questions.

“Why do you care?”

“Look tsukki, she obviously likes you and I love my precious little manager so just don’t hurt her okay?” Tsukishima was quiet. Kuroo watched him before he grabbed his arm and stopped him from walking. “I’m serious. But also, if you want her to pay attention to you, give her something to notice.”

Tsukishima watched the older captain walk away. He glanced down at the ground contemplating his words before he continued his walk.

~

By the third day you were looking forward to the late practices. You learned to love watching them all play, it made you happy to see them play the sport they loved.

So throughout the day of watching the practice games you were hoping they’d have another night practice. You glanced over at Tsukishima who was drinking from his water bottle. You hoped he’d join tonight too.

You were currently watching him play against your own team. When someone finally pointed Hinata out to you you understood why Tsukki was frustrated. That guy had a crazy amount of stamina. He seemed off though, he seemed more frustrated, angrier then any other days.

You made a note to ask Tsukishima about that later. About his whole team actually, they all seemed so tense to you. Karasuno ended up losing that game too.

That night after everyone was packed up and getting ready to either clean up or practice more, you were talking with Kenma before he was pulled away by Hinata.

“Oi y/n! You gonna help us again tonight?” Kuroo called from the doorway where he was waiting with Bokuto and Akaashi.

“Yeah!” You called back, getting ready to meet them by the door when Tsukishimas voice stopped you.

“I’ll walk with you.” You were surprised but you smiled and nodded nonetheless. Kuroo and the other two left when they saw Tsukishima would walk with you, giving you guys time to talk without them ease dropping.

“Tsukishima-San?” He hummed in response, “your team seems to be very tense right now.”

“Yeah” you cringed slightly you should’ve known better then to just end it there and not ask a question too.

“Why is that?” You asked this time. He glanced down at you before looking forward again. You almost thought he was going to ignore you.

“Before we came here we competed against Aoba Johsai. They’re a powerhouse school so of course we lost. But I think everyone’s still holding onto it and pushing themselves to be better.” He explained the whole thing to you but you couldn’t understand why he sounded slightly annoyed with everyone pushing themselves

“Well they want to beat this school, so maybe they think learning and pushing themselves will get them there.” You told him but he only shook his head.

“They just don’t understand what a break is.” Tsukishima seemed to almost have a worried tone but he covered it up. “They won’t beat Aoba Johsai if they get themselves hurt.”

“Well what do you think? Do you think you will beat them next time?” You asked him and he went silent. Did he? He really didn’t know at this point. But when he looked down at you, your hopeful eyes staring back at him he knew his answer.

“I hope so.” The smile you gave him would continue to melt his heart.

When you both got to the gym it was the same routine as the nights before, you’d help by giving them tosses and then picking up the balls when they decided to take a break.

But when Hinata and Lev came barging in asking to join they asked you to keep track of the score as they had a 3 on 3. As you watched you got more and more invested, they got so into the practices they played that it was always fun watching. The game would have continued had it not been for the two managers from Fukurodani telling them they wouldn’t get dinner if they didn’t stop practicing.

Everyone left after that. Tsukishima waited for you by the door as you picked up the ball and put it in the basket. “You didn’t have to wait” you told him but you certainly weren’t complaining about it.

“I didn’t want you to walk alone this late.” Was his excuse and you would have believed it if you weren’t on school grounds where you were sure nothing was gonna happen.

“Your blocks are getting better Tsukishima-San.” He blushed lightly at the compliment and gave you a small thank you before you both arrived at the cafeteria.

The two of you ate together and then he walked you to where your team was staying. The two of you talked for a few more minutes before he kissed your head, without thinking about it. As soon as he realized he practically ran and you were left standing there with a smile and a bright red face.

~

The next day just really wasn’t your day. You felt like the world was against you for some reason and it was almost the last day too. When you woke up you found out that your water bottle leaked and got all over your clothes and the only things dry were the workout gear you had laying outside the bag.

After you laid all the clothes out you ended up being late to the practice matches and had to run there and as soon as you got to the doors you tripped just right outside. Thankfully no one noticed as they were to busy focusing. But you held your elbow as it bled, looking for someone who might be able to help and the first person you thought of was Kiyoko.

On your way to ask her though a stray ball that was hit to hard started flying towards you and smacked you in the back with so much force, knocking the wind out of you. The teams playing went silent as you knelt to the ground, trying to catch your breath as Karasunos coach’s and managers ran to you.

“Y/n-San, are you alright?” Kiyoko asked kneeling down next to you. You tried to respond but you couldn’t get enough oxygen back into your lunges.

“Y/n-San just try and take a deep breathe for me.” Takeda instructed and you really were trying. But when less oxygen was getting into your lunges then you wanted, you started to panic. You could hear footsteps running to you and before you could register someone was holding your hand. You looked up to see Kuroo next to you his grip tight and finally you took a breathe and then you glanced behind him at Tsukki who was watching and then you took another breathe.

Kuroo helped you to your feet before he led you to a chair off on the side of the gym so hopefully no stray balls would hit you. Once he checked you were okay he went back to his team.

When Karasuno was done with there practice Tsukishima made his way to you. He kneeled down to your level and took your hand in his while you still were trying to regain more breathes. “You’re bleeding.” He just noticed it when he went to rub your arm “what happened?”

“I fell outside the gym.” You explained and he almost laughed before he heard a call out for a stray ball. Your eyes widened when you saw it coming towards you but before it could hit Tsukishima held his arm out and the ball hit him hard before rolling away.

“Tsukishima!” His coach called for him but he wanted to stay with you. When you noticed this you pushed him slightly.

“Thank you for stopping the ball but please go before I get you in trouble” he complied but kept his eye on you the rest of practice. You were definitely having a bad day.

Even as the practices were ending that day you thought It’d get better. It did not. While you were walking to leave a ball someone was using rolled in front of you as soon as you took a step and tripped you. You fell flat on your face.

“Just let me die here.” You sighed after you turned to lay on your back.

“Ah! Y/n-San I’m so sorry!” Inouka called out to you but you made no move to get up. You just waved your hand from where you were as if telling him it was okay.

“Why the hell is this happening to me right now?” You asked yourself, looking up at the lights above you. Your entire being just hurt and you just wanted to leave now.

That is until someone knelt down beside you and then another person on the other side of you. “You have really bad luck today.” Kuroo pointed out and Tsukishima hummed in agreement. “Come on, you just have to keep score for us tonight.”

Kuroo patted your arm lightly before he stood up to leave. Tsukishima watched him go before looking back down at you. “Are you okay?” He seemed genuinely concerned and you were grateful for him.

“Help me up please.” You finally said and he nodded. He stood back up, offering you his hand and you grabbed it. You both ignored the flutter when your hand connected.

He pulled you up and almost asked you if you were okay again but decided against it. He didn’t let go of your hand as he walked with you to the other gym though and you figured it was to comfort you in some way.

You really thought that the night was gonna turn around then. After the two of you got to the gym you went straight for the seat next to the score board.

You were grateful after the day you just had to just sit and relax. But it seemed you jinxed yourself. About 40 minutes into there practice While you were focused watching them play Kuroo spiked a ball and it bounced off the ground at an angle headed straight for you. “Y/n!” He yelled but was to late. Before you could move the ball hit you straight in the face.

They all went silent as the ball fell to the ground and rolled away. You were so silent that they all were scared themselves. Then your nose started bleeding and you stood up, wiping it away with your arm. “I think I’m gonna go get dinner.”

“O-okay” Kuroo said, watching you leave.

“I’ll go with her.” Tsukishima decided, leaving the others behind to walk you to dinner. The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement without even having to say anything they decided to end the practice.

“Are you okay?” Tsukki asked after a moment. You only nodded silently and he took that as you not wanting to talk so instead he gently grabbed your hand in his, intertwining your fingers. And that was more then enough to put you at ease.

When you both got to the cafeteria you got your food and sat down in silence. The redness on your face did raise eyebrows though but Tsukishima shook his head at anyone who even tried to ask.

You were quiet the entire dinner and were about to leave but as soon as you stood up and turned around you ran into someone, who of course had a tray full of food. Hinata was panicking when he ran into you and immediately started apologizing.

“Hinata-San!” He jumped when you yelled and reluctantly looked up at you expecting anger but then his eyes widened upon seeing you trying not to cry out of frustration. “It’s okay”

All the conversations stopped as you looked down at the only clean shirt you had that was now ruined. Not to mention your skin was covered in the food as well. “Is there anyone here with an extra shirt?”

Tsukishima saw Kuroo about to offer you one of his before he stood up. “I have an extra one you can borrow.” And without another word he lead you out of the cafeteria.

He led you to where Karasuno was staying and you waited by the door as he rummaged through his bag for the shirt. When he found it he handed it to you and walked you to the bathroom. “Take a shower I’ll wait out here for you.”

Usually you would’ve blushed at the thought but this time you only nodded and did exactly as he said. When you got out you put on his shirt which was obviously bigger on you. It was comforting though.

“It’s soft.” You said to yourself and it almost made you forget about everything that had happened that day. When you walked out of the bathroom awhile later he was, as he said, waiting for you.

He was sitting on the staircase when you came out and when his eyes landed on you immediately his cheeks turned red. “Thank you for letting me borrow your shirt.” You were quiet but he could hear you clear as day.

“Come on.” He said as he stood up and grabbed your hand, leading you somewhere. “Don’t ask where you’ll know when we get there.” It was like he could read your mind.

Where he took you was the hill that he and his team had to run up so many times. He wasn’t worried about anyone being here, everyone was either eating or getting ready for bed.

You both sat down next to each other, he still held onto your hand. You eventually laid your head on his shoulder. “It’s been a really rough day.” You finally said

“How are you feeling after getting hit so many times?” You looked up at him almost expecting him to be joking but he was serious.

“I’m fine now.”

The two of you went back to silence. He glanced down at his shirt on you and couldn’t help but smile. “Can I tell you something?”

“Hm?”

“I like my shirt on you.” You definitely weren’t expecting that from him. You sat up to look at him and when you saw his blushing face you smiled before it turned into a smirk.

“Then I think I’ll keep it” you said and he gaped at you.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“That sucks it’s mine now.”

“I didn’t say you could.”

“You never said I couldn’t.”

“Yes I did.”

“I’m ignoring you.” Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at you before letting go of your hand and grabbing at your waist. “Wait! Tsukishima-San!”

Tsukishima smirked as you started laughing while he tickled you without any mercy. “I-I’m sorry I’ll give it back!” You cried trying to push him off before he finally stopped

He was basically on top of you, smiling while you finished laughing. Your laughs stopped immediately when his hand cupped your cheek and the other one held himself up above you.

“Tsukishi..ma?” You voice was a whisper, you couldn’t even ask him what was wrong when he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours.

Your eyes widened in shock but he pulled away to soon. He wanted to see your reaction but you grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back down to you, this time to return the kiss.

Your heart felt like it skipped a beat and you didn’t even notice when he pulled his arm away from cupping your cheek to also prop it against the ground so he didn’t fall. His hand could feel his shirt against his fingertips and he smiled into the kiss.

When you pulled away you were both breathless and blushing. But you both had small smiles on your face. He sat up and so did you while you grabbed his hand again and leaned your head on his shoulder.

“I’m definitely keeping your shirt now.” He only tsked in response.

~

Bonus

“Kei what do you think about this one?” You held your phone up to his face to show him the venue and he only moved your hand away to look at you as you laid your head on his lap, you stole another shirt from him.

He rolled his eyes and looked back at the tv. He grabbed the remote to the tv and kept clicking, “it’s up to you.”

“Kei! This is our wedding! I want to make sure you like the venue!” You complained, going back to looking at places.

“Y/n we can get married on a volleyball court for all I care. I’m marrying you and that’s all I care about. So do whatever makes you happy.” You were silent as you looked up at him. You smiled, putting your phone down.

“Cold as always” you joked and he poked your side making you squirm.

“It was your choice to say yes.”

“Like hell I was gonna say no to you.” You told him and looked up at him again before you cupped his cheek.

“Hmm?” He felt you tugging him down and smirked when he saw you wanted a kiss so he moved away from your hand and you pouted. “You called me cold.”

“Kei! Kiss me damn it!” He looked down at you and smirked before he finally gave you a small kiss on the lips then went back to watching the tv while you admired him. “I love you Kei.”

“I love you too now shut up so I can watch this” you laughed but complied and ended up watching with him.

~

[beccascribbles]

On your 18th birthday, control of your life got placed in the hands of your soulmate. To gain back control and to meet the one fate had deemed your ‘perfect match’, you must find your soulmate, using the choices you make for each other to guide you together.

warning - swearing

word count - 1.7k

There was one thing you knew for certain. Whoever your soulmate was, he was a little shit. Whenever you were forced to make a choice, be it a trivial matter or an important one, your soulmate was guaranteed to pick the one that would ultimately fuck you over. Since you turned 18, you were never on time to class, made a point of embarrassing your friends in public due to the stupid stunts you were forced to pull, and were depressing to be around. Truth be told, it was rare to see a genuine smile grace your features these days.

The week before you met your soulmate had started off in one of the worst ways possible, with a purchase of bright red hair dye. After watching a tiktoker dye their hair for a dare, you had begun to ponder what you would look like with a different hair colour. Then, against your better judgement, you had begun to picture yourself with different hair colours, could feel yourself being tempted to dye it. If you had been in control of your choices, you would have quickly discarded the thought of dying your hair, let along dying it any of the ridiculous colours you were picturing. You supposed you had to thank whoever it was for not choosing the neon green.

But, bright red wasn’t much better.

When you walked through the halls of Karasuno, you attracted the stares of pretty much everyone you walked past. You could feel their eyes on you. You could clearly see the way people would lean into each other as they whispered about your appearance. You weren’t stupid. Out of everyone, you were the most aware of how awfully this colour clashed with your skin tone. It made you cringe whenever you looked in the mirror.

At lunch, Sugawara could hardly look at you without snickering. He’d already used most of his witty comments over text the previous night when you had sent an image to the group chat along with the words ‘fuck my life’. Daichi wasn’t much better, taking every opportunity to tease you. Meanwhile, you would sometimes catch Asahi just staring at your vibrant locks. It was after one of those stares that you snapped.

“Take a picture if you’re that mystified by it,” you spat, fingers clenching around your chopsticks as you stabbed a piece of meat. He blushed, looking back down at his food. This interaction just made Sugawara chuckle more, snorting as he took a sip of his drink. Kiyoko, who had been noticeably absent from the teasing, placed a calming hand on your shoulder, shooting Sugawara a stern glare.

“It really doesn’t look that bad,” she reassured, her glance around the table indication that she was daring one of them to disagree. “Besides, at least this will make it easier for you to find your soulmate.”

“Oh yeah, can’t wait to meet the asshole whose made my life a living hell since my birthday,” you replied, sarcasm heavy in your tone.

Truth be told, your only motivation for meeting them was to end this hell that you were currently experiencing. Once you had met your soulmate, they stopped being able to make your choices for you. Already, you were missing the freedom of being in charge of your own life.

The next few days weren’t much better.

On Tuesday, you were forced to run through the heavy downpour to school, using only your flimsy bag as an umbrella due to your soulmate’s interference. If you fell deathly ill, it would be all their fault as they even prevented you from sharing Kiyoko’s umbrella on the walk back home, which had been your main reason for staying behind to help out with volleyball practice.

On Wednesday, due to your soulmate deciding that sleeping during class was perfectly acceptable, you missed a large chunk of the English lesson. This meant you had to beg your classmates to lend you their notes, and also put you in a terrible mood when you went to meet up with your friends. In retaliation, you prevented your soulmate from purchasing the next Shonen Jump, something you knew they were obsessed with as the choice occurred frequently. You also forced them to pay attention during class for a change, which you were sure would leave them exhausted as you had made sure they stayed up late the previous night.

On Thursday, you were indeed suffering from a cold. Though your soulmate had the heart to allow you access to medicine, you still had to make your way to school, head pounding and a stuffed nose to boot. You spent the morning huddled in your coat with a face mask on to stop others from catching it too. When your teacher said you could go home at lunch time, you almost let out a cheer.

Friday was unusually calm. You had recovered from your cold. Each choice your soulmate chose lacked their usual malice. The day was almost reminiscent of those before you had turned 18 until you received a message from Kiyoko asking if you were coming to the watch the final of the Spring Interhigh Qualifiers. Karasuno would be playing Shiratorizawa.

Originally, you had been planning on going to support your friends. However, after the week you had suffered through, you were painfully aware of all the work you had left to catch up on. You were stuck, unable to choose between the two options. Your head told you to not go, and eventually won you over when your gaze fell on the pile of school work you had yet to complete piled on your desk.

But, it was not your choice to make.

Against your will, you found your fingers tapping on the screen, confirming that you would be going to watch.

The next day, you were out of the house exactly on time, as punctual as if you were in control of your choices. It was this unusual punctuality that warned you of what might await you at Sendai Gymnasium.

Upon arrival, you sent a quick message to the group chat. Shockingly, it was Sugawara who was the first to reply, telling you that they were currently warming up on court. Clearly not everyone is entirely focused on warming up, you thought, quickly hurrying over to the court so you could wish your friends a quick good luck before making your way up to the cheering section.

Opening the door, you popped your head through, making eye contact with Kiyoko, who ushered you inside. You gave her a small wave before you made your way over to Asahi, Daichi and Sugawara, painfully aware of the stares coming from the other side of the court. You rubbed the back of your neck anxiously, feeling unsettled and nervous. Trying not to let that show on your face, you forced a smile, holding out your arms to embrace them in a hug.

“Good luck, boys,” you said. “You’ve got this.”

You shot them a thumbs up as you made your way over to Kiyoko to give her a quick hug and some words of encouragement. Before leaving the gym, you shouted over your shoulder to the rest of the team, “Good luck! Go Karasuno!”

There was a chorus of ‘thank you’ from the other members that almost masked the words uttered from the other side of the court, where Shiratorizawa were currently warming up.

“I think that might have been her.”

“Might have been who?”

“My soulmate, Wakatoshi.”

You couldn’t help yourself. Along with Yachi, you sprinted out of the stands and down towards the court. Karasuno had won. It felt surreal. You were giddy with the rush of pride you felt. Though not having played a role in their development as a team, you had been there to witness most of it and knew exactly how your fellow third years were probably feeling.

It was Kiyoko you spotted first, and you didn’t hesitate to pull her into a bone-crushing hug as you both jumped up and down. Next came your three friends on the team. You didn’t hesitate, running forward and launching yourself at them. It was at that moment, with your arms wrapped around your closest friends that you felt the tug of your soulmate’s needs. It was time for them to make a decision.

Go up to her or let her celebrate with her team.

A gasp escaped your lips as you pulled away from the embrace, glancing around trying to discern who may be waiting for you to make your choice. Without wasting another moment, you made the decision.

Go up to her.

It was at that moment that your gaze was drawn to the other side of the court where a tall figure with hair as red as yours was dyed was stood waiting. Almost against his will, as if he wasn’t expecting, he began to move towards you. His lips twitched at the corner, giving you a teasing smirk. He held out his hand to you, that smirk still twisting his mouth. You reached out and took his outstretched hand.

“Hi. I’m Tendou Satori.”

The moment your skin touched his, you felt it. That connection between you. Here he was. Your soulmate.

“You’re a fucking teasing piece of shit,” you spat. You couldn’t help yourself. The words slipped out, guided by the animosity you had been harbouring towards this individual for months now.

“But it was fun, no?”

“Fun?” you seethed. “Making someone dye their hair this shitty colour is not my definition of fun.”

“But, it was the reason we found each other, and you weren’t the nicest with your choices either,” he pointed out, probably remembering his sleepless nights and copies of Shonen Jump he had yet to purchase. “So, in return, let me take you out sometime. After all, fate has decreed that we are a perfect pair.”

You let out a huff, not able to argue with his logic. “As long as you pay.”

[remuswriting]

next to you; u. keishin

Summary: Keishin Ukai wants to play with Y/N L/N no matter how hard he has to work for it.

Pairings: Keishin Ukai x Male! Reader

Warnings: Swearing and fighting

Word Count: 4,571

Notes: I’m not sure if what this is in terms of angst or fluff.  I just wanted Ukai to get some more love, so I wrote him to be in high school.  Like all my other things, I’m going to add that I’m new to writing reader inserts, so they may not be all that good.

 *****

 Y/N always glided down the court as if he could fly, and everyone watched him in awe.  He was beautiful with the way he played, because he made everyone else feel so alive that they couldn’t help but want to grow as players or maybe even join volleyball.  The ace should do that though, he should motivate others to thrive.

“Give it to me, Koichi-san!” Y/N called out, and the setter set it perfectly to where the h/c haired boy seemed to be flying.  It the ball smashed into the ground, no blockers being able to touch it, and he grinned over at the setter. “Hell yeah!”

Keishin watched him from the sideline in awe, like he always did.  The boy who flew around the court was something the buzzcut boy wished he could have.  Whether it be in volleyball or in friendship or in love; he wished he could have him. Y/N’s smile brightened up the court, and everyone seemed to get even more motivated to do their best.

“I wish I could just play in a game so I can play with L/N-san,” Takinoue said, and some of the players around him agreed.

“He forces everyone to play harder,” Tamura said with a slight sigh. “It could be kind of exhausting to keep up with him.”

“Wouldn’t that be the thrill of it all?” Takinoue asked, excitement slightly in his voice. “You get to see how hard you can actually fight, because he will make you fight.”

Even though Keishin didn’t say anything, he agreed with his friend.  Y/N forced people to fight on his level, because when everyone was with him; Karasuno was unstoppable.  He had heard his grandfather say how it almost like a miracle to get the outside hitter, because no one flew like he did.

“Don’t give up now!” Y/N screamed at a player that Keishin couldn’t distinguished.  There were five other people besides the spiker, so it was hard to realize who was being scolded. “When we win, then you can give up, okay?”

For a second year, the h/c haired boy acted more like the captain than the actual captain.  When he looked over at the sidelines, e/c eyes catching Keishin’s brown ones, the setter felt a chill run down his back; the look in his eye could nearly be considered murderous.

Sometimes everyone wondered if Y/N would murder someone to win, and their coach once said it showed that at least someone was dedicated.  Even if people knew this, they still wanted to play next to the h/c haired boy to feel the adrenaline he gave.

*****

 It was a Friday when Y/N sought out Keishin during lunch.  His hands were on his knees as he panted as if he had just ran a marathon. When he looked up at the buzzcut boy, Ukai was sure he would never forget the look in his eyes; desperate and hungry for something that would take the setter a while to fully understand.

“Set to me,” Y/N said as he stood up to look at the other in the eye. “I want to see how high I can fly with you.”

Keishin had been working hard, had even been complimented by his grandfather (who had even once said the only thing he hated was grandson) and everyone had been seeking him out to practice with.  He just never expected their beloved ace to be so determined to practice with him as well.

“What if I’m not as good as Fujii-san?” He asked, and the outside hitter chuckled as he shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter who’s better; matters who makes it feel right.”

Ukai had been a spiker once, because he had to be, but it never appealed to him.  He didn’t have the same rush that he hot when he saw someone perfectly spike the ball he set.

He noticed how Y/N’s eyes shined as if he had won the lottery every time he spiked one of the setter’s sets.  His smile was always so big and contagious that the buzzcut boy found himself smiling too.

“Again,” Y/N demanded, something he did a lot. “Make me fly higher, Keishin.”

“Okay, L/N-san,” he said, his cheeks bright red and the spiker grinned at him as if he had been invited to be on the National Men’s Volleyball Team.

“Call me Y/N.” The spiker chuckled slightly. “It’s only fair, right?”

“Yeah, it’s only fair,” Keishin breathed out. “Now let’s make you fly higher.”

 *****

 Keishin wasn’t exactly the person who was used to setting to Y/N during practice matches.  The beloved ace had been paired up with Fujii since their first year, because they could do attacks that the buzzcut setter could only wish of doing.  When he did become used to setting to him during practice matches, they became unstoppable.

He’d watch Y/N stare at his red palm after a particularly strong spike before he’d clench his fist and look up at the setter.  His eyes were desperate and hungry like the first time he had asked the other to set to him.  Keishin felt so much pride that he never wanted any of it to end.  He wanted to stay on the court with Y/N.

“You give Koichi-san a run for his money at times,” Y/N said as they took a break, only for the setter stared at him in confusement only for the h/c haired boy to chuckle slightly. “Don’t look at me like that and just take the compliment.”

Coach Ukai noticed the obvious connection between the two and moved Keishin to be a starter who was switching in and out with Fujii in games.  The ginger always glared at the other, because everyone wanted to fight with Y/N, even if they never said.  Or even refused to admit it.

“Don’t try to make a move on him,” Fujii said when the two setters were in the club room alone. Keishin wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by the statement. “It’s easy to get caught up in the way he acts when he’s on the court, but he doesn’t give a damn off it.”

“Why do you care what I do and what I don’t do?” Keishin asked as he stared over at the other, who gave him with an annoyed look.

“We all keep getting our hearts broken by him,” the ginger said as he ruffled his hair slightly. “We get our hearts broken without even realizing we were in love with him.”

The buzzcut boy froze, because he wasn’t in love with the h/c haired spiker.  Admiration and love were two separate things, and he definitely wasn’t in love with L/N.  The silence was filled by Fujii chuckling at the other.

“Don’t worry, you’ll realize it soon enough.” The other setter patted Keishin’s shoulder firmly. “You never know, he could fall in love with you too.  He’s quite unpredictable.”

Keishin didn’t process Fujii leaving and that he was alone in the club room.  He stared at his cubby with a frightened expression.  He couldn’t be in love with Karasuno’s ace, because he was straight; they were both straight.  There was that feeling he got in his stomach when they shared smiles after a particularly good spike.  Or the way his heart clenched whenever Y/N wanted to eat lunch with him, especially when the spiker took him to the roof because “it’s the best place to eat obviously.”

He wasn’t in love with him and Y/N wasn’t going to be able to break his heart.

 ****

 Keishin was taken off the court during a practice match, but this time it wasn’t like their temporary switch outs they had been doing.  His grandfather had a stern look on his face, one that the buzzcut boy had only seen him give to other people when he gently scolded them.

“Keishin,” his grandfather started, and their male manager looked scared. “What’s wrong with you today?”

“What do you mean?” The setter asked, because he really didn’t know.  He felt fine, and all of his sets to the spikers were fairly solid.

“You’re not able to keep up with L/N,” coach said calmly, which made it even scarier. “He demands his setter to reach his breaking point faster than he reaches his.  You’re too close to yours and we’re barely halfway through the first set, so you started to falter.”

His grandfather could be right, probably actually was, but Keishin had no idea.  Maybe he had started to be more cautious because the spiker had been feeling good today.  When he felt good, the entire team was required to feel good too; it was how they won.

“Sorry, sir.”

“You’re out for the rest of the match,” Coach Ukai said, his grandson gritting his teeth at the statement. “Go watch Fujii and see how he’s able to keep up with L/N.”

When he went to where the rest of the benchwarmers were, they all looked at him so confused.  He always sat on the bench next to their coach and manager.  They all let him go behind them, crouch down, and watched him muffle a scream into his hand. He deserved to be on the court, even if he apparently couldn’t keep up with the spiker right now.  Keishin would fight harder if it meant he could be on the same court as the other boy.

“Hey, you okay dude?” Takinoue asked as he approached him, and it seemed like he was the only one confident enough to do so.

“I’ve been taken out for the entire game,” Keishin said, and his voice sounded so at ease but his body language was so aggressive.  The bleach blonde middle blocker gave him a look of understanding.

“You won’t be fighting next to L/N-san,” the middle blocker said. “You’re used to him by your side, hitting every set you do.”

The buzzcut boy didn’t make a comment, because he didn’t know what to say.  It was true that it fucking sucked to not be on the court with Y/N, but it was more than that at the same time.  He had started to work so hard to keep up with him; volleyball and school was all that he was he did so he could stay on the court.  Was that what he was supposed to say?  Was he supposed to admit that he wanted to be next to the outside hitter so badly that it killed him to have to sit out.

“Koichi, stop throwing the ball so fucking high!” Y/N screamed, causing everyone to look over at him as he got into the other’s face. “Just do it how Keishin does it, because I can actually hit it.”

“You hit that one though!” Koichi screamed back. “So, stop acting like you can’t.”

Coach Ukai had to call for a timeout and L/N refused to calm down.  He screamed about how tired he was of Koichi trying to dictate how every spiker should play when they all weren’t the same person.

“Stop bitching and just hit the damn ball,” Koichi snapped, and the h/c haired boy looked over at him with a murderous expression.

“If we weren’t doing a match right now, I would’ve fucking decked you already.”

“Calm down right now, you two!” Coach Ukai yelled, and the two boys immediately became quiet. “Do I need to bench you, Y/N?  Or are you going to behave?”

E/C eyes looked down at the ground before they looked back up at the older man.  They held anger, resentment, and something else that no one knew what it was.  Keishin knew the ace just wanted to play; wanted to win.  He had told him that, confessed how he knew what he wanted to do on the court and he would fight until he no longer could to get there.

“Sorry, coach,” Y/N said softly. “I’ll calm down.”

He had to put his anger and preference aside so he could keep fighting; keep being on the court. When the timeout was over, L/N became a different person on the court.  He encouraged Koichi and the rest of the players on a new level.

“He just wants to stay on the court and fight.”

 ****

 Keishin found Y/N practicing in the gym alone every night after practice.  The setter had been made the person to kick the ace out, because everyone said he had a way to get L/N to listen.  He was fine with making the other second year leave, but no one realized that.

His brown eyes followed the spiker as he did jump serves, determined to make them service aces. Y/N was always growing and the setter wondered if he would ever stop.  Part of him couldn’t actually comprehend the idea of the outside hitter not being able to improve when all he ever saw was him improving.

“Oh, Keishin, it must be time for me to leave if you’re here,” the h/c haired boy said with a sigh and a nervous smile.  He never acted like this before, so what was going on?

“I can give you a couple more minutes if you’d like,” Keishin said as he leaned against the gym wall. “I’d join you, but I’m pretty exhausted after today’s practice.”

They had to run up the mountain near the school, because their endurance wasn’t good enough according to his grandfather’s opinion.  Somehow the spiker in front of him didn’t seem to be tired in the slightest, and he was jealous of the energy he had.

“I’m done, so don’t worry,” Y/N said as he put the volleyball he had using. “It must be annoying for you to come get every night.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be our ace if you didn’t practice like you do.” Keishin paused as he looked from the floor to his teammate. “I don’t find it annoying; if I did, then I’d make someone else come get you.”

“Then why have you been acting like you no longer want to be on the same court as me?” The h/c haired volleyball player asked with a tilt of his head. “You even got yourself benched at the last practice match.  Do you want to be a bench warmer again?”

Keishin didn’t move or talk, because he didn’t think the other would read so much into this.  It made sense for him too, because Y/N had always been the person to somehow read people fairly well but let them still have their secrets.  The setter wondered if maybe the other knew he was starting to fall for him.  There was no beautiful explanation as to why, but just the fact it felt good to be near the other and he liked how the spiker laughed as well.

“Is it true you keep breaking our teammates hearts?” Keishin finally asking the question he had wanted to for weeks.  Koichi’s words had clung to him as if they were clothes soaked by the rain.

“I wasn’t aware of doing that, so it must be unintentional if I was doing it,” Y/N said, his voice casual but eyes held a kind of vulnerability that scared the setter. “Only one person has confessed to me, so I guess I’ll take credit for that one. Is there a reason why you’re asking?”

“Someone warned me you’re too different off the court to actually fall in love,” The buzzcut boy said, and e/c eyes trailed his face as if he was searching for honesty in his features.

“I guess you could say I am two different people; one person on the court and another person off the court, but you need to be when it comes to sports,” Y/N said before he sighed, obviously not enjoying the conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, on the court, I know what I want and how I’m going to get it, but it’s different off the court because life isn’t made up of certain plays and combo attacks.” The ace walked over to the other to lean on the wall next to him. “I also don’t demand attention like I do on the court.  I don’t want to be seen unless there’s a volleyball in my hand.”

“Is that why you break hearts?  You don’t know what you want off the court, so you don’t know you want them,” Keishin said as he turned to face the other and noticed how there was little space between them.  Maybe a foot, but that seemed so small when Y/N was next to you.

“I imagine I break hearts because I don’t want them,” Y/N said as he chuckled softly. “I know what I want, but I don’t have a play on how to get him to really notice me.  It’s different when someone sees me as the person I am on the court, but not as the one I am normally.”

“You shouldn’t need a play to get him to notice you.  You are kind of hard to miss.”

Y/N pouted as he pushed at the other’s shoulder.  Blush covered his cheeks and Keishin wanted to laugh.  He wanted to laugh because Koichi had probably wanted at this at some point, but never did.  Or at least never had according to the setter’s knowledge.

“Are you insulting me, Keishin?” The spiker asked, his pout only growing more and more.

“No, it’s a compliment, dumbass,” the setter said, only to get another shove at his shoulder from the nickname. “Sorry, let me say it again; it’s a compliment.”

“Well, if you keep complimenting me, I’m going to fall more in love with you.” The buzzcut student choked slightly at the comment.  This was actually unexpected. “That was a bit forward, sorry.  I guess this is a confession, even though you most likely don’t like me the same.”

“No, I do like you,” Keishin said as he scratched his neck and looked away from the other, not sure what to say. “It’s just kind of weird to like guys, since you’re the first one I’ve ever liked.”

“That’s okay, I’d never force you to do anything you don’t want to,” L/N said, and even though the younger Ukai didn’t know if he believed him.

You force me to my limit every time we play together.  You force everyone to play as hard as you do, even though all of us struggle to.  Even though you know you demand attention on the court, do you know how much?

“Fujii told me I was useless to you now because I had been taken off the court,” Keishin said as he looked back at the other. “Told me that it was just heartbreak waiting to happen.”

The buzzcut boy had partly agreed with the ginger setter.  Y/N had always seemed like the kind of person who refused to play with someone who wasn’t valuable to the team.  He had acted like that with Keishin for the last year and a half, so why wouldn’t he act like that again?

“Koichi is just mad I rejected him as a setter and a boyfriend, so don’t listen to him,” the other said as he tilted his head to touch the gym wall. “Tell me, what do you want to do?  About this, not anything else because this is the topic at hand.”

The setter chuckled at how the other clarified, obviously nervous.  He wasn’t sure if he had ever seen the other nervous, because Y/N was always confident in everything he was doing.  Or that he had seen.  The spiker always gave his all and it made him seem like he was overflowing with confidence.

“I’m not sure,” Ukai said softly. “What are our options.”

Well, there’s dating or just being friends.  I’m fine with either.  Whatever makes you comfortable.”

Maybe Y/N really was different off the court, even though he had slightly already known that.  Eating lunch every day with someone for two months made it obvious who they really were, even if it was just barely.  It was so weird to think he wanted others to be comfortable when he was the person who forced others to do what he wanted.

“We can date,” Keishin said slowly. “I just don’t know if I want to be public about it.”

Y/N reached out and touched his shoulder, comforting him, and smiled at him.

“That’s fine,” he said, his smile so soft Ukai could feel it as if a feather touched him so delicately. “We can work up to it, okay?”

“Okay.”

Y/N dropped his hand and walked away before he turned to the other and clapped his hands.  He then grabbed the container holding the volleyballs with an expectant look.  The setter walked over to him and helped him put them all up.

“Let’s leave now,” the outside hitter told him, and he nodded before he grabbed the other’s hand for a moment before dropping this.

He was dating the ace of Karasuno and it was kind of crazy to him.

 *****

 It was 5 am when Keishin gets a call, and he grumbled slightly until he saw the caller ID.  He ran a hand through his bleached hair, shocked at seeing the name on his phone.  The coach answered it, realizing it won’t answer itself.

“Hello,” he said, voice groggy and rough from being woken up.  There was rustling on the other side of line.

“Shit, I woke you up didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I needed to wake up soon anyways,” Keishin said, wishing he could see the person calling him. It had been years since they had seen each other, and the blonde missed the other.

“If you say so.  I didn’t mean to though; I just forget Japan and the United Kingdom have different time zones.” A chuckle from the man on the other side of the line filled the coach’s ears. “I do have a reason why I called though, but I can call later if you want me to.”

Part of the blonde setter wanted to tell the other to call him later, because that meant he would get to hear his voice even more than he would if he didn’t.  That was stupid, because he imagined the other had things to do most likely.

“No, it’s okay, Y/N,” Ukai said, the name felt weird to say since it had been so long.

“I found out through Yukinari that you’re the new coach of Karasuno,” Y/N said, and his voice seemed awkward, but it was probably because he lived in London now. “Were you planning on never telling me?”

“I was conned into it by the brat players,” Keishin said, and he knew that he was starting to love coaching the Karasuno team. “You never told me you finally published your novel.”

“My novel doesn’t mean shit compared to Karasuno going to nationals.” More rustling on the Y/N’s side, making the blonde wonder what he was doing. “Also, those first year’s quick attack is fucking insane.”

“You’ve seen our matches?” Ukai asked, not hiding the shock in his voice and the old outside hitter laugh slightly.

“Of course, I have. Makoto downloads the recordings they take at the tournaments and emails them to me.”  More rustling and a sigh. “Katherine, I’m on the phone. Stop rolling around my bed. Sorry, my roommate is annoying.”

The rustling had been from Y/N’s roommate though.  The old setter smiled, remembering how annoyed the other would get whenever he got on his bed.  Always told him that his bed was a place for sleep and homework, not moving all over the place.

“No worries.  So, you like our freak duo?  Anything else the beloved ace likes from Karasuno’s national qualifying team.”

“Your ace, I think it’s Asahi, is crazy powerful.  I wish I had been powerful like him.  Also, that captain of yours holds the ground down so well, your grandfather would’ve loved him on his team.  He would’ve loved all of them, especially your libero.”

Ukai wanted to say how it was the team that would’ve been able to keep up with Y/N; the team he deserved. He wanted to tell him how he had been so much more powerful than Asahi may ever be, but the other would only ever deny that.  He denied every compliment after his ACL injury that took him out from the second half of their first set to the rest of the year.  They lost and his grandfather always said it was because none of them had the drive or fire to compete without the injured outside hitter.

“I’m going to come to nationals,” Y/N said and it made Keishin choke on his own salvia.  The h/c boy had been in Japan for nearly 10 years now after he moved to the United Kingdom to study abroad and then never came back. “Is that okay?”

“Of course!” Ukai exclaimed a little too loudly, excitement getting the best of him. “Maybe you could show them a few things.”

“I can try, but I’m really rusty.  I’ll be in Japan for two weeks though.  I can get work done there too, so it’s not a problem.” Y/N chuckled softly and Keishin could basically see him shaking his head. “I’ll also get to see you, so that’s a plus.”

Even after their breakup in their third year, Y/N was always flirty and somewhat affectionate with him. The blonde man assumed it was because the other didn’t want to actually breakup but being around someone so into volleyball when he couldn’t be was something that he just wasn’t able to do. Instead he had started writing, forced his ex-boyfriend to read everything he wrote, and ended up studying abroad in the United Kingdom for creative writing.

“It will be nice to see you,” Ukai admitted with a sigh. “You’ll have to talk to everyone we went to high school with though.”

A groan was heard on the other side of the line.  Of course, the once beloved ace of Karasuno didn’t want to talk to anyone he had once played with.

“There was something else I wanted to tell you, still volleyball related, but not nationals,” the h/c haired man said, avoiding hearing who would be at nationals that he’d have to talk to. “Your freak duo, it’s Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shouyou, right?  I can’t remember who plays what position though.”

“Yeah, Kageyama is the setter and Hinata is a middle blocker, but mainly spiker,” Keishin said, unsure of what the other was about to say. “Why?”

“In a way, I was like Kageyama and you were Hinata.” A laugh that wasn’t Y/N was heard on the other line, which made Ukai assume it was Katherine. “I controlled the court like Kageyama does, but you were free like Hinata is.  We made a really amazing team.”

“No, you’re wrong. You’re both of them and I bet you’ll see that when you come to nationals.”

Y/N chuckled slightly before he let out an irritated sigh.  There was muffled talking and then a groan.

“Sorry, babe, I have to go.  Katherine is complaining about being hungry.  See you soon, okay?”

Ukai’s heart fluttered at the pet name he hadn’t heard in years.  It made him feel stupid really to still be so affected by someone he hadn’t had real contact with in so long.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Me neither.”

The call ended and Keishin let out a deep breath as he grinned.

Y/N was coming back to Japan.

[seijohsfairy]

you’ve been in love with kuroo tetsuro for years, silently supporting from the sidelines. it’s where you feel comfortable, felt- comfortable. so now that kuroo finds out you’re his most loyal fan?

.wordc. 9.5k tw manipulation, degradation!, corruption, bullying, dubcon/noncon, coercion, yandere kuroo, fingering, oral, Kuroo is on the world’s biggest ego trip

.author’s note. I finally finished this monster after struggling for so long ( ɵ̥̥ ˑ̫ ɵ̥̥) inspired by fanatic by @/jackrrabbit​. if you want to read an amazing bullying smut, it’s seriously perfection

+

An obsession. If someone asked, you’d never call it that. An appreciation of the sport maybe, or of the hard work and dedication of the players. But an obsession might’ve been more accurate, as you have been a fan for years now. At least you can admit it to yourself. Not a day goes by where you forget to think about volleyball, and more in particular, him. It’s not your fault it makes you so happy… It’s not at all, and yet—

You’re able to watch the young men through the open doors of the gym, the resounding bangs of spikes flattening against the polished floor filling the building. You huff out in the afternoon sun and hide under the sun-bleached, red parasol as best you can, before wiping a bead of sweat from your temple. Soon everyone will be pouring out of the classrooms, which brings a smile to your face. But for now, you spare another look inside the bright hall, following the red jerseys as they move swiftly around the court. The speed at which the balls connect with the floor have always impressed you, but your eyes are instead on the middle of the group, tracing the number one mindlessly.

“Senpai, are you alright?” your junior squeaks out. You flinch in surprise at her question, almost dropping the drink you’re holding in the process. Her short brown hair sticks to her face where a wide-eyed expression marks it, though a small, unsure smile stays in place. You quickly bring out a laugh though, waving off her concern.

“Oh, yeah! Sorry,” you put down the glass can and press your cool fingers to your forehead, smiling, “the heat just makes it hard to actually pay attention. Could you repeat that, please?”

“I’m just so glad you suggested this, s’all!” she beams, putting the last of the lemonade out on the table, each can in between ice packs. They’re already dripping, coming summertime close to unbearable. “My big brother always talks about the fanclub at home and that other teams don’t have a fanclub near as good as ours!” You smile at her while you pour chunks of ice into the white wine, putting it out too. The entire table is decorated with the team colors, flyers to one side, donation jar and cash register on the other, with all the drinks, ice pops and watermelon slices in the middle.

You even made all of the small, red cat charms that hang from the parasol yourself. A bit overkill perhaps, but no effort really feels big enough when you’re as dedicated to a team as you are, even if it’s embarrassing to say. But well… you’d do just about anything to support Nekoma and the man you’ve been crushing on for years now. While you peer up at the windows of the classrooms, mentally keeping track of just how much longer you’d have to wait for the rest of the fanclub to join you, you miss the proud look the younger girl sends your way. Yui, the libero’s younger sister, pulls her hair up in a tiny ponytail. “You must be so proud since you started it all by yourself.”

You look back down at her, flushing. “Of course I am proud of the fanclub, but I’m even more proud of our team. Y’know, I’ve been watching some of them since middle school and they all seem to enjoy it so much. It makes me want to support them in any way I can.” You’ve taken the requests of the team to heart to the best of your ability. Hopefully you can sell a lot, they’d really need new cleaning equipment and some of the shorts and jerseys could definitely be replaced with new ones.

“Of course Nekoma’s angel would say that,” a voice giggles, the black haired girl strolling up behind you. All the others walk close behind, right when the bell indicating the last class rings. The rest of the fanclub waves politely, many of the girls with their own healthy flush. “Make some space, Mrs. Kuroo, everyone will be getting out in a minute or so.” You give the other third-year a little poke in her side, looking down at the menu as you pick at the corner of the laminated sheet. It’s so silly, but the nickname makes you all warm inside. How nice it would be to actually be… well. You shouldn’t think so far ahead, or not ahead at all, since Kuroo Tetsuro has absolutely zero interest in you. The overflowing amount of love you have for him isn’t making up for anything.

“Don’t call me Mrs. Kuroo. It’s embarrassing,” you tell the raven-haired girl, glancing back inside the hall for just a moment to watch as said man gulps down his water, sweat drenching his hairline and dripping down his chin. “Even if I like it, he doesn’t know I exist.” Some of the girls coo at your admission, all of them at least aware that you’ve looked up to the Captain for years. Your friend sends you a knowing look, before cracking her fingers and getting to work on the cash register. She’s been trying to get you to say something for months, and with the last few weeks of high school growing closer and closer, you can’t even blame her.

But what would you even say to the guy you’ve crushed on for so long? After all, you’ve been in his class for three years now and he never once spoke to you directly either. He’d probably be creeped out by your dedication to him. Before you can think of any more, bunches of students start pouring out of the buildings, looking tired out by the day. When they see your stand, many of them light up, already taking out their wallets to get some cool lemonade. You clap your hands and look at the girls surrounding you, before nodding. “Alright, let’s do this! We’re going to sell everything out today. Yui, you get that side?” You turn to the first few customers and put on your best smile, handing them a menu. “Welcome to the Neko Outdoor Café! Would you like a drink?”

///

“Captain!” Yamamoto calls, pout more pronounced with each passing second. “Please let us take a break. Please.” He’s about to get on his knees and beg. “Come on, man. I need this.”

The raven haired man just lifts a brow in his direction, before turning his attention back to the bench so he can tie his shoelaces properly. “Shut up, you’re being noisy.” He doesn’t care to ask what the guy is on about, already more than annoyed at having to practice in this sweltering heat. Every movement feels slower than usual, it’s pissing him off.

“They’re going to sell out and leave, Captain!” the other tries again, tugging at the edge of Kuroo’s jersey like a child. In fact, he looks like he might burst into tears. The Captain ignores him.

“I’m sure they’re keeping some extras for us,” Yaku tries, smacking Lev’s hand away from his water bottle and downing the last of it.

Kenma hums. “You know they wouldn’t leave us with nothing, they’re all so thoughtful.” The setter is already trying to soothe a teary-eyed Yamamoto, while Kuroo straightens out to wipe himself down with a towel. “They probably have a whole pack of ice lollies stored away for after practice. Our cheer squad leader wouldn’t be caught dead forgetting about anyone.” At the mention of your name, the Captain frowns, the sound unfamiliar. “She even remembered to bring some mango for me last time, and I don’t even remember telling her I don’t like watermelon that much.”

“Who now?” Kuroo frowns. He pokes out his tongue to wet his lips, following his team’s gazes to outside the gym, where rows of students are lining up. He can just see the edge of a red table, curiosity peaked.

Kenma’s face blanks when he looks over at his long time friend. “The leader of the fanclub? She’s been to every one of our matches since like… eighth grade or something. How have you never noticed her?” Some of the boys turn to him in confusion too. Kuroo crosses his arms over his chest, before chewing on his answer. It’s not that he ignores anyone on purpose. But your name doesn’t ring a bell, neither does the description.

“Pretty sure she really likes you, too,” Lev suddenly says, getting up from his spot on the floor to bound closer to the door to watch past it. “She always wears clothes with the number 1 and your name on it. She’s very nice, she bought me chocolate milk after our last game.” He stares out the door for a moment longer, before perking up and waving for his older teammates’ attention. “Ooh ooh, she has ice creams for us, she’s calling. Can we please take a break, Captain?”

Everyone turns to the third year. Even Kenma is giving him an unspoken question with his expression. “Fine, whatever,” Kuroo just sighs, giving into their antics. “But after that we’re getting back to spike training and you better all jump higher than I’ve ever seen you jump.”

While waiting in line, he asks to point you out. You’re busy smiling at every single student that comes by, colored shadow falling over you because of the sun shade that is just as red as the rest of the table. Just as red as your flushed face, and as red as the shirt that you’re wearing with his name on it. You look kind, with a childlike joy on your face, innocent in the way you beam out warmth. And after staring at you for a while, you do start to look a bit familiar. Huh. So this is what his biggest fan looks like. He’s not let down, not exactly, though he does wish that you’d focus less on the lemonade and more on him as he waits in line with the rest of the team. But it’s understandable, you’re just trying your best. Even he can see that.

Suddenly, you look up from the cash register, having been shoved in the side with an elbow by your friend and in the split second he catches your eyes, he can see several emotions flash in them. The last one before you look away is definitely wide-eyed mortification though. You look away from him and turn to your friend, whispering something in her ear as your cheeks grow red-hot. You blank at her answer, before biting your lip. It’s strange, but something in the things you do are cute to him. How you nervously toy with the edge of your shirt. How you try to keep your eyes on the ground but glance back every so often anyway. How you put on a smile. You must really, truly like him. And he can’t say he doesn’t like at least that. That innocent expression on your face is to die for. Really.

After a minute or so, you seem to gather your wits and look up to walk from behind the stall. “Guys, you don’t have to wait in line. Come up here,” you wave them over, not looking at him at all. Somehow, this only makes him giddier, wanting to see you flush even harder. Maybe you’d pass out if he talked to you. Maybe you’d cry. Would you even be able to handle it if he got any closer? The smirk that clings to his lips is one of ego-filled happiness, he can’t help himself. Something about you makes him feel like he’d be able to break you with the slightest of pressure, and though he’s never quite wanted to control someone like that, he can’t say it doesn’t feel exhilarating.

Everyone moves out of the one line to skip to the front, as you busy yourself by glancing under the tables to pull out an extra cooler, opening it swiftly. That way your skirt pulls up insanely high, though you try to keep it down with one hand. Oblivious to what you’re doing, surely. His cute, little fan. He’ll have to give you a lesson on proper manners, but not now. All in due time. When everyone starts thanking you, you just rub your neck, straightening back up.

“How much are they?” Kenma asks, “I’ll pay. Is it alright if I get the money to you after practice though?”

“No, no!” you beam, “they’re free for you guys! I could hardly let our own team pay for some stupid ice pops and lemonade.” You don’t hesitate to smile at Kenma. Kuroo holds his tongue from breaking into your conversation for now, instead taking one of the watermelon slices and biting into it. You seem to sink into yourself a bit when he turns back in your direction, almost as if you’re trying to disappear into the background entirely. Would be hard though, with that bright a shirt. “We also have wine if the adults want any,” you continue, shooting Kai and Yaku a guilty glance then and trailing off. “Though that might not be a good idea if you’re still practicing.”

You still have yet to look back at him, creating a void of something in the pit of his stomach. Why don’t you want to look at him as much as he wants to look at you? “Are there any strawberry pops?” Lev asks, probably aimed at you but Kuroo’s already taking a step towards you before you can answer.

This way you’re not able to ignore him any longer. Your eyes are so big and stunned when you glance up at him, tilting your head back just so you can look him in the face. There you are, he thinks. You pull a lip into your mouth, cheeks burning with color. Your chest heaving up and down, heart clearly pounding so hard he swears he can hear it. And Kuroo is living for it, the thrill of making you so affected by his presence undeniable. He wants to be the one to make you so flustered, wants to be the one to taint it too. He does know that’s probably not normal, but it’s so tempting. He smiles down at you, watching when your lips tremble softly. Cute. He softly calls out your name, grinning wider when you seem to mellow for a moment at the sound. “Did you do all this yourself?” he asks, enjoying the starstruck expression on your face.

You have to take a moment to get yourself back on track, clearly. Understandable. “Mhm,” you manage though, looking anywhere but him again when you realize you’re staring. “W-Well, everyone helped plan it, of course. I just made everything they planned out.”

“Yeah?” His smirk has yet to leave his face, but if it could grow any wider, now would be the time. You give a shy nod, looking back up at him for a moment. “The lemonade looks good. The watermelon’s good too.”

You’re practically glowing at his compliment, taking a step back to roll yourself back and forth on the balls of your feet. He wants to place his hands on your shoulders to keep you still, but really, you might just faint if he does so he holds himself back. “T-thank you s-so much! I’m glad you like it. I hope you’ll be able to use the funds well, but if you ever need anything else, you can always ask me,” you lift your shoulder and smile at him for just a moment, blush still raging on your face. You blank then, quickly adding, “or any of the other girls! We’re all here to support you, so… p-please keep working hard and doing your best a bit longer!” You’re stuttering like crazy too. He’ll have to work that out of you.

Before he can say anything else, someone calls for your name, so you quickly bow and rush back to your spot behind the stall. The girls giggle and poke at you, some of them hardly subtle in their whispering and cooing. And Kuroo smiles, because he might have just found something new to peak his interest.

///

You couldn’t have known. Not really. You couldn’t have known the full extent of his anger and definitely not how it would turn on you. So why does it feel like you made a horrible mistake? As you are sweeping the last of the hall, you hear the familiar, resounding echo of volleyballs smacking against the smooth surface. It’s a sound that’s long grown near and dear to your heart. Still, you put the brush to the side to make your way to the gym door where it stands swung open. It’s a Friday. The Nekoma team doesn’t play volleyball after school hours on Fridays. You frown as you peek around the cold, metal door into the otherwise vacant hall. As the class representative this term, you’re basically expected to be the last one here.

The man causing the constant butterflies in your stomach is facing away from you, frustration seeming to radiate off him in angry, black swirls as he throws balls against the wall, making continuous tosses to himself. You wait for a moment longer, glancing back into the school building as you debate your options. Though you were unable to watch the end of practice, you saw the beginning. Kuroo was anything but the collected player he normally is, the sight of it making your heart ache. Very hesitantly, you knock your knuckles against the metal. You rather wouldn’t be putting yourself in his proximity by choice, last time enough to make you so flushed and flustered you were stumbling all over your words.

Still though, you just want to help him. Maybe you could make him feel just a bit better. “Kuroo-san?” you try softly when he doesn’t react. He catches the ball at your call, pausing for a second. Then he turns to you. A shadow on his face, tall shape seeming to loom over you even from afar. You dig your nails into your own palms at the sharp glare that’s sent your way, his eyes flicking over your entire body, coming to rest back on your face. He doesn’t say anything, so you try to gather your courage and clear your voice, taking a step into the gym. “I- Sorry, I heard you still practicing. Are you- I mean- I don’t want to assume or anything, b-but- you don’t normally practice on Friday.”

The brief flicker of courage you had soon sinks deep within the pit of your chest as the silence continues. He bounces the ball on the floor once before catching it again, lifting one of his brows. Still with that gleam in his eyes, the one set off by the darkness cast around him. Then he sighs, and in a second his smile is plastered back on. The smile you’ve grown so used to seeing from afar, but it doesn’t feel quite right. It certainly doesn’t reach his eyes. It looks a bit off too, lopsided like he’s trying to convince himself to keep it up. “You— Ah, you’re the… fan club girl,” he nods. He tosses the ball up a few times, seemingly thinking, before he clicks his tongue. His deep voice resonates through the empty hall. “Yeah, sorry if I’m bothering you. I wanted to get some more practice in.”

You wring your hands into the front of your shirt, mindlessly bunching it up in between your fingers. When his eyes are back on you, you have to fight yourself from taking a step back. “No, you’re not bothering me at all, I don’t expect any less from our team Captain.” You swallow. Then, barely louder than the thumping of your heartbeat against your ribs, a thought tumbles out of your mouth before you can stop yourself. “Would you like me to help you practice for a bit?” It’s a little thing, so small, and you’ve done it for Lev and Kenma plenty of times. But your hands shake when you ask.

Kuroo’s eyebrows pull tightly together, his expression looking so off-putting even when you normally think everything about him is beautiful. You think he’s perfect, even drenched entirely in sweat and with grooves dug deep under his eyes, exhausted to the bone, so why? Why does he glare at you this way, and how can you make your heart stop wavering in your chest? You briefly stand there to think about what you just said, trying to figure out exactly what you did wrong to make him feel even more shitty, but come up blank. He must have misread your tone of voice, or maybe you had a dumb expression on your face. Just some stupid mistake you made. That’s the only explanation you have why amazing, gorgeous, perfect star player Kuroo is acting the way he is.

“Do you even know anything about volleyball? You don’t look like you do.” The sharp comment feels like a slap to the face, and you take in a little breath as you attempt to rid the unsettling tension between you two. Maybe soothing him isn’t the way to go, but you know Kuroo makes himself feel better with practice and that is something you can do. For him, you could for hours.

“I— I can… serve alright,” you hesitate, looking from his face to his shoes instead. “I know a l-lot about volleyball and though I- I might not be the best, I’d still help, right?” His sharp eyes are still on you like an accusation, and no, no, no, this is all wrong but you don’t know how to fix it.

“Aah,” Kuroo coos then, chuckling to himself as he passes the ball your way, “you want to help me.” You barely catch it, clutching it close to your chest as he motions you closer with his hand. “O‘course you do.” With sheepish steps you make your way toward him because he asked, staying an arm’s length away for your own poor heart. Last time you were this close to Kuroo, all you could do was give some mindless encouragement, even though you were trying. You just couldn’t help get flustered back then. A cold shiver makes its way up your spine though, and you fight the pressing feeling to run. This is your favorite person in the world you’re looking at, and you’d do anything for him. You would, really. “Because you’re my fan, aren’t you?” he echoes your thoughts, and you bob your head in reply.

Your voice is barely above a whisper now, throat closing up when he leans in as if to inspect you more thoroughly. “Yes, of course, Kuroo-san. I’ve been a fan since I first saw you play a match back in middle school.” You wince at your honesty. Don’t tell him that, your mind screams, but it’s too late. All you can do is bite your lip to keep more from tumbling out.

“Yeah, yeah, so I heard.” He gleams, petting your hair and you try to keep your elation to a minimum, because his eyes are still just as sharp as they were when you first walked in, but butterflies flutter in your stomach. His fingers linger for a moment, the weight of his hand making your heart jump. It’s gone soon enough. “You in my class?” You nod eagerly, but while you do he’s already speaking again. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You’re my biggest fan, huh?” He’s leaning closer again, closer, too close, almost like he’s going to kiss you and you might sink through the floor if he gets any closer.

You try not to let the faint smell of his cologne overwhelm you, his face flushed at the edges of his cheeks because of the exertion. You open your mouth to figure out a response again, but Kuroo is faster. “You come to each match, hoping I’d notice you, right? Begging for my attention like a little kid, wearing my name on your body like that. Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

It takes your brain a while to unfilter the words, playing and replaying them now that you take a step back. “Aren’t you embarrassed to be so obsessed with me? Such a cute, little fangirl, just begging for a look your way?” No. It’s not like that, you are not like that. You’re not obsessed, you just care a lot about him. About the entire team. “Pretending to be into volleyball so you can talk to me, right? Do you talk to Yaku’s sister so you can get to me? Do you talk to Kenma so you can get to me too?” You want him to stop talking, why is he still talking? Why is he acting this way at all?

“N-No, it’s not like that,” you bring out, flushing when his hand wraps around your one shoulder to keep you from backing away from him. He straightens out to his full height, towering above you and as you follow his tall body up to his expression, you hate how he is smiling. A loathing, off-centered smile that gleams on his handsome face. The feeling to run grows so strong in your mind that for a moment you can barely ignore it. There’s something wrong. But of course you remain, you just want to make him feel better. “It’s not like that at all. They are my friends. I love volleyball.”

“You love me, Y/N-chan?” he asks then, dark eyes glazing over.

“I— I’m your biggest fan,” you settle on responding. Wouldn’t it be too much to admit you love him, even if you do? He doesn’t seem to take it, looking down at you with thinly veiled irritation now. The fingers on your shoulder tighten, though you’re too distracted to notice. “I mean- Of course I… love… you, but not in an obsessed way! I just have a lot of respect for how hard you work,” you drawl out, throat closing up when the gleam on Kuroo’s face seems to drop in favor of something softer. Something like admiration. You used to love how he would wear his emotions on his face, but now it’s too much. He’s still not satisfied, you can see it. “And I’d do anything to make you feel better so-”

“Hah. Aren’t you just incredibly sweet,” he sighs, finally letting go of your shoulder. You can feel the weight of it long after it’s gone, warmth trailing down your limbs tentatively. You’re so glad you let out a trembling puff of relief. He takes a deep breath, before he smiles again. Softer, familiar, and your heart slowly comes back to life. This is how it’s meant to go, this is how you always imagined it as Kuroo leans down to brush a strand of hair away from your face back behind your ear, sweet and tender. Hair that you keep longer than you’d want because you know Kuroo likes it that way. You’re sure your stress of earlier was showing on your face, cheeks burning for attention. “You’re so pretty like this, my little fangirl. Mine.”

You don’t miss the drop in his voice, a possessive tone that seems misplaced. As he brushes a knuckle past your cheekbone, tingles pool in your belly. “I’ve had a really tough day today, you have no idea. But I’m glad you’re here now. I think I do know how to fix my shitty mood, actually!” He takes your hands in his then, enveloping them with soft traces of his fingers. He pulls you toward the side of the gym, dragging you behind him. Kuroo Tetsuro is holding your hands. It feels too quick, sprung on you so suddenly it makes your head spin, but they are just so warm around yours like you hoped they’d be. The dark-haired man looks back over his shoulder. “You said you will help me, right?”

“Mhm,” you smile, watching him, how his shoulders move under the red volley jersey and his hair waves softly with each step. And he’s still holding your hand. This must be a dream. You’re on a mindless path until he walks you past the lockers and the damp feeling of the shower air hit your face. That’s when you slow your feet and pull against him a little, blinking out of your daze to glance to the side. Kuroo turns to face you. “Hey, this is the boys’ room.” Your obvious statement makes him chuckle, one hand coming up to cup your cheeks and though it’s insanely overwhelming, you don’t have the heart to pull back. He squishes your cheeks together until your lips turn into a cute, little pout.

“You’ve never been in a boys’ locker room, sweet thing? You’re just that good, huh?” Kuroo stares you down with his pretty, golden eyes while you fail to answer. Isn’t being good supposed to be a positive thing? But he says it like it’s something dirty, like you’re not quite right and you can’t help the sinking feeling that fills you to the brim. He pushes the door to your side into lock, the loud clang making your heart race. When he turns back to you, the darkness in his face is what scares you most.

Cats don’t eat cats, do they—

He doesn’t hesitate to grab you by the shoulder and shoves you up against the lockers, your back connecting with the cold metal sharply. You wince, his hand still around your cheeks. It’s so much bigger than you, you realize, he’s so much bigger than you. That never scared you before, but now you’re painfully aware of the looming shape and the way he’s able to look down at you like this. You swallow and keep his golden gaze. But he releases his hold on your face to hold the back of your neck, long fingers splayed across the soft skin, before leaning down so far into you, you can feel the tremble of his breath on your face. “Would you like me to kiss you?”

Your eyes are wide, unbelieving. Of course you do, but… You wait for what feels like a lifetime, his warmth too close to you. You can’t say no, can you? So you nod and drop your shoulders, eyes fluttering closed. If he were to kiss you all those uncomfortable feelings swirling inside would surely vanish. Kuroo hovers his lips over yours, you can feel them so close, but no more than that. And he chuckles, tilting your head to the side with two fingers instead. “No. You don’t deserve it yet. Don’t you think you have to work a bit harder for it? I know you’re good at that.”

He walks toward you until you’re fully pinned to the cold locker in between his legs, as he connects his lips with your neck. His lips are so hot, like steaming coals on you, and you can’t help but grab onto his bicep for support. It flexes under your touch. He kisses down your throat and jaw, lips dragging trails of kisses and tongue carving paths down to your collarbones and to the edge of your shirt.

And you’re so overwhelmed that the person you’ve loved for so long is actually touching you, that you don’t notice how tight his grip is wrapped around your neck, fingertips pressing ovals into the expanse. “You just wanted this the whole time, huh,” he coos, voice sickly sweet. But when he looks up at you from under those lashes, the gold in his eyes has the sharpness of a blade, daring you to reply. You shudder when his hand drops down to drag your shirt up. “Bet you’ve had so many guys hoping that one of them would feel and taste like me.” He unceremoniously shoves it up from your body, over your shoulders. You look to the side where it drops to the floor, your school uniform a crumpled mess.

“Kuroo-san,” you bring out, self consciously wrapping your arms around yourself to cover up. You don’t like this. You don’t like him telling you that you’ve had people just to prepare for him, don’t like him eating up the sight of you like you’re a piece of meat and you definitely don’t like how he presses his thigh in between your legs to pin you up to the locker. “W-what are you doing?”

He huffs in amusement, tangling his fingers into the hair at the top of your neck to tug back your gaze towards his. “You can drop the politeness, silly girl,” he says again, letting go to brush softer circles into your skull. His lips brush over yours as you stand there, trembling, unsure what to do. How can you say no to him if he’s here, so close, with you for the first time in ever? He taps his fingers on your hands to make you release your hold on yourself, which you do with a bit more coaching. Maybe you just think this is going way too fast because it is him. The boy that offers his friends water before drinking himself, the one with the loud laugh that rings through the halls and makes your heart thump. The guy you’ve been head over heels with. That one.

This is okay, you say to yourself, calm down. His other hand traces along the bottom of your bra as soon as you drop your arms to the side, slipping a finger under just enough to lift it from your skin and you shiver. “You gonna take this off for me?” he asks, rubbing his thigh in between yours more. You can’t answer because you’re dropping your head back against the locker, overwhelmed and unsure still, with the lack of oxygen getting to you all you can do is let out a little whimper. You don’t know a lot about this, you’re sure he does. The hand around your neck drops so he can flip your skirt up, chuckling at your cute panties. You look down in embarrassment and attempt to shove the plaid fabric back down over your thighs but then he lets out a growl, holding it in place. “You wear my name on your body like my personal whore. Don’t play too shy to follow through.”

His long fingers trace over the edges of the panties, where you take deep breaths to calm down. You can’t help but push your waist down on his muscular leg for some friction, looking to the side when he chuckles. “You really are a little slut.” This time you shake your head though, pouting at him.

“I’m not, Kuroo.”

“Liar,” he breathes, pressing his nose to the crook of your neck. “You act like a well-mannered princess but we both know you want to be put in your place.” Not waiting up for a response, he lifts you by your thighs up higher, so he can bury his face into your covered chest, dragging his tongue over the one cup. You can feel the wetness of his tongue seep through the lacy fabric onto your skin. It’s warm and uncomfortable, his breath cooling your skin down instantly. “If you’re not going to take it off, I will,” he gleams, looking up to check your expression again. Ever so slowly he starts pushing the fabric up, not bothering to unhook the piece of clothing. Instead he toys with brushing over your pointed nipples, kissing up your sternum. His eyes flick to yours continuously, like he’s making a show of undressing you. He licks his lips, leaning towards you again.

“Kuroo,” you manage to mumble, resting your one hand on his shoulder to push him away from you. You stumble when you land back on your feet, looking down at the floor. Burning heat covers your entire face, from your cheeks up to your ears. It’s physically painful to be so near him, and the tight grip on your thighs isn’t helping. Your heart is pitter pattering so hard it might break through your ribcage. Despite how much you dreamed about falling in love with him, it wasn’t like this. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I have to lock up the halls and go home.” Your friend’s voice rings through your head then, something about bad guys and the way they prey on kind girls like you, creating cold goosebumps along your arms again. Kuroo Tetsuro can’t be one of those guys, you’ve looked up to him for so long. If he is, what would you even do? “I want to—”

“Don’t lie,” he interrupts, glaring up at your disapproval, “don’t ruin this for me.” Without hesitation he locks his mouth onto your exposed skin, rubbing his knee against your covered center, hard. It sends a spike of heat down your body. You breathe out at the rough laving of his tongue, only soothing after he sucked and bit the tender skin. His one hand reaches up to pull down your panties from under your skirt as soon as you’re closing your eyes, and though you open your mouth to stop him he shuts you up by pinching your thigh sharply between his long fingers. “I told you to stop lying to me. Whatever comes out of that pretty mouth next best be the truth.” He trails his digits up and down a few times, the slightest soothing to your anxiety.

“I… I just don’t—” you swallow, looking away from his eyes to focus on the shine of the lights. They make your eyes burn, but at least you don’t have to undergo his vicious glare this way. It really feels like he despises you for even breathing in his direction, though then why would he be kneeled in front of you. The conflict makes you nauseous, more insecure than you’ve ever been around him and your throat closes up a bit. When his stroking stills, you push through the words anyway. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

He laughs. A warm, bubbly sound against your thigh. “No one’s ever stuffed you with their fingers before?” He looks gleeful, nuzzling your hip in a too-intimate gesture. You’re his fan, but he barely knows anything about you. You slowly shake your head, cheeks warming. His hands start moving again as he shuffles closer between your thighs so his mouth is level with your chest. As he eyes you up and down, he giggles to himself. “Did my slutty fan get herself off on the thought of me? D’you beg for me when coming around your useless, little fingers?” You bite your lip, eyes flicking down at him when he calls your name. “I’m waiting for an answer~”

“I don’t—,” you bite out, flustered and feeling small. He must hear the edge in your voice. With a quick flick of his wrist, he brings his down on your thigh, pinching you hard for good measure. You yelp and grab hold of his head to steady yourself, before quickly pulling your hand away again. He doesn’t seem to mind.

“Wanna try again?” he mumbles though, trailing two fingers up and down the crotch of your panties. It feels warm, and really good, but you’re still cold to the touch. Is this really okay? You doubt it. When he starts licking at the edge of your panties you shudder, letting your weight fall into the sturdy locker for support. “Hm, d’you get off to me?”

You pull your bottom lip into your mouth. You might have touched yourself down there once or twice, but in your imagination that was always long after he’d gotten to know you. In your imagination he was gentle, caring. Nothing like the impatient trailing of his fingers, like he can’t wait to play a game you never agreed to. At his golden gaze, you let the truth spill. “Sometimes,” you breathe, immediately hiding your face in your own shoulder from embarrassment.

“That’s what I thought, dumb girl.” He pushes your panties unceremoniously to the side to collect the slick there, grinning. You didn’t even notice you were getting wet while trying not to anger him. He doesn’t waste time taking advantage of this fact though. He spreads your bottom lips open with his fingers, looking up at you easily. His deep voice feels loud in the pressing silence of the abandoned gym, and you can’t help but wonder how much trouble you’d get in if anyone found you here. “Listen, brat,” he calls, pushing his lips to the top of your thigh to bite the plush skin. You jerk away from him with a cry, but he doesn’t let up.

“I’m gonna push my fingers inside that filthy cunny of yours, stretch out your little hole so you can actually fit something in there. ‘Cause I know you’re a good girl, so you’re probably gonna go braindead if I fuck you like this.” He chuckles at your hitched breathing. You can’t even begin to understand. The person you love more than life itself wants to fuck you? Well, his fingers are still playing down there, slowly pushing into you and they are thick, much thicker than yours. You can’t believe it. Kuroo Tetsuro wants to fuck you, in the boys locker room of the school gym while you should be long on your way out by now. No, you can’t. But you don’t find the words to speak up under his gaze, not wanting to disappoint him. If he notices your mental struggle, he doesn’t show it. “Then you’re gonna help me out like you promised by sucking my cock, right?”

You freeze up. You did say you’d help him, you said that didn’t you… But you didn’t know it would be like this, if you did you would’ve said ‘no’. You curse yourself for saying anything at all, trying to calm your heart as best as you can. You’re feeling so overwhelmed. By his touch, his presence, the situation, the stress put on your poor, frazzled brain. When two of his digits are halfway inside you, you let out a whimper. That’s at least three of your own, you already feel spread so thin. Your fingers find purchase in his soft, raven hair, needing anything to cling to. “Say, ‘Yes, Tetsuro’,” he coos, pressing a row of kisses over the front of your panties, chuckling at the little bow. But the sweet tone is taken away as soon as it comes. “Say it.”

“Y-Yes… Tetsuro.” He hums happily, shoving his fingers inside you in one swift move until his palm is against your center. Your legs almost give out at the feeling. “Ah- ah! S’too much, Kuroo.”

The raven haired man grins at that, curling his digits inside you and pulling them out just as quickly. Like striking a match. You reach up your hand to bite into it, hoping to contain your sounds. Your slick sounds ring through the empty locker room as Kuroo slides them back in and out at a punishing pace. “My dumb, pretty baby really is clueless, huh,” he sighs, long fingers sliding under your knee to place it instead on his shoulder.  It only debases you even more, struggling to stay upright as he brings his face in between your legs. When you whimper in embarrassment, calling his name, he scoffs. “You should let me play this how I want to, since you clearly don’t know anything.”

The curl of his long fingers brushing up against the soft, spongy part of your walls makes your brain numb. His words hurt. You don’t want them to, you wish they didn’t. “My dumb slut,” he hisses, before the harsh lines of his mouth are buried between your thighs. His tongue sweeps out to deliver a long swipe from his pumping fingers to the top of your slit, before swirling around the nub making you tremble. Your belly tenses, coil in the pit of your stomach growing irritatingly tight as he grinds his face against your pussy, obscenely slurping at the wetness. Your fingers twitch in his fluffy hair, attempting to comb through it best you can as your eyes flutter closed.

“Kuroo, ‘m close. Really close.” You can barely raise your voice enough to make it be heard over his motions, though he looks up at the call of his name. “I want to cum,” you say, “please.” He doesn’t still his fingers, but the twitch in his brows seems to indicate disaster, and you quickly bite your lip to think. “C-Can I?”

“D’you think this is about you, Y/N-chan?” He grins at your blown out expression, relishing in the wide eyes and bobbing lip. He uses his thumb to continue putting pressure on your clit, as he tuts his lips. “I’ll decide if or when you cum, because you’re mine. And when I decide to stuff this cunt you best consider yourself lucky, baby, that my cock is breaking open your perfect, little body.”

“Y-yes, but—” you bring out, ignoring the tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. You can’t hold it if his fingers only speed up their devouring of your body, mouth wrapping around you to suck hard.

“Don’t cum yet,” he mumbles, going so hard it’s making your vision sway. His tongue and mouth go harder, despite his order. And with mindless pleas you come around his fingers, shutting your eyes tight at the white splotches. Legs flexing and fingers tightening in his hair. You let your head drop as he works you through the feeling, until you’re pushing him off from overstimulation. Your cheeks feel akin to a forest fire when you open your eyes to his huff, tracing the lines of the hardwood floor under your feet. When he pulls his fingers out of you, you can feel some of the slick drip down your thighs and you instantly burn brighter.

But you don’t get to think about it, because Kuroo is straightening up before you, back to his overwhelming posture above you. He stares at you for a moment, before he leans in. Out of instinct, you lean back, away from his face when he wipes it. The glint in his eyes is a scorch mark on your sanity, his face so close to yours. “Can’t you listen to what I say, or are you just that cockhungry and stupid?” Your head is shaking side to side before you can stop it, hoping that you’ll be released soon. But you said you’d help him and if you don’t, Kuroo might hate you. You don’t think you could handle that. Rejection would’ve been better, after all. “Get on your knees and make it up to me.”

You choke back a sob at the order, looking up at him with big eyes again. You don’t want to, you don’t want to sit on the cold floor of the locker room where teenage boys drag their sweaty bodies— Kuroo seems to soften slightly at your expression, lowering his palm to your crown to pat your head, gently brushing over your temple. “You’re my biggest fan, aren’t you?” The low rumble of his voice right next to your face, his warm body so close and the curl of his pretty lips, everything makes you so docile. Dreamlike. “You’re really helping me so much,” he coos, and before you know it his mouth is on yours. His mouth… is on yours. And he tastes like you, and he’s kissing you. You freeze, not stopping him as he grabs your hands and loops them around his neck, his own picking you up to melt into an embrace.

Like two lovers in a painting, he claims your mouth with his tongue and curls your feeble body into him. So strong, with hard lines of his body that make your heart swell under your ribs. His hand on your thigh, the other on your neck, he kisses you and you think the stars might be exploding around you. He pulls back for a moment enough to breathe, before peppering another few kisses on your agape lips until you could turn black and blue from the bruising weight of your adoration. Kuroo brushes your hair away as you look at him, chest heaving against his each swell of your lungs. He starts peeling his lanky body away from you. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought that you were my biggest fan, but if you don’t—”

“No, I am!” you squeak, grabbing onto his jersey to keep his warmth close.

The noirette gives a faint smile, shaking his head. You don’t stop to question him acting so different from before, since your greedy brain clings to every word. “It’s okay,” he mumbles, “I’m used to being taken advantage of by girls.” His eyes shift to the side, lips dropping into a downturn. “They tell me how much they care about me so that I’ll have them, then leave me. I know my teammates are always the favorites anyway. So I understand that you don’t want to do anything more, it’s okay.”

“No Tetsuro, I want to, I swear!” you blurt out, grabbing his large hand despite the jitters in your system. He gives you a slight raise of his eyebrow. “I want to— s-suck you off.”

He chuckles, gaining back some of the brightness to his eyes. “You can’t even say it without stuttering.” The hand on your neck slides to your shoulder, slowly pushing you toward the ground. You hesitate for another moment, before dropping to your knees when the pressure becomes too heavy. When you’re eye level with his shorts, you swallow, bringing up your hands. The fabric is pulled taunt, showing off your effect on him. Ever so slowly, you pull the elastic of the red shorts down, taking his boxers with them in the process. You push them down until his hard cock is freed, curving up towards his belly and twitching with anticipation. Kuroo just bites his lip when you look up at him. “Give it your best shot, baby.”

He’s hot and heavy in your hand, tip glistening with precum. You slowly start moving your hand down his length, but you’re clearly not going fast enough because his hand is back in your hair, yanking you closer to his dick this time. He presses the tip to your lips, and you whimper out as you open your mouth. He’s quick to grab hold of himself to push inside, too quick and stretching you painfully. He’s big and wide and you immediately know you’ll ache once this is done. But as he starts working himself deeper, your eyes fluttering at the feeling and focusing on not choking, he makes pretty grunts that you tell yourself make this worth it. He reaches the back of your throat with plenty to spare, and you bring your hand up to hold yourself on his thigh. It stings.

But he doesn’t stop, even when you whimper around him and push at his leg. “Take it all the way,” he grunts, cocking his head back. The noises you make only make him more vocal, but you’re fighting through the feeling of panic in your chest. Each time he pulls back more saliva messes up your face, keeping Kuroo’s attention on the pretty way you take him. “You think you deserve my attention? My dumb, useless little bitch wants my approval?” He grunts when he hits the back of your throat again. “Because if you can’t even take my cock in your mouth without drooling all over yourself, I don’t think you do deserve it.” He slows his hips when you make a throaty sound, fingers tangled tight in your hair as he pushes in until your nose is pressed to his skin, before letting you back. You gasp for air when you’re finally let up, holding a sob that threatens to crawl out of your throat.

“Kuroo, I can’t,” you bring out, wiping your fingers under your eyes to get rid of any tears, but he doesn’t let go. Your voice is already raspy, grating against your tender throat.

“Yes you can, you’re doing well.” He pushes his cock back to your lips and though you’re more prepared for it this time you’re still shocked by how big he feels. Spit seeps out along the edges of your mouth, tongue being pushed down and your lungs struggling. He moves your head up and down his cock over and over, barely leaving you enough time to take a couple deep breaths. He slowly starts fucking your face when the tears spill over your cheeks and clump your lashes, hissing when you gag on him. “That’s how you suck a cock, idiot. Can’t do anything right without my help, can you?” His words just make you cry more. He bruises your throat until you can’t take any more, pulling out of his grip despite the pain and falling back onto your butt.

“Kuroo,” you cry out, losing control over your own tears. Your voice sounds double, like it’s been split in two. “I don’t like this.” A little squeak falls from your lips, airways painful and ragged. “I want—,” this time you can’t hold back the sob, “I want you to be nice to me.” You sound so pitiful, even to your own ears. You’re crying. But the man you’ve looked up to for so long is calling you all these names, making you feel so dumb. Are you really that dumb for liking him, supporting him, being his fan? “I don’t wanna do any more.” Tears are flowing, wet and warm down your cheeks and neck. Stop, stop crying. You reach a hand up to smear them away, but in their place new ones still come. “Please, I wanna go home.”

“Shh, shhhh,” he hushes, petting the top of your head like you’re a well-behaving pup, and you hate how you lean into it. The idea of yourself makes you sick to your stomach. Why are you even letting him walk all over you like this? Is this really the amount of self respect you have? Kuroo peers down at you between his legs. “You’re doing so well for me. You’re the best fan I could ask for. I’m sure you can take a bit more.”

“No,” you squeak when he reaches for your face again, “it hurts and I don’t like it.”

Kuroo stills. Regards you with a long, drawn-out breath, before humming in what you pray is understanding. “Alright,” he helps you up from the floor, steadying you in his arms and moving you both to one of the benches instead. “I wouldn’t want to hurt my number one fan, would I?” He sits down on the bench first, pulling you to sit on his thighs facing him. You wipe the mess of tears and saliva away as best you can, watching as Kuroo slides you closer to him without a care in the world. And you want to be mad, you want to push off him and do anything other than sit here and take it, but you can’t. You can’t, because you’re weak. You can’t, because you’re an idiot fangirl, and he’s been everything you’ve wanted since you were thirteen.

“Push your legs together,” he orders, squishing your thighs and reaching down to slip his cock in between them. He fucks your legs with the last of his restraint, pace from fast to punishing, kneading the doughy expanse between his fingers and pressing his forehead to your shoulder. You can feel the warmth of his breath, the shudder down his spine and the tensing of his legs below you, but you don’t process it. Everything feels far away. And then he calls out your name, and cums on your thighs, spilling white all over your panties and skin. He kisses your neck, and your lips after that. And you just stare at the tiles of the boys room showers before he slides you off of him.

Your legs tremble. He quickly uses a towel to clean himself up before tucking himself back in, and smiles down at you. “Thank you so much, baby, that was perfect.” He leans down to press a kiss to your temple as he hands you the towel. “Clean up?” The fluffy towel with the red cat embroidered on it is stained with the cum you clean off yourself, as tears roll down your face. You loved him so much, but now you just hate him. Embarrassed, hurt, useless. Kuroo’s bright face as he talks is another slap in yours. “Lighten up, I’ll lock up the gym for you, okay?” He smiles when you lift your eyes to his figure in the doorway, your crumpled skirt bunched in your hand. “And don’t even worry about it, I’ll walk you home. It’s the least I could do for my fan.”

It is the least he could do.

You nod and put up your most convincing smile.

///

thank you so so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed. did this have to be so long? probably not. did i make it that long anyway? yes. mean kuroo will live rent free in my brain for the coming six months.

[narutos-fat-meat]

**Crave**

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Tags: SMUT, cheating, dubious consent/(slight) non-con, angst(?), first time, voyeurism, exhibitionism, jealousy

*PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I FORGOT TO INCLUDE ANYTHING*

*SMUT BELOW THE CUT*

******

How did you end up in this situation? All you had wanted was for your first time to be special like every girl wants. You and Kageyama had talked and thought about losing your virginities to each other before. Sure it was nerve-wracking and the conversations were awkward with Kageyama being, well, himself but neither of you had much experience. Both of you had made out with people before but nothing had ever gone beyond second base. You’d been together for 11 months and you were getting antsy.

Watching him on the court was an otherworldly experience, the way his intensity radiated off of his body made you shiver and your mind often wandered to those fingers of his and what they were capable of. Long and strong, he was a setter after all. You weren’t the only one feeling like this either, you could tell. Kageyama had recently developed a habit of turning your study sessions into make-out sessions, and it was getting boring. He wasn't a bad kisser, far from it, but he always ended it before you got anywhere good. Yeah, he’d grope your tits but never under your shirt. You’d try to grind your hips onto his but he’d use his strength to keep you firm in your place, denying you any pleasure, very pg-13 by your standards. You wanted more, so much more so when it came time to talk about taking the next step you had felt unsure. Did Kageyama even want to have sex with you?  

There was never any doubt in your mind that you wanted to lose your virginity to Kageyama. He was your first serious boyfriend after all and not only that, you loved him. But what if he didn’t feel the same way? What if him pushing you off his lap after your short-lived make-outs was him trying to tell you that he didn’t love you? But that didn't make sense or else why would he spend 11 months leading you on like that? Sure he was apathetic sometimes but never was he intentionally cruel. Determined to ease your mind, you set out to find out why he seemed so apprehensive to go further.  

The next time you invited Kageyama over to “study” you took matters into your own hands. You sat on his lap like you always did and when he went to place his hands on your hips like usual, you gently took a hold of one of them and guided it under your shirt and placed it directly over your naked breast earning a surprised groan from the pretty setter’s mouth. He broke the kiss suddenly, a string of saliva still connecting the two of you. “Y/N what...what are you doing?” he rasped out, his face red and chest heaving slightly from the lack of oxygen. “Touch me” you pleaded, feeling him shift under your weight. The warmth of his calloused hand on your bare breast succeeding in setting your skin on fire. “Please,” you begged desperately, slowly grinding your hips down onto his growing erection. You heard him groan low in the back of his throat before his hands were off you completely and you unceremoniously slumped off his lap and landed with a soft 'oof' onto your bed.

“Kageyama what the hell?!” you asked with fresh tears pricking the sides of your eyes. “I...I’m sorry y/n." He stood at the foot of your bed, his hands trying and failing to hide his obvious hard-on. "I just never done this before okay?"

Your heart swelled at the sight of his anxiety and you felt silly for ever doubting the love your boyfriend had for you. “And neither have I Tobio baby” you reassured him, sitting up and patting the spot next to you on your bed. He hesitantly shuffled over and took the spot next to you.

“We don’t have to go further if you don’t want to-”

“ NO I want to!” he interrupts, blue eyes wide with determination. You chuckle at his enthusiasm. “Okay so how about this, we don’t do anything tonight but tomorrow after you’re done with volleyball practice, you come over and we...go from there."

All you wanted was to have slow and kind of awkward sex with the boy you loved. So how did it end up being Sugawara-san between your legs while your boyfriend sat back and watched?  

“Sugawara-senpai are you sure this is ok?” you hear Kageyama ask from his seat off to the side of the bed, hesitation tinting his voice.

“Of course, it is my little kouhai, I mean you did ask for some tips didn’t you?" he chuckles darkly and your stomach drops. No, you think, this can’t be happening. Kageyama is letting Sugawara take your virginity. “I can’t show you if I can't touch her now can I?” he says as if it’s the most normal thing ever. “Please”, you start but he cuts you off. "Shhh princess, let Suga-san take care of you."

You inch back onto your bed afraid to feel Sugawara’s touch, but he’s nothing if not persistent. “Calm down princess, I'm only doing what your little boyfriend here asked me to do”, he coos sweetly extending his hand towards you. You look at it for a second dumbfounded. He’s sweet.

You think.

He sees the gears in your brain working to make sense of the situation and strokes the apple of your cheek with the pad of his thumb. The motion is oddly calming despite you not knowing him well. You lean into his touch and he smirks inching his face closer to yours. Your breath catches in your throat and then his lips are on yours. You can feel how soft they are and you can’t help but moan into his mouth. Sugawara takes the opportunity to shove his tongue in your mouth and let his hands wander. The kiss is heated, passionate, and it makes you clench your thighs in anticipation.  

Sugawara breaks the kiss suddenly leaving you to chase after his lips. “I want to see you...all of you” he hums, standing to remove his clothes. You follow his lead leaving only your panties on to keep at least some of your dignity.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful” he hisses through gritted teeth, eye leering at your almost naked form. Your face flushes as he pushes you into the confines of the mattress and he's quick to position himself above you, his shadow basking over your form. As if he never left, both his hands and lips were on you again. His talented fingers tweak your nipples and his lips leave a trail of kisses down your neck until he abruptly stops just above your chest. “Oh Kageyama, look at how hard her nipples are!” Sugawara coos sickeningly as he takes one of the hardened buds into his mouth swirling his tongue and making you arch into his touch. “Surely, you’ve done this before...no?" he asks with genuine surprise tinting his tone. You feel him smirk as he moves further down, his nose caressing your abdomen.

You feel him come to an abrupt stop right as he reaches the hem of your panties, anticipation pooling in your stomach until he hooks his fingers inside and begins to slide them off. You hear him inhale sharply and all you can do is attempt to hide your embarrassment behind your hands.  

"Ah ah ah princess”, he rasps. “I thought I told you I wanted to see all of you...that includes your pretty little face." He reaches up and pulls your hands away from your face, stopping to interlock his fingers with your own. It felt weirdly intimate considering he’s just taking your virginity as a favor to Kageyama. His fingers are gone in an instant and he takes his place back between your legs.

“Kageyama you call yourself a setter, right?”

Kageyama responds immediately. “Yes Suga-san”

“Okay so you should have some degree of coordination" he sneers, malice laced in his tone. It's obvious he’s getting off on teasing Kageyama, but you can’t be bothered enough to care because just as you’re about to tell him to knock it off you feel him run his fingers against your folds, collecting your arousal. You bite your lip to stifle a moan and hear him chuckle. “Oh...you’re so responsive." He continues with decorating his fingers with your arousal until after what seems like hours, he decides his fingers are wet enough and slowly he begins to push past the rings of muscle at your entrance. In response, your insides clamp down at the sudden breach.

“God you’re so fucking tight” he groans, and you feel your face flush for the thousandth time that night. Slowly he starts pumping his fingers in and out, curling them now and then stretching out your walls.

You claw at the bedsheets underneath you, back arching and mind blank with pleasure. You’re so close to the edge, you’re trying to hold off and you’re doing so well enough until Sugawara decides to add a third finger and it pushes right up against that sweet spot. “C-close” you manage to stutter out overwhelmed by the pleasure, and just as you're about to finally cum Sugawara comes to a complete stop. “Ah ah ah pretty girl," he coos. “I want you to come on my tongue."

You think you misheard him until he starts to speak again. “Kageyama my sweet little kouhai, listen closely okay? If you want to make your little girlfriend here a wet mess try doing two things at once." He waits for Kageyama to nod and he continues. "Don’t be lazy, you have a mouth and big strong hands don’t you?”

“Yes Suga-san," Kageyama answers, voice barely above a whisper, eyes locked with Sugawara’s, almost as if he’s transfixed. “Okay now pay close attention,” he says as he lowers his face down between your legs. You feel him run his tongue against your folds, his fingers still inside, and you let out an unabashed moan. “You see how she’s trembling? Yeah, you want that.” He continues his ministrations, unashamed as his nose pressed completely against your clit. You try to grind down on his face, but he uses his free hand to pin your hips to the mattress and you huff at his denial of your pleasure.

You start to beg. “P-please,” you could feel the throbbing sensation from earlier returning. At the sound of your pleas, Sugawara smirk against your pussy as he finally resumes pumping his fingers, the combination of his fingers and his tongue has you seeing stars and you think it can’t get much better until he sucks gently on your clit.

“Do it," he commands, his face still between your now shaking legs. “Fuck come on my face princess” he adds and that’s all it takes for you to come with his name falling from your lips.  

Suddenly it’s as if his entire aura has changed and he removes his fingers from your entrance and angles his face so he’s staring up at you from between your legs. His gaze is predatory and a chill runs down your spine.  

Chest still heaving and mind still reeling from an otherworldly orgasm you fail to notice Sugawara position his rock-hard cock at your entrance. “Aww Kageyama did you hear your little whore girlfriend cum with my name on her lips?" he spits and you’re shocked, this isn’t the same Sugawara you know, it can’t be. You feel him begin to slide his erection in and you choke on a gasp. He’s so big to the point you feel like you’re being split in half.

“S-S-Suga san,” you moan, back arching and he groans low in the back of his throat. He continues with his banter with Kageyama. "Maybe if you knew how to please her she’d be moaning your name instead of mine." It takes him a full three minutes to finally bottom out and once he does all you can do is shut your eyes tight to keep the tears now pricking your eyes from cascading down your face. He gives you a minute to adjust to his size, before he grips your hips tightly, pulls out completely, and slams back in. You choke on a scream, clawing at his forearms. You look to your side, tearful eyes landing on Kageyama, silently and desperately begging him to help you. He looks away quickly refusing to meet your eyes, your trailing down to see his erection, damn pervert.  

Sugawara looks over at Kageyama and scoffs removing one of his hands from your hips to grip your face. He digs his fingers into your cheeks and forces you to look at him. He sneers, “Look at me and not at him,” before grinding his dick inside you. He starts lazily thrusting his hips, and it almost seems like he’ll keep that gentle pace until he speaks up.

“Cat got your tongue princess?” you shake your head. “Then open your mouth and make some noise. Let Kageyama know how much you appreciate that he set this up for you.” You oblige, opening your mouth and letting out a feeble whine. “Come on baby girl I know you can be louder than that, let's show Kageyama what he’s missing,” he says and then he sets a brutal and almost bruising pace, his balls slapping against your ass with every thrust. Soon you feel your second orgasm of the night steadily approaching. “You know...” he says, taking his hands off your hips and maneuvering your legs so they’re on his shoulders, “I’m much older than your little boyfriend here, so call me senpai from now on.” You moan at his words, feeling yourself clench around his cock. You’re coming on another man’s cock as your boyfriend watches and somehow, you’re not the least bit phased only craving to be fucked longer, harder. Sugawara fucks you through your second orgasm truly milking you for all you’re worth.  

He pulls out and your stomach drops, is it over? No, it can’t be.  

“Don’t look so sad princess,” he coos flipping you onto your stomach and positioning you so your ass is up in the air and your face pressed into the mattress. “I’m far from finished with you, I’m gonna fuck you so good you’ll crave my cock for the rest of your life." He slides back in all in one go and your eyes roll to the back of your head. The sounds of skin slapping against skin filled the room obscenely. His thrusts are truly unforgiving, bruising, and brutal. His hand gropes your hip as the other grips your hair, so your back is flush against his body. You feel the telltale heat of a third orgasm building up within seconds and then it suddenly disappeared. No no no. You were so close.  

“You think a whore like you deserves to come three times? When your senpai hasn’t even come once?" He was greeted with silence and hummed lightly. "Answer me slut” he growls in your ear as he slowly grinds up into you. “N-no."

“Ok then show me you deserve it, beg baby girl, beg me for it like the whore you are."

It’s almost as if he’s cast a spell on you with those words. “Please Suga senpai," you moan unashamed. “Let me cum, please I've been a good girl. Please!” Your begging was unbelievably loud and he’s so close. “Fuck you don’t know how many times I've stuffed my hand down my pants fantasizing about getting to fuck you just like this”, he growls.

“God this is so much better than I ever imagined, your pussy was made to take my cock" he mutters more to himself. You feel his hips stutter and sure enough, he’s coming inside you. “Fuck y/n take it, fuck take my cum, fuck take your senpai’s cum." You feel the warmth of his cum filling you, stuffing you to the brim, and ripping a scream from you as you came in tow, completely exhausted.

“I think that’s enough Sugawara san." Kageyama's voice is firm, almost murderous, breaking you out of your trance, his erection betraying his tone. This was supposed to be his first time too and he had allowed his senpai to take it from him, how could he? Your eyes fill with tears for the second time that night and you can’t bring yourself to look at your...boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? Who even knows at this point? Suga senpai was right, you’re sure you’ll never be able to get the feel of his cock out of your mind. You’ll crave the feeling of being fucked open on it for the rest of your life. You'd had the best as your first and nothing would ever compare.

******

A/N: This is the first fanfic I’ve written in years, as well as the first one I’ve written for this fandom I really hope ya’ll enjoyed it:)

Come talk to me about it, or request a fic of your own:)

likes and reblogs appreciated

ALSO VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO BOTH @atsumuse AND @astrablossom FOR PROOFREADING:)

[hidden-otaku-stuff]

Different but the Same (pt. 7)

tw: A few swears, insecurity, family trauma

Word count: ~5.1k

Rating: R18+/M

Omegaverse AU, Rating: 18+/M

Pairings: Iwaizumi x fem!reader, Ushijima x fem!reader

Summary: An unexpected encounter at the Inter-High tournament tossed you into a whirlwind. Being tugged between two males, two different packs, who will reign supreme in this battle for your heart?

Masterlist | prev | next

ch. 7: battle of the packs

“What’s Ushijima-san doing here?” One of her Omega classmates whispered to her friend, looking over their shoulders at the door. The impressive Alpha took up the entire doorway. Semi had left with Tendou just moments ago. 

“Ushijima-san? What are you doing here?” (Name) looked up, echoing the other Omega’s sentiment as her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. The bitter scent of jealousy clung to the air as they glared at (Name).

The corner of his mouth twitched. He lifted a bag. “May I eat lunch with you?” She looked at him, then back at her desk where her textbooks were sitting. A moment of hesitation.

“Uh, sure.” She closed the book, placing them back into the bag as she brought out her own bento. “I thought you normally eat in the cafeteria with the pack?” Ushijima pulled a chair to her desk, settling himself into it. He almost seemed too big for the chairs, she noticed. 

“Yes, but you don’t, and I wanted to eat lunch with you.” He opened his bento, taking out an apple as he bit into it. “Were you studying?” 

She carefully chewed a piece of salmon. “Yes, I was. I needed to finish a group-project before we leave for Tokyo on Friday, so I figured I’d do all my individual work during lunch so I had enough time.”

“What is the project on?”

“It’s just a history project on Japanese revolutions, I’m providing the research and assembling part of it into an essay for a presentation since I’ll be missing the presentation.”   

“You are a proactive student,” Ushijima commented, finishing his apple before he opened up his lunch-box. 

(Name) laughed at his comment. “Not always,” she admitted. “But I do have to try harder since I’m going to be applying for university soon.” She eyed her veggies. “I don’t wanna mess up on my finals this semester.”  

“Do you have time to help me study as well?”

She blinked. “Help you? Ushijima-san, I thought you were planning on going pro?” She laughed. “You already have a spot on the national youth team, don’t you?” 

He shrugged, carefully chewing his next bite. “I still would like to graduate with good grades. And after being so invested in volleyball for so long has left...much to be desired about my academic skills.” 

(Name) hummed. “I suppose that’s fair.” She took a sip of her lemon tea. “We don’t have practice on Wednesday, I can tutor you for a bit at the library after school.” She bit her bottom lip; the original plan had been to go to Aoba Johsai’s practice that day, but she really needed to finish this project and that took precedent. 

“That works for me.” 

“So, what does the great Ushijima-san eat for lunch?”

Ushijima looked up, blinking at her. “The ‘Great’?”

“Well yeah, since you’re quite famous in volleyball circles, and exceptionally popular in our school.” She eyed the group of Omegas that were shooting daggers at her. He glanced over, only for the Omegas to fall over themselves in fits of giggles to escape his gaze. (Name) wasn’t stupid, she knew that Ushijima was a highly sought-out Alpha. In fact, most of the volleyball team was. Something about them just simply screamed masculinity and attractiveness. The fact that they were almost exclusively a pack of Alphas probably contributed to the notion that they were ‘supreme’ Alphas, which of course was supported by the fact that the leader of the pack himself was an Apex Alpha. She snorted internally. If only they knew how stupid all those Alphas could get. It wasn’t particularly uncommon for exceptionally brave Omegas to attempt to court Ushijima, only for him not to realize what was going on and point-blank rejecting them. 

“I suppose that’s fair.” He tilted his bento to her. “I’m having hayashi rice.” 

“Ooh, that looks and smells delicious!” She complimented. “Did you make it yourself?” 

Ushijima nodded. “My grandmother taught me.” He gazed at the food for a moment. “I spent a lot of time with her as a child. This is what she’d make me whenever I did well or had a bad day at school.” 

“Your grandmother sounds lovely.” She smiled at him, taking another sip of her tea.

“Would you like to try?”

“Are you sure?” She hesitated. The Omega was all-too familiar with the immense appetite of Alphas, and she didn’t want to take away from his meal.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.”

She snorted. “Always the blunt one, aren’t you?”

“Is that bad?”

“No, it’s refreshing.” Her mind wandered to Iwaizumi, who used to leave things left unsaid, assuming that others would know what he was thinking. Granted, after being with him for so long, he’d gotten better with communication. Ushijima eyed her, holding the bento out. “How about a trade?” She picked up her box. “It’s probably not as good as your grandmother’s hayashi rice, but you can try my teriyaki salmon.”

“Did you make it yourself?”

“Of course, you know I love cooking.” A small smile made its way to his face, matching hers; he was familiar with her cooking especially since she had brought onigiri to practice a few times since they had played the college team.

Ushijima nodded, “thank you.” They traded bentos. Behind the mouthful he had was a sense of warmth that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. The type of warmth that comes from care and love that speaks directly to the soul. It flooded all of his senses. Olive eyes glowed as his scent filled the room.  

“This is so good, Ushijima-san! Thank you for letting me try it.” She purred in delight at the explosion of flavor that bathed her tongue. It tasted familiar. A meal you come home to on a windy fall afternoon after being out all day. “I’ll need to get the recipe from you sometime. If you and your grandmother don’t mind, of course.”

Another curt nod as they passed the bentos back. “I’ll teach it to you someday,” he promised. “I enjoyed your salmon.”

“Thank you!” She beamed. “I’ll make you some of my curry next time. That’s one of my better dishes.”

“Thank you for bringing onigiri to our practices.” Ushijima nodded to her. “We all appreciate the effort.”

“It’s the least I can do!” The Omega wriggled happily. “I enjoy cooking and I’m always happy to take care of the pack.”

“What else do you enjoy cooking?”

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Anything really. My parents took me to France last holiday, and I’ve been experimenting with French dishes since then.” Her (e/c) orbs examined the Alpha. “Do you cook often, Ushijima-san?”

“Not particularly.” He closed up his bento, cleaning up. “I do not have time for simple luxuries like that.”

“I can imagine volleyball keeps you extremely busy,” she hummed, placing her empty lunchbox down. She pulled out a bag of cookies. “Would you like to have one?”

“What is it?”

“It’s a strawberry cheesecake cookie.” She bit one, a smile expanding on her face at the flavour. “It’s one of my favorite things to bake when I have free time.” (Name) pulled another one out, handing it to Ushijima. He took it carefully, examining it before nibbling it.

“Why do you enjoy cooking?” 

A melancholy expression crossed her face as she stared at the cookies. “I’ve always liked the idea of being in a pack, even before I presented.” She smiled slightly, a tear trickled down her right cheek. He froze, confused. His scent hummed as comforting pheromones pumped out. The Omegas in the background all keened, leaning closer with eyes fluttering shut as they inhaled. “As a kid, I would follow my mother around the kitchen, learning how to cook and generally just spending time with her. I loved watching her pour her heart out into a dish where you could just taste the love, y’know?” (Name) leaned back in her seat, fiddling with the bag. “My father was terrifying. You never knew whether or not he cared or loved you, and it was more often than not that he was upset.” A wry laugh and a tear escaped her left cheek. He watched with concern, his finger lifting the tear off of her face. She leaned into the warmth of his caress, eyes shutting as she let out a soft sniffle. “It was hard knowing what love was in that household, so I figured I’d make it obvious in all of my actions.” She lifted her face to his, blinking back the rest of her tears.

“I am sorry to hear that.” Ushijima’s hand slipped into hers, squeezing it. 

“It’s not your fault.” She cleared her throat, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “So, why do you like volleyball, Ushijima-san?”

He took another bite, hesitating at the sudden topic change. Ushijima squeezed her hand again, enjoying the soft warmth and hoping that his actions would comfort her. “My father used to play volleyball professionally and taught me as a child. My parents are divorced, and he’s abroad right now. It gives me a connection to him, and I enjoy the sport.”

She giggled, eating another cookie. “I’d enjoy it too if I were as good as you.” 

They sat in a pleasant silence as they finished the cookies, simply enjoying each other’s company as a thumb idly swept over her knuckles. The bell rang, and he let out a gentle sigh. His hand slipped away, gathering his stuff. “Thank you for having lunch with me.” With a slight bow, he got up to leave.

“I’ll see you at practice, Ushijima-san.” (Name) waved before the Apex Alpha disappeared out of the classroom door. 

****

She looked up at the sound of a door opening as the fresh scent of pine drafted in.  “Babe, I’m home!” 

“In the kitchen!” She called, using a spoon to stir the pot. Loud shuffling noises echoed the apartment before warm arms wrapped around her waist.

“What’s cooking, good lookin’?” He pressed a kiss to her jaw, his nose brushing against her neck. 

“You need to stop hanging out with Oikawa,” she replied, leaning back into his embrace. “Just making some ragout. How was practice?” 

“The usual.” Iwaizumi’s warm breath caused sparks of electricity to shoot through her veins. “Oikawa was still practicing when I left.” 

“I see.” She surveyed the pot. “Do you want to invite him over? There’s more than enough food for the three of us.” The Omega turned down the fire, letting the pot simmer with a lid. “Even with your monstrous appetite,” she teased, pecking his cheek.

Iwaizumi grumbled. “I just want you to myself.” 

“Should’ve thought of that before joining such a needy pack!” She chirped, turning in his arms to face him. “He’s your best friend, and I worry about him sometimes.” His eyes glinted as he frowned slightly. “You know I worry about both of you, but he’s an idiot so he ends up with both of us worrying about him all the time,” she chided. He huffed.

“Tch. Fine.” 

“I guess I better stop by the grocery store then,” she made a move towards the sink, only for his grip to tighten.

“Why’s that?”

“To pick up some milk-bread to entice him into coming.”

He let out a faint growl. “Just stay here with me.” Iwaizumi’s arms held her close to him. Her eyes fluttered shut, listening to his heart-beat. “I’ll give him a call and we can cuddle while we wait or something.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” (Name) pulled away, blinking owlishly up at her mate. He opened his mouth to argue, only for his stomach to grumble in response. “We could always eat without him.”

“You know he’s just going to whine about it.” Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair, annoyance clear in his expression.

“Fine, then help me make some onigiri? You can bring it to the pack tomorrow for me.” 

He laughed, his fingers carding through her hair. “You really are too good to us.” 

“Only because I have you in my life, Haji.” Pine hummed like a freshly lit candle. “Now, go call that idiot of a best friend and I’ll start making more rice.” Iwaizumi released her, stalking towards his back in the living room.

“Oi, Shittykawa. Get your ass over here. (Nickname) made dinner and she wants to feed your dumbass for some reason.” The Omega giggled, hearing his best friend’s shrill cry of indignation even though he was not on speaker. She scooped the rice out of the rice cooker, preparing another pot for their dinner. It was more than common for them to always have freshly cooked rice, especially considering how often she was meal-prepping and making onigiris. It was fortunate that her parents understood her pack mentality, and would finance her grocery habits. Her pack would also typically step up and buy her ingredients or give Iwaizumi money. “Yes now, otherwise we’re going to eat it all and you’ll have to get your own food.” Iwaizumi pinched his nose, eyes squeezed shut. He almost always regretted calling Oikawa, but he knew that his mate would’ve bothered him even more if he didn’t do it. Iwaizumi ended the call, placing his phone onto the dining room table. “You ready?” 

He slipped into the kitchen, surveying the counter. “Do you mind making the eggs? I always like how you season it.” Her lip quivered as she sent him a soft, pouty expression.

“Don’t make that face,” he grumbled, lightly flicking her forehead. “You just have to ask and I’d do it.” He pulled on his Your Opinion Wasn’t in the Recipe apron. She glanced down at her own, giggling at the phrase printed on it: I’ll Feed All You Fuckers. Mattsun had gotten them the aprons as a gag gift one Christmas, but she loved them. 

“You’re the best!”

“I know.” 

She stood beside him, slicing strips of seaweed while he prepared the eggs. Containers of pre-made fillings littered the counter alongside bowls of seasonings and toppings. They danced around the kitchen with practiced movements after years of cooking together. He would reach for some seasoning, only for her to have nudged the bowl towards him already. She would reach for the rice, only for him to scoop out a portion onto the nori. Laughter and music filled the air as they simply enjoyed each other’s presence. 

“I missed this,” she admitted, carefully shaping one of the balls as she sprinkled more furikake flakes. 

 He bumped his hip against hers, tilting his face down so his lips brushed against her forehead. “I’ve missed you.” He placed his onigiri down onto the plate, leaning down to press his lips against hers. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life.” 

The door-bell rang, and she was quick to pop a spoonful of salmon filling into his mouth. “Yes you are,” she winked. Brown eyes widened, as she took off her gloves and apron and skipped over to the door. “Hey, Oiks!” 

“Thank you for having me! Ooh, that smells delicious.” Oikawa stepped into the kitchen, beaming at the tray. “You won’t even greet your guest, Iwa-chan? So rude!” 

“Oi, you’re lucky she invited you over for dinner.” Iwaizumi glared. “Otherwise you’d be hungry and at the gym still.”  Oikawa pouted, opening his mouth to whine more.

“Boys.” The Omega’s eyes narrowed. “Go set the table. And you,” she flicked Oikawa on the forehead causing the male to yelp, “stop overworking yourself. If I hear that you’ve stayed late again and that Iwaizumi left without you, I’m going to handcuff you to him.” 

“Kinky.”

“Oi!” A loud crack as Iwaizumi slapped the back of his head.

“Dinner table! Now!” 

Oikawa joined Iwaizumi at the table, helping him clear it and setting out utensils. “As sweet as she is, I always forget she has a scary side,” Oikawa comments. “She must get it from having you as a mate.”

Iwaizumi’s face darkened. “At least I have a mate.”

“You’re so mean!” 

“Boys!”

“Sorry.” They chorused together. Iwaizumi shoved Oikawa, muttering insults under his breath.

****

“Ushijima-san, that’s not right.” She tapped her pencil on her notebook, surveying the Alpha. He let out a sigh, looking up and blinking with exasperation. 

“What did I do wrong for this one?” 

They’d been sitting in the library for the past three hours, two of which had been spent solely on chemistry. It wasn’t that there was a lack of effort on Ushijima’s side. In fact, he had tried really hard to solve the problems by himself. He would just end up using the wrong formula or accidentally skipped a step here and there which caused problems. “You’re supposed to use this formula instead.” She pointed at the formula sheet she had provided him. He leaned in closer, his shoulder brushing against her back. The warmth seeped through his muscles, her scent easing the tension he felt from studying.

“I see...but why do we use that one instead?” As she opened her mouth to explain, the library doors were thrown open. They both looked up as familiar scents filled the room. Ushijima nodded as his pack-mates made their way to their table. “Hello Tendou, Semi.”

“Wakatoshi!” Tendou exclaimed, only to be shushed by the librarian. “We were wondering where you were.” He sat on the opposite side of Ushijima, leaning into his personal space. Semi rolled his eyes, sending the Omega an awkward wave as he took a seat beside her. They were seated at a circular table.

“Hi, (Name). Sorry to bother you.” 

“Do you wanna go get dinner off-campus?” 

“Tendou, that’s not what we’re here for,” Reon reprimanded, hurrying in through the doors to stop the middle-blocker. “Is it alright if we join you two? We all need to study.” Reon glared at the other two. 

Tendou let out an elongated sigh as Reon plopped his bag beside him, sitting directly across from the other Omega. “Sure,” (Name) smiled. “There’s more than enough room at the table. But I’m not tutoring you guys!” 

Tendou cursed, crossing his arms. “Why not? You’re tutoring Wakatoshi!”

“Because I’m tutoring Ushijima-san, and I don’t want to tutor you, Tendou.” 

“Semi-Semi! I’m not a bad student, right?”

“Tendou, you’re the one who always ends getting us kicked out of here.” Semi retorted, taking a seat beside the Omega as he pulled out his own study materials. Tendou crossed his arms, pouting. “Get your stuff out, Tendou.” 

Tendou let out a loud tch before reluctantly pulling out his pens and pencils.

“I am sorry about this,” Ushijima whispered to (Name), leaning down so his mouth was by her ear. An involuntary shiver coursed through her as she lurched back slightly.

“It’s okay, Ushijima-san.” She cleared her throat. “Anyways, this is what you need to do here.” She copied the problem down on her page, writing out each step and carefully explaining why she was doing such. 

“Tendou, stop it!” Semi cursed, glaring at the red-haired Alpha. She looked up, only to have a wad of paper bounce off her nose. Confused, she furrowed her brow. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Tendou?” The group halted, all looking at her. Semi looked impressed, Ushijima was impassive, a flicker of surprise crossed Reon’s face, and Tendou had an apprehensive look on his face. 

“Having fun?”

She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing dangerously. A shiver crept up Tendou’s spine despite being an Alpha. “And what are you here to do?”

“Distract you guys!”

“Tendou,” she warned. 

He deflated slightly, face darkening. “Study?” 

“That’s right.” She fixed him with a hard gaze. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Pull out my English homework and do it.”

“Well get to it.” Tendou sulked, proceeding to do as he stated. With a satisfied smile, she turned back to the other boys. She blinked. “Why are you guys staring at me?”

“We’ve never heard you curse before, (Name)-san.” Reon commented, meeting her gaze steadily. 

“Yeah, I didn’t know you had it in you,” Semi chuckled, ruffling her hair. 

(Name) batted his hand away from her head. “You guys realize who my Alpha is right?” She rolled her eyes. Ushijima stiffened slightly; all eyes except hers flickered to him momentarily. “He’s always cursing out Oikawa and the rest of our pack-mates.”

Ushijima cleared his throat, leaning down to look at the problem, his wrist brushing against her arm. “That doesn’t sound like a healthy pack environment.” 

(Name) raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the Apex Alpha. “It’s not like he does it to intimidate or fight them. It’s all playful. They’re all fond of one another.” She cleared her throat. “Besides, I don’t think you can talk, Ushijima-san.” Olive eyes shifted up to stare at the female Omega. “Your pack was literally built upon the mentality of who is the strongest volleyball player, not with genuine connections.”

“Hey now, that’s not right,” Semi interjected. She looked at the ash-blonde Alpha. “We might’ve met like that, but we wouldn’t have agreed to be in this pack if we didn’t genuinely like one another.” 

She blinked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be offensive.” 

“I understand where you’re coming from (Name)-san,” Reon added, sending the fellow Omega a pleasant smile. “From an outsider’s perspective, it can seem a bit forced. Just like how we might have a certain perspective about the Seijoh pack due to being outside it as well.” He leaned back. “But, based on your experiences with the pack, do you still truly think that?”

(Name) hesitated a moment. “No,” she admitted. “I do think that there are real bonds between you guys.” Her gaze examined each of the males sitting at the table in front of her. “To be honest, it does remind me of my pack. You guys are playful in similar ways, and I can tell that the bonds between you guys will last.” 

“You’re in the pack too,” Ushijima finally said, his eyes glancing down at the watch on her wrist before raising to steadily meet hers. The other males also eyed the accessory. Tendou’s eyes sparkled. Semi raised his eyebrow, and Reon simply kept the pleasant smile on his face. 

“I suppose I am, aren’t I?” Her gaze was down, staring at the maroon sleeve that sat in her lap from the jacket that hung on her chair. “Anyways,” she cleared her throat, “we have exams soon so let’s get back to studying, yeah?”  

****

“I don’t understand this!” The Beta complained, head plopping down onto his book.

“Kindaichi-kun, let’s start at the top again, okay?” Her pencil tapped against the book, carefully reading the instructions. “They just want you to solve for x, okay? Where do you think you should start?” Kindaichi peeled his face away from the pages, brows furrowed as he stared at the problem. Kumini was across the table, reviewing his English homework. Both first years were Betas. Laughter erupted from her living room, causing her gaze to shift. “Oi! You guys better be studying, or I’m not feeding you.”

“We’re studying!” Makki called.

“Don’t worry (Nickname)-chan! We’re working hard.”

“You’re hardly working, Oikawa.” Mattsun retorted, flicking through his history textbook.

“All of us are working but Shittykawa.” 

“Iwa-chan!” 

“Don’t lie to our Omega-chan,” Makki rolled his eyes.

“Stop arguing and do your work!” 

“Sorry.” They all chimed.

(Name) pinched her nose as she sighed. “I always wonder how you put up with them,” Kumini commented, not looking up from his work.

“Me too.” She replied before she glanced back down at the page besides her. “There you go, Kindaichi-kun! You’re getting the hang of it.” 

“Thank you for helping me!” 

The Omega giggled, ruffling his hair. “Of course, I told you, I’m always here to help.” She stood up, stretching. Her eyes scanned the rooms. In the living room, Iwaizumi was sitting facing her, his back to the TV as he worked on the living room table, pouring over his literature book. Oikawa was sprawled on the chaise sectional, his laptop sitting besides him as he jotted down notes on the notebook on his lap. Makki and Mattsun were sitting down at the table on opposite sides of Iwaizumi, facing each other as each focused on their own homework. She had been seated besides Kindaichi at the dinner table, their backs to the kitchen, with Kumini sitting across from them. Her eyes glanced at the clock, it was already 7 P.M.

(Name) let out a deep sigh, making her way towards the kitchen as she put on her apron. She was scheduled to leave for Tokyo tomorrow during lunch, and would be gone for the rest of the weekend. The Omega pulled out a cutting board, pulling out various ingredients and spices to start preparing dinner. “Do you need any help?” She jumped, looking up to see Oikawa standing in front of her. His elbows were on the counter, his head propped up against his arm.

“Don’t you have work you need to finish?” 

“I finished! Besides, I feel bad that you’re always the one cooking.”

“Yeah, cause we don’t trust your cooking,” Mattsun commented. Another page flip.

“Why did I even ask you guys to join my pack if all you do is bully me,” Oikawa grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

“Why don't you help me peel the veggies?” She offered, gesturing to the potatoes and carrots that sat in the strainer in the sink. “Just, please don’t hurt yourself, okay?” He washed his hands, standing by her side. “Don’t want Coach killing me for messing with his setter’s fingers.” 

“Maybe Shittykawa shouldn’t help then,” Iwaizumi replied, walking behind them to refill his water bottle from the fridge. 

“I can do this! Have some faith in me.” Oikawa rolled up his sleeves, washing his hands and grabbing the vegetable peeler enthusiastically.

“I will kick your ass if you fuck up.”

“I have some confidence that he will be okay.” She smiled, pecking Iwaizumi’s cheek as he stood behind her. One of his hands squeezed her hip before he headed back to his homework. 

“Some?!”

“It’s better than none,” she shrugged, washing the rice besides him. 

Oikawa gingerly picked up a potato, peeling the skin off. “Whoops!” He yelped as it shot out of his fingers. 

The Omega gave him a blank look. “Don’t make me regret inviting you over, Shittykawa.”

“Don’t use that nickname too!” Oikawa pouted. “Iwa-chan, don’t teach your mate your roguish ways.”

“I will end you.” Iwaizumi dead-panned, not looking up from his textbook. 

“When did it become ‘bully Oikawa’ day?” Oikawa muttered under his breath, scowling as he finished peeling the potato. The Omega took it out of his fingers, moving back to the cutting board in order to start chopping the vegetables.

“That’s every-day, Oikawa,” Makki retorted, causing Mattsun and Iwaizumi to burst into laughter. Kindaichi stifled his own laughter out of respect for his senpai. 

“Behave yourself in front of your kouhais,” (Name) scolded, scooping the potato pieces into the pot. A smile breached her face as she surveyed her pack-mates. She was used to such banter, and she was glad that the years hadn’t changed them that much. Kumini shut his book, stretching out. The Beta made his way over to the couch, plopping down and curling up into one of the blankets she had laid out. 

Kindaichi’s brows furrowed as he sighed in exasperation. “(Name)-san, I think I need some more help.” Kindaichi called hesitantly, face flushing pink as he avoided her eyes.

“Bring your work over here, Kindaichi. I’ll help you.” Iwaizumi waved him over, making room on the table beside him. “Oi, Mattsun, scootch over.” 

“Thank you, Iwaizumi-san!” Kindaichi scooped his things up, making his way towards his senpai. Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced between the carrots and Iwaizumi and Kindaichi. Iwaizumi really was the perfect alpha. 

Bonus

“Ushijima-san, are you okay?” Ushijima jerked, looking up. Standing in front of his desk was (Name). She placed a sports drink onto his desk. 

He cleared his throat, “yes I am. Why do you ask?” 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “I could smell you down the hall.” Ushijima frowned, sniffing the air. He hadn’t realised that his scent carried so much. “What’s going on?” She slid into the seat in front of him, straddling the seat so she faced him.

Ushijima shook his head. “It is nothing serious. Do not worry.”

“As your pack Omega and the manager of the volleyball team, I will worry. Whatever affects you will affect the pack.” Her face softened. “Please, Ushijima-san? I just want to help.” 

His frown deepened before he let out another sigh. “I am just stressed about school.” 

“School?” Her brow furrowed. “Do you need another study session?” 

“That might be helpful,” he admitted. 

“Do you normally get stressed out about school?” 

 Ushijima bite back a groan. “More often than I’d like to admit.” He took the drink, uncapping and sipping it. She had gotten him his favorite flavor. 

“Is there anything else I can do to help?” Her (e/c) eyes carefully surveyed him as she considered solutions for his problem.

“No, I’m sure I will be fine after a bit of help.”

“Whatever you say, Ushijima-san. If you think of something, please let me know okay?” She swung her legs over the chair, standing up. “Break is almost over, I should head back to my classroom.” As she moved towards the door, his hand shot out to grab her wrist.

“Actually…” He hesitated, a fear of rejection creeping up his throat. “Do you mind scenting something for me?” 

She blinked owlishly at the request. “Scent something?” (Name) looked down at his hand. It was trembling. 

“I find comfort in your scent,” he admitted, averting his eyes as he looked at the buttons on his blazer. “And I think it would help calm me down when I study.” Her face softened. Though scenting things was typically reserved for courting couples or unmated individuals, she supposed she could do the Alpha a favor. After all, she was his pack’s Omega. 

“Of course, Ushijima-san.” She took out a handkerchief from her pocket, placing it gently onto the desk. “Let me know if you need me to re-scent it, okay? Or if you need something else scented.” 

“Thank you, (Name)-san. I greatly appreciate it.” 

She stepped away, a pink flush filling her cheeks. “No problem!” She laughed awkwardly. “I’ll see you later for practice and we can talk about more study sessions then, okay?”

FUN FACTS

💟 The first time an Omega tried to ask Ushijima out, he ended up accidentally closing the door in her face. Another Alpha also tried to court Ushijima, only for him to think it was a joke and he told them off, saying that the joke wasn’t funny.

💟 The first time (Name) had made salmon, she’d accidentally undercooked it and gave her family food poisoning. Since then, she was extra diligent with her food prep. 

💟 Both Ushijima and (Name) were raised to believe that food was the language of love. 

💟 The first time (Name) had made them dinner, Iwaizumi had accidentally eaten all of the food leaving the Omega to make herself some instant noodles. Since then, she’d learn to make four times the portion just in case. 

💟 The Seijoh third-years have a competition to see who could give the worst present to the others. So far, Makki was in the lead.

💟 The Shiratorizawa librarian had placed multiple suspensions on Tendou to prevent him from being in the library. He was only allowed in the library with supervision by Reon or Ushijima. 

💟 The very first person to officially join Ushijima’s pack was Tendou. Semi was the second.

💟 Ushijima actually hadn’t told his pack-mates that he was courting (Name), but the third-years knew him well enough to guess as much

💟 The Seijoh pack has monthly study sessions which Kindaichi and Kumini always go to in order to see (Name). They miss their pack-mother but were too scared to admit it.

💟 (Name) has actually withheld food from the Seijoh boys before. They had to offer a group apology in order to get their ‘food rights’ back.

💟 Oikawa had accidentally burnt his finger-tips when (Name) was teaching him how to make milk-bread their second year. He was put on bench-rest for two weeks 1.5 months before Interhigh. 

💟 Sometimes the other third-years had a competition to see who could make Oikawa the most upset. When (Name) found out, they were lectured for over an hour. They still secretly did it behind her back whenever they had a chance though. She mostly didn’t want them teaching their underclassmen to be mean to one another and would sometimes secretly team-up with Iwaizumi and Mattsun.

💟 Ushijima spends so much time playing volleyball and working out that he sometimes forgets about his homework.

💟 Though scenting is an intimate thing typically reserved for mates, Alphas in packs are allowed to ask Omega members to scent things for them. That being said, Ushijima only asks (Name) to scent something for him and he asks her every week because of “stress”.  

AN: Tons of bonus content this week! I think this is one of the longest chapters I’ve posted for this fic :)  

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[dopescotlandwarrior]

Sinners & Saints-Chapter Two

                  Special thanks to @statell​ for all your help

Previous chapters on AO3

Chapter Two

Claire emerged from a taxi in a tight black pencil skirt and black high heels as she walked into the upscale restaurant. She knocked on a door with a “espace de rangement” sign on display. The door opened to a nice looking man, impeccably dressed, and she could see her Godfather standing to greet her. He held his arms out for an embrace.

“My darling Bear, it is so good to see you alive and well.” He kissed both of her cheeks and looked her over for bruises. “Quite a scare you gave me yesterday.” He looked into her eyes, “did you arrange for the explosion? The news is reporting natural causes, a gas leak I believe.”

“Certainly not. I wouldn’t put the art at risk like that, besides, I could have done it in my sleep.”

“The news had video of you being rescued, quite terrifying. Do you know the man you were trapped with?”

“Yes, James Fraser. For twenty hours I laid on top of Jamie Fraser and found him to be quite charming and attentive.”

Javier Charvet laughed from his belly and looked at his men enjoying the humor. He pulled a chair out for Claire and sat down next to her. Someone spread a white cloth in front of him while Claire pulled a rolled canvas from her purse. Javier put white gloves on and carefully unrolled the painting where he could examine it under a high powered magnifying glass. He sat up and signaled to his man who left the room, presumably to initiate the transfer of the deed for the Italian property.

“Little Bear, what in God’s name is the Senator doing? I’m talking about his bid for governor announced today.”

“His what?”

Javier looked up with compassionate eyes. “You didn’t know. Has the bastard even called you yet?”

“Yes, yes, I got a call from Mary this morning.”

“And all this time I thought his name was Frank.”

“Mary is his secretary, like his right hand.”

“I know Bear, like I know what grades she got in middle school and that she is a lesbian. I was being sarcastic.”

Javier could see the pain on Claire’s face and backed off. “You must go, I understand. I will have the deed delivered to you in a few hours. Go out through the kitchen, Joseph is waiting to take you back.”

Javier Charvet was a best friend to Claire’s father until the day he died, along with her mother, in a car crash. He tried to get custody of little Claire, but her Uncle Lamb was a blood relative and the courts awarded custody to him. Javier continued to fight for her through the years they were in Egypt and South America, arguing it was no place to raise a young lady. Finally, when Claire was fifteen, the court let her decide where she wanted to live and she chose France with Javier.

Claire did not want to hurt Uncle Lamb, but she was ready to get out of the dirt and sleep in a regular house with indoor plumbing. The warm love and attention she received from Javier was an unexpected bonus and she blossomed under his care. Whenever he saw her, his face would light up and he would call her Claire Bear which was shortened through the years to just Bear. She stayed with Javier through graduate school, leaving for America when she was hired by University of Chicago. That was three years ago.

Claire sat back in the front seat and sighed. She was reeling emotionally after hearing Frank had announced his bid for governor. He never talked to her about it, come to think of it, he never talked about anything. Their relationship felt settled and comfortable from day one, like couples who had spent thirty years together. She couldn’t remember either of them doing anything romantic for the other and suddenly felt like crying her eyes out. What she needed was a day to be selfish and pretend she was someone else who wasn’t saddled with a flatline relationship. She directed Joseph to the retail district and blew him a kiss promising to find a safe way home. She wanted to be free for the next two days and that started with something fun and funky to wear tomorrow.

Javier assigned two of his men to investigate the Senator again. “Find out what projects have his support, who are the major players, who is backing his bid for governor. Find out what master he serves.”

The next day, Claire woke up excited to walk the Louvre. She straightened her hair and added some makeup before jumping into one of her new sundresses. She looked into the full-length mirror and giggled at the strange reflection. The top of the dress was fitted, connecting at the back of her neck leaving her shoulders bare. The skirt had yards of soft fabric that fell just below her knee and a studded belt. The dress was sunshine yellow with silver studs. Nothing could be farther from the tailored suits and conservative colors that filled her closets at home. She smiled and almost skipped out of the hotel to catch a taxi.

Jamie sat at the hotel pool sipping his coffee, and quietly losing his mind. The team spent seven hours yesterday pouring over every art theft attributed to Casper… again, and they had nothing. He took a deep breath and started making phone calls to those he served feeling like he would explode any minute. He had checked the airlines and knew there were no flights to Chicago until tomorrow, so she was still in town most likely. He exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. Fuck it, he thought, let's see if lightning will strike twice. He made his way to the Louvre.

Claire drifted happily through the museum walking close to the Virgin of the Rocks to examine the brush strokes. She jumped when someone spoke to her from behind.

It’s obvious there was a second hand, don’t you agree?”

Claire spun around to see Jamie Fraser smiling at her. There was initial surprise and happy excitement in her face which she covered quickly, turning back to the painting.

“I do not agree. I have always advocated a single hand and it’s the crazy conspiracy theorists who lead people down that road. You should know better than to comment on fine art, Mister Fraser.”

Jamie looked confused by her comment. “I beg to differ madam. I have an art degree after all.”

Claire giggled at the hurt look he concocted, “what kind of degree?”

When she turned back to him and looked up at his face, Jamie nearly forgot to breathe. “Nothing like yours and may I ask how you are allowed to walk the streets of an unsuspecting Paris? How many cars collided watching you walk down the sidewalk, hmmm?”

Claire was laughing at his charm and feeling flattered. “Suppose you do Paris a favor and walk with me?”

Claire looped her arm in his and they walked, admired the paintings, sat and discussed, joked and flirted for hours. Jamie’s knowledge of the masters was surprising and made for stimulating conversation. He had a profound appreciation for the art and artist, much like her own. After four hours they called it a day and went to find a sidewalk cafe for refreshment. Claire watched Jamie look through the three menus at the table and decided to be brave.

“Come on, handsome, this place is too boring.” She spun in the other direction as the wind caught the ample fabric of her skirt and teased it up until she could get a hold of it. They heard a loud crash as a driver struck a parked car and suddenly Jamie’s arm was around her waist pulling her along.

“I rest my case madam. Where is it we are going for more exciting refreshment?”

Claire was laughing at Jamie and feeling bad for the driver, “it’s close and you will love it because they have beer and volleyball outside. It’s quite popular in America.”

Jamie could not get the image of Claire’s legs out of his mind but dedicated himself to being less flirty with her. With a last look at her backside, he let his eyes follow the curves to her feet.

“I can’t believe you can walk the Louvre in heels.”

“I bought flat sandals for today but kept running into walls, so I went back to what I’m used to.”

“Thank God they don’t accentuate your statuesque figure, or perfect posture,” said rolling his eyes, making her laugh again.

She was so easy to talk to, and joke with, Jamie winced remembering her disarming banter in the Louvre that made him a slave to her enjoyment.

“Listen, Sassenach, I am sorry for the flirting, I lost my head with a very pretty girl, who is engaged to be married. I promise to behave like a gentleman while we have a beer and then see you home safely. Right after this…” He pulled her to him and stuck his nose against her neck breathing deeply and releasing her instantly with a happy grin. “You smell like heaven lass.”

Claire was stunned by the cascade of feelings elicited by Jamie’s hug and the feel of his skin against her neck. When he released her she almost fell over, reaching for his arm to steady herself.

“That’s quite alright, it is a lovely scent.”

They entered a dark bar with a rousing crowd who were drinking the afternoon away. The beer was reviving while they talked about their time under the rubble and the mouse that ran up her leg. He asked about her lecture, fascinated by her travels to bring the love of art to the masses. She had been in more countries than he had and entertained him with anecdotes. Sitting in a booth gave her the freedom to look at his face, shoulders, and arms. He was dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt that did little to hide his massive biceps and chest. She was careful to look discreetly until the second beer arrived which made it harder to pretend.

“Let’s watch the volleyball for a while, Sassenach, then I’ll see you back to your hotel.”

The fresh air helped to clear Claire’s head and she chose a team to root for. The game was fast and fun and she lost herself in the competition, slapping Jamie’s leg at times when her team scored. She didn’t notice how quiet he had become.

True to his word, Jamie was polite and attentive for the rest of their time together. Inside, he went to battle with the part of himself that wanted a girl like Claire and would be ruthless to win her. His decent side won, and he dropped her at her hotel before kissing her forehead and thanking her for a memorable afternoon.

Claire smiled and waved goodbye. Her glass face always gave the observer a look into her true emotion and Jamie saw her confusion and her interest. He needed to get out of Paris, first thing tomorrow. Go home to Scotland and forget about this time with the Sassenach. It felt like he lost a piece of himself today, a piece that remained with her. It made him feel empty inside.

Claire ordered food in her room and sat on the terrace, thinking about Jamie, Paris, and Frank. If he had given her his cell phone number, she would have called him and talked about her crazy feelings and desire for him. He mentioned the name of his hotel several times that afternoon. She tried to resist the seduction that played on a continuous loop in her mind. If only…

Jamie opened his eyes in a dark room when he felt his bed move and was instantly awake. He smelled her perfume and rolled toward the scent as she turned on a light. She was removing her shoes and then her belt and looked like she might join him in bed.

“Your dress lass.”

Claire twisted the button under her hair and pulled the dress over her head letting it drop to the floor. He pulled her to him and kissed her like his life depended on it. The kisses were sweet and long, building the fire she craved. For the next hour, he felt each curve, tasted every part of her, and pushed himself into her wet softness when she begged him to.

Claire walked naked to his room refrigerator where she stashed a bottle of champagne and a bowl of fresh strawberries. She pushed pillows against the headboard so Jamie could sit up and then straddled him, handing him a glass and placing a strawberry in his mouth. The ground rules were unspoken yet they both knew not to ask or comment on what this was. It just was.

“How is it you move through my door, room, and refrigerator without making a sound lass?”

“I’m a cat burglar,” said with honesty

Later Jamie led Claire to his outside patio with the lights of Paris spread far and wide. He danced with her, naked, holding her close, with a promise of more. Claire was very aware she was dancing with the enemy. The man was obsessed with bringing her down and his life was dedicated to that pursuit. None of it was lost on her so she lived each second with him. They made love once more and he gripped her to him as they fell asleep.

Claire looked up at Jamie’s window before getting into her cab. She would not see him again unless she made a mistake and he caught Casper. She wondered if she could walk away from stealing art for a man like Jamie. The answer was moot. It was the only thing that made her feel alive.

Later, Claire walked to the front desk to check out of the hotel. On her way to the exit, she felt someone pull her back and looked into the eyes of Jamie Fraser. He reached into her purse and pulled her phone out, punching in his contact information. He kissed her soundly and stroked her cheek.

“I still owe you a life Sassenach, and as I said, I’ll be the first one there.” He disappeared into the throng of people leaving the resort and Claire dropped into a couch to slow her racing heart.

Landing at O’Hare airport did wonders for popping the pink balloon Claire was in. She looked out at the familiar sights of home and Jamie Fraser was reassigned to the distant memory file in her mind. Like so many Sorority nights in her past. She felt strong and ready to tackle the remainder of the semester. When she saw Geillis she quickened her step and hugged her friend like her favorite puppy. The two women chatted while waiting for luggage and then heading home. When Claire walked into her townhouse Paris no longer existed. She was back.

Jamie had to get out of Paris before he lost his mind. Another failed attempt to catch Casper and a stunning girl left her mark on him and then disappeared. He made haste getting back to his farm in Scotland where the demands of the land would pull him back to normal. He assigned his top man to wrap up the investigation at Sotheby’s auction house and the report was waiting in is outlook when he got to Scotland.

The explosion was caused by a gas leak, the vault video was disabled by some sort of bright light beam, there were no fingerprints unaccounted for, and the handlers were questioned but added no clues. One female handler said she left the vault for a couple of minutes with Professor Beauchamp to find the audio technician and heard the auto-locking door to the vault slam behind her. As usual, Casper left no leads to follow and disappeared with a Rembrandt worth thirty million dollars. He had nothing.

Claire and Geillis wrapped up the semester in the final month. There were graduate dissertations to evaluate, term papers to read, and final exams to grade. It was a busy month and both looked forward to a summer off. Geillis would spend two months in her pool by day and the clubs by night. Claire would be away most of that time, lecturing, appraising, promoting her book, and stealing art.

She knew she had been in the game too long. Statistically, she was on borrowed time as a thief and when she was caught, she would lose her freedom for the next twenty years. Aside from quitting, she took every precaution including secure communication, the best VPN, encryption security, and a code translator that was owned by Javier because he commissioned the program. There were no back doors installed in the programming, verified by the best security experts in France. He named the program Tom, and no one knew why. Tom was installed on Claire’s home computer and on Javier’s, no one else would use it, see it in action, or ask questions about it. Claire’s heart jumped when she saw the message and she sent it to Tom. Thirty-six seconds later she read the message from Javier and smiled.

“Easy Peezy,” she said out loud as she sent a coded RSVP and agreed to the terms, one point five million in gold. The compensation received for her service had been routed to several off-shore accounts in the beginning and her wealth grew at a staggering rate. Cash felt like an anchor that would sink her in an investigation so she switched to valued properties that would be harder to discover. The gold would be kept in a bank vault locally and used for catastrophic expenses in the future, like hiring a team of defense lawyers. It would cost her two or three hundred thousand just to get it to Chicago, but she would pay it.

Her cell phone played Frank’s ringtone and she felt a boulder in her stomach.

“Hello darling, just touching base about this weekend. Do you have plans for us yet?”

“No Frank, you have not been home since the break started so I will consider you still gone until I actually see you.”

“Alright, fair enough. I have been invited to a private island, owned by a billionaire. The people that are funding my campaign have asked me to go. It almost sounds like a rite of passage kind of thing.”

“Well, best of luck with the upcoming test of manhood, or whatever it is.”

Claire trapped her lip between her teeth and was grinding on it as Frank talked. She was so mad at him and hurt by his estrangement. This was the time of year he spent in Chicago but he was still in Washington with his high-powered new friends that filled his calendar with things to do and people to meet. She tasted blood in her mouth and went back to her packing. Her flight to Germany left in twelve hours and it would be a tense few days once she got there.

Claire paid the admission to the Johannisburg Castle, host to the Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibit. She played with the micro camera hidden in a broach and pinned to her sweater, the remote was deep in a pocket of her trousers. With luck, she would have clear pictures of the employee badges, the security cameras, and the exhibit hall by dinner. Tonight she would finish her fake statue of King Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun’s grandfather who guarded his tomb for millennia before it was discovered and plundered by archaeologists in 1922. The statue would not stand up to scrutiny, but she just needed a few minutes to get out of the building.

Claire plugged a USB into the back of the pendant and downloaded the pictures onto her laptop while the last coat of gold paint was drying on the little statue. She launched her graphics program and got to work, creating an employee badge that would pass at a glance.

Claire noticed the incoming handlers would have their badges scanned before coming into the castle. When leaving for the day, they were scanned to ensure none of the treasures were going home with them. Each piece in the collection was tagged with a liquid that emitted a dose of radiation high enough to be outside the normal range but low enough to be safe. She would skip the scanner and leave through the ceiling, like she came. By midnight, everything was ready, by tomorrow night at this time she would be one and a half million dollars richer.

Claire laid in bed, but sleep would not come. She reached for her phone, launching her contacts. For the hundredth time since leaving Paris, she looked at Jamie’s name and brought the whole evening back to her mind. It was such a sweet sadness that filled her, and each time she did this Frank became less and less important. In her dreams, she slept in Jamie’s embrace all night.