Laventae

That somehow made you more nervous, not less.

You stepped in and were immediately greeted by a cheerful server who smiled brightly at the two of you.

“Welcome! Oh, you two make such a cute couple,” she gushed. “Right this way — we’ve got a cozy booth just perfect for the two of you.”

You opened your mouth to correct her, but Suna was already smirking and rolling with it. “We’ll take it,” he said easily.

You shot him a look as you followed the server to your booth. “Suna!”

“What? We’re selling the act, right?” he said, sliding into the seat across from you, looking way too smug.

The server beamed. “We have a couple’s special tonight if you’re interested—”

“We’re actually waiting on two more,” you cut in quickly.

“Oh! Great, I’ll give you a few minutes then,” she said.

You sighed. “This is going to be chaos.”

Suna grinned. “The good kind.”

While you waited, your eyes kept drifting toward him. He looked… different. Sharper. He’d actually dressed up — button-up shirt, semi-casual trousers — not the usual hoodies and jeans you were used to seeing him in. It threw you off in the best way.

You must’ve stared too long, because suddenly he was looking right back at you.

“All good?” he asked, casually.

You blinked, then nodded. “Yeah, just… you look really good today.”

Suna paused, a little caught off guard. “Good?” he tilted his head, an amused glint in his eye.

You immediately realized what you said and your face heated up. “I-I mean... like, really good—like, you look great today! Not that you don’t usually, I just—” You trailed off, mortified by your own words.

Suna stared at you for a second, surprised, then a soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Thanks,” he said quietly. “You look amazing too, by the way.”

Your ears burned, and you couldn’t decide whether to laugh or bury your face in your hands.

Thankfully, Hina arrived just in time, walking in with a tall guy beside her — kind eyes, a little nervous, but polite. As they approached, Hina’s eyes flitted between you and Suna like she was trying to solve a puzzle.

“Hey!! Sorry we’re late,” she greeted, gesturing beside her. “This is Riku. My date for today.”

You smiled and gave a polite wave while Suna stood and casually introduced himself, then pointed toward you with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“And this is my beautiful date and future girlfriend, Y/N.”

You choked on air.

Hina raised a brow, lips curving in a smirk. “Huh. Really?”

Riku chuckled shyly and greeted everyone. This time, Suna slipped into the booth next to you and draped his arm along the back of your seat like it was nothing. You stared straight ahead, pretending your heart wasn’t losing its rhythm.

Once settled, you all ordered food and chatted easily. Riku turned out to be sweet — a little awkward, but clearly trying to impress Hina, who looked both flustered and pleased by it. Everything felt easy, smooth. You found yourself laughing along, enjoying the energy.

Still, every time you looked at Suna and caught him already looking at you, with that soft, quiet smile on his lips, you immediately had to look away.

-~-~-

When the dessert menu came around, you all placed your orders.

Hina clapped her hands excitedly. “Okay, this is lame, but I kinda want to play truth or dare while we wait.”

“Only if you go first,” Suna said.

Hina rolled her eyes. “Fine. Dare.”

“You’re brave,” Riku muttered.

Suna leaned forward, smirking. “Steal a napkin from the table behind us. Without being caught.”

She grinned like it was the easiest thing in the world, casually slid out of her seat, and returned with a stolen napkin in hand like it was a trophy.

You all laughed, and she dramatically bowed. “Thank you, thank you. I’d like to thank my family, and my fans.”

Next was Riku’s turn. “Dare,” he said quickly, puffing his chest a little.

You leaned over to whisper something to Suna, who smirked and nodded in agreement. Turning back to Riku, you grinned. “Give Hina a little peck on the cheek.”

Riku turned scarlet. After a pause, he leaned in and gave Hina a soft kiss on the cheek. She went redder than him.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she mumbled, trying not to smile.

Everyone laughed.

Then it was your turn. “Truth,” you said, eyeing them warily.

“Nooo, weak!” Hina groaned, dramatically throwing her hands in the air. “That’s such a cop-out.”

You raised a brow. “There’s no way I’m picking dare if you’re asking the questions. I’d like to keep my dignity intact, thanks.”

She rolled her eyes with a grin. “Fine, fine. Truth it is.”

She leaned in, a spark of mischief in her voice. “Okay—if you could go on a spontaneous trip with one person, no questions asked, who would it be?”

You blinked, caught off guard by how pointed the question was. “I don’t know… I guess someone who’d make it fun? Chill, easy to be around.”

Hina wiggled her eyebrows. “So like that guy you went out with last summer? What was his name, Jason?”

You felt your face warm. “No! I didn’t even like him that much,” you muttered, waving her off.

You tried to laugh it off, but the mood shifted just slightly. Suna hadn’t said a word, but when you glanced at him, you noticed his jaw looked a bit tighter than usual. He was staring into his glass, swirling the drink slowly. His whole posture had stiffened.

You hesitated, then looked away, pretending not to notice. But something in your stomach twisted, and it wasn’t just from the embarrassment.

“Why do you look pissed?” Hina suddenly asked, cutting through the air like a knife. She pointed at Suna. “Wait, are you jealous?”

Suna raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly. “Jealous? Of some guy I’ve never even heard of?” He scoffed lightly. “Please. I’m just enjoying the show.”

“Uh-huh,” Hina said, deadpan. “That’s why your jaw’s been tense for the past five minutes?”

You stayed quiet, cheeks burning again. Suna didn’t reply, just smirked faintly, eyes flicking away like he hadn’t just been caught.

You cleared your throat, staring down at your drink like it had the answers to life. “Okay, um... your turn,” you said quickly, not looking at Suna. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Suna said, his voice steady as ever.

Riku, clearly feeling brave now, leaned in. “Alright then, what’s your type? Like, what would your ideal partner be like?”

Suna paused for a beat. And just for a moment, his eyes flicked toward you, quick, subtle, almost too fast to catch.

“Someone cute. A little shorter than me. Smart, kind of stubborn. Clumsy, in this really cute way that makes me wanna help her. Makes me feel... at ease.”

The table went quiet.

Hina slowly turned to you, eyebrows raised. “That sounds very specific.”

You pretended to study your water glass as your face warmed. Was he talking about you? Was it part of the act, or… something else?

The rest of the night flowed softly after that, dessert, light conversation, gentle laughter under the golden glow of the restaurant lights.

-~-~-

When the bill was paid and everyone stepped outside into the cool evening air, Riku went ahead to call their ride while Hina lingered behind.

“I’m really glad you both came,” she said to you and Suna. “It meant a lot. I like him, you know? Still early, but… he makes me smile.”

You smiled back, genuine and warm. “I’m happy for you.”

Suna nodded. “He seems like a good guy. But still, call me if he does anything weird.”

Hina laughed. “Classic.”

Then she paused, giving both of you a knowing look. “By the way… I kinda thought you two made this whole thing up to throw me off. Like, faked the date.”

You blinked. “Whaaat? No way,” you said too quickly.

Suna raised a brow, feigning innocence. “Us? Never.”

Hina squinted. “Mhm. Sure. Either way… you look good together. I approve.” With a wink, she jogged toward Riku.

You and Suna stood in silence for a moment, both exhaling at the same time.

“That was close,” Suna muttered.

“Way too close,” you echoed.

Then, after a beat, he glanced down at you. “So… is it time for us to go home?”

Your heart did a weird flip. The way he said us short-circuited your brain for a second.

You let out a nervous laugh, cheeks warm. “Y-yeah. I mean… let’s go.”

Suna just smirked, and you walked side by side into the night, hands brushing, not quite holding, but not quite apart either.

Next Chapter - TBC

“Just wanted a quiet place to read,” he says, holding up the book in his hand.

“Right,” you nod, trying not to sound too hopeful. “What can I get you?”

Suna orders a drink, pulling out his wallet, but you shake your head and wave your hand.

“No, no. I told you — it’s on me,” you remind him.

“It’s okay, I can pay—”

“Nope. Let me do this,” you insist, and he gives in.

“I feel bad... but thanks.”

“Please don’t,” you smile. “You can sit anywhere, I’ll bring your order when it’s ready.”

He nods and heads to a table while you get to work on his drink. A few minutes later, you carry it over.

“Here you go,” you say, placing it down. He looks up at you, eyes soft. “It’s not much, but I hope you like it.”

“Thanks.”

You turn to leave, but he calls out.

“Uh—wait. When does your shift end?” he asks, a little awkwardly.

You check your watch. “Around five. Why?”

He shrugs. “Just wondering.”

You smile. “Alright, if you need anything, just let me know.”

-~-~-

“Thanks for your hard work, y/n,” your boss says as you leave the staff room, changed out of your uniform.

“Thank you!” you reply, stepping into the main café — only to spot Suna still at the table you left him at. He’s leaning forward with his chin on his hand, looking out the window.

You walk over quietly. “Hey,” you say, but there’s no answer.

“Hey?” you repeat, sitting opposite him. That’s when you realize his eyes are closed.

‘Is he asleep?’ you smile to yourself.

You poke his cheek gently. “Suna?”

He jolts upright, blinking at you — then relaxes when he sees your face.

“Oh. Hey. What time is it? You’re done?”

“Yeah, it’s five now,” you say. “Were you... waiting for me?” you ask, half-joking.

“Would it be weird if I said yes?”

You feel your face heat up. You weren’t even serious when you asked that.

“Oh,” is all you manage.

He grabs his phone and book, then stands. “Can I, uh... walk you home?” he asks, running a hand through his hair. You stare at the way it falls back into place. So soft.

You shake the thought away and stand too.

“You waited all this time just to walk me home?” you tease as you both head for the door.

“It is weird, isn’t it?” he says, holding the door open for you.

You chuckle. “No, not at all.”

You walk side by side, quiet but comfortable, until you speak again.

“Actually... I was thinking of grabbing dinner. Wanna join?”

“Oh—my bad, did you already have plans with someone?”

You laugh. “No, I’m asking you if you wanna come.”

“Oh.” He perks up. “Yeah. Sure.”

-~-~-

After dinner, the two of you step out of the restaurant into the cool evening air. The conversation had flowed easily, light and a little clumsy in a way that made you smile. You even brought up what Hina asked earlier that day.

You were both unsure about the whole fake dating thing — but when Suna said, “We might as well just go through with it or she’ll never believe us,” you had to agree. Backing out now would definitely raise suspicions.

Still, a part of you didn’t feel great about lying to Hina, even if it was harmless. You reassured yourself it wouldn’t last long.

“I’ll just use the washroom before we go, yeah?” you say, getting up from the table.

Suna nods. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Thanks,” you smile, heading off.

It only takes a few minutes to freshen up, but as you’re about to exit the restaurant, a familiar voice calls your name.

You turn to see Noah from uni waving at you.

“Oh, hey Noah!” you greet, walking over.

“I thought that was you! I saw you earlier but didn’t wanna interrupt. How are you?”

“I’m good! How’s your break going? Did you come with someone?”

“Yeah, actually, we’re all sitting in the back,” he says, pointing to a table of classmates. You wave at them.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to hang out lately, but I promise I’ll make time soon.”

He grins. “I’ll hold you to that. You owe us.”

He playfully bumps your shoulder, and you laugh — until you feel someone’s arm snake around your waist.

You look over and find Suna beside you, his expression unreadable.

“Is there a problem here?” he asks, glancing from Noah to you, brow slightly furrowed.

“Oh—Suna, this is my friend Noah from uni,” you say quickly.

Suna’s hand eases its grip, and you wonder if he came over because he was worried again.

“Right, well. Nice seeing you, y/n. Don’t forget your promise!” Noah says as he walks back to his group.

You and Suna step outside again.

“I didn’t know you knew him,” he says quietly, scratching the back of his neck.

“It’s okay,” you reply with a small smile. “Thank you.”

He looks at you, confused. “Why are you thanking me?”

“For... always looking out for me.”

-~-~-

The next morning, you head down to the laundry room with a small basket in your hands. You didn’t expect anyone to be there this early, but when you push open the door, you freeze.

Suna’s already there, leaning casually against the bench by the window, a book in his hand. The morning sun filters in, lighting him up from the side—his hair looks soft, skin warm, and there’s a peaceful expression on his face as he reads.

You blink. He looks... really handsome.

You shake off the thought quickly and quietly make your way in.

Just as you're about to reach the washing machine, he looks up—and the second he sees you, a smile spreads across his face. It’s subtle, but you catch a spark of surprise in his eyes, like he wasn’t expecting you but is kind of glad you're there.

“Hey,” he greets, slipping a bookmark in and closing his book.

“Morning,” you smile as you set your basket down and start loading your laundry, trying not to feel too flustered.

“Sleep okay?” he asks casually, leaning back on the bench.

You nod, though your brain’s a little fuzzy. “Yeah. A bit restless, actually. I kept thinking about tonight.”

Suna hums. “Me too,” he admits. “It’s kind of weird, right? Lying to Hina.”

“Yeah…” you pause, “I don’t know, I feel bad. But also nervous?”

He looks at you, expression calm. “Don’t stress about it too much. If anything happens, I’m there. You don’t have to worry.”

His tone is so steady, so simple—but your heart flutters anyway. You bite your lip and nod as you finish loading the machine, then close the lid and press start.

You turn to join him, walking over to the bench without looking properly—until your foot hits a wet patch on the floor.

Your balance slips.

You gasp, eyes shutting instinctively as you brace for impact.

But it never comes.

Instead, arms catch you—strong, steady.

You open your eyes to find yourself in Suna’s arms, faces only inches apart. His hands grip your waist, yours are lightly gripping his sleeves, and everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion.

Your heart pounds in your ears.

He stares at you, quiet for a few seconds, then clears his throat, his voice low:

“Well... good practice for our date tonight?”

You laugh, flustered, cheeks hot. “Smooth,” you mumble as he helps you upright.

“You okay?” he asks, eyes scanning you just to be sure.

“Yeah... thanks. Again.” You glance away, embarrassed. “I feel bad that you keep saving me.”

He smiles gently. “I don’t mind.”

He sits back down and reopens his book like nothing happened. But you’re still standing there, heartbeat nowhere near settled.

You stare at him for a second—soft features relaxed in the sunlight, book resting on his lap—and suddenly, this whole fake dating thing feels... dangerous.

Is this really a good idea? you wonder. Because this… this feels too real.

He looks up from the book and catches your gaze. “Everything okay?”

You quickly look away, cheeks burning. “Y-Yeah. All good.”

You don’t see the small smirk tugging at his lips.

-~-~-

Later that evening, you both arrive at the restaurant Hina had texted you about. The sign above the door glows softly in the evening light, and you pause outside, heart beating a little faster.

Before you can say anything, Suna turns to you and quietly holds out his hand.

You look at it, then up at him—there’s no teasing in his expression this time, just a calm kind of encouragement.

You hesitate only for a second before placing your hand in his.

He holds it gently.

“Let’s give a good performance,” he says with a small smile.

You nod, heart fluttering in your chest, and together, you step into the restaurant.

Next Chapter - Chapter 5

“Honestly, I’m not really used to places like this” he says, putting his menu down as well and looks at you

“Didn’t you book this place though?”

“I’m not really familiar with a lot of places here, so Hina suggested this place...” he answers, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck

“Yeah, honestly, me neither...” you say and you both fall into silence again

“You wanna get out of here?” he speaks up again, and you hesitantly nod

You get up and grab your bag, then you both head for the door

As soon as you get out, you let out a sigh of relief

“It's kind of suffocating in there, isn't it?” Suna says when you’re both outside the restaurant

“Yeah... it kind of is” you chuckle nervously

He nods and starts walking away

“You coming?” he asks you, turning around

“Oh,” you hurry and catch up to him, “Uhm, yeah... Wait, where are we going?”

-~-~-

“-And I'll have the chocolate waffles with vanilla ice-cream, please” Suna recites his order

"Alright, I'll bring your orders shortly” you both thank the waitress as she rings your orders up

You both stumbled on a small, cozy diner near the restaurant your date was supposed to be in so you decided to grab a bite there instead

You look out the window next to the booth you were sitting in, hoping to drown out the silence between the both of you, and watch as people walk past, couples hand in hand, people walking their dogs, kids running around

‘It's a nice evening outside’

“So how do you know Hina?” Suna asks you suddenly, interrupting you from your thoughts

You turn him, “Oh, we met in Uni. We’re not in the same major, but we got along quickly” you tell him and he nods

“And you’re her cousin, right? She told me you came back from abroad recently” you continue

“Well, technically, we’re not really cousins”  

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Our parents were neighbors and super close friends. We were also born around the same time, so we grew up together, she’s like a little sister to me. But because we weren’t technically blood related, Hina started introducing me as her cousin instead”

“Uh... cousins usually are blood related though...”

“I don’t know; she said that when we were kids, and it kind of stuck. I'm used to it by now, though, so...”

You chuckle at how ridiculous that sounded

“What?” he asks

“It’s just kind of cute” you say and he looks at you a little surprised, and maybe a little red(?)

‘Is he kind of embarrassed?’

Or maybe that was just in your head, you weren’t really sure

“The story I mean” you quickly explain

“Right...” he says and uncomfortably shuffles in his seat

‘Do I make you that uncomfortable?”  

‘shit... did I say that out loud?’  

“What?” he asks you

“I mean,” you sigh, “Ever since the last time we spoke, it feels like you’ve been avoiding me or something. And, even though I know it’s weird meeting again like this, you kind of look like you don’t want to be here, which is okay, it’s understandable, but just let me know, we can just leav-”

He interrupts your rant, “Wait no, I thought you were the one who is uncomfortable”

You look at him confused, “Me? Why?”

“The last time we saw each other, you looked like you were the one trying avoid me, were you not? I guess I thought I should give you some space” he answers

“Oh... My bad,” you say, feeling bad as you recall that you were, in fact, trying to avoid him that time, “I was just embarrassed to have met you again like that after you supposedly walked me back home. Which, again, thank you”

“I told you, it’s fine” he says waving his hand and looking out the window, “As long as I don’t make you uncomfortable”

“No! you don’t!” you feel embarrassed at how quick your reply was and his head snaps to you

It looked like he was about to say something before the waitress comes right then, handing you your orders, and you both thank her again

-~-~-

After about half an hour of eating, and trying to make casual conversation every now and then, you both finish your meals and sigh in satisfaction

You then notice your phone vibrate on the table and you pick it up

1 NEW MESSAGE

You open it

FROM ‘Wifeyy <3’: “Heyy! So, hows the date going? hehehoho”

You smile and shake your head

‘Oh, yeah, definitely think I found the one, we actually agreed on officially dating now!’ you think, sarcastically, and can't help but let out a chuckle

“What’s up?” you hear Suna ask you and your head snaps to him

“Oh, nothing sorry, it’s just Hina asking about the date”

He looks at you, still slightly confused

“I was just thinking it would be funny if I told her we decided to start dating seriously” you say and look back at your phone to text Hina back, “but I was just jok-”

“Wait” Suna interrupts you

“What?” you ask looking back at him, “Wait, I was just joking-”

“That could work though...” he says looking back at you

“What do you mean...?”

“I mean... we could tell her we actually want to date each other seriously”

You look at him for a second, waiting for him to laugh or something, even though you didn’t take him as the type to actually make jokes like that

‘Wait... is he actually serious?’

“But... like... why would we do that...?” you ask him, getting even more confused by how serious he looked

“I mean, if you think about how Hina is like, we both know she will keep setting us up on blind dates if we stay single, right? Unless... you’re okay with that, then, my bad I said anything”

“Wait, no” you say thinking about it as well, “that’s actually not a bad idea...”

-~-~-

It was getting pretty late at that point, and after spending a bit more time at the diner discussing how you were going to tell Hina about how you guys were oh-so-in-love, you decide it was probably time to get home

“Oh shit,” Suna says as soon as you get out of the diner, “I think I forgot my phone inside, I'll be right back” he tells you and you nod before he goes back in to get it

You take out your phone to check the time

‘Damn, it’s almost midnight already...’

Honestly, you didn’t expect he would be the one to even suggest that type of idea to you, but it was true, you weren’t necessarily in the mood to go on any more blind dates, since you were hoping to enjoy your break in peace this time

And apparently, after discussing everything with Suna, it seemed like he had that same idea as well

Even though the both of you kept meeting under weird situations, you were kind of glad you at least were able to clear any misunderstandings you both had of each other

Also, having found another thing in common now, other than living in the same building, you felt like you were becoming more like friends now

'Well... I hope it’s not just me who feels like that anyway’

You didn’t know why, but the thought that you guys were getting closer made you feel happy

You smile at your phone as you look at Hina’s message again; you didn’t answer her yet, but you and Suna decided to let her know of the ‘Big plan’ soon

You suddenly hear faint footsteps from behind you right then and you couldn’t help but freeze in your place

‘Fuck...’

‘Fuck, Fuck, Fuck’

You start feeling anxious  

‘Look up, just move, just... go anywhere...’

You keep telling yourself to move in your head, as you hear the footsteps get closer, but somehow, you couldn’t bring yourself to

‘I’m so fucking scared...’ you think as you shut your eyes before someone grabs your shoulder gently

“Y/n, I was calling you” you hear Suna say, as he turns you to face him, and you open your eyes

“Wait, what’s wrong?” he asks you, looking worried, as soon as he notices your pale face  

“Suna...” you say, unconsciously reaching for his wrist, and try to hold back your nervous tears

He notices your trembling hands and looks around, before a couple passes by the both of you

You let out a sigh of relief when you realize it was just the couple and nobody else around, but you were still finding it hard to calm down your heart

“I’m sorry, I just thought...” you trail off, your breath hitching in your throat, as you let go of his hand

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here” Suna assures you, “do you want me to hold your hand?”

It seemed to you like Suna understood what was going on without you having to explain, and if you weren’t as anxious as you were then, you would’ve felt embarrassed feeling that vulnerable with him, yet again

You hesitantly nod and he reaches for your hand and interlocks his fingers with yours

“I mean, that’s what a fake-boyfriend is for, right?” he says with a soft smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood

You couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle, feeling yourself calm down a little, but your heart was still beating fast. You felt like it was for a different reason that time, but you pushed that thought away

You stand there for a few moments, trying to calm yourself down before you look back at Suna, and notice the same worried look on his face

He quickly gives you a soft smile when he notices you looking back at him, “How you feeling now?” he asks, as he lightly squeezes your hand

“Yeah... I’m feeling better, thank you” you answer him looking away, the embarrassment finally hitting you

“You sure? You look a bit red?”  

You let go of his hand and cover your face with your hands, “I’m not! I’m fine!”

You weren’t sure if he was just worried and clueless, or he was teasing you right then; you weren’t even sure what you were even embarrassed about, the fact that he had to ‘save’ you again or the fact that he was holding your hand to help you calm down

You hear him chuckle next you and feel his hand on your head as he ruffles your hair lightly, “Alright, alright, you seem better now”

You slowly put your hands down and can’t help but feel charmed when you see his smiling face

“Come on,” he holds his hand out to you, “let’s go home”

-~-~-

“You sure you don’t want me to call a cab or something?” Suna asks you, breaking the comfortable silence

“No, it’s alright, this is more comfortable for me” you answer then quickly turn to him, “unless you’re tired..!”

He chuckles lightly, “No, I'm okay,” he looks up at the midnight sky, his hand still holding yours tightly, “It’s a nice night for a walk”

You slowly nod, hoping he meant what he said, and you weren’t forcing him to continue walking with you home, before you both fall back into the comfortable silence again

After a couple of minutes, Suna suddenly stops

You turn to him and find him looking at an unfamiliar building

“I guess this is you” he says pointing towards it

“No, our building is on the next blo-” you say before realization hits you, “Shut up!” you say as you lightly slap his shoulder

He then starts laughing, “What? Didn't I drop you off here last time?”

“You got jokes, huh?” you say, dragging him away from the building, which makes him laugh even harder and you can’t help but hide and embarrassed smile

“I’m sure it was that building, was it not?” he sarcastically asks, catching up to you

“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“I’ll have to think about it” he answers smugly, as you continue walking towards your actual building

After a few more minutes you finally reach your building and go up the elevator

As the elevator opens up to the familiar hallway you're used to, you couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed

Suna walks you to your apartment door, and after a few moments you both start letting go of each other’s hands

You sigh disappointedly, but hope he didn’t hear you

“I’ll, uh, watch you go in” Suna says, putting his hands in his pockets, and slowly shuffling backwards towards his apartment  

“Right,” you say as you go through your bag to look for your keys

You find them and take them out of your bag, but before you turn to your door, you start to speak up and you notice he does as well

“Sorry, go ahead” he quickly tells you

“I, uh just wanted to thank you again for tonight, and really the other night as well” you say looking down, feeling slightly embarrassed

‘What is this? A confession? Stop feeling this embarrassed’

“It’s okay, you don’t have to thank me” he answers and you both fall quiet

You look back up at him, “You were going to say something as well?”

“Oh,” he says, looking away for a moment before looking back at you, looking a little red, “I just wanted to tell you that you could call me, if you ever wanted me to walk you back home again or something. You have my number now, so,” he says, nervously scratching the back of his neck

You feel your heart start beating fast again, and your face flush after hearing him say that all of a sudden

‘Is he just being nice? Or...?’ you weren’t really sure

“O-Okay” you say quickly turning to your door and unlocking it, “Goodnight!” you exclaim before going in and closing the door

“Calm down...” you whisper to your heart as you lean on your door for support, before you hear Suna’s door shut as well

-~-~-

A week had already passed since your last 'date' with Suna, but you've both bumped into each other a couple of times in the morning before you left for work, or as you were coming back home after shifts

However, you only shared a few good mornings, hellos, or goodbyes

It slightly disappointed you that you weren't able to spend more time with him, but you were glad it didn't seem like he was avoiding you like before, well, that you both weren't avoiding each other

It was your last working day of the week before your weekend started, so you were texting Hina during your break, wondering if she had anything planned

Wifeyy: Omg                  Actually I met this cute guy recently                And he kinda asked me out on a date this weekend!@!

Y/n: No way!            thats cute          Where from?

Wifeyy: We met at the pub during my birthday party actually                It was right after you left                We been talking and he seems sweet

Y/n: thats so cute!!            Im excited for you!

You ask her about the details of the date and she excitedly tells you about it

Y/n: that honestly sounds super cute           you have to give me all the deets after           you understand?

Wifeyy: Obvo!                I mean now that you found someone                Its my turn too hehe

'Right..' you remember how you told her you were 'supposedly' officially going out with Suna a couple of days ago, and you feel your face flush slightly

'Wow, I feel like a little schoolgirl right now...' you think as you shake your head at yourself for getting embarrassed at just the thought of it

Hina took the news well as soon as you told her, actually, she was way too excited, telling you she knew you guys were meant for each other, especially after learning he was the neighbor you kept talking, or more like complaining, to her about

You couldn't help but feel bad about lying to her. You usually are very honest with each other, and you would never tell her such a stupid lie, and you hoped it wouldn't drag on for too long

You think that maybe you and Suna would be able to break the news to her that you ‘broke up’ after a couple of weeks. Now that she started dating someone herself, she wouldn't really have much free time to think about you and Suna's love lives, when she has to focus on hers

You feel bad again, but you hope the guy she decides to date is a nice person, and you decide to text Suna about this later

Wifeyy: im actually rlly nervous though                been a while

Y/n: hey, its going to be great          youre a strong, smart, and beautiful person          And if he doesn't see that,          then its on him

Wifeyy: ur right, ur right...                But i cant help but feel like that

Y/n: its okay, its normal          is there anything j could do to help?          i**

You sip on your drink as you wait for her reply and check the time to see how much of your break was left before you had to go back out

'2 more minutes...'

Wifeyy: omg wait!                I have a great idea!                It would defo help me be less nervous

Y/n: oh god, im scared

You reply and chuckle, knowing full well it's probably going to be another questionable scheme she plans, as usual, and you take another sip of your drink

Wifeyy: lets go on a double date!!

You choke on your drink as soon as you read the message

‘Uh oh...’

Y/n: hahahaha

‘Oh god, please say you’re joking...’

Wifeyy: no im serious!!                you, me, rina and my date!                what do u think?

“Hey y/n, you done with your break?” you hear your colleague ask you from the door of the staff room

“Yeah, sorry, I'll be out in a sec” you reply and you see her nod

Y/n: uhh lemme get back to u on that yeah?          break just ended

Wifeyy: Sure!                goodluck!

You shake your head as you get up from where you're sitting and head for the door

You knew things were going too smoothly, something like this was bound to come up, you just didn’t expect it to be so soon

‘Whatever, I'll worry about this later...’ you think to yourself as you get to the counter and nod to your colleague, as if to tell her she could take her break now

“Thanks!” she waves to you as she heads back to the staff area

You sigh as you clean up the register area, it wasn’t a very busy day today, but there were a few customers in the shop

You hear the café’s door jingle and your eyes snap up to welcome the customer

You’re taken aback when you see a familiar face peek in from the door

“Suna?” you ask quietly, as if you weren’t sure yourself if that was actually him

Next Chapter - Chapter 4

“HEY HINATA! THAT WAS AN UNFAIR START!” you hear Kageyama yell, seconds before he catches up to Hinata, and leans on the door as well

“Y/n!” Hinata calls you again, ignoring Kageyama, as he makes his way towards you. Kageyama joins him right after and you couldn’t help but smile at how enthusiastic they both were, as usual

You chuckle, “Hey Hinata, hey Kageyama, what’s up?”

“You coming to the game, today?!” Hinata asks excitedly

“What game?”

‘They had a game today?’

“Takeda sensei told us yesterday that we would have a practice match today after school” Kageyama explains

“Didn't you hear about it?” Hinata asks you

“No, I didn’t. Who is it against?”

“INARIZAKI HIGH” they both answer, Hinata getting even more excited, while Kageyama had a bit more of an intense look in his eyes

‘Inarizaki? But Suna didn’t mention anything about a practice match today...’

“So, are you gonna come cheer for us?” Hinata pouts

“Yeah, you gonna come?” Kageyama repeats

“Is that even a question? Of course I will”

They both perk up at your answer

“I’m just gonna go leave my things at my locker and I'll head to the gym right after”

“Alright, we’ll see you there!” Hinata says before he speeds out of the room

“OY! HINATA! STOP DOING THAT!” Kageyama yells at Hinata, after waving you goodbye, and rushes after him, and you can't help but chuckle at them again.

-~-~-

You get to the gym and notice Inarizaki wasn’t there yet, and your heart calms down a little

You haven’t seen Suna in a while, because of his volleyball practice, but you still have your daily texts and phone calls. However, seeing him face-to-face was different, obviously, so you can’t help but feel super excited but also a bit nervous

You notice the Karasuno boys tidying the gym and setting it up for the practice match and they all get excited when they see you

“You were able to come see us play?” Sugawara asks you first

“Of course, you all know I would never miss going to any of your matches” you answer before you hear the idiot trio start cheering when they hear your answer, and you all laugh

“So, when are they getting here?” you ask

“They’re coming in now” Daichi answers, pointing behind you, towards the gym door

You turn around and notice them just barely arriving

Karasuno starts heading for the door as well, to greet the other players, and you subconsciously scan the area, looking for a glimpse of a certain middle blocker

Your heart starts beating fast again, when you see him come in, the twins on either side of him. The three of them looked like they were discussing something serious, based on the expression on their faces. But then Suna turns and looks around the gym until his eyes land on you

His expression totally changes and he smiles at you as he waves your way

You feel your face flush as you wave back. The twins look at the both of you in confusion then turn to Suna. You don’t hear what they say but they suddenly start bombarding him with questions and nudging him and you see Suna’s face turn sour

You chuckle as you turn around

You’re flustered when you notice Sugawara standing behind you with a smirk on his face, “Oh my god!” you almost scream, jumping back, “How long have you been standing there??”

“Long enough” he says as he wiggles his eyebrows at you

“What does that mean??”  

“Nothing~” he answers smugly as he walks to where the rest of the team was

You turn back to peek another glance at Suna and notice him looking at you. You mouth him a quick ‘Good luck!’; he smiles and he gives you a thumbs up, before you turn and head to Karasuno’s stands.

-~-~-

The match begins after a while, both teams starting out strong, not letting the other have a huge point lead. You were standing on the bleachers in Karasuno’s side, along with other people who also came to cheer for Karasuno’s team

Even though it wasn’t an official match or anything, you couldn’t help but feel proud at how many people came to support the team as well

Hinata and Kageyama already pulled off a few fast attacks that have all scored them points, and each time they do it, the school and team erupt in applause and cheer

Who wouldn’t? Even in real life, their fast attacks looked so surreal and cool

You watch both the teams as they carefully play, and notice Hinata and Kageyama try to pull off another fast attack

‘Go Hinata!’  

However, as soon as Hinata slams the ball, Suna comes out of nowhere and blocks it, for the first time that match

“GO SUNA!” you scream as soon as he blocks the ball and they score a point

‘That was so cool, it was such a fast block!’ you think, getting excited

You feel eyes on you and finally notice how quiet the gym on your side became. You look around and notice everyone looking at you, the Karasuno team the most confused.

‘Shit... I cheered for the wrong team by accident...’  

You feel your face flush and your eyes snap to Suna, who you find, was already looking at you. He winks at you with a smirk on his face

Atsumu, then, nudges Suna and his team all start cheering for him, and patting him on the shoulder or head and you notice him slightly turn red as he pushes them away.

At least the commotion they were making finally turned everyone’s attention away from you and you try to sink into the background, feeling even more embarrassed.

-~-~-

After about two hours, the game finally ends with Inarizaki High winning, and everyone starts leaving the school gym, leaving only the two teams behind to pack up and clean up

You head to where the boys were resting to cheer them up

“You guys did so well!” you tell them as soon as you get there

“Not well enough...” Asahi says quietly before Sugawara hits the back of his head

“You did great, Ace! You all did well, besides, this was only a practice match!” Suga says, trying to cheer the team up as well

“Yeah! We definitely won’t let them win against us during nationals!” Hinata chimes in right after

“You’re the last person to talk...” Tsukishima snarkily says

“Hey!” Hinata glares at him, and everyone starts laughing as Hinata and Tsukishima start bickering, helping lift the mood up

After they all calm down, Suga speaks up again, “So, y/n, wanna explain what was happening during the match today?”

Everyone eyes suddenly snap to you and you feel your face start turning red

“What are you talking about exactly?”

“I mean it almost felt like you were on the other team's side at some points during the game” Suga answers, with a smug look on his face and you feel your face turn even more red

“YEAH! Are you Suna’s girlfriend?” Hinata casually asks and you can’t help but choke on air at how blunt that question was

“IS HE?” Tanaka and Noya suddenly chime in when you start choking

“Oh my god! No, I'm not! We are... just dating, right now”

“WHAT?!” everyone looks at you wide-eyed

“Why have you been hiding this from us?!” Tanaka asks you

“Well... technically, you never asked...” you pout

After a couple of minutes of the team bombarding you with questions, and some congratulating you, you hear someone clear their throat behind you

You turn around and find Suna standing there

“Can I, uh, speak with you?” he asks

You hear the team giggling and snickering behind you which makes your cheeks flush

“Shut up...!” you hiss at them before you turn back to Suna and nod, which makes the team start giggling even louder

He takes your hand and starts leading you out of the gym, which makes both the teams roar and cheer again

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!” you hear Atsumu yell after the both of you, as you finally make your way out of the gym, which makes everyone inside start laughing

“Gosh, these kids will never grow up...” Suna says as you both walk to the back of the gym, and you chuckle at his remark

Suna finally stops when you’re both far enough from everyone, and turns around to face you, not letting go of your hand

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming today?” you ask him

“Well, I wanted to surprise you” he says as he smiles at you, and you feel your heart skip a beat

‘How can he look so handsome even when he’s tired...’

“So, what did you think? How was I back there?” he asks, as he leans on the wall of the gym

“Your team did so well! I’m so happy you guys won!”

“No, not them. Me” he says, looking at your hand which he was still holding

You feel yourself turn red, “You- uhm- you looked really cool out there...” you answer him and can’t help but look away

You hear him chuckle and start slowly swinging your hands

“Good, because I was trying to look cool, for you”  

"Don’t say things like that!” you turn back to him, and playfully slap his shoulder

“What? It’s true!” he replies, clearly enjoying how flustered you were getting

“So, anyways, why did you want to surprise me today?” you ask, hoping to change the topic before you explode

“Good question,” he says pulling you slightly closer to him, “Well, I was hoping I could win today so I can have enough confidence”

You look at him confused, “Enough confidence for what?”

“To ask you to be my girlfriend”

You’re taken aback for a moment, and pause to try and take in what he just said

He chuckles again, a hint of red on his cheeks, “Are you rejecting me right now?”

“NO! No, of course not” you answer quickly, “I’d, uhm, I'd love to be your girlfriend...”

“Good” he says before pulling you in for a kiss.

Your heart rate quickens when you think about how badly the night could’ve ended, with the creepy old man following you out of the bar, and almost following you home. And how grateful you were when your ‘neighbor’ stepped in to help you out.  

You curl yourself up in a ball and hold back a scream when you think about how you lied to him about where you lived, only to see him again in front of your actual apartment, a couple of minutes later.

‘No, you know what, I did nothing wrong’ you assure yourself as you sit up in bed again, ‘I just wanted to play it safe, and after what happened with that creep, nobody can blame me for doing what I did, right?’

You sigh as you get out of bed and head to the bathroom to freshen up.

‘I still hope I don’t run into him today...’ you think to yourself, again, as you leave the bathroom and head for the kitchen to have a quick bite, before getting ready for work.

After about an hour, you’ve already finished having breakfast and you get ready to head out. You look at the time

8:48 A.M

‘Yeah, my shift starts at 9, so I guess I should head out right now’

You grab your bag and keys, then head for the door to put on your shoes.

When you were done, you open the door to your apartment. You stop in your tracks as soon as you notice your neighbor leaving his apartment as well.

‘Are you kidding me?’ you think, as you both stare at each other for a moment.

You clear your throat, leaving your apartment, then close the door behind you. You notice him do the same, turning his back to you to make sure he locks his door.

“Good morning...!” you try to greet him, hoping to dissolve the awkwardness you felt between the both of you.

He turns around to face you when he was done and nods, “Good morning” he replies, the same blank expression from yesterday plastered on his face. He then starts walking to the elevator.

‘I can’t read him at all; does he even remember what happened yesterday?’

“Wait!” you call out to him and he stops and turns around to face you.

‘Wait, what even am I supposed to say right now?’

“Yes?” he asks when you don’t say anything.

You walk up to him, and look at the floor embarrassed, “I just uh... wanted to thank you again... for yesterday,” you look up at him again, “And I'm sorry for lying to you about where I lived, when you were just trying to help”

He looks at you for a few seconds, and you feel yourself become uneasy under his sharp gaze, before he finally nods and speaks up again, “No, it’s understandable. You did good” he pats your head for a second, before looking away, turning to the elevators, “And you don’t have to thank me” he continues as he starts walking to the elevators once again.

You feel yourself slightly flush at the sudden and unexpected action, still frozen in place where he left you, and you curse yourself in your head for thinking he sounded super cool just then.

‘I still can’t read him at all, though...’ you think before turning back to him, and notice him entering the elevator.

“Wait!” you call out again, “Wait for me!”

You rush to elevator and notice him holding the door open, looking at his phone, but looks up at you for a second before you get in. He goes back to scrolling on his phone as the door closes.

“Uhmm...” you hesitantly start, noticing him look up at you from the corner of your eye, “I’d still like to thank you, though. Uh, I work at this café, like five minutes away from here, it’s called The Hub Café,” you pause for a second to look at him, he doesn’t say anything, waiting for you to continue, “If you, like, ever want to pass by and have some coffee, or anything really, it’s on me”

He still doesn’t say anything, just stares at you. You look away, becoming uneasy under his gaze, once again. 

Needing to fill the silence, you speak up again, “I mean, I know it isn’t much, and it definitely doesn’t compare to how you helped me out yesterday, but-”

Your rambling, however, is interrupted when you hear him chuckle lightly, and you look at him feeling embarrassed again.

“I’ll think about it” he tells you casually, and looks back at his phone, but you notice a faint smile on his lips.

‘Wow, so he can smile, huh...?’ you think to yourself but feel yourself slightly flush when you notice yourself staring at him.

“Right...” you mumble as the elevator door opens and he gets off, heading for the apartment building door.

‘Well, I think that went well?’ you sigh as you get off the elevator as well.

-~-~-

You hear the door of the café open and you quickly look up from the register, subconsciously hoping it was him.

‘What am I even thinking right now...’ you sigh, slightly disappointed, when you see a random customer come in instead.

A week has passed by since the last time you saw him.

It kind of starts making you feel bad. I mean was he avoiding you on purpose? Or was he just super busy? Did he even leave his apartment at all? Or has he not even been there this whole time?

You slowly start noticing yourself glance up at the door, at you part-time job, more often. Whenever someone comes in, you somewhat hope it’s him. You subconsciously start leaving your house every day around the same time you left the last time you both bumped into each other, before you left for work. You take your time unlocking the door when you get home, hoping he would also get home around the same time, or maybe leave his apartment by then.

But, nothing.

“Thank you for your hard work! Have a nice weekend!” you hear your boss call out to you as you head for the door at the end of your shift.

“Thank you! You too!” you answer and leave the café.

You sigh, ‘he didn’t come today either...’

Lately, you’ve been trying your best to cut back on taking late night shifts, scared of having another run-in with that old man. And thankfully, it’s only about 3 p.m in the afternoon right now, people still out, bustling around the shops, so you felt comfortable walking back home on your own.

You groan as you start making your way back home.

‘Why am I even still thinking about him? Whatever...' you think as you grab your phone from your bag and call Hina, to try and get your mind off of it.

The line rings a couple of times before she picks up.

“Heyy y/n!” she answers the phone, her usual excited tone never failing to cheer you up when you wanted to.

“Hey Hina, you busy right now?”

“Nope, not all, what's up?” she asks sounding concerned.

“Nothing specific, was hoping you would keep me company as I walk back home”

“OH! Of course! So... what’s on your mind, hm?”

“Huh? Nothing... Like I said, I just wanted the company”

You hear her laugh on the other end of the line, “You pretend like we haven’t been best friends for the last 2 years, you know. So come on, spill. I know you always call me like this when you’re overthinking something, so, what is it?”

“Nothing...” you say pouting, and you hear her laugh again.

“Who’s bothering you? Is it your boss? Or Oh! Is it about that guy? Your neighbor? Did you run into him again?”

You sigh, “Well, yes, it's about him... But no, it’s more like, what’s bothering me is that I haven’t run into him again, how is that even possible? He literally lives right in front of me!”

“There it is,” you hear her giggle before she continues, “Listen, I don’t know what happened with him, but honestly, you need to just forget about him”

Frankly speaking, you haven’t really told her exactly what happened between the both of you. You just told her that he helped you out of an uncomfortable situation a couple of days prior. It’s not that you were hiding something from her, you knew you were eventually going to tell her what happened, but honestly, you yourself still hadn’t wrapped your head around how that night unfolded, so you weren't really ready to talk to her about it just yet.

Besides, the fact that she always hated you insisting on walking everywhere didn’t help, especially at night. She always offered to walk you back home herself, drive you back, or at least call a cab for you. She’s always been protective of you like that. So, you know that all hell would break loose when she hears about what happened, and you weren't ready for her berating you about it. It was all out of love, you knew that, but you just weren’t ready yet.

“I know... I know...” you sigh again, “I’m trying. Anyways, it’s just stupid, like I was just trying to thank him, but whatever” you continue as you notice you were almost close to your apartment building.

“Hey, you know what? I know what would help you get your mind off him. How about that date I was telling you about?” she asks, getting excited again.

‘Cupid Hina is back’ you think as you roll your eyes.

“Really? Right now?” you chuckle.

“Yes! It’s literally the perfect time, come on! It’ll help you get your mind off things”

“You won’t quit even if I say no, will you?”

“You know I won’t” she says and you hear her giggle.

You groan as you get into your building.

“I promise you, he’s super cool, and super nice, I’m literally one hundred percent sure you guys would hit it off” she continues.

You sigh as you wait next to elevator, “How is he any different from all the other people you set me up with?”

“I just know” she answers you, way too confident.

You sigh again, “And you told me he was your cousin or something? Rintaro? That was his name, right?”

“Yes! He just got back from abroad, like, a couple of weeks ago. So, what do you think about it? This weekend maybe? You’re off tomorrow, right?”

“Sure, sure, whatever,” you answer, hoping to just end the call before you get in the elevator, “tomorrow is fine”

“Yaaaay! Alright, I'll text you the details later tonight, alright?”

“Alright.” you both say your goodbyes before you get in the elevator and get to your apartment.

No sign of your neighbor that day either.

-~-~-

You get to the restaurant early, and the host guides you to your table.

“Here are your menus,” they say, placing a menu on the table in front of you, and on the opposite side of the table, where your date is supposed to sit, “If you need anything else, please let me know”

“Alright, thank you” you say. They nod and walk back to welcome the other guests.

You usually prefer going early to places you’ve never been to, especially when going on dates, just so you could check the ambiance of the place and familiarize yourself with the area and menu before your date gets there. Somehow, that makes you feel more comfortable.

However, this time, the place Hina tells you that your date booked was a much fancier restaurant than the usual, which, similarly, makes you even more nervous than usual. You don’t usually opt to go on fancy restaurant dates, you’re much more comfortable in more casual settings.

You wait for about 15 minutes, going through the menu a couple of times and checking your phone occasionally, until you notice it’s past the time when your date was supposed to be there. You look around the restaurant but only see couples sitting around on their tables, probably on dates as well, but nobody else was coming in.

You sigh and decide to go to the toilet and freshen up for a bit.

After doing so, you wash your hands and look at the mirror.

‘What am I even doing here...?’ you sigh to yourself, ‘If he doesn’t get here in 10 minutes, I'm legally allowed to leave, right?’

You chuckle to yourself at how lame that sounded, but you decide to go with it anyway. If he doesn’t get here in ten minutes, you’ll leave.

You nod your head at your reflection before grabbing a paper towel, and drying your hands.

You take one last look in the mirror, fixing your hair, before leaving the toilet.

You look around the restaurant, then to your table, and find nobody there, still.

You take out your phone to text Hina as you walk to your table,

TO ‘Wifeyy <3’: “Queen, he’s nowhere to be seen, I think he’s the one who ditched this ti-”

You accidentally bump into someone before finishing the text and you drop your phone.

“Sorry! I wasn’t looking!” you say, bending down to grab your phone but the person you bumped into reaches it first.

“Oh, thank yo-” you’re cut off, flustered, when you notice your neighbor standing in front of you.

It seems like he was startled for a second as well, before you both straighten up and he hands you your phone.

“Uhm, thank you”

“No problem”

You both stand there awkwardly for a few moments.

‘Who would’ve thought? He looks good, all dressed up...’

You curse that thought before you look at him and speak up again, “Wait, what are you doing here?”

He looks at you for second before looking around the restaurant, looking for something, or someone(?), “Oh, I'm actually supposed to be meeting someone here,” he looks back at you and stares you up and down, not really in an intimidating way, more like he was analyzing the way you looked, “what about you? On a date?”

‘How can he even say, or do, things like that so casually?’

You couldn’t help but flush at the way he was looking at you, so you look away, slightly embarrassed.

“Uhm- Yeah- I guess something like that”

‘Why do we have to keep bumping into each other like this?’

“What about you?” you ask, turning to him again, “On a date as well?”

“I guess?” he answers, as he scratches the back of his head, “I mean, my cousin set me up on this blind date with her friend or something, but I think I might've been a bit late. I'm not sure if she’s still her-”

“Wait” you interrupt him

‘Wait... there’s no way...’

‘No, there’s definitely no way...’ you think as you unconsciously let out a laugh.

“What?” he asks, looking at you, confused, and your eyes snap to him.

“Uh, is your name Rintaro, by any chance?”

“Yes, why?”

‘You’ve gotta be kidding me...’

“And is your cousin’s name Hina, by any chance?”

He looks at you confused and was about to answer, before it clicks with him as well.

“You’re y/n?”

You laugh nervously, “Yeah...”

Next Chapter - Chapter 3

THUD

“Goddammit, what’s going on outside?!” you exclaim, getting out of your bed and heading for the front door.

You open the door hastily, and find your landlord standing in the hallway of your apartment building, then notice multiple moving boxes scattered around, and movers talking some of the boxes into the apartment opposite yours.

You’re both startled when you open the door, but she softens as soon as she notices it was you.

“Good morning, Mrs. Saito. What’s going on?” you ask her sleepily.

“Goodness, I’m sorry they woke you up as well, sweetheart. The new tenant told me they were moving in today but I didn’t know the movers were coming this early and causing this much of a ruckus!” she exclaims, looking like she was just as annoyed by the noise as you were.

“Well, the new tenant certainly didn’t make a good first impression, huh?” you say, trying to lighten the mood.

She chuckles softly, “I guess not. They’re not even here yet, so I’m just going to have to stay here until the movers are done” she sighs.

“Want me to make you a cup of coffee?”

“Oh, that’s alright, sweetheart, you should go back in and try to get some more sleep” she says, waving you back into your apartment.

You try to insist, but you feel too tired. Instead, you just nod and go back in, closing the door behind you.

Sighing, you head to your bedroom again; you figure you should try to get a bit more sleep in before you actually start getting ready for work.

-~-~-

After tossing and turning in bed for a couple of minutes, the noise wouldn’t get any quieter, so you thought you might as well get out of bed and head to your part-time job a bit earlier than usual.

You start getting ready, and make a quick cup of coffee to give Mrs. Saito on your way out. She thanks you and you go on your way.

When you first moved into your apartment about 2 years ago, you were able to find a pretty decent part-time job working as a barista at coffee shop nearby. It was only about two blocks away from where you lived, so it was super convenient; and a plus point, you were never late.

Checking your phone again, you notice the time

8:35 A.M

“It’s still so early...” you yawn as you take out your headphones and play some music to listen to while you walk to the coffee shop, talking your time.

After about 15 minutes of enjoying your morning walk, and window shopping on the stores along the way, you reach your destination and open the front door.

“Goodmorning, y/n!” you hear your boss call out to you as soon as you enter, “Early as usual, I see”

You chuckle as you head in his direction, “Oh, you know me, always excited to get to work!” you joke.

He laughs, “Yesterday was your last day of your second Uni semester, wasn’t it?” he asks you.

“Yeah, made it out in one piece thankfully”

He laughs again, “I’m sure you did well, I've seen how stressed out you’ve been about it but I also know how hard you’ve been studying, don’t worry” he assures you as he points to the chairs in the shop, silently asking you to help him out with setting them up.

“How do you know that?” you sigh, grabbing a few chairs and setting them down.

He stops what he’s doing and looks at you, “You think I didn’t notice the dark circles you kept coming in with, during every shift, for the past couple of weeks?”

“Was it that obvious?” your eyes widen.

“Definitely” he answers and you both laugh.

After setting up the last few chairs, your boss speaks up again, “Alright, why don’t you head in and get ready, I’ll just be out here setting up the register before we open in a couple of minutes”.

You nod and walk back to the staff locker area.

-~-~-

The day goes by slowly, as usual, and after a few hours, you take your break and head to the staff room locker area to relax and have a (late) breakfast.

‘I really need this right now’ you sigh as you take a sip of your coffee, feeling more tired than usual, and blame it on having to wake up super early that morning.

You check your phone and notice a text message.

1 NEW MESSAGE

You open it.

FROM ‘Wifeyy <3’: “Heyy! Call me when you're on your break!”

You smile and shake your head, dialing up her number.

It rings a couple of times before your best friend picks up.

“Hey y/n!!” she yells excitedly

“Hey Hina,” you laugh, “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to remind you that we are going out tonight to celebrate my birthday, you still remember, right?”

“Oh, was that today?” you joke

“Y/N!!!”

“I’m kidding, I'm kidding, you know I'll be there” you shake your head

“Good! I'll also be inviting some of my friends from Uni, but I want us to hangout still. It’s been a while since we’ve actually caught up. And I'm finally gonna be able to come to your city!”

The both of you actually met during your first year in University through mutual friends. Even though you both were in different majors, you hit it off right away. And after that, the both of you always tried to make time to hang out, whether it was between classes, during lunch breaks, or whenever the both of you had the time.

However, it was sometimes hard to meet up during weekends, since she lived in the city next to yours, so whenever she had the chance to come to your city, or you were able to go to hers, you guys would always spend it together.

“Yeah, I guess with exams and all it was hard for us to actually see each other”

“Exactly, anyways I’m excited for tonight!”

“Yeah, me too..!”

“Hey, do you sound more tired than usual, or is it just me?” she asks you, sounding worried.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just woke up super early today, not willingly though” you sigh, “don't even ask, I'll tell you about it later”

“Alright... if you say so”

“Anyways, I gotta get back to work now, so, I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Alright! Dress sexy, okay? You promised we would dress up!”

“Yeah, yeah, I'll try my best” you both laugh before hanging up.

-~-~-

It was about 5 p.m when you finally reach your house, after leaving your part-time job, and finishing up some outdoor chores you had for the day.

You sigh as you get off the elevator to your floor.

You notice the empty hallway as you walk to your apartment; you suppose that the movers were already done and have left at this point.

You glance over to the door opposite yours at the end of the floor’s hallway.

‘I wonder if they're home yet...’ you think before you unlock the door of your apartment and go in.

You sigh as you place your groceries and bag on your kitchen island and start putting everything away.

You were supposed to meet Hina later tonight, at around 7 p.m, to celebrate her birthday. That meant you had a couple more hours to spend at home, so you decide to make some lunch/dinner and watch a movie on Netflix.

-~-~-

“Hey Hina, I’ll just go outside and answer this call real quick alright?” you try to call out to your friend as you get out of your chair, but she looks at you confused, the music playing loudly in the pub and the bustling of the people inside made it hard for her to hear your voice from across the table.

You point to your phone, and as realization hits her, she nods.

You attempt to make your way out of the pub, trying to worm between the people inside and make your way to the door. However, you suddenly run into someone before you reach the door, and accidentally drop their drink.

“I’m so sorry!” you tell them, looking up and noticing it was an old man, long white hair settling over his shoulders.

He looks annoyed at first but then his face relaxes when he sees you.

“I can pay for the drink!” you tell him apologetically.

“Oh, that’s alright, gorgeous, it was just a mistake” he answers you, smiling.

‘Okay...’ you think as you get a weird feeling in your gut.

“Would you like me to buy you-”

“Okay, Bye” you cut him off, smiling awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable with the way he was looking at you; you reach for the door and leave the pub.

It suddenly gets much quieter, and you feel yourself relax, finally being able to breathe.  

Honestly, you didn’t really get a call from anyone, you were just feeling tired, and wanted to take a break from all the noise.

You check the time on your phone,

11:54 P.M

You sigh, ‘I wanna go back home...’

It’s not that you weren’t having fun with Hina and her friends, but you were frankly not that close with them, and even though they are all very nice, having to be social for a long time takes a toll on your mental and physical strength sometimes.

Startled, you turn around when you hear the door of the pub open again behind you.

“Hey,” you hear Hina say as she approaches you, “is everything okay?”

“Yeah sorry, that was just my mom checking up on me” you lie to her, putting your phone back in your bag.

She nods, but you know she's slightly suspicious of your answer as she eyes you carefully

“You tired?” she asks you.

You chuckle nervously, ‘well, that didn’t take long’.

“Yeah, I'm really sorry, it’s getting late and it’s kind of been a long day”

She chuckles, “It’s okay, I thought your battery might have run out by now”

You couldn’t help but chuckle as well. Then you look at her apologetically.

“Yeah, I think I might head home for the night, is that alright with you?” you ask her, feeling bad you couldn’t stay longer.

She laughs and goes in to hug you goodbye, “You know it’s fine, I’m just glad I got to see you today! But, promise me we would hangout together again soon?”

You sigh, relieved, “you know I'd cancel any plans I have, just to see you” you shake your head as you hug her back.

“And promise me you’ll think about that date I wanna set you up on” she giggles as you both let go.

“Yeah, yeah, I'll think about it” you reply, used to her trying to set you up on these blind dates that you don’t necessarily really want to go to.

“Alright. You want me to call you a cab or walk you home?” she asks as you turn around and start leaving.

“No! It’s fine, my house is literally a couple of blocks away, go back! Have fun!” you say assuring her, and waving her to go back and hangout with her friends.

“Are you sure, y/n?”

“Yess! Go!” you tell her, and turn back around, walking away again.

-~-~-

After walking for a few minutes, you notice how quiet it was outside, except for the few open pubs you passed by earlier. I mean, it wasn’t really a huge surprise, it was getting pretty late, and almost all stores in the area were closed at that point. But, because you weren’t usually out that late at night all alone, it somehow made it feel even emptier and quieter.

You look up at the sky as you walk on the sidewalk and notice a few stars scattered along the night sky. It makes you smile and you close your eyes and take a deep breath.

‘I wonder how many of those are actually just satellites...’ you think to yourself as you open your eyes, and you can’t help but let out a small chuckle.

You feel your phone vibrate and notice you got a text message.

1 NEW MESSAGE

You open it.

FROM ‘Wifeyy <3’: “Heyy! Text me when you get home safe!”

You smile as you read the message, but then feel a sudden chill down your spine.

‘Weird...’

You put your phone down and suddenly start hearing faint footsteps behind you.

‘Alright, that’s fine... it’s just someone walking home as well’ you try to assure yourself but can’t help but still feel anxious.

After a few minutes, you still hear the foot steps behind you, slowly getting closer. That, somehow, making you feel more anxious.

‘I’m just overthinking this right?’

You try to increase your pace, to check if they really were following you. Even if they weren’t, you hope to try and lose them all together. It didn’t help that the way to your apartment would be to keep walking straight, and the alleys around the buildings on the way were blocked off at the ends, not making it any safer for you to try and find a way around.

But then you hear the person behind you increase their pace as well.

‘Fuck’ you think, feeling scared and panicked, ‘they're definitely following me, aren’t they?’

You panic as you think of what to do next, then decide to take out your phone and call someone.

‘Who the fuck do I call? Hina? The police? I-’

Your thoughts are interrupted when you hear someone yell something from the sidewalk on the other side of the street you were walking on.

Your head snaps to where the voice came from and you notice a guy running up to you, “Babe?”

You try to back away before the boy reaches you, but, “I’ve been waiting for you, what took you so long?” he asks, pulling you in for a hug.

“I don’t know yo-!”

“Someone’s following you” he whispers in your ear before letting you complete your sentence.

Your heart stops when you hear him say that and you begin to feel your eyes tear up.

He pulls away, looking at you, and you suddenly notice you stopped hearing the footsteps coming from behind you.

You look back and see a man standing in the middle of the street, your eyes widen when you notice his long white hair.

‘That’s the fucking creepy old guy from the pub, I knew he seemed off!’

“My name is Suna. I was just in that supermarket over there, on the other side of the street, when I noticed him following you” he tells you quietly, as he subtly points at a store behind him. You look over his shoulder and notice a small, old looking supermarket, with an ‘Open 24/7′ neon light flickering over it. “Do you want me to walk you back home?” the boy asks you, and your eyes snap back to him.

You’re then able to see him much clearer, his pale, yellow eyes looking into yours. He had a blank expression on his face but you could hear a hint of worry in his voice.

You feel a tear roll down your cheek and you hesitantly nod at him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I'm here” you hear him say as he puts an arm around you, pulling you closer, and walks with you in the direction you were originally going in.

After a few moments, you hear the footsteps behind you, again, but this time they started to sound more distant, as if the creepy, old guy was walking away.

Your heart starts calming down a bit as you both walk silently for a few minutes.

You then feel the boy remove his arm from around you and you slightly stumble.

‘Was he supporting me this whole time..?’ you think to yourself as you try to steady yourself back on your own feet.

He turns around, “I’m sure he’s gone by now” he tells you, looking back at you.

You turn around to check as well, and feel yourself finally be able to breathe again when you don’t see anyone behind you. You look back at the boy and nod.

“You live around here?” he asks you and you finally notice where you were.  

Realizing you were only about a block away from your house, you stop.

“What?” the boy asks as he turns around to face you, when he realizes you weren't walking next to him anymore.

“This is me” you answer quickly, pointing to a random building you were standing in front of.

He was nice enough to help you back there, so, it's not that you weren’t thankful, but you were still feeling a bit anxious, and you didn’t want to take any chances.

“Oh,” the boy says, looking up at the building you pointed to, then looks back to you, “I'll watch you go in” he continues, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, uhm, okay..” you nervously say, turning to the building.

‘Shit... I hope the entrance door isn’t locked...’

You reach for the door and push it.

‘Oh, thank god...’ you sigh, relieved.

You quickly turn back to look at him again, and notice his eyes following you.

“Thank you”

He just nods at you, a blank expression still on his face.

You get inside the building and the door closes behind you. You weren’t sure if he was looking so you make your way to the elevators. You pretend you pressed a button, hoping he stopped looking at you through the glass door at that point.

You look behind you and notice he wasn’t there anymore, so you run slowly towards the door and see him walking away.

You place a hand on your heart, and sigh again. You close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

‘Why does it feel like it’s been a really long night...?’

You decide to wait for a few minutes, making sure he wouldn’t still be around the area when you try to run to where you actually lived. It was probably a couple of buildings away so, if you make a quick run for it, you think, you would definitely make it.

You open the glass door slowly and take a quick peak around the street.

‘Nobody’s here...’

You take a quick breath before you make a run for it.

As you thought, it easily took you a minute or two to get to your building. You quickly push the entrance door and run to elevators.  

As soon as it arrives, you get in and press the floor you lived on.

A few moments pass before the elevator doors open and you can't help but breathe a sigh of relief as you’re welcomed with your usual empty, but now comforting hallway.

You step out and head for your apartment when you notice someone standing at the door opposite yours at the end of that hallway, trying to unlock it.

‘Oh, it’s probably the new tenant...’ you think as you walk to your door.

It was pretty silent so you decide to at least welcome them, hoping it would make the awkward silence less... awkward.

“Hey,” you say turning to face them when you get to your door, “You’re the new tenant, righ-” but you quickly stop and your eyes widen when the person turns around to face you.

‘Wait, isn’t he the guy that just walked me back ‘home’??’

He still carried a blank expression on his face, but you notice his eyes slightly widen when he notices who you were as well.

‘Fuck, Fuck, Fuck... What do I say?’ you panic as you both stand there, looking at each other.

“Oh, you live here?” he breaks the silence, sounding pretty calm.

“Oh, yeah,” you say turning around and quickly unlock your door and go in, “Goodnight!” you yell, panicked. 

You accidentally make eye contact with him one last time before you swiftly close the front door, leaving him there, looking blankly at your apartment door instead.

‘He’s my new neighbor??’

Next Chapter - Chapter 2

Buzz Buzz

You can feel all of your senses heighten, clearly hearing the bees buzz as loud as ever, the flowers smell as sweet as ever, the wind blowing a beautiful melody.

You get up and meet him halfway.

"Y/n, I-, ever since I met you, you changed my whole life. There’s-, there's nobody else for me but you, and I-”

"I love you" you finish his sentence, before you close your eyes as he pulls you in for a kiss.

BUZZ BUZZ

You hear the bees buzz even louder. The loudest this time.

'What the fuck?'

You open your eyes to find yourself back in your dark room, lying in bed. Your phone vibrating on your bedside table.

"Are you kidding me?" You groan as you drop your head back on your pillow.

BUZZ BUZZ

"Who the fuck is even calling me right now? Its 12am!" You exclaim loudly.

You grab your phone and check the caller ID.

CALLING: IDIOTSUMU

You groan and answer his call.

"You better be dying, Tsumu" you hiss at him as you close your eyes again.

You hear him chuckle on the other side of the line, "Open the door for me, I'm outside your apartment, and it’s freezing" he whisper yells.

You try to register what he just told you.

"Right now? It's 12am on a weekend, I'm tryna sleep in peace" you tell him as you yawn, getting more comfortable in bed.

"GET UP Y/N!" you hear him yell and that jolts you out of your sleepy state.

"Okay fine, fine, stop yelling! And don't let the neighbors hear or they’ll kick me out because of you" you answer him annoyed, as you get out of bed and head for your door.

You hear him giggle, knowing he won.

"And stop giggling like a little school girl" you continue which only gets him to giggle even more.

You close the phone as you open the door to your apartment and you find him standing there, drenched in rain.

You sigh.

"What now?" you ask him, unamused.

He gives you the most innocent smile he could muster, "can I crash here again tonight?"

"Would you even accept no for an answer?"

"Of course not, thanks y/n!" He says as he jumps in for a hug.

"Get off me, you're wet!" You exclaim but it's too late, the damage is done, so you just give in and hug him back as you close the door.

"Oops," he says as he lets go, both of you knowing full well he did it on purpose, "I'll have to borrow some clothes that I left here last time" he continues, as he makes himself home, going through your fridge to see if you have any leftovers.

"There’s some food leftover from lunch I made today," you sigh as you sit on a stool in your small kitchen. He shoots you a thankful look and a wink, "so what excuse are you gonna give me for crashing at my place again this time, huh? You think I run a hostel here? You know, I was literally having the best dream in the world before you woke me up. We literally almost kissed this time and-"

"Was it with that stupid high school crush of yours, again?" He asks as he takes a seat on the stool next to yours and starts munching on the leftovers.

"He’s not stupid, okay?" You glare at him and he gives you an innocent smile. "He was so dreamy," you sigh lovingly as you think back on your dream again.  

'If I go back to sleep right now, I'd probably-'

"No, you wouldn't be able to finish your dream if you go back to sleep right now" Atsumu casually says as if he heard your thoughts.

You glare at him again, "Besides... Will you just forget about him? I'm literally right here, why would you need any other man?" he continues as he wiggles his eyebrows at you with a smirk on his face.

You scoff at him in disbelief, "Oh, as if" you say as you get up from your seat and head to your room.

"You need some company in bed tonight, sweetheart?" You hear him teasingly shout from where he was sitting before you slam the door of your room loudly as a reply.

You hear him chuckle and you can’t help but laugh as well.

An hour passes while you toss and turn in bed; somehow you just can't fall back asleep anymore, you were wide awake.

You sigh and give up, opting to just stare at the ceiling and try to think about your plans for the next day.

You then hear Atsumu quietly knock on your bedroom door. For some reason, you just didn't have the mental willpower to deal with him, so you close your eyes and pretend to be asleep.

He knocks quietly, once again, before he opens the door and whispers your name.

"Y/n, you still up?" He asks. It’s quiet enough not to wake you up if you were actually asleep, but loud enough to be heard.

When he doesn't get a reply, he walks in quietly. You hear some rustling in your closet, probably looking for some of his clothes he left over at your place.

After a couple of minutes, you feel your bed dip, as Atsumu takes a seat on the side of your bed.

'What is he up to? Is he going to scare me awake as a prank or something??' You think before you feel him place his index finger on your forehead, then starts softly tracing your face as he goes down to the bridge of your nose then down to your lips.

His finger lingers for a bit before he moves a strand of hair off your face.

He quietly sighs, sounding defeated.

"Thank you," you hear him quietly whisper, before he slowly gets off the bed, reach for the door and gently closes it.

Your eyes snap open as soon as you hear him leave your room and you feel your face flush a bit.

'What's he being so fucking weird for?' you think before turning in your bed and falling fast asleep.

-~-~-

You hear you alarm ringing and you groan as you reach for your phone.

Dismiss

You stretch in bed for a minute before you decide that it's time to get up.

You let out a yawn as you reach for your bedroom door and open it.

'Breakfast... what do I make for breakfast' you think as you make your way to the bathroom, before you get startled when you notice Atsumu sleeping on your couch.

"Oh my god, I forgot he was here" you whisper to yourself as you mentally facepalm.

You look back at him and notice the blanket he was using to cover himself, was on the floor.

'How can you sleep like that, it’s freezing' you silently judge him as you sigh and walk over to where he is sleeping.

You bend down to reach the blanket and slowly try to place it over him.

You bend down again next to the couch and smooth over the blanket over his chest.

'Looks much better now,' you think as you sigh, 'this boy is too much work...'

You lean in closer

'He looks like he’s having a good dream', you smile, 'and you know what, he actually doesn't look half-bad when his mouth is shu-’

"I look handsome even when I'm asleep, don't I," he says as he snaps you out of your thoughts. He opens his eyes and turn to you, a smirk playing on his lips.

You feel your face flush slightly.

'Did he just catch me staring at him?? I won't fucking hear the end of this...'

"AS IF!" you exclaim as you get up quickly, and start to walk away.

But you feel him grab your wrist and pull you back down before you get the chance to leave.

You fall on him, your faces inches apart.

You both look equally as startled by the closeness of your faces and you notice his eyes fall to your lips for a moment.

"What?" You ask him, trying to sound annoyed, while trying your best to keep your composure.

'This is so ridiculous. It’s Tsumu, my childhood best friend, why am I getting flustered right now?'

He quickly looks back up to your eyes again, seeming like he finally snapped out of his thoughts as well, "your breath stinks, sweetheart" he finally says, his smirk back on his face.

'Ah... what was I even getting flustered for...?'

"Oh, fuck you," you say pushing him and he lets go of your wrist, "I was on my way to the bathroom you know" you continue, annoyed, as you get up and head to your original destination, and you hear him chuckle behind you.

"Just get up and stop being a lazy ass!" You yell at him one final time before you get in the bathroom and shut the door. You faintly hear him chuckle again.

You slam your head on the bathroom door.

"Ouch..."

'Ugh, he's always teasing you like that, why do you still fall for it??'

You sigh and reach for the sink.

You freshen up for a couple of minutes before you decide to finally leave the bathroom.

You hear some rustling coming from the kitchen and you make your way there.

He whistles as he eyes you up and down, “Damn, I can never get sick of seeing you wearing my shirts,” he says and winks at you.

You look down and notice you were wearing one of the shirts he left over at your place.

“Shut up, it’s not my fault they’re comfortable” you shrug it off.

“Aha, sureee~” he teases you and wiggles his eyebrows.

“I’m going to change” you say with a straight face as you turn back to head to your room

“Heyy,” he laughs as he grabs your hand, pulling you back into the kitchen, “take a joke, will you?” he shakes his head and you just pout.

“Come on, have breakfast with me” he says as he pushes you to sit on one of the stools.

“What’re we feeling today? Scrambled eggs? Cereal? Grilled cheese?”

“Hmm...” you take your time to think, “cereal”

“Coming right up!”

-~-~-

A couple of hours pass after you’ve both finished your breakfast and settled on the couch in the living room.

Saturdays were usually your rest days; days when you enjoyed just lounging around the house and watching movies all day.

And, after enduring the hours of harassment you got from Atsumu during breakfast, you gave in and let him join you for the day.

You scroll through Netflix, looking for a movie to put on so you guys could watch together. Atsumu was sitting right beside you on the couch, scrolling through his phone and occasionally looking over at your laptop to let you know whether he was interested in a movie you pointed out or not.

“So, you never actually answered me yesterday when I asked you what exactly happened,” you break the silence as you continue scrolling.

“Hmm?” he asks, sounding distracted.

You look at him, “Why did you crash here yesterday?”

He looks up from his phone, and you see realization set in when he finally processes your question.

He looks back at his phone, “Sora and I had another fight yesterday,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Oh...” you say and look back at your laptop, “What happened this time?”

“I don’t know, she was going on about some stupid shit again, and then she broke up with me”

“This is like the 50th time you break up since you first started dating last year, isn't it?” you tease him.

“Shut up,” you hear him say as he lightly smacks the back of your head and chuckles.

“What?” you laugh as you look back at him, “It’s true”

You hear him mumble a faint “whatever” as he looks back at his phone.

“Why did you come here then?” you ask

“We had the fight at my place, it was too awkward to stay”

“Right...”

A few moments pass before you speak up again.

“I'm actually curious, you know,” you lean back on the couch facing him, “why do you guys even bother getting back together if you're just going to fight again and break up?”

He looks up at you and you feel him stare into your eyes seriously for a minute, before a smug smirk plays at his lips, “What? Want me all for yourself, sweetheart?”

“Ugh, I'm serious!” you say as you lightly smack his chest and he pretends to fake wince.

“Hmm...” he says, looking down, a serious look on his face again.

You feel him contemplating and thinking hard about something and you start to feel worried.

You always found it hard to see Atsumu take something seriously. You knew he obviously took certain things seriously, like school and work. But when he’s with you, he’s always shown you his fun side. He would almost always end up being the one to cheer you up when you're down, or try his best to make you smile or laugh when he notices you were sad about something; always teasing you whenever he had the chance to; always keeping everything lively.

Though you appreciated that about him, you always wanted to do the same for him as well. Try to cheer him up when he’s down or just be there to listen to his problems. But somehow, you felt like he would purposely try to hide that part of himself away from you. And it only worsened when he started dating Sora last year.

You didn’t know why. You brought it up to him a couple of times before but he would always shrug it off, telling you it’s nothing.

So, in the very, very rare occasions you see that side of him, you can’t help but worry. Because you think that it’s serious enough for him to not even be able to hide it from you.

“Hey,” you softly whisper as you try smooth out the crinkles on his forehead.

‘Don’t overthink things on your own...’

He turns to you looking startled for a moment, then looks away.

You sigh and move your hand back down.

“Want me to take you to your favorite ice-cream truck tonight?” you ask him softly.

A moment passes but you don’t get a reply.

“On me...?” you add, knowing full well he wouldn’t have refused the offer anyways, he was just being stubborn.

You notice him slightly hesitate before he nods his head.

You giggle, “You’re a big baby, huh?”

“Just play a stupid movie” you hear him mumble as he pouts and you can't help but giggle again.

‘I guess this is better than nothing...’

-~-~-

You get to your favorite ice-cream truck spot and order your favorite ice-cream cone flavor. You figure you might as well enjoy it as you wait for Atsumu to get there.

Half-way through the movie you started earlier that day, Atsumu got an urgent call from his part-time job asking him to fill in for a sick colleague. So instead of going to the ice-cream truck together, you decided to meet there after his shift ended.

It was almost the beginning of winter, and it was starting to get cold, so it was definitely not the best time to grab ice-cream. But somehow, you always noticed it would bring Atsumu comfort when he was feeling down, and was too stubborn to share his discomforts with you. So, it became a bit of routine you guys would have. Whenever he would feel down, you’d buy him an ice-cream cone from this very truck, and for some reason, it would help him open up little by little.

You check your phone.

8:25 P.M

‘Five more minutes until his shift ends’ you think to yourself as you take another bite of your ice-cream.

You decide to just scroll through your social media feed as you wait for Atsumu. His part-time job wasn’t too far from where the truck was located, so it wouldn’t be much long until he gets there.

8:29 P.M

“Well, well, well,” you suddenly hear someone say as they get closer.

You look up from your phone.

“Don’t you just look sad, sitting there all alone” the girl continues with a mean smile on her face, and the girl next to her just giggles.

“Oh,” you say, unamused, when you finally recognize who they were, “It’s ditz number 1 and ditz number 2”

“Not funny,” the girl replies quickly with the same mean smile still plastered on her face, “listen, Sora told us what happened, and we know it won’t be much long until they get back together, so just back off” the first girl continues and the second just nods.

“Huh?” you laugh, “she’s the one who broke up with him, besides, what does that even have to do with me?”

The first girl scoffs, “because it’s always your fault”

She shoots you a glare and before you could even reply you hear someone call you as they rush over to your side.

“Sweetheart, sorry I was late, I ran here as fast as I could!” Atsumu tells you, catching his breath, before he realizes who you were standing with.

“Wow... sweethearts already, huh?” the first girl says, sounding fake excited as she looks at the second girl, “Sora’s gonna love this” she continues and they both giggle annoyingly.

You suddenly feel Atsumu’s arm around your shoulder, and you look at it confused.

“Yeah, we're dating,” you hear him say.

All of your heads snap to him, you looking the most confused, “so just tell Sora to stop contacting me” he says sternly.

‘How bad was the fight between them?’ you find yourself question as you see that serious look on his face the second time that day.

Both the girls scoff at his statement.

“Oh, really?” the first girl asks, that same mean smile back on her face again.

“Yeah really,” you chime in this time, giving her the same mean smile she’s been giving you the whole time.

At this point you’ve really just had it with their attitudes, and if that’s how Atsumu wanted to deal with the situation, you decided to just roll with it.

“So, both you and Sora should just fuck off,” you continue and look at Atsumu who had a bemused look on his face, “Now come on, babe, let's go back home” you smile at him.

It takes him a moment before his expression changes, a soft smile replacing his bemused look.

“Let’s,” he says as he pulls you even closer.

You intertwine the fingers of your free hand with his that was around your shoulder, “Bye now” you wave to the two girls, leaving them with a shocked expression on their face, as you and Atsumu start walking away.

You both feel yourself holding back your laughter, and wait until you're out of the line of sight of the two girls.

As soon as you round the corner, however, you both start laughing hysterically.

“Did you see their faces?” you both ask each other at the same time, before laughing even harder.

A couple of minutes pass as you both try to calm yourselves down, then both instinctively go back to the position you left the startled girls in. His arm around your shoulder and your hands intertwined with each other.

You start walking.

It takes you a minute before you realize, “Hey, they can’t see us anymore” you tell him, though you didn’t necessarily want to let go.

“But it’s comfortable,” he says and you look up at him and notice a soft smile on his face.

‘Damn... even he can make a face like that, huh?’ you feel your face flush slightly.

‘Wait, no’

He feels you looking up at him and looks at you, “What?”

“You’re ugly, you know that, right?” you answer as you look away, not wanting to admit your thoughts.

He starts chuckling, “You were thinking I look really handsome right now, weren’t you?”

“As if...” you pout and he chuckles again.

You feel him gently knock his head against yours, “Thank you,” he whispers quietly, “for having my back, back there”

You smile.

‘Stop being cute...’

‘No wait, I didn’t just think that’

“You would’ve done the same for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Right...” you hear him whisper as his grip on your hand tightens.

‘Why is my heart beating fast right now? This isn’t the first time we’ve been this close...’

“Oh, by the way,” you look up at him apologetically as soon as you notice.

“What’s wrong?” he asks worriedly, when he notices the look on your face.

You point at the almost melted ice-cream cone you're holding with your other hand. Thankfully it was cold enough outside for it to not have fully melted, however.

“We didn’t get your ice-cream" you look back at him, pouting.

He just chuckles, “You scared me, you idiot” he says as he grabs the hand with your ice-cream and takes a bite.

“Hey, that’s mine!” you exclaim but don’t stop him.

“You at least owe me this”

“Whatever” you mumble, and he chuckles, letting go of your hand.

“Enjoy it for me then”

-~-~-

You both continue walking, silently enjoying each other’s company, letting him have a bit of your ice-cream every now and then, before it was completely consumed by the both of you.

You then notice you were next to his apartment building.

“Hey, what're we doing here?” you ask him.

“Oh, I wanted to grab a few things from my place, I was thinking of crashing at yours again tonight,” he says and looks at you, “would that be okay?”

“Why do you even ask when you already made up your mind?”

He chuckles, “Is that a yes?”

‘How could I even say no?’

You curse that thought,

‘What’s wrong with me today?’

You sigh, “I guess it’s fine”, you say pretending to be annoyed.

He chuckles again.

A few minutes later, you get to the front of his apartment door.

You watch as he struggles to put the keys in the door.

“You know you could just let go of my hand, that way you could actually get the keys in,” you laugh, trying to let go of his hand.

He just holds it tighter, “No, it’s fine, I can do it” he says and you just shake your head at him.  

However, a few moments pass and you both start chuckling at his constant failed attempts to get the keys in the lock.

“I’m telling you then,” you try to say between laughs, “just let g-”  

“Wow,” a voice behind you interrupts you from finishing your sentence, however.

You both turn around and find Sora standing with her arms crossed, “They told me I had to see it to believe it, but here it is” she says as she points at the both you.

You feel Atsumu stiffen next to you and you both start to let go.

You look up at Atsumu and see him just staring at Sora blankly.

‘What’s wrong with you? Say something’

You take the initiative instead to voice what you were both probably thinking, “What’re you doing here, Sora?”

She just ignores you, however, and directs her words to Atsumu, “You finally did it, huh? I guess I should say congratulations”

You look back at Atsumu, confused, but he still keeps quiet.

“I kept wondering why all those months of us being together kept feeling so lonely; you’d just keep checking your phone constantly, as if waiting for someone else’s texts, or calls. If I wasn’t officially called your girlfriend, I'd think I was the side bitch instead” Sora continues.

“What’s going on?” you whisper to Atsumu but he still stays quiet, his head hanging down.

“And you know what, I knew it, all along. I kept bringing it up to you, and asking you about it but you would just shrug it off, and tell me I'm just being overdramatic. You were literally stringing me along so you can have someone give you the love and attention you actually craved from someone else” Sora continues, still ignoring you.

“So, I was right all along, wasn’t I?” she asks, scarily calm.

Silence.

“I WAS, WASNT I?” She yells at Atsumu.

You feel the need to step in again, “Sora, I think you should calm-”

“I’m sorry...” you suddenly hear Atsumu quietly say, still looking down.

‘I can't watch this...’ you think as you look away, feeling hurt, for Atsumu.

You weren’t very sure what was going on, but seeing Atsumu look so weak made your heart ache.

Sora starts laughing.

Atsumu finally looks up at Sora, “I’m sorry” he says louder this time.

“Fuck you,” Sora replies to him and she finally turns her attention to you, “both of you deserve each other” she says as she turns around on her heel and starts walking away.

You both watch her as she disappears around the corner.

You hesitantly turn your attention back to Atsumu.

“Hey,” you softly whisper but he wouldn’t even look at you.

You slowly grab his keys instead and open the door to his apartment.

“Let’s go in first,” you say as you gently grab his arm, leading him inside his apartment and closing the door.

You stand there silently for a few minutes before you hesitantly try to speak, “Tsumu, wha-”

“I’m sorry,” he interrupts you, “I’m sorry you had to be there for that”

“Hey, it’s fine, why’re you even apologizing? I mean it was Sora who crossed the line, who does she think she is to just-”

“It’s not her fault” he says, interrupting you again, sounding a bit angry.

“What’re you even talking about? She was the one who-”

“I told you it’s not her fault!” he suddenly yells, the first time you ever see him act this way, “It’s mine, and she was right...” he sighs, frustrated, as he turns his back away from you.

“Tsumu, what happened?” you ask him, pulling his arm to try and make him face you.

He shrugs your hand off, “You wouldn’t understand,” he says, sounding agitated.

But that makes YOU angry instead.  

‘It’s always like this...’

He’s always like this, when he shuts down and pushes you out before even trying to explain the situation to you.

“THEN MAKE ME UNDERSTAND, GODDAMMIT!” this time, it's you who yells.

You grab his arm once again and turn him to face you.

“You really want to understand?” He asks getting increasingly frustrated for some reason.

You were slightly scared of seeing this side of him for the first time, but you knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.

You lock your eyes on his gaze, as if to challenge him.

‘I’m not going to lose this time...’

When he notices your eyes not wavering, he takes a step towards you, then another.

You still have your eyes locked on his but you can’t help but take a few steps back until you bump into the wall behind you.

He doesn’t stop, and slams his fists against either side of the wall.

You feel you heart start to race.

‘What is he thinking?’ you wonder, but you still don’t waver from his gaze.

He takes another step and closes the little space left between the two of you.

You feel your heart racing even faster.

‘Why...?’

He starts leaning in closer, eyes still locked on yours and you unintentionally hold your breath.

‘Is... Is he going to kiss me?’

He closes his eyes as he inches even closer, until there are only a few millimeters left between your lips, but then he just sighs, sounding defeated, and drops his head down, his arms relaxing around you.

You suddenly let go of the breath you didn’t know you were holding, and feel light-headed when you notice how fast your heart was beating at that point.  

‘Wha-’

“I'm so fucking in love with you,” You hear Atsumu quietly whisper, loud enough for you to hear.

It takes you a few moments for you to even register what he said.

You think he might’ve said it as a joke, so you wait, but he doesn’t laugh or show you any sign of it as being a joke.

He looks back up at you and notices the confused look on your face.

You notice his hands roll into fists before he lowers them down, releasing you from his grip.

You momentarily see a hurt look in his eyes before he looks back down defeated.

“I expected that much,” he quietly says.

‘Wait... I...’

“Tsumu-”

“It’s getting late, you should leave,” he says as he turns around and starts walking away “or you can stay on the couch if you want”  

“Wait-!” You sigh as he closes the door behind him.

You reach for the apartment door and open it,

‘He probably needs some space right now…’

But you couldn’t bring yourself to leave so you shut the door again and head for his couch.

You sit down and try to piece everything that happened together, and then everything clicks in your head.

Everything Sora said outside Atsumu's apartment and everything her ditzy friends said.

Their fights…. They were always because of you?

“I'm so fucking in love with you” You hear Atsumu’s voice echo in your head and your heart starts racing again.

He was in love with you? Why did it happen? How did it happen? WHEN did it even happen?

‘No, no, that’s not what's important here,’ you think to yourself ‘do you even like him back?’

Your heart starts racing again.

And you think back on all the times you’ve spent with each other.

Ever since growing up, you both spent all your time together, playing games, watching movies, going on adventures together. And that didn’t even change as you grew up. You still look forward to seeing him daily or just texting him or calling him. Even if your hangouts consist of just sitting around lazily, you both found comfort in just each other's presence.

He would get excited for your good news and feel bad for your bad news, and you were the same for him. And you know that he’s always been there for you when you needed him most. Always there to give you a shoulder to cry on. Even when there was nothing he could do at the moment to make you feel better, he would still stay with you until you could get back up on your feet to face the world again, together.

He's always been such a huge part of your life, a huge presence.  

You don't even know if you could be as happy as you are with your life, if he wasn’t a part of it.

You slowly start to realize your feelings and you couldn’t help but start tearing up.

How could you not have noticed…

“Fuck, Tsumu…” you whisper to yourself, trying to hold back your tears.

‘I'm so fucking in love with you too…’

-~-~-

An hour passes before you know it, as you try to get yourself together and figure out what to do next.

You look back at his bedroom door from where you were sitting on his couch.

You didn’t hear anything from inside for a while, and he hasn’t left the room ever since his confession an hour earlier.

You sigh as you get off the couch and head to his bedroom door.

You hesitate when your hand reaches the door handle, but your worry for him overcomes the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach.

You open the door slowly and peek inside; he’s lying in bed.

‘Is he sleeping?’

“Tsumu?” you whisper quietly but he doesn’t move.

You open the door slowly, and walk quietly to the side of his bed, hoping not to wake him up.

‘He looks so tense...’ you sigh when you notice the look on his sleeping face, as if he were having a bad dream.

You sit on the floor and reach for his crinkled forehead, trying to smooth it out.

You feel him slightly relax at your touch and it makes you smile.

You think back to the time he touched your face, when you pretended to be asleep and automatically started to do the same thing. You started with you index finger on his forehead, slowly going down the bridge of his nose, then to his lips.

‘So tempting...’ you think to yourself as your finger hovers over his lips for a second.

You curse yourself in your head.

Your thoughts are interrupted when his eyes suddenly snap open, and you move your hand back quickly, hoping he didn’t notice.

His look changes from startled to confused, “I thought you left” he silently whispers.

You look at him confused, then you remember how you opened his apartment door to leave, but decided against it and went back inside.

“I couldn't leave you alone like this” you quietly reply.

You both look into each other's eyes for a few moments before you look away, finding it hard to keep eye contact.

“I just wanted to check up on you,” you say as you slowly try to get up, “sorry I came in your room withou-”

He suddenly holds your hand before you get the chance to walk away, “Stay,” you hear him quietly whisper to you.

You feel your heart start racing again.

‘Don't sound so desperate... you don’t know how that makes me feel...’

You turn around to look at him and meet his pleading eyes, “Stay with me for a bit...” he continues, almost begging you.

It takes you a few moments to try and calm your racing heart but you fail.

You just nod, and he lets go of your hand.

He then moves back on his bed to give you enough space, and raises his blanket, silently asking you to get in.

You hesitate for a second before complying; he then makes sure his blanket is covering your whole body.

You both lie there, on his bed, facing each other, neither of you saying a word.

You can't help but notice the way the moonlight hits his face at that angle, even though it was nighttime you could still see every outline of his face very clearly, and he looked so

‘Handsome...’

You feel your face slightly flush.

He slowly raises his hand and it hovers along the side of your face; you see him hesitate, close his eyes then put his hand back down, sighing defeatedly.

You gently put your hand on his, taking it and guiding it to the side of your face again.

His eyes snap open and stares into your eyes, a bemused look on his face.

You smile as you feel him trace the red on your cheeks, still looking confused.

“Am I dreaming right no-” he starts to say before you suddenly interrupt him.

“Kiss me,” you whisper, startling him.

He looks at you even more confused, probably questioning if he heard you right.

“Kiss me,” you tell him, louder this time.

You don’t know where all of this boldness came from, but as you both laid there together, staring into each other’s eyes, you couldn't hold yourself any longer, and you wondered how he was able to, for however long he did.

You see his eyes fall to your lips, but he hesitates again, probably still unsure if he was hearing you correctly.

So, you decide to initiate it instead.

You close the space between the both you, as you close your eyes and lean in to kiss him.

You feel a sense of hesitation for a moment from Atsumu, as your lips land on his, then slowly feel him kiss you back.

Your heart start to race faster, feeling the warmth of his lips engulf you and you can’t help but pull back.

‘What was that...?’ you ask yourself.

Never have you ever felt that way when you kissed someone before.

You always thought people who claimed to feel fireworks, or butterflies in the pit of their stomach when they kissed someone, was just exaggerations they would make up.

I mean, you certainly never felt that with anyone you’ve kissed before...

Even though you were sure you liked them.

Until now...

‘I guess it’s true then, huh...’

“I love you,” you whisper quietly to him, accidently voicing your thoughts.

“What did you say?” he asks you, getting startled again.

“I love you too, Tsumu” you repeat, meeting his confused gaze.

You notice the slight twinkle in his eyes, before he grabs your wrist and pins you down on his bed. Not hard enough for it to hurt, but enough to hold you down.

He stares into your eyes for a minute, “You can’t take it back...” he tells you, and you notice a small pout on his lips.

You chuckle softly, “I won’t”

You see a smile of relief appear on his lips before he crashes them against yours, once again. This time, he was more confident.

Your free hand cups the side of his face as he deepens the kiss, and you try to hold him even closer.

After a few minutes, he pulls away, his forehead leaning against yours, as you both try to catch your breath.

He smiles again and gazes into your eyes, both of you dazed from the passion you felt during the kiss, and you can see the red on his cheeks.

You never thought him giving you an expression like that would make you feel so happy.

You smile as your thumb traces over his cheek.

He sighs in frustration, lets you go, and falls back into his bed.

You look at him as he stares at the ceiling, “I really hope this isn’t a dream...” he says quietly, almost like he’s speaking to himself.

It makes you smile as you get closer to him and snuggle on his chest, closing your eyes, “I promise it isn’t”

You feel him wrap his arms around you and kiss the top of your head.

You look up at him and give him a quick peck on the lips before you go back to your snuggled position, “Go to sleep now, you already had a long day” you say as you lightly trace circles on his shirt.

You feel his arms tighten around you as he snuggles closer to you as well, “I'm warning you again, y/n, you can’t change your mind tomorrow”

You just chuckle, the warmth of his embrace sending you fast asleep, with a smile on your face.

-~-~-

You open the gym door slowly, and try to look for Bokuto. Your eyes scan the gym for any signs of him and then you spot him standing and talking to some of the guys from the volleyball team. ‘Gotcha’ you think as you make your way to him. You greet some of the guys on the team as you pass through the gym court to get to Bokuto. "Hey Bo!" you loudly call on him as you cross your arms while facing his back.

You see him stiffen and start turning around slowly, the boys laughing and wishing him luck. They probably know he’s done some shit again this time, and frankly, they're not surprised.

“Oh hey, y/n,” he scratches the back of his head nervously, “what brings you here?” he asks innocently.

“Oh, just missing you,” you answer. You see his shoulders relax and take another step towards him, “and wondering why you haven't been answering my texts or calls”

He puts on an innocent smile on his face and reaches for your head, ruffling your hair and trying to hug you “Oh, you're missing me? You’re missing your daily dose of Bokuto to re-energize your-” you swat his hand away before he finishes his sentence.

“Stop trying to act cute,” you say as you start fixing your hair, “explain”

“Oh, my bad, did you text me? I was just busy with practice and all, didn’t have time to check my phone.”

“Since yesterday?” you ask, unamused.

“Yesterday? Hmmm...” he pretends to start thinking about the last time he checked his phone.

“Quit it, I know you’ve been avoiding me and haven't started working on your part of our history project”

He gives you puppy dog eyes and reaches for your arm in a way where you know he means “can you help me with it?”

“It’s due in 3 days, you know that, right?” you ask, unamused, yet again.

His round, golden eyes don’t waver as he silently begs you to give in.  

‘Goddammit, why does he have to be so cute’

You sigh, “fine”  

He immediately gets excited and raises his fists in the air as if he won a game.

“But just this once, idiot” you say, and you can’t help but smile at how excited he gets.

“You say that every time, you know” you hear Konoha say teasingly and you send him a glare.

He quickly raises his arms as if to say “sorry” and you laugh.

You turn your attention to Bokuto again, “Today, after practice, I'll be waiting for you at our usual café, do you understand?”

“Sure, sure,” he says as he drags you to the court, “now toss me a ball, let me show you how much better my spike has gotten!” he exclaims excitedly and you can't help but give in, yet again.

A couple of minutes after you start tossing balls for Bokuto to spike, you feel someone staring at you. You turn around and notice it was Akaashi, but he looks away as soon as you notice him and continues chatting with another team member.

You grab another ball to toss Bokuto, “You know, I still don’t think Akaashi necessarily likes me” you quietly tell him.

He looks at you confused, “Here we go again, why do you think that?” he asks as he spikes another ball you threw his way.

“I don’t know, I always feel like he’s glaring at me when I look at him” you say slightly disappointed, “do you think I accidently did something wrong to annoy him?”

Somehow, you always found it hard to talk to him or get close to him. And it wasn’t a surprise since you weren’t the most extroverted person, but you were still able to get along with most people, just, not really, him.  

“Hey, I'm sure that it’s just all in your head, he doesn’t hate you” Bokuto says as he waits for you to toss him another ball.

“It’s just so hard to read him, I can never know what he’s thinking”

“Then just ask him”

“It’s not that easy, you know”

“Why would it not be easy? What? Do you like him or something?” Bokuto says teasingly.

Skip

Your heart skips a beat.  

‘What? Me liking him? That’s ridiculous’

I mean he’s very attractive, don’t get me wrong. He has the most beautiful eyes you’ve ever seen. And your eyes can't help but follow him when watching the team play during matches. He always looks focused and serious and h-

‘What am I even thinking right now?’ you curse yourself in your head and turn to answer Bokuto but find him with a surprised look on his face.

“Wait! DO YOU ACTUALLY LIKE-” Bokuto yells before you put your hand on his mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence.

“OH MY GOD, NO!” you whisper yell before you turn around, and once again you see Akaashi turn his head away.

“No, stop being a weirdo” you tell Bokuto again as you remove your hand from over his mouth, hoping nobody heard what you guys were yelling about.

He eyes you suspiciously for a few seconds before asking you to toss him another ball.

“Well anyways, I don’t want my two best friends to be awkward around each other, so you guys better start getting along” he says as he spikes another ball.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you sigh, relieved that Bokuto isn't pressing on the matter any further.

‘Wait, why are you even relieved, it's not like you actually like him’ you think and unintentionally laugh out loud.

“Hey weirdo, stop laughing and keep tossing the ball”

You spend a few more minutes tossing the ball for Bokuto before leaving to get your stuff ready to meet him at your usual café nearby.

-~-~-

You check your phone as soon as you get in the café.

1 NEW MESSAGE FROM ‘Baka-to’: “Sorry! With coach! Be there in 15 mins!”

You sigh.  

“Didn’t expect much from the king of tardiness,” you say to yourself quietly as you chuckle and find a seat for the both of you.

You sit at your usual booth and start taking out your laptop and other books you need to help with the project.

You hear the café bell jingle and you look up instinctively to see who came in.

‘Fuck’ you think as you look away and try to hide yourself when you notice your ex walk in with some of his friends.  

You try to hide behind your laptop, “he didn’t see me, he didn’t see me” you quietly tell yourself but hear him excusing himself from his friends, “he didn’t see me...”

You feel someone towering over you and you look up from your laptop.

“Hey y/n”

‘Goddammit... not now’

“Hey Azami” you reply as you put on a fake smile.

“What're you doing here?” he asks as he rudely takes a seat in front of you.

“What do you want, Azami?” you say getting frustrated and ignoring his question.

“Ouch,” he says pretending to be fake hurt and laughs. When he notices that you haven't even cracked a smile, he continues, “you haven't been answering my calls or texts”

“Well, we did break up months ago, and I told you not to contact me anymore, so I don’t know what you were expecting” you answer annoyed and check your phone to see if Bokuto sent you anymore messages about when he was getting there.

“I already apologized for what I did, y/n,” he starts, “it didn’t mean anything, I swe-”

You cut him off, “okay, I don’t have time for this,” you say getting fed up already, and you get up and start packing your stuff.

He grabs your wrist, “Wait, let me expl-”  

“Don’t touch me!” you exclaim as you cut him off again and try to get him to let go of your wrist.

“You’re not even listening to me, I-” he is cut off once again, but this time it wasn’t you.

Someone grabs his wrist and snatches it off yours.

You look up and notice Akaashi standing next to you, “Is there a problem here?” he asks in a serious tone. Even with his unreadable face, this time you can feel how serious and annoyed he looked.

‘What is he doing here now’ you think, feeling embarrassed that he caught you in this awkward situation.

Out of any situation you could've been in, this is how you guys accidentally run into each other. Figures.

Azami quietly chuckles, visibly annoyed, “I’m just tryna talk to y/n, so,” he glares at Akaashi, but keeps an innocent smile on his face. He then looks back at you and before he says anything he gets cut off, once again.

“Well, it seems like y/n doesn’t want to talk to you right now, so,” Akaashi replies back.

“What’re you? The boyfriend or something?” he says seemingly getting more annoyed.

“Yes” you reply without thinking and curse yourself in your head.

You just wanted Azami to leave quickly and you didn’t think about it when you answered.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid, why would you even say yes’

You feel Akaashi stiffen and both of them snap their heads at you.

You look at Akaashi apologetically and turn to face Azami, “So just leave us alone, will you?” you try to confidently say, and hope Azami hasn’t noticed the confused look on Akaashi’s face.

Azami just stares between the both of you for a few moments before he sighs in frustration, “Listen, I just wanted to talk to you and apologize again, about everything, so answer my calls sometime, alright?” he says as he turns around and goes back to his friends before you get the chance to reject his request.

As soon as he leaves, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

‘At least he’s gone, for now’ you sigh to yourself.

“Oh,” your head snaps to Akaashi, and notice him still looking at you, “I’m really sorry about that” you tell him embarrassed and look down.

“It’s fine” he sighs and takes the seat opposite of yours.

You look at him confused before you sit down again, placing your bag back down next to you, “Wait, what are you doing here?”

“Bokuto told me you wanted to meet us here” he says casually and starts looking over the menu in front of him.

“Me?” you ask, even more confused, and he just looks up at you.

‘Fuck, he has such pretty eyes’ you think to yourself.

‘Wait what am I even thinking right now’ you curse yourself again and look away, feeling your face turn a bit red.

“Was I not invited?” you hear him ask, disrupting you from your thoughts.

“No, it's not that-!” you answer quickly.

“I’ll go order something then, you want anything?” Akaashi says as he gets up.

You feel a pair of eyes staring at you. You turn and find Azami glaring at the both of you. He doesn’t even turn away when you notice, and just smirks.

“I’ll come with,” you tell Akaashi as you get up as well.  

He just nods and you head to the counter.

You tell the barista your order and then Akaashi starts ordering.

You can’t help but feel eyes on you again and you turn to Azami.

But this time Akaashi steps back and blocks your line of sight and you look up at him.

“You know, if you want him to stop looking, you should stop as well” he says as he looks at you with his piercing blue eyes.

You feel yourself slightly blush under his gaze and look away as soon as you notice how close your faces were.

“Yeah, you’re right...” you answer quietly and try to look at him from the corner of your eye. You notice him smirking.

After your orders were paid for and done, you grab your drinks and walk back to your booth.

It gets quiet, except for the occasional sips you both take from your drinks.

You awkwardly shift in your seat and feel the need to break the silence.

“Thanks, by the way,” you start and he looks up from his drink, “for you know, helping me out, and not saying anything about not being my actual boyfriend”

“It’s nothing,” he says casually as he looks out the window next to your booth, and you can't help but notice a small blush appearing on his cheek.

‘What... what even kind of expression is that? He looks so fucking cute? I didn’t even know he can make that kind of expressi-’

“Hey kids!” you hear someone say as they run over to you, dragging you back to reality, and making you choke on your drink as you notice what you were even thinking about.

Both you and Akaashi notice it’s Bokuto when he gets to your table, then he  pushes you to the inside booth seat.

“How are my best friends getting along with each other?” he asks you excitedly.

‘Ah, so that was his lame plan of getting us to get along better?’ you shake your head at him.

“Hey Bo, I thought we have a history project to finish here” you glare at him and he smiles innocently.

“I thought Akaashi could help us as well, considering we have so little time” Bokuto tells you, getting even more excited for some reason.

‘Ah... if only he knew he actually put Akaashi and I in an even more awkward situation than we were in before’

“Uhm... I’m actually pretty bad at history...” Akaashi quietly mentions as he looks at you and awkwardly scratches the back of his head.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute he looked right then.

Both of them look at you confused.

“Anyways, we should start, shouldn’t we?” You ask Bokuto and he just sadly sighs.

-~-~-

A couple of hours pass by as you try to finish the project but you were all sharing laughs and jokes in between, which would explain why it was definitely taking more time than is needed for it to be done.

But honestly, it was the first time you felt like you and Akaashi were getting along easily, so even though you were annoyed with Bokuto inviting him without telling you, you were still grateful it gave you both a chance to get to know each other better, or just enjoy each other's company.

It wasn’t much, it wasn’t like all of a sudden, you became besties, but it was definitely better than before, when you both could barely keep a conversation going.

It was mostly the both of you sharing funny and embarrassing situations you’ve been through with Bokuto, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. And honestly being able to get a laugh or two from Akaashi, definitely made it worth it.

‘No wait, why did I even think that’

“Excuse me guys, I'll just head to the restroom for a bit” you say as you look at Bokuto, motioning him to let you out of the booth.

“Nooo... don’t leaveee! The story’s just about to get better!” he whines as you push him off his seat to leave the booth.

“I'm literally coming back,” you shake your head and look at Akaashi, “Keep him in check while I'm away, yeah?”

Akaashi just chuckles and nods while Bokuto pouts at you.

“Come backk!” you hear Bokuto jokingly cry as you head to the restroom area and you shake your head at him.

You pass through the café to a hallway where the restrooms are located and feel someone grab your wrist, “Bo, I literally told you I'm gonna go ba-” you turn around and notice your ex standing there instead.

You instantly stiffen and push his hand off your wrist.

“Stop touching me” you snap at him.

He looks down, “I'm sorry, y/n, I just honestly want you to know that whatever you saw happen with that girl at the party, wasn’t my fault. She pushed herself on me! I promise!” he desperately pleads.

As bad as you wanted to feel pity for him, you couldn’t. “That doesn’t explain the texts, DMs, and everything else you did while we were still together. We both know that probably wasn’t the first time you did it. It was just the first time you got caught.”

He looked up at you, speechless for a moment, “But I've changed now, it’s different” he says as he slowly tries to reach for your hand once again.

“Okay, that’s enough,” you hear someone say sternly, then you notice Akaashi walking up behind Azami and puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from grabbing your hand again.

“Babe, you should go ahead” Akaashi says as he nods to the restroom area.

Skip

You nod, and Akaashi just shoots you a soft smile before Azami pushes Akaashi's hand off his shoulder. You turn around and slowly run to the restrooms.

You wash your face.

Once.

Twice.

‘Babe?’

‘Did he really just say babe?’

‘And why did your heart skip a beat again when he did??’

You wash your face again and look up at the mirror above the sink.

‘And why the hell are you getting flustered like this?’

You chuckle at yourself.

“This is ridiculous,” you sigh to yourself as you turn off the tap, “you don’t actually like him, do you?” you ask yourself as you look at the mirror again.

I mean that might explain why you found it hard to talk to him at school, or trying to keep the conversation going when you did. Maybe it wasn’t him that was the problem, it was... you?

“I’m just overthinking this,” you sigh to yourself again.

You grab a paper towel and dry your face off.  

“Okay,” you clear your throat as you reach for the door handle, “don't overthink things, you're barely even friends as is” you whisper to yourself as you open the door.

You notice Akaashi leaning against the wall in the hallway where you left him and Azami earlier. He looks like he’s intently thinking about something.

‘Pretty...’

Skip

You clear your throat as you close the door behind you, which looks like it also snapped his attention back to you and you notice him smile softly.

‘Don’t smile at me like that...’

“Were you waiting for something?” you ask him as you slowly walk to him.

“Yeah, you” he says as he straightens up and turns back to head to the café.

Skip

-~-~-

It was starting to get late, and you and Bokuto were almost done with the history project at that point, after hours of half working and half messing around with each other and Akaashi.

Even though at the beginning, you were iffy and kind of annoyed with Bokuto for sneakily inviting Akaashi without telling you, you couldn’t help but feel thankful for him because it turned out to be a fun hangout.

Even though your ex was there, and usually, even the thought of him would sour your mood, if not your whole day, this time you actually felt somewhat safe? You knew that Akaashi was definitely the reason for that, even with the occasional feeling of stares you felt, it didn’t really bother you as much.  

Though this hangout made you also realize you might have a thing for Akaashi, you tried to push that thought away every time your thoughts wandered.

I mean you guys were finally getting along, and you didn’t want to jeopardize this blooming friendship between you guys for something stupid, like your heart skipping a beat every time he would look at you and smile, or the way he laughed, or the accidental touches you would have when he would point out something on your laptop screen.

That would just be stupid.

“Alright Bo, all you have left is to add the citations at the end of the report. I saved all the sites and documents we used here” you tell him as you point on the screen.

“Y/n, you literally are a life-saver!” Bokuto exclaims as he jumps on you for a hug.

Your eyes accidentally land on Akaashi and you notice him looking annoyed as he looks at Bokuto. Your eyes meet and he looks away.

‘I’m just making this up in my head at this point, right?’

“Alright, alright, Bo! Get off!” you chuckle as you push him off you, “Just please promise me you'll finish your part in our final project on time”

“No promises” you hear Bokuto quietly say.

“HEY!” you laugh as you hit him on the back of his head.

“I’m joking, don’t hate me~” he laughs as he links his arm with yours.

“Stop trying to be cute” you say, pretending to be annoyed with him.

“Yeah, stop that” Akaashi says seriously as he continues to look away and take a sip from his drink.

‘Is he actually pouting right now?’

“Why are you pouting right now?” Bokuto asks Akaashi, as if he heard my thoughts.

“I’m not” Akaashi says finally looking up.

Bokuto just shrugs it off, but doesn’t notice the slight blush on Akaashi’s cheeks.

“Anyways,” Bokuto checks his watch, and his eyes go wide, “Oh my god, its 11pm already, I have early practice tomorrow!”

“We’re done anyways, so you can go” you tell him.

“But... I won't be able to walk you to your dorm...” Bokuto says as he pouts.

“Hey its fine, it isn't far anyways, I can walk back alone-”  

“I’ll walk you back,” Akaashi interjects out of nowhere.

Me and Bokuto both look at him.

“No, it’s fine, I can-” you try to reply but get cut off again

“Right, you both live in the same student dorm accommodation, don’t you?” Bokuto says as he suddenly remembers.

‘Do we?’  

You don’t think you've ever seen him go there, though they usually do finish volleyball practice late so, that might be the case.

“Yeah, we do” Akaashi replies casually.

“That’s perfect, thanks Akaashi, look after y/n for me, would you?” Bokuto says and Akaashi nods as a reply.

“Guys, seriously, I'm ok-”

“Alright, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Bokuto says as he gets up and hurriedly grabs his things, “and y/n, send me the project with the links so I can finish it off later, alright?”

I nod and he excitedly runs for the door before he waves us a final goodbye.

You sigh as you check the time on your phone, “time passed by really fast, huh?” you say to yourself but you hear Akaashi agree with you.

I guess time really does go fast when you're having fun, and honestly, you really didn’t want the night to end yet.

You turn to Akaashi as you get up and start packing your things.

“How did you know we live in the same dorm accommodation? I don’t remember ever seeing you go there” you ask him curiously.

“Bokuto mentioned you stay there a couple of times,” he continued, “and I usually go there late, around this time maybe? When I'm done with practice or schoolwork”

Ah... just as you thought...

“You really don’t have to walk me back, by the way, it’s fine” you say. Though that’s not true, you were kind of happy he offered.

You cursed that thought.

“We are going the same way anyway, wouldn’t hurt to make sure you get home safe while I'm at it” he says as he smiles at you.

Skip

‘Get that sweet smile off your face right now’

“Thanks,” you say as you look away flustered.

You hear him chuckle.

‘Is he purposely teasing me right now?’

“Why are you laughing?” you eye him curiously.

“You just look cute, when you get all flustered” he says smiling as he grabs the rest of your books from the table.

“I'm- I'm not flustered!” you say, quite flustered.

He chuckles even louder this time.

“Whatever” you say quietly, as you look away from him, pouting.

“Ready to go?” Akaashi asks when you grab everything.

You nod and try to take your books from him.

He just moves back, and takes the bag you were holding instead and throws it over his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” he says as he starts walking to the door.

You try to catch up with him, feeling confused.

He opens the door and motions you to leave first, as he smiles.

You walk out the door and he follows you right after.

You keep following him with a confused look on your face and he nods towards the café, where you find your ex staring at you both.

“Oh... I didn’t even notice he was still there” you say quietly.

“I guess that’s a good thing, right?” Akaashi smiles at you, and you both start walking to your student dorm accommodation.

When you’re finally out of your ex’s sight, you reach for your bag again.

Akaashi doesn’t let go of it, however.

“It’s fine, he can't see us anymore” you tell him.

“I’m sure you’re tired, I don’t mind holding your things” he replies casually.

Skip

‘Ahh... stop being so nice to me, I can’t handle it’

“It feels like I’m taking advantage of you now” you reply sadly.

He just chuckles, “I want to do it, you're not forcing me”

You sigh.

“I wanna apologize,” you start and Akaashi just looks at you, “and thank you again for helping me out today”

“It’s no big deal,” he looks back straight ahead “I'm glad I could help”

You walk for a few minutes in comfortable silence, when Akaashi speaks up again.

“I accidently overheard you guys,” he looks at you again and you look at him confused, “in the hallway, when you talked about what happened between the both of you”

“Oh...” you sigh as you look back on the street ahead of you.

“Hey, you did nothing wrong you know,” he continues, “actually, I find it quite attractive that you stood your ground and didn’t stay, or fall for his sorry bullshit”

Skip

‘Not right now, stupid heart’

“Thanks,” you say trying to sound calm but you can feel your heart beating fast.

‘Did he just say he found me attractive? No wait, he said he found the action attractive... but I mean, if you think about it, it was me who did the action so-’

Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt Akaashi gently grab your hand to stop you.

“Hey, you okay?” He asks worriedly, “I’m sorry if I brought up something you didn’t wanna talk about, I don’t even know why I mentioned it, I was-”

“No, it's fine,” you interrupt his rambling, it wasn’t like it was his fault your ex was there. If anything, he helped you get your mind off of it all. “I was just thinking about something else” you say as you look down and notice his hand was still holding yours.

Skip

‘oh my god, oh my god, oh my god’

He lets go of your hand as soon as he notices you staring at it, “sorry,” you hear him mumble as he starts walking again.

‘What are you 5? SNAP OUT OF IT’

You run to catch up to him and notice a small blush on his cheeks even though he was trying to look away from you, and you couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Why are you laughing?” he says as he looks at you.

“You just look cute, when you get all flustered” you say, quoting his line.

“Hey, you can't use my line against me” he pouts, and you couldn’t help but chuckle again, and he joins in seconds later.

After about ten minutes of walking, and small talk, you get to your dorm building.

‘Dammit... I wish it were further’

“So,” you sigh as you stop and turn around in front of Akaashi, “this is me, I guess.”

‘Stop me, stop me, I know it’s late but stop me...’

“Right,” he says and you notice him hesitate.

You mentally sigh.

“Yeah, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow” you smile and he nods.

You turn around and start walking to the building.

“Wait!” you hear Akaashi call out.

‘Yes!’

You turn around excitedly and notice Akaashi taking off your bag to hand it to you with your books.

‘Wow, I'm a fucking idiot’

“Right, I forgot,” you say and chuckle nervously. He smiles as he hands you your things.

You shove the books in your bag, and throw it over your shoulder, slightly disappointed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you manage to smile then turn around, embarrassed and try to rush to get inside the building.

You then feel him grab your hand and gently pull you back, “Wait,” he says again, before you accidentally bump into each other in the process of him turning you around to face him.

“Sorry,” he quickly says and pulls you into his chest before you start to fall back from the force of the both of you bumping into each other.

Skip

He takes a step back, “You okay? Sorry if I pulled you too hard” he asks you worriedly as he stares into your eyes.

‘I told you not to look at me like that...’

“It’s okay, I’m fine” you say as you quickly look down, flustered, and notice him, for the second time that evening, holding your hand.

‘It’s so warm, I don’t wanna let go...’ you think before your thoughts are interrupted with him trying to let go of your hand as soon as he probably noticed you staring at it again.

“Sor-” he starts before you boldly grab hold of his hand again, not allowing him to let go.

‘Why... why did I just do that??’

You feel your face heating up, but you don’t feel him letting go. You slowly try to look up at him and notice his face turned away.

‘Is his face red right now as well?’

It was too dark to fully tell but you were sure there was a tinge of red on his cheeks.

Skip

You didn’t want to let go but you were too embarrassed, and you weren't even sure if he felt anything or was just standing there shocked or flustered.

“Uhm, my bad...” you say flustered, and try to let go of his hand this time.

“Fuck it,” you hear him whisper to himself, but it was still audible to you. Probably because it was so late and nobody can be seen or heard outside, in that moment everything was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

He interlocked his hand with yours before you had the chance to let go and pulled you to his chest again.

You look up at him, shocked, and you were met with his piercing blue eyes yet again.

Skip

‘So close... So pre-’

“Pretty” you hear him whisper, as if he was completing your thought.

‘Wait, is he talking about me?’

You feel your face heat up again, and your heart beat like crazy, not that it died down since the last few minutes.

You see him smile softly, “you’re getting all flustered again” he says with a smirk on his face.

“Are you teasing me again?” you say looking away as you try to push him back but he pulls you back again.

“No,” he chuckles and you can feel his free hand touching the red of your cheeks, “It’s cute”

Skip Skip Skip Skip

You meet his piercing gaze again with a look of bemusement on your face. And this time you can see it much clearer, the redness of his cheeks as well.

‘What’s happening right now, there’s no way he...’

You feel his hand cupping your face before you get to finish that thought.

“You can tell me to stop, if you don’t like this,” he says, staring at your lips, as he slowly starts leaning down.

Skip Skip Skip Skip

He stops right before your lips meet; and you can feel the warmth of his breath against your lips.

He looks back at your eyes for a moment, and when he doesn’t see any hesitation coming from you, he closes the space between your lips.

You close your eyes and feel the warmth of his lips travel like a shiver all across your body. You could swear that if he wasn’t holding you this close, you would've passed out.

It wasn’t even deep, it was short, warm and sweet, but somehow you feel like it was something you’ve been waiting for, for a very long time.

After a few seconds, he pulls away and you open your eyes, dazed.

You notice him smiling and then he bites his lip, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, actually” he says quietly as he stares into your eyes.

You somehow feel your face get even hotter, “same” you quietly whisper.

You notice you said it out loud and you quickly cover your mouth with your free hand.

He chuckles, and you push him back lightly, “You’re teasing me now” you tell him as you look away, pouting.

“I’m not, I promise,” he says as he guides your face with his free hand back to face him, “I mean it.”

“I thought you didn’t like me...”

“Me?” he asks, looking confused.

“I don’t know, I'd always find you glaring at me when we pass in the school halls, or whenever I'm with Bo during lunch or during his practices...”

He just chuckles softly, “I guess I understand why you’d think that,” he says, looking like he’s thinking seriously about it, “I think, I just found it hard trying to get close to you, or try and get your attention. I mean, you're friends with Bokuto for god’s sake, the king of attention,” he says and you couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘That is true, no one can beat Bokuto at attention seeking’

“And by the way,” he continues, “I wasn’t glaring, I was admiring”

Skip

You look away, getting flustered again and you hear him chuckle. “I swear you're doing this on purpose” you sigh and you hear him chuckle louder.

You look down and notice his hand still intertwined with yours, but this time he doesn’t let go when he notices you staring.

‘This is too much for my heart right now.’

‘If this is a dream, however, then I don’t want to wake up yet...’

“I should, head back now, though. It's... getting late, so...” you say as you look back at him.

“Right,” he says as you both slowly start to let go of each other's hand, “I can, uh, pick you up before school, tomorrow, you know, so we can go there together, if you'd like” he says, or asks(?) as he scratches the back of his head.

‘God, he’s so fucking cute...’

“Sure,” you answer him, trying to sound cool and calm on the outside but you're actually freaking out on the inside.

“Alright,” he says looking happy, and he nods towards your dorm building, “I’ll watch you go in”

“Alright,” you don’t really know how to say goodbye, so you just turn around and take a few steps towards the building

‘Do it coward. I mean you just kissed why are you even getting embarrassed now. Wait did we just kiss??? Okay don’t go off topic, just... fuck it’

You turn back and run to where Akaashi’s standing, he looks at you confused but you just reach for his face and place a kiss on his cheek.

You feel him stiffen at first but then relax as he gives you a flustered chuckle, “BYE!” you half scream before you run into the dorm building without looking back.

As soon as you reach your room, you throw your bag on the floor, jump on your bed and start screaming onto your pillow.

After a few minutes of you trying to calm yourself down, you flip over and stare at your ceiling.

‘I can’t believe this just happened...’

You take out your phone to text Bo, not necessarily to tell him what happened, but to share your excitement, and you notice 2 new text messages.

2 NEW MESSAGES

You open the first one.

FROM ‘Baka-to’: “Hey, idiot, did you get home safe? You still haven't texted me. Anyways sorry for surprising you with Akaashi today, I just definitely thought you guys would get along, and you did, didn’t you? Didn’t I do well? Hohohoho anyways text me back, idiot”

You shake your head at him, but cant help but agree.

REPLY TO ‘Baka-to’: “You were right, as always, I love you dumbo. And I got home in one piece, no worries”

You then open the second message.

FROM ‘Akaashi Keiji’: “Hey pretty, I’ll be waiting for you at 6:30 a.m tomorrow morning, see you then. Sleep tight”

You grab your pillow again and scream into it.

‘I never want to wake up from this dream’ you think as you slowly drift to sleep.