Leah

Which is exactly the kind of thing that makes the entire team freak out.

They’re halfway through stretching when the gym doors slide open and Ukai walks in… with a baby strapped to his chest.

A tiny one. Wearing a fuzzy hat. Asleep. Drooling on Ukai’s shirt.

He also has a diaper bag slung over one shoulder like it personally wronged him and a bottle tucked into his back pocket.

The entire team stops.

Asahi drops a volleyball on his own foot. Hinata freezes mid–arm circle. Tanaka and Noya gasp like someone just walked in holding a bomb.

Tsukishima squints. “Did you… steal that?”

Ukai gives him the flattest look imaginable. “No, Tsukishima. I did not steal a baby.”

“Whose is it?” Sugawara asks, voice already pitched high and trembly.

Ukai adjusts the strap on the carrier, looking way too casually exhausted for someone who has apparently acquired a whole human.

“…Mine.”

Silence.

Actual silence.

Like the gym collectively forgot how to breathe.

Then:

“YOUR WHAT.” “NO WAY— NO WAY— THIS IS YOUR BABY?!” “COACH REPRODUCED?!” “OH MY GOD HE’S A DAD—”

Hinata is already halfway across the gym, sparkling like a deranged fairy. “CAN I HOLD THEM??”

“No,” Ukai snaps instantly, stepping back like a feral raccoon guarding a shiny object. “Nobody touches him. Nobody breathes near him. Nobody even thinks about thinking about touching him.”

Noya clutches his chest. “Coach became a parent and immediately became possessive. This is so hot—”

“Shut it,” Daichi growls.

Kageyama blinks at the sleeping baby. “He has… your eyebrows.”

Ukai looks personally offended. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Practice is a disaster.

Half the team keeps sneaking glances. Noya and Tanaka keep whispering, “He’s so small—” Hinata keeps accidentally serving balls into the ceiling because he’s too excited. Sugawara tears up three separate times.

Even Tsukishima looks briefly, microscopically fond… before wiping it from his face like a dirty smudge.

Ukai tries so hard to coach normally. He fails miserably.

Every tiny baby noise derails him.

A squeak? “Shh— shh— it’s okay, buddy, Dad’s right here— okay everyone stop yelling, he’s trying to sleep—”

A hiccup? Practice HALTS.

A sneeze? Practice ENDS.

By the time you reach the gym, slightly out of breath and still in your work clothes, the noise inside is unreal. Voices echo, shoes squeak, someone is yelling about “not touching ANYTHING,” and you’re genuinely afraid of what you’re about to walk in on.

But the moment you step through the doors?

Silence. Complete, instant silence.

Twelve teenage boys snap their heads toward you like meerkats spotting a predator.

Ukai turns too—shoulders dropping with relief the moment he sees you.

“Hey,” you say softly, crossing the gym.

That’s all it takes.

The gym erupts.

“OH MY GOD IT’S MRS. COACH—” “YOU’RE SO PRETTY WHAT THE HELL—” “YOU’RE THE CHILD’S MOM?? YOU LOOK SO COOL—” “SUGA I’M SCARED SHE’S LIKE OUT OF OUR LEAGUE—”

Suga smacks Tanaka. “She’s literally married to Coach— behave.”

You blink, overwhelmed, because you expected chaos… but not this adoration.

Noya drops to one knee like he’s greeting royalty. “Ma’am— it’s an honor— thank you for blessing us with Coach’s tiny offspring—”

“GET UP,” Ukai snaps, shoving him with his foot.

Yamaguchi waves shyly. “I—I’ve heard so much about you! It’s really nice to finally meet you!”

Tsukishima, adjusting his glasses, mutters: “She’s real. Wow. I thought maybe Coach made her up.”

Ukai throws a cone at him.

Hinata dashes forward— “CAN I SEE THE BABY— WAIT NO— CAN I SAY HI TO YOU FIRST— WAIT— BOTH??”

You laugh, trying to juggle your bag, your nerves, and the fact that your heart might burst.

Ukai steps in then—hands gentle, voice low— “Here. Let me… yeah.” He unclips the carrier carefully and lifts your son out before passing him into your arms.

The team gasps in unison.

“Oh my god it’s like watching a nature documentary,” Noya whispers. “Coach in the wild… performing father duties…”

Ukai elbows him SO hard.

Once the baby is settled against you, every boy instinctively takes a step closer— Then freezes when Ukai growls:

“ONE AT A TIME. AND NO TOUCHING.”

Tanaka puts his hands up like he’s encountering a wild bear. “We won’t touch!! We won’t even BREATHE!”

They all crowd around anyway—staring at you AND the baby with starstruck, emotional eyes.

“Coach,” Asahi whispers, genuinely misty, “she’s really, really beautiful. How did— how did you—”

Ukai pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to start swinging.”

Suga shakes your hand too enthusiastically. “I’m Suga. I’m the normal one. Oh my god I’m so happy you’re here—”

Kageyama bows at a full ninety degrees. “T-thank you for taking care of Coach!!”

Hinata nods vigorously. “And thank you for creating the baby!!”

Everyone turns to look at him.

“What?” he says.

Tsukishima sighs. “You’re not allowed to talk anymore.”

You cradle your son a little tighter, cheeks warm, heart full.

Ukai steps beside you, one hand steady on your back as he looks at his team, deadpan.

“Are you done.”

“NO,” they all shout.

They weren't meeting a stranger— They were meeting the missing piece of Coach they’d always wondered about.

And their awe? Their joy? Their absolute refusal to be normal about it?

It fills the gym with a warmth Ukai hasn’t seen in years.

Practice ends early. Not because the baby sneezed this time— But because the team refuses to let the moment go.

You returned to Clementia, exhausted, after another long series of rotten days. Getting yelled at, being belittled, running thankless errands, trying to keep up in classes that you keep missing because you’re going on missions that don’t get you any closer to finding a way to break your curse- it was just too much. You groan as you enter the strange sanctuary that is the defunct dorm you live in, kicking your shoes off haphazardly and nearly tripping over them. Just perfect. You trudged up the stairs to your room and lazily threw your bag on the floor and dropped onto your bed. You need a bath. A nice long, hot bath to wash the awful week you’ve been having away.

A trail of discarded clothes followed you to the bathroom, where you were drawing a brain-meltingly hot bath and adding your favorite bubbles and oils. The inviting scent of tea and lavender already began to soothe your nerves. You slipped into the almost-too-hot water and tried to clear your mind. While the problems did start to fade a little, other concerns worked their way in. Your friends outside Darkwick- how are they? Do they even remember you, or did they get Mesmer matched? Will you even remember anything about them after you turn? You’ve never even really dated before coming to Darkwick. It just never seemed important, but now it’s another item in your long list of regrets. As you let that last item linger, you found yourself wondering what another person would feel like as your hands wandered your body, with one settling on your breast and the other finding its way between your legs.

How different would it feel to have someone else touching your breasts? You shivered as you squeezed your nipple and massaged your breast. You began tracing circles on your clit, imagining all the ways that it might be different to have another person touching you, and the way that they would feel against you. How would their body feel? You slipped your fingers into your fluttering cunt, gasping at the feeling of being filled. You fucked yourself with increasingly frenzied energy, using the heel of your palm to rub your clit as you pumped your fingers in and out. Your mind then started picturing the ghouls- who would you even feel comfortable doing anything like this with? The coil that had been winding in your pussy snapped, throwing you into a pitching and shaking orgasm, and you screamed his name.

Sho.

Sho Haizono.

You'd be lying if you said that you weren't into him, even if he did nearly hit you with Bonnie the first time you met. That smile that always made you face feel a little warm no matter how many times he flashed it at you, and the way your knees go weak any time he accidentally brushes your hand when he's handing you something. He's been really sweet, in a teasing kind of way, ever since you got to know each other, and it does seem like his eyes linger a little longer than they had when you first met. His sparkling sapphire eyes. Your pulse quickened again at the notion of those playful eyes looking over your naked form, taking you in like you were a fine dish that he couldn't wait to taste. But what does he taste like?

He always smells clean somehow, even when you saw him right after he leaves the truck or working out. There is something pleasantly musky on him after the workout though, something that always made you quiver in a way you could never quantify. It would be so easy for him to bend you over the counter in the truck. You've helped him in there between classes many times, when the truck was closed, no one would know if... You slipped your fingers inside yourself again, inhaling sharply. You pictured what he looks like- you know he's fairly muscular, having seen a him right after he finished working out. Running your hands over his chest and back must be- your heat clenched around your fingers that suddenly felt inadequate. His large hands sinking into your hips as he fucked you.... the way his breath would feel on your neck, his voice soft in your ear. Your back arched as you reached the tipping point.

And you broke. You screamed his name again, vigorously fucking yourself to thoughts of being bent over his counter with him whispering filthy things in your ear as he railed you, chasing his own end. Each time you pumped your fingers, it made you see stars, and you heard his voice in your mind. "Oh, senpai. Just like that." You screamed his name again before you sunk into the water up to your chin, panting and quivering. Your brain buzzed with his voice and feelings of bliss.

*PING*

You were snapped out of your daydreaming by the dreaded sound of your infernal phone. "Who the fuck wants what the fuck now?" you screamed internally. You swallowed hard. It was Sho. Please, please don't have been standing outside. Please don't have just heard me screaming your name. Please just let it be awkward coincidence. fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck

When you saw that it was asking for help at the truck, you nearly cried with relief. He hadn't heard. He didn't know. But how in the world are you going to be able to work next to him in the truck, having just fucked yourself to thoughts about him fucking you on the counter in there?

When you arrived at the truck, you tried your hardest to act normally, but every time you looked at him, your face grew hot and your walls clenched around nothing, wishing for all the world that it was him. You kept catching whiffs of him and his clean, slightly soapy scent, and he was lightly sweating from the heat in the truck. "Breathe, you nutjob," you scolded yourself, "He is your friend. Don't be weird."

"Senpai, are you okay? Your face is bright red and your heart is racing."

"Y-yeah, the heat is g-getting to me is all."

"Ah, I'm working you too hard" he teased, and handed you a drink from the refrigerator behind him. "Working you." You opened it and took several long sips, hoping to use the cold to settle yourself down while you finished helping him with the prep work. It apparently didn't work, as he took you by the shoulders and made you look at him. His touch was electric, even through your uniform, and you prayed to all things that he couldn't tell what was really going on with you. "Hey, no offense, you're looking really off. Sit down for a few minutes. I can take care of the rest of this."

It might have been a combination of the heat and your heat, but the words started tumbling from your mouth. "Sho, I'm running out of time before the curse takes over, andI'veneverhadtime-" Sho cut you off with a smile and "Easy, senpai. One thing at a time. What's up?'

You took a deep hitching breath and began, "I don't have a lot of time left..." He half nodded and fixed his eyes on yours. "And... this is so embarrassing... I've never had a boyfriend." Another hitching breath and a few tears. Without thinking, he gently wiped them away with his thumbs and nodded at you to continue. "Well.... I don't have enough time to have a relationship.... but..." a full sob cut you off, and you turned your face down, trying to hide your tears and humiliation. "Senpai," he called softly, lifting your face with a gentle hand, "What do you need me to do? How do I help?" You managed to choke out that you want to at least try the physical parts of a relationship before it's too late. He cupped your cheeks and leaned toward you, close enough to feel his breath on your lips.

"This?"

You murmured a quivering yes and tilted your head slightly to meet his lips. His lips were so soft on yours, and he tasted slightly sweet. He pushed your mouth open, exploring it with his tongue, his hands now cradling the back of your head. Your arms circled his waist and you ran your fingers up and down his back. A moan escaped you, and he huffed a little laugh.

"Senpai, did you just moan?" Your face had never felt so hot, and you wished that the earth would swallow you. You started to look away again, trying to hide your almost certainly beet red face. He caught it and kissed you softly again, "It was cute. But if you want to do this, maybe not here? You never know who's listening." That last sentence came with a light eyeroll and a playful smile. "I'd like to do something special, though. Give me a few days to get things together for it?" You nodded, a little confused. "We'll have to get together at your place. Too many ears at mine." Another playful grin. "I'll text you as soon as I have everything ready." He pressed you with another soft, passionate kiss, this time pulling your entire body tight against his. Your heat felt like he just dumped gasoline on the fire, and it pulsed when you realized that he was partially hard.

Over the next few days, the two of you slipped away to make out every chance you got. Neither of you came during any of your little trysts, so you had to sneak away afterward to finish yourself off just to function. Leo made an offhand comment to you about the way Sho keeps looking at you, probably trying to snoop, but you managed to play it off with a quip that it's nothing, and he's only mad because Sho doesn't look at him that way. Whether he bought it or not was unclear, but Leo didn't bring it up again.

After those few slow, yet thrilling, days, Sho texted you.

"Hey, I have everything. Are you free tonight?"

"Hey, Sho! Yeah, I'm free any time after 4."

"Great, I'll meet you then."

Your stomach lurched and all the emotions hit you at once. You've been painfully aroused for days, very nervous, very excited, a weird little bit of sad that you couldn't explain, and you had no idea how to process any of it. You paced back and forth in the chapel, shaking your hands and trying to breathe yourself into something resembling normal. You jumped with a squeak when you heard him knock on the door.

He had several bags in his hands, with his roguish smile playing on his lips. "I had to hide this stuff in the truck so no snoops would figure out that something is up." You giggled nervously and let him in, and locked the door behind him. "K-keeping the snoops away," you said with another nervous laugh when he shot you a teasing look. He leaned in and kissed you, flicking his tongue against yours.

"Where's your kitchen?

You led him to the small kitchen off the chapel, apologizing for the lack of facilities. He kissed your cheek and told you to relax. "It's better than the one in Vagastrom. Here, take this," he said, handing you a sealed paper bag, "It's for later." You held the mystery bag, confused, but decided to not question it. He told you to sit down, and he started bustling around the kitchen. The two of you carried on fairly normal coversations- classes, missions, favorite things. Just... normal. It did a lot toward setting your mind at ease and distracting you from your nerves about later on. Before long, the scent of his cooking tickled your nose.

"Sho, that smells fantastic. What is it?"

"It's something I came up with. It's chicken and vegetables in a light sauce. I thought I'd make something special and that wouldn't sit heavily on the stomach. Y'know, something that doesn't weigh you down." You were really touched by his thoughtfulness, but the round about reminder of the plans for later made your stomach flip. "I really appreciate you doing all of this. It's very sweet." "It's nothing, senpai. Just wanted to do something special for you." You blushed and felt tears prickle your eyes. He really is so sweet, whether he'll admit it or not.

After a few more minutes, he brought two plates to the table. It looked amazing, and he obviously put effort into plating. "Wow, Sho!" You looked at him with amazement, and he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not a big deal," he said with another crooked smile. He leaned across the table and gave you another kiss before telling you to eat before it gets cold.

It was easily one of the best meals you had ever eaten in your life, and you told him as much. "We haven't had dessert yet," he grinned. He took the mystery bag to the counter and plated something up. You were confused when he returned with only one fork. He set the plate in front of you and pulled his chair over to your side of the table. He carefully took a forkful of the decadent looking dessert and held it to your lips. "Here," he whispered thickly, "have a bite."

It was every bit as decadent as it looked, and it melted in your mouth. He smiled at your obvious enjoyment and waited until you finished the bite. You looked at him with slight confusion, "Sho, aren't you-" He cut you off with a kiss, tasting it on your lips. "I thought it might taste better this way." The two of you repeated this several times, each time the kiss lasting longer, and getting more insistent and heated. A soft moan slipped from your lips, and he slipped his fingers into your hair and around the back of your head. You heard the fork clatter to the plate somewhere in the distance, and he put his arm around your waist, pulling you into his lap. He wrapped his arms tight around you, running his hands up and down over your back before settling on your ass. You ground your hips down on his, pulling a sigh from both of you. "Let's take this to your room, senpai." You hummed nervously, and he lifted you with one arm before retrieving the mystery bag, and started up the stairs.

By the time you got to your room, both of your shirts were unbuttoned, and you were kissing his neck. He carelessly put the bag on your nightstand before falling into bed with you, now locked into a heated, passionate kiss. Both of you were panting and running your hands all over each other, and he was grinding his hard cock against your already wet panties, further wetting them with your juices. You started to pull his shirt away from his shoulders, when he told you to wait. "I have a surprise first," he whispered on your lips, flashing that playful smile.

He rose from where the two of you were lying and reached into the mystery bag and pulled out two small bottles. "They're flavored massage oils. I thought it might be a nice way to start." He pulled your shirt off and dripped several drops down your torso. He dragged his hands down your body, and pressed them into soft massaging movements. He cupped his hands on your breasts, paying special attention to your nipples. His eyes flicked up to meet yours, and with a lively glint, slowly traced his tongue over your hardened nipple. You gasped loudly and wrapped your hands around his shoulders. He huffed and softly sucked it while one hand traveled down your body, slipping just under your skirt and massaged your inner thigh.

He caught your eyes, seeking your permission before proceeding. You bit your lip, feeling your nerves begin to burn and your muscles tremble. You nodded a tiny yes and tried to calm yourself. He won't hurt you if he can help it. He's always been good to you. His hand rubbed lightly over your pulsing heat, not yet breaching your panties. Sho returned to your face to kiss you, pushing your mouth open and eagerly exploring it. He straddled your leg, grinding on your thigh while panting softly. He pushed your panties aside and slipped his fingers between your folds, skillfully skimming over your clit before settling into light circles on it.

You moaned sharply on his lips, arching your back. He started kissing your neck, breathing hard against your neck and ear. He huffed and hooked his fingers on your panties and pulled them down as far as he could from his position. "These need to go," he groaned. He pulled your panties off, discarding them somewhere on the floor and gave his shirt the same treatment. "Let's get rid of this," he said, tugging your skirt off. He kissed his way up your leg, all the while looking at you with a playful glimmer in his eyes. Sho gently pushed your legs apart, continuing the kiss trail up the your soaking wet core. You murmured a nervous sound and started to sit up. He placed a soft hand on your belly and told you to relax. "What if I taste bad?" "You'll taste good. This will help prep you." A knot twisted in your stomach at the reminder of why he was there.

Sho pressed a kiss on your clit before he rolled his tongue over it. You moaned a high pitch chatter and twisted your fingers in his hair. It was softer than you expected. He hummed an amused tone and flicked his tongue several times. Your back arched involuntarily and your thighs shook as he continued the dance. You fully screamed when he slipped his fingers into you, curling his fingers on your g spot. He was already building the tension and heat in your belly. Your fantasies paled in comparison to what he was creating in you. The way his fingers hit your soft spot so much better than your fingers could reach. The way he was kissing and licking your clit was like nothing you had ever experienced. "F-fuck, Sho...so good... ah... I'm gonna..." It was everything you could do to get the words out, and he hummed at you in that same amused tone.

Your vision went white and your ears were ringing. Your hands twisted tighter in his hair, and your legs spasmed and shook over his shoulders. The way he was touching you was electric, and he was sending wave after wave of sparks and light through your body. It was apparent that he was enjoying this almost as much as you, if his moans and hard breathing were anything to go by. While he was working you over, he had loosened his pants and had been rubbing himself in his own desire. Once you were fully blissed out, he rejoined you in the bed and kissed you. You tasted yourself on his lips, and while it was unusual, it wasn't bad. "Told you that you would taste good," he said with a smirk.

You sighed contentedly, and turned so you could press yourself to him. It was only then that you realized that his pants were partially off, and you actually saw his cock. It was a little large, both thicker and longer than average, but no so much so that it scared you. "I want to see what you taste like," you hummed shyly, "Can I?" For the first time in the entire time you had known him, his cheeks turned slightly pink. He cupped your cheek and stared into your eyes, looking almost confused. "You want to?" You hummed and trailed your fingers over his chest and stomach, enjoying the feel of his tensing muscles. You wrapped your trembling hand around him, and he inhaled sharply when you pumped your hand up and down over his length. "Let me get these off," he breathed, gesturing to his pants.

After finishing undressing, Sho laid back on your bed, lying tensely on your pillow. You kissed him and resumed stroking him, pulling soft groans from his throat in between sharp inhales. You pulled back from his face slightly with a nervous huff, and started kissing your way down from his neck. Just before you reached the lowest part of his stomach, he caught your chin with a gentle hand and turned you up to face him. "You're sure? You don't have to." You bit your lip and nodded, curious where this shy Sho has been hiding. He never seemed anything less than confident, cocky even, so this was new. You held his eyes and gave the head a few little licks to test the waters.

You gave a few longer licks from the base to the tip, and felt just bold enough to take the head in your mouth. His arms shot up behind his head, gripping your pillow tightly as his eyes rolled back. His breath shuddered and he groaned loudly, "Sen- y/n, that's- ha- I can't- ah- last- hold on." He pulled your face away, his cock leaving your mouth with a pop. "I can't last long like that. I don't want to finish too soon." You smiled, your turn for mischievous looks, and told him that you have all night. "I'll try to tell you before. I cum a lot. I don't want to surprise you." You grinned and licked him from base to tip, and took him as far into your mouth as you could. Sho fell hard back onto your pillow, a loud sigh, tinged with a deep moan, escaped his lips.

As you slowly bobbed your head up and down, being careful to not hit your throat and gag, you watched as he fought to stay still. All of his muscles tensed and strained, his hands pulled and tore at all parts of your bedding as his tension built. His breath came in rasping moans and a light sweat broke over his entire body. You weren't sure if it was a good idea, but you reached for his hand and placed it on the back of your head. His hand guided your head only briefly before re-grabbing your sheets. "Can't do that- uh- ha-ah! 'M bout to!" You tried to ready yourself for whatever "a lot" meant.

You weren't ready. He involuntarily thrust his hips upward, nearly hitting your gag reflex, when it hit him. You were doing your best to swallow it as he shot one thick roped after another, cock throbbing in with each, but there was so much that it still ran out of your mouth and onto his lap. You still had a small mouthful when he pulled your face away from his softening cock. He was breathing hard and twitching. "Ha, uh, you can spit it out," he panted, "It's a lot." You tried to discretely spit it into your bedside trashcan, but it was still sticky and wet sounding. You were dismayed to see just how much had gotten past you, and started hunting around for something to wipe it away with. You found a clean towel and approached the bed. "It's fine, just leave it for now." He opened his arms, gesturing you to come lie with him.

Once you were settled into his arms, he kissed you deeply and ran his fingers softly through your hair. "Sho, I haven't brushed my teeth yet," you tried to protest. "Can't ask you to put it in your mouth if I'm not willing to taste it, too." The two of you laid there for a time, basking in your shared afterglow and the way your bodies felt together. After a while, Sho shifted slightly in the bed and huffed. "Still got that towel nearby?" You handed it to him, and he cleaned his front before having you sit up. "Let's put this under us."

You stomach clenched again when he told you to lie on your stomach. "I-I want to, you know, be f-facing you when..." you trailed off, voice barely above a whisper. "I won't do it until you want me to, I promise," he crooned, "Now lie down." You settled in the way he told you, and several cold drops fell over your back. Sho carefully worked the oil into your skin, occasionally kissing and licking the area that he was massaging. It was surprising how something could be so arousing and relaxing at the same time. When he shifted to work on different parts of your back and waist, his cock would brush over your skin, though you couldn't tell if it was on purpose. What you could tell from those brushes was that he was hard again.

When he began working his way down your legs, his touches started becoming more insistent, regardless of his attempt to contain his own desire. He pushed your legs apart, working your inner thighs, but also occasionally swiping a thumb or finger over your core. You moaned loudly at one contact, spurring him to start massaging your clit. His hands were burning hot, and the heat of his hands was compounding that fire he was starting to build inside you. You whined and arched your back, giving him better access to your entrance. You cried loudly when he slipped a long finger into your cunt, walls squeezing over him, but yearning for more. "You're so beautiful," he said in a hushed tone. "Sho-o... I want to." You were embarrassed to say it out loud, but he did say that he wouldn't do it until you told him.

Once you had rolled onto your back, he shifted you to be in the center of the bed. He parted your thighs with his own, you grinding on one another's. Sho fixed his sapphire eyes, pupils blown, on yours and lightly caressed your cheek. "You're shaking really bad. You sure? No pressure." You bit your quivering lip and nodded before pulling him into a heated kiss. You felt him rubbing himself over your core, making your legs twitch and your stomach knot up. "He looked into your eyes again, "You positive?" You nodded, tears in your eyes, and wrapped your arms tightly around him.

"I'll be gentle."

True to his word, he was very slow and careful as he worked his way in with small, incremental thrusts, going just a little deeper with each. He stopped several times, checking on you and making sure that you wanted to keep going. You nodded each time, squeezing your arms tighter around him. The stretch still burned immensely, and you still ended up burying your face in his shoulder to hide the sobs that kept escaping your throat. When he finally bottomed out, he stopped and waited for you to calm down. "You okay?" he whispered softly against your cheek. You nodded, tears still rolling down your cheeks. "Just need a minute. It's a lot." He kissed your forehead tenderly before pressing his against it.

While he waited for you, he kissed all over your face and neck and ran his hands up and down your sides, occasionally sinking his fingers into the soft flesh or your hips and thighs or grasping your ass. As your body adjusted to being filled like this, you were able to loosen your arms so that your hands could wander as well. Your ability to move was pretty minimal, but you were able to move just enough to slowly rock your hips under him. His body stiffened slightly in an effort to control his movements as you carefully slid up and down his length. "Sho, you feel really good," you murmured shakily. "You, too, y/n. Are you ready for me to move?"

When you hummed at him, he bit his lip and firmly gripped your ass. "Tell me if it hurts." He pulled a long, slow thrust and, with his grip as leverage, pushed hard to bottom out deeper with a grind at the bottom. Your hands clenched reflexively, sinking your nails into his back, and you yelped. Sho immediately froze, searching your face. "Too much?" "No, just surprised. I didn't know-" As soon as he knew you were alright, he did it again, starting into a steady rhythm, pulling soft whines and mewls from you. He fell into a heavy kiss with you, breaking only when you were breathing too heavily to be able to breathe through your noses. The tension was starting to pool heavily in your pussy, weight and heat building with each push. Your movements started to become erractic as he pushed you closer. "Sh-sho! I'm about to!" you squeaked, entire body trembling from the tension. He hummed that amused tone that you had heard many times that evening, and pushed you over the edge.

The world went black for just a moment before the weight crashed in and the star light flashed behind your eyes. He used his leverage to sink himself and stay deep, working your soft spots relentlessly. It was a nearly continuous electric spark shower through your body, and the light from it felt nearly blinding. He panted against your neck, not slowing until you were fully fucked out and going slightly limp under him. "Sho," you sighed, "wow. I- wow." He huffed against your cheek before crashing his lips into yours. "There's still something else I want to show you."

You hummed a question mark at him, too blissed out to make a coherent statement. "Take a minute, and catch your breath, senpai." He thrust in and out of you slowly as the buzzing in your brain settled down and you came back to reality.

"Feeling okay?"

"Mmhmm."

He nodded and pulled out.

"Roll onto your side." You were confused, but did it. "Pull your top leg up to your chest." More confused, but you did it. When he straddled your bottom leg, you were completely lost. "What is he doing?" Having gotten himself in the right position, he flicked his eyes back to meet yours again, pupils still blown, but completely serious. "This one gets really deep. Tell me if it hurts." You nodded in your bewilderment and propped your head up on your arm, trying to watch what he's doing. He angled his hips slightly downward and pushed into you.

It took your breath away. Literally. You couldn't breathe for a few seconds when he bottomed out because you were so shocked by how deep he was. There was a slight twinge at the bottom, but it was incredible feeling his length fully sliding in and out. He gripped you by the hips, lifting you slightly to fully align with him. Your eyes rolled back and you whined, causing him to freeze again. When you looked at him, he was cautiously studying your face, deep blue eyes sparking with heat. "'M okay. Promise," you sighed with a slight tremble, "Just surprised." His eyes stayed fixed on your face for several minutes, slowly pumping with each thrust bottoming out, watching you carefully.

Only after he was certain that you weren't in pain did he start chasing his own pleasure with a deep groan. You looked at him to see his head thrown back and his face flushed, a sweat beginning to bead over his forehead. His fingers were starting to sink into your skin, and he was breathing harder. Which is not to say that you weren't also heading for another orgasm. With the twinge gone, each time he bottomed out hit a spark shower from you, like a smith's hammer in a forge. You didn't know what to do with your hands in that position, so you settled for holding his wrist and your pillow as the coil started winding tighter and tighter. You made little shrieks and high pitched moans, begging him to keep going, that it was so good, that you needed him- and you screamed.

The snap was massive, and your entire body shook with the force of it. Your pussy pulsated around him at each thrust, making him pant and thrust harder. You felt fluid running from your cunt with wet sounds, squeezed out from the force of your clenches. Entire galaxies burned in your mind and stars exploded inside you and you screamed his name between moans. Though it was distant, you were aware that he was also shaking and groaning, thrusting harder and faster than he had all night. "Sen- Y/n!" was all he managed before his own explosion came in shuddering pumps and loud grunts. The wet sounds and fluids running from you got significantly more intense, and you would have been embarrassed at any point before now.

You were fully and thoroughly exhausted, your hand falling from his wrist onto the bed in front of you. You felt him shifting, letting your hips back down on the mattress before pulling out. Another large spurt of fluid seeped from between your lead-like legs when he did, which felt uncomfortable, but you were too tired to care. If he noticed, he didn't say anything. He flopped down in front of you and pulled you tight to his chest. He ran his fingers through your hair and kissed the top of your head. You could hear that his pulse was up ever-so-slightly, and the warmth of his chest was incredibly comfortable. He kissed the top of your head again and murmured, "How do you feel, senpai?" You hummed a contented sound and nuzzled into his chest before dozing slightly. Your heard his breathing deepen and his pulse slowed, fingers still playing with your hair.

You awoke some time later to his fingers grazing up and down your side, his lips whispering soft wake ups in your ear. Your eyes flew open, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be there. "Easy, easy. It's getting really late. Or really early, I guess." You looked at your clock, shocked to see that it was after 3. "I thought showers and water might be good." You remembered the immense volume of fluids that you were still covered in, and suddenly felt obscene. You hummed and sat up, shocked to see that the towel was absolutely soaked, even after you two had slept a for a few hours. You huffed a bashful laugh about the towel probably not being enough to keep the sheets clean. He rubbed the back of his neck and confessed that he's never made anyone squirt before, so he only planned for his own fluids.

You felt your face turn dark red at his statement. You had no idea what that meant, but were sure it wasn't normal. "I... what?" His cheeks turned pink, and he explained what it is. You were back to wishing the earth would swallow you whole when he cracked a smile and said he took it as a compliment. You didn't feel any less embarrassed, but you were relieved that he didn't find it gross, at least. He rose from his side of the bed and came to kneel in front of you. "I had a great time with you tonight, but," your stomach dropped through the floor at that word. He cracked that wonderful roguish grin, "We might need to order a mattress protector if we want to keep doing this."

you’re tucked against lyca’s chest, his arm slung loosely around you, while your head rests just below his collarbone where you can hear his heartbeat — a little too erratic to be considered normal. it catches you off guard — the idea that he might be nervous too — and just like that, your own pulse picks up to match. neither of you is used to this yet — the closeness, the quiet ease of just being held. you're both still shy about it, still learning where you're allowed to lean in. so his arm finding you twenty minutes ago, sudden and wordless, had caught you both by surprise. you'd settled into it anyway, surprising yourself with how easy it felt.

he's had no such luck settling.

every nerve in his body feels like it's been turned up too loud — the press of you against his side, the heat soaking through his shirt where you're touching him, the quiet rhythm of your breathing he's tracking more than he means to. he's not even sure why he did it, pulling you in like that. one second you'd been close, and the next his arm had just moved, faster than the rest of him agreed to, and now you're here, settled against him so easily it almost hurts, and he can't get his pulse to behave about any of it.

you tip your head back to look up at him, hair messy from being pressed into his chest. "you're so stiff. you good?"

he is, decidedly, not good.

from this angle, he can see all of you up close — hair tousled a little too perfectly to be fair, the way your eyelashes flutter when you blink up at him. his eyes catch on to your glossy lips before he can stop them and stay there a beat too long.

god, she's pretty, he thinks, and hates how simple the thought is. right behind it, just as unwelcome — i really want to kiss her.

"lyca?"

his name pulls him back. he realizes he's been staring. "i'm fine," he says, too fast, voice catching somewhere it shouldn't.

"you don't sound fine."

"i am." he isn't. he can feel his own face heating up, the warmth crawling up his neck, and he knows — knows — that if you look any closer you're going to see exactly what's wrong with him, which is that he is currently fighting a losing battle against the urge to kiss you stupid right here on his bed and has no idea how to stop thinking about it.

you shift slightly to look at him properly, and that's when you notice them — his ears poking through his hair, alert and twitching.

you reach up without thinking, fingers grazing one gently. "your ears are out."

he jolts like you've shocked him, one hand flying up to cover them, too late. "they're not — don't touch them."

"i barely touched it."

"doesn't matter." his voice has gone strange, tight with emotion. he won't look at you, eyes fixed somewhere over your head like he can’t bear to meet your lingering gaze.

you wait him out. it takes a while — long enough that you can feel his heartbeat climbing under your ear, his breathing a little too measured, like he's counting it on purpose. you can practically feel the war going on in him, the hesitation between say it or swallow it down like you always do. you don't rush him, choosing to let him ruminate for as long as he needs.

"i—" he starts, and stops immediately, like the word got too big in his mouth. he tries again. "it's just—,"

"take your time."

that doesn't seem to help. if anything it makes it worse, his jaw working like he's chewing on the words before he can let any of them out. he tries again, "i wanna—," another stop, more frustrated this time, like he's furious at his own mouth for not cooperating. "i want—, ugh." he drags a hand down his face. "this is so stupid."

"it's not stupid."

"you don't even know what i'm tryin' to say."

"then tell me."

he goes quiet again, and for a second you think he's going to give up entirely, fold the whole thing back down and pretend it never started. but then, in a rush, like ripping off a bandage before he can think better of it —

"i wanna kiss you," he says, all in one breath, too fast, like saying it slow would've made him lose his nerve halfway through. the second it's out his whole face goes redder, like he can't believe he actually said it, can't take it back now that it's hanging there in the air between you. his eyes finally find yours — just for a second, just long enough for you to see exactly how much that cost him — before immediately dropping again. "i don't know what to do," he adds, smaller, almost apologetic, like he needs you to understand that part too.

something in your chest goes warm and a little reckless, spreading slow and insistent, the kind of warmth that makes you very aware of your own heartbeat, of how close you already are, of how little distance there'd actually be to close. you'd be lying if you said you hadn't thought about this — hadn't caught yourself watching his mouth more than once, wondering what it'd feel like, what sound he'd make, whether he'd be as careful with you as he is with everything else he's scared of breaking.

"lyca."

"forget it. forget i said anything—,"

"then let me teach you."

that stops his downward spiral. his ears flick, betraying him again — caught somewhere between the fear of ruining this and hoping, just maybe, you want this too. "teach me?" he repeats, like he doesn't trust the words to be real, like they might dissolve if he holds them wrong.

"mhm." you shift to face him properly, drawing one knee onto the mattress so you're angled toward him instead of tucked against his side, and you feel him go rigid at the small distance you've just put between your bodies — not from relief, you realize, but from missing the contact already. "unless you'd rather keep panicking about it."

"i wasn't panicking—,"

"your ears say otherwise."

he makes a sound that's almost a laugh, almost a growl, somewhere in between, and something about the rawness of it — unguarded, helpless — makes your pulse pick up too. you're not as unaffected as you're pretending to be, and some traitorous, observant part of him probably already knows that.

"...okay." his voice has dropped, rougher at the edges. "yeah. teach me."

the air between you feels different now — thicker, charged, like the moment right before a held breath finally has to break. you can hear how careful his breathing's gotten, like he's trying to keep it slow on purpose and failing.

"first," you murmur, "you have to actually look at me. not the floor."

his eyes snap up. properly this time — all his attention landing on your face like it weighs something, like he's finally letting himself want this out loud instead of just feeling it in private. the panic underneath it is still humming, but it's pinned now, overtaken by something hungrier, something neither of you can name just yet.

"better." you lift your hand slow enough that he can track every inch of it, giving him every chance to flinch away, and rest it against his jaw. he doesn't flinch. he goes very still instead, like moving might break whatever fragile thing is happening here, his pulse visible at his throat, fast and unsteady. "you can touch me too, you know."

his hand finds your waist on its own, tentative, like he's not sure he's allowed but wants to anyway. you take it gently and press it flatter against you, showing him it's fine, and feel the way his breath stutters at the confirmation.

the space between you has all but disappeared. you can feel the heat radiating off him, can hear how shallow his breathing's gone, can see the way his gaze keeps dropping to your mouth and snapping back up, over and over, like he can't help it and hates that he can't.

"this is the easy part," you say, voice quieter now, barely above a murmur. "lean in slow. i'll meet you halfway."

"and if i mess it up?"

"you won't. there's no wrong way to do this."

he searches your face like he's looking for the catch, the moment this turns out to be a joke at his expense. he doesn't find one — just you, waiting, just as unsteady as he is even if you're better at hiding it. something in him settles, finally, the fight draining out of his shoulders, and his ears — still standing straight up, still giving away every single thing he's feeling — twitch once more before he closes the last of the distance.

the kiss is clumsy and tentative, his lips barely settling against yours like he's afraid you'll vanish if he presses too hard, like this whole moment might be something he imagined and pressing harder would prove it. you meet him the rest of the way, soft, unhurried, your hand still cradling his jaw to keep him steady, and you feel the full-body shudder that runs through him at the contact — like he's been holding himself together by sheer will and this is the first crack in it. he exhales hard against your mouth, surprised, undone, like he genuinely hadn't let himself believe this would feel as good as it does.

when you pull back, just barely, his eyes stay closed a second too long before they open, dazed and a little wrecked already.

"...oh." he says simply, as if he’s just realised what’s just transpired.

"yeah." you're smiling — can't help it, can feel your own heart going much too fast for someone who's supposed to be the one in control here. "not so bad after all."

"again." he's smiling too, lopsided, ears flushed pink at the tips, the rawness of wanting still sitting plain across his face like he's forgotten how to hide it. "i wanna make sure i've got it."

"such a good student."

that gets him — properly gets him, his whole face going red all over again, ears flicking like they don't know where to put themselves. "shut — don't say it like that," he mutters, flustered all over, refusing to meet your eyes even as he's already leaning back in to kiss you again, like complimenting him and teasing him are somehow the same unbearable thing.

he kisses you like he's testing the shape of it, then like he's sure of it, his hand sliding from your waist to the small of your back to pull you in closer, like the space between you earlier never made sense to him at all, like he can't fathom why he ever let there be distance between you in the first place. you feel the low sound he makes against your mouth, something rough and pleased, half a growl he didn't mean to let slip, and it does something to you, hearing him lose that much composure over something this simple.

with a little more confidence now, emboldened by how badly you want this too, you let your tongue trace gently along his bottom lip — just a question, not a demand. he freezes for half a second, startled, before his mouth falls open on a shaky breath, letting you in, like he'd give you anything you asked for in this exact moment. he tastes faintly like the fruity concoction rui begged him to try earlier, and underneath that, something warmer, something that's just him, and you find yourself chasing it without quite meaning to.

"is this—," he starts, breaking just enough to get the words out, voice thick with desire, rougher than you've ever heard it, "is this still teachin', or—,"

"does it matter?"

"...no." he pulls you back in before you've even finished answering, hungrier this time, like the question answered itself the second he asked it, like he's done pretending this was ever just a lesson.

you're not sure when you ended up closer, knees bracketing his lap, but you're there now, and he doesn't seem to mind at all — his hands settle at your hips, gripping like he needs something to hold onto to stay upright, like you're the only solid thing left in a room that's stopped making sense. his ears are still up, twitching every time you shift against him, utterly unable to hide a single thing he's feeling. every gasp, every hitch of breath, broadcast straight through them, more honest than anything he'd ever say out loud.

the kiss turns slower, deeper, less like teaching now and more like neither of you has any intention of stopping. you feel his hands flex at your waist, hesitant, like he wants to pull you closer still but isn't sure if that's allowed yet either, like some part of him still can't quite believe he's allowed to want this much.

"it’s okay," you breathe against his mouth, answering the question he hasn't asked, giving him the permission he's too nervous to ask for outright.

he doesn't need telling twice. he pulls you flush against him, the new closeness pulling a quiet, helpless noise out of him that he immediately seems embarrassed by — you can feel the heat of his blush even with your eyes closed, can feel how badly he's trying and failing to stay composed. he kisses you like he's trying to make up for years of not knowing how, clumsy in places, devastatingly sincere in all of them, his nose bumping yours once before he adjusts, getting better at this by the second, learning the give and pull of it like it's the only thing worth knowing right now.

when you finally break apart to breathe, you're both a dishevelled mess — lips swollen, his hair mussed where your fingers found it, his ears still standing straight up, refusing to settle.

you reach up and touch one gently, the same way you had earlier, feeling it twitch under your fingers. "cute," you muse out loud.

he goes instantly, helplessly red, ducking his head like he can hide in the space between your shoulder and his own embarrassment. "don't say that."

"why not? it's true."

"'cause—," he groans, muffled, forehead dropping against your shoulder now. "they're not gonna go down if you keep doin' that."

a teasing smile pulls at your kiss-swollen lips, "maybe i don't want them to."

he lifts his head just enough to look at you, cheeks flushed while his ears still stand tall and unable to hide a single thing he's feeling. he doesn't pull away from your hand. if anything he tips his head slightly into it, like some part of him has already given up on fighting how much he likes this.

"you're doin' this on purpose," he mutters, but it's quiet, almost fond, no fight left in it at all.

"maybe."

"...'s not fair." but he doesn't move your hand away, just lets you keep petting at the soft fur, lets himself have it, before he leans in and kisses you again anyway — and for someone who didn't know what to do twenty minutes ago, he's turning out to be a remarkably fast learner.

she pouts at him, flashing him a lethal set of puppy eyes akin to yours. he sighs and scrubs his face with his hands, “if i entertain this, and you steal my spot, so help me god-“

“i won’t,” she says softly. “please?”

rintaro sighs.

he swings his legs out of bed and ushers kaiya to lead the way, “go on then. let’s go.” he follows her closer to the doorway, and you raise your brows in surprise as she actually brings her dad to the doorway.

only to then cackle when she darts to your bed, trying to get under the covers.

“YOU LITTLE-“

“i want to cuddle with mommmmm!”

“SO DO I!”

kaiya squeals as rintaro grabs her ankle and drags her to the edge of the bed, picking her up into his arms while she flails and screams in protest. you hear him ranting in the hallway over kaiya’s whines and giggles to be put down, “you damn kids, you’re lucky i don’t call uncle shinsuke to straighten your asses out. you wake up your sisters i swear to all the unholy gods-“

you shake your head and turn back to the tv-

only to smile fondly as a familiar face pokes his head from the doorway.

akito is quick to rush into rintaro’s warm spot, smiling in content as you open your arm for him to cuddle into your side. you kiss his head and scratch his scalp, letting him melt against you.

“you know he’s gonna have a conniption,” you hum.

“he should know better than to leave his spot unattended.”

you snort and let him cuddle closer, “my baby boy, what am i gonna do with you?”

“uhm, give me all your attention?”

“you always have my attention-“

“you’re joking.” rintaro stands in the doorway in disbelief, and you hear akito snicker in satisfaction. “you little freak.”

“it’s mom-akito time, back off,” your son says, clinging to you closer.

“you know, there was a time when you liked me the best,” your husband hisses.

“i don’t miss those days,” you titter. rintaro glares playfully.

“those days are gone, father. mom is mom.”

once again, rintaro scrubs his face with his hands, “i’m not dealing with this, i’m sleeping on the couch.” he turns on his heel to stalk down the hallway; you hear akito sigh and stir slightly.

“dad, wait,” he says. rintaro pauses and turns back to his bedroom, blinking unamused at his son. “don’t forget your pillow,” he reminds, tossing the fluffed pillow at his father.

Today was nice; the sky was only partly cloudy and there were no cold winds like yesterday. You were sat outside in the front yard of Ericson's, somewhat comfortable on the picnic table. Ruby was sat beside you. Everyone else was out too, just running around, chatting, and overall enjoying their time. You glared at Mitch out in the distance as he playfully quarreled with Willy—per usual.

“You crushin’ on Mitch again?” Ruby teased, and you just rolled your eyes.

“Are you ever gonna talk to him?” She went on.

You sighed, “I want to—but I'm just nervous.”

“It's been weeks! Probably longer! I promise you, Mitch ain't that scary.” Ruby chuckled.

You tapped on the wooden surface of the table with your fingers. You truly did want to speak to Mitch; your heart longed for him, but anxiety held you on a leash.

“It's been too long for you just sittin’ around… You ain't gonna get him like that!” She paused for a moment, appearing to go deep into thought. Then, her face lit up.

“You what, I'm gonna get you set up with him! Just you wait!” She squealed, obviously getting more excited than you.

You blushed, “no—”

“You can count on me!” Ruby giggled as she got up hurriedly, quickly running off back into the main building.

You sighed. She didn't listen but at least her intentions were good. You were worried about the fact that word may make way to Mitch himself… Because knowing Ruby, she's probably going to be informing and involving everyone in her little plan.

You sat at the table for another while, just allowing your mind to pass time for you as you had nothing else to do. That was until Marlon barged out of the main building, with Ruby trailing behind—Please tell me she didn't tell Marlon!

“Everyone!” Marlon called out. “We need to discuss everyone's role in today's tasks!”

Everyone immediately dropped what they were doing to circle him, and so you got up and joined.

Once everyone was gathered together, Marlon continued. “You all know today's the day we scheduled for checking the traps, fishing, and hunting—and I've just concluded everyone's part. With that,” he pointed towards Louis and Aasim, “you two are on the hunting grounds.” He then turned towards Violet and Brody, “you both will be checking the traps.” Lastly he turned towards you, and then to Mitch who stood a bit away from you. “Lastly, you two will be fishing,” you noticed Marlon's slight nod towards you; no way he was in on it!

“And everyone else is on lookout. Everyone understand?” He added.

The group simultaneously responded positively—but you were with Mitch? Your heart already began to pound with profound nervousness. It wasn't that you didn't want to be with him—of course you did! The fact was it was the guy you'd been crushing on for weeks! The guy who, for the life of you, you cannot speak to without breaking out in hives for goodness sake!

“Hey,” you heard a voice speak to you. You turned your head to see who it was and there you saw Mitch! He raked a hand through his straight, brunette hair.

“Oh, uhm, hey,” you muttered, feeling a tingly and warm sensation arise within you—just from him speaking to you.

“Just give me a second, alright?” He said before walking off to oddly huddle with Louis and Willy in the distance.

Soon, he returned. “Let's get going before Marlon beats our asses,” Mitch chuckled.

“Yeah—yeah,” your voice cracked. You tried to play it cool.

The both of you made your way towards the front gates to exit. As you did, you passed by Ruby flashing you a wide smirk.

Before you could open the gates yourself, Mitch hastily did it for you. He grinned slightly at you, and you hesitantly did so in return.

The two other pairs who were to be leaving as well followed behind you and Mitch before going along on their separate trails. Violet and Brody both gave you a thumbs up while smirking beforehand, though. Now, it was you both alone again, walking side by side. The air was quiet between you two; you didn't know what to say without making yourself seem foolish, which was the last thing you wanted to be around him.

Oh, you definitely were going to give Ruby a little, but not unkind, lecture when you returned. Looking back, she's known about your crush since it was just a small thought; so did all the other girls… You never minded only them knowing, but Ruby just had to inform Marlon… You wouldn't be surprised if everyone knew at this point—even Mitch himself, but definitely, you prayed not.

“So… How's your day going?” Mitch broke you from your thoughts.

“Oh—good, good. Thanks… You?” To yourself, you sounded like a mess.

“I'm okay, thanks…” He looked to the ground as he walked, “we should be there soon.”

The remainder of the walk there was spent in silence; you didn't want to take the risk of embarrassing yourself by speaking. Mitch didn't say another word, either. You did notice him fiddling with his fingers at some point. You deemed it odd, but brushed it aside as him being bored.

The old shack became distinct within the vast trees after not long. It rested right next to the designated fishing area, and was where all the equipment was stored.

“You can just go take a seat by the river. I'll get everything ready.” Mitch said as you both got closer to the shack.

“Okay—you sure?”

He nodded, and so you obeyed. You sat on the light grass of the hill, which the shack rested on. It overlooked the stream where you both would be fishing. Usually, it had decent catches, but today's would probably be pretty good since the weather was nice.

You heard Mitch rummaging in the shack behind you, and soon after he appeared with two rods, and a medium-sized bucket stuffed into his hands.

“Do you need some help with that?” You asked.

“Nope, I got it.”

He set everything down on the ground gently before passing to you your rod. You secured your bait onto it before going ahead and casting it out. Mitch then sat next to you and did the same.

“We better catch something good…” He murmured.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

After that, the two of you just went along fishing; quietness yet again. You managed to catch a rather small fish and reel it in, then placing it inside of the bucket which rested in-between you and Mitch. So far, he seemed to have better luck as he had caught two larger ones.

Your heart rate had calmed down by now as you began getting used to his presence nearby. Nonetheless, you were still quite nervous—just as anyone would be, of course. You occasionally caught your gaze drifting towards the side at him; you admired his sharp jawline, soft lips, pastel green eyes, just everything… It pulled you away from the task you were to focus on—pulled you away from existence entirely.

You thought about it all; part of you wanted to confess your love for him now, at this very moment, but the other part resigned against it heavily. You were suffering with internal conflict, and had been since the day you began loving him.

“You alright?” Mitch asked, turning his head to look at you.

You didn't realize it, but apparently your gaze was rather obvious. You shook your head as you snapped out of your daze, “yeah, I'm okay.” You blushed, now embarrassed.

As you regained focus, you quickly returned to your task of fishing, but then Mitch spoke out once more.

“Y/N, I—uh… wanted to say something, actually.”

You turned your gaze back towards him, curious of what sentence would come out of his mouth next.

“God… this is so embarrassing…” He murmured, “but, uhm—I… think you're… cool, I guess…” His voice was so gentle, you could barely hear his words; with ease, they caressed your ears.

That, you were not expecting to hear; Mitch was the kind who'd usually keep to himself and strictly himself. Though, it immediately made your heart flutter. No way Mitch thought you were "cool." You didn't know how exactly to respond, so unknowingly you just sat there, frozen. You saw Mitch twiddling his fingers shakily as he now looked away in shame, almost. It was then a few seconds after when he suddenly turned and leaned in swiftly, pressing his lips against yours.

It caught your breath and warmth spread throughout your body in an instant as if it were melting. Your body felt like it was becoming goo. Your eyes widened in surprise and your heart began to beat at that same accelerated pace—this time, maybe even quicker. After a couple of seconds, however, you found your eyes closing and your body leaning back into him. You had never felt any sensation like the one you did now; it felt like love—like those weeks of yearning you had been doing, but now it was visible that they'd be gone, and transformed into something better. A moment like this, you could've only ever prayed for. It felt like a dream; the best dream imagineable.

The kiss went on for a long moment until you pulled away. Your face remained close to his as you both glared at each other. As you looked into his eyes, something deep stared back; something that rested upon your own gaze. His lips slowly curved into a smile, and yours did the same in response without even attempting.

“I take it you like me back?” He asked, hesitance lingering on his voice.

“Mitch, I've liked you, for what's felt like forever.” You grinned wider, “I'm so glad you feel the same way.”

“I've liked you awhile, too. Louis and Willy were practically forcing me to admit it, so… They went crazy once Marlon paired us up.”

“Ruby too!” You both shared laughter.

The moment seemed to fly by. You and Mitch just continued with small talk as you both managed to catch a few more fish—thankfully, enough to feed everyone. Once you were finished, you supplied the rods back into the shack before heading in the direction towards Ericson's, bringing along the bucket full of your combined catches.

Mitch even held your hand, his palm soft against yours. You now can never forget that kiss you shared; the kiss that confirmed your love and secured it. Your heart now glows as you walk, and you never knew you had so much affection stored inside. For that fact, even the sun seemed to beam brighter.

Once you got back to the school, of course everyone gawked when they saw your and Mitch's hands intertwined. At this point, you couldn't even be mad at Ruby; now, you wanted to thank her with every bone in your body.

The rest of the day went well; today had to have been the best of all without a doubt. You somehow even managed to find your way into Mitch's bed by nightfall. There, he held and gently caressed you, showing you a side of himself you thought you'd never see. And thankfully, no more weeks would have to be spent yearning—now only loving.

as you two grew megumi’s puppy crush faded into something more passionate. he began to almost beg for your attention, constantly getting into fights in an attempt to impress you, or trying to catch your eye while walking past you in the hallways.

throughout middle and high school megumi seemed to just become more determined to get you to notice him, albeit still making sure to keep his nonchalant composure. he’d scoff whenever you teased him, yet the tips of his ears turning pink would often give away him flustered interior.

you continued to stay oblivious to his feelings, ruffling his hair and cooing at him whenever he’d try to involve himself in your self proclaimed ‘big kid talk’ with your classmates at lunch.

however, as the years went on you and tsumiki grew apart, you began to focus more on college rather than hanging out at her place which meant that megumi got to see less and less of you by the day.

eventually you moved out, leaving behind everything, leaving behind megumi.

he pretended not to care, he’d scoff whenever tsumiki teased him about you, but at night when he was alone—megumi only thought of you.

you slowly started to fade from his mind, exams and college taking your place in his brain. though, occasionally on holidays he’d catch a glimpse of you from his window, your bright smile, the way your body shook as you laughed. everything would come flooding back in those moments.

when megumi finally moved out for college the last thing he expected to see was you, right in the middle of the corridor to his dorm. when you saw him your face lit up, “megumi! oh my gosh, how are you already at college? you were just a baby yesterday.”

you began to ruffle his hair in that familiar way he pretended to hate, your voice light, joyful as you greeted him. your friends trailed behind you, giggling amongst themselves as they watched you fawn over megumi.

“quit it, i’m not a kid anymore.” he nudged you off of him, hand coming up to fix his hair while you apologised under your breath. it was awkward for a moment before you spoke up again, “so uh, what’re you here for?”

he blinked at you, temporarily losing himself in your eyes before blinking back into reality. “oh right um business and economics.” you beamed at his words, clapping your hands together before replying, “great! i’m doing that too, i can help you with it, just like how i used to tutor you.”

you grinned at him, smile so tender he almost melted. megumi nodded at your words, bowing his head as to not let you see the blush creeping up his cheeks.

before he could speak up again you were waving him goodbye, your friends dragging you along to some bar for a last drink before classes start.

megumi sighed to himself, would you ever see him as someone other than the little boy next door.

weeks had passed since the semester started and unfortunately megumi was already behind on classes. he had to muster up every ounce of courage to ask you to help him out, and it took every bit of strength in him not to snap at you when you cooed about how you’d always be happy to help your underclassman.

now he was sat at his desk, you were leaning over him—which in his opinion was very provocative, or maybe he was just way too whipped. you were hunched over his shoulder, tits practically in his face as you pointed at the laptop screen.

“do you get it now?” your voice cut through his thoughts, snapping back to the tutoring session. “uh sure…” he voice was unsteady, eyes uncontrollably flickering between your tits and the laptop. you cocked a brow at his unsure tone, leaning in closer as if to intimidate him.

you leaned back, plopping yourself down on his bed. “megs, what’s up with you lately? you seem… weirder than you were before.” he only groans in response, annoyance evident in his tone. “maybe you’ll find out when you quit treating me like a child.” he spits back before he could stop himself.

time seems to freeze for a split second, both of you just stare at each other as megumi’s outburst sinks in. he speaks up first, “i’ve liked you since we were kids and all you’ve ever done is treat me like some baby! i’m an adult now for gods sake, treat me like one!”

the confession tumbles from his mouth without him even realising. you blink at him, mouth slightly agape as it dawns in your. “that’s why you were so weird…” you mumble almost to yourself. megumi groans again, leaning back against the chair.

an awkward silence falls over the two of you before megumi abruptly stands up and strides over to you. suddenly he’s leaning over you, breath ghosting your cheek. “please tell me you want me too.” his voice is barely above a whisper, he’s desperate, pleading with you.

your breath stutters, eyes flickering over his face, suddenly he’s leaning doesn’t look like the younger boy he used to be. megumi’s facial structure has changed, he’s more mature, his hair frames his face beautifully, jaw sharp and eyes dark with something you don’t recognise.

as if moving on their own your hands reach forward to grip onto his shoulders before pulling him down to kiss you. his mouth moves messily against your own, taller body hunched over your own as he climbs onto the bed and on top of you.

he breaks away first, breathing heavy as he stares down at you. you catch a faint smile grace his lips, “is this your wet dream or something?” you joke, a playful slap landing on his chest. he rolls his eyes at your comment, eyes softening a fraction.

he mumbles a small ‘shut up’ before pressing his lips against yours once again. his body pressed against your own, legs moving to bracket your own as he lost himself in you. “wait, megs hold on.” you lightly pushed him off of you, sitting up on your elbows to look at him.

“have you done anything before?” your question was genuine, worry flashing behind your eyes as you stared up at him. sheepishly he shook his head, a faint pink hue dusting his cheeks. you smiled at him, hand reaching up to brush hair from his forehead.

“we don’t have to do anything, i don’t want to rush you.” your voice was tender, knuckles stroking his cheek as he nibbled in his bottom lip. “just let me taste you.” his voice was horse with need, hands coming down to hold you by your waist. you let out a shaky breath at his words, your own sentence catching in your throat as he leaned down to nip at your neck.

“please, i’ve been waiting for so long.” his words were muffled by your skin, his hands squeezing your hips as if to persuade you. “megs i—” he cut you off with a small bite to your shoulder, “it’s all i ask.” his voice was even smaller now, almost as if it was painful.

you sighed, giving into his begs. you felt him smile against yours once again skin, hands already working to remove your bottoms. you squeaked as he swiftly pulled them down your legs along with your underwear.

megumi moved himself onto the floor, your legs now positioned on his shoulders as he pulled you by your hips, lower body dangling off the bed. “megumi!” you squeaked into the air as he wraooed his hands around your thighs.

he grinned up at you, tongue poking out to wet his lips before diving in. without warning his tongue licked a broad stripe up your cunt, an embarrassingly loud moan escaping you at the contact. he moved his tongue against you messily, unpractised yet delicate.

megumi’s lips hesitantly closed around you clit, a low whimper leaving your lips at the contact. “keep going, right there.” you reached down, fingers lacing into his hair causing him to groan against you. the vibrations went right up your core, sparking yo your spine.

you arched off of the bed as megumi started to suck on your clit, tongue flicking messily at the bud. you writhed on the sheets, body convulsing as he pushed you towards your peak. his grip on your thighs tightened, tongue moving back to flick at your slick, gathering it up before spitting it back into you.

a lewd moan echoed off the walls at his action, your hands pushing his face further into your pussy. his nose bumped against your clit, tongue moving to push inside of you. you pulled megumi’s hair harder, moans spilling from your lips as his tongue worked you open.

“megs—shit—you sure this i-is your first time?”

he hummed against you, taking your clit into his mouth again before nodding his head earning another mewl form you. your legs locked around his head, keeping him right where you needed him most.

you shook beneath him, body shaking as you neared your orgasm. megumi had started to rut his hips into the side of your bed, body searching for some form of relief as he sucked at your clit. “oh shit, i’m cumming.”

your words egged him on, mouth even lore determined now as he hollowed out his cheeks, eyes locked on the way your face contorted as you came into his mouth, slick dripping from your entrance as he greedily lapped it all up. chin soaked in your slick when he finally came up for air.

you laughed at the sight, his disheveled look foreign to you. “well shit—now i have to return the favour, don’t i?” you sat up, motioning for him to come join you on the bed. megumi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck before replying. “uh i think i’m good, i got my fill.”

Okay. So maybe he hadn't yet gotten around to finally asking you out. But can you blame a guy? You make him so nervous, and he's already got an entire volleyball team worth of morons to watch out for. But even if they keep him busy, he had been planning on asking you to be his, officially.

And now some guy he'd never even seen before was giving you flowers.

Daichi is a gentleman, captain of the Karasuno boys volleyball team, and—if you were to ask Asahi—downright terrifying when he was annoyed with someone. He's crossed halfway down the hallway towards you before the guy (seriously, how had Daichi never seen him before?) turns bright red, glances at Daichi over your shoulder, and takes off down the corridor with his tail between his legs.

Daichi is starting to think that maybe Asahi was right about how scary he looks, but he's got other things to worry about as his feet finally carry him to you. He's nervous, he realizes, that maybe the flowers came with the offer of a date.

He's scared shitless over the possibility that you might have said yes.

"What was that about?" He tries to sound casual, hands buried deep in his pockets so you can't see how they're clenched into clammy fists. You turn to face him, finally, when he makes his presence known.

He watches as your pretty face twists into a wince, glancing between the bouquet of flowers held in your hand, the direction your suitor took off in, and then towards himself.

The flowers aren't even that nice, he thinks bitterly. Though he doesn't know enough about flowers to say it with confidence.

"You know that second year I tutor on Thursdays?" You ask, and he feels a swift sense of relief at two things. First being that your tone isn't the dreamy one of a girl who had been just swept off her feet by a grand romantic gesture of flowers, rather one on the verge of a wince. And second, he was older than the guy.

He didn't feel the most mature after having satisfaction in that, but it helped soothe his ego.

"Yeah, of course," He realizes he needs to give you an answer. It's hard for him to stop frowning at the flowers in your hand and smile like alarms hadn't been blaring in his mind ever since he stumbled upon you.

"Well, I think he might have gotten the wrong idea." You're not even holding the flowers like you want them, and Daichi's frown morphs into a grin. He's still a little annoyed that he hadn't thought to get you flowers first, but at least no one had come in to swoop you off your feet.

"Are you going to keep the flowers?" Daichi asks, doing a horrible job at keeping his relief and hopefulness from his voice. You shoot him a glance, having no doubt caught onto his weird tone, and he's hurrying to cover his mistake. "I mean, he still might think you're interested if he sees you carrying them around all day."

He's smiling, but it's his nervous one, and he can read it in your face that you have him completely figured out.

"You're right," You say, and it's all Daichi can do to keep from sighing audibly in relief. His heart is racing a mile a minute, and he still has to survive after school practice, somehow. "Do you think I could sell them to Tanaka and Nishinoya to give to Kiyoko?"

There's a beat of silence between your question and Daichi's response where he realizes you're being serious.

His nervous smile is replaced by a genuine one as he shakes his head with a chuckle. He manages to find some of his bravery and boldly swings an arm over your shoulder to lead you towards the second year classes.

"Let's see if we can find them quick. Kiyoko'll kill us if she finds out what we're doing."

He'll bring you flowers tomorrow. Ones you won't pawn off to his teammates for vending machine money.

Koshi Sugawara is only minding his business, walking to practice after school, when suddenly you're latched onto his arm.

Not that he's complaining. He'd just been thinking about you, and what you were doing, and if he could come up with a reason to see you on the day off from school tomorrow. He's a little flustered by your sudden arrival, by your hand curled around his bicep, but he's certainly not going to pass on the opportunity to have you close.

He's mid-greeting when he finally sees it. Clutched in your hand is a bouquet of flowers, wrapped in plastic and even still with the price sticker on the outside. His face twists in confusion, especially as he finally spots the flustered look on your face and the embarrassed way you glance over your shoulder behind you. He wants to check and see what you're so clearly running from, but his mind stalls as it snags on one tiny detail.

Someone gave you flowers. A really shitty bouquet, too, but that's not exactly the point. Someone—that's not him—gave you flowers.

He hasn't asked you to be his girlfriend yet, but he did take you out to dinner last week. He's not so much worried about someone coming to steal you away from him, but he is panicking that he didn't bring you flowers when he picked you up at your house and held your hand all the way to your favorite ramen place.

Isn't that Romance 101? He should have brought you flowers.

"I don't want to seem rude," Your pretty voice snaps him from his thoughts, and he swears he could almost sigh in relief when he sees you frown down at the poorly selected bouquet someone had presented you. "But I don't want these. Some second year just asked me out and gave them to me. I don't even know his name."

Sugawara could die he's so relieved that you want nothing to do with someone else asking you out. In fact, with the way you're clutching his arm tighter than you're holding the flowers, he feels like he could take on the world.

"I can get rid of them for you, if you want." He tries to sound casual, and not like he's overeager about the idea of dumping the flowers you got from some random in the trash. You nod, handing the offending gift off, and he feels his face warm as your fingers brush his. It makes him think of your date, of how your knuckles brushed together a few times before he was bold enough to thread your fingers through his. His face is surely bright red, but there's another question he can't seem to shake. "What did you tell him? When he asked you out?"

It's not an accusatory question. Not when you didn't even try to keep the flowers, or mention the guys name. No, he has no doubt that you turned him down. But he is incredibly interested in what reason you gave him, though.

"I told him that I'm already seeing someone," Your words are far from a grand, bold statement, but they're all he needs to hear. A grin takes over his features and he feels just a little dorky about the way he stands up taller and subconsciously puffs out his chest.

He likes your answer. A lot.

He likes it so much, that he's at your house a few hours later after practice. He'd spent most of it distracted, thinking about you and your smile and why you turned down the second year.

Mostly, he was thinking about the flowers he wanted to buy you.

The bouquet is clutched in his clammy hands when you open your front door, and though it was only a couple short hours since he had seen you last, the wind is still knocked from his lungs at the sight of your smile.

The fact that you're smiling and not trying to run off is a sign that he's doing good. Much better than the second year had done.

"I, uh, should've gotten you these when we went out last week." He can't help the way he stumbles over his words. You just make him so nervous. But you're smiling, and soon so is he, as you tug both him and the flowers inside.

He's pretty sure he hears you call him a dork, but he'll take the insult as long as you say yes to being his girlfriend.

Asahi Azumane feels his chest seize the moment you walk into the gym at the start of practice.

It's not his usual panic, though. The sight of you alone is typically enough to send his weak heart into cardiac arrest, let alone if you go so far as to smile at him. The first time you spoke to him, he's pretty sure he died for a few seconds.

No. When you finally race into the gym, moments before practice is supposed to start, shouting apologies to Takeda and Kiyoko about not being there earlier to help set up the net and ball baskets, Asahi's attention snares on something you set carefully by the pile of your belongings.

Flowers.

He knows he's staring, and he knows he won't have an answer that he could choke out if you catch him and ask what his deal is, but he can't change the course of his focus. Not when you came stumbling into practice with flowers, acting so casual about it, like you got them all the time.

Oh god, did you? Sure, he made it a point to talk to you before, during, and after practice as much as he could without wussing out. He probably knew more about you than anybody else on the team, your fellow co-manager Kiyoko included.

But what about outside of practice? Really, he couldn't blame anyone for getting you flowers. You're just too pretty and too nice, and he would have gotten you dozens of bouquets—if the thought wasn't more nerve-wracking than the idea of sending a serve into the back of Daichi's head.

Speaking of his captain, he swears he hears him and Sugawara struggling to stifle their laughter. No doubt they're laughing at him, still staring wide-eyed and gaping at the flowers you had brought into practice. It takes Nishinoya yelling his name—and consequently drawing everyone's attention to him—for him to snap back to focus.

Just his luck, he catches your eye, and he feels like dying on the spot when he glimpses the grin on your face you're trying to suppress.

"Is something wrong, Asahi?" You ask so sweetly, and his face burns so red he knows there's no getting out of it. Daichi and Sugawara burst into a fit of laughter, no longer trying to hide their amusement. Even you have to turn your cheek to hide your wobbly smile, but it's no use, because he sees it anyways.

He's so embarrassed, he feels it down to his toes, and he's so relieved when Coach sends them on some warm up laps to distract himself.

Except, he can't stop thinking about who gave you the flowers. Were they a third year? Were they in your class? Did he know who they were? Did they ask you on a date?

He wanted to run laps to avoid thinking about the flowers, but for the next two hours, all he can consider is the goddamn bouquet settled against your bag on the sidelines. At one point, a stray spike from Tanaka nearly takes them out, and Daichi tells him to be careful of your stuff.

Flowers are delicate and special, Sugawara had chastised. Asahi thinks he might be sick.

By the time the gym is cleaned, cleared, and Coach dismisses everyone, Asahi feels like his heart is going to beat straight out of his chest. He's not sure he's entirely in control as his feet carry him across the gym and to you.

"Hi," He starts lamely, but he's already off to a better start than he thought he would get.

"Hi, Asahi," You smile up at him, bag over your shoulder and flowers clutched in your hands. He watches as you try and stifle a giggle, doing a horrible job of it, and gesture to the flowers as if he hadn't seen them yet. "Aren't they pretty?"

"Yeah, uh." He continues just as witty as he started. "Who—who got them for you?"

Your eyes give you away, and he watches as your stare darts to the side, lip caught punishingly between your teeth to bite back a grin. With a frown, he follows the direction your attention had been previously been pulled in.

He finds that he's looking at Daichi and Sugawara, both doing a horrible job of acting like they were busy packing their bags to leave and not watching the interaction before them unfold like it was a spectator sport.

"Daichi? Or Suga?" He asks despite the way his heart has plummeted to his feet. He knows his face is probably pale, and you can read every emotion on his face.

He's a little confused, because it looks like you're struggling to contain a laugh. One more glance to the side, and he realizes his friends are having no such qualms.

"Guys," You turn and face Daichi and Suga, frustrated sigh falling past your lips despite the way they were just twisted up in a grin. "This is so mean. Can I just tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Asahi asks despite the way his two friends boo and complain about you ruining their fun. You hold up the flowers once more, as if he had forgotten their presence.

"Those idiots got me these, but they told me not to tell you. For a prank, apparently."

For not the first time that evening, Asahi is left gaping like a fish. Daichi and Suga are laughing so hard they caught the attention of the rest of the team. He's certain his face is bright red, but he can't think past the swell of relief he's feeling. He thought he had come so close to missing his chance with you.

Really, he can only think to do one thing.

"Please go on a date with me?"

Yuu Nishinoya wants to be able to brag that he's early to practice for once. He's got fifteen minutes until he's supposed to be on the court, and he's leisurely strolling up to gym.

Oh, he's going to rub it in Tanaka's face that he was early.

Except, twenty feet from the gym doors he stops completely in his tracks. His jaw is nearly on the ground, and any relaxed composure he had managed to scrounge together flies out the window.

Because there you were. And usually, your presence amps up his outrageous energy to level eleven just to hear you giggle at his nonsense, but you're holding something that makes his thoughts tumble over the edge.

You have flowers.

You're talking to your friends, waiting after school for your study group to start. He knows your schedule like the back of his own hand, because he adores the ground you walk on.

Even if you're not actually his girlfriend. Yet, he swears. But maybe he's losing his chance, because you're holding a bouquet of flowers that he knows for a fact you didn't have an hour earlier when he saw you between classes and begged you to wait for him to be done with practice so he could walk you home.

He's got fifteen minutes until he needs to be in the gym, and now he's scrambling to find something to one-up the flowers someone got you.

He checks the front of the school first, trying to desperately remember if there were flowerbeds he could borrow (read: steal) from and give you better flowers. Surely, you'd forget all about the bouquet some loser gave you when he presented the prettiest flowers in all of the Miyagi to you.

Except, there's no flowerbeds.

He's not the least bit embarrassed when he lets out a groan so loud a few of the students lingering by the front of the school flinch. He's borderline frantic, and he's never been the best at regulating his emotions in the first place.

You don't mind when he gets worked up. You just giggle all pretty and tell him the obvious solution to his problems. You have the patience of a saint, especially when it comes to his nonsense—Daichi and Sugawara had told him as much—and genuinely seem to enjoy being around him.

You deserve flowers, from him, but he can't find a single petal anywhere.

Practice starts in seven minutes. He's considering just drawing a picture of flowers, maybe giving you an IOU one bouquet. (Is bouquet spelled with one 'k' or two?)

He's sprinting down the hallway when he finally sees the answer to his prayers.

The vending machines.

He skids to a stop in front of the drink machine, palms pressed against the chilled glass and wide eyes frantically scanning through the options available to him. He's trying to remember which drinks he's seen you order for yourself, when the spots a juice brand he's never even heard of, tucked away in the bottom left corner.

It has flowers on the packaging.

His heart is racing and he knows he's running out of time, but he thinks he might just make practice on time if buys the juice and runs, maybe he'll even have to toss it to you in a sprinting drive-by.

That's when he realizes the fatal flaw to his plan.

He's flat broke.

A very undignified scream tears past his lips before he's sprinting off again, but this time he knows what he's looking for. He takes the stairs to the clubhouse three at a time—a miracle with his shorter than average legs—and throws open the volleyball club room door so fast and loud that it bangs against the wall.

Asahi screams. Daichi shouts for him to knock it off! Yamaguchi drops the uniform he was in the process of changing into.

"I need vending machine money!" Nishinoya yells, and nobody makes any attempt to move and give him some change. But then, through panting breaths, he gets out a few words to explain himself.

Mostly, your name and flowers and need juice.

Somehow, Tanaka understands what he's saying and translates for the group. Nishinoya promises to invite everyone to the wedding when, with only a few grumbles of complaints, his beautiful, beautiful teammates did in their bags for enough change to buy the flower-juice.

He's gone the second Sugawara drops the last coin from his pocket into his waiting hand and he barely hears Daichi shouting that he has five minutes to get to the gym as he takes the the stairs three at a time down.

The rest of his journey goes without much incident—though he did get yelled at by a teacher for running in the halls, it wasn't the Vice Principal so he's not too worried.

Juice in hand, he shouts your name the second he has you in his sights. You're not far from where he saw you last, talking with your friends and still holding that ugly bouquet. And okay, maybe the flowers weren't hideous, but they weren't from him, so he'd rather choke than compliment them.

He calls your name three more times before he finally skids to a halt in front of you, bent at the waist and offering the juice like it was made of gold. He's panting, and he's a little embarrassed about that.

He's an athlete, after all. Did he really panic so much he's out of breath?

But he decides it's all worth it when you grin at him and take the juice.

"Is this why you've been running around yelling for the past fifteen minutes?" You smile, and he swears it's like the heavens opened up around him to bless him with the sight. He opens his mouth to tell you just that, but Hinata calls his name from the gym door.

It's then that he realizes his entire team his standing in the doorway of the gym, watching the entire interaction. Tanaka is giving him two thumbs up while Ennoshita tells him off for being so obvious. Kageyama is arguing with Hinata about blowing their cover.

Your friends laugh, but you're still smiling, so he can't mind too much.

"There's flowers on the package!" He shouts while running backwards towards the gym, ensuring to bring your attention to the juice.

You laugh and promise to wait for him after, and he thinks he did pretty good.

Even if he was late to practice in the end.

Ryuunosuke Tanaka thinks that if he's devoted enough, you'll just have to fall in love with him. It can't possibly be flawed logic, because it's his logic.

Which is why he makes sure to always make it to your matches on time and cheering loud. It's as if you can't get anymore perfect—you just have to play volleyball, too.

He's already planned your wedding, six different ways, during the course of the match. Your team takes it in two sets, and if Ennoshita hadn't accompanied him to come watch you play, he probably would've taken his shirt off and swung it around.

Somehow, Tanaka is riding the high of your win—for all of eight and a half minutes.

That's how long it takes for him to watch, helpless and stuck in the stands, as some guy he's never seen before—someone totally unworthy of you—steps up to give you flowers.

He's practically raging in the stands, almost ready to tear the place apart. Ennoshita tells him to knock it off, and if the crowd wasn't separating him from the loser who brought you flowers, he probably would've done something about the smug look on the face of the guy encroaching on you. With a pout so childish he probably should be embarrassed, Tanaka can only watch you show off your flowers from the stranger to your teammates.

Oh, he can so do better.

If you want flowers, he'll get you flowers. He'll get you so many flowers you'll be sick of them, and the ugly bouquet from some random will be nothing more than a nightmare to you.

And he does it, too.

For two weeks, every day, he's bringing you flowers. In the morning before classes, or after school in that sweet twenty minutes where neither of your practices have started and he's able to talk to you all smooth-like.

Meaning he can barely get a word out to you after practically shoving the flowers into your hands.

Everyday.

For two weeks.

Ennoshita tells him he's being lame, but Nishinoya is all for it, and your smile is like a shot through his heart every time he hands you flowers. It's enough to sustain him, though he has to admit his wallet is taking a beating from his show of affection.

Everything changes when they're finally able to lure Nekoma to a practice match on their home turf. Old rivalries and new egos competing in Karasuno's gym, and minutes before the match is about to start Tanaka spots something holy from the corner of his eye.

It's you. Flanked by a few of your teammates and sizing up Nekoma within seconds, but it's you. Tanaka is distracted immediately, nearly taking a set to the face instead practicing a spike like he was ordered by Ukai. Daichi shouts something about staying focused, but Noya fires back at him a plea to not interrupt true love.

Tanaka hears maybe a third of what's said, because you're standing in his gym like you're going stay and watch—and you're holding flowers.

Ennoshita shoves him in the direction of you, claiming that it's obvious he won't be able focus on the match until he talks to you. As Tanaka approaches, your friends give encouraging smiles and slip away to talk to Kiyoko.

He means to ask what you're doing here, but the words don't come out. All he does is make fish out of water faces while glancing between you and the flowers, silently asking for an explanation.

"These are for you, after you win the practice match." You tell him simply, and with the way your pretty, pretty voice hits his ears, he knows it's true. He will win, because you said he will.

"Okay," He nods, eyes wide and face flushed. He knows he sounds breathless, but he's barely warmed up enough to use it as an excuse.

"And stop giving me so many flowers. I appreciate them," You hurry to assure, though he's ready to agree to anything you say. Anything. "but I've run out of vases to put them in. I've given the last four to my neighbors."

"Okay," He nods, again. Breathless, again. He's honestly not even sure this conversation is happening, but the grin that curves your lips upwards is too heavenly to just be a dream.

"Now, go kick some Nekoma ass, Ryuu."

"Okay,"

Tanaka turns around, and finds his whole team watching for his reaction. All he can think to do—to function, really—is raise his fists in the air and yell in victory.

You giggle at his excitement. Nekoma's Yamamoto can be heard wailing. Tsukishima comments about it being a creative way to mentally break the opposing team.

Tanaka hopes you stay watching him, because he feels ready to outplay Ushiwaka.

Tobio Kageyama hates studying. It's not as fun as volleyball, and takes up too much time and brainpower. He's not good at it either, which adds another level of frustration to an already unenjoyable experience.

But he gets to see you, which makes his Ukai-mandated tutoring sessions just a little bit more bearable.

You're quiet, which he likes, but you're not a pushover. You keep him in check—which Daichi says should earn you a Nobel Peace Prize, whatever that means—and on task, for the most part.

Though, he does spend the first ten and last fifteen minutes of each study session focusing more on you rather than his notes. He watches you with the same focused precision he uses to analyze volleyball plays. Tobio feels the same way, too; like he wants to know every part of you with absolute perfection.

It's why he doesn't notice the no-named scrub approaching in the final minutes of the study session. You're packing up, chatting with him about something he can't actually hear over his internal dialogue trying to figure out a way to ask you to come to Karasuno's next tournament.

It's too late by the time he realizes that someone else has come to steal your attention away. You, as always, are polite to the interrupter. Tobio is, predictably, not.

He keeps his mouth shut, teeth practically cracking together, and glares as the nobody hands you a bouquet of flowers. Tobio doesn't expect to get so worked up as he does, but the sight of you clutching flowers someone else got you is both a shot to his pride and has something tightening in his chest.

He doesn't understand it, and he doesn't like it.

The scrub leaves, followed out by nothing less than Tobio's harshest glare. You clear your throat, and his attention is snapped back to you, still sitting across the table from him. Your pretty brows are tugged into a pout of concern, and Tobio nearly melts at the sight.

"Everything alright, Kageyama?" You ask him, carefully quiet and mindful of the fact you're still seated in the library. He nods, stiffly, ears burning and unable to meet your gaze.

"Do you..." He trails off, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck while he tries to find his non-volleyball confidence. He winces at his awkward tone, but you remain still, attentive. The tight thing in his chest twists a little at your care. "Do you like flowers?"

You glance at the bouquet you were just given, like it's the first time you've seen it, despite it just being handed to you. Tobio watches as you fail to hide the grimace at the flowers, and he feels his ears burn even further when he realizes relief floods through him.

"I do," You explain, but you don't sound convinced. "I'm just... not into him."

Tobio leaves the conversation there, but he's still thinking about it a week later. That uncomfortable feeling in his chest when you were first given the flowers. By someone other than him.

He comes prepared for your next study session, albeit a bit stiff.

You're waiting at your usual table in the library, and it's on awkward feet that he approaches. You glance up from your textbooks when he gets close, eyes widening in shock when you see what he's holding.

A dozen roses.

Tobio can't look at you when he shoves the flowers in your direction, arm jutting out like he's handing you a loaded weapon and not a symbol of his affection.

But you're smiling. Warm and bright and wholly unlike last week's flowers from the scrub. There's another burning feeling in Tobio's chest when you accept the bouquet.

Pride.

Shoyo Hinata doesn't really believe his eyes when he sees you walk out to meet him in front of the school at the end of the day.

He's waiting by the front of the building, where he always is on days when your clubs end at the same times and he's able to walk you to the station. It's his favorite part of the week, and the only time he's willing to leave the gym before Kageyama.

Half the team still doesn't actually believe that you let him walk you.

He's grinning like always when he first sees you come into frame, nearly vibrating in place and calling your name as if you can't see him. Your smile is so pretty it catches him off guard, distracts him from his worst nightmare cradled in your arms.

You're ten feet away from him when finally notices, and his cheering stops immediately.

"Hey! Who gave you those flowers!" It should be a question, Shoyo realizes after the words fly out of his mouth, though it sounds more like a demand to tell him. You, sweet as always, don't scold him for his outburst.

"Hi, Shoyo," You greet him first, voice kind as you come to stand at his side. He's visibly pouting at the bouquet in your arms, but he can't find it in him care. "They're from this guy in my club. He asked me on a date, but I turned him down."

He tries not to let his joy show too obviously on his face, but he knows he's too easy to read. With his nerves calmed—at least for the moment—with the knowledge that you turned down the random guy from club, he's able to act at least a little bit normal on your trek to the station.

But now? Now he's on a mission.

He tries to hold normal conversations with you, really, but he's too focused on his secret task. He still carries your bag for you, even the flowers, begrudgingly, and nods along to everything you're saying. Even if he's not paying the most attention.

And, okay, he does feel a little guilty about not giving you his full attention when he waits the week for this very limited alone time with you, but it all pays off when he spots his target.

A flower bed.

Abandoning the bouquet in the basket of his bike he'd been pushing alongside you, Shoyo takes off into the yard of some random house on the way to the station.

You're calling his name in a hiss, but he's too focused on accomplishing his task. He is slightly aware he's technically trespassing, so he's careful to only take a few. Barely enough to be missed and definitely far less than what you deserve, but at least it's something.

He dashes out of the yard just as fast as he ran in, both your and his backpacks crashing with his quick movements. He stops in front of you, all wide eyes and hopeful grins while extending his bounty to you.

Flowers. Stolen from a garden, yes, but he hopes the fact that they're coming from him might account for the fact that they're a little limp from his manhandling.

"These are for you!" Shoyo declares, running on adrenaline and determination. Where he thrives best. "Please don't turn me down too!"

For a moment, Shoyo is frozen. He thinks he might've messed things up, or been too much, like Tsukishima always tells him.

But then you're smiling, and you take the stolen flowers from him.

"They're perfect, Sho," You're always so patient with him; he thinks he might be falling in love.

Shoyo finds just enough self control to not blurt that out, yet.

Kei Tsukishima likes to pretend that he doesn't watch you.

He thinks he's pretty good at it, too, when he's spent half a term watching you from afar without being confronted about it once. If anyone where to ask him, he'd deny it anyways, but there's a smug satisfaction he gets at not being caught.

He's lingering the hallway between classes, listening to Tadashi complain about some problem or another he's running into while practicing his jump float serves. Kei doesn't really hear him, because his attention is solely focused on you.

You're a little ways down the hallway, minding your own business while selecting from the vending machine. You're not in any type of danger that would require him to watch you so intently, but his attention has barely strayed from you since the moment you walked off with a muttered be right back, guys.

Tadashi is still talking, so he misses the way Kei's focus narrows on a second year approaching you, flowers in hand like he's living in some shoujo manga. He tells himself he doesn't care, but he stands straighter and narrows his eyes while watching the exchange.

The guy says something to you, looking like he's never talked to a girl in his life. You smile back—which Kei nearly rolls his eyes at—and take the flowers offered to you with a grin. As a final nail in the coffin, the second year hands you a folded piece of paper.

As soon as the guy walks off, Kei is closing the distance between the two of you. He doesn't even care that he might be blowing his whole I don't care persona, or his I'm not always watching you like a lovesick fool bit, either.

"What was that about?" Kei tries for nonchalance but it comes out more strained that he would've liked. You don't seem to notice the difference in his tone, thankfully, but he doesn't like the way you're smiling at the flowers so wistfully.

"He asked me out." You shrugged, fighting a grin that makes him scowl even more than usual. You hold up the paper he gave you, and now that he's not watching you from across the hallways, he can see the numbers scrawled across it. "Gave me his number and everything."

"Don't tell me you're actually going to entertain him." He keeps his voice purposefully flat, devoid of emotion. You shrug again, cheeks burning, and though he keeps his face neutral, Kei memorizes the way you look all pouty and flushed.

"I don't you," You sigh. "This is the first time anyone's ever given me flowers. Why not give him a chance?"

Kei does not like this answer. But he can't voice it even if he knew how, because it's then that Tadashi has finally made his way through the crowd, complaining about how he was abandoned.

Kei drops the conversation, but he doesn't forget it.

He beats you to class the next day, like usual. His seat is next to yours in homeroom, and he's already set up for the day with notes out and headphones on by the time you enter the classroom.

He tries to act like he's not watching your every movement, but he thinks he might be a little obvious with the way he takes one headphone off his ear when you get close—the one on the same side as you.

"Tsukki, what's this?" You ask, voice delicately soft in the otherwise quiet classroom. You're not drawing attention to yourself, or him, or the bouquet of flowers he left on your desk before you arrived. It makes him a little bolder, a little more willing to be honest with you.

"Flowers." He supplies, rather unhelpfully in his typical bored tone. Your intelligent eyes snap to him, and he has to fight his own urge to look away from your stare. He's crumbling and Kei Tsukishima doesn't crumble. "So you don't have to go out with that lame second year. You're welcome."

He sees you connect the dots, then. That the flowers are from him, and that he'd rather swallow his pride and admit you being asked out bothered him enough to do something about it than watch you go on a date with someone else.

Now he has to look away. The tips of his ears are starting to get too warm for his own comfort. Hence the headphones this morning.

"Thank you, Tsukki." You cheer, settling slowly into your seat as if you'd never seen anything so pretty as the flowers he bought you. Kei shrugs, tugging his headphones back securely over his ears.

"Don't think too much about it."

Tadashi Yamaguchi considers himself lucky to just be in your presence, always.

He's watching you with a focused look on his face while you explain one of the homework problems that really tricked you up the night before. He's walking with you and Tsukki to the club room before practice, where you're go your separate way and head home for the evening, and he's hooked on your every word.

It's why he doesn't notice the newcomer until he's standing in front of you, flowers held in shaking hands.

You're wedged between Tadashi and Tsukishima, so this newcomer has reason enough to be intimated. Tadashi can only watch—in horror—as this stranger holding out flowers to you babbles through some speech about admiring you from afar and wanting to get to know you better.

Before he knows you, you're holding the flowers and the guy takes off. Tadashi doesn't know what to do, not when he sees his chance with you slipping through his fingers. It's not like he's ever made it obvious that he likes you—god, he hopes not—but you are the walking embodiment of perfect.

And someone else just asked you out. In front of him.

"That was..." You laugh nervously, looking between the flowers and the two boys flanking you. Tadashi can only stare, face burning, while he struggles to string together a sentence that doesn't sound completely lame.

"Spare me," Tsukki huffs, rolls his eyes. It snaps Tadashi from his stupor, but just before he can tell his friend off for being rude, the blond shoves his shoulder in the direction of you. "Get it over with now, Tadashi."

And that was probably the worst thing Tsukki could've said before walking off.

He's left standing still, gaping like a fish at you. It doesn't help that you're looking to him for answers, still holding the flowers from another guy.

This is the worst way this could happen.

"Get what over with?" You ask sweetly, not sparing a retreating Tsukishima a second glance and instead putting all your focus on him.

Tadashi is certain his face is red. He's probably sweating, too. There's no stopping his nervous laugh, or the uncomfortable tell that something is up by the way he rubs the back of his neck while being unable to make eye contact with you.

"I-I don't want to sound lame." Tadashi stammers, backed into a corner by his best friend. You don't waver, pretty face twisted into concern the longer he drags this out. Now or never. "But, uh, I maybe had a plan to... to get the courage to ask you... out?"

It takes a moment for his roundabout answer to process in your mind, and every millisecond that ticks by in silence only deepens the wince on his face. He's finally going to do it. He's going kill Tsukishima.

You don't say anything. Not even when you turn, walking away from him. Tadashi feels his whole world fall apart around him for the time it takes you to walk ten feet to the nearest garbage can.

You drop the flowers in the trash, and walk back to him. Now it's his turn for his brain to catch up.

"Okay," You nod, determined, standing in front of him with no flowers and every expectation. "Do it."

"Do... what?"

"Ask me out."

You're so certain in your words, tiny grin cracking your soft lips. You want him to ask you out. He's still reeling from the devastation of watching you walk away from him seconds ago, and now he's suffering the whiplash of you telling him to ask you out.

This is going way better than he could've expected.

sakusa kiyoomi had a system.

it was a disturbingly efficient, clinically precise, and heartbreakingly domestic system that started with you—still half-asleep, wrapped in the sheets like a burrito of warmth and affection—and ended with him strutting out of your shared apartment looking like the world’s most germaphobic, love-drunk fashion disaster.

step one: disinfect mask.

step two: moisturize lips (for optimal kissing experience).

step three: line up three different tubes of your favorite lipstick shades on the bathroom counter like evidence in a crime scene.

step four: tilt your sleepy face up and murmur, “baby, if you don’t kiss me goodbye, then you might as well throw dirt at me.”

you’d groan into your pillow, muffling a laugh.

“that’s so dramatic,” you’d mumble.

“and yet,” he’d whisper, leaning down, “you’re still gonna kiss me.”

you always did.

the result was predictable: sakusa kiyoomi, outside your building, mask now covered in soft, imperfect lipstick stains—smudges of affection layered over disinfected fabric—looking like the physical embodiment of domestic insanity.

to him, it was devotion. to everyone else? chaos.

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

by the time he reached the gym, the other four were already there—bokuto doing handstands, hinata bouncing like a golden retriever, atsumu making tiktoks, and meian trying very hard to pretend he didn’t see any of it.

sakusa strolled in, gym bag slung over his shoulder, mask still secured over the lower half of his face like some divine relic of romance.

bokuto froze mid-handstand.

“BRO,” he yelled, flipping over and nearly face-planting, “ARE THOSE—ARE THOSE KISSES ON YOUR MASK???”

sakusa, deadpan: “yes.”

hinata blinked. “like… actual lipstick kisses??”

atsumu dropped his phone. “nah, this has gotta be a prank. no way you let anyone near your face, omi-omi. no way.”

sakusa narrowed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. “you’re all idiots.”

bokuto gasped dramatically. “oh my god, he admitted it. he’s in love.”

hinata grinned. “with who though?? a disinfectant bottle? LYSOL?!”

“hand sanitizer brand collab?” atsumu added, cackling.

sakusa turned his head so slowly it was almost threatening. “it’s from my fiancé.”

the gym went silent.

bokuto blinked. “your what now?”

“my fiancé.” his voice was calm. too calm. “the person i’m marrying. the love of my life. the one who kisses me goodbye every morning. that fiancé.”

hinata’s jaw dropped. “you have a fiancé?”

“i do.”

“like a real one?” atsumu squinted. “not like… a limited edition mask you named?”

sakusa stared at him. “do you want to die, miya?”

meian sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “kiyoomi, you can’t blame them. you’ve never mentioned her.”

“because she’s mine,” sakusa said flatly, crossing his arms. “and i don’t like sharing what’s mine with people who sneeze into their palms.”

bokuto wheezed. “YOU’RE GATEKEEPING YOUR FIANCÉ???”

“absolutely.”

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

later that day, the team met for lunch, and sakusa was still wearing the lipstick-covered mask like a knight guarding his sacred relic.

bokuto kept leaning across the table. “okay but like… she’s real real?”

“she exists,” sakusa said, stabbing at his salad with unnecessary aggression. “she cooks, she laughs, she has hands that fit mine perfectly, and she—” he paused, glancing at them. “she disinfects her phone regularly.”

hinata raised a brow. “that’s the detail you lead with?”

atsumu grinned. “bro’s in love with a hygiene fairy.”

“she’s not a fairy,” sakusa muttered, “she’s divine retribution with a skincare routine.”

meian was quietly texting on his phone, probably updating the group chat with ‘sakusa’s finally cracked. send help.’

bokuto leaned in again. “so what’s she like? what’s her name? do we get to meet her?”

sakusa’s jaw flexed. “you’ll meet her when i feel you deserve to be in the same room as her.”

“translation,” atsumu said, smirking, “never.”

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

but the thing about sakusa kiyoomi was—he didn’t lie.

so when he showed up to practice the next morning, hair still damp from a shower, mask freshly pressed with brand-new lipstick marks in your favorite shade that none of them had seen before, they couldn’t help staring.

bokuto gasped. “BRO—THEY’RE DIFFERENT TODAY.”

hinata leaned closer, eyes wide. “he changes colors every day! it’s like a lipstick advent calendar!”

atsumu crossed his arms. “nah, this has gone too far. either yer makin’ this up, or yer payin’ someone to stamp their lips on that thing every morning.”

sakusa calmly tilted his head. “you think i’m paying for affection?”

“no, no, that came out wrong—”

“because i could buy the entire lipstick factory if i wanted to, but i don’t need to. i get kissed for free.”

the smugness in his tone made atsumu physically recoil. “that’s disgusting, man.”

bokuto whispered, “that’s kinda romantic though.”

hinata nodded. “yeah, like, imagine loving someone enough to—”

atsumu interrupted, “—risk mask contamination? can’t be me.”

sakusa, voice dripping with disdain: “no one asked you.”

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

the final straw came during a press conference.

sakusa sat beside bokuto, mask still smudged with faint lip prints despite being cleaned (meian begged him to try and wipe them before a conference). journalists whispered among themselves like a flock of gossiping pigeons.

one reporter cleared her throat. “sakusa-san, if we may ask… those markings on your mask—are they… intentional?”

bokuto snorted beside him. “oh, they’re intentional.”

sakusa didn’t even flinch. “yes,” he said plainly, tone dead serious. “they’re from my fiancé. she kisses me goodbye before every game.”

the room went silent, cameras clicking.

another reporter asked cautiously, “would you say it’s a sort of… pre-game ritual?”

“i’d say it’s a matter of survival,” sakusa said, eyes softening. “if she doesn’t kiss me goodbye, my day feels cursed. if she does, the world makes sense.”

bokuto made a strangled noise that was halfway between a gasp and a sob. “HE’S SO IN LOVE—”

atsumu was shaking his head violently in the background. “i still don’t believe it.”

“believe what you want,” sakusa said, standing up once the conference ended. “she exists whether you do or not.”

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

a few hours later, you showed up at the gym with a lunchbox in your hands and a soft smile on your lips.

the entire team froze.

you waved shyly. “hi! kiyoomi forgot his lunch.”

bokuto blinked. “wait. you’re real?”

“i… hope so?” you laughed, confused but polite.

atsumu stared at you, at the lipstick tube poking out of your pocket, at sakusa’s smug face, and groaned. “no way. no way. he was telling the truth?!”

you smiled, handing sakusa his lunch. “baby, i didn’t forget to give you your kisses this morning, right?”

sakusa’s tone melted instantly. “never, my love.”

he leaned down, mask off now, and let you press another kiss to the corner of his mouth in full view of the team.

hinata squeaked. bokuto shrieked. atsumu covered his eyes. meian muttered something about needing a sabbatical.

and sakusa kiyoomi, stoic and sterile and sickeningly in love, just adjusted his mask—now freshly decorated in lipstick—and said, completely serious,

“told you. she’s real. now disinfect your hands before i set the gym on fire.”

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

and from that day on, no one questioned the lipstick marks again.

(bokuto did, however, ask where to buy the same lipstick.

sakusa told him hell.

bokuto searched for that shop until meian felt bad and told him that sakusa had meant literal hell.)

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

‎♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡

a: i want some yakult, i ran out like- a week ago

<taglist>

@the-bloopsters @nelinkythoughts @kukikoooo @sleepykeijiii @averys-place @sxnnee @anzuuhoshi @evilari111 @rabbitcola @whimsybloom @yeonette @forgottensniper @katzline @michexoxo

© showhay — don’t copy nor translate without my permission. i do not own any of the photos that i have used. credits to all the rightful owners. (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)

"Now, where the heck did it go? Aha!" your hair slipping through your clips as you quickly typed out a reply. The screen reflects your bright smile.

Bokuto-kun: HEY! im omw and be there in 15 mins!

Bokuto-kun: SO EXCITED TO SEE U

Y/N: sounds good! take ur time and drive safe :)

With an exasperated sigh, you settled into the couch before coming to a realization. The kids are not ready for their nap, they haven't had any midday snacks, and they're still high on energy. Well shit. You got up almost immediately, knocking over your sister as you ran to your room.

"Aki-chan, can you look over Ryo-kun real quick? I just have to finish getting ready! Mom and Dad should be coming home soon!" You grimaced as the clock ticked on your wall. It would take at least ten minutes for you to finish your makeup, another five for your hair, and a few more to get the kids settled.

At this point, you're at your wits' end, and you haven't even left the house. Sweat lines your furrowed brows. You try to remind yourself that finally, you can hang out with the boy you like. It has been a good week since you last saw him, and you could gnaw through the bars in anticipation at this point.

The music hummed in the background, cool air blowing from the AC, attempting to soothe your nerves. You can't help but reminisce about the way Bokuto asked you out only a few weeks back. You strutted out from class on the way to your part-time work, before a blur of a man could barely stop himself from toppling you.

His ears tinged pink, bouqeut quivering in his hands as he bowed, "CAN I PLEASE TAKE YOU OUT AFTER CLASS AND BE YOUR BOYFRIEND?" That definitely was not what Akaashi told him to do.

A little stunned, yet you offered him a smile and agreed almost immediately, sharing the same feelings. What's not to love about a man who yearns loudly?

With class in session, your hangouts were exclusive to spots around the school, the library, and your local coffee shop for its convenience. As a part-time worker and a full-time student, dating a student athlete just had to fit into your calendar, and a little bit of fate drew you closer.

But now, you can both relax for a week or two due to the holidays. No exams. No classes. No volleyball practices. He planned the date, refused to give you any details aside from a pick up time so the two of you could be in peace—, "ONEE-CHAN! Ryo-kun had an explosion!" Or maybe not.

You almost stubbed your toe as you speed walk towards the living room, where you find your sister grimacing her nose and pointing at your brother mid-action, "See— explosion!"

The explosion in question was your brother's diaper being full, and the copious amounts of wipes pulled out of the container, now scattered on the floor. Ryotaro merely glanced and gave you a toothy grin, and babbles of explanation poured out.

The age gap between you all often is a privilege for the kids, as they can do no wrong until they actually do something wrong. Their usual boisterous laughs echoing through the halls are replaced by a stillness with your upcoming reprimand.

Yet another event stacked against you today, your patience tethering the line to insanity. With squinted eyes and a drop in your tone, "Ryotaro, that wasn't a very good thing to do."

As if sensing your change in demeanor, your brother's grin was replaced by the quiver of his lips, big blobs of tears lined his eyes as he sniffled and put his hands up. You merely shook your head as you picked him up, as he settled on your hips once again.

"Aki-chan, could you get the wipes while I get ready to change him?" you huffed out as you walked towards the kitchen and grabbed some milk for both kids and snacks for your sister so they can release that energy elsewhere. You scurried back to the living room, handing the snack bowl to your sister as she placed it on the coffee table.

A sharp ding rang from the front door as your phone buzzed with a new notification.

Bokuto-kun: IM HERE <3

Bokuto Koutaro stood outside patting away the nonexistent dust from his coat as he fumbled with the flowers in his hand. His hair was down, straying from his usual look, but out of his face. His fringe framed his golden eyes, currently staring at the door.

In between the quick, hurried footsteps, the door swung open with you finally in his sights. Your hair still in clips as your brother clung to you even more, with your sister gripping your leg as Bokuto towered over all of you. He took you in as if it were the last time, his grin taking over his face. "Hi, YN-chan!"

"Oh my— Bokkun, I hope you didn't wait too long. Please come in!" You shimmied your brother up as Bokuto stepped into the foyer, removing his outer coat to reveal a light blue quarter-zip matching the cardigan you had planned to wear.

"I'm so sorry! I've been running around, and I didn't see the time—" You grabbed the flowers he gave and scampered to the living room, Bokuto trailing you as his eyes wandered around the house, until it landed on you. His chest clenched.

Bokuto turned and leaned forward. The proximity allowed you to catch a whiff of his rich, warm scent, delighted at the red tint creeping your cheeks, "Don't worry about it! I'm happy to be here with you."

"And who might you guys be?" Bokuto mused as he looked over the two kids and grinned. He knelt down in front of your sister, who was tugging on her two low braids, "I'm thinking you're Aki-chan—"

Before he can finish, Akiko's eyes widened and shimmered with wonder as she reached out for him, "Wahh— how did you know? Are you a mind reader? Do you also know his name!" as she points to her brother at your hips.

"Oh well, yes of course! That's Ryo-kun, isn't that right?" Bokuto let out a series of rapid, enthusiastic nods, complemented by gentle pats on her head. Your sister just changed her favorite person of the day.

"WAHHH! You're cool! Do you have superpowers?" Akiko tugged on Bokuto as he lifted her up in the air with a laugh, before mirroring you effortlessly with your sister on his hip, her arms wrapped snuggly around his neck.

"Akiko, that's enough— let him settle in first." You give Bokuto a smile, offset by the tense set of your jaw and a worried flicker in your eyes, "Sorry about that, my sister gets really excited about new people."

"No, don't apologize! I was worried they wouldn't like me. But that's not the case, right Aki-chan?" Bokuto moved closer, and you could feel a wave of calm wash over you. Your sister chattered, bouncing with glee as Bokuto continued to carry her.

Akiko squeezed him tighter in adoration, "Mmhmm! I like Bo-nii! Can I call you that, too?"

"AHA— of course you can!" Bokuto hugged her back as he gently lowered her to the floor. His gaze lifted and scanned the space, "Are your parents home? I wanted to greet them before we headed out."

"Oh no, they're on errands right now, but they're running late. I'm sorry—" You eased yourself on the couch, your brother on your lap with Bokuto on your side. His arm snaked around your waist, pulling you closer.

You pulled at your blouse, as Bokuto caught the hitch of your voice, "I was supposed to be getting ready, but the kids weren't sleeping, and my brother still has to get changed and—"

"Hey, hey, we got time. I'm here on your schedule, okay?" Bokuto drew you to him. His palm was warm as he rubbed repetitive circles just above your hips. He focused on you as your brother fiddled with your hair.

You leaned into Bokuto's embrace, letting your head fall on his shoulder. You tipped your head back as you caught golden hues peering into you, "Are you sure? I feel so bad since you made the plans, and I wouldn't want to ruin anything."

"Any time I have with you is the best. It doesn't have to be anything grand, so long as I'm with you," he shook his head, bemused by your statement. "So don't worry! Haven't you heard? I have superpowers!"

Bokuto grabbed Ryotaro as he threw a funny face at him, causing a fit of giggling chuckles, "But seriously, I got this. I have two older sisters with their own kids; your siblings are going to be fine."

Your eyes lingered on Bokuto, still hesitant, not with uncertainty about him, but simply guilt gnawing in your gut. "Okay, but I'll be quick, I don't wanna take up more time than necessary—," He squished your cheeks, stopping you with your words.

"Baby, you're doing great, so go finish and get dolled up for me."

He scooched you off the couch, before you proceeded to leave him with a kiss on the cheek. You briskly walked around the corner, missing Bokuto's very own sudden flush creeping from his neck as he ran his hands through his hair. "Your sister is quite something now, isn't she, Ryo-kun? Now, I believe it's time for your nappy—"

By the time you finished setting your face, small knocks vibrated from your ajared door. You spot Bokuto out of the corner of your eye, leaning against your door frame. You look back at your mirror in an attempt not to draw a crooked line with your eyeliner. "What are you staring at?"

Bokuto pushed himself off as he sauntered right behind you, fighting the urge to give you a bear hug, "Could you blame me! My girlfriend's too pretty not to be admired!"

"Are you almost done? Can I help you with anything?" He beamed, loving the red hues spreading on your cheeks once again. One could say he does it on purpose. You shook your head from side to side as you stood up and faced him.

"I'm ready now—, how do I look?"

Bokuto doesn't give you an answer; instead, he cupped your cheeks and brought you closer to him. You felt his breath tickle your face before he pressed his lips ever so softly on yours. Time stood still, and it was as if the world was silenced. You relished his sweet taste as you sighed into the kiss.

He pulled away, his forehead resting against yours as his hands found their spot on your waist. Bokuto was enamored as if you were the world. His world. "Perfect, like always."

"Thank you for everything. I know our date hasn't even started and—" He pressed a finger to your lips, stopping your doubts right before they can even become coherent. That was what he was good at. He soared in the courts, but with you, he let himself be grounded. Only for you.

"Hey, you're always there for me, your parents, and the kids. Let me take off this load for you. I love being able to do this."

An audible click from the front door was accompanied by your mom calling out for you. Bokuto slipped his fingers and intertwined them with yours as he pulled you towards your parents. "Hello, Auntie and Uncle! It's nice to finally meet you!"

Your mom squealed and yanked him out of your grasp. You stopped yourself from hanging your jaw open, appalled at the scene in front of you. Your mom had enveloped him in a hug, "Oh my! I was wondering why Y/N was taking so long in bringing you home!"

"Mom— stop, this is why I don't bring him around," you huffed out as you knew where this conversation was going, begging her not to start with the whole grandkids scenario. You looked at your dad, signaling him to pry his wife out.

"Okay, that's enough. They have plans they need to get to," your dad gently redirected your mom to the kitchen as he trailed over Bokuto's form. Your dad pursed his lips in a tight line as Bokuto extended his hand, waiting.

Your dad reached out to his before grabbing Bokuto and locking him into another hug, patting his back, "I've heard good things! I appreciate your help with my daughter. Come by for dinner later, okay?"

"Better yet, would you like to stay forever?!" Your mom hollered from the kitchen, and your sister clung onto her leg as she waved goodbye with droopy eyes.

A groan escaped your mouth as you pushed your dad further into the house, "Thank you for that, I'm going to go bury myself now—," meanwhile, Bokuto sheepishly smiled at your parents. He can't tell you yet, but it was in his plans to ask you to be a part of his future. To be a part of yours. But this is a little secret he'd keep for a little longer.