let me stay with you

“You must be losing on purpose.”

Emi tossed her playing cards on the small table between the lounge chairs after realizing that she had won another round against Bokuto, her surprised laugh carrying boisterous glee. It wasn’t a game either of them were much familiar with but Bokuto, who folded his arms over his head in stunned exasperation, had yet to get the hang of it and didn’t seem to get lucky even once.

You opened an eye at the noise and Miyu turned her head, huffing, a mean comment already on the tip of her tongue but she refrained from letting it slip. They couldn’t have known that the shallow waves had slowly lulled her to sleep as she relaxed on the watermelon inflatable, sunbathing contentedly whilst lying on her stomach. The float was easily big enough for the three of you but while Miyu shared the space with you, Emi had opted to play cards with Bokuto and Akaashi in the shade.

It was an unusual privilege to use the secluded pool area on the rooftop of the apartment complex but the tranquility of it was welcomed after the incident at the beach the day before. None of you complained and even Kenma, being able to charge his gaming console at one of the sockets he’d moved his lounge chair closer to, seemed content enough despite being exposed to the summer heat.

You did miss the savory smell of all kinds of different dishes that caused your mouth to water whenever you would pass the food stalls at the beach, and your empty stomach and the slowly setting sun were beginning to remind you that you had spent your last day simply lazing around at the pool. Still, you were on your vacation so there was nothing wrong with doing just that.

“This is so nice,” you sighed and closed your eyes again, the faraway cries of cicadas sounding as you moved your fingers beneath the water surface, slightly tapping one foot against your calf to the music Kuroo had put on hours ago. “I really don’t feel like going back already.”

“Tell me about it,” Miyu said, running a hand through her still damp locks, “we get back and have preparation classes right away.”

You almost groaned at the thought. You really couldn’t catch a break as third years, could you? The universities’ entrance exams weren’t until February and most didn’t even accept applications yet, but the exams were just so difficult that you had to prepare for them months in advance. Your friends would go to different schools for their classes as well, meaning you wouldn’t get to see them as much during your break either.

“We’re gonna be so busy.” Miyu propped her chin on her arms she had crossed in front of her and the low-spirited tone in her voice suggested that she must’ve been thinking the same thing. The guilt of not having spent more time with your friends in your second year was creeping up again and to comfort both her and yourself a little, you leaned your head on her shoulder in sympathy. She nudged you in return, a bittersweet smile on her lips, when the float suddenly started to shake, startling the both of you.

Grabbing the rope attached to the float, Kuroo pulled at it firmly to keep himself afloat after having finished swimming another lap. You’d barely explored the pool enough to realize that there were areas simply too deep to stand on, intended for people preferring to dive in from one end.

“You’re gonna relax there all day—is the float that comfortable?” Kuroo glanced up at you with a crooked smile as you looked over your shoulder. He’d pushed his slick hair out of his face again, glistening chest rising and falling in a labored manner and you averted your eyes to instead stretch your limbs, ignoring the warmth spreading in your face as you said, “it is!”

“Wanna get on too?” He raised an eyebrow at Miyu’s question and pulled at the rope to turn the float and see whether he could even fit with the two of you claiming most of the space. Instinctively you shuffled closer to your friend, quietly inviting him to join you and that was when his expression softened a little.

“Alright then.” Taking a firmer hold of the rope as his other hand almost slid off the smooth surface, he heaved himself up and both you and Miyu had to steady yourselves from toppling over to the side that dipped under the surface. You cringed slightly at the cool water suddenly reaching your navel, stinging a little after lying in the warmth of the sun for so long. Kuroo settled down next to you and crossed his arms in a similar manner as Miyu had done before to rest his forehead against them.

“Tired?” You asked, the deep exhale he’d released amusing you. He needed a break from swimming, that much was obvious, but the float’s surface dipped under his weight, causing you to tip towards him. The question was your attempt to distract yourself from getting too worked up over almost touching his skin and you tried your best not to get too close by leaning your upper body against your friend. Who eyed you with a crooked eyebrow and didn’t budge to move, by the way.

“Nah,” he said, even though you could tell he was visibly relaxing now that he didn’t have to move his body to stay afloat anymore. He’d been swimming for a while, making up for not going running in the mornings the last few days you’d stayed here. But who could really blame him? Wanting to sleep in on your vacation was only natural.

Kuroo turned his head to face you, black hair sticking to his forehead, gentle smile still present on his lips, eyebrows slightly furrowed in a teasing kind of way. Words weren’t necessary in this moment, you could tell that he felt as content as the rest of you, relaxed and happy. It was a sight you couldn’t get used to, couldn’t keep your gaze on for too long, your heart fluttering and stomach squeezing. Returning a smile after feeling this way was easy and you let your guard down just enough to have your arm graze his shoulder now. Tenderly, skin warm from lying in the sun all day against skin that felt cold to the touch because of the cool water it had been exposed to.

It was comforting in a way. Knowing that the two of you had gotten close enough to be touching like this, although your heart and mind were running a marathon. But there was no desire to withdraw, move away in case it made him uncomfortable because he also stayed put, resting his shoulder against you. Not withdrawing either, not saying anything. You wondered if this meant he was as comfortable with you as you were with him, reminded you of how you’d woken up that morning on the patio, the blanket draped over both of your bodies. He’d told you not to worry about it and to get inside to warm up, didn’t want you to catch a cold for sleeping outside.

He was caring. Despite the dumb jokes he’d crack that only made you shake your head but still grin like a fool, he always seemed to make sure you were doing alright. You’d gotten to know him better in the last few weeks and you were surprised that besides the competitive attitude he showed in class he was such a fun guy to be around with. Who cared about his friends, even if he teased them. You realized that he did that to push them beyond their limits, to overcome their mental obstacles keeping them from truly developing their potential, be it in social settings or academic—you figured it was a trait he’d learned from being in a sports club. And sometimes he was just fooling around, without much purpose, just a teenager making fun of his friends as an act of endearment.

With you Kuroo did all that too but held himself back if you compared it to how he treated his friends, was gentler with you as though afraid to scare you away. You stole a glance at him, watching the way his shoulders rose with each breath. How could you tell him not to hold back? You didn’t mind a heavy pat on the back or the way he’d grab Bokuto’s arm to keep him from running ahead. Didn’t mind treating you as though you were a close friend. Though he did grasp you by your shoulders last night, fingers warm and firm, to switch places on the sidewalk. You hadn’t thought much of it, thinking he preferred walking closer to the street to have some sort of control over what happened when a car passed by too closely, but you figured that he might be starting to become more familiar with you after all. So being next to him like this was comforting.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” He asked, seemingly not bothered at all by the fact that you were so close, that you were touching. But he simply lifted a finger to point at your friends in the shade where Bokuto jumped up from his seat to throw his cards on the table in triumph. “Akashi mentioned there’s a festival.”

“Oh, right!” Miyu’s hand flew against her forehead, smacking herself as she remembered talking about it with Emi the evening before. “We didn’t bring our yukata but we could still go to the festival tonight, right?” She addressed you with a less than gentle nudge, pushing you further to the side that you had to push back in return. It didn’t seem to deter her in the slightest that you sent her a look of panic. The sly smile on her face let on that much.

“Sure,” you said, forcing the words out between teeth as you tried to fight her. “I actually did bring mine, by the way.” You weren’t all that successful as Miyu was simply much stronger and much more determined than you to push you against the boy on your other side, that you could hardly avoid your shoulder touching his more firmly now. But Kuroo didn’t mind, on the contrary, he watched the two of you wrestle, a grin parting his lips as he reached for the water.

“Oi, you don’t get to bully her all by yourself, Yoshino-chan,” he said, voice low in a playful warning, surprising you. He’d switched to more casual honorifics a day into your trip, making it seem like you’d all gotten much closer already and that’s what caused Miyu to grin as well. And you didn’t like the look they shared, a suspicion already rising within you that had you inch back slowly. Before you could move any further, Kuroo flicked water your way and followed after you as you got up in panicked haste, trying to escape until slender fingertips brushed your sides, sending you reeling to the side with a shriek.

“Wait—no!”

Miyu’s hands flew across your exposed skin, tickling you in all the sensitive places that had you burst out laughing and crying simultaneously. Abdomen cramping, you started to fight her off, move away from her but Kuroo blocked you from behind, your back crashing into his chest as he grabbed your arms to hold you still. The hold on you exposed your stomach to your friend and you gasped loudly when Miyu continued to tickle you relentlessly, sending another fit of laughter through your body that it started to hurt.

It was enough noise for the others to look up and see what was happening and none of them were really surprised to see you be the victim of a very unfair two-on-one tickle attack. When Akaashi exposed Bokuto of being just as ticklish after the spiker had made fun of you, Emi reached out a hand to confirm it for herself.

“Whoa, hold on a sec!” Ironically, it didn’t save him from an attack just as brutal. Though he’d probably have an easier time backing away from Emi, if he wasn’t even more sensitive to tickles than you…

Kenma peered past his console just as you kicked your legs to get Miyu off of you, flailing out of Kuroo’s grasp and rolling dangerously close to one side of the inflatable. He was sure that you were going to drop into the pool, but his friend caught you, clutched your arm with a hand and hauled you back so quickly he nearly toppled over you. The silence that followed was merely interrupted by Bokuto’s loud protests, attempting to escape from a gloating Emi, and Akaashi’s dry remark that he’d had it coming.

Miyu placed a hand on her mouth to stifle a gasp, the sight of Kuroo bending over you surprising her. It was an accident, both of his forearms resting on either side of your head prevented him from crushing you beneath him after he’d caught you, but it did take him a moment too long to move away from you.

You stared up at him, frozen in shock. He just saved you from falling into the water, from suddenly diving into the cold, an outcome you’d been willing to accept if it meant to escape the tickling. Quite uncertain whether you should thank him you simply lay there, catching you breath.

He was close, wet bangs falling into his face and a few droplets beginning to trickle down your cheeks. But he was unable to move just yet, looking just as stunned as you since he hadn’t planned to land on you like this. Your breathing was fast and uneven, your pounding heart possibly responsible for the heat in your face and you didn’t dare move an inch, either. This position felt strangely intimate. It was an accident.

There was a slight redness across his nose and cheeks as his eyes took you in. Your hair messily spread out, chest heaving as you tried to calm yourself down, doe-eyed gaze on him as if expectant. What really caught his eye was the flustered expression on your face, an expression anyone would have after having been tickled without mercy. On the cusp of crying and out of breath, but the fact that it was you with that expression excited him, urged him on to tease you further and see how shy you would get, how you would react if he—a movement in his peripheral vision had him shake out of it and he straightened himself with an uneasy chuckle.

“You really scared me there,” Kuroo said, your name following after in a way that almost sounded too familiar, as though he hadn’t meant to call you by your family name like he always did, but your first name. He knocked your forehead with his knuckles gently which was enough to draw a soft laugh from you and clear your mind from the haze that had been so difficult to escape from. There was just enough sense left in you to take the hand he offered to help you up.

“Huh, didn’t expect Bokuto to be the ticklish type.” Said friend was holding the lounge chair’s backrest up to use it as a barrier between him and Emi, who stalked up on him slowly, hands raised as if ready to go for another round. Kuroo ran a hand through his hair, an amused smile playing on his lips when even the barrier wasn’t enough to block her attack from the side, causing Bokuto to jump and shriek.

“I think it makes total sense,” you said with a soft chuckle. Breathing was a little easier now as you watched your friend chase Bokuto around the pool. You raised a hand to touch the spot your heart was rapidly pounding against when you caught Miyu’s eye. She was still covering her mouth but the crinkles around her eyes suggested that she was smiling, big time. Purposely hiding it from you because one look at her had your face heat up in an instant and lower your gaze. Reminding you that what just happened didn’t seem strange only to you.

But all that was pushed into the back of your minds when Kuroo called out to Kenma, who flinched at the sudden perception, already turning his back on him because he had an inkling of what his friend wanted from him. Kuroo mentioned it the first time you had gone to the beach that swimming was a good way of building up stamina and he just couldn’t let his best friend laze around the entire time, could he?

He leaped back into the pool, the force of his jump pushing back the inflatable and you held onto your friend for support as cold water splashed against your skin, startling both Miyu and you. This time she couldn’t hold back the words and scolded him for not being careful which he acknowledged with a flat palm close to his face, apologizing halfheartedly. You laughed and patted her back and Emi was still chasing Bokuto around the lounge chair Akaashi was sitting on.

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