I Can't Say "I Love You" | Kuroo Tetsurō

Chapter 14: Best Friends

If Haiba Lev was going to read another English word then he was going to lose his mind. No joke. Their books cluttered around them in the small bedroom and the complete absence of any sound was driving him nuts. "Miiiirraaaaiii..." he began to whine for the fourth time. "Can we please please please take a break now?"

The bespectacled girl glanced up at the clock and nodded, "I think now is a good time as any."

"Phew..." The lanky first year sighed in relief, closing the notebook in front of him and flopping unto his back.

"It wasn't that bad," Mirai snorted.

Lev lifted his head slightly to narrow his eyes at her accusingly. "Mirai-san, we've been at it for almost six hours! I still wanna be sane when I become the future ace!" He complained loudly.

"And exactly who was it that begged me to tutor his sorry ass?" She clicked her tongue in annoyance and tossed a pillow at his head. "So mean..." Lev grumbled childishly.

If Lev doesn't pass his exams then he would have to be held back from the training camp to take supplementary tests during the summer. Being a rookie with zero experience in volleyball, the team can't have him missing any practices.

The. Pressure. Was. On.

In order for him to be able to attend the Tokyo Games, he has to either pass the finals or pass the makeup test if ever he should fail a subject. Easier said than done since his motivation slowly decreases when he stares at a book for too long.

He's a half! Shouldn't he be skilled with foreign languages or something?!

"Hey, Lev, I have a question."

He grunted in response and lifted the pillow from his face to look at her.

"You're half-Russian yet you only ever speak Japanese. Isn't your mother Russian? Can't she teach you some basic words?" She asked, tapping the end of her pen against the table.

"Well, yeah, she is...but I've been living in Japan my whole life. Why would I need to speak Russian?" He questioned her back.

He had a point there.

"What about you, Mirai-san? What's your excuse?" His choice of words took her by surprise. "Why don't you date when you're so cute and popular?"

"Th-That's a totally unrelated topic!" She blushed and avoided eye contact.

"But I'm curious! Why don't you date?! I've seen you reject so many guys in school already!" He threw his hands up in the air and pouted at her. "Are you that picky?"

"I'M NOT PICKY, DAMN YOU!" She growled and threw another pillow at his head.

Lev caught it this time and placed it down next to him, his eyes fixated on her as he refused to drop the subject. When she kept silent, he scooted closer to the table in-between them, and leaned over to direct his questioning gaze into her eyes.

"Tell me. I wanna know." Lev ordered.

"No,"

"Please!"

"No, Lev. And keep your face away from mine."

"I'll move back if you tell me."

"NO."

Lev inched forward until their noses were practically touching. Awkward? Yes. But Mirai wasn't going to back down that easily.

"Why won't you tell?" He finally asked after a prolonged silence.

She chewed on her bottom lip and her eyes began to dart around anxiously; Lev grumbled and continued to stare at her with an irritating sense of determination.