an: happy 2021 everyone! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🙏 :D let's just wish that this year isn't as terrible as 2020 :,) also, thank you all so much for 430k reads! 😭💗
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"God fucking dumbledore dammit!"
Masanori's loud remarks caught you off guard of shaping the rice in your wet palms. You felt afraid from her sudden bark. Well that was because she was currently playing a game.
Kenma's game to be exact. Which is his PSP. The girl has been losing every three minutes over at the same level. And she was playing the same game while you guys were preparing dinner.
You were all back at the nearby lake next to the hotel to have dinner for the day, and Masanori was here beating a level that Kenma could've easily won but the 2nd year manager had to butt in his business and told the setter that the level was 'plain easy' for someone like her. Let's just say she was going to swallow back her own words because it had already been seven minutes passed.
"FUCK THIS FLYING FAIRY FUCKHEAD!!!"
"MASANORI! LANGUAGE!" Yaku shouts from the distance. Nobuyuki just laughs from beside him and so did Kuroo.
As the girl groaned and facepalmed from another loss—Kenma (who had been watching her play and lose for an entire minute) snatched the PSP out of her hands and muttered a small 'thank you' in a sarcastic tone before walking away, his eyes glued back to the game console.
As you patted the girl's back with an awkward and reassuring smile to keep her calm down, you uttered to her whilst holding a ball of rice in your other hand, "Don't mind, Kazushi-San. Kenma-San can take care of that level..."
"WHY IS KENMA SO GOOD AT EVERYTHING???" She whines, her fingers pulling her short locks of hair. You nervously backed away a little from Masanori's surprising answer. A small sweat appeared down crawling down your forehead. Mainly, you would just leave the other manager be with her small breakdowns about Kenma not just physically being better than her but including in playing simple games like the one earlier—he was very good than it better than Masanori herself.
"The tournament is almost near. We shouldn't be focusing on that game that much, Kazushi-San," you told the girl in concern. Watching Masanori being gloomy wasn't much of an event everyday to the team. In fact, it rarely happens to the girl if she challenges Kenma to a video gaming battle—in which, of course, she loses from time to time.
"Kenma is a god at this...I guess I shouldn't really be confident about it. Well then, I feel better now. Thank you, F/n-Chan..." Masanori says in a calm but low voice as she faced down on the ground. Sweatdropping once again, you showed Masanori your worried smile and patted her back once more—trying to make the conversation quick. "There's no need to thank me. What can you say? Kuroo-Senpai told me that Kenma's been always playing ever since they met."
"Oh yeah, about Kuroo..."
You felt yourself tremble a bit when Masanori started to mention his name in such a monotone voice. "You lost the bet, right? Did you accept his punishment?"
"DON'T MAKE IT SOUND WEIRD...!!"
"IT'S NOT WEIRD!! I MEANT HIS SMALL PENALTY BECAUSE OF YOUR LOSS! But did you, though?"
Thinking about it, you weren't really sure about accepting Kuroo's deal or not. After all, the guy was your upperclassman. And after hanging out with Kenma throughout the whole day in different kinds of arcades, listening to his small stories about him and Kuroo growing up together...you might have second thoughts about this. "I'm not really sure..."
"Huh?"
You pulled your lips into an awkward smile, almost turning upon your mouth into an eerie grin, and at this point, you felt Masanori shivering in her place due to your expression. "I...still haven't made my choice whether I should go or not have a date with Kuroo-Senpai...I mean, he's good looking—yeah, but it's like I'm...not interested at all..." is what you said to the girl.
Masanori raises a brow. "But didn't you said that you always wanted to go on a date with any guy?" She asked, placing her hand underneath her cheek. You thought about her question for a bit of time—though, you think that it's best not to really go deep into your mind just for a simple question. After all, you needed to know Kuroo's motives of why he decided to use the term; 'date' for your penalty of the stupid bet he made.
Not like you really wanted to know Kuroo's motives. Just his reason you guess. You were clueless about everything after all. After you finished mixing the soup in the pot, Masanori signaled everyone that dinner was ready to be served. It took them a while to come over to the tables and eat altogether.
"Talking about Kuroo, how about the little Libero that got you that anime keychain?"
"Keychain? Ah, you mean Nagito?"
"Yeah, whoever this Nagito guy is. But it's not about him, silly..." the girl's eyes darted over to the mentioned 'little Libero' from across the table, his mouth being stuffed with food and his figure sitting between Inuoka and Lev. Shibayama. Yeah, that Libero besides Yaku.
"Shibayama-Kun? What about him?" You asked your friend who was basically smirking the whole time during dinner. Twirling her spoon around from the side of her fingertips, her eyes squinted in a teasing manner, "Hmmm~ Pretty much I think he likes you..."
You choked on your food.
"Bro, chill! What's gotten into you?"
"Don't just say things like that! They make me embarrassed!!" You shouted at Masanori who was now covering her face with her arms. She was puzzled by your certain reaction. It seemed that she pushed some few buttons down on you. "Eh? W-Well, sorry. I didn't know you'd think in that way...but what will you do if he does? It sorta seems kind of obvious..."
You stayed silent for a moment.
What will you do if you found out Shibayama likes you? It'll probably take a while for you to function properly.
"I-I don't know actually—wait, why are we talking about this??"
Masanori shoved a spoonful of rice in her mouth. "No idea. Though you seemed to be flustered about it."
"WHO WOULDN'T BE??!! ALSO, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THIS TOPIC UP, KAZUSHI-SAN!!"
"L/n, Masanori, you two hurry up since it's getting late!" Naoi's tone immediately caught you and Masanori's attention straight to the head advisor with the coach sitting by his side. The two of you answered back a loud 'sorry!' and proceeded to continue your chatter later inside the hotel room.
What you two didn't know is that Teshiro heard everything...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
8:57pm
"Apparently, a large tower over the side of this hotel is going to turn its lights on for the first time after a year of construction," you heard Kuroo utter to the rest of the team.
You and Masanori were both standing next to the vending machine when you both heard that down the hallway. You guys managed to ran into Kuroo and the others standing in front of their hotel rooms that were apparently next to each other, talking to one another about a tall light tower that was close by to the hotel.
And just by listening to their conversation, you grew interested in this 'new construction' of a light tower almost next door. "Ah, you guys aren't going to sleep, yet?" You suddenly asked from behind. The team all faced to you including Kuroo himself who turned around. The captain sends you a smile.
"Oh, bunny-chan, Masanori, what a surprise," says Kuroo, fully turning around to face you and the other manager who was munching nonchalantly on a chocolate bar. Masanori finally swallowed the whole bar after four bites, throwing the wrapper in a nearby trash can. "You guys should be heading to bed. Didn't Sensei told y'all that?"
"Then what are you and N/n-Chan doing here then?!!"
"We were here because there was a candy vending machine in here, dumbass. Aren't you gonna let us get some small snacks before heading to bed?" Masanori spat back to the 2nd year ace who glared at her back. You chuckled nervously. "Kazushi-San, please lower your voice...but, about the tower you guys talked about..."
"Oh yeah! About the tower, we were all planning to go there to see the tower's first light together!" Inuoka suddenly bursts out in a cherry tone, causing you to flinch in surprise. Lev steps into the conversation, his tall figure close to leaning into yours. "Hey, L/n-Chan...! You and Masanori-Senpai should come with us! It'll be fun, I swear!"
"But, aren't we supposed to be sleeping at this time at the evening??" Masanori bursts, arms crossed. Yaku shook his head, a sly grin written over his cheeks as his palm flapped up and down over to the 2nd year manager, his other hand planted down on the chair's arm. "Nah, it'll be fine~ Besides, as long as we make it back here in this hotel before 10pm, we can still have a nice rest."
"That doesn't sound like you at all, Yaku-San," Lev says, making Yaku shoot him a glare.
You shyly fiddled with your fingers together, trying to think of what they doing is allowed or not. Did anyone of them ask permission before planning this? Or did they just simply planned it off and forgot to ask permission from the coaches. You really didn't know at all. "E-Err...did you guys perhaps-
"We asked permission, don't worry," Kuroo interrupted your sentence before you could finish asking. "I knew that the little bunny would worry about us~ so don't worry, bunny-chan. We're not like that."
"Geh?! The hell you callin' F/n-Chan 'bunny-chan' for, you fuckin' rooster?" Masanori asks, her hands pulling you further behind her back away from Kuroo. "You got some kind of kink or somethin?"
Kuroo scoffs, "Bold of you to assume we all have kinks. And WHY'D YA CALL ME ROOSTER FOR?!! THIS IS BED HAIR! IT'S HARD TO REMOVE EVERY MORNING EVEN IF I BRUSHED IT!"
You can hear Kenma hold back a laugh.
"Oi! Don't disrespect Kuroo-San like that, you waste of money," Yamamoto barked at the girl, stepping up in front as he cracked his knuckles together. The two had a 3 minute glare contest—and the tension was insane. You were nervously switching glances between the both of them, and you swore to god that you could hear their arguments loud and clear in your head. Masanori popped a vein.
"Oi! No fighting in here, you two!" Yaku scolds.
"Who's playing Giorno's theme song in the background?"
Thankfully, Nobuyuki stepped between the both of them—an awkward laugh erupting from his lips. "Ok, ok, let's all calm down and...make our way out now shall we? The lights are about to start now if we don't hurry...!!" Nobuyuki says, sweat dripping down his forehead.
You had to pull Masanori away before something else happened—and the both of you skipped towards your hotel room to grab your jackets and head out with the team.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jesus Christ it's cold out here," Masanori murmurs from beside you.
You and the team had finally arrived to your destination as a tall tower can be seen in front of your vision. Squeals and cheers can be heard from the distance and even close to your figure as some workers were up on top of the tower—still fixing its lights. "So this is the new tower, huh? Looks very similar to the Tokyo tower."
"It might look different when the lights lit up. It looks so pretty, though..." you said in a low but gentle voice—eyes glued to the tower standing tall in front of your direction. "...and the fact that we're all seeing the tower light up for the first time together...it makes me happy..." you added, a small smile on your face. Masanori smiled from your adorable reaction.
"Welp, the others went over to buy some food while waiting. I'm gonna buy some takoyaki, you want any?"
"Huh?" You finally managed to avert your attention away from the tower. "Oh, uhhh...sure. B-But, don't put any seaweeds on mine please..."
"Noted!" The girl gleamed brightly at you with a small thumbs up. "I'll be right back. Stay right there...!!" Masanori last told you before running over to the line.
As you rubbed your shoulders down, your attention quickly went back to the hovering tower above in front of you. You were lowkey-No, very excited of what the tower was going to look like filled with gorgeous lights. Although there was a few days left until you guys go back home and take a small break, you would rather stay in the hotel than go back home.
Though, your two little siblings were there. And the two of them adored you. A lot. You can't just leave them there with your mother.
The night was about to get colder, and the others had just made it back from other food stalls. Kuroo was with Yaku, and Lev was trying to force his way to have a conversation with Kenma. And the others were all separated into their own groups. No difference at all from the team. Sighing, you looked back down on the floor before a hand patted on your shoulder.
"L/n, I got you a drink," says the voice in a calm and gentle tone.
Turning around, it was no other than the vice captain, Nobuyuki Kai, holding two drinks on both of his hands. One drink with him, and the other drink handing over to you. You smiled. "Ah, Nobuyuki-Senpai...! Thank you very much."
Your upperclassman beamed down kindly at you. "You're welcome. It's my treat, before the lights start," he says, now standing beside you—his arms on top of the metal fence in front. There was a few moments of awkward silence, no one talking, no one making a noise between the two of you except of the sound of your lips slurping into the drink Nobuyuki gave.
"It sure is taking some time for the tower to light up," Nobuyuki cuts the silence off. You nodded in return. "Mhm. It sure is. They're probably still fixing a few more things before lighting it up," you replied—looking at the bottle of green tea you were holding.
"And it's cold in here," you added, rubbing your shoulders as the wind kept moving around your area. Nobuyuki laughs, a gentle smile grazed over his cheeks as he looked over at your flushed face. "It's summer and it's still cold during the nights here in Tokyo, huh?"
"Yeah...! I wonder why...I just needed the heat of the moment...what a pain..." a whine came off from your lips.
Nobuyuki laughs once again, his arms crossed over on top of the metal fence as people started to surround the area, faces filled with different smiles and small children sitting on the corner of the streets—waiting for the moment to happen to the tall tower.
As your eyes locked up, you felt a hand tug to yours, embracing it in a loving manner.
This caused you to jump—surprised by the sudden warmness hovering over your free hand. You looked over to Nobuyuki who's eyes were still glued to the lightless tower, a smile creeping over his face. "Does your hand feel warm now?" he asks, not bothering to look over to your burning cheeks while his hand gripped yours tighter.
"Please pardon me if I suddenly held your hand."
"N-No..! Uhhh...!" You were stuttering. Shit. Now Nobuyuki was focused on you.
"I-It's uhhh..it's ok..."
"You don't mind if I hold your hand for a bit? They're cold."
"T-They are?!!" You exclaimed, face a little red. The vice captain nods in response, making you sunk down a bit and let out a sigh. "This is quite embarrassing for me to get this cold easily..."
Nobuyuki sends you an angelic smile, passing you a brief of heaven like he was a true angel that came down on earth. How many blessings was this man able to give you?
"No need to be embarrassed," he says, almost in a whisper. Nobuyuki's hand began to tighten more around yours—making the space between your and his palm warmer than ever.
You're blushing. And the fact that Nobuyuki didn't even mind holding your hand when you're a 1st year high school made your mind speed off in other directions that made you wanna jump off a high feet building.
As a minute passed, no one said anything at all. But even if there weren't any dialogue between you and your senpai, it was like the silence was pushing the both of you together. Shoulders were nearly touching and you tried your best to focus your eyes on the tower and on your unfinished bottle of green tea.
All of a sudden, a sound of gasps erupt around the large area, and the small zaps of electricity can be heard from the back. You and Nobuyuki propped your heads up from the sound, until your eyes met with a large and exquisite light in front—almost like an orb flashing through your irises.
Your eyes were sparkling like diamonds, air blowing your hair into the left side of the wind, almost soaring through your beautiful e/c pupils into the night sky as the tower was finally lit up with beautiful lights for the first time. Surprisingly, you felt a small tug on your hand, making you look to the right.
In the vision, Nobuyuki smiles, "Hey, L/n, let's go over that side where the others are at," he says. Before you could open your mouth, Nobuyuki was quick to cut you off by pulling you along with him to the side. It was shocking, but you decided to let it be—with the lights distracting catching your eye while the both of you ran back to the others.
The lights were pretty, they reminded you of memories you wished happened before.
Everything was dazzling. You and Nobuyuki both made it to the others where they were all distracted by the lights flashing to the tower. Yamamoto and Fukunaga were both munching on a small bag of popcorn, while Kenma didn't even bother to look at the tower—causing Kuroo to snatch his video game away. How rude, indeed.
"Hey guys!" Nobuyuki fishes their attention. Yaku waves his hand up to signal the both of you. "Oi! Kai! L/n! There you two are!"
"Hey!" Nobuyuki greeted back, letting your hand go.
You stopped down at the middle for a moment, trying to recollect some of your thoughts. It was odd. Thought of it, also, Masanori hasn't returned from the takoyaki store, yet.
"Where's Masanori?"
"She headed down to buy takoyaki," you told Inuoka, the one who questioned.
It took long for the girl to come back, not without her quoting out loud: "I'm here and I'm queer." She was definitely Masanori Kazushi. Masanori handed over you the takoyoki she had bought and you happily ate it, thanking her a lot of times.
You and the team all had fun. There were different kinds of food stalls everywhere, along with different entertainers giving you all a show as a 'thank you' for visiting the new tower everyone was waiting for. You and Masanori even took a lot of photos around. It was almost like a celebration. It made you glad.
By the time you guys were about to head home, Kuroo tapped over your shoulder while you were walking along with Masanori, who was almost sleep walking around. "Bunny-Chan, you made up your choice yet?"
Your face heated up a little (good thing Kuroo was behind, not able to see your blushing cheeks). You forgot about that damn bet. Awkwardly, you faced Masanori for a while, "Kazushi-San, you can go ahead first. I'll have a small talk with Kuroo-Senpai a bit."
She yawned. "Huh? Oh sure, good luck, buttercup..." she whispered before walking further away from you and your upperclassman. You muttered out a small 'thanks' over to your friend before you looked over at Kuroo.
Bravely, you breathed in and out for a moment as you now confidently looked at him in the eyes. "How does Saturday sound, Senpai?"
That was the first time you ever saw Kuroo's cheeks go red.
a/n: did y'all miss me? ;)) cuz i missed y'all, too <333
IM VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE ('；ω；') IDENTITY V AND HOMEWORK/PROJECTS HAD BEEN PULLING ME AWAY LATELY! ;-;
also i got to watched Given's movie and... *pain intensifies* 🎻
but even after a long break, y'all were still kind enough to send me amazing fanarts 😭 shout out to these amazing artists for making these!
thank you all so much for reading my book! <33 it really means a lot to me! ^^