"y/n!" ayako called your name, running to you from the middle of the hallway.
you were at your locker, picking up some books you needed for your next class and stuffing them into your backpack.
"hey, ayako! sorry i wasn't able to walk to dance with you yesterday." you gave her an apologetic smile.
"don't worry about it. were you tutoring kuroo?"
you quickly covered her mouth with your hand, looking around you to see if anyone heard.
"lower your voice, ayako!" you whispered. "you never know where his fangirls might be lurking. and i don't want anyone to hear."
"sorry," ayako smiled sheepishly. "but how did it go?" you saw a faint blush on her cheeks, and you gave her a suspicious look.
"why do you ask? do you like him or something?"
ayako sucked her teeth. "girl, don't get ahead of yourself. i like him how everyone else likes him. he's attractive, but i don't really know him. i can only like his looks."
you nodded, still squinting at her in playful suspicion. she laughed before hitting you lightly on the arm.
"you still haven't told me how it went."
you chuckled. "well, he didn't ask me to fuck, so that's something."
ayako laughed briefly before you continued.
" but it was fine. normal, i guess. he's kind of bad at english."
"he's probably not that bad, you're just really good," ayako remarked. "is he nice?" she asked.
you shrugged. "he's okay."
ayako's eyes widened in excitement, her jaw dropping a little bit. "tell me more!"
"sometimes he was kind of... goofy? i don't know."
ayako smiled fondly. "that's cute."
"no, he's still annoying."
closing your locker, you zipped up your backpack and threw it over your shoulder, ready to go to your next class.
"hey. y/n." you felt a tap on your shoulder. you turned, came face to face with a chest, and then looked up to see kuroo's beaming face. your breath hitched at the sight of him. he'd left the top few buttons of his uniform open, revealing some skin and also a silver necklace that matched with the small silver hoops he wore in his ears. his hair stuck up as usual. his hands were clasped behind him as well as he could with the backpack on. you noticed his eyes quickly look you up and down before refocusing on your face.
you heard ayako gasp slightly from behind you. you bit the inside of your cheek and looked around at the other people in the hallway. to your relief, no one seemed to be paying attention.
"what do you need?" you asked, frustrated that he was talking to you in school in front of everyone.
"don't look so sad to see me," his finger touched the tip of your nose for a moment. "i know you don't hate me. you don't have to pretend."
you rolled your eyes slowly. he was right, but you didn't want to admit that. "what do you have to say, kuroo? you look like an idiot standing like that."
kuroo's smirk fell and he raised an eyebrow. "cut the attitude," he said firmly, making your stomach flutter a little. immediately after he gave you a small smile. he quickly held out a paper.
"what's this?" you asked.
"my homework from last night. i did it after you tutored me." he grinned proudly.
you nodded and inspected the paper. it was the same kind of translations that you two had done together. checks and x's littered the sheet, done in red pen. at the top, a number was circled in that same pen.
"kuroo." you looked up at his face again. "why are you smiling? you got a 76%."
kuroo stared down at you with a smirk. "that's improvement, babygirl."
your eyes widened, but you managed to hide how flustered you were with your words.
"i don't know if that's something to be proud of," you said.
"just be happy your help is working," kuroo said, folding the paper and putting it in the pocket of his pants. you grimaced internally, wishing he had put it in a folder or something instead. "by the way, you'll tutor me tomorrow, right?"
"do you want me to?"
kuroo nodded at you slowly, licking his lips. "same time, same place?"
"uh... okay."
you were about to bid him goodbye, but he interrupted you.
"i'm having a practice game later today. you're not allowed to stay for long, but i'd love it if you stopped by." he looked at you expectantly, and you felt ayako nudge your back. you didn't have dance today, so you were available.
you froze. "um."
kuroo smirked. "i want you to see how good i am at volleyball."
you hummed. "maybe it'll make up for your subpar english abilities."
"shut up." kuroo said, but the corners of his lips were turned up in a small, amused smile. "come, though. you'll regret it if you don't."
"how so?" you asked, intrigued.
"don't worry about it. i'll see you later?" he didn't even give you a chance to answer before his long legs carried him away from you at a quick pace.
you chuckled lightly and turned back to ayako. her eyes were wide in disbelief.
"when did you two become closer?" ayako asked, practically bouncing with excitement.
"what do you mean? we're not close, i just teach him english."
"he was totally flirting with you," she said, and the two of you started walking towards your class.
"he was not," you protested, but paused for a moment, stopping in your tracks. "holy shit, he called me babygirl."
"i know! i wanted to scream, but i held it in to save you the embarrassment, you're welcome." ayako spoke quickly, and you laughed.
"but he probably calls everyone that," you told her, shrugging your shoulders.
"i don't even care," ayako began. "if he wanted to fuck me i would let him in a heartbeat."
your jaw dropped, and you slowly turned your head towards her. "bitch, you what?"
"i would fuck him," ayako repeated, confident in her statement.
"you and every other girl in the school," you remarked flatly, because you were right.
"including you?" ayako asked, a suggestive smile rising on her face.
"uh huh," you said indifferently, earning a loud laugh from ayako.
"you would!" ayako exclaimed loudly, and you rolled your eyes playfully. "funny how we talk about this stuff but have absolutely no experience." ayako ran her hand through her hair.
"i know. that's why i was so surprised when you said you'd fuck kuroo."
the both of you burst into laughter as you entered your classroom.
•••
you stood outside the door of the gym. you could hear the echo of volleyballs hitting the ground from outside. chatter and laughs filled the indoor space as well.
you weren't sure why kuroo had asked you to come here, and you didn't know why you came. you guessed you were just intrigued. as much as you hated it, he had been the topic of many of your thoughts recently, and having another opportunity to see him somewhat excited you.
you walked up to the doors of the gym and pulled them open a little bit, poking your head in. the noise caught a few people's attention, including kuroo.
from what you could tell, they were in the very first stages of warming up: stretching their muscles or running a few laps around the outskirts of the gym.
kuroo was stretching his arms, and all you could think about was how good he looked in that black shirt. he was with three other boys, one of them being a boy you recognized as kenma, and the other two were people you didn't know. however the color of their shirts told you that they weren't from nekoma.
kuroo locked eyes with you and gave you that cocky smile that you couldn't stop thinking about. he said something to the boys that you couldn't hear, and then made his way over to you. one of the boys from the other school followed him. you could already tell by the way he walked that he was chaotic.
kuroo reached where you were standing at the door. "i didn't think you would actually come."
"you always say that," you noticed, and then pointed your finger accusingly at him. "don't forget that you threatened me." you contorted your face to imitate his cocky smirk. "if you don't come to my practice game i'll make you regret it," you said in your best imitation of his voice.
"dude, you said that? that's fucking lame," the boy you didn't know burst into laughter. "i don't know how you get so much play." his laughter increased, and it was so contagious that you started laughing too.
"no one asked you, dumbass." kuroo said, punching his friend in the arm. you saw his cheeks tint pink.
"i'm bokuto," said the boy you didn't know, interrupting your thoughts. he had big golden eyes and grayish hair with black streaks. he was shorter than kuroo, but still taller than you.
"nice to meet you," you said politely. "i'm y/n."
"you're cute," bokuto said to you shamelessly, and kuroo quickly hit him upside the head.
"you sound stupid," kuroo said.
"are you sad i didn't call you cute instead?" bokuto said, raising to pitch of his voice to sound childish.
"you're fucking weird," kuroo replied, brushing off bokuto's attempts to kiss up to him.
"it's okay, kuroo," you said, joining in on bokuto's joke. "you don't have to be jealous that i'm cute and you're not."
"she gets it!" bokuto said, looking at you with a kind of fondness.
"don't provoke her," kuroo said plainly, but a small smile played on his lips.
"hm." bokuto grinned at you. "y/n, did you come here to watch me whoop kuroo's ass?"
"try me." kuroo crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at bokuto. "i'm beating you today."
"yeah, okay." bokuto said sarcastically.
kuroo rolled his eyes, and you couldn't help but marvel at how he whole persona seemed to change. perhaps sex wasn't the only thing on his mind. he was just a regular person, after all. he had friends and a sense of humor.
"y/n, i don't think you can stay for much longer." kuroo eyed his coach carefully. "but before you go, i want you to watch me do a jump serve."
"okay, i'll watch you. don't miss." you smiled at him. you felt somewhat comfortable with this side of him. for some reason you felt like you were one of the only people that got to see it.
"never in front of you." kuroo winked at you before walking back to the court and grabbing a ball. bokuto stayed back with you, leaning against the wall.
"will i be able to see you again, y/n?" bokuto asked you, his eyes latching onto your face.
you smiled at him softly. "i hope so. you're cool." you paused for a moment. "do you have snapchat?" you asked him.
bokuto nodded.
"let me add you, and then you can tell me when you're here and i'll stop by."
"sounds good," bokuto agreed. you handed him your phone, and he typed his username into snapchat and added himself.
"y/n, this is for you!" kuroo's voice echoed through the gym, and you watched him throw the ball into the air. he ran a few steps before jumping up and hitting it over the net with a large amount of force.
you smiled in delight, and clapped your hands together.
"very good, kuroo!" you said in english.
"thank you," he responded in english, jogging over to you and bokuto. on the way, he made eye contact with someone, looking there for a little bit before nodding.
you stared at him as he reached where you were standing.
"sorry, y/n. coach says you gotta go."
"it's cool," you said, readying yourself to take your leave. "i have stuff to do anyways. bye, bokuto!"
the boy smiled, holding his hands out to ask for a hug. you obliged, nestling yourself into his arms and wrapping your own arms around him. he smelled a little bit sweaty, but it was tolerable.
when you broke from your hug with bokuto, kuroo's arms were waiting for you. you pursed your lips.
"don't resist," kuroo spoke, and you rolled his eyes, annoyed at how easily you gave into him.
you wrapped your arms comfortably around his waist, leaning your head on the top of his muscular chest. kuroo held you close to him, giving you a little squeeze before letting you go. he gave good hugs; you supposed he had a lot of experience.
"see you tomorrow," he said cheerfully, happy he'd scored a hug from you.
you nodded. "see you."
you turned away from the two boys and began your walk home, hoping to find ayako on your way there.