"𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬"
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The team had discussed a couple phrases to add to the banner but, none stuck like the one Kuroo proposed. The simple word "connect" miraculously fit the team perfectly. Nekoma's number one asset is teamwork as well the trust they have built in one another. The team is connected as one. At first you thought it was a bit cheesy and a rip off of the cliche speech the noisy captain paraded about but, the longer you thought about it, a smile began to creep up your face. The feeling of familiarity entered your chest, warmth that pooled at the base of your stomach. Comforting.
"Why are you smiling when you should be painting?" Kuroo peered up at you, his honey-colored eyes being highlighted by the sun emitted from his window. You hadn't realized you stopped painting. He had already finished the stencil while you were daydreaming with that goofy smile.
"Shit, sorry." You sighed, you came to Kuroo's house, trying hard not to start another fight. That compassion left your chest almost immediately. Rolling your eyes, you sloppily reached for more paint.
The black paint then ricocheted onto the newspaper the two of you sat on. You weren't paying attention to where the rest of the paint flinged, droplets of the charcoal-colored paint settling right into the fabric of Kuroo's pants.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed, noticing the spots of paint that were spread out in front of him. You turned to look at him, eyes widening at the mess you had caused. You cursed at yourself, seemingly breaking the one promise you had just established. You laughed awkwardly, apologizing profusely as you got up trying to find some sort of stain remover.
Strong arms pulled you back down by the wrist. Kuroo's hand dove into the paint. With a shit eating grin across his face, he smeared his paint-covered thumb across your cheek. Covering his mouth as he wheezed at the sight in front of him.
"Real funny isn't it?" You replied, flicking the tip of your paint brush back onto him; black speckles scattered like freckles across his face and hand. Gasping loudly for dramatic effect, the black haired boy doused his paintbrush once more. Kuroo's eyes glared at you, the smile on his face growing more competitive the longer the two of you held fervent eye contact.
Lunging at you he slashed his paintbrush, obviously not necessarily aiming as the paint clumsily brushed over your collar bone, grazing some parts of your neck. Kuroo smirked at the sight, relishing the offended expression your face was contorting into. The paint felt sticky on your bare skin and you immediately became determined to get the slimy bastard back.
You drew a small black dot on his nose laughing heartily, your body filling once more with that same warm feeling from before. Kuroo retaliated by smearing paint back on you, touching your cheek cautiously with his paintbrush. You then just realized how close your faces were. It seemed he had noticed too. Your body became giddy again, face heating up and stomach twisting into a confusing, wrenching mess. Face covered in black paint, Kuroo stared, his eyes not leaving yours. You could see almost every small detail of his features up close. Small beauty marks strewn across his jaw, too small for one to see if not for being this close. You watched again closely as Kuroo's eyes traveled down to your lips for a brief moment, his long eyelashes catching your eye. You took in a breath, nerves filling you to the brim, what even were you doing? Your brain screamed at you, asking again and again. You exhaled as the boy in front of you graced his knuckles softly against your cheek. He could definitely feel how warm you were, couldn't he?
Your eyes fell lidded, like you were dreaming far away from the Kuroo that stood so evidently in front of you. It seemed even your mind had forgotten that two years had gone by since you'd felt like this. Breaking your daze, a brush came in contact with your face, the paint a cold contrast to your heated face.
The black haired boy laughed his hideous laugh, covering his mouth; cheeks still noticeably flushed red. You stood still. You didn't have a clue what to do, no matter what it was the atmosphere wouldn't be the same. The longer you stuttered and studied the words in your head to say the thicker the awkward silence became. You didn't fight it, hands slightly trembling as you turned to continue painting in silence; Kuroo followed suit, sloppily cleaning up the lines you had just painted.
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The two of you were still so close, legs pressed against one another, arms colliding during some angles of painting. Awkwardly bumping each other, muttering sorries under your breath, avoiding the other's small glances. Eventually you finished the small character on the banner, why had you needed two people to do such a simple task? You felt as the team set you up. Your body was tense as you cleaned up, setting the small box from before back on the shelf with slight struggle. Kuroo washed the brushes in his bathroom, leaving the dirty paint water in his room. You sighed expecting such. You carried the cup to the counter, Kuroo nodding at you to set it down.
His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his dark hair shadowed over his eyes. He hadn't washed the paint all the way off, watered down paint dripped down his face. You couldn't help but stare for a brief moment before returning to gather your stuff to leave.
You thanked Kuroo for his hospitality at the door, he waved with a shy smile as you walked out. He seemed to almost be laughing, leaning against the doorway with his talk build. The cold air brushed at your legs, goosebumps already forming on your body. Even as the wind crashed into you, you felt embarrassed at a realization. Face warming up you scrambled to check your phone camera. You hadn't washed off the paint. Kuroo's horrid marks were dry and cracked against your skin.
Rushing to angrily text the hyena, you saw all the rest of your notifications you had missed. Several from Yaku stood out most to you. You waited to check them until after you messaged Kuroo. After hitting send you quickly switched to the others contact.
Yaku
How did the painting go?
A pang of guilt rushed through you before the chime of Kuroo's reply vibrated through your hands.
Unknown
Very sorry, I thought you were aware :0
You scoffed, rolling your eyes with a smile at the sarcasm.
Y/n
Yes because I would go outside with this on my face on purpose.
Unknown
I mean maybe you just liked my masterpiece.
If only my poor pants weren't ruined in the process
Y/n
It was deserved
Unknown
How cruel :,(
Y/n
Let's hope it washes out :p
Unknown
I hope the paint stains your face
Y/n
Oh how cruel <\3
You laughed at your own witty response, for once not angry over the sarcastic and nihilistic, torturing ways in which Kuroo texts. You replied quickly and dryly to Yaku, waltzing your way home in a hurry to wash off the paint.
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Nobody was home, dinner-time was approaching, the clock was beginning to strike around 7 o'clock. Trudging yourself upstairs, you shoved yourself into the bathroom, scrubbing relentlessly at your face. Hot water splashed everywhere, sliding down your arms, gleefully soaking your sleeves. Wiping your face with a towel you checked yourself in the mirror, not even half of the paint was gone. You huffed, that euphoric, adrenaline filled feeling left your mind as you angrily scrubbed at your face.
After a couple attempts your face was clear. It was also very clearly irritated, the skin being left tough and numb. Your family seemed to arrive home just in time, calling you down for dinner after you cleaned up your mess.
You let out a full sigh as you plopped onto bed. You had eaten your fill and were stuffed to the brim with food. You checked your phone, which you had left back in your room. Your stomach felt heavy reading Akaashi's message. After playing around all day with Kuroo you had forgotten the events of the prior weekend. Akaashi had sent an invitation to see his father with you.
You didn't know exactly how to react at first. It must be a good sign, right? He's well enough to see visitors, right?...Your mind didn't even want to ponder the opposite, texting back a bland acceptance to the proposal. On friday you would be seeing Akaashi's father. Your skin brimmed with excitement while your gut seemed to be struck with fear.
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i think i may be getting a bit too repetitive but it's alright, i went on a hiatus for a bit for personal reasons. i'm trying to find my love for this story once again but i hope you enjoyed this chapter. while jeonaruu is on a hiatus it's still a good time as ever to check out their awesome work and stories. i only lightly looked over this chapter so if the errors that i missed bother you please point them out so i can fix them. yet again thank you for 22k reads!