Your mum had been beyond excited when you got back inside, commenting on how much of a gentleman Kuroo was and asking what had been said outside to make him kiss your hand. You avoided telling her about his beach date proposal and said the hand thing was just him saying goodbye. You told her to calm down and that he was just a friend, but she wasn't buying it, probably because your face was still flushed from the whole situation. Eventually you managed to escape her questioning and go back to your room where you relayed the events of the evening to the girls who were eagerly awaiting all the gossip.
Yui
22.40: He kissed your hand!? OMG that's so romantic!
Hana chan
22.40: I didn't expect him to be such a gentleman.
Y/N
22.41: That's what my mum said. Urgh it was so cringe at dinner, he was buttering her up beyond belief. I think she fancies him more than me now!
Yui
22.42: So you do fancy him then? This is so exciting!
Y/N
22.43: I don't know, I mean my stomach is still squirming, but I just can't relax properly around him. Is that normal?
Hana chan
22.44: I wouldn't know, I've never been attracted to anyone from the male species.
Yui
22.44: Of course it's normal. Getting butterflies is a clear sign you have a crush on him. And don't worry about being yourself around him, that comes later. You'll be able to relax around him eventually.
Y/N
22.45: Yeah, I guess. But what do I do about this beach date?! I don't own a swimsuit other than our school one. And I know I'll be super self-conscious in a bikini.
Yui
22.45: I smell a shopping trip coming on!
Hana chan
22.45: Oh dear
Y/N
22.46: Please don't go overboard Yui, I can't afford anything expensive.
Yui
22.47: Don't worry, I've got you covered, I have a shopping plan for every budget! I know just the place! Let's go tomorrow!
You groaned, another Saturday shopping trip with Yui. You had hoped to go to Kenma's tomorrow as usual, but honestly after tonight you weren't sure you could handle being in such close proximity to Kuroo's house. What if he decided to drop in for a game night again? You needed time to mentally recover before seeing him again.
Y/N
22.50: Ok, but can we make it a short trip this time? We still have finals to study for. Meet you at the train station at 1pm?
Yui
22.51: Study shmudy, we've got these exams in the bag already! And 1pm it is. See you there! XxX
Hana chan
22.52: Looking forward to it. X
Y/N
22.52: Ok night. X
Yui
22.53: Night! XxxX
Hana chan
22.53: Sleep well. X
Now to tell Kenma you wouldn't be coming over tomorrow. You opened up your chat with your best friend and thought for a moment how to word this. You didn't want to tell him the reason for the shopping trip. Somehow admitting you'd accepted a date with Kuroo, that required a swimming costume of all things, seemed even more difficult than actually accepting the date itself.
Y/N
23.05: Hey, change of plans tomorrow. Yui has somehow managed to convince me to go shopping with her and Hana again. I know, I must be mad. But she promised to keep it a small trip this time and budget friendly so hopefully it won't be too bad.
You waited, staring at the screen to see when he'd read it. It took a couple of minutes; not like you were surprised. You were sure he would be playing one game or another and you'd have to wait for a break in his game play.
Kenma
23.14: Ok, but don't forget to save some time to study. Sabrina might be able to divine the answers by magic, but we mortals have to cram.
You laughed at this.
Y/N
23.15: Yui needs to study harder than the rest of us and yet she's the most confident that she doesn't need to worry.
Kenma
23.16: Chatterbox only has room in her head for air and song lyrics, I'm surprised she passed mid-terms.
Y/N
23.16: Me too. Anyway, don't worry I will study in the morning, and all day Sunday. In fact, if you're free Sunday do you want to study together? Two heads are better than one, right?
Kenma
23.17: Yeah Ok. My place?
You thought for a moment, Kenma's room, although not the worst, was not really a great place for studying. It was cluttered and had way too many distractions.
Y/N
23.19: No, lets study at mine. If we try study at yours, we'll only end up playing games instead. At least here we can concentrate.
Kenma
23.21: Ok. What time should I come over?
Y/N
23.21: Erm, is 2pm ok? I'll make us some dinner. What's your favourite food?
Kenma
23.22: 2 is fine. Apple Pie.
Y/N
23.22: Apple pie? But that's a desert lol. What about actual food?
Kenma
23.23: Anything is fine, as long as it's not too spicy.
Y/N
23.24: Noted. Ok, I'll see you then. Night. X
Kenma
23.24: Night. X
And just like that you'd finally invited Kenma over to your house. Two boys in one weekend, your mum would be beside herself. You decided you'd wait till tomorrow to tell her.
-
You had to run to the train station the next day, you'd been so absorbed in the book you were reading for Modern Japanese that you didn't realize the time and it was ten to one before you'd even left the house.
You'd spoken to your mum earlier about Kenma finally coming over tomorrow and she pouted because she wouldn't be in to meet him. She had to go out of town for a meeting on Monday and would be traveling to Hokkido on the Sunday. You breathed a sign of relief at this information. You could relax and concentrate on studying without her fussing over the two of you like she did with Kuroo.
So when you barrelled up to the girls waiting for you on the platform it was with a genuinely happy smile on your face and not a single worry to spoil your day.
Yui was true to her word, she took you to a much less fashionable area of Tokyo this time. You walked into the glass fronted shopping mall and noted the shoppers here were from all walks of life, sure there were still some fashionable people walking round in designer gear, but there were also mums with kids in prams and older folk sitting on the benches in the center having a break from walking around the vast array of shops.
You hadn't had time to consider what you were wearing today as you ran out the door, so you were wearing what you had been studying in. Which was a comfy pair of black leggings and a long baggy blue t-shirt which could be considered a dress. You'd just had time to put on a waist belt to give you some shape and finished off the look with some sandals and a small shoulder bag.
Hana was wearing black as always, only as summer was fast approaching, even she had to concede it was too warm and was wearing a thin cotton dress and a broad rimmed hat. Yui was wearing denim shorts and a designer blouse that was pink with ruffles on the shoulders.
She led you to a large sports clothing shop at the far end of the mall telling you they had all sorts of swim wear there not just sportswear. The swim section was on the second floor next to the shoe department.
Yui wasted no time picking out a vast selection of two pieces for you to try on, she rambled away about different styles and what colours would suit you best. You put your foot down with a couple of the skimpier ones saying you refused to have that much on show. So she made sure to pick a couple that covered more of your chest.
You tried them on and showed the girls each one by pulling back the curtain of the changing room, the last one you tried on was a nice navy blue with an orange tropical flower design. The bottoms were high waisted, and the top had a built-in support bra to hold you in place, it was also a lot more modest than some of the others, with a high neckline in a Bondi style. You felt you'd be more comfortable in this one at least.
You came out of the changing room and headed to the tills. Yui was complaining that you hadn't picked one of the more traditional bikini sets that she'd liked, but you thought it was too much like wearing just your underwear. Hana agreed with your choice saying it was better to be comfortable in your own skin.
You were walking through the shoe department when you heard a familiar voice behind you that made your stomach flip.
"We really need to stop meeting like this Y/N." Kuroo was walking towards you, but he wasn't alone. Kenma was with him and four other boys. They were all wearing their Nekoma Volleyball team tracksuits and looked fresh out of a practice session.
You vaguely recognized one of the other boys, you thought his name was Shohei from class 2. He was another one of the quiet boys from your year. You'd seen him in the library while studying for Mid-terms, only he was reading a sports magazine instead of actually studying. He had wide catlike eyes with small pupils and small eyebrows.
Two of the other boys were as tall as Shohei, one had a buzzcut and thick eyebrows, the other looked pretty scary, he had a bleached mohawk and was scowling with his arms folded. The last boy was much shorter than his teammates, he couldn't have been much taller than you, he had short blond hair and kind brown eyes.
You turned and hid the swimming costume behind your back as you did.
"Oh hey Kuroo-san." You said going pink in the face and looking anywhere but at the tall boy's eyes. Instead, you fixed your gaze on Kenma who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the floor.
"Hi Kenma." You said to him, he looked up briefly and said Hey back. "What are you doing here? Is the whole team here?" You asked looking around for the rest of them.
"Yeah, the third years are over there. They decided we all needed matching trainers before the Inter-high Prelims so here we are." Said Kuroo indicating six more Nekoma tracksuits over in the corner.
"This is Kai Nobuyuki," The buzzcut guy nodded, "Yaku Morisuke, our libero," the short blond gave you a faint smile, "They're second years like me. And that's Fukunaga Shohei and Yamamoto Taketora the other first years." Kuroo introduced them all.
Shohei raised his hand in greeting but the intimidating looking guy with the mohawk didn't make any show of having heard the conversation, he was just staring off to the side with the same scowl on his face.
"It's nice to meet you, these are my friends Yui Hirasawa and Saki Hanajima and I'm Y/N L/N."
"Anyway, what are you doing here Y/N? I didn't think you played any sports." Kuroo eyed you suspiciously.
"No, I don't." You said getting nervous and gripping the swimsuit tighter in your hand.
Kuroo noticed. "What have you got there?" he asked sliding behind you and plucking the hanger out of your hand. He held it up displaying the swimsuit you were buying.
"Very nice." He said grinning and handing it back to you with a wink. "I can't wait to see you in it."
Your face was now tomato red with embarrassment. The other boys weren't paying too much attention they'd started looking at shoes in the nearby isle, but Kenma's golden eyes met yours and you looked down at the floor away from his gaze.
Hana came to the rescue and said the three of you should get going, you still had more studying to do after you were finished shopping. So you said your goodbyes and headed for the tills.
So much for a worry-free day.