Hello! It's great to be back writing in this book again, and welcome to the very first special chapter of SYLT.
Since I used a first point of view in the main story, for the special chapters I will be using a third point of view like in my other book, Maybe It's Called Fate || Sakusa Kiyoomi x Reader. Feel free to check it out if you have time, and thank you very much in advance! ☺️
For this special chapter, it happened after Chapter 10 of Sweet, Young Lion Tamer.
Without further ado, here is Special Chapter 1: Asking the Girl Out!
Happy Reading! ❤️
~ ~ ~
One thing that Lev couldn't imagine in his life is finding himself to have the courage to ask out (Y/N) on a date. He definitely is what someone would call an inexperienced person when it comes to love. Though back when he was a lion, they would do things that couples would do.
In contrast to this is that they would always have picnics or eat at (Y/N)'s favorite bakery in their neighborhood. It was break time when Lev is feeling problematic again of his thoughts of asking his crush on a date.
"What's troubling you, Lev? Practice is almost over." Kuroo went beside the troubled Russian boy, as the captain of the team he needed to look out for his teammates as well.
(Y/N) was out to eat dinner with one of her closest friends and also her 'soon-to-be-sibling', Senku. After all of what happened today, especially about (Y/N) recently knowing about Lev's identity as Ricky, she deserves a bowl of ramen and an explanation from Senku himself. Lev wanted to come along, however he still has volleyball practice and they need to be prepared for their next opponent tomorrow.
Going back to his stressful state, The silver-haired man lets out a long sigh.
"I just don't know what to do!" Lev complains to his teammates, convincing them that he may have a serious problem.
"Do what? I swear if this is about your blocking again-" Yaku pops out beside the tallest man of the team.
"I want to ask (Y/N) out on a date!" Lev sheepishly admits and covers his face in embarrassment. Maybe because the boys in the Nekoma team don't usually talk about love, especially when their mindset should be on surviving the second day of the Nationals. He thinks that it's a bad idea to open up about his problem of asking (Y/N) on a date now because he's also aware that it's the last game of the third years in highschool, and he doesn't want to flunk up just because of these thoughts.
Unexpectedly, everyone literally stopped what they were doing to gaze at their troubled teammate when it comes to love. The team started to gather around Lev to think and talk about his situation together.
"Lev is finally growing mentally.." Yaku felt a tear fall from his eye, a feeling of joy that his junior is finally maturing.
It surprised the silver-haired man, thinking that they wouldn't even bother about his problem. His lips curved into a smile as he felt incredible joy in his heart. For Lev, it was a sign that his teammates were willing to help him with his problem.
"Really Yaku-san? But does that mean you're gonna look shorter if I continue to grow?"
And maybe Lev isn't growing mentally as Yaku's face fell and was replaced with an annoyed one.
"Why you-!"
"Ow, that hurts Yaku-san!" Lev whines in pain as his senior continues to scold him, making the whole team sweatdrop and let out a helpless sigh.
"When will that idiot realize that Yaku-san is sensitive about his height?" Taketora facepalms, his fingers circling around his forehead.
"Roundkick tally: 1." Fukunaga points out, making the people around him chuckle. He may be a man of few words, but of course his humor doesn't fail him with what he wants to say.
"Well, he definitely needs a lot of help in asking her out. (Y/N) isn't easy to convince." Kuroo lets out a helpless sigh, probably reminiscing his old times he had with the (H/C) haired girl.
"We should finish practice first then help Lev about his matter then." Kai agrees, along with the whole Nekoma Team. On the other hand, Kenma is intrigued by how things would escalate because back when Kuroo was dating (Y/N), it took him a long time to convince her.
That's probably the only reason why he agrees to join this plan.
~ ~ ~
The practice for the first night of Nationals has finally ended. The team decided not to leave the gym yet for their plan for Lev of 'Asking the Girl Out', as the name was made by Fukunaga. After minutes of brainstorming, Kuroo developed a bright yet terrible idea that everyone agreed on, but one.
"Why am I playing as (Y/N) here?" Yaku crosses his arms, completely against Kuroo's terrible idea that everyone agreed on.
The captain's idea is to set up a 'dummy date' in order for Lev to be prepared on what he has to say and know the do's and don'ts. Like in volleyball, everything needs to be practiced so that the Half-Russian man wouldn't embarrass himself in front of the girl he likes. So far, it was going well, and that is until,
"Yaku-san, you almost got the same height as (Y/N), but you're only taller!"
"You're trying to say that my height is only tall for girls??" An irk mark immediately appeared on the libero's head, making him swing his foot for a kick to his junior.
"Roundkick tally: 11." Fukunaga said as he popped out of nowhere, while the others simply shook their heads for the poor first year.
"Listen Lev, when dating a girl, you have to be yourself." Kuroo explains, making everyone sweatdrop. Afterall, among all of them, Kuroo is the only one who has experience of being in a relationship. Kenma lets out a sigh as his mind may have some flashbacks about Kuroo because he remembered his friend panicking about his very first date with (Y/N).
"Yaku-san- I mean, (Y/N), the chair is kinda too big for you! Should we get a high chair?" Another irk mark appeared on the libero's head, making him jump out of his seat to send his famous roundkick to Lev once more. Kuroo facepalmed in exasperation, couldn't his junior see that it's only a set up?
"Roundkick tally: 12." Fukunaga points out as he silently claps on how amazing and flexible Yaku can be when someone talks about his height.
"This is going to be harder than I thought." Kuroo lets out a helpless sigh.
Looks like the night is gonna be long for the Nekoma team.
~ ~ ~
They went on for another hour, with progress and also Yaku's roundkicks. Kai, Shibayama, and Inouka had to calm down their friend in order for their plan to execute successfully which took 40 tries, and again with Yaku's annoyance and hitting Lev when he mentions his height. Once they were all satisfied, they finally went back to their hotel rooms to rest and do their night routine. On the other hand, Lev is quite worried because (Y/N) still hasn't come back with Senku. His thoughts are overflowing with bad scenarios of what could happen to her especially at this late hour. Truly, Lev is worried about (Y/N) and also his friend, Senku.
Before his thoughts could consume him, Lev decided to call a certain scientist with a cabbage-like hair.
"Watcha call for, Lev? Snow White is with me and we're coming back soon." Senku said as he shivers to the cold weather at this hour, making Lev sigh in relief. Lev had an idea that maybe he could ask the scientist about his thoughts with love, and so he tried to asked him.
Again, Lev tried.
"I was gonna ask for a lov-"
"Lev, the most illogical thing that would never happen in my life is filling my brain with the concept of love. So I'm just gonna say I have no love advice for you." Senku immediately points out, not interested with the topic he would like to talk about.
"Is that so? Not even t-"
"Not even a millimeter, Lev." Senku cuts him off again. The scientist isn't lying and he's definitely not interested in love in general.
"Senku, who are you talking to?" A feminine voice that Lev knows so well was heard from the other line, giving the cabbage-haired man an idea.
"Huh? It's Lev, and he wants to talk to you."
"Senku wait! I-m-"
"Sure! Pass me the phone!"
"What's up, Lev? You have something to tell me?"
'This is it, Lev.' He thought to himself. Senku yet again helped him in another problem he has been thinking about. The cabbage haired man may not know the concept of love, but he sure knows how to unexpectedly set up two people.
"Lev?" (Y/N) calls his name again.
"DATE!"
"Date..?"
"(Y/N), please go out with me on a date tomorrow after the second day!" Lev finally asks (Y/N) after a whole day of thinking about it, his confidence is losing at a great speed as there was silence on the other line. Before his soul could leave his body and face rejection, giggles were suddenly heard from the girl.
"You don't have to shout about it." (Y/N) laughs and finds her friend cute on how he just asked her out for a date, and of course it made Senku roll his eyes. Lev quickly apologizes for his loud and embarrassing question, and (Y/N) tells him to don't mind about it.
"But to answer you, sure, I would love to go on a date with you."
"Really?"
"Yup! And we have to go now. I'm almost back in the hotel, make sure to get enough rest okay? Bye!" (Y/N) hangs up the phone, leaving Lev frozen to process everything. Suddenly, his lips curved into a big grin as his heart leapt for joy. He did a mini celebration dance, thinking as if asking (Y/N) on a date is a great milestone for him. Lev happily skips to the shower for a night bath, his smile never leaving his face. Everyone from the team looked at him weirdly.
Did something just happen without them knowing?
"After being beat up by his senpai, why is he smiling like an idiot?" Taketora sweatdrops at his junior.
"Maybe he finally realized that (Y/N) wouldn't say yes?" Yaku points out, still couldn't move on from Kuroo's ridiculous idea to help Lev.
"Or he probably made her say yes." Kenma nonchalantly said as he focused on playing Monster Hunter in his PSP, making everyone look at his direction.
"WHAT?? KENMA REALLY??" Kuroo exclaims to the pudding haired man while shaking his shoulders. Kenma clicks his tongue as he almost drops his PSP, making him sigh in relief as he was able to catch his prized possession.
"I said probably. It's just a guess, Kuroo, and don't shout at me." Kenma glares at his bestfriend, disturbing his gameplay on his very own PSP.
~ ~ ~
"Where are you going, Lev? We still have practice after a 1 hour of rest." Shibayama told the excited Half-Russian boy, making him turn to his friend's direction.
"I'm taking (Y/N) on a date!" Lev happily told them with a smile not leaving his face.
"Ah, is that so?" Everyone looked at each other with tired eyes, afterall they survived day 2 and deserved a long rest in preparation for 'Day 3 hell'. It sure took them awhile to process what the silver-haired man just said, and the moment they finally realized it, their eyes went wide open.
"WHAT?? HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?"
"I asked her through a phone call yesterday and she said yes?" Lev scratches the back of his neck, leaving his teammates dumbfounded.
Did Lev just get a yes immediately after a long night of practice? Was their practice even useful in asking her out to begin with?
"Man, I never thought she would immediately say yes to a date. Back when I asked her, it took me 14 attempts to make her say yes. What a lucky idiot.." Kuroo mumbles, crossing his arms as his cheeks start to turn pink in embarrassment.
Kuroo Tetsurou lost against a first year when it comes to love.
"YOU LUCKY TIN-HEADED TITAN!" Yaku jumps on him and slaps his shoulders repeatedly, making Lev complain about how strong and heavy Yaku could be. The middle blocker smiles at his senior who supported him all throughout since last night, making him show a cheeky grin.
"I couldn't have done it without you playing as (Y/N), Yaku-san. All those practices are definitely worth it! I knew your height is a perfect match with her!"
And again, the libero's foot went flying to Lev's direction.
"Roundkick tally: 41." Fukunaga pops out again, the person who also counts the times when Yaku gets irritated with the half-Russian boy.
"Hello, boys! I already finished packing up our things for today. Just bring them all in our hotel then you're all free for a 1 hour break. Sensei also said to get lots of rest and eat well." (Y/N) announces, receiving a positive reply from the team. She went towards Lev who asked her out last night for a date through a phone call, making him flustered as his cheeks started to turn red.
"Do you need to get something in the hotel or you're ready to go?" She smiles at him, and it was a good push for the silver-haired man to boost his confidence around her.
"I already got what I need." Lev puffs as he proudly swings an arm around (Y/N), making her blush as it took her a while to realize what he meant.
"You're really funny even back when you're Ricky you know?"
(Y/N) giggles at the middle blocker's attempt to make her heart flutter, which worked somehow. She may have had a past relationship with Kuroo, but that doesn't mean that she finally understood the concept of love. With Senku's stronger influence in her life and her experience of dating Kuroo for a few months, (Y/N) still considers herself as someone oblivious to love.
"Would sushi suffice you? Or do you want to go to a bakery?" (Y/N) asks, uncertain for what he would like. Afterall, she knows Ricky more than Haiba Lev himself, and because of that, (Y/N) would like to know more of Lev.
"Oinarisan (Inari Sushi) would sound great for a snack! But if you want eat on your favorite bak-"
"Sushi it is. Let's go!" (Y/N) beams a smile as she grabs Lev's hand and runs outside with him.
Lev is finally starting on a journey of getting to know his all time crush, (Y/N) (L/N). He has not yet reached the desired level of his relationship with (Y/N) whereas they're still getting to know each other and both haven't fully understood how love works. However, knowing that he finally went forward in this relationship that he wants to pursue, it was enough for Lev to know that he will take things slowly with her. Afterall, his main priority is to take care of the (H/C) haired girl and always be by her side.
The team stared at the two figures with a natural smile on their face. Kuroo on the other hand lets out a hearty laugh to himself, making his teammates turn to him confused. Kenma arched a brow at Nekoma's captain, as he knew what his bestfriend may be thinking about right now.
Of course, Kuroo finally came to realize that it was Lev who changed her personality from a Silent Princess to her natural self. At long last, her unapproachable and cold aura that he faced before is now a kind and friendly personality.
"Take really good care of her, Lev."
Kuroo showed a proud smile for both his bestfriend and his teammate, as the captain of the Nekoma Team sees a bright future with their blooming relationship.
~ ~ ~
I'm really missing Kuroo and the other members of Nekoma in the manga 😭 I hope we'll get to see them soon 😞
That's all for Special Chapter 1! I hope you all like it! 🥺 Next chapter will be out probably on Wednesday (June 3). See you on the next special chapter of SYLT! ☺️
As always, keep safe everyone! ❤️
~ achootsumu 🤧