Unfortunately for Akasuki, the nurse had been right, that following weekend she developed a slight fever rendering her quarantined from everyone, in her room all day. Luckily for her it was the last week of school before half term allowing a week off. Akasuki turned around in her bed leaning up to close the curtains, but she wasn't going to admit she lied about her condition on the last two days just for extra sleep. As the evening's darkness grew so did her want for the boy's company. At this point, she'd be happy with any of them. There was a distance knock on the door, mum must've ordered food or something, the knock was followed by faint voices. Definitely delivery. She closed her eyes resting her cheek against the pillow, all she could really do was rest or read. There was a stampede of footsteps, her door flinging open in response. What the fuck? As her head flew up, her mouth dropped open at the sight of Sō and Tora standing angrily in the doorway.
"You lied to us!" Sō and Tora simultaneously yelled.
Whoa, wow, there's a lesson to be learnt here. She scowled at the pair as she sat up pulling the blanket up around her,
"firstly, do you not know how to knock?" the boys glanced at one another, their eyes widening as their minds began to run wild.
Her point exactly,
"out, now," Akasuki demanded.
Tora immediately dipped from the room, Sō lingering, is he serious? There was no way,
"out," Akasuki repeated sternly.
Sō nodded removing himself from the room closing the door too. Thank god, she slipped from the covers grabbing a jumper from the floor, pulling it on, catching her reflection briefly in the mirror. Ew, is that what she looked like? Ruffled hair, pale cracked skin, Rudolph's nose with a jumper that fails to hide her bruise ridden knees. Gross. There was a knock at the door,
"hey Suki, it's Yaku, can we come in?"
"Yeah," Akasuki called back, the door opening in response.
Yaku was the first to enter with a smile, followed by Kuroo, then Sō and Tora who were cautiously hiding behind him. She might have mentally scarred the pair; it was a funny thought still.
"Hey," Kuroo spoke, "how you feeling?"
"As you know, I'm okay," Akasuki claimed glancing to Tora and Sō, "I told Kuroo I was better but I wanted to take some time off so I can catch up on stuff."
"You mean books?" Yaku questioned picking up one of the books piled on her bedside table with a smirk.
Right, she forgot about those. She chuckled loosely as Yaku flopped onto the bed opening the book.
"Wait," Akasuki whined reaching to grab the book, she didn't want him to run the cover.
Yaku pulled away holding the book up,
"wait?"
"Just," Akasuki climbed onto the bed trying to grab the book from his hands, "I don't want the cover to get ruined."
Yaku grinned mischievously,
"revenge for leaving us with the scheming captain."
"Well, I'd rather you," she lunged again but he scampered across the bed, "find a different way!"
Suddenly the book disappeared from Yaku's grip, huh, confusion spread on the pair's face, Akasuki glancing to the side to see Kenma holding the book gingerly in his hands. Oh, Kenma held it out to her, Akasuki slowly took it,
"thank you."
Kuroo cleared his throat,
"Suki."
She hummed softly in acknowledgement glancing at Kuroo, his head nodding towards Sō and Tora. What? She glanced at them over her shoulder, red-faced the pair averted their eyes hastily, holy shit. Akasuki grew pink in the face as she quickly sat down,
"are you serious?"
"Boys will be boys," Yaku tutted.
Yeah right, Akasuki frowned,
"is that why you came here? To take advantage of my not-so vulnerable state?"
"No! No!" the pair began to argue both holding their hands up to deny the truth.
She went to put her book back on her bedside table but the fact that Sō and Tora were staring at her inappropriately made her question if the others were too. She passed the book to Yaku gesturing to the table, he took it throwing it on the table.
"Thanks," Akasuki grumbled crossing her arms on her chest, "so," she glanced around at the boys, "what's wrong?"
"Why can't we just come see you?" Yaku pretended to frown draping his arm around her.
"Because," Akasuki dragged out get speak, leaning back into Yaku, "you've never been to my house before and it's suspicious."
Kuroo chuckled,
"I have," the boys glanced at him questionably, "all business, no play."
"Gross," Akasuki scoffed, "but he's right."
Kenma started to rummage around in his bag. Hm? Before pulling out a small pile of paper.
"Seriously?" Akasuki muttered, please don't be what she thought it was.
Kenma held it out, Akasuki glancing up at him as she took the papers shifting through them, holy shit,
"we haven't learnt any of this yet."
"Well, your mum is cooking food so if you don't mind," Kuroo taking a seat on the ground, "I'm gonna hang around."
"Make yourself at home," Akasuki insisted, "but only if,"
Tatsuo and Reiji suddenly burst through the half-closed door almost knocking Kenma over. Oh shit, Akasuki grabbed his wrist just in time to pull him onto the bed, Yaku grabbing his other wrist to pull him between himself and Akasuki. There were too many things to focus on, Tatsuo, Reiji, Kenma's hand resting upon her knee, her body tensing at the thought. Tatsuo threw himself at Kuroo, Kuroo grinning as he lifted Tatsuo into the air,
"hey little captain!"
Akasuki loved the fact they instantly bonded, it's heart-warming to know Tatsuo has another role model in his life. Reiji stood in the doorway with his arms crossed as he began to yell,
"Mum! Akasuki has more boys in her bed!"
What a snitch. Yaku shifted causing Kenma to push into Akasuki. She was going to kill them; she'd only just gotten over the fact Kenma had hugged her last week. Now this embarrassment?
"More?" Yaku questioned with raised eyebrows.
Jesus, now that's really given her a bad image. She reached over to lift Reiji up, sliding her arms under his, lifting him onto her lap, such a little devil,
"shouldn't you be doing homework?"
Reiji shrugged,
"It's only English, possibly the easiest subject alive."
Kuroo chuckled,
"you should tell that to him."
"Him?" Reiji questioned eagerly.
Akasuki pointed to Tora who was muttering to Sō. She wondered what they were talking about, either way it probably wasn't something appropriate. Reiji lifted himself from Akasuki's lap sliding off the bed,
"give me a second," and with that he left the room.
Where is he going? Tatsuo suddenly lifted himself from Kuroo's lap, grabbing his hand tugging,
"come on!"
Kuroo glanced at Akasuki who shrugged in response, she had no idea what was going on. Kuroo allowed Tatsuo to tug him, climbing to his feet, Tatsuo leading him from the room. But it was a concern, where was he taking him? Akasuki sighed slipping from the bed,
"give me a sec alright," she stepped out into the hallway, "oh Yaku, keep them in check please."
She heard a manic laugh as the others groaned, perfect. She made her way to the distant voice of Tatsuo and Reiji. Where's Kuroo? She glanced into their open room, Kuroo sat on Tatsuo's bed watching Tatsuo holding up Akasuki's volleyball book. When did he get that? She glanced to Reiji who was rummaging around in his desk.
"What are you looking for Reiji?" Akasuki asked joining his side.
"My English book," Reiji bluntly spoke.
Right, she crouched down opening the right draw, here it was, she pulled out an a4 pastel blue book,
"here."
"Thanks," Reiji grinned taking it from her hands and sprinting from the room.
"I can't keep up with them," Akasuki sighed taking a seat beside Kuroo as Tatsuo rambled on about something.
Kuroo chuckled lowering his voice,
"it's impressive."
Yes, a skill many future employers will seek for in later life, Akasuki thought shaking head.
"Hey," Kuroo spoke quietly, "about the other day, with Kenma, I thought about it and," he glanced at her, "I'm sorry for being a," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "dick," raising his voice again, "I was just stressed out about the training camp and stuff."
To be honest, Akasuki hadn't taken it his comment to heart, she just didn't like the way she was shut down straight away,
"don't worry about it," she insisted.
She was glad he apologised but it was more about Kenma than her. The pair sat there in silence for a couple of seconds before Akasuki spoke again,
"you spoke to Kenma?"
He nodded briefly,
"we talked, I apologised, and so on,"
"Excuse me," Tatsuo spoke suddenly the pair turning to see a sad faced Tatsuo.
Whoops, she reached out picking him up and pulling him into her arms as she rose from the bed,
"why don't you show your book to the others as well?"
"Others?" Tatsuo whispered.
"It'll be okay," Akasuki insisted making her way through the doorway, glancing to see Kuroo joining her side, "they love sports."
She took Tatsuo to the next room heading inside to see that Sō and Tora had disappeared, panic spreading through her body,
"where are they?"
"Downstairs," Yaku explained sliding off the bed, "the little one is showing Tora the ropes of English apparently," he grinned sliding past Kuroo, "and I wanna see the look on Tora's face when a kid is smarter than him."
Really? Akasuki sighed, there was a rule that they were only allowed to do homework downstairs. Akasuki held Tatsuo out to Kuroo,
"do you mind taking him down with you?"
Kuroo took him with a smile,
"of course," leaving the room chatting with Tatsuo playfully.
Now it was just Akasuki and Kenma, let's hope this isn't awkward. She stepped in closing the door over,
"you okay?"
Kenma lifted his gaze to meet her eyes, a soft kindness in his eyes as he nodded,
"you?"
She nodded taking a seat on her bed moving her gaze to the floor. She wanted to say this was awkward but that wasn't word for it, it was the kind of feeling she would get when waiting in queue for a new book. She glanced at the homework on her bed beside Kenma his legs crossed,
"have you done this already?"
He nodded. She was hoping for more talking but she could settle for this,
"do you mind helping me?"
Kenma glanced up catching her hopeful eyes,
"now?"
They probably didn't have enough time now,
"tomorrow?"
He frowned,
"I have plans."
Oh,
"well," she shifted through the papers, "how about next week then?"
She glanced up at him, Kenma nodding slowly, yes! Akasuki grinned,
"I'll be sure to be properly clothed for you," why the hell did she say that?
Her cheeks were burning as a small laugh let his lips, his pink cheeks holding their smile,
"I, actually," he rummaged around in his bag again pulling a piece of fabric out, huh, "stole some shorts," he held them out to her, "for you."
What? He actually got something for her, she took it carefully in her hands,
"Kenma, you didn't have to."
"I wanted to," he whispered, "as a small thank you."
As a thank you. Akasuki's heart melted, slowly unfolding the shorts,
"Kenma," she slid off the bed, her excitement taking over, Kenma got her a present, holy shit, she pulled them on grinning up at him, "thank you, seriously."
She hadn't realised but his face was red, his eyes with a slight shimmer to them,
"I'm," he cleared his throat muttering, "glad I saw you in them first."
This boy, she's not gonna be able to contain herself if he keeps being so cute. You know what, Akasuki thought, suddenly pulling off her shorts,
"and you'll be the only one," smiling up at him, folding the shorts placing them over her chair.
Akasuki watched the quietness take over in his mind, the glimmer in his eyes fading as he averted his gaze. Did she say something wrong? She carefully sat on the bed slowly reaching her hand out to him, please don't run away,
"hey," her fingers brushed up against his knee, "you wanna talk?"
He's actually letting her touch him, holy shit, she wondered if the hug made something grow inside of him, is this his way of showing he's okay with her? Or that he understands her feelings? Kenma parted his lips glancing over to her,
"what you said the other day,"
"Kenma! We gotta go!" Tora called up the stairs.
What she said the other day? What did she say? His face faded into further displeasure as he muttered,
"I gotta go," sliding off the bed to the door.
Wait, don't walk away again. Akasuki reached out grabbing the sleeve of his arm, her words moving swiftly from her heart,
"promise me you'll come back."
Kenma glanced at her hand then to her face with a swift nod,
"I promise," as he swiftly left the room.
Akasuki let out a breath of air, fuck, why couldn't he just stay? Disobey the captain's orders for once.
"See ya Suki!" Yaku yelled up the stairs.
She should say goodbye to them all. She clambered off the bed jogging to the stairs taking a seat so she could see the boys leave,
"next time call me before turning up on my doorstep! Thanks for coming!"
She noticed her mother handing Kuroo plastic Tupperware filled with odd bits of food, is he serious? She knew her cooking was that good but wow, he genuinely must love it. Kuroo grinned at her mother thanking her as he waved up to Akasuki,
"we'll see you next week!"
And with that, the team had left her house, her mother closing the door with a satisfied grin turning around to look up at Akasuki,
"which one was he?"
"Mum," Akasuki grumbled a smile arriving on her face as she stood up, "that's a secret."
"We don't keep secrets in this house hold!" her mother called up to her as Akasuki flopped onto her bed.
Right, but this wasn't a secret, it was a dream, that Akasuki is hoping to hold onto a little longer.