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When Shibayama arrived at school that morning, he was already a nervous wreck. His school uniform had never felt so hot and restricting even though it was the middle of February. He had hoped that burying himself in classes would help distract him, but there was no escape from the rampant giggles fluttering around the room or the immaculate boxes being passed between his classmates. The scent of chocolate in the air was making him feel ill, and the small heart-shaped box in his own bag weighed as heavy as an anvil.
As the hours crept closer to volleyball practice, Shibayama escaped to another classroom in search of some distraction. Lev was lounging at his seat, as usual, but as Shibayama weaved through the other students, he stopped and gawked at the giant mountain of chocolate boxes on his desk. When Lev saw him staring, his lips curled up in a smug grin and he hooked his arms behind his head.
“Isn’t this amazing, Shibayama? Some of these are from girls I haven’t even met! Some older ones too. How many did you get?”
Shibayama huffed and sat in the seat in front of him, tempted to knock the mountain down all over Lev’s lap. “I got some obligatory chocolates from my classmates.”
“Aww, don’t feel bad! I’m sure some girls are just shy… or they don’t like guys shorter than them.”
“You’re really lucky I’m not Yaku-san. In fact, make sure you don’t say that to him, or he might just break your legs.”
Shibayama sighed again at the thought of Yaku, remembering the day before when he’d asked his senpai for advice on confessing.
“I just get it over with, like a band-aid!”
“Aren’t you afraid?”
Yaku scoffed. “I’m nervous, but if the person doesn’t like me back, they’re not worth my time. Think hard about it, Shibayama. If the person you like can’t see how awesome you are, you deserve better.”
As if his senpai wasn’t already an amazing libero, he also oozed confidence that Shibayama was envious of. Nevertheless, he decided that he was going to follow his advice and confess already. At least it was nearing the end of the year and if he was rejected, his crush would soon be gone forever and Shibayama wouldn’t feel humiliated for long. For some reason, that thought did nothing to cheer him up.
“Hey, Shibayama?”
He startled and glanced up, finding an uncharacteristic expression of concern on Lev’s face. “What is it?”
“You look so down! You know, if you want to give me chocolates too, I’ll accept them. Even if they don’t taste as good as these ones.”
Shibayama narrowed his eyes. “I don’t have chocolates for you, Lev.”
“You don’t?! Then why do you look so down?”
He contemplated telling Lev about it. They were growing closer after a year of playing volleyball together. But Lev had absolutely no filter and if he told him the truth, it was very likely that he’d blurt it out to everyone.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Once he’d left his final class and was standing in front of the club room doors, however, he was anything but fine. He tried gulping down his nerves as he gripped onto his school bag, but his throat was too tight. Beyond the doors, he could already hear his loud teammates carrying on about something, but their shouting was still drowned out by the beating of his heart.
With a trembling hand, he opened the door and stepped inside. Lev was already there, still in his uniform and showing off all the boxes in his bag, much to Yamamoto’s displeasure who had hardly received anything. When Yamamoto caught Lev in a chokehold and all the boxes scattered across the floor, Shibayama groaned and watched the disaster unfold.
The scene was so distracting, he didn’t even hear the door open behind him and someone walk up beside him. A large hand pressed against his upper back and it was like a jolt of electricity had fried Shibayama’s brain. He winced as Kuroo chuckled and leaned over to catch his eye.
“Did I scare you?”
“No! I mean, yes! But it’s okay.”
“Take a deep breath, okay?”
“Right… oxygen,” Shibayama reminded himself, filling his lungs with air and wishing his face didn’t feel like it was on fire. It was impossible to calm down by that point with Kuroo’s clever eyes on him and his hand still pressed against his back.
“Are you doing alright? You look sick.”
“I’m fine! Just a bit nervous.”
Kuroo smiled at him. Not one of the provoking smiles he saves for his rivals but one warm and filled with affection. To Shibayama, it was like slipping into a hot bath… although instead of calming, it was a little too hot for him to handle.
“You’re going to be great. I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but I have faith in you. And just because we’re graduating soon doesn’t mean we won’t check up on you guys, okay?”
“Yeah… okay, um, Kuroo-san? Do you think I could talk to you about something after practice?”
Kuroo blinked and then looked across the room where Yaku was laughing at Lev’s face turning purple. “Are you sure you want to talk to me and not Yakkun? He’d probably have better advice than I would.”
“Oh! It’s actually not about volleyball. It’s about… something else.”
Shibayama looked away, his hands wringing the strap to his bag. He could feel Kuroo’s eyes studying him closely but then his hand slid up to his shoulder and squeezed it.
“Of course! I’ll see you after. For now, get changed.”
“Yes, sir!” he chirped and bounced to his locker.
Kuroo sauntered further in and ordered Yamamoto to release Lev before he passed out. Just like that, the atmosphere flipped from playful to serious. Kuroo, Yaku, and Kai changed as well but remained in their tracksuits. Since Nationals was over, they were only attending practice to help and observe, allowing the first and second years to step up and take the reins.
Even though Shibayama still had yet to confess, he found that just talking a little to Kuroo and arranging to meet him afterward was enough to give him focus. He slipped into his role on the court with ease, ready to make Yaku proud. The others were beginning to rely on him as their libero and even if he didn’t have Yaku’s confidence just yet, he knew he was improving every day.
The main problem with having all his focus on practice, however, was that time flew by too quickly. Before he knew it, they were tearing down the gym and Shibayama’s nerves rushed back in. As he gathered balls off the floor, they almost slipped from his hands because they had grown so sweaty.
The whole time he kept stealing glances at Kuroo from across the gym. It was strange how it was physically painful to look at him sometimes because he was so handsome. When Shibayama met him at the beginning of the year, he was immediately struck by how cool Kuroo was and admired him immediately. He had his embarrassing moments like anyone, some Yaku loved to tell Shibayama whenever Kuroo was just within listening distance, just to piss him off. Even Kai loved to poke fun at him sometimes, revealing that under his kind exterior that he could be just as conniving as the rest of them.
As they all grabbed their stuff out of the club room, Shibayama tried lingering as long as he could but finally decided to wait for Kuroo outside. When he did, he found Yamamoto, Lev, and Inuoka all loitering out there, whispering in hushed tones.
“What’s going on?” he whispered, and immediately Yamamoto turned and wrapped his arm around Shibayama’s shoulders to bring him into the circle.
“See that chick down there?”
Shibayama glanced down the stairs where a beautiful girl was waiting with a bored expression on her face. “I see her.”
“Pretty, right? She’s waiting for Kuroo to confess, I think. Lucky guy.”
“I don’t know, she sounded kind of mean,” Inuoka said, stiffening when the girl glanced up at them from her phone. She huffed and looked back down at her screen, leaning back against the wall.
“Yeah, but still… Oh well, let’s get going so they can be alone.”
Before Shibayama could protest, Yamamoto started guiding them all down the stairs. His knuckles were white as he clenched on his bag strap, trying to form the words that he needed to stay. But the others were already talking over his head and Yamamoto’s arm was still slung around his shoulders.
They were already nearly to the end of the building when Shibayama finally dug his heels into the ground, refusing to move any further. The others stopped and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
“Um… I have to go back. Sorry!”
Yamamoto’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you forget something?”
“No— YES! I forgot something. You all go on ahead!”
“Okay, get home safely!”
“See you tomorrow, Shibayama!” Inuoka said with determination as if they didn’t see each other nearly every day regardless.
Shibayama laughed and waved. “Bye guys.”
He spun on his heel and started to run back to the club room. His pace slowed immediately, however, when he saw Kuroo talking to the girl at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped completely, watching the pair as she stepped closer to Kuroo, smiling and tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Shibayama bit his lip, wondering if he should just go home. It was silly anyway, confessing to someone like Kuroo when there were girls like that who were interested in him. Even if he did decide to confess to him, he didn’t need to do it just then. Valentine’s day was just a convenient excuse.
He startled when Kuroo’s gaze suddenly landed on him and his heart soared when Kuroo grinned at him and waved for him to come closer. His body moved toward him as if he had a gravitational pull, but his steps faltered when the girl glared at him. Kuroo stepped between them to break her gaze and walked toward him with his arm out.
“Sorry, Fujiki-chan! I’ve already got plans tonight with my kouhai. See ya around!”
Shibayama beamed up at Kuroo and nestled under his arm. Kuroo’s long fingers squeezed his shoulder and he immediately led them away without a second look at the girl. She shouted Kuroo’s name after him, but he just waved over his shoulder as he snickered under his breath.
“Uhh, I can’t stand that girl,” he whispered toward Shibayama’s ear. “Thanks for being here, you gave me the perfect escape.”
“Sure! Anytime!”
Kuroo laughed and ruffled his fingers into his hair. “Are you hungry? I’ll treat you to some food.”
“Oh no! You don’t have to do that.”
“Come on, I don’t have much time left to spoil you!”
“Well, I really just need to get this off my chest. After I do, you might not want to hang out with me.”
That brought Kuroo to a dead stop and he turned to give Shibayama his full attention. “Okay, I’ll hear anything you need to say.”
Shibayama gazed up at him, feeling the gravity of the moment that he’d been waiting for all day. Kuroo smiled reassuringly, his hands stuck in his pockets as he waited patiently for him to talk. Shibayama closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, picturing Yaku’s confidence in his mind and slipping it on for himself like a warm sweater. He reached inside his school bag and as his fingers grazed over the small heart-shaped box, he exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.
“Kuroo-san? These are for you.” He pulled the box out of his bag and presented it to Kuroo. It seemed small and plain compared to the one’s Lev received, but it was all his allowance could afford. His stomach was tied in knots as he watched Kuroo’s reaction to it, his soft gasp as his eyebrows raised up.
“Chocolates?”
“Yes. There are a few different kinds in there. I didn’t know what you’d like.”
Kuroo chuckled as he took them from him and ruffled Shibayama’s hair again. “Thank you! That’s so sweet of you. I like lots of different kinds, so I’m sure it’ll be great.”
Shibayama perked up, rejoicing that he had been able to make it so far and Kuroo accepted the chocolates. Unfortunately, that was only part of it and once that thought occurred to Shibayama, his shoulders sagged.
Kuroo noticed immediately and frowned. “Hey, what’s the matter?”
“Um, those chocolates aren’t just a gift to you because you’re my captain or senpai. They’re, um, c-confession chocolates.”
Shibayama watched nervously as Kuroo froze. He refused to back off or look away though. It might not be much to anyone else, but the moment meant everything to him.
Slowly, Kuroo relaxed and his affectionate smile once again returned to his face. “You like me?”
Shibayama nodded. “Yes! Very much. I’ve felt this way for a while, but I wanted to wait until after Nationals. That way it wouldn’t be too awkward afterward since you’re not playing with us anymore.”
At that, Kuroo snickered but it didn’t seem like he was making fun of Shibayama when he did it. “Were you expecting me to refuse you? Come on, this is the best offer I’ve ever had!”
“Huh?!”
Kuroo continued laughing as he wrapped his arm back around Shibayama’s shoulders and started walking again. “You can breathe now. Remember, oxygen has to get to the brain. Where did you want to go eat?”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember? I was planning on spoiling you with a meal, but I didn’t expect it to be our first date! Hmm, maybe we’ll start with something casual. We’re still in volleyball gear, after all.”
Kuroo glanced down at him when he didn’t answer. He couldn’t form words he was so stunned. All he could do was stare at Kuroo’s face with his mouth hanging open. A sly grin spread on Kuroo’s lips and he leaned down until his breath was washing over Shibayama’s ear.
“Better close that mouth before you start catching flies,” he snickered. Before moving away, he brushed his lips against Shibayama’s cheek. An odd, high-pitched sound escaped Shibayama’s throat and his knees nearly gave out.
Luckily Kuroo held on tight to him as he laughed. He seemed to be in a great mood as he rattled off a few restaurants he wanted to try and Shibayama found that he still couldn’t look away from him. It seemed impossible that he had grown even more handsome in the span of a few minutes and a swell of sweet confidence flooded Shibayama, knowing that it was because of him.