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Yachi felt a serious wave of déjà vu as she looked around at the table of familiar faces.
After bringing together the old Karasuno volleyball team to watch Hinata battle it out with Kageyama in a pro-level volleyball game, they had all decided to have drinks at the newest izakaya in town to catch up on how everyone was doing. They had even dragged Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo into the mix, as unofficial members of their little volleyball family.
And seeing everyone bicker and laugh with one another, just as they had when they were teenagers, Yachi could not help but tear up a bit from nostalgia.
“Yacchan, are you okay?” Yamaguchi asked beside her.
She smiled back at him, shaking her head slowly.
“I’m fine, just reminiscing… Did I miss anything?” she asked, looking over at the dynamic gestures Tanaka was making as he recounted some story to the table.
“Oh, Tanaka-san’s just telling everyone about how great it is to be married, for probably the third time now,” Yamaguchi replied, chuckling.
Overhearing their conversation, Suga called their attention, a mischievous smile on his face.
“Yeah, and I’m tired of hearing it already. It’s time for some new gossip. For starters… Is anyone else in a relationship right now?” he asked loudly.
There was an automatic shift in atmosphere within the room, and everyone was now looking at each other shyly, or avoiding eye-contact altogether.
Daichi, who was sitting beside Suga, cleared his throat loudly. His ears, Yachi noticed, were beginning to turn a light shade of pink.
“Stop it, you! What are you, a 40-year old housewife?” he scolded him.
Suga turned towards the man, looking at him with suspicion.
“Don’t think that my question doesn’t apply to you, Daichi! I know that you’ve been talking to Michimiya again, you sneaky boy,” he teased, nudging Daichi playfully with his shoulder.
Daichi blushed furiously at his words, his eyes widening to saucers.
“H-how did you even know?!” he blurted out clumsily.
Suga grinned, shrugging his shoulders.
“I have my sources… I also know that Tsukishima over there has been getting a bit friendly with a pretty local sports reporter,” he announced, glancing over at the tall boy sitting beside Yamaguchi.
Tsukishima choked on his beer, and was immediately patted on the back by a very worried and intrigued Yamaguchi.
“TSUKKI! YOU’RE DATING? WHO? WHO? WHO?” Bokuto piped up excitedly, reaching over his seatmate Akaashi, to shake Tsukishima’s shoulder.
“Bokuto-san, please calm down, you sound like an owl… And please put down your glass, you’re starting to spill,” Akaashi scolded his friend, cleaning after his mess.
Composing himself as best as he could, Tsukishima glared at his ex-teammate.
“Suga-san… Don’t you have better things to do than to snoop on your old teammates’ love lives?” he rebuked him.
Suga shook his head, completely unfazed.
“Nope, not at all! In fact, I think it’s my right to know what my cute kouhai are up to! I mean, I practically raised you naughty kids when we were in high school!”
Asahi sighed, smiling weakly at his friend’s silly antics.
“You really are acting like a housewife, Suga…”
Sensing that Suga would soon be targeting her, Yachi quickly slipped out of her seat, crouching as she tiptoed towards the door to their private seating room. As she opened the door carefully, she turned to give Yamaguchi a silent heads-up that she was leaving.
“Running away?” he whispered, a knowing smile on his face.
“Be back soon,” she mouthed.
Yachi let out a huge exhale as she closed the door behind, still hearing the loud laughter and banter through the wall. Shaking her head, she made her way to the bar area at the front of the izakaya.
“An umeshu highball for me,” she said quietly to the bartender, taking a seat at one of the free stools.
To her left, she suddenly heard a familiar chuckle.
“Were your crows being too rowdy again, Yachi?”
Yachi turned, frowning slightly.
“I was wondering where you got off to, Kuroo…” she muttered.
The man grinned, raising his glass to her. He downed his drink quickly, before turning his torso to face her.
“So, what’s a pretty lady like you doing here, drinking alone?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes at him, grabbing the drink that had just arrived.
“They started talking about dating and relationships, and I just didn’t want to be a target for discussion,” she admitted, taking a small sip of her cocktail.
Kuroo hummed in agreement.
“Can’t blame you. I also stepped out for a bit, since Bokuto kept pestering me to go on a blind date with one of Akaashi’s work colleagues,” he recounted, shaking his head.
Yachi raised a brow at this, her interest piqued.
“Oh? So even you have dating troubles, huh?”
Kuroo narrowed his eyes at the subtle dig. He leaned forward towards her, enough that she could get a small whiff of his cologne.
“You’ve gotten a lot cheekier since I last saw you, Yachi,” he said, lowering his voice slightly.
She turned her gaze away from him.
“It’s been years… It’d be weird if I didn’t change, even if just a bit…” she mumbled, a bit flustered.
She peeked over at him again, and saw that he was now smiling at her.
“I guess you’re right. You look good, by the way.”
Her eyes widened and she whipped her head to stare at him now. He gave her a quick wink, before turning towards the counter to order another drink.
She blushed, eyeing him a little closer.
If she was being honest, Yachi also thought that Kuroo had grown to a very attractive man, just from seeing him today.
His face still had the same boyish charm, but he had grown a bit taller than before. Now that he’d taken off the jacket to his suit, Yachi could also see that he had kept working out and had gained quite a bit of muscle, despite the fact that he was no longer a serious athlete. Her eyes were particularly drawn to his rolled sleeves, which seemed to draw more attention to his toned arms.
She was quickly jostled back to reality when she heard a small thud of a glass being set in front of her. Looking now, she saw that it was Kuroo holding the glass. He gave her a kind smile as he drew his hand away.
“It’s water, have some,” he said simply.
She gave him a rather confused look in reply.
“I’m not drunk yet, Kuroo… My tolerance isn’t even that bad,” she assured him.
Kuroo laughed at the statement, shaking his head.
“No no, it’s not for that. It’s just…You were looking a little bit thirsty over there, ” Kuroo explained, smirking at her.
Reading between the lines, Yachi flushed crimson and glared defiantly back at him.
“Don’t flatter yourself!” she stammered.
She fanned herself, trying to rid her face of the warmth she could surely feel. She shot him another glare, before grabbing the glass of water and downing it.
“So, what is your current dating situation, anyhow?” he asked, chuckling to himself.
Yachi huffed at him, readying herself for more of his teasing.
“I’m obviously single, Kuroo. Don’t need to be mean about it.”
Kuroo’s playful expression faltered, and was replaced with one of genuine surprise.
“Seriously? You’re not dating the shrimp? I mean… Hinata?”
Yachi’s eyes widened, and she laughed loudly at his suggestion.
“Hinata? Oh gosh no! Plus, he’s already dating someone!” she corrected him.
“What?! Who?”
“Kageyama! Who else?”
Kuroo burst into a hearty laugh, slapping his forehead as if he’d just been told that the sky was indeed blue.
“Should’ve seen that coming! But really… You’re not seeing any of the Karasuno boys?” he asked carefully.
Yachi gave him a weak smile, nodding slowly.
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised, Kuroo. I’m no beauty like Kiyoko-san,” she reminded him.
Kuroo straightened up a bit in his seat, furrowing his brows.
“Why’s that? I think you’re just as attractive as her, though,” he stated plainly.
She rolled her eyes again.
“You’re just saying that because she’s married now,” she pointed out, turning to taking another sip of cocktail.
“You’re never going to believe me, huh…” Kuroo mumbled, sighing.
Without another word, he yanked her drink from her hands, setting it down beside him and away from her reach.
“Hey! Give that back!” Yachi whined in annoyance, trying to reach over him to retrieve the glass.
“No! You apparently need to hear this, so just sit and listen to me for a second!” he scolded her.
Kuroo grabbed her hands and sat her down easily, planting her hands down on her lap. He looked into her eyes, now blazing in anger towards him.
“Stop messing with me!” she warned him.
“I’m not messing with you! I’m telling the truth!” he shouted back.
“You’re just drunk!” she retorted.
Kuroo sighed again, giving her a weak smile.
“Don’t you know Yachi? The intoxicated never lie…”
“But if you’re skeptical…” he muttered.
Kuroo released his hold on her slowly, and turned back to the bartender.
“Sorry, can I get a tall glass of water?” he asked.
Yachi looked at him curiously, and he returned the look with a quick smile.
“This one’s for me, don’t worry,” he explained, giving his thanks to the bartender, once his drink arrived.
He drank the whole glass of water, and turned towards Yachi, showing her the empty glass.
“Alright, so let me say it again, now that I’m a bit more sober. You, my dear, are one very, very, attractive lady. To me, and probably to a lot of people in this very room,” he announced, waving his hand lazily to their surroundings.
She scoffed.
“Yeah right.”
Kuroo groaned, getting a bit frustrated at her constant denials.
“Just look at the table behind you, then,” he said quietly, pointing behind her with his nose.
Yachi followed his instructions, slowly looking over her shoulder to the table in question.
There were a group of young men at the table, and as Kuroo had hinted to, many of them were staring at her.
Once they noticed her staring back, however, they all turned away, blushing and swearing under their breath.
“Do you get it now?” Kuroo asked, calling her attention back to him.
She blushed, nodding shyly.
Finally satisfied by her response, he smiled, and pat her gently on the head.
“Good.”
Reading her expression for a moment, he straightened up again, clearing his throat loudly.
“Okay…Now that we’ve settled that… Let me make my true intentions a bit clearer…”
“Huh?”
Kuroo gave her a playful smile, scooting his stool closer to hers. He leaned forward, resting one hand to the back of her seat. He then leaned forward, and with his free hand, he turned her face gently to look at him.
“Yachi… I didn’t just point out how attractive you are to make you feel better about your relationship status… I’m telling you this because I’m interested in you.”
Yachi turned crimson, but she saw no room to escape, especially with Kuroo hovering over her, and watching her with such a fierce expression.
“In… in what way?” she asked, gulping.
He smirked.
“Oh you know… Romantically…”
He leaned closer now, bringing his lips close to her ear.
“Sexually, too.”
Yachi felt her ears burn, and placing her hands on his chest, she pushed him away from her quickly.
“St-stop messing with me, I said! You… You just want to sleep with me, don’t you?” she hissed at him.
Kuroo laughed, holding one of her hands to his chest, locking her in place.
“Hmm… I guess modern dating can be described as a war of hormones… But no, that’s not my plan,”
“Really?”
“Of course not, Yachi. C’mon, I’m not an animal… I plan to take you out to dinner first!”
Annoyed, Yachi gave him a hard kick on the shin, causing him to release his hold on her hand and pull back in pain.
“Ow ow, okay… Bad joke,” Kuroo admitted, clutching at his leg.
“You didn’t change at all…” Yachi grumbled, standing up from her stool.
She set a few bills on the table for her drink, and turned to glare at Kuroo again.
She bit her bottom lip, hesitating for a moment. Reaching into her purse, she took out a small card, and put it on the counter beside him.
“That’s my business card… It… It has my phone number on it…” she mumbled, eyeing him carefully.
Kuroo stared at the card, and then at her, an incredulous look on his face.
“Wait… You’re not rejecting me?”
She was blushing furiously now, quickly losing her nerves at his overjoyed expression.
“If those are really your intentions… I’m not opposed to that kind of thing, going out for dinner, or the other stuff…" she stated, quietly.
"Oh? Why the change of heart?"
"Let’s just say that I’m a bit curious about you,” she explained slowly.
At this, Kuroo smirked, and bringing his hand to his neck, he pulled down on his necktie to loosen it a bit.
“Well, if you’re that curious… I guess I’ll have to show you, now won’t I?”