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It was the middle of summer. And it was hot. So much so that the coaches of the Tokyo training camp decided to give everyone the day off of practice to cool off at the beach. You had been the Fukurodani volleyball team manager for the past two years you loved your team, but dealing with the chaos that was Bokuto, mixed with the incessant heat, was really getting to you. Perfect opportunity for a little time off scheduling and recording team stats to just chill in the sunshine.
It was difficult to maneuver, but somehow every team, minus the coaches, made it to the beach pretty smoothly. There were so many of you however, you split up once you arrived. Your team decided to group up with the boys from Nekoma along with Karasano. Setting everything up was a pain with the boy’s excitement to finally have a day off. Daichi and Sugawara being of most help setting up umbrellas. “Hey, Bokuto! Get over here and help with all of this shit, don’t run off!” You yelled after the himbo completely too enthralled with being at the beach then being responsible. “It’s fine, he’ll be more a pain over here bouncing up and down anyways”, Akaashi was probably right but you kind of felt like a neglectful mother if you didn’t keep a keen eye on the adult toddler that was Bokuto. His attractiveness only matched by his dumbness, really balanced the guy out.
Once everything was in order you could finally start to have fun. You began by removing the clothes you had on over you swimsuit and placing them in the bag you brought along full of your stuff. Finding your sun screen you began to apply wherever you could reach, thinking you would just ask someone to cover your back for you once you reached that point, thankfully the manager of Karasano, Kiyoko, obliged since the girls of the group seemed to gather nearer one another to avoid SO many teenage boys watching as each of you undressed and lathered up.
All set for the beach day you made your way toward a large part of your group towards a couple of the Nekoma players who you knew well, being close with Bokuto. “Damn, YN, Bokuto has bigger tits then you”, you stopped dead in your tracks and began a death glare to the only man with the audacity, Kuroo. Wide eyes stared at him in disbelief from those around who could here what he just said, even Kenma deigned to look up from his game. Now, you were pretty confident in your body and the remark didn’t really hurt your feelings, just the sheer audacity of the man to say that to you made you internally wince. Especially considering you considered the two of you friends, even potentially a little more than that sometimes. You turned on the spot to look him dead in the eyes. “Oh, you think so? Well I thought I might give you the pleasure, but if that’s how you feel maybe he’d be the one who would like to see my new nipple rings.” Now those wide eyes surrounding you two were bulging. Kuroo stared, with the same expression as those dumb disbelieving boys around him. “Hey Bokuto!” You yelled in his direction, Kuroo’s eyes widen even more “wanna see…” his mouth dropped open, you paused slightly before continuing, Kuroo’s face fell slightly farther “..if Akaashi will let us bury him in the sand?” You say as he walked over to where you stood breaking eye contact with rooster boy. You could see relief wash over Kuroo’s face from the corner of you eye as he realized you weren’t actually about to do as you said. Bokuto looked at you with pure excitement as his eyes lit up at the idea of burying Akaashi up to his neck in the sand. “Aw yeah! That sounds like fun, YN! Let’s goooo!” Bokuto turned to head in the direction of our victim and you jumped on his back for a piggyback ride. Bokuto enthusiastically held on to you as he tore off to annoy his favorite teammmate. Leaving Kuroo just standing there, dumb, stunned at the interaction the two of you just shared.
“Wow, you fucked up”, Kenma states to his best friend before returning to his game. “Shit”, Kuroo mutters under his breath as he watches you pleading with Akaashi as Bokuto goes about tearing into the sand digging like a dog with a bone. Most of the guys who saw the interaction you just had went back to whatever their plans were before that show of stupidity from Kuroo. “I thought you liked her?” Kenma spoke again, clearly more shook than usual with his surroundings considering how easily he stopped playing his game. “Fuck, I do, I don’t know why I said that. It was funnier in my head I guess. What do I do? I don’t want her to be mad at me all day” was the reply. “Well apologize for starters” Daichi from Karasano piped in, having seen the whole thing. “Right…obviously..” Kuroo trailed off. “Well, you better do it fast or Bokuto is the one who is going to get to see her bent over in her bikini all day instead of you” Yamamoto said matter of factly. “Perv” Kenma muttered. Kuroo didn’t seem to hear either of them, way too in his head thinking of his next step as he watched you an Bokuto laughing and playing in the sand down the beach.
You finally got Akaashi to agree by playing into how excited Bokuto was and reminded him that if he upset Bo it would be his responsibility today to cheer him up cause you were off the manager clock for the day. “Damn, Bo, you practically dug the entire hole yourself” you state, kneeling down to help. He beamed up at you without an ounce of tiredness even though he easily already dug a four by four foot hole in the sand. Akaashi sat down and the two of you began to cover him in the displaced sand, his face completely blank as usual. Once covered in the sand an idea came to you, you lightly chuckled at your own idiocy as you started to sculpt a mermaid body out of the sand using Alaashi as the head of your masterpiece. Bokuto’s eyes lit up as your sculpture started to take form and began to giggle. He was an idiot sometimes, okay most times, but you really did love the dude. He was just so simple and easy to get along with, never having to guess how he was feeling cause he never hid his feelings. And he never said stupid shit to get under your skin like some (other) dumb-haired bastard you knew.
Kuroo hadn’t moved from the spot you left him, still trying to figure out the best time to approach you to apologize for his stupid joke. He didn’t think something like that would effect you the way it seemed to. Also, your response had him even more confused. He felt like the two of you had a sort of mutual thing for each other but you didn’t see one another all that often for him to feel it out too much further. However, whenever you were together you always seemed to be near one another sometimes even subtly touching one another. Whether that be arms brushing or knees touching. You even fell asleep against his shoulder once, a moment that gave him butterflies. So why the fuck did he say something so stupid and think you would laugh about it? He watched as you and Bokuto finished your game of burying Akaashi, complete with a photo-op. Before the three of you ran into the water to rinse off all the sand.
Bokuto scooped you up and threw you into the water as you laughed you ass off at the stupidity. It had been a long time of training and school, only thinking about the two for so long that this break was way too much fun. You emerged from where he threw you and splashed water into his face as he started toward you, seemingly to toss you again. “Alright, alright, you win! Don’t throw me again, I got water up my nose” you complain. “Let’s go back up on the beach, I need a drink”.
When you reached the coolers Bokuto handed you a water bottle, as he grabbed one of his own your eyes drifted over to the sulking boy you snapped at a couple of hours ago. He seemed to have recovered, talking with his friends. Suddenly you were pulled from your thoughts as Bo boomed beside you yelling about starting a game of beach volleyball. This was your cue to find a nice spot to lay in the sun for awhile, maybe chat with some of the other team managers for a bit about the horrors of working with so many teenage boys with their endless energy. It could be exhausting. Though, the only one here you thought you could relate to you was Kiyoko, Hinata seemed to be on the energy level of Bo, maybe even more so. Those were your thoughts as you wandered to grab your beach towel and your sun block to reapply. You didn’t fully notice as you distantly passed the rooster haired boy who looked up at you as you did, too wrapped up in your own head. He frowned to himself when you didn’t even glance his way, determined to figure out a way to make up with you before the entire day was wasted without getting the chance to hang with you. He even declined when asked to join the game that just started up with a frown from Bokuto.
You decided on your spot for sunbathing, far enough away that you thought you wouldn’t be hit with any stray balls, but close enough that you still had a handle on what was going on with all of your cohorts. Spreading out your towel you began methodically putting on your lotion starting with your legs, then your stomach, as you reached your arms a shadow cast over you. As you turned to look up the figure spread out their own towel and dropped beside you. You knew who it was before you even had to check.
“Sorry for this morning” Kuroo stated flatly. “I don’t know why I said it, it just came out”.
“It’s okay,” you replied. “Honestly, it was funny. Dude does have bigger tits then me”. Kuroo snorted at your response as you turned to look at him. “I just snapped. The first thing you say to me this whole camp so far and you ragged on me in front of everyone. What the fuck is that?” You said.
“I know. It’s just so crazy this year with Karasano back in the camp and this being our final year, I feel like we have to go non-stop or we won’t be good enough” Kuroo replied “and you seemed so invested in watching Fukurodani I didn’t want to distract you”.
“I get it” you replied.
“Sorry again”
“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I like my tits so it doesn’t matter if Bo has a bigger cup size then me” you smiled at him as he laughed.
“Well since you are here why don’t you help me out and put this lotion on my back?” It sounded like a question but it was more of a statement.
Kuroo did as you requested, taking the bottle from you hand your fingers grazed one another and your heart lurched. It had already been a week and you two hadn’t even said hi to one another, let alone touched. You had forgotten how he gave you slight butterflies anytime your skin came in contact with his.
Kuroo played it completely cool, he didn’t even flinch when your hands met each other as he took your sunblock from your grasp. However, on the inside, he was all nerves. He always acted so cool and calm but he really didn’t have time for relationships during his high school career so he was not as confident as he pretended when it came to women. He spent all of his time hanging out with other guys playing volleyball whether that be training or games or just regular practice. On top of that, making sure he had time to study and keep up his grades he didn’t have much experience. With you it was worse, he assumed you had more experience then him considering how quietly confident you seemed in yourself and that increased his nerves. He squeezed the lotion out into his hands and rubbed them together before he began running them over your skin using all of his mental energy to keep his hands from shaking and his stomach doing flips.
You did your best to keep your chill but you were truly happy to have Kuroo rubbing lotion into your skin. The act itself wasn’t particularly sensual, anyone else and you would have just say there not even thinking about it and thanked them for their help once their hands were removed, but it had been so long since you had a chance to spend time with Kuroo that even him doing this mundane task gave you goosebumps that you hoped he wouldn’t notice.
He did. The lotion had already been absorbed into your skin by this time but he didn’t want to relinquish the contact and he was glad he did when he noticed your skin prickle up into tiny bumps across your back.
Suddenly you sat up out of his touch. “Fuck, I’ll be right back.” Was all you said before briskly walking toward the volleyball match happening about 20 feet away. “Bo!” You yelled over to the spiked haired boy. He turned toward you “dude come over here, when was the last time you used sunblock?” He groaned as he walked over to you. “You’re not his mom, YN, chill out” Akaashi deadpanned you. “Yeah, well if he gets all burned up he is going to be an absolute baby for the rest of the week and I am just not dealing with it. You know he has no thoughts in his dumb little brain but volleyball” you replied. Once he was finally standing in front of you you helped Bokuto with his back and face while he applied the rest and quickly scampered back to his team. “If he gets a sunburn I’m leaving it to you to take care of him” you threatened Akaashi. At this he sighed, resigned to help you watch out for your best friend.
You could hear Nishinoya and Tanaka a few feet away pleading with Kiyoko to help them with their sunblock or they “might get burned and need to be taken care of tooooo” but she briskly denies them and went about her previous task, crushing them both.
When you reached the spot you and Kuroo were sharing he was watching you. “Damn, maybe I need to be jealous that you don’t take care of me like that” he joked as you sat down next to him. “Oh shut up. Bo is sweet, he is just a little one track minded and I don’t want him to hurt himself. Besides, I can’t handle taking care of ANOTHER baby, co-parenting with Akaashi is enough” you laughed.
“But since you were kind enough to do so for me, I can put your lotion too” you smirked. He looked at you with a sly smile as you kneeled down behind him on his towel and began spreading the sunblock on his shoulders. He seemed to sink into your touch a little as you rubbed it into his skin. Gliding your hands up and down his arms to his shoulders, then up and down his back.
Kuroo felt like he was going to lose it, almost did when your hands first touched him. He had to bite his tongue to keep a sigh from leaving his lips. He settled for closing his eyes and just soaking in the moment of you and your hands running all over his back. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from leaning into your touch slightly but if you noticed, you didn’t seem to mind it. Once you were done he felt slightly empty at the lack of contact. Once completed with his back you spun around in front of him to help him with his face. “Alright, shut your eyes for a second” you told him. He did so and you began smearing his face gently. Halfway through he opened his eyes and found himself eye level with your tits, the same ones he jokingly insulted at the beginning of the day. Now staring straight into them he couldn’t for the life of him think why he thought he was funny when he could legit see the outline of the nipple rings he thought you were joking about.
You looked down and scoffed. “So they are better than Bokuto’s” you laughed as he snapped out of his trance. “Uh..sorry, I wasn’t, I mean I didn’t mean to uh..” he stuttered. “I’m kidding” you teased as you moved away, now done with the lotion on his face. He had a slight flush to his face that took you back. You didn’t expect King Confident, Kuroo to be so flustered over something so small. He scratched the back of his neck and shyly smiled at you.
You two were silent for a moment after that, each not really sure what to say next. You taken aback by Kuroo’s shyness and him dumbstruck with being caught so off guard. You finally broke the silence, shifting on your towel so you were so close to him your legs were touching and you felt warm from that little contact, “it’s really nice to have some time off, I was dying in that gym and I’m not even the one playing the games.” “Yeah, makes it a little hard to strategize while my brain is boiling in my skull” he answered “also hard to think out here with you so close to me” he thought to himself.
“I missed you,” you blurted out before you could catch yourself “a lot, actually”. Kuroo turned to you a little stunned at the abruptness of your statement. “I missed you too,” he replied. You both sat there for a moment, accepting this confession from the two of you to one another finally solidifying what you both thought but didn’t want to assume. He reached over and enveloped your hand in his and squeezed. Both of you smiling at one another.
Suddenly you jumped up, hands still intertwined as you sprinted towards the water dragging Kuroo behind you. His immediate shock wore off as he followed you into the crashing waves. The tension of the past few minutes and from the unceremonious first interaction of the day disappeared as you two just splashed and played in the water. You completely failed trying to dunk him underwater with how stupid tall he was. He picked you up and tossed you into an incoming wave almost losing your swimsuit in the process. Panting, you called a truce and swam over to Kuroo who gently grabbed your waist and pulled you toward him. You cling to him in the water, unable to reach the bottom yourself. Your faces were so close to one another. “How long had it been since the two of you were this close?” You thought to yourself. Not noticing anything happening on the beach your lips grazed one another as he pulled you into a kiss. It half tasted of seawater but neither of you seemed to care. You’d been pining after one another for awhile now and you finally told each other how you feel in not so many words. It was soft and sweet and his tongue lingered on the edge of his lips seeming to want more but guessing this wasn’t exactly the place. Then you heard him.
“HEYHEYHEY! My best friends are kissing!” Bokuto.
You pulled apart looking toward the intrusion. Bokuto was standing at the edge of the water grinning, Akaashi a little bit further up the beach. Suddenly you noticed the game had ended and everyone seemed to be gathered near the umbrellas. “We were about to eat so we came over to let you guys know” Akaashi called from the beach. “But then we saw you two making out and we couldn’t believe it!” Bokuto added. “Shut up birdbrain” Kuroo yelled smiling as he started to move toward the shore, “we’re coming in.”
When you guys reached the edge of the water Bokuto was bouncing up and down. “Finally. Honestly I wasn’t sure you two would ever get there, but look at ya. I’m proud” He teased as you met up with him. “Seriously, shut up Bo,” you snapped at him playfully, too internally happy to be actually annoyed with him. He and Akaashi took off toward the food leaving you and Kuroo to take up the rear slowly.
Once you reached the group you all ate the lunch you had packed along with the rest of your belongings this morning and found a spot to sit and eat under the umbrella. You sat next to Kuroo in a little group with Bo, Akaashi, Bo’s new friend Tsuki and Kenma (but he never even looked up from his game so he didn’t really count). You ate while they all talked amongst themselves, mostly about everything they’ve been practicing, glancing at Kuroo more than usual. He would smile in return when he caught you. It started pretty shitty, but it was turning into a great day at the beach.