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you were sitting on your doorstep, waiting for your boyfriend. for bokuto. earlier that day, he sent you a text, wanting to meet with you after practice. as you scrolled through your phone, a sudden gust of air shook the trees, making flower petals falls across your yard. a petal landed perfectly on the screen. you looked at it and picked up carefully, holding the petal in between your pointer and thumb. a small smile formed on your lips.
———
bokuto saw you sitting by yourself during the lunch break. he didn’t know you all that well, other than the fact that you were in his class and sat two seats in front him, but he has fallen for your smile and laugh. he told akaashi that he found the one. the one whose laugh complimented his own. akaashi attentively listened while bokuto was rambling on about you. but today, today was different.
there wasn’t a smile lingering on your lips. whenever a new tear fell onto your cheek, you quickly wiped it away with the back of your hand. when you looked down, trying to blink away your tears, you noticed a shadow in front of you. you looked up and saw bokuto standing in front of you. before you could say anything, bokuto stretched out his arm. he removed a petal that was stuck in your hair, giving you a soft, heartwarming smile.
“i know that you don’t really know me, other than my name and that i play volleyball, but i really like it when you smile, or when you laugh. crying is a perfectly healthy thing to do, especially when you’re sad because it means that you’re not ignoring your feelings. i just hope that whatever it is, you can come out of it with a smile.” bokuto took a deep breathe after finishing his short speech. he handed you the petal and walked away. you looked down at your hands and how they cradled the yellow petal. his words replayed in your head and you smiled while tears fell onto your opened palms.
in reality, you knew who bokuto was. you looked forward to going to class only because of him. he’s the one that makes you laugh. and he’s the one that you think of when one of your friends asked you, ‘what are you smiling about, y/n?’
you walked into the gym, a little wary because you didn’t want to get hit by any volleyballs. luckily, the team was taking a break. bokuto was drinking from his water bottle when he saw you. he moved it away from his lips and ran towards you while wiping his lips. “y/n! what are you doing here?!” you smiled at him as you handed back the textbook that he let you borrow. bokuto looked down at it and laughed. “you could have waited to give it back to me tomorrow, sunflower!” you nodded your head, “i know, but i wanted an excuse to see you, bo.”
that simple sentence made his heart race and he had the goofiest, most lovestruck smile plastered on his face. “if you don’t mind, i’ll really like it if you could stay and watch me practice.” when you said yes, bokuto smiled wide and immediately dragged you to meet the team. as soon as bokuto said your name, everyone collectively said ‘ohhhhh so this is y/n’. you were confused by what they meant while bokuto tried to hide his blush. practice was getting ready to start again, and you went to sit at the bleachers. you were excited to see bokuto and the rest of the team play. every time he would make one of his powerful spikes, bokuto would look over at you with a huge grin. and when you returned the enthusiastic smile, he would pump his arm up, hyping himself up for the next spike.
when practice ended, bokuto asked you if you could wait for him by the school gates. the sun was setting and you saw him jogging towards you. “y/n,” he said, slightly out of breath, “i really like you and i was hoping we can go on a date this weekend.” you were left speechless by his sudden confession. you realised that you haven’t said anything when you noticed bokuto’s demeanour fall. “yes, bo. i’ll love to go on a date with you.” his smile immediately returned and engulfed you into his arms. he was warm, like the sun that was setting behind you.
“where are we going, bo?” you asked as he pulled you through the crowded mall. the two of you were supposed to be eating at a restaurant since it was your anniversary. but at the last minute, bokuto changed his mind, telling you that he had something different planned for the date. bokuto stopped and when you crashed into his back. he turned around. “okay, y/n, sunflower, baby, i need you to close your eyes and trust me, okay?” “okay.”
you closed your eyes, immediately feeling his lips on yours. but before you could kiss back, bokuto broke it and started to push you forward. you could hear a lot of noise around you and felt yourself bumping into people. the both of you apologised to them. “bo, what are we doing at an arcade?” “aww,” you could tell that your boyfriend was pouting, “but i wanted to surprise you.” he told you that you could open your eyes, and you found yourself standing in front of prize counter. bokuto stood in front of you and pointed to the largest plushie that was in the top shelf. “i was here the other day with kuroo when i saw it. and it reminded me of you. so," he dragged it out, "i’m going to win it for you, y/n!”
the rest of the day, and night, you and bokuto had a memorable time playing the games. he was surprised by how amazing you were at skee-ball, and you were surprised by how horrible he was at the basketball game. “i thought you were amazing at sports, bo.” he pouted, but still had a lingering smile on his face, “you’re so mean to me, sunflower.” closing time was nearing, and the two of you were at the ticket counting machine. when the ticket number surpassed the price of the plushie, bokuto screamed and immediately went to the counter.
he proudly asked for the plushie, and gave the rest of the tickets to someone else. he walked back towards you, and gifted you the plushie that he promised. when you held it in your arms, your eyes started to water. “i love you, kōtarō.” he cuffed your cheeks, placing a kiss on your forehead. “i love you too, y/n.”
———
a year later and you still felt the same love for bokuto as back then. your love for him grew, but there was something that you’ve been thinking about for the past month or so. you heard footsteps approaching your house, and when you looked up, you saw bokuto, carrying his gym and school bag over his shoulder. you got up and gave him a smile, and he returned it, but it was different. the air around you two was different and your chest started to ache.
“y/n…i…” bokuto couldn’t get the words out. he looked away from you, and you could see the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. “i know, bo.” your voice was soft, but the words were heavy to say. while your love for bokuto grew, you could feel it in your heart that he was falling out of love with you. at first, you thought that it was just in your head, but every time you two kiss, or looked at each other, the warmth started to grow colder. “i’ve know for a while.” bokuto finally looked back at you and said two words that shuttered the last remaining hope you had for your relationship. “i’m sorry.”
you held back your tears as you smiled, “i know, kōtarō. thank you for being honest with me.” you went up to him and gave him one last kiss on the cheek before going back inside. the door closed between the two of you. when you walked back to your room, you remembered the first words bokuto said to you ‘crying is a perfectly healthy thing to do, especially when you’re sad because it means that you’re not ignoring your feelings. i just hope that whatever it is, you can come out of it with a smile.’ you closed the door behind you, and when you heard the click of the door, you didn’t wipe away the tears that started to fall.
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you looked through the bleachers, trying to find a seat while holding onto your snacks. “y/n? is that you?” when you heard your name, you looked up and saw a familiar face. “tsukishima!” tsukki shook his head while smiling, “you can just call me kei or tsukki, y/n.” he gestured for you to sit next to him. you remembered all the times when bokuto would mentor tsukki back in high school. “i didn’t expect you to be here, if i’m being honest,” tsukki said as you sat down. “yeah. i didn’t expect it either.” yamaguchi and yachi joined, both equally happy to see you.
the four of you caught up to lost time, laughing and joking around. the msby players started to walk onto the court, warning up before the game. your eyes immediately landed on bokuto. it was the first time you’ve seen him in person since graduation. even now, you wished that that day was a nightmare, and that one day you would wake up. you did, but bokuto was still gone. he was getting ready to spike the ball, but before he did, something in his gut told him to search the crowd. then his eyes landed on you.
the two of you stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, before he was snapped back into focus by atsumu. “i didn’t know you knew someone from the team,” an stranger said next to you. you shook your head. “no, i don’t. sorry.”