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If there is anything Chikara has tried to do with his life, it is to not be a bother to anyone. He's never cajoled his parents into buying him something unnecessary, never asked someone to do something more than once if they say no, and certainly never imposed his will on anyone else.
Somehow, he wonders what he's done to the universe to deserve what is happening to him right now.
Ryuu stands before him, red-faced and looking at the oh-so-fascinating bricks over Chikara's shoulder, wringing his hands like he's waiting to be sentenced for a crime. With a sigh, Chikara says, "Come on, Tanaka. Out with it."
Face reddening even more, Ryuu asks, "Enno-san, can I ask you something?"
Here we go, Chikara thinks as he catches the honorific. Ryuu usually only uses those with him if he's either done something stupid or if a teacher is around. As there is no sensei in sight, Chikara can't help the feeling of dread that accompanies his pained smile. "Sure."
Ryuu mumbles something under his breath. "Speak up, or I'm heading to lunch without you."
"You like guys, right?"
Chikara starts at the question. He hasn't really kept his homosexuality a secret, but he usually keeps his nonexistent romance to himself to make sure his teammates aren't uncomfortable around him. But as a newly-minted third year, he finds himself being more comfortable with his friends knowing this about him and is usually fine with discussing it.
But Ryuu's hesitance and inability to meet his eye make Chikara freeze. What if his friend is uncomfortable around him and is just now mustering the courage to say so? Something cold plops in his stomach at that thought. Hesitantly, he says, "Yeahhhh. . ."
Now Ryuu isn't even trying to hide his nervousness. His fidgeting is almost painful to watch. Chikara now wishes he could opt out of this conversation and never know that he disgusts one of his best friends. He sighs and starts, "Ryuu —"
"I think I might like a guy. What do I do?"
Whatever he had been about to say evaporates on Chikara's tongue as his sleepy eyes widen to saucers. "What?"
Ryuu paces in front of him and repeats himself. Chikara shakes his head. "No, I heard you. I am just — surprised. You always seem so, um, adamant about liking girls."
"I do," Ryuu sighs. "But I only, you know, like them. Like Kiyoko-san. I've never really wanted to kiss a girl before."
Chikara rubs his temples as he tries to process this overload of new and bizarre information. If there is anything he wants out of life, it is to not be a gay Yoda. However, Ryuu is a friend and is desperately clueless about many things, so against everything in him telling him to run away far and fast, he relents.
"So, you enjoy the company and attention of girls, but you are romantically interested in boys. Is that about right?" Ryuu nods. "Have you tried working out whether this boy you like might also like boys?"
Nodding, Ryuu says, "I know he does. I just don't know if he likes me or not. How do you confess to a guy?"
"The same way you'd confess to a girl, I'd imagine. I wouldn't know; I've never done it."
Ryuu gapes at him, mouth slack. "Really? But . . . why not? Why wouldn't someone want to go out with you?"
Blinking in surprise, Chikara bites his lip. "I guess there really aren't many out guys to choose from. High school isn't the greatest place to be out, so most people wait until college. In the meantime, I just fend off the odd confession from girls as kindly as possible."
"Oh," Ryuu says quietly, slumping his shoulders. "But what if this person is someone I trust? Even if I get rejected, it won't be so bad, right?"
Chikara considers this before saying, "Straight people do it all the time. If this guy is comfortable with himself, then I say go for it. Just don't put someone who isn't ready for it on the spot, or you'll never have a chance."
Grinning, Ryuu claps Chikara on the shoulder. "I knew you'd know. You're a smart guy, Chikara." With a contemplative look, which for Ryuu is more of a grimace, he adds, "Say, do you want to catch the ramen place after practice? I'm starving just thinking about drills."
Glad the awkward question answer session us over, Chikara gives Ryuu a half-smile and says, "Sure."
Chikara wipes tears from his eyes as he and Ryuu reflect on an amusing incident from practice involving Kinoshita's younger brother, Makota, who is a new first year player for Karasuno. "And then he ran right into the net," Chikara wheezes. "I thought Tsukishima was going to die from laughing. Kageyama felt so bad for missing that set by so much."
Ryuu rolls his eyes. "He was too busy having eye sex with Hinata."
"God yes," Chikara agrees. "No decency at all with those two. You would think at least one of them would figure it out."
Instead of laughing along, Ryuu just sighs. "Yeah, some people can't work out what's right in front of them."
Noting the change in Ryuu's demeanor, Chikara stills as a bizarre thought presents itself. "God, you're not in love with Kageyama, are you? He really doesn't seem like your type."
Ryuu nearly stabs himself in the back of his throat with his chopsticks. "I should make you pay for dinner just for suggesting that. No." He covers his face with his hands and growls into his palms. His voice still muffled, he whines, "I'm not doing this right, and you're not helping."
"Sorry, Ryuu," Chikara says sincerely. "I shouldn't make jokes when it's still something new to you."
Shaking his head, Ryuu smacks himself in the face and huffs out a determined breath. "No, I mean you, Chika. When I said what I said, I was talking about you."
Chikara blinks at this statement, completely confused. He mentally rewinds to everything he remembers Ryuu saying. Making fun of Makota. Kagehina eye sex. People not working out what's right in front of them.
No matter how hard he inhales, Chikara can't seem to catch a breath when the blocks build a foundation for something to which he has been supremely oblivious. "We're . . . on a date, aren't we?"
Ryuu grins widely and jabs a thumb at his own chest. "With the most eligible bachelor in Karasuno, no less."
Eyes narrow, Chikara looks at Ryuu and can swear there is a halo made of hellfire hanging over his vice-captain's head. Now it all makes so much sense. "I can't actually believe you were actually able to maneuver all of this."
"Yep! I found a way to let you know I'm in fair ball territory, got you out to dinner, and we had a really good time. It actually went better than I'd hoped." Ryuu's smile loses some of its radiance before he says, "I was just hoping you would realize you like being with me so you might actually say yes."
Quirking a brow, Chikara almost questions rather than states, "But you already know I like hanging out with you. We've been friends for three years."
A devious chuckle worms its way out of Ryuu. "Which I wanted to be fresh in your mind before I did this." Ryuu gets out of his seat and bows deeply to Chikara. "Chika-chan, you are one boss-ass captain, hot as hell, and the coolest bro I've ever had besides Noya. No one is cooler than Noya, but you are the only one who comes close." He fishes around in his school bag and produces a small box wrapped (a generous term for its mangled outer shell) in orange and black paper, which he holds out to Chikara. "Would you be my boyfriend?"
Chikara feels his light on fire as he carefully takes the box, likely full of chocolates he doesn't feel brave enough to sample quite yet. However, his focus soon turns to Ryuu, who is watching him intently. He looks for any sign that this is some sort of sick joke, even though he knows for certain that Ryuu is not and will never be capable of that level of cruelty. All that's there for him to find, however, is a jittery, sweating Ryuu who his sawing into his bottom lip with his teeth until it is plump and pink, and he wonders what it might be like for those lips to kiss him.
Warmth floods his skin from head to toe, and Chikara doesn't think it's strictly from embarrassment. If he knows anything, it is that Ryuu is genuine and would not do or say something to hurt another person intentionally. If only for this, Chikara finds himself smiling lazily, cheek resting in his palm, and saying, "Sure. Why not."
All the air is buffeted from Chikara's lungs as Ryuu wraps him in a vice-like hug. "This is the best day ever!" he shouts, drawing the attention of the other diners, whose expressions vary between amusement and concern. Oblivious to this, Ryuu drops his arms and fishes out his phone from his pocket. "I gotta tell Noya."
"Ha!" Chikara says as he kicks Ryuu in the shin. "You should sit down and finish your noodles before they get cold and gross, because your boyfriend is not paying for you to waste food."
He is surprised at how easily that word rolls off his lips.
Ryuu almost drops his phone in his haste to comply, but his excitement is not at all squelched. The speed at which he eats is, admittedly, gross, but since it's Ryuu, Chikara finds it just a little endearing. And if Ryuu puts this much gusto into being a boyfriend, Chikara thinks that this might not be a terrible idea after all.
After some verbal jousting, Chikara pays the bill for the food and walks out of the restaurant with his arm linked with Ryuu's. His boyfriend — boyfriend! — is practically skipping beside him, and Chikara feels a rush of affection for this lovable goon that has insinuated himself into his life. As they walk by Shimada-mart, Chikara tugs Ryuu off the pavement and into the space between the market and the building next door. A thought from earlier fresh in his mind, he decides there is something he has to try.
"How 'bout a kiss, boyfriend of mine?"
Ryuu's face lights up, and for a moment, Chikara isn't sure his knees will hold him up anymore. It might be the brightest, most beautiful thing he has ever seen. "My pleasure, boyfriend of mine."
When Ryuu's mouth swoops in to meet his, Chikara cannot fathom how he had never thought about it before. Ryuu's kiss is an intense and alive as its owner — and as clueless — but Chikara reckons that he doesn't mind working on that until they are both masters.
After all, practice makes perfect, and if he knows Ryuu at all (and does he ever), Chikara will be getting a lot of practice indeed.