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The squeak of shoes echoed loudly in the gym. I threw up another volleyball, hitting it in a random direction as Asahi ran towards it, trying to get to it before it hit the floor. He slid underneath it, saving it. I grinned and threw up the next volleyball, hitting it closer to him.
I guess I could call this a date, I mean, we were spending time together and as far as dates went, this one wasn’t that bad. In all honesty, Asahi had begged forgiveness from me, because he claimed he needed the extra practice and had called to cancel. When he told me that he was going to be the only one there, I offered to instead change our date from a picnic in the park to me helping him with his volleyball.
I was not very good with volleyball, in fact, I wasn’t great at anything athletic in general. But, if it meant I got to spend time with Asahi and help him with what he loved as well, I’d give it a try. Or rather, just stand on this chair and smack the ball in different directions.
I watched as Asahi dove under a particularly low hit and winced as I heard the smack of his body hit the floor, although he did manage to save it.
“Hey! Nice!”
Asahi stood up, sweating and panting but turned towards me with a big smile on his face. I gave him a thumb’s up.
“Wanna keep going?”
He glanced at the clock on the wall, “If you don’t mind? Just a few more minutes?”
I chuckled, he’d been saying just a few more minutes for the past half hour. I hopped down from the chair to go collect the balls from around the court.
“No problem, but you might wanna take a breather, ok?”
He gave me a warm look and nodded, using an arm to wipe the sweat off of his face. He watched as I started grabbing volleyballs and started moving towards me.
“Do you want me-“
“I got it,” I smiled, “Seriously, just go sit for a few minutes. I haven’t been running around for the last thirty minutes.”
He looked at me, uncertain.
I hid a smile, “I’ll come to sit with you after I put these back in the basket, ok?”
I turned away, continuing to collect all of them from the floor. When I turned back, I wasn’t really surprised to see Asahi collecting the volleyballs as well. I shook my head, exasperated, but I still felt my heart squeeze at the sweetness of it.
“Stubborn.”
He looked up at me, a mischievous smile on his face, “Maybe. But if I help, you’ll be able to come sit down with me faster, right?”
“Oh, so that’s your plan then?”
His smile grew wider, “Yep.”
I laughed, continuing to walk around the gym, collecting the volleyballs. With Asahi helping, it didn’t take long and soon we had placed them into the rolling basket for later.
I motioned for him to sit with me next to one of the walls, holding two water bottles in my hands. I sat down on the floor, leaning my back against the wall and Asahi followed suit, sitting close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off of him. Once we were settled, I handed one of the bottles to him, watching in awe as he gulped the whole thing at once.
“Want mine?” I offered.
He wiped his mouth with a sleeve, shaking his head. “Sorry, I was thirstier than I thought.”
“I can tell,” I gave him a small smile with my teasing.
He chuckled before leaning forward to stretch his arms a bit. “So, uh, I never got to thank you for this.”
I gave him a look, “Thank me for what?”
He stopped stretching but kept staring straight ahead, “For, you know,” he looked down at the floor, his voice soft, “canceling our date to help me practice.”
I took a moment to think about it. It had bothered me a little bit when he had asked to cancel and go practice. I wouldn’t be human if it hadn’t, but this was something that he was passionate about.
He had told me before that he, Daichi and Sugawara had all dreamed of making it to nationals. It was one of the reasons they had all applied to Karasuno. And that dream was about to become a reality. They had finally gotten their chance. Who was I to deny him that?
I didn’t realize that I had been staring off into space for so long when I saw Asahi’s hand waving in front of my face. I blinked, shaking my head to reorganize my thoughts. I turned to voice them to Asahi when I saw that he was biting his lip, a worried expression on his face.
“Asahi-”
“I’m so sorry!” He bowed his head in apology, cutting me off. “I’m the absolute worst!”
“Wha-Asahi-“
“I promise that I’ll make it up to you!”
“Asahi-“
“Just name it and I’ll do it!” He started to kneel in front of me, his head touching the floor.
“Asahi!” I yelled at him, desperately trying to get his attention. He finally stopped and looked up at me, eyes wide. I took a deep breath, “Ok, first of all, please get up.”
He blinked at me then slowly sat back up, resettling back against the wall but still facing me.
“Second, I’m not angry or upset,” I held up a hand when I saw he was about to interrupt, effectively stopping him. “Let me finish, please.” He nodded. I gave him a small smile, “I was kinda upset at first, I won’t say I wasn’t. But, “ I held up a finger as he started biting his lip, “I know how much this means to you. Plus, it’s not like we aren’t spending time together. I know I’m not your first choice to help you with practice, but when you agreed to let me help you, it did make me happy. It’s not the date I wanted, sure, but I’m still enjoying myself, ok?”
He stared at me for a long while, his expression unreadable. I waited for him to say something, trying to be patient.
“So…are you saying, you…consider this a date?” He asked hesitantly.
I tilted my head a bit, thinking, “Maybe not exactly a date, or maybe…hmmm…” I let my voice drift off as I thought about it again. I eventually shrugged, “Honestly? I’m not sure. I guess this could be a date, we are spending time together. Alone. And I am having fun with you, so…maybe?” I grinned at him.
He looked down, biting his lip again. “I mean…I suppose it could be called that. It’s just…”
“Just what?” I prompted.
“I know this isn’t very romantic-”
“It’s romantic enough for me.” I felt my cheeks heat up as soon as the words left my mouth.
He snapped his head up to meet my gaze. His eyes widened, replaced with a look of such wonder that I thought my heart might melt into a puddle in my chest.
He looked down at my hands and gently wrapped one up in his, squeezing it tightly.
“You really mean that,” he said as a statement, a touch of awe to his voice.
I swallowed, now suddenly nervous. I looked down at our joined hands, his thumb lightly brushing the back of mine.
“Of course I do. I mean, I know it’s silly. And that it really isn’t all that romantic, but I get to spend time with you. Doing what you love. That’s something that I find, I don’t know, special?” I belatedly realized that I was babbling, my brain and mouth having short-circuited from the change in mood.
I glanced back up at him to apologize and was startled when his lips met mine in a soft kiss.
“Asahi-”
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine, “Thank you,” he whispered.
I didn’t have a chance to answer because he kissed me again. Firmer this time and I leaned into it. I braced my weight on one hand, letting the one he was holding move to cup the back of his head. Asahi took the opportunity to place that hand on my waist, pulling me slightly closer. His lips were demanding, pulling away only to come back firmer, and yet, it was also surprisingly gentle.
I lost track of time, enjoying the feel of his lips on mine, but when the kiss finally ended, we simply sat there, gazing at each other with warm affection.
“I, uh, I guess you’re welcome,” I said softly, not really wanting to break whatever spell this was, but I felt like I had to say something or I would explode.
He looked at me for a moment before a soft smile spread across his face, “Maybe I can thank you like that more often.”
I felt the sting on my cheeks even as I laughed. The warmth of the moment was replaced with a lightness that made me smile up at him.
Asahi’s smile was sweet, “I do want to take you on a more romantic date, one that you deserve.”
“As long as I get to be with you, it’s romantic enough for me,” I said simply.
He shook his head, the smile still on his face, “You’re amazing, I hope you know that.”
“Oh I know,” I said cheekily, earning a chuckle from him.
“Do you now?” He raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing.
I leaned closer, “Yep. Want me to show you?”
“Definitely.”