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"What are you doing?"
Asahi groaned almost like clockwork, looking down at Noya whom had somehow found his way from sitting across the table, to sitting in his lap. All the pleading and empty threats in the world wouldn't get him to move an inch off of him at this point, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he attempted to go back to studying.
"I'm not doing anything of that sort if that's what you're insinuating Asahi. Just thought I could study better if we're both lookin at the same thing."
The smaller teen couldn't help it, a shit-eating grin coming across his face. Moments like this made Noya wonder how he'd managed to score such a perfect boyfriend like Asahi. God that word still felt so new, even if it had been weeks. Those weeks between them naturally felt much longer, but even so, he still couldn’t get past the initial excitement of it all. From where they had been in the beginning of the year compared to now, he wouldn’t have believed a single word of it.
But now, here they were. Asahi was doing his usual ‘Noya you’re so troublesome, but I adore you’ chuckle, looking as if he had something more to say, but was a bit too reserved to dwell on the thought for now. The sudden simplicity in their routine was nice, but being as he was, Noya craved something more. A desire deep within him was igniting a flame he couldn't put out just yet.
Trying to rack his brain from the gutter, Noya, wholeheartedly in this case, attempted to go back to studying. This of course, as honest as all of his study attempts were, didn’t last more than a few minutes. His mind wandering off constantly to the point of where he wasn’t sure if he actually knew how to study properly, left him in a rut when it came to “study dates” with Asahi.
On one hand, if he had managed to buckle down, Asahi would always be so kind as to properly reward him with food and whatnot. To a degree, that sort of thing was satisfying. But as Ryuu would tease him, “happy wife meant happy life”, and well, a happy Asahi mean a whole lot more than just-
“Noya are you listening to me?”
“Huh? Oh, shit, yeah. Sorry I was-”
“Spacing out as usual?”
Noya bit the inner of his cheek, letting out an annoyed sigh as he turned his head to face Asahi. The older boy looked down at him with a rather flustered expression, rubbing the back of his head, finding it a little difficult to look him directly in the eyes.
Shit.
“Well, do you think you could move so I can use the bathroom?”
“Yeah, sure, I can!” Noya blurted out rather suddenly, his volume seeming to reach all corners of the room. He hopped out of the other’s lap quicker than he ever knew he could, his knees scraping against the edge of the table as he moved out of his way, watching the other until he left the room. With a loud thump, Noya hit the floor, resting his head against the cool table. When did he ever get this flustered over little things like this?
Fuck, what was he thinking? Or what was Asahi thinking? Whether it was school, practice, here, when wasn’t he thinking of Asahi? When wasn’t he praising his ace? Everything until now felt like it had all fallen into place, but was it the same feeling that Asahi felt? Christ, had he even asked if Asahi had thought of him in the same way he had? Well, for the most part, if he hadn’t, they wouldn’t be dating. But still, even if that was the case, was all his chiding and praise making him feel like he couldn’t say no to him? As if he couldn’t say “Noya, I don’t feel the same way?”
Gripping the ends of his hair, Noya laced his fingers through, starting to tug on the loose locks. Why on earth he was thinking this much was beyond him, causing another hefty sigh to leave his lips. Doubt always seemed to build whenever he couldn’t properly read the other, and probably caused him more thinking than anything he attempted at their notorious study sessions.
“Has anyone ever told you that you think too much?” Asahi whispered softly into Noya’s ear, wrapping his strong arms around the other’s chest. He had made sure to watch his step coming in, not wanting to arouse Noya from what seemed like his usual self-doubting session of the week. It worried Asahi that Noya worried so much about the other. Similar tension had built up weeks before, but not in the same sense of today. Sure, he had his doubts, dating his junior and all. It was normal for Asahi to question and to worry about the smallest things in his life.
But not so much for Noya.
Whenever things did seem to bother the other, it was all too visible through the way he acted, through the way he seemed to shift in his attitude towards him. Talking not being being one of Asahi’s strong suits either left a lot up to question when the two couldn’t seem to find the right words to sort things out. But if there was anything he’d learned from being around a loudmouth such as Noya, was that sometimes actions, compared to words, seemed to strike a bigger chord within him.
“Have you even met yourself Asahi?” Noya moved his hands to place them over Asahi’s, sucking his teeth as he felt his face warming at the sudden gesture, looking off to the side as he spoke. Christ, when did he even find the time to- oh right. When he was throwing himself a pity party right in the middle of Asahi’s room.
“Do you want to take a break from studying? Maybe we can go downstairs and get a snack or something?”
“Wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose of this all? Third years have exams coming up and- fuck, third years having exams coming up!” Noya let out an uneasy chuckle, letting his hands drop to his sides. Christ, what was wrong with him?! It was like the more he tried to choke down his own stupid commentary, more and more word vomit seemed to just spew out, leaving him completely unaware of just how stupid he must of been acting, or doing. What was he even doing here? No wonder Asahi looked the way he did. It all made perfect sense now.
“Fuck, I didn’t even realize. Christ, Asahi, why didn’t you- Look, if anything, you should be studying with Suga and Daichi. I shouldn’t even be here right now, I shouldn’t be-”
“Noya!”
The libero jumped slightly at the sudden forcefulness of his boyfriend’s tone, even more so when Asahi suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around to face him.
Christ he was beautiful.
Noya managed to swallow the lump that had been building up in his throat, knowingly blushing probably to a point of utter embarrassment if he ever look at himself in the mirror. He was close, so close, to him. He could practically feel Asahi’s heat radiating off to him.
“Do you, of all the people I know, think I would ask you here if I didn’t want you here? Can you stop for maybe, maybe just one second, and consider the way I feel about you?”
His voice was shaky. Like newborn deer legs level of shaky. He, he too was just as weary, wasn’t he?
“I- I know it’s hard, really hard with everything that’s been going on. I don’t know about you, but talking about how I feel just doesn’t come as naturally, talking really, but you know that much but that’s not the point. Point- the point is, having you here, I guess to say, calms me down Noya. It, at times can be really rowdy and overwhelming, but it, in a way, somehow-”
“Asahi-”
“Please Noya, just let me finish what-”
“Me too.” Noya said with a rather strong conviction, drawing a rather puzzled look from the other until he finally managed to blurt out the rest of what he had to say. There was no going back at this point, but from what he was hearing, he knew the same feeling, the emotion he had been feeling all along, was too being acknowledged and displayed across. If this wasn’t the moment, he really didn’t know when else it would be.
“I love you. I love you too Asahi. Fuck, oh god, I really, really fucking love you.”
If it wasn’t already, Asahi felt his entire face go completely red, feeling all of his composure crumble with sudden confession of love. His wanted to respond, he wanted to say something but his reply was caught in his throat, struggling to make any human like sounds come out to begin with. Noya couldn’t help but take notice, moving his hands to cup around the other’s cheeks, smiling brighter than he ever did that day.
Why he ever was so worried in the first place was beyond him.
“N-Noya, what- what are you doing?!” Asahi finally managed squeak out all too late, Noya already in motion for a kiss, pressing his lips against the others. It took a moment, but slowly, he softened into it, wrapping his arms around the libero. The warmth was overwhelming, filling his mind beyond anything he could have imagined.
Why he ever thought they would study today either was beyond himself.