Work Text:
You looked around in the gym, eyeing every team member closely, especially the third-years. Everyone was practicing like it was any other day. The Nekoma volleyball club wasn’t actually pulling any pranks on you or any other team member on April Fools’ Day.
You were a third-year at Nekoma High and the manager of the volleyball club. It was around the mid of your first year at this high school when you applied as the manager. Kuroo Tetsurou, your classmate and friend, joined the club on the first day of school which was on April 1st. You had heard from him that all the first-years got pranked on that day. But those were just small shenanigans and they were mostly harmless. They served the purpose of making the first-years feel less stiff around the seniors. Kuroo told you that the seniors passed this tradition on to welcome newbies.
On the 1st of April in your second year, you had forgotten about April Fools’ Day. You were completely unprepared and sleepy that day, so your upperclassmen used this chance to tease you, their freshman. Since that day, you swore that you were going to pay close attention on the same day next year.
However, nothing has happened so far. You flinched at every sudden move and you glared at the people making the movements but absolutely nothing occurred. The first-years were probably weirded out or scared by your behavior and intense staring.
You kept being cautious until practice ended. Did they possible forget about it? Or were they waiting for you to be off-guard? If they were actually waiting for that to happen then they had no chance at all. You were still being careful around your surroundings.
You were currently cleaning up the rest of the gym, mostly just picking up the remaining volleyballs which you spotted as the boys went to the club room. They offered to help you but you declined. You had to make sure that they didn’t set anything up while they still had the time to do so.
But it’s weird that they didn’t play any pranks while the first-years were around. You thought that they would keep the tradition up. Although, they could have pulled some tricks in the club room, so you wouldn’t know about that.
You picked up the last ball and put it into the cart, carrying all the volleyballs. You pushed it towards the already opened equipment room and entered. As you stepped inside, the trolley suddenly got stopped by something. You went around it and you saw a big package on the floor, exactly at the spot where the cart was supposed to be placed.
You pulled the trolley back and walked towards the cardboard box, taking a closer look at it. The box was huge and it had the sign of being easily breakable. You had to move it outside of the room or the cart wasn’t going to fit inside. Also, it was taped, so there was no way that you could pry it open with your bare hands, in case it was too heavy and you had to move the items one by one.
You kneeled down and tapped at the bottom of the box with your fingers. It definitely wasn’t hollow. Then you stood up again. What if this was actually set up by those guys? But you hadn’t seen them, doing anything suspicious. Maybe you should just move it outside for now.
You went behind the package, rolling up the sleeves of your jersey. You changed your stance, so that you could lift the box from the bottom. Your hands found their way to the bottom sides of the box and you tightened your grip. You tried to heave it like that but it was no use. Whatever was inside, it was too heavy for you to lift.
Even so, you gave it another try, putting more strength into your arms. It was impossible. No matter how much strength you used, it didn’t budge. You loosened your grip, letting go and standing up. Trying to push it out of the room or calling the guys back again if they were still here - those were the only options if you wanted to put the cart away.
You went outside, looking to the direction of the club room. The light was off and there weren’t any figures nearby. It was completely dark outside. Only the street lamps and the lamps in the gym were giving light. It was unusual for them to leave this quickly.
A cool breeze brushed your skin, making you shiver. You went back inside, closing the door. It was already dark and chilly, so you better finished up quickly. Your footsteps resounded in the hall as you headed to the package.
It’s been two weeks since you haven’t been in this hall. It still felt so acquainted. You were going to miss this gym and the memories you made in here with the team members. You stopped in your tracks, closing your eyes and breathing in the familiar air. You remembered the sound of squeaking shoes and balls being spiked and tossed around, echoing through the hall. Then you opened your eyes and walked towards the box, continuing where you left off.
You walked to the other side of the package and bent down, resting your hands on the edge of it. Then you pushed it and it slowly started moving. You put more force onto it and thus, you managed to shove it outside, even if it took you quite some time and energy. You put your hands on the trolley and you were about to push it back inside when you heard rattling noise, coming from the box. What was that?
The noise stopped as you got closer to it. You narrowed your eyes and knelt down, tapping at it again. A few seconds later, there was a tap back. What in the world was inside?
You were in the process of getting up again when the rattling noise got louder, making you jump. Your heart started racing as you gulped and carefully moved towards the package, listening to the noise intensely.
Suddenly there was a loud bang which resounded in the hall and the top of the box burst open, making you shriek and stumble. You landed on the floor, squeezing your eyes shut and protecting yourself from whatever was inside. Then you felt small snippets, brushing against your skin and falling in your hair. You opened your eyes again. “What the hell…”
You removed your arms and looked up. Your eyes grew wide by the sight. Confetti in different and bright colors were flying around in the air, mixing with streamers and glitter which were sparkling in the light. Everything looked so colorful and vivid. The confetti and glitter dropped the floor and your eyes wandered to the open package. Strands of short black hair were standing out.
Your heart calmed down and you felt relief as you got up again. How come you didn’t notice that he hadn’t gone back to the club room yet, even though you were aware of your surroundings today?
“Fukunaga, what are you doing?” you sighed as you looked down on the person who sat inside the cardboard box, holding onto confetti poppers. He raised his head, staring at you with his wide and cat-like eyes. He was surrounded and covered by the contents he had thrown out.
“Happy April Fools’ Day,” Fukunaga replied. He rummaged through the confetti before he stood up and stepped out of the box. The contests of the box twirled around and dropped to the ground as he got out. You brushed the confetti and streamers off you which stuck on your clothes and hair.
You noticed that he was holding a piece of cardboard in his hands as he brushed the small bits off too. You wondered why he had it and decided to ask him. Then he proceeded to look at it and flipped the cardboard, revealing that there was something written on it. It said: “I like you. Please go out with me.”
Your heart started racing when you read it, even though it was most likely just a joke. You took a deep breath and tried to calm your heart again. You exhaled and then confronted him: “Is this still part of the prank which you guys came up with?”
Fukunaga didn’t reply, so you assumed that you were right. You laughed it off and continued talking: “Anyway, you got me. I honestly was prepared for anything besides this. But it’s getting late and I need to clean up this mess, so you should head home now.”
Damn those guys, you were going to get them back for this, for sure. You were about to enter the equipment room when Fukunaga suddenly spoke up: “No, it’s not a joke.”
Your heart skipped a beat and you looked back to him. He looked you straight in the eyes with an earnest expression, still holding on to the cardboard piece. Were you being tricked? But you didn’t believe that anyone from the volleyball club would go as far as messing with other people’s feelings for a simple prank.
You turned away from him, biting on your lower lip and getting the broom. After you picked it up, you exited the room and he moved away to make it easier for you to clean. You swept the small bits to a pile and then you rested the broom against the wall. You put the confetti, glitter and streamer pieces back into the box again.
Fukunaga placed the cardboard on the floor and helped you as the silence dragged on. After you finished picking up the scraps, you put the box next to the equipment room’s door and you pushed the cart of volleyballs in the room. You entered the room once more to return the broom. Then you closed the door and got the key out of your sweatpants’ bag, accidently dropping it.
You picked it up and shakily locked the door. You felt embarrassed and stupid over how you were acting. If this really wasn’t a quip, then you had to say something. You were still facing the door when you decided to break the silence. “If this is actually a joke then it’s not funny and I’m about to make a fool out of myself.”
Your heartbeat increased rapidly. You opened your mouth to say something but shut it again. You took some deep breaths, thinking of what to actually tell him. Your face started to grow hot as you continued talking: “You better tell me that you are kidding now before I embarrass myself.”
You fiddled with your slightly sweaty fingers, waiting for a response as you were thinking of anything to say. It was ridiculous that you were acting like a teenage girl from those cliché love stories. “I-“
Before you could even start your sentence, you were hugged from behind all of a sudden. Fukunaga wrapped his arms around you, enveloping you in his warmth. Your heart pounded like crazy. At this rate, you were going to collapse from embarrassment.
“Your ears are red,” he mumbled as you instinctively reached out to them. “You don’t have to say anything, just let me hold you like this, please.”
You had to respond. You wanted to. But it was embarrassing to do so. Even so, you felt bad for not answering. You mustered up your courage to tell him how you felt.
“I like you too, Fukunaga,” you blurted out. Now, you really wanted to bury yourself somewhere. Fukunaga’s grip around you loosened. Subsequently, you turned around and buried your face in his chest, engulfing yourself in his scent.
He tightly embraced you, resting his chin on your head. You moved your hands up to his back, clinging onto his shirt. You listened to the sound of his heart which was pounding swiftly. He might have looked like he was calm but he was in fact nervous like you. You smiled at that thought and closed your eyes. You stayed like this until you both calmed down.
“We should both head home now,” you said with your face pressed against his chest, making your voice sound muffled. Your grip loosened and so did his. You picked your bag up which was next to the bench while Fukunaga headed out first to grab his bag from the club room.
You turned the gym’s lights off and stepped outside, closing the gym hall door and locking it. Afterwards, you went to the school gate to wait for Fukunaga. You took slow and deep breaths as you reminded yourself of what had just happened a few moments ago. You got flustered and slumped down, hiding your face behind your knees. You were happy, of course you were, but you didn’t expect this situation to happen. Nor did you expect him to have those feelings towards you.
You proceeded to stand up slowly and looked at the starry sky. You absent-mindedly stared at the sky, mesmerized by its beauty and overwhelmed by what happened today. Soon after, you heard footsteps. You turned your head towards Fukunaga with his bag over his shoulder. He had changed his clothes to the Nekoma jersey and sweatpants.
You narrowed your eyes, staring at his hair. It was hardly noticeable in this light but you saw snippets of confetti in his hair. You hesitatingly approached him, making him blink and confused by what you were about to do. You raised your arm and carefully removed the pieces. He understood what you were doing and lowering his head and waiting for you to finish. As soon as you lowered your arm, he suddenly grabbed your hand.
At first, you were confused by his action. But then you realized what he intended to do with this gesture. You felt slightly sheepish as you thought of an excuse to decline. “My hands are really sweaty, so I don’t think that you actually want to hold it…”
“Mine are a bit sweaty too, so it’s fine,” he said softly with a smile. You weren’t fine with that though, so you quickly removed your hand from his grasp to brush it against your pants. Then you reluctantly reached out for his hand and held onto it.
“Liar,” you mumbled as you squeezed his completely dry hand. His hand was warmer compared to your hands which got cold from the chilly air and the sweat. He squeezed your hand back as you walked back together, side by side down the road. You gradually grew closer to each other as the starry night went on.