𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 | 𝕜.𝕜𝕠𝕫𝕦𝕞𝕖

volleyball

"if they see you the way i do, they'll all be in love as soon as you walk into the room."

hanako's epidermis itched as her nerve cells tingled with anticipation. after school, kenma had walked her to the office, telling kuroo to meet him at the gym. he wasn't quite sure why, but he was doing everything in his power to spend more and more time with the brunette.

"here." he mumbled, handing her the sign up sheet. as she took the paper from his hands, she thanked him, and he let his grip on it linger for a few seconds more.

the two began walking to the gym, and although the silence was comfortable for hanako, kenma felt inclined to say something. what is wrong with me? i never have to start the conversation.

huffing a tiny annoyed breath, he glanced over at hanako, who was staring forwards at the ground as she walked. if i fall over, it'll be embarrassing, she thought, worried over the uneven path they were currently walking on.

"do you..." he hesitated, making hanako look up at him. she noticed the troubled expression on his face, and cocked her head to the side to examine his features. he's kind of pretty. the thought made her snap her head away instantly. "do you want me to tell you about the team?"

kenma had never tried so hard to keep an active conversation, because the majority of his friends were much louder than he was, and much more socially inclined. this was new territory for the boy.

blinking, she nodded slowly, eyes turning back to the ground as kenma bit the inside of his cheek. "okay." he whispered, before describing his teammates and what positions they played. "i guess they're all pretty nice guys. i doubt they'll make you uncomfortable, but if they do, you can just tell kuroo and i and we'll sort it out."

internally groaning at the last thing he said, kenma clamped his jaw shut. why'd i have to go ahead and say that? i'm probably scaring her. as kenma continued to mentally berate himself, hanako hummed. "i can handle it. i think." she let herself laugh a little, and golden eyes widened in slight awe at the sound, just like they did every single time.

looking away, kenma nodded. "yeah. i'm sure it'll be-"

"kyanma!" oh no, kenma thought, he is the worst possible person for her to meet first.

the two snapped their heads up to meet the gaze of a grinning boy. "tora." kenma mumbled, glancing over at hanako from the corner of his eye. small hands clutched at the straps of her bag, shaking ever so slightly as the boy smiled wider. still, as terrified as she was inside, hanako forced herself not to run away.

"aren't you the girl who's friends with maki? i'm taketora yamamoto!" he introduced himself with so much confidence that it intimidated hanako.

a small smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she nodded at the boy. "my name is hanako saito. it's nice to meet you, yamamoto-san." she managed, her voice soft and quiet as she focused on the door behind him. looking at his face would be too scary.

then, what kenma feared would happen happened. tears pooled in the boys eyes, and he threw an arm around kenma's shoulders as he whispered, "she's heavenly." hanako blinked, fighting the urge to laugh at his words. she wouldn't want him to find her rude, but "heavenly" was far from the adjective she would use to describe herself.

"right. we still have to go inside, so-" the setter started, attempting to claw tora's arms off of him as he stepped towards the door.

"say, saito-san." taketora began, gently taking a few strands of her hair between his fingers as his eyes gleamed. "are you single? because i am. we could be not-single together." he suggested, sighing dreamily as he stared into her emerald eyes.

slowly, hanako blinked once, and kenma felt the fear set in. she's gonna run away. oh my god, she's gonna hate kuroo and i for subjecting her to this. what if she never wants to speak to us again? what if she doesn't want to speak to me again?

his mind raced with thoughts as he watched the brunette's nose scrunch up in distaste. casting his eyes down to the floor, he bit back an annoyed huff of air that threatened to leave him before she did the unexpected. she laughed. it was quiet, and only lasted around half a second. kenma would've thought he'd imagined it if he hadn't seen the remnants of her smile afterwards.

placing a hand on his around the ends of her hair, she pushed him back a little, all too used to dealing with her two best friends back in miyagi. a tiny smile stayed on her face as she examined him. "...it's nice to meet you, yamamoto-san." she repeated, walking around him to join kenma closer to the door.

as much as she tried to put on a front, on the inside, hanako's heart was beating faster than ever. it was one thing having your best friends playfully fawn over you, and it was another having some random scary person you didn't know doing the same. willing herself to calm down, she took a few shaky breaths.

how could she handle that so well when she used to jump a mile upon hearing my voice? frowning unintentionally, kenma leaned on the door, opening it with a large squeak as he walked in, hanako and yamamoto trailing behind him. the setter had no idea how much hanako was struggling internally after that interaction.

"oya? is that a wild saito i see?" kuroo asked, sniggering at his own joke before yaku slapped his upper back. "ow." he muttered, unable to rub the sore area as his gangly arms couldn't reach.

a tiny smile pulled at hanako's pink lips as she nodded at the two boys. "hi." she said, her voice small and kind as they smiled back.

"we should introduce you to coach..." kenma trailed off, eyes narrowing as more and more people began noticing hanako's presence. he almost shuddered under the curious gazes of his teammates, polite smiles on their faces as they looked over at hanako.

quickly, kuroo put his arms around both the second years, steering them towards coach and away from the third year libero. he whispered to kenma, "you can stay with coach and saito-san for a little; we're just gonna run some laps." a tiny grin pulled at kenma's lips as he nodded, content with the notion.

"you guys don't have to call me by my last name." hanako murmured, making both kenma and kuroo freeze at her voice. "it's kinda weird that you call katsuo by his first name and not me." she reasoned. truthfully, it had been bothering her for a while.

"you sure?" kuroo asked, squeezing her shoulder gently.

nodding, hanako glanced to her right. her green eyes met the watchful gaze of kenma's golden ones, and she couldn't help but smile. "positive."

꧁꧂

(a/n) this chapter was
so overdue and so bad
lmao i'm sorry