redamancy • haikyuu oneshots

Kyōtani Kentarō- An Impulsive Smile

(TW: Light Swearing)

If brought to my attention the day before, I would wonder why I was spending my Saturday afternoon in a pet store a fair distance away from my home. Especially since I don't own a pet of any kind.

Just an hour before, I received a call from a close friend begging me for a favor.

"I'm so screwed!" she wailed over the phone.

I sighed, "What happened, Akari?"

She groaned into the speaker, "My dog just took a wet shit on the white carpet and my parents will be home in an hour. I was also supposed to go to that pet store 100 miles away."

"Can I assume you waited until the last minute to go?" I rolled my eyes.

"Um, yes but we're not gonna talk about that." I can hear the fake smile on her face through the phone. "Anyways, do you mind going shopping for me? I'm sending the list now."

Akari sent me a photo of the list before I could deny the favor. I muttered out a "fine" and left my house shortly after.

Upon arriving at the store, I took out my phone to view the list and cringed at the long list of items. I exhaled as I took a cart and began to roam around in search of the products.

As I'm browsing through an aisle for a specific can of dog food, I hear a small yap come from the end of the aisle. I turn just fast enough to catch a glimpse of a light ball of fur hurdling for my legs.

In the heat of the summer, I chose to wear shorts today. In hindsight, that probably wasn't a good idea.

The combination of the way it ran around my legs and its fur that tickled my skin brought me to trip over and fall to the floor right next to my cart. Immediately after I recovered from my fall I was attacked by the same ball of fur as I tried to sit up. Its paws were pressing onto my stomach with its tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Awh, you're so adorable!" I coo.

I laugh at the predicament and reach out to pet the small dog.

"Boy?" I peek around the dog, "boy." I look around but can't seem to find anyone searching for their dog in the area. I turn back to the dog and speak energetically with a mocking tone, "I wonder where your irresponsible owner is, hmm?"

My eyes glaze over the black collar on the dog. On the front reads the name "Karaage." I let out a laugh.

"Poor boy! Having your owner name you after fried food!" I hold the dog's cheerful face in my hands.

When I turn the tag over, the surname "Kyoutani" reads out. My eyes grow wide.

Kyoutani Kentarou is a classmate of mine that I grew to admire throughout the year. His gruff personality usually drove other students away, and slightly feeling bad for him, I showed him a smile one day. That smile ended up continuing whenever our eyes met.

Eventually he confronted me about it, asking me, "Why the hell are you smiling at me so much?"

"I just... feel like it?" I awkwardly shrugged and smiled meekly. "Do you want me to stop?"

To my surprise, he didn't tell me to stop, but to keep doing it, instead. "It's pretty," he had bluntly stated, making my heart slightly flutter. And per his request I smiled more often around him, but that was it.

"Wow Karaage, so Kyoutani-san is your owner," I beam while ruffling his fur between my fingers. "Let's go look for him, I bet he's worrying over you right now."

Before I can even stand, the sound of footsteps startles me. I slowly look up to see my classmate's towering frame.

Kyoutani sighs in relief and bends down to my level. My cheeks start to burn as he comes closer and closer. I'm holding my breath just as he passes me and scoops Karaage into his arms. He pulls away from our close distance, and only when he's standing upright does he acknowledge me.

"Oh, sorry about him," he gestures to Karaage in his one arm, to which he yaps energetically,  "I don't walk him around with a leash because he only follows me."

"He's so adorable," I show a small smile, "it's nothing Kyoutani-san. He didn't hurt me or anything."

"He better not have," Kyoutani mutters, staring at his dog. He looks back to me and I can feel a slight constriction in my heart with the way he's looking at me. "Can you not get up?" he grumbles lowly.

He's referring to my spot on the floor, I immediately realize. I scramble to stand up, "Oh, um, actually-"

"Here." He extends his hand to me and I blink in surprise.

Kyoutani was never actually known for his gentlemanliness. He's usually more rude and blunt. I smile, and with my heart beating faster, I hold onto his outstretched hand, "Thank you."

He pulls me up, but with too much power. I topple into his chest with a surprised yelp. He slightly turned away so that he held Karaage away from his chest.

Our position made it so that my weight was completely leaning against Kyoutani. When I try shifting, he mutters something and almost loses his balance. "Stop moving," he roughly grumbles.

"S-Sorry," I stammer as he adjusts our position. When we're both standing properly, I let out a sheepish laugh while looking at the shelf beside me. I can feel Kyoutani's staring, and I meekly turn to look back at him.

"Your face is really red," he overtly points out.
I swiftly avoid my eyes once again. "N-No dip. You're standing really..." I finally take in how near he's standing from me and my sentence trails off.

"What the hell are you saying, I can't hear you," he leans in closer and turns his head so that his ear is in front of my face, promptly adding to the heat in my cheeks.

For a moment, I'm completely frozen and my mind refrains from working properly. I only notice the breath I'm holding when Karaage's small bark cuts through the silence, and I sharply exhale out of shock.

Kyoutani flinches and freezes briefly before pulling away and taking a step back. He turns his whole body around so that only his back is facing me.

"K-Kyoutani-san?" With worry, I reach out to his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

His shoulder jolts again after my hand comes in contact with it. My eyes then take notice of his ears, which is a vibrant hue of red. I begin to chuckle lightly and his head swivels to me with a prominent frown over his features. "Why are you laughing?"

I take notice of his abstinence from vulgar words and I smile at him once more, "Your face is really red, Kyoutani-san."

"Shut up." He storms away with Karaage barking energetically in his arms. But before he reaches the end of the aisle, I holler out to him with a cheeky smile.

"See you on Monday, Kyou-kun!"

He stops in his tracks but doesn't turn around. A few moments later, though, he's out of the aisle and my line of sight faster than Karaage took to tackle me.

"I guess I can keep calling him that," I happily hum.

A short ring on my phone diverts my gaze from the empty aisle, and I suddenly remember why I was standing in the aisle in the first place.

"Haha... My bad Akari." I begin the rest of my shopping in haste, gleefully replaying Kyoutani's embarrassed look in my mind.

And with swift consideration, I indulge in the possibility that I could do more than just smile for Kyoutani in the future.