𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 - 𝘣𝘰𝘬𝘶𝘵𝘰 𝘬.

nine

friday
3:18
—✧—

          you and bokuto did as planned; you met at the library and started walking. a new restaurant opened up nearby and you heard their soba was incredibly good. the temperature dropped a lot, but luckily you were more prepared this time. you wore three layers under your coat, some warm pants, and a hat.

          you frantically patted your head. this wasn't your hat. it was bokuto's. you cursed yourself for that.

          "hey hey hey! (L/n)!"

          you slowly turned on your heel to see bokuto striding towards you. he was just as bundled up as you were, a green hat pulled over his ears.

          "hi," you said slowly.

          he threw a hand over your shoulder, "well, lead the way."

          you just walked, not bothering to make him stop clinging onto you. if you tried, he'd just find another way to bug you.

          "so, we're friends now?" he asked in a teasing voice. you elbowed his side and he stumbled sideways, wincing at you.

          "don't let my word choice go to your head."

—✧—

          the restaurant was almost full. you got a nice seat by the front windows. you stripped your outer layer, showing the brown sweater you wore over a white turtleneck. bokuto followed suit shortly after

          you ordered some kano-nanban and bokuto got tempura. as you waited on your food, an uncomfortable silence came between the two of you. did bokuto finally run out of things to talk about? you shot him a quick look, only to find him looking back, his regular smile plastered across his face. you hunched over the table, your head in your hands as you watched the busyness of the streets outside.

          "(L/n)." you hummed.

          "since we're friends now...does that mean i get to know more about you?" your eyes darted back to him. he just stared back, his head tilted a bit. you looked over to him and sat up. "are you comfortable with that?"

          you were ready to turn him down immediately, but his second question made you pause. that was...really considerate. you sighed, slackening your posture as you gave it some more thought.

          you huffed and straighten yourself once more. you looked him dead in the eyes before giving him your verdict.

          "fine." his eyes lit up; it almost made you feel better about your decision "just...keep whatever i say to yourself, alright?"

          "alright, tell me something then," he said. you frowned. "i don't care what. a childhood story, a funny moment. anything."

          you froze, trying to think of anything interesting. nothing came to your mind and everything that did seemed excruciatingly boring. it was such a struggle to even remember anything from your childhood; it almost gave you a headache. you just blurted out the next thing that ran through your head.

          "when i was ten, i got stuck in an elevator with my friends."

         it wasn't anything interesting. what was he expecting really? you meant it when you said there was nothing to tell.

        still, bokuto's eyes widened and you narrowed yours. was he seriously intrigued by that?

         "well? what happened?"

         "well...we were in there for an hour or two because we didn't know which button to push for emergencies like that."

          he chuckled at your little story. you hit his arm playfully.

           "don't laugh! ten-year-old me was terrified at the time."

          you started a back-and-forth exchange of childhood memories. you shared things like how you got a permanent scar from trying to make pasta and spilling the boiling water. he shared things like how he caught a bat when he was eight and tried to keep it as a pet. your soba was good too, but opening up felt way better. bokuto got you to laugh several times during the meal, something he was personally quite proud of. as promised, bokuto paid and he insisted on walking you home.

          the two of you walked side by side, the lurking about the two of you. it was mostly silent, but bokuto would crack a joke or make a comment every now and then. as you continued your walk, bokuto slowly fell behind you, you didn't bother to check why.

          "keep up. i'm not stopping for you."

.

          a lump of snow hit the back of your head. you whipped your head around to see bokuto staring off into the sky, hands behind his back. you snarled at him and stomped off, trying your best to keep the melting snow from dripping down your neck.

.

          this one hit your back. you groaned and turned back to the boy, only to be met with a face full of snow.

          "bokuto!" you yelled as you wiped the snow off of your face. he giggled and slowly jogged away from you. you scooped up some snow into your hand and sprinted up behind him. you threw your own snowball at him.

          "you're the worst!" you shouted at him before turning away.

.

           soon the two of you escalated the situation into an all-out war. you took your place behind a tree while bokuto hid behind a bush. you created your arsenal of snowballs and hid them. bokuto's snowballs hurt and he was pretty good at dodging yours. he probably had a good arm from all of the volleyball he plays. a snowball hit the back of your tree. you quickly ducked down and took two snowballs in your hand. now's your chance.

          you threw one of the snowballs as hard as possible with perfect aim. there's no way it couldn't hit him. before it could land behind the bush, the snowball burst into pieces. one of bokuto's snowballs collided with yours, smashing it. you groaned and retreated back to your hiding spot.

          you had to come up with a plan, you could not lose to him. you squatted down, another snowball in your hand. the boy shouldn't be able to see you from down there without peeking his head out. you looked around the edge to check on the boy's position, but everything was still. no rustling leaves or crunching snow. you couldn't even see the top of his head when he moved around.

.

          hard, cold snow collided with the side of your head. you only allowed a gasp to escape your lips. you fell onto your back and your leg kicked the tree. you sat up and shook the snow off of you, determination setting in. you jumped to your feet and formed another snowball. you were ready to throw it right at the boy's face, but he was frozen.

          "sorry..." he mumbled. you titled your head and your arm dropped to your side. his eyes trailed from your face down to your legs. your pant leg was torn open over your knee, blood covering the heavy scrape on your skin. the stinging realization sent a light pain through your body.

          you sigh and rub your temples with your free hand.

"wanna buy me new pants too?"