𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐊𝐄!! ✧ o. shotaro

thirteen

misunderstandings under the night sky.

kenma brought nanako to a stairwell nearby the volleyball gym and grassy hills. she noticed a figure sitting on the third step, immediately recognizing the person.

she felt her breath hitch as she got closer. this is what kenma brought her for? to talk to shotaro?

the setter lightly tapped on his friend's shoulder, causing him to turn around, locking gazes with nanako. for the first time in two days, they looked at each other, both noticing the absence of the usual sparkle in the other's eyes.

kenma sat down, followed by the nekoma manager. an awkward silence overcame the group as they sat on the stairwell under the clear night sky.

"taro, tell her," kenma abruptly said, glancing at shotaro.

the outside hitter bit his lip nervously before facing the girl behind him. "do...do you actually like me?"

nanako's eyes widened. was he still unsure about how she felt even after she was the one who confessed first? she let out a small laugh and smiled at him.

"of course i do!" she responded eagerly. "what makes you think that i don't?"

shotaro glanced at kenma, who made a motion signaling for him to continue. "um, well...the other day, i saw you with...kageyama."

the nekoma manager could feel herself stop breathing for a second. "from my angle, it looked like you were...um, k- kissing him," shotaro mumbled, looking down at his feet.

nanako's eyebrows knitted into confusion. there was no way she would kiss kageyama, especially since they were only friends. and just because shotaro looked at it from the wrong angle, their relationship was uncomfortably distant for a good two days.

"there is no way i would kiss kageyama!" the nekoma manager insisted. "he's an older friend of mine, so it almost like he's my relative."

"s- so then, what were you doing with him that night?" shotaro questioned, relieved that he did, in fact, see the incident the wrong way.

"he was apologizing to me for an argument that happened in junior high," nanako explained, causing the boys to release sighs of relief.

"so, it was all just a misunderstanding," kenma concluded with a satisfied look on his face.

"then how did you see kageyama and i?" nanako asked the outside hitter.

"your phone, i found it on the bleachers," shotaro began, fidgeting with his fingers in his lap. "i went to return it to you, but then i saw you and k- kageyama."

nanako hummed in understandment. she now knew why shotaro and kenma acted the way they did towards her. in their perspective, it seemed like she only played around with the outside hitter's feelings.

"i'm sorry for acting that way towards you," shotaro apologized, still looking down at his hands. "i jumped to the wrong conclusion and that messed up everything and i-"

"shotaro, it's fine," nanako cut the boy's run-on sentence off with a smile. "it was just a misunderstanding. i would've felt the same way if i saw someone i liked do the same thing from the same angle you saw us in."

"so, you're n- not mad at me?" the outside hitter mumbled, raising his head to look at the nekoma manager.

nanako sighed and responded, "why would i be mad at you? how could i be mad at you?"

shotaro's lips pressed into a thin line, causing his cheeks to jut out. the team manager stared at him in adoration, thinking that the outside hitter's cheeks were adorable.