Courting Fate

Five

As she waited, Emi tried not to stress over how her brother would react if she found out about her hook-up with Bokuto. She caught herself biting her nails and balled her hands into fists. She scolded herself for worrying so much about what her brother thought. He has no right to judge me. Anyway, I am old enough to make my own decisions she thought to herself. Despite her feigned confidence, she knew deep down that her brother's opinion mattered to her. Very much. They had always been close, and she would be crushed if she had disappointed him.

"That's not the face of a girl about to have dinner with her favourite brother," remarked Daichi, wrapping an arm around Emi's shoulders. "Especially a free dinner," he added, chuckling. "It's the least Kuroo could do after years of taunting us." 

Emi saw him smile fondly as he recalled his high school volleyball team. She snuggled into the hollow of his shoulder, relaxing. At close to six feet tall, he had got their father's height where she had taken after their more petite-sized mother. She looked up at her brother and smiled. "Looks like you have settled in well with your new team?"

He nodded. "Yeah, they are great. And it's cool to still see some of our old rivals around too."

"Hey hey, easy on the 'old', Daichi," Bokuto joked, slapping his friend on the arm. His silver hair was still slightly damp from his shower, giving him a softer, more innocent look than usual. Emi felt the urge to hug him, but refrained, managing a smile instead. His golden eyes held hers for a moment, before he returned the gesture.

"Well, you are the grandpa of the group, Bo." Kuroo announced his presence by ruffling his teammate's already-tousled hair. 

Bokuto ducked away from the provocateur, adding, "I'm only two months older than you!" He reached for Emi's hand, and gently pulled her to walk alongside him. "C'mon Emi, let's get going before I put his young punk here in his place."

Kuroo let out a derisive laugh and fell into place behind them, chatting to Daichi as they made their way to the yakiniku place a few blocks up. They traded stories about mutual friends until they arrived, the group choosing to sit at a booth in the back of the restaurant. "Four beers please," ordered Kuroo before their server turned to leave. 

"Uh, better make that three beers and a cola," Daichi interjected, correcting him. "Koko is only nineteen." He nudged her arm gently, poking fun. "Still my baby sister."

Emi rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I turn twenty in a month, Daichi. It's not like I'm a naive middle schooler anymore."

"And I am sure she has gained a lot more experience since starting college," grinned Kuroo, glancing suggestively at both Emi and Bokuto. Emi's eyes shot daggers at him. She would have kicked him under the table, but he was sitting diagonally across from her and her vertically challenged legs couldn't reach. Luckily for her, Daichi missed the exchange, his attention lost in the menu. Emi decided to ignore him and continued chatting with her silver-haired friend seated opposite.

The food arrived and Bokuto wasted no time in giving Emi his expert tips on how to grill the perfect piece of meat. Daichi couldn't help but notice the way the two of them talked and laughed as though they had known each other for years. "So Emi, how do you know Bokuto? Do you guys have a class together or something?" He arched an eyebrow expectantly as he skewered a prawn for the grill.

Kuro snorted into his beer, coughing dramatically. Emi managed to ignore him and shrugged. "Actually, we only met a little while ago, at the college sports mixer. We just kinda... clicked, I guess." Bokuto nodded at her words, smiling as he offered her a piece of grilled chicken from his chopsticks. She didn't deign to look at Kuroo, who she was sure was dying to make some smart-ass quip about her use of the term 'clicked'.