Haikyuu One-Shots

Just Ask (Kentaro Kyoutani)

"He challenged him again, didn't he?" Next to me, Seijoh's third years nodded.

Kyoutani had been challenging my older brother to a different athletic competition every single day for over a week. Every single time, he lost to Hajime. It really wasn't a surprise; Hajime was the strongest after all. Though that didn't explain why he was doing this now.

He'd done this once before, but then it was simply his way of trying to see if he was really the strongest. Right now, there had to be some motive behind it. Of course, Kyoutani wasn't the most sociable guy, so it was highly likely that no one besides himself had any clue.

I turned to face Oikawa. If anyone could figure it out, it was him. He did have this irritating but useful talent of figuring out anyone's strengths and weaknesses. "Mad Dog-chan would tear my head off if I say what I think it is," he said with a wink, answering my question before I'd even had a chance to think it. "Sorry Sis."

And there goes my one hope of figuring it out. Even though Oikawa's been like an older brother to me for most of my life, sometimes I really wanted to hurt him. "Dumbass Oikawa..." But as much as I wanted to, I could never do it. Besides, Hajime would hit him for me if it was ever anything seriously bad.

Slowly I turned back to watch the end of today's little challenge. "You could just ask him," Matsukawa suggested. "He'd probably tell you since you're cute."

"And you're Iwaizumi's baby sis so he'd have to or it would make Iwaizumi mad if he upset you," Hanamaki added. Of course, I wasn't sure if that was actually true or not.

"Maybe I'll just have to do that..."

Three more days passed and three more failed challenges. Kyoutani looked even more frustrated about his most recent loss than any of the others. I'd put off asking him because he'd seemed so annoyed about it and that made him seem a lot more intimidating than usual. Not that I was was scared of him or anything. What good is a manager if they're scared of one of the members of their team?

Taking a deep breath, I decided that today was the day I had to ask. He got worse every day, so if I didn't today then I might never get to ask. "Hey Kyou," I asked, stepping in front of him. "Let's walk home together today." Kyoutani cast a quick glance over at Hajime and then looked back at me. "Oikawa said he's going to stay longer, so Hajime has to stay and babysit him."

That wasn't actually true, but I was sure that Oikawa would play along so that Kyoutani would feel like he had to go with me. It was clear I wanted a moment alone with him, but I'm sure Kyoutani hadn't figured that out yet.

Kyoutani's mood seemed to lighten up a bit and he agreed to walk with me. As we walked and talked, his mood started getting better. I had yet to ask about what was going on with him and my brother though.

Maybe now was the best time to ask. "Um, Kyou?" He stopped and looked down at me. His face has a serious expression and I'm almost a little too intimidated to ask. "Why do you keep doing this? Challenging Hajime and all that, I mean. You know you can't quite win yet, but you keep trying anyway. So why?"

He didn't answer. He just continued walking. Did I upset him by asking? "Kyou-"

He stopped and faced me. "I wanted to ask you out," Kyoutani said, his voice very serious. I didn't know what that had to do with anything, but maybe he'd explain. "I'm not going to do without his permission."

Okay, that explained why Hajime was involved. But still, I failed to see what this had to do with anything because not even Hajime had known why Kyoutani had been acting the way he did. But before I could ask, he finished explaining. "I challenge Iwaizumi because I want to get his permission."

"You know, you could have just asked like a normal person," an all too familiar voice said from behind us.

"Mad Dog-chan isn't that smart, Iwa-chan," another voice added, forcing Kyoutani and me to turn around. Sure enough, Oikawa and Hajime were right there. "By the way, I'm surprised you even thought of it. After all, you don't have a brain!"

Oikawa was prevented from saying anything by a quick and painful-looking hit to the head and a "shut up" from Hajime. A quick glare from Kyoutani probably helped.

While Oikawa was still whining about how mean my brother was, Hajime looked Kyoutani in the eye. "You've got my permission, so what are you waiting for?"

Kyoutani looked down at me but hesitated a moment. Was the Mad Dog actually feeling shy? Couldn't exactly blame him though, not with my older brother standing right there. "So... would you...?"

"I'd love to."

Barely a second after I'd said, it, Hajime patted him on the back. "I'm happy for you." Then he gave the second year a very serious look. "But don't forget that she's my baby sister. Don't do anything I wouldn't approve of." He and Oikawa started to walk on ahead. But then Hajime stopped and looked back. "Oh and if you ever hurt her, you're a dead man."