Meeting at the Library

Cookie entered the spacious library building, her sights set on studying for the evening. The tasks she aimed to accomplish passed through her mind as she scanned the busy room for a spot to study at. Cookie felt a surge of relief to see an unoccupied table, and quickly sat down to situate her things.

"Ah, yes... time to catch up on some stuff." Cookie thought, and proceeded to work for about an hour or so, feeling particularly productive that day. Taking a short break to look up from her studies, her eyes widened.

While Cookie was immersed in studying, another student had seated himself at the table. A tall young man with jet black hair sat adjacent to her, with a laptop open and a pencil twirling in his hand. He seemed to be focused on something, when he looked up at her suddenly, meeting Cookie's gaze.

"Oh, hello." the student spoke to her, an intent look in his eyes. "Am I bothering you?"

Cookie paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Oh, no, you aren't."

"Ah, that's good." he motioned to the table next to them. "I usually sit over there to study, but when I saw a new face, I thought to at least sit near them."

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you!" she nodded at the student. "I come here to study in the afternoon on weekdays."

"Hm, is that so." his expression lit up. "I'm Kuroo, by the way."

The young man looked so attentively at her that she almost started to become flustered. "Oh, I'm Cookie!"

"Cookie?" his smile widened. "I like that name." Kuroo placed the pencil, previously dancing in his hand, onto the table. "What are you studying?"

"Oh, I'm just looking at some papers for my next class..." she glanced down to the books in front of her, then back to him. "I'm double majoring in English and Psychology."

"That sounds interesting, I'd like to know more about both of those subjects." At her words, Kuroo's eyes had a whimsical look to them.

"What about you, what are you studying?"

"Oh, just some notes for my architecture class," he glanced down to his laptop for a second. "I already know the material pretty well though, I guess it's just a habit for me to go to the library every day."

"Hm, you seem pretty studious."

"I'm trying to keep my grades up for a scholarship, so I figure a little extra studying can't hurt." Kuroo leaned into the table, resembling an eager cat. "You seem to be working hard, too."

"Oh, thank you." Cookie returned a smile to him.

Kuroo felt his chest rise. "Does this girl know how cute she is...?" he silently wondered, going back to his things. Cookie did the same.

~~~~~

After sitting in comfortable silence for a while, Cookie took a brief look at the clock. Time had passed, and the afternoon was slowly advancing into the evening. She stretched and let out a small yawn.

Unbeknownst to Cookie, Kuroo had glanced up from his work for a moment and caught her small gesture. "Why did that stretch and yawn just remind me of a cute kitten...?" his thoughts betrayed his face, and Cookie spotted him viewing her with a slightly flustered look. His eyes rapidly darted away, leaving a warmth on her own face. The two of them went back to their studies, heartbeats faster than usual.

~~~~~

Cookie started to gather her things together, and Kuroo sat up in attention.

"Hm, I should probably be going now..."

"Oh, yeah, my next class starts soon." Kuroo took a peek out of the window, noting the darkening color of the sky. "It's getting late, will you be alright going where you're headed?"

"Ah, yeah!" Cookie insisted. "I'm just walking to the next building over."

Kuroo relaxed. "Alright then, I'll see you around."

"Bye bye!" she chimed, leaving the library with a joyful feeling inside of her. What she didn't know was that Kuroo felt his heart dancing in the same way.

~~~~~

Cookie stood for a moment in front of the library building, and looked up at the sky. The clouds were a deep pink and orange shade, and the sun was quickly retreating into the horizon. "I'd better hurry," Cookie thought, setting a brisk pace to her next destination. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You forgot something."

Cookie's heartbeat quickened, but she smiled in relief upon realizing that the hand on her shoulder was her new friend from just before. "Oh, thank you!"

"No problem, I wouldn't want you to forget your textbook." Kuroo shrugged on his backpack, waving to her with a smile as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Bye, again...!" she said, starting to head towards her own destination once more.

Cookie looked down at the returned textbook to spot a paper sticking out of it that surely wasn't there before. She pulled it out to examine its contents more closely. On a cat-shaped sticky note, the words "text me" were written in a neat letters, accompanied with a phone number and a small heart drawing.

Reflecting on the small note and the eventfulness of her afternoon with a smile on her face, Cookie couldn't help but wonder about Kuroo... was he always this kind?

(BONUS ENDING)

"Kenma, I've got to ask you something."

The boy looked up from his phone to face his taller best friend. "What is it?" 

The two sat together on a bench at Kuroo's college campus. Although Kenma attended a different school, his campus was close to Kuroo's, so he was lucky to have the opportunity to visit his closest friend every so often. Today, he seemed more determined than usual to meet with him.

"How can I make a good impression with a girl?"

Kenma's face resembled a startled cat. "Ah, Kuroo... I wouldn't know these things." the boy put away his phone. "Who is this new someone...?"

"Her name is Cookie!" Kuroo beamed. "Her name is cute, but you should see her in person." he laughed, slightly flustered.

Kenma's face perked up. "Hm... where did you meet her?"

"The library, she said she comes there on weekday afternoons." Kuroo face became thoughtful. "We've only talked a few times, and we text each other, but I'd really like to know more about her..."

"I'm happy to hear this, Kuroo." he gave his friend a light smile. "Why don't you ask her to go somewhere with you?"

Kuroo intently looked at his friend, putting a hand on his chin. "Do you think she would enjoy that?"

"I think so." he nodded. "I like it when people take me to new and fun places."

"Wow, I'm kinda nervous..." Kuroo noticed the intensity of his own heartbeat and laughed to ease his feelings. "I think I'll try it."

Kenma gave his friend a reassuring pat. "I hope the best for you... good luck, Kuroo."

"I'll keep you posted." With those words, the two friends parted ways, and Kuroo began to think of places that Cookie might like to go.