I Can't Say "I Love You" | Kuroo Tetsurō

Chapter 4: Holding Hands

"Mirai-san," Lev called the attention of the team's temporary manager from the doorway. He tossed her a paper bag with taiyaki. "Careful it's hot!"

"Ow ow OWwW!!!" She hissed as she caught it in time, only for her delicate palms to get slightly burnt in the process. "If you knew that, then don't throw it so suddenly!"

"Hehe, sorry!" He rubbed the back of his head and flashed an apologetic smile.

It was just another day after volleyball practice. The Nekoma team invited Mirai to their daily after-school snack breaks at the convenience store. Luckily, Shibayama found some taiyaki to eat instead of their usual meat buns.

"LEV! Don't burn our precious manager's hands, you idiot!!" Yamamoto snarled at him angrily.

Yaku, Kuroo, Kenma, and Mirai were sitting on the benches just outside of the store. Yamamoto began stomping his way over to their rookie player and began taunting him. Lev cautiously backed away, trying to calm his senpai down.

"Yamamoto, shut up!" Kuroo scolded their noisy ace. "You're being too loud!"

Kenma frowned. "When was he ever quiet?" He mumbled while playing his games.

Mirai gingerly bit on the head of the taiyaki, careful not to burn her tongue. A smile graced her lips as she chewed happily. "Wow, this is great!" She said and took another bite, head swaying side to side in delight.

Kuroo and Kenma turned their heads to face her and could practically see the stars in her eyes.

"You look like a kitten having her first taste of fish..." Kuroo commented with an impressed look on his face.

"W-Well a lot of our classmates say that she's...m-more cat-like than...human-like..!" Lev grunted out the words as Yamamoto was trying to bring him down to his knees.

"You two. Knock it off with the rough housing or else we're going to get yelled at from the store clerk again." Yaku scolded with a sigh.

Mirai watched as the tall first year and the intimidating second year completely ignored their senpai's warning. She could see that Yaku was starting to get irritated. The other members of the group didn't seem to care as much as if this was a daily occurrence to them.

"You know..." Kuroo spoke up, getting her attention. He wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that he was directing his words to her as he spoke. "It's okay if you don't have any experience with sports or management. What matters is if you want to do it or not."

"If I want to do it or not?" Mirai frowned and tilted her head, silently asking him to elaborate further.

Kuroo finally looked away from his teammates wrestling on the ground and faced her with a serious expression. His usual carefree smirk slowly appeared and she instinctively averted her gaze.

"You're only a beginner and you have no experience. That's what worries you, right?" He inquires. She nodded. "Well how are you going to know anything if you don't give it a go?"

At this, she looked back at him in surprise.

"If you don't try, then you won't know for sure if you're good enough." He chuckles quietly. "Right~?"

"Damn it." Mirai pouted at him. "I get that he's right, but I still feel uneasy."

"Just think about it." He added, shrugging his shoulders.

After they ate their snacks, and miraculously saved Lev and Yamamoto from Yaku's wrath, everyone went their separate ways home.

Mirai walked alongside Kuroo and Kenma towards the station. As it should be, their walk was pleasant and quiet.

They took their usual seat on the train with Kenma and Kuroo sitting at the end of the row; Mirai choosing to sit one chair away from them.

"Mirai-chan~" Kuroo casually held her hand in his.

The physical contact caused a shiver to run down her spine. The megane blushed a deep red. She had never felt more uncomfortable in her life around a guy, however, Kuroo didn't seem to care much as he interlaced their fingers.

From the other side, Kenma silently observed the unusual actions of his friend and frowned. Mirai certainly looked terrified, he could see that. And he knew his best friend was no idiot so he obviously must have noticed.

"It's been three days now. Is his plan really going to work?" Kenma wondered, glancing away from them and back to the console screen.

As the train made its first stop, Mirai hurriedly got up and was about to run out the doors.

With an amused grin on his face, Kuroo gently tugged her hand and managed to seat her back down before she could escape. Her pouting face looked too adorable and he barely managed to suppress his laughter at her failed attempt.

"K-Kuroo-senpai, please let go." She said nervously.

"Mmm, why?" He mused, leaning his face a little closer to hers. "If I let go of your hand then you'd just try to run again, Mirai-chan."

"That's b-because..." Her words got caught in her throat when she glanced up and noticed how close they were. "Eeeek!!"

"Kuro, you look like some sort of pervert." Kenma scolded, eyes not leaving his game. However, he was clearly frowning in disapproval.

Kuroo sighed and backed off, causing Mirai to relax slightly. Her heart was still pounding furiously and she could only hope that he didn't hear it.

"Guys like him make me really nervous..." She sighed and tried to calm down a bit, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. "Honestly though... Why does he keep holding my hand?!"

She looked over to their intertwined fingers and grumbled, remembering the first time he held her hand so casually. It was very surprising...and unexpected, even Kenma had to admit that.

At first, she guessed that it would only be temporary, but then he started doing it every chance he got. Usually it was when they were outside of school and away from the rest of the volleyball club members. When she and Kenma asked for his reason of doing so, he simply replied that he wanted Mirai to get used to his touch.

"You flinch every time I talk to you or touch you." He had told her then. "Am I that scary?"

"It's probably because you announced to everyone on the team that you would make her fall in love with you." Kenma reminded. "I wouldn't blame her for being cautious around you, Kuro..."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?! I thought you were on my side!"

"Not really..."

Although Kuroo had been right about it, she does feel uneasy around him. After having been told that he would make her fall for him, Mirai began to feel even more wary of him around her.

"Kuroo-senpai just reminds me a lot like...that guy..." She sighed and gave up trying to bolt out the door for what seemed like the fourth try, and allowed him to hold her hand for the rest of the ride.

Tomorrow is going to be another day.