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

Chapter 12: Acceptance

"Kuro, do you know what month it is?"

The scheming captain hummed in question as he looked down at the stoic-faced setter. Kenma arched an eyebrow and tilted his head as if waiting for his friend to realize something important.

"It's June," Kuroo finally answered, although confused as to why the gamer would ask him that when the calendar was clearly right in front of him.

"And..?" Kenma pressed on. "Are you going to do something or are you going to continue being an idiot?"

"Ouch. Man, that's harsh." Kuroo held a hand to his heart, pretending to be hurt at his cold words.

Kenma sighed and rolled his eyes; he's been around him long enough to know when to ignore his dorky side. After changing out of their sweaty clothes and into fresher ones, the volleyball team walked out of the club room to meet with their precious manager of nearly two months.

"Ah." Kuroo suddenly stopped.

"Do you realize it now?" Kenma muttered, stopping next to him.

"Why? What's going on??" Inuoka asked curiously from the back of the group.

"It seems that Kuro forgot all about it." Kenma told him and took out his PSP to start playing.

"Forgot about what?" Lev asked this time, equally confused as the rest of them.

"Ah, I think I get it now." Yaku snickered, earning a scowl from his captain. "Kuroo must have forgotten about that challenge he made last month."

"Challenge..?" Shibayama repeated, tilting his head to the side as he thought about the events that happened last month. His eyes suddenly lit up upon realization. "OH! You mean the one where he said that he would get Mirai-san to fall in love with him in three months!"

"OH YEAHHH! I remember now!" Lev exclaimed and turned to their captain with starry eyes. "So, how's that been going?!"

The entire team began to crowd around the middle blocker with interest. Kuroo sweatdropped and internally cursed Kenma for bringing up the topic.

"It's a bit...complicated." Kuroo weakly admitted, avoiding eye contact with any of them.

"Eeh..?! No way! I thought for sure that you'd get her to fall for you by now!" Lev frowned in slight disappointment.

Kuroo felt his pride as a man slowly shattering.

"Our Mirai-chan is a tough one," Yamamoto swooned. The others nodded in agreement.

"If someone as well-liked as Kuroo can't make it happen, then I guess that means that she's waaay above his league." Yaku sneered.

Kuroo's pride broke into a million pieces like brittle glass.

The group was too busy teasing him that no one, except for the observant Kenma, noticed that Mirai had come over to check on them. She was standing a few feet away from everyone and could barely hear anything with her earphones on.

"IS EVERYTHING OKAY?"

Her voice made everyone jump in surprise. She stared at them questioningly when they suddenly screamed and took off her earphones when she realized that she must have spoken too loudly.

"Sorry, did I shout?" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I was listening to ONE OK ROCK and I usually put the volume on too loud."

Everyone sighed as she showed them the display on her phone.

Bing!

Kuroo's eyes flitted to the screen, a small frown forming on his lips. "Bokuto?" He read aloud.

Mirai blinked at the mention of the name and looked at her screen. A message icon with Bokuto's name was displayed in white and blue colors.

"Oh. He must be done with practice and replied." She smiled and quickly typed a message back to him.

Kuroo felt his eyebrow twitch as he forced out an innocent smile so fake that his teammates shivered and backed away. Kenma glanced at Lev who was looking between Kuroo and Mirai somewhat anxiously.

"So... You and Bokuto have been really chummy together lately, huh ki~tten?" Kuroo drawled out the nickname.

Yaku took a step closer to Mirai, ready to intervene when needed. On the other hand, Mirai simply looked up at the jealous male without a hint of a clue, and blushed. This didn't go unnoticed, of course, and Kuroo only felt more irritated.

"Kōtarō-senpai and I text sometimes when I wait for you guys to finish changing. He calls me sometimes too but Keiji-senpai scolds him when- Are you okay, Kuroo-senpai..?" She frowned worriedly as the scheming captain had a strange ominous aura hanging around him.

"Perfectly fine, kitten~" He sang and began to walk ahead.

The air was tense and the figurative storm cloud hanging above Kuroo's head seemed to follow him on their way to the convenience store for their daily snack break. His arms were propped up on his lap and his hands were clasped together in front of him; hazel-colored eyes glared at the concrete. Several questions swirled in his mind like a never-ending cyclone that was slowly driving him mad.

How long have Bokuto and Mirai been contacting each other? Are they as close as she said they were? What do they even talk about? Does she mention him at all? And why thE HELL IS HE STILL THE ONLY ONE BEING CALLED BY LAST NAME?!

Everyone was debating whether or not to talk to the grumpy cat about his issue while Mirai and the other first years went to buy the snacks and drinks. After a few minutes of tensed silence, it was their vice captain who voiced out everyone's thoughts.

"Kuroo, do you mind telling us what's wrong?"

Kuroo turned his head slowly to face his team and smiled. "What makes you say that?" He asked.

"It's clearly obvious to anyone that you have a problem." Yaku pointed out.

"Anyone except Mirai, that is." Kenma added quietly.

The anger that fueled Kuroo's aura instantly turned into a dreary gloom.

"How did the one claiming to make her fall in love end up being the one falling in love instead?!" He yelled at the dispirited captain.

Kuroo sat up straight, made finger guns at the libero's direction, and wiggled his eyebrows. "Love works in mysterious ways, Yakkun~"

"And look where that got you." Yaku deadpanned and Kuroo deflated immediately in response.

The chiming of the convenience store bell alerted everyone that the first years were finally out. Shibayama and Inuoka held paper bags full of meat buns for the team.

As they passed around the snacks, Yaku stepped next to Kuroo who was still sitting on the bench, and checked to see what he was looking at. "Here you go, senpai!" Mirai's voice stood out among the group and Kuroo was staring at her with a thoughtful gaze.

"So do you actually like her?" Yaku asked loud enough for only him to hear. "Or is this going to be another fling like the rest?"

Kuroo looked at his classmate with an unreadable expression and Yaku felt slightly startled, like he had said something insulting and wasn't aware that he did. But the taller third year merely sighed.

"It's different this time," He said as he glanced briefly at the girl wearing red glasses.