F̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ Fuck the Rulebook - Kenma Kozume

C22 - Excuses

The door burst open loosely shaking Akasuki awake, her eyes clenching shut to dream in their remaining moments of sleep. There was a distant patter of feet, joined momentarily by another pair, both suddenly racing away. Why are they so loud? Akasuki shifted in her bed, her head hitting against a solid object not coming to her attention her arms stretched out resting against the object. 
“Mum! Akasuki’s in bed with a boy!”
What? Akasuki’s eyes shot open flying to the doorframe to see both boys along with her mother, arms crossed, oh fuck, when did they fall asleep? She threw the covers off her wildly exclaiming,
“we're clothed!”
Her eyebrows lifted; the suspicion still present. Oh fuck, fuck. There was a soft chuckle from Yamaguchi as he lifted his head pulling himself up to a sitting position,
“I apologise for the intrusion Mrs Au, Akasuki wasn’t feeling great and I didn’t have the heart to leave her.”
Right, exactly, good thinking Tadashi, smart. Her mother nodded slowly dismissing his words,
“have you eaten?”
Yamaguchi’s eyes beamed up glancing hopefully at Akasuki. Guess he’s pretty hungry still. She shook her head,
“food would be great please.”
Her mother smirked softly before ushering the boys out closing the door with a wink. Gross, why did she do that? Akasuki dropped back against the pillow,
“when did I fall asleep?” she closed her eyes rubbing the new tension in her temples, “shit?”
“You passed out almost immediately,” Tadashi chuckled.
Did she? Her mind flew back to the moments before departure, the image of Tadashi's face before hers, holding her tightly. Right, that’s what happened. She opened her eyes slowly, a laugh slipping from her lips as she glanced to Tadashi watching her closely,
“did you sleep too?”
He shook his head lightly,
“I couldn’t.”
“What did you do?” she asked curiously leaning on her side to face him fully.
His cheeks blushed as he hid behind his hair muttering to himself. What is he hiding? Akasuki reached over to brush the hair from his face smirking,
“why are you hiding?”
She wasn’t sure what to expect, was he a secret perv? He blinked slowly as his lips parted,
“I played your game.”
Wow, Akasuki dropped her mouth in a pretend shock,
“and I thought I could trust you.”
Yamaguchi whined as he pouted at her,
“I just saw it and Tsukki has one but rarely lets me use it. I really wanted to try it.”
He’s cute, she shouldn’t be teasing him like this but it was kinda fun, leaning forward she removed her hand from his face to her chest,
“it actually hurts.” 
He hastily reached over to cup her hand moving closer to her, inches from her face,
“I’m sorry.”
She can’t, this feels really mean, she chuckled softly as she leaned forward close to his face,
“did you get any cool items?”
His sunken eyes suddenly lit up, as he rapidly nodded.
“Good,” Akasuki whispered.
The space between them was minimal, Tadashi’s nod bringing him further in, the pair almost touching, eyes gazing spontaneously at one another, is this as far as it’ll go? Her eyes automatically dropped to his lips, their pinkness sparking a slight attraction through her, lifting to meet his sparkling eyes, she wasn’t sure if she wanted more, if a simple hug removed her current worries, what would more do? Should she,
“Food!” the bellowing of her mother drew the pair apart, cheeks red and eyes averting away.
That was close, she let out her held breath as she slid off the bed, Yamaguchi following her as she led the way down the stairs, that was too close, what would have happened if she actually went through with it? She sat at the table within the dining room, gesturing to the seat beside her for Yamaguchi to sit in, Tatsuo and Reiji were already sat at the table opposite the pair. This is awkward, Akasuki needed to ease this tension, she lifted her leg under the table playfully kicking Tatsuo’s feet, his eyes lifting to meet hers, a shy evil within, she smirked sticking her tongue out, he stuck his tongue out wildly swinging his head out, what happened to his shyness? She laughed shaking her head, cute. Her mother entered the room placing the plates carefully before everyone. A meaty aroma filled her senses as she gazed down at the plump diced beef mixed together with fluffy vegetables, it looked amazing. She glanced at Yamaguchi his eyes feasting upon the meal. Akasuki glanced over to her mother who nodded at her allowing them to start eating. She didn’t need to be told twice, she started to dig in, grinning as she savoured the flavours, the individual tastes combining on her tongue, fuck this was good. 
“So, Tadashi,” her mother spoke glancing up from her food, “how did the two of you meet?”
That’s a good question, Akasuki glanced up at him, his eyes already on hers,
“we actually met at a practice match, Nekoma against my team, Karasuno.”
He smiled softly at her, his cheeks flushing red as he hastily turning back to his food.
“So, you’re on a volleyball team?” she asked.
He nodded,
“yeah, I’m a middle blocker, trying to be a pinch server.”
“Get rid of trying,” Akasuki muttered taking a bit, “you’re a good pinch server, you just need more practice.”
“Better than your pinch server?” her mother asked.
Akasuki stopped eating glancing up at her then to Yamaguchi, oh, this, right, this is a bad question for her,
“I, think they’re both good.”
“Thank you,” Yamaguchi whispered.
They continued to finish their meal with small talk, Akasuki luckily allowed to be excused from the table after finishing, Yamaguchi following closely behind glancing at his phone,
“I think I should head off now.”
Akasuki nodded turning to face him in the hallway,
“I guess this is good bye then.”
He frowned slipping his shoes on,
“unfortunately.”
He stood up straight brushing himself down facing Akasuki with a smile hiding the pained frown,
“but this isn’t be the last time.”
She laughed, the last time?
“exactly,” she opened the door leaning against the door frame as he slid past her, “maybe we can reschedule that lunch.”
He grinned, she knew that would make him happy, he held out his hands slowly towards her,
“how about one last hug?”
“Duh,” she whispered stepping into his arms wrapping hers around him, “thanks for today.”
“Any time,” he whispered pulling away partly his face hesitating before hers, “Akasuki, is it,” his cheeks grew red, “okay for us to, you know,”
Oh fuck,
“kiss?” she asked weakly, deep down she was dreading this, she had always dreamt of a kiss being romantic and planned out. Yet, they never were.
He nodded, what was she going to say? Fuck, she slowly glanced down,
“I, don’t know.”
She swore to herself, after the last, her lips would only remain loyal to the ones she truly adored.
“I understand,” he whispered, his fingers lifting her chin, “but is it okay if I do this?” he lightly leaned in pressing his lips against her cheek, what, her eyes were wide, that, wow, he pulled away smiling timidly.
She let out a breath of relief, that, she honestly thought he was going to kiss her then, but that was better than what she expected was going to happen, and to be honest, she didn’t hate it. But it was kinda unfair on him, she smiled at him nodding, yet there’s a simple solution for that,
“only if I can do it back,” she pulled his face down to meet hers, pressing hers lips against his cheek momentarily, this felt weird, but she didn’t want to do the real thing, it didn’t feel right, she pulled away.
His eyes were closed as he cupped his cheek honouring the spot, her cheeks glowing pink, he actually liked it, he opened his eyes slowly peering at her,
“sleep well tonight, I’ll call you before you sleep.”
She nodded, like usual, he would call her to say goodnight and wish her sweet dreams, it was kinda romantic,
“get home safely,” she brushed the hair behind his ear, “otherwise I won’t forgive you for playing my game.”
Tadashi grinned walking backwards,
“you already forgave me!”
She smiled at him before he waved at her spinning around, today was unusually good. Maybe Yamaguchi was really the best choice.