is it her? ➢ 𝘬. 𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘢

chapter twenty two

"can i help you..?" i scoot a bit away from him as he lifts himself out of the pool and sits next to me, his dark blue hair slowly dripping water.

"the names mikosu kasai, pleased to meet you." mikosu holds a hand out to me.

i look at his hand, then him, unamused. he sighs and retrieves his hand.

"alright, not a hand shaker."

"sai, dude, stop flirting!" one of the other boys exclaim.

"i'm not! trying to be friendly here, sheesh."

"what did you want." i sigh.

"just trying to be friendly."

"to a stranger.. at a hotel.."

"well, when you put it that way, it sounds weird."

i shake my head with a soft sigh. "yaku atsuko."

"thank you, that's all i wanted to hear." he hops back down into the water, yet staying at the edge while his friends swim over to me as well.

"heyy, cutie~" a boy with a blonde undercut lifts himself out of the pool, his tongue piercing shining as he speaks.

"don't call me that." i scoot away from him.

"are you single?" another boy with black hair similar morisuke's asks.

"n-" i start, just to be cut off by the blonde undercut boy.

"you're too pretty to be single~" he coos.

"if you'd actually let me talk, that'd be nice."

"go on." the last boy, one with shoulder length dark brown hair, says.

"i'm not single."

"so what're you doing here alone?" the blonde undercut boy questions.

"she's not alone, yuji." mikosu says.

"how do you know?"

"oh, i don't know. she walked in with six other people?"

"oh, yeah." the one mikosu called yuji says with a chuckle. "so, if you're not single, where's your boyfriend? or girlfriend?"

"he's-" i get cut off by yuji again as the four look behind me.

"i-is he your boyfriend?" yuji nervously says.

i tilt my head back to see kuroo, looking at the boys with a scowl. "god, no."

kuroo lifts me off the edge of the pool from under my arms and begins walking away from the four boys. "what the fuck are you doing." i squirm out of his grasp.

"they were clearly hitting on you, stupid. kenma looks like he's about to combust."

"wait, really." i look over to the seats where kenma's biting his bottom lip in frustration, his hands clenched into fists. oh, no. i walk over to where kenma is sitting.

"kenma, are you al-"

"no, i'm not." he gets up from the seat without making eye contact with me, brushing past me and out the exit of the indoor pool. what the hell? i look back to kuroo in confusion. kuroo shrugs. i quickly grab my shirt and slip it on, then go after kenma. i open the door to the indoor pool and head out, looking around the lobby. i spot kenma at the waiting area near reception. i make my way over to him.

"kenma.." i sit down next to him. "what's wrong?" he doesn't answer. "kenma." i put a hand on his knee. is he mad because of those boys?

"atsuko, i don't like seeing you talk to other boys.." he puts his hand on mine and looks at me.

"kenma, i didn't even want to talk to them."

"so why'd you stay over there?"

"it would be rude to walk off.. i'm sorry."

kenma cups my face in both of his hands, then proceeds to smash his lips against mine. bold kenma is back. i return the kiss.

"what was that for?"

"to remind you that you're mine."

"you're too cute. let's go back, i'm dying to swim." i shoot up from the chair and walk back to the indoor pool, kenma following behind. he sits back down as i go over to the deep end edge once again.

"atsuko~" kuroo lifts himself out of the pool and stands next to me.

"what could you possibly want now."

"wanna have a swimming race?" kuroo stretches his arms out in front of him.

"sure. but, prepare to lose."

"i won't lose."

"lev, come here, please." i gesture for lev to come over to us. we need someone to count down. he quickly swims over to the deep end. when i say quickly, i mean quickly. those legs aren't a lie.

"yeah, atsuko-chan?"

"me and kuroo are gonna race. can you countdown for us?"

"of course!"

i give him a small smile before looking back at the pool. the other boys, yamamoto, and akane are just gazing at kuroo and i. i gesture my hands to them, signaling for them to move out of the way. they do just that.

"you know, your height won't be an advantage."

"mhm, chibi-chan~"

"that nickname is stupid."

"but it fits you perfectly!"

"shut up. lev, whenever you're ready." i take down my bun and put it into a low ponytail.

lev nods and begins the countdown. once he's done, kuroo and i dive into the pool. i swim as fast as i can because i am not losing to him.

i end up winning, no surprise. i lift myself out of the water and sit on the edge of the shallow end.

"atsuko-chan, you're so fast!" akane swims over to me.

i softly chuckle. "thanks~"

kuroo lifts himself out of the pool as well. "okay, you.. are not human."

"mm.. pretty sure i'm human. you're just a slow swimmer, mister."

"i'll win next time."

"mhm."

"atsuko-chan! can you jump in the pool with me?" akane questions.

"sure!" i get up from the edge of the shallow end and walk over to the deep end while akane swims.

"yaku-chan~"

i stop in my tracks as yuji calls out to me. i sight and take a few steps back to look at him. "what."

he chuckles and crosses his arms on the edge of the pool, smirking at me.