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Kai watched Inuoka closely as he spiked the ball only for it to be received easily by Sawamura. He stifled a laugh into his palm as Inuoka squawked about his failure.
“Don’t mind! You’ll get him on the next one,” He encouraged him, sharing an amused look with Sawamura on the other side of the net.
“But Kai-san, he’s not even Karasuno’s libero! If I can’t get it past him there’s no way Coach will let me play.”
Kai hummed and scratched the back of his head. Ever since Lev became a regular, Inuoka had been keeping a positive gung-ho spirit about things. But Kai could tell his frustration was wearing down his indomitable spirit.
“That was a great shot, Inuoka!” Sawamura chimed in, reaching under the net to pat his back. “You should probably take a break and rehydrate. We’ve been going at it a while, on top of all our games earlier today.”
The reminder seemed to perk Inuoka up and with a vigorous nod, he ran to the nearest bench that had his water bottle and towel. Kai shook his head and smiled at Sawamura.
“I appreciate your help. Yaku and Kuroo have their hands full with Lev.”
“Yeah, he does seem like a handful,” Sawamura laughed and nodded his head at the bench. “You deserve a break yourself, come on.”
By the time they reached it, Inuoka had been whisked off by some other team, giving Kai and Sawamura a little peace as they took a load off. Kai enjoyed working with Sawamura. He wasn’t as argumentative as Kuroo and Yaku could be. His air of maturity was relaxing to be around, and Kai had the sense that he could trust him with anything. It was a relief, considering how a certain someone could make him feel.
“Hey, hey, what the hell was that?!” A loud voice cackled, and several other voices laughed and argued together. Kai lowered his water bottle and gazed across the gym at a few members of Fukurodani trying out some plays on their own. Wiping his face on his sleeve, Kai watched Konoha in particular, mesmerized by his easy grin and his teasing eyes. His blonde hair was damp with sweat and when Konoha ran his fingers through it, it stayed slicked back for a minute and gave a beautiful view of his face. He started to turn their way, so Kai tipped his water bottle back to drink more. When he lowered it, Konoha was already moving again, shouting instructions to Komi to toss him a ball.
It was difficult for Kai to pin one thing about Konoha that captured his attention. He had a feeling it was many things all adding up so he couldn’t look anywhere else. He watched as Konoha gazed up at the ball, eyes bright and grin wide as it nestled in his fingers and bounced back up in a perfect set for Sarukui.
I wonder what it would feel like, spiking his set… I wonder what it would be like to talk to him, Kai wondered, huffing out a sigh as he slammed his palm against the cap of his water bottle.
“You alright?” Sawamura asked, eyeing him from behind his towel as he wiped the sweat off his face.
“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about stupid things.”
“Hmm, I didn’t think you got riled up about anything. Compared to everyone else at this camp, you seem like the sanest one here.”
“That doesn’t really say much considering,” Kai laughed.
“Well, you don’t have to spill your secrets to me, it’s none of my business. But if you’d like to talk about it I’m all ears.”
Kai stared at him for a moment, debating whether he should finally admit how he felt. He had considered telling Kuroo and Yaku, but he had the feeling that they’d want to get involved and that was the last thing he wanted. The more he thought about it, the more Sawamura seemed like his safest bet.
“Um, have you ever liked someone that you’ve barely spoken to?”
Sawamura’s eyebrows raised up and he looked away as a light flush prickled his cheeks. “No. I mean there is somebody, but it wasn’t until I spoke with them that I started to like them.”
“Ah, I see.”
“What do you like about this person if you’ve never spoken to them?”
“We’ve had a few words in passing, but it’s always short and a little… stilted. I have the feeling he doesn’t like me very much. As for me, I’ve observed him from afar and I love his playful spirit. I wish I could be around him more but I’m afraid he’ll dislike me even more.”
“First, I doubt he dislikes you. I can’t imagine anyone not liking you at least on a friendship level.”
“Thank you.”
“So, I take it the person’s here? On a rival team, perhaps?” His teasing tone caught Kai’s attention and he glared at Sawamura’s wide grin.
“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Never. Suga’s the worst meddler on our team but even I can’t help but be curious. Can you give me a hint?”
Kai winced and looked across the gym where Konoha was gathering up a few balls with his teammates. “He goes to Fukurodani.”
“Hmm, lots of options there. None of them are bad looking, Bokuto?” Sawamura laughed at the way Kai’s nose wrinkled up. “Gotcha, not him. Akaashi maybe? He’s cool-headed and attractive.”
“No, that’s not really my type. I mean, the person is handsome, just not the same kind as Akaashi.”
Sawamura hummed and gazed in the same direction as Kai. He frowned and stared hard until finally, he tilted his head.
“Konoha?” He suggested and flinched when Kai spun his head toward him.
“How did you know?! Was I obvious?”
“What do you mean obvious, it was my third guess!” Sawamura laughed, and Kai felt his whole face grow hot. He was regretting the whole thing already. “Well, I can see it, he’s fun and good-looking. Maybe you should just try to talk to him, get to know him. It couldn’t hurt.”
“Yes, it could. I know I seem cool-headed, especially compared to my teammates, but I tend to say very stupid things when I’m nervous. Last time I spoke to Konoha, I tried asking him if he wanted me to put their balls in the cart, so he could go shower. Instead, I asked if he wanted me to put his balls in the shower. I thought I was going to die of humiliation.”
A slight snort came out of Sawamura before he could stop it. “What did Konoha say?”
“Oh, he was confused and flustered until I explained myself, and then he laughed and said he could take care of his own balls.” Kai dropped his face in his hands as Sawamura let out an obnoxious snort.
“That’s not the worst thing, you just need practice.”
“No, I don’t. I’m perfectly fine with pining for the rest of my life. I may be suffering but you can always suffer more. At least I’m familiar with this.”
Sawamura chuckled and rubbed his hand on Kai’s back. “There, there. It’s not like you to be overdramatic. I think it’ll turn out better than you think.”
“Yeah, I hope so,” Kai said, sharing a smile with Sawamura as a loud smack rang out on the other side of the gym.
Konoha’s vision was washed white as he hit the ground, pain throbbing from his right cheekbone.
“Oh shit! You okay?”
“Whooo, KO!”
“That’s why you should be paying attention,” Washio scolded him and at last his vision cleared to see his teammates faces peering down at him.
“He’s alive!” Komi cheered, lifting his fists in the air. Sarukui grinned down at him but Konoha could see the pinch of his eyebrows, showing his concern.
“Are you sure I’m not dead? What happened?”
“You weren’t watching the ball,” Washio said and Konoha winced as he recalled why his eyes left the ball he should have been receiving. He had spotted Kai Nobuyuki across the gymnasium with Sawamura, who was rubbing Kai’s back as they smiled lovingly at each other.
Damn crow with his muscles and big brown eyes, Konoha mentally grumbled as he tried sitting up. Komi’s arm supported his back and the others stepped back to give him a little space. Unfortunately, that gave room for Kai and Sawamura to slip into their group, the last two people he wanted to see at the moment. His heart throbbed painfully when Kai knelt next to him, the loud noises of the gym quieting to a hush as Kai reached out to touch his cheek.
“Are you alright? What happened?”
Konoha blinked at him, unable to move a muscle except for his heart which felt like it had crawled up his throat and into his brain. What did happen? Shit, what’s my name? Why the hell is he so close and why is he looking so worried that handsome demon?
“Um, I’m not sure. I think a face smacked my ball.”
Everyone fell silent and Konoha wracked his brain trying to recall the words that just came out of his mouth, especially when Kai smiled at him. It was only a moment later that every one of his teammates fell over laughing, even Washio stifling snickers in his hand.
“You get many faces smacking your balls, Konoha?”
“No wonder his face is so red, that’ll get anyone excited.”
“That’s not what I meant!” He yelled, but that only made them laugh harder.
“It’s alright, I know what you meant,” Kai said softly, his smile amused as he looked Konoha over carefully. “It looks like it hit hard though, we need to make sure you don’t have a concussion. What’s your name?”
Shit, he would ask me a hard question like that.
“K-Konoha! Konoha Akinori,” He spit out after a moment, a little too loud and Kai flinched back. His face grew even hotter as his friends sputtered again. He growled as he grabbed onto Komi for support and tried to put his feet underneath him. He moved too fast, unfortunately, and his vision blurred again. His legs buckled underneath him, but a warm hand grabbed hold of his arm and kept him standing. Konoha fluttered his eyes and turned to thank the person holding him, only to lock eyes with Kai.
“Take it easy,” Kai said in a low voice, the kind of voice that was like velvet and sent goosebumps fluttering across Konoha’s skin. He jerked out of Kai’s hold and scrambled back a couple steps, laughing awkwardly as he tried to remain on his feet.
“Uh, I’m fine! Sorry, I think I’m just gonna hit the showers. Thanks, guys!”
Before anyone could protest, Konoha rushed past his teammates toward the benches where his towel and water bottle were waiting. He snatched them up and started to head for the gym doors when Komi caught up to him, bumping their arms together.
“What the hell was that, man?”
“Sorry, I just had to get out of there.”
“Do you actually like Kai? Because the poor guy looked like a kicked puppy when you ran away from him. It seemed like you hate him.”
“I don’t hate him, you know that.”
“He doesn’t know that though.”
“Listen, it’s better I run away before I say something embarrassing again.”
“I beg to disagree. Saying something stupid at least gives you a little sympathy. I think Kai might have a thing for dorks.”
“Bullshit, he obviously has a thing for handsome, reliable captains.”
“We have some of those? Oooohhhh you mean Sawamura! I don’t think he likes him like that.”
“Oh yeah? Why did I see them about to kiss on the bench with Sawamura’s arm around him?”
“There’s no way they’d kiss in front of everyone, Idiot.”
“It didn’t look like they were paying much attention to where they were,” Konoha muttered, folding his arms across his stomach that was twisting itself in knots. He could feel Komi’s eyes on him, but he said nothing else until they were entering the main doors to the school.
“Well, I guess that’s that then.”
“What do you mean?”
“You lost out to Sawamura. It’s understandable, he’s more of the proactive type rather than someone who’d sulk in a corner about their bad luck. I’d say at least you tried but, oh wait, you didn’t.”
“Shithead,” Konoha said back, giving his best friend a shove while he laughed his ass off.
“I’m definitely not the shithead in this scenario. It’s seriously not like you to whine and moan about stuff or be terrible at something. You’re the Jack-of-all—”
“Don’t say it!”
For once Komi listened and pressed his lips tight, trying hard not to laugh. In fact, he kept obnoxiously quiet the entire time they dragged their feet to Fukurodani’s classroom to grab their shower stuff. He didn’t really need to say anything, he made his point clear and Konoha could think of little else. Perhaps he should apologize to Kai at least… if he could string two words together.
“Come on, cheer up! He was just out of sorts from being hit by a ball,” Sawamura said, giving him a punch on the arm. Kai tried giving him a reassuring smile but Sawamura seemed completely unconvinced by his weak attempt. It was impossible, he felt completely miserable. For Konoha to recoil from him like that, he was certain he was hated by the other man. Was that better than indifference? Kai wasn’t sure.
“Sorry, that just really hurt, you know? I think it’s time for me to really move on and forget about him.”
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t you at least like to tell him how you feel?”
“I don’t think so, at least not right now. It would be awkward if we go up against each other in the preliminaries.”
“Nah, you’ll be fine. You might feel better getting it out in the open.”
“Maybe you’re right… is that what you’re going to do?”
“What?!” Sawamura squawked and Kai had to admit he felt a little better turning the tables on his new friend.
“It’s difficult breathing around you and Kuroo sometimes with the rampant sexual tension polluting the air.”
“Ha, ha, you’re hilarious. That’s not sexual tension, it’s just our competitive nature!”
“Then why are you getting so flustered?”
Sawamura huffed and stepped in front of him, planting his hands on his hips. Kai beamed back at him; Sawamura’s intimidation wouldn’t work on him like it did his underclassmen.
“It’s not what you think, I was just caught off guard by your question. Right now I’m focused on getting our team where we need to be and I wouldn’t let something as trivial as that get in the way…” Sawamura continued on, nodding as his confidence grew the further he delved into his explanation that hardly convinced Kai at all. Further down the hall, Kai noticed the door to Nekoma’s classroom slide open and Kuroo poke his head out, looking around until he spotted them. He lit up as his gaze ate up Sawamura’s back, and it took every ounce of self-control Kai had not to laugh or say anything. He bit his lip and tried not to look as Kuroo sauntered toward them, listening to every word of Sawamura’s speech. He stifled a laugh and leaned in to hover his lips just beyond Sawamura’s ear.
“Sa’aaaamura,” He purred and Sawamura’s body went comically stiff. “Since you’re so ramped up about this training camp, how about we have a little captain’s meeting?”
“Sure, uh, where are we all meeting?”
“Oh, not all the captains, just you and me. Come on, I think there’s an empty classroom further down. Or maybe we’ll go up a floor just to make sure we’re not interrupted.”
“Wait, I don’t, I—” Sawamura stammered but Kuroo was already draping his arm across his back and leading him away.
“Come on, Kai’s been hogging you enough. It’s my turn.”
Sawamura glanced over his shoulder, his face wracked with desperation, but Kai just smiled and waved back.
It’s for his own good, Kai thought. The smile on his face faded, realizing he wasn’t nearly as kind to himself. Perhaps Sawamura was right and it would be best to get it out in the open. He glanced down at his sweaty clothes and winced. Nobody would be tempted to accept a confession from him in that state, so he wandered into the Nekoma quarters to collect his shower gear.
In the corner was a heap of his kouhai, Kenma in the middle with his PSP with Hinata Shoyou smashed up against him. Hovering over him was Inuoka and Lev on the other side, all of them chattering noisily with their limbs all tangled together. Kai chuckled at the scene, Kenma’s displeasure in particular from being so caged in. He knew that if Hinata hadn’t been there, Kenma would have snapped at the other two already.
He turned away from them and weaved through the futons scattered across the floor to his own. Just beyond his futon was Yaku’s where he was sitting with Karasuno’s vice-captain Sugawara Koushi. They were deep into their conversation and hadn’t even noticed his presence, so Kai remained quiet as he gathered his things.
When they laughed about some antics of their rowdy teammates, Kai felt a pang of loneliness. He really had been hogging Sawamura during the week because they had settled into a comfortable friendship. Now he was off with Kuroo and hopefully making progress on relieving their sexual tension and he was alone to wallow in his stupid feelings.
He huffed as he stood up from his bag and marched out of Nekoma’s room. Sawamura was right, it wasn’t like him to be dragged down. His kouhai looked up to him and Kuroo relied on him, what sort of example was he setting by moping? He knew he’d feel better after a hot shower. Perhaps with that, he could gain enough confidence to find Konoha and talk to him.
The door to the bathroom was a little difficult to open with his arms full, but he managed to crack it open and slip inside. As soon as he was inside, his soap bottle slipped through his arms and rolled across the tile floor. Kai clicked his tongue and waded through the steamy air to pick it up, but someone beat him to it.
“Here you gooooo…” Konoha trailed off, gaping at Kai as he held out his bottle. Kai didn’t answer, how could he when Konoha was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped precariously around his waist? His hair was dripping wet and slicked back away from his face, droplets crawling down his skin and over his exposed muscles.
Kai knew he should look away, but his eyes weren’t listening to his brain. The air was thick, and he felt like he was suffocating and someone had lit his skin on fire. He was finally able to nod at least, reach out and grab the soap bottle but the rest of the items he was carrying slipped free and clattered onto the floor.
“Oh, sorry,” He mumbled and knelt to pick them up. To his surprise, Konoha also crouched and picked up a couple things, glancing up to meet Kai’s eye. He opened his mouth to say something, but it seemed he was afflicted with the same issues Kai was having.
“Uh… here,” Konoha finally said, handing over his stuff. When their fingers brushed each other, Konoha jerked away again and groaned when he realized what he had done. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Thank you for helping me,” Kai said, the disappointment breaking his inability to speak.
“Dude! Don’t bend over in that little towel! Ugh,” Komi yelled when he came around the corner, not wearing anything at all and using his hands to block his eyes. Konoha hissed under his breath and glared over his shoulder.
“You’re one to talk, Asshole.” Konoha pushed himself to his feet, still grumbling under his breath. Kai bit his lip, overwhelmed by the situation.
I should just go shower before I embarrass myself more, he thought and was about to stand up when Konoha’s hand appeared in front of him. He stared at it and glanced up at Konoha to make sure he was offering what he thought he was.
It was a mistake. Earlier when he was helping Konoha after getting hit by the ball, he didn’t get the chance to look into his eyes since they were constantly avoiding his own. This time Konoha didn’t look away and Kai could see that his eyes were hazel instead of brown as he always assumed.
He winced when Konoha’s eyebrows raised, waiting for him to make a move. He hastily grabbed Konoha’s hand and allowed him to help him up. The moment lasted only a few seconds, but Kai’s romantic heart treasured the physical contact, no matter how innocent it was. This time, instead of yanking away Konoha slowly released Kai’s hand and for a brief moment looked disappointed.
Kai knew he needed to say something but not one coherent thought was entering his head. Perhaps thank him or show concern for his health. He snapped his head up and the first thing he noticed was a delicate flush of pink growing on Konoha’s pale cheeks.
“You’re hot,” Kai blurted out and Konoha’s eyes grew larger than he’d ever seen them. Kai could even see Komi across the room glance in his direction slowly and he sputtered to say something else. “No, I mean, your face! Uh, red, it’s red, it’s warm in here, right? You must be hot is what I… meant.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s warm in here, lots of people showering with hot water. Listen, sorry about earlier.”
“What are you sorry about?”
“Running away from you and stuff. I didn’t want you to take that personally.”
The knots in Kai’s stomach relaxed but didn’t entirely unravel. It was good that Konoha seemed like he was being honest, and he didn’t want to let the opportunity slip him by.
“So, you don’t hate me?”
“What? No! Oh my god, you have to stop looking at me like that,” Konoha groaned and rubbed his hands over his face.
“What? Like what?”
“Puppy!”
“Huh?!”
Konoha removed only one of the hands and waved it in front of Kai’s face without looking.
“The freakin puppy dog eyes looking all sad, you’re killing me. Please stop.”
“You want me to stop my eyes? I don’t know how to do that,” Kai snickered, even though he felt like they were getting nowhere with their conversation. Konoha peeked at him through his fingers and sighed heavily as he moved his hand up into his hair.
“Alright, you know what? I can do this. Kai, this… thing with you and me, it’s just hard, you know? Like, I just want to bleeahhh,” He said, wiggling his fingers around between them. “But I can’t! There’s like this… BAH in my brain keeping me from saying what I need to. Do you know what I mean?”
Despite not saying anything coherent, Konoha was panting as if those few words took quite a lot of effort. Kai gaped at him. He tried deciphering what Konoha was trying to communicate, but he was also a little distracted by his chest heaving right in front of him. He gasped when it finally clicked that Konoha might be struggling with the same issues he was. It was almost too much to hope for but perhaps it was time he mustered up a little courage.
He gulped down his nerves and took a step closer to Konoha who seemed to be holding his breath all of a sudden.
“I think I do understand, at least I hope I do. Konoha, do you, perhaps, like me? It’s okay if you don’t!” He rushed when Konoha winced at the question. “It could be many things and that would be fine unless you don’t like me at all which would make me sad.”
Kai paused when he noticed Komi and Sarukui watching intently as they scrubbed themselves down slowly, not even pretending that they weren’t eavesdropping. He sighed and stepped even closer to Konoha and craned his head, so he could whisper in his ear.
“The truth is… I like you, a lot.”
The shower room seemed silent as Konoha gasped. He hadn’t moved away which Kai took as a good sign. A sudden boldness was starting to take over Kai’s inhibitions and before he could stop himself, he brushed his lips against Konoha’s cheek and retreated to his own space. Konoha’s eyes fluttered and looked at him, and Kai felt the urge to run out of the bathroom and hide under his covers for the rest of training camp.
Before he could move, Konoha reached out and grabbed his arms. Everything contained within them clattered to the floor but neither of them cared as Kai was pressed back against the tile wall. Konoha’s bare skin pressed up against him, tantalizingly warm and damp. The lips Kai has always longed for curled up in a smile as his face hovered slightly above Kai’s. Konoha still said nothing but his eyebrows raised in question. Kai nodded and, at last, that sly grin was pressing against his lips.
The kiss was warm, warmer than the humid air of the bathroom and sweeter than the dessert he had after dinner. His heart raced yet he felt strangely relaxed as if their lips were meant to fit together. He sighed and wrapped his arms over Konoha’s shoulders, pulling him into an even deeper kiss. Konoha’s lips smiled into the kiss and his hands left Kai’s arms to slip under the back of his shirt instead.
Kai heard a smack and Konoha’s subsequent yelp echoed off the tiled walls.
“Think about where you are, Dumbass! Sarukui and I are right here! Not to mention the impressionable first year from Shinzen trying to shower over there.”
“It’s fine, I didn’t see anything,” The blushing first year mumbled, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. Komi sighed and yanked Konoha away from Kai.
“Let Kai shower and then meet somewhere private, alright?”
“Ugh, fine, just let me…” Konoha gestured his head toward Kai and narrowed his eyes back at Komi. With a laugh, Komi held up his hands in submission and waved for Sarukui to follow him out of the bathroom. Sarukui gave them both a thumbs up before leaving them alone, with the first year frantically trying to finish his shower.
“I, uh… that was really nice,” Konoha said, chuckling nervously as he fiddled with the towel around his waist. Kai was embarrassed when Komi had interrupted them, but all of that faded away at Konoha’s adorably flustered state. He smiled and reached out to stroke his fingers against Konoha’s arm.
“That was nice. Perhaps we can do it again after I’ve had a shower?”
Yes! I mean, sure, good idea. So, I’ll go get dressed and meet me outside Fukurodani’s room when you’re ready?”
“Yeah, it’s a date.”
Konoha perked up even more at the mention of it being a date and it nearly tore Kai’s heart out to shoo him out of the bathroom. Once he was alone, he knelt to pick up his stuff as he released a long, calming breath. He still couldn’t believe that had happened. Just before he walked into the bathroom, he was certain Konoha hated his guts and now they had kissed and were planning to do it some more.
Kai shook his head, dispelling all thoughts of that before he got too excited. After all, he was about to undress in the school’s public bathroom and shower with other people. The first year was finally fishing up and flinched when Kai entered the area. Kai smiled reassuringly at him and started to strip, but the kid lingered nervously as if he had something to say.
“Something wrong?”
“Oh, no… I was just wondering. That thing you two were doing over there.”
“Kissing? Making out?”
“Yeah! Does that happen a lot around here?”
Kai was about to say no, but then he remembered that not only was he meeting Konoha after, but they’d have to find a different room from Kuroo and Sawamura. And then there was how cozy Hinata was with his three kouhai and knew he could end up with one (or more) of them.
“Um, not usually but if I were you, I’d get used to it.”
The kid blinked back at him, surprised by his answer. But after a moment he laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s cool. I was just making sure.”
With that, the first year gathered his things and left Kai alone in the showers to prepare for his first date with Konoha, where he imagined they probably wouldn’t do much talking.