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hauntingwhisper · 1 year

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'Keep me in your pocket'

One thing Kenma did every year on Kuroo's birthday was take a Polaroid photo of him. He's been doing this every year since Kuroo gifted it to him on his 16th birthday. It was now a tradition that had been going on for over 10 years. The tradition wasn't going to stop, but there was a plan for taking these photos since the beginning. It was now time for it to be put into effect. All of the photos Kenma had collected over the years of both the birthday and non-birthday were going to be made into a gift for Kuroo's birthday this year, and he had to make this perfect.

Currently, it was a week away from today. After Kenma had met up with Kuroo's father, he finally had all the photos he needed to start. Unlucky for Kuroo but lucky enough for Kenma, Kuroo was going to be busy with work for the next few days. It was the best time for Kenma to begin his little birthday project.

Kenma was currently sorting through a ton of photos that he had in a small box within his streaming room. Most of them were polaroid photos that he took through the years but some cleaner photos from their childhood thanks to Kuroo's dad.

The plan was to make a small book filled with their life together so far, but with enough room where they could add stuff as they made more memories together. It couldn't be that difficult right? Wrong. Kenma greatly overestimated his ability to make crafty things, this may take him a bit longer to make it to how he wants.

When he first planned on doing this the idea was to do something similar to those books filled with photos, decorated with washi tape and random tidbits of cool-looking paper. He knew Kuroo always thought they looked cool so from that moment on he knew it had to be something like it.

After sorting through the photo he managed to break them up into groups. The first page was a polaroid of him and Kuroo on Kenma's 16th birthday when he first had gotten the camera they were both holding big smiles with their arms around each other laughing at something Kuroo's father had said to them then Kuroo's father taking the photo of them to make sure the memory was saved. Back then Kenma didn't know how happy he would be to have it.

He thought it was a perfect way to start the book, back to what started it all. It was decorated with red and black strips of ripped paper matched with 8-bit heart washi tape and volleyball stickers and a mini Nekoma team banner above the photo of them.

Making that page took him a good hour and a half just to make sure it was perfect, but the time he used was worth it because it turned out just how he wanted it to, it was perfect. Now for the other dozen pages...

The next four hours passed and he managed to get another 4 pages done just in time for Kuroo to get home within the next ten minutes. Kenma had finished the sections of them as kids starting from the time they met.

Next day rolls around and Kenma is on the same mission as before, he moved on to the next section. Kenma did this for a few days never faltering, he was truly a man on a mission.

All was running smoothly until a small hiccup occurred, Kuroo was granted the day before his birthday off. Kenma was caught off guard when he heard. Normally he'd be thrilled to be able to spend more time with him but Kenma still had one more section to finish.

It was moments like this he was glad he liked to think ahead, after hearing about it he quickly sent Bokuto a text asking him if he could distract Kuroo for about 4 or 5 hours so he could finish. It took almost no time for him to respond and be more than willing to help.

With that out of the way, Kenma was on his way to having everything done and ready for his birthday.

Kuroo's birthday was only a day away and things were running even smoother than he could have imagined. Bokuto had Kuroo and they were out grabbing lunch and just hanging out which was nice since they didn't get to as much as they'd liked. He finished Kuroo's gift and had time to spare to get a few other things done that he honestly thought he wasn't able to.

After a little while, Kuroo came back from his outing with Bokuto. He came in so quietly that Kenma didn't even realize until Kuroo was hugging him from behind the couch. Kenma paused his game to look up and kiss him softly.

"Have a nice time out with kou?" Kenma hummed as he patted the spot next to him to get the other to sit down with him.

Kuroo smiled and nodded "It was fun, honestly it has been a good second since we've been able to just hang out like that, also before a sit down let me change into something a bit more comfortable then maybe I can even play with you"

Kenma nodded and went back to his game while Kuroo left to change. About five minutes later Kuroo comes back out and takes his place next to Kenma and chuckles a bit as he hears his cute boyfriend mumbling curses and threats under his breath at the game he was playing.

"What's gotten you so worked up kitten?" He flashes his signature cheeky grin toward the other

Kenma quickly shoots him a glare with no real negative intent behind it and sighs "I'm in a new boss battle and the Balladeer just killed my Itto and Kazuha when I just used some food to revive my Tighnari! It's bullshit!"

Kuroo laughs softly as he watches him, it's so endearing to him to watch Kenma play a game that he can't help but just watch all the expressions he makes and hear the small huffs of annoyance when something goes wrong.

"Is this the game where it takes a bit to revive multiple characters? What was it about a minute and a half between uses?" He asked as he leaned his head over on Kenmas shoulder

Kenma's irritation immediately calmed as Kuroo's head reached his shoulder.

He hummed in acknowledgment "Close, when you use food to revive a character it takes two minutes two be able to use another one, which normally isn't a problem but since this boss is new and it's my first time being able to battle it I wasn't sure what to expect or what would be the best team would be the best to counter it. This leads me to die more than I'd like to admit"

"Ohhh, okay. Which team do you have right now? And is it working at all?" Kuroo asked with just as much genuine curiosity as he normally does when he watches Kenma play.

"Yes and no. The team I'm running right now is Itto, Tighnari, Kazuha, and Qiqi. They aren't the worst team I could use, but the problem is I don't have a good shield or healers like Tighnari and Kazuha are great for this since Tighnari is a good ranged Dps and Kazuha is fast on his feet and great for dodging. I'm thinking maybe I should change my Itto for Diluc to get some extra burning damage and not sacrifice my damage but I'm not so sure it that would work" he sighed softly and grumbled under his breath 'If only Zhongli wanted to come home to me, but nooooo he just avoided me and made me lose my 50/50, bastard'

Kuroo was listening intently until that last bit Kenma said under his breath which made him cackle a bit "You're still salty at Zhongli huh. Wasn't that over two months ago?"

Kenma glared again with a huff " Yes. But, I've been trying to get him his last two banners and he keeps avoiding me! I could have such better lineups if I had him! His shield is insane, I'd be unstoppable!"

Kuroo's laugh softened as he kissed Kenma's head "You'll get him next time. Meanwhile isn't Tartaglia getting a rerun in a couple days, haven't you been wanting him?"

Kenma leaned into the small kiss and groaned "Yes.... but the timing couldn't be worse... I've been wanting him and honestly everyone else in that banner too, they have a new character Layla who seems pretty good in-game. They also have Heizou who avoided me all of Kazuha's banners, and I'd like to get him this time around, and finally, they have Thoma. My beloved! I wouldn't mind to C6 him. But gods I really wanted to save up for Scarra!"

Kuroo feigned hurt as he tried not to grin "Wait but I thought I was your beloved."

Kenma rolled his eyes and laughed a bit. He set his controller down and turned to Kuroo, he looked him dead in the eye with a smile "Don't worry Tetsurou, you will still be the only man for me." He then closed the gap and kissed him on the tip of the nose.

Kuroo beamed and took the opportunity to quickly pull Kenma into his lap and then pull him into a full tender kiss.

They pulled apart with a faint blush on both of their faces "Okay fine let me wrap this fight up and we can put something on and cuddle, sound good?"

Kuroo nodded happily and kissed Kenma's cheek before getting up "while you do that, I'm going to do a few things"

Kenma nodded as he picked up his controller and went back to fighting

After some moments had passed Kuroo came back to the living room and placed some instant ramen cups on the table as well as some water. He was about to get Kenma's attention right before Kenma burst into a small cheer thrusting his fist into the air.

"Haha! Fuck you Scarra, eat my ass" he snickered as he stuck his tongue at the tv in the most mocking way

Kuroo couldn't help but laugh at his boyfriend's antics "Firstly, No one will be eating your ass if I can help it, and secondly did you defeat him? Kick his ass? Give him a run for his money?"

Kenma paused and whipped his head toward his Kuroo to process what he wanted to say but that quickly faded and he burst into a fit of laughter "Goddamnit Kuroo... Yes, yes I did. I kicked his ass to the stratosphere. Now we can watch something"

Kuroo smiled and playfully shook his head as he took his seat next to Kenma. He was quick to pull Kenma into him as the other was scrolling through what to watch.

Kenma grinned as he looked up at Kuroo "How about some unsolved supernatural, it's been a good second since we've watched it"

Kuroo hummed as he nodded "I'd definitely be down, but... once again we shall be on separate sides, my dear Kenma. For you are not a believer but a skeptic" He says in the most dramatic way he could even feign a small pout.

He shakes his head at Kuroo and laughs softly "Okay mister dramatic, I can't help you believe ghosts exist. I can't say I'm glad they aren't because it would be kinda cool but at last for now, you're on your own for this one"

Kuroo smiles and kisses the top of Kenma's head as the other hit play on the video.

You can hear the iconic intro as time goes by 'This week on BuzzFeed unsolved we investigate *insert spooky thing in here* as part of our ongoing investigation of, are ghosts real?'

They both stayed like that until they decided it was time to sleep. Kenma was both excited and nervous about what he had to give him, but all his worries went away after Kuroo kissed the other goodnight.

The next day came and Kenma had thought he got up early only to see Kuroo was already out of bed. He gets himself out of bed and puts on some slippers to go see where Kuroo was.

When he walks into the kitchen he sees Kuroo cooking breakfast. He hums softly and takes the opportunity to hug Kuroo from behind and say both good morning and happy birthday in his still sleep-ridden voice.

Kuroo hummed in response as he plated some eggs before turning around. He held Kenma close and kissed his forehead "Good morning to you as well, care for some food? I just finished the eggs and some fruit and rice are already ready."

Kenma nodded and helped get their food to the table.

After they ate and sat on the couch as if almost on cue Kuroo was getting a call from his dad. Kuroo quickly picked it up and put it on speaker.

"How are my boys doing? It's been a bit huh."

Kuroo smiled "We're doing good dad, Kenma and I are just relaxing on the couch to think about what to do next. How have you been?"

"That's good to hear, I'm glad you boys are enjoying yourselves. I hope work isn't pushing you too hard and keeping you away from spending time with Kenma or your friends too much. And everything over here is good, I just talked to your sister not too long ago, her business is doing really well. You both make me proud, I know I don't say it a lot but you guys really do" You can almost hear the smile through the phone

"Works actually been good as of right now, I managed to get yesterday off and spent the first half of my day with Bokuto and the rest of the evening with Kenma right here. Really that's great! She's always had a talent for that stuff, a true badass if you ask me. I'll have to call her and some point to pester her." Kuroo laughs a bit but then takes a more genuine tone "And, thanks dad It means a lot to hear from you. I'll have to come to visit sometime."

"Make sure you bring Kenma, you two are always happier with each other. Plus I wanna see both my boys soon, so mark your calendars when you're free too" the older man chuckled "But on a different note, happy birthday I hope you two are doing something special today."

"I'm not sure how special it will be what we'll do but at least it will feel meaningful and thank you." Kuroo smiled as he glanced at Kenma briefly

"Alright, then I'll let you boys go so you can get on with the rest of your day. It was nice talking to you Tetsurou, you should call your old man more often. I'd love to hear from ya."

"Will do dad. Thanks for the call, I'll make sure to make plans to visit you soon."

"I'm glad, alright then, I'll talk to you later, bye for now"

Kuroo and Kenma both said their goodbyes and set the phone down.

"That was a nice surprise, It's always nice to talk to him. So what might we have planned for today?

"Well, I did actually have something. In about an hour I have signed up for a one-time international cooking class if you want to go. Though it isn't a mandatory class so if we don't show it won't matter" Kenma chimed in

Kuroo's eyes light up for a moment "That sounds really cool actually! but, I thought you didn't like cooking?"

"Well, normally I don't. But! I knew you would so I'm willing to do it for you. And, with that reaction, I assume you want to go?"

Kuroo pursed his lip and then gave a wide adoring smile "Have I mentioned how much I love you? Because gods I do more than I could express."

Kenma smiled softly at Kuroo and kissed his nose before getting up. "Yes, I believe you have. But you can never say it too much. Now let's go get dressed if we are going to go."

Flash forward and Kuroo and Kenma are already there and have made one dish already and were moving on to the next.

Kuroo laughed a bit as he saw what the next was "Was this the true reason why you wanted to come?" He pointed to the apple pie recipe that was just given to them.

Kenma scrunched his nose a bit as he tried to hold back a giggle "It wasn't the reason per se, but it was a motivating factor"

Kuroo smiled and shook his head "then let's make one helluva pie"

Kenma nodded but as they moved on and began making it he had a mischievous look and he quickly took some of the apple filling they had made and put it on Kuroo's nose.

Kuroo was taken back for a moment before shooting a challenging look toward Kenma as if to ask if he really wanted to play that game.

Kenma met that challenging gaze head-on. Before either of them knew it they were messing around and getting each other covered in whatever ingredients were near them, they were making a scene but at that moment neither of them cared they were having fun being idiots.

Needless to say, after they finished the apple pie they asked to leave. Both of them left laughing and just enjoying each other's presence the entire time until they got home. Once they got home Kenma went to clean himself up and change, and Kuroo followed suit.

Once Kuroo was washing up Kenma took the opportunity to dim all the lights and grab his gifts to give to Kuroo and put on some soft music in the background.

After a few moments had passed Kuroo was walking out of the room in some sleepwear looking around confused at the darkness but soon smiled fondly once he had seen Kenma at the table waiting for him.

"Now what's all this?" he hummed as he came up and hugged Kenma from behind.

"It's for you dumbass" Kenma chuckled as he motioned Kuroo to sit next to him on the floor

Kuroo nodded and sat next to him and raised an eyebrow at the present sitting on the table

"May I?" He gestures to the gift on the table

Kenma nods "Go ahead, it's for you after all"

Kuroo grabs the bag and slowly pulls out a book with a cat, a volleyball, and dual switch controllers with their respective names on them. It was on a black canvas with a gold paw print as a latch holding the book shut.

His smile begins to swell as he unlatches the book and opens it to see him and Kenma in the front, he flips a few more pages to see all the sections of them before their teenage years. There were a bunch of photos of them when they were young playing with volleyballs, trying to befriend the stray cats, and even one when they first met.

They were both very shy and withdrawn when they first met each other; neither of them could have imagined it would turn into this. Though Kuroo's dad would always say they had a bond that would be unbreakable and it turns out the old man was right all along.

Kuroo reached the next section and it was them in their teenage years. Lots of photos were of them playing volleyball and messing with each other or Kenma staying at Kuroo's house.

At the end of that section, Kuroo has seen a page dedicated to a graduation photo Kenma took of him. That was the moment Kenma confessed to Kuroo about liking him and when they promised each other even after High School they'd never drift apart and that they'd be together

The rest of the pages with photos were of them after High School and they were together living with each other. Kuroo had seen some photos he took actually, they were of him surprising Kenma when was just leaving some classes when he was in university. There were some others he took as well, there was one where Kuroo would take a selfie with Kenma streaming in the back and a ton of others.

Going through this entire book of his and Kenma's history together was making him more emotional than he realized, he caught himself blinking away tears at the corner of his eyes.

When he reached the end he found the rest of the book blank, and before he could question it Kenma set the book down and out of Kuroo's hands and took the other's hands into his own.

"The rest of the book is for us to finish as we get older. We still have memories to make." Kenma beamed and leaned forward to capture Kuroo's lips into a kiss. "I made another small photo of us on my 16th birthday when you gave me the polaroid so you can keep me in your pocket," he said once more before pulling Kuroo into another loving kiss

They stayed like that for what seemed to be hours. When they both pulled apart they both were blushing profusely and both held the most adoring gaze between each other. The moment was tender and the rest of the world seemed to disappear, I was only them within this moment and they were going to cherish it.

Bonus bullshit~

Hours had passed since Kuroo had received his gift, but he had a little something up his sleeve to surprise Kenma with.

They were both Getting ready to head to their room for the night. Kenma was sitting on the edge of the bed while Kuroo was in the bathroom.

"Are you almost done in there? You've been in there for a while, Hurry up and get to bed so we cuddle up together it's cold." Kenma sighed looking over to the door.

Kuroo peaked the door open to look at Kenma, with a blushing grin. Kenma narrowed his eye at the other.

"What are you doing...?" Kenma asked with an accusing yet curious tone.

Kuroo hummed as his grin spread "Well. Remember when we were playing animal crossing on your birthday this year and you got all flustered at me putting my character in a cat maid outfit? Heh about that, I may have a surprise for you as well tonight."

Kuroo came out in a maid outfit with cat ears and held his hands on his hips proudly "What do you think! Do you like it~"

Kuroo had never seen Kenma go so red so fast. Kenma went face-first into the covers on the bed hiding his blushed face. The man was left speechless.

Kuroo laughed hard and walked over to him "Come on now, I did this for you and I think I look pretty damn cute. I wanna hear your thoughts."

Kenma groaned as he picked himself back up glaring at the other his blush only deepening "Couldn't you have at least given me a warning maybe??? You look both pretty and hot as hell but I was not prepared" at the end he let out a huff.

"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise then would it." Kuroo teased and he placed a kiss on top of Kenma's head

Kenma let out a sigh "I want to both strangle you and kiss you right now."

Kuroo grinned "How about we do the latter."

Kenma shook his head and just pulled Kuroo into a kiss with no other word left.

#kenma kozume #kuroo testuro #haikyuu #kuroken #krkn #haikyuu!!#hq fluff #hq fanfic #hq fics

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scarlettriot · 2 years

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✨ Creative Crafty Little Shit ✨

✨ In case it wasn’t obvious by now, I love writing and a certain sharp-toothed red rock of a man, and thus, this blog was born.

✨ MHA is my favorite fandom to write for ((obv Kiri is my favorite of the lot)). I have plans to write for HQ too but I’m just not quite there yet. You’ll also find the occasional drawing I do.

✨ Even though this blog is mostly for my unhealthy anime love, it’s not the only things you’ll find on here. I’m sure you’ll find dnd things, dragon age content, and plenty of my personal ramblings!

✨ This blog does contain NSFW content. I do my best to tag my own things accordingly, so please, always check my warnings before venturing into my work.

✨ On this blog I also partake in a Kiri Anon RP that often ventures into explicit territory. If you don’t wish to see this content, you can go ahead and block the ❤️ kiri 🪨 tag. PLEASE do not message me pretending to be my mod, it’s weird and if I find out who you are I will block you so damn fast. Also, I ask that you do not reblog these anons. Commenting and liking are completely okay! ((PS I have the bestest mod in the whole wide universe, ily so much bb))

💋 Top Three Other Interests of Mine 💋

• Fantasy Novels • RPing ((mostly DND)) • Murder Mysteries and Crime Dramas

♥️ Things I Like ♥️

• Autumn • Smell of Rain on Warm Earth • Apple Cider • Fictional Men • Red Pandas • Baggy Hoodies • Candles • Cuddling • Swimming • Being a gd Simp •

💔 Things I Don’t Like 💔

• Snow After January 02 • Confrontation • Humidity • Coffee • Bacon ((ppl get mad at me for this until they realize they can have my fucking bacon)) • Being a Passenger in a Car •

💎 Fictional Husband AKA Love of my Life 💎

((Duh))

❣️ Other’s That I’ll Talk Nonstop About ❣️

• Tetsu • Bakugo • Amajiki • Hado • Ashido • Fat Gum • Inumaki • Yuuji • Bokuto • Sugawara • Asahi • Gajeel • Levy • Hatsuharu • Miyamura • Tooru • Rin • Makoto • Mitsuya • Baji •

#scarlettriot info ⭐️#abt me #I’ve had this blog for over a year #I feel like this is long over due

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ikipin · 3 years

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#Bokuroo #haikyuu!!#Bokuto Koutarou #Kuroo Tetsurou #fanart #PINING FOOLS #bokuto is a crafty man #mine #blessing your day with these two idiots #i hope you are having a great day #the next day kuroo made a bracelet for bokuto too dont worry #it was made of tiny black and red beads with a tiny red heart charm and a tiny silver volley ball charm #it took kuroo 4 hours #bc he kept on debating if the heart charm is too much or not #10k

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haikyuuphilia · 3 years

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Hello~! If it's not too much trouble, can I can request some Haikyuu boys as different mythological creatures (like a vampire, merman etc.) Please?

hi ofc! i had lots of fun with this but i’m still not too sure about some of them,,, hope you enjoy anyway!

haikyuu boys as mythical creatures

⟶ HINATA is an imp, known to be small, lively, and at times mischievous, the unusual cross between a fairy and a demon.

⟶ KAGEYAMA is an elf, often seen as a being with magical powers along with unparalleled skills and legacies.

⟶ TSUKISHIMA is a vampire, an undead being who can be seen as sophisticated and otherworldly with supernatural abilities to drain others.

⟶ YAMAGUCHI is a fairy, one who can be helpful or mischievous, kind or sharp, romantic or ruthless.

⟶ DAICHI is a valkyrie, a selfless, brave, and dedicated warrior who chooses the slain who are worthy of norse mythology’s valhalla.

⟶ SUGA is a merman – like the sea, he can be gentle or harsh, caring and beautiful but cold when the situation calls for it.

⟶ OIKAWA is a siren, and whether he’s half bird or half fish is up to debate, but he’s alluring and works in a team with others to bring down dreaming travelers.

⟶ IWAIZUMI is a werewolf, seen as rough and unrefined but powerful, one who leads a pack of others and is loyal no matter what.

⟶ KUROO is a centaur. known to be wise but at times crafty, he’s the one who teaches others and passes down his own experiences.

⟶ KENMA is a banshee, able to predict the death of others and warn them or threaten them with a keening wail.

⟶ BOKUTO is a dragon, sometimes said to be fire-breathing and sometimes winged but always powerful beyond compare.

⟶ AKAASHI is a seraph, an angelic being associated with light and purity belonging to the highest order of the celestial hierarchy.

⟶ USHIJIMA is a manticore, a legendary creature with the head of a man, body of a lion, and tail of a scorpion, said to be an unconquerable predator.

⟶ TENDOU is a demon, oftentimes said to be associated with evil but with complex interpretations and motives.

⟶ ATSUMU is a phoenix, a long-lived bird of the sun that arises from the ashes of its fallen predecessors.

⟶ OSAMU is a basilisk, called the king of serpents for its subtle power and silent lethality.

⟶ SUNA is an incubus, a demon in male form who terrorizes sleeping women at night, a tricky nightmare with terrible consequences.

⟶ KITA is a nine-tailed fox, a fox spirit with magical powers in asian cultures that can be both a good and bad omen.

⟶ SAKUSA is a grim reaper, the personified form of death whose coming indicates his role as a collector of souls or a psychopomp.

< find haikyuu boys as greek gods here! >

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bruh-haikyuu · 4 years

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REQUEST: Can I request Bokuto with a soft & short manager s/o and she always helps the team cheer bokuto up when hi is in emo mode and like a lot of fluff🥺👉👈

A/N: Tumblr is being a whore with their Keep Reading button, putting it on the ask and shit smh. So I apologize for the repost.

alate. | bokuto kōtarō

word count: 1776

warnings: none

(adj.) having wings; lifted up in flight

Official match protocols only allowed one manager on the court for each team. Fukurodani Academy’s Boys’ Volleyball team always had their lenient but reliable third year managers to get the job done. Third-years Yukie and Kaori had been your final salvation against the inevitable fate of having to care for the raucous boys alone. But today with some lucky fortune of theirs, they’d somehow coerced you into taking their place.

“...Will I experience any internal combustions by the end of the match?”

The three of you stood in a personal circle at the entrance to the gym. The three managers of Fukurodani, with your two seniors looming over you like two scheming birds of prey. They didn’t even have to ask why you were so worried; despite being a second-year, this was your first time to stand on the court with the team instead of panicking on your own on the sidelines. This time, you were in the game, up-close-and-personal.

“You’ll do fine~” Yukie grinned, raising her right hand in a lazy ‘OK’ gesture. “Besides, you’re a total expert when it comes to giving Bokuto a good knock in the head.”

If Bokuto’s vanity was a chronic disease, he’d need more than just a “good knock in the head” to be cured. But Yukie wasn’t wrong. Your praises, in comparison to the others’, had a quicker, more powerful effect on the ace. Though you weren’t sure if that skill of yours was more of a blessing than a curse...

“W-well, I’ll do my best,” you muttered, fiddling with the hem of your track jacket. Your seniors exchanged a look before smiling softly at you.

“Oh, and one more thing!” Kaori piped up as you lugged the bag full of empty bottles over your shoulder. “Can you act a bit bashful when you’re complimenting the captain?

“Why’s that, Kaori-san?”

“Bokuto thinks you look cute when you’re embarrassed.”

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

‘Cute’? What did that even mean? Did Bokuto always think people were ‘cute’ whenever they flash a single praise at him? Not that you remembered... What’s with that, you grumbled, angrily trying to get the concept into your skull.

Your eyes darted back to the court where—much to your distress—the other team just had to be painfully good at blocks. Now, you just hoped that the boys wouldn’t get too disgruntled.

The score was 12-15, with Torasaka Metropolitan High in the lead. Though Fukurodani had obtained their twelfth point with a lucky read on Torasaka’s setter dump, things were obstinately bleak for your team.

“I want to try it!” you heard Bokuto exclaim excitedly. From afar, you could already spot a few sullen scowls begin to form on his teammates’ faces. “Hey, ‘Kaashi, do you want to try that block with me?”

The setter sent you a pained expression enough for guilt to comically swallow you whole. Returning his attention to the ace who’s practically bouncing on his heels, Akaashi sighed. “Bokuto-san, let’s focus on our normal blocks first.”

A child! you thought incredulously as you watched the captain stick out his tongue at him. Though Bokuto was particularly a sight to behold when he’s in top form, just how confident could he be, trying something so risky in a middle of a tight match? Or was he just a complete and utter numbskull? You thought he was rather amazing for the juxtaposition... in a Bokuto fashion, of course.

As Washio prepared to serve, you watched the ace literally vibrate with eagerness of having such an “interesting enemy”. Whenever Bokuto got extremely fired up, it was your inevitable fate that you just couldn’t look away. The way his jersey hugged his hulking frame as he flexed his muscles in preparation to follow the path of the ball, it was nearly bewitching. If he had been like this his entire life, you were sure your heart wouldn’t take being with Bokuto for a mere second.

“It’s up!” Torasaka’s libero signaled, cleanly receiving Washio’s serve (much to the player’s frustration).

In your memory, Torasaka High wasn’t a much known threat until just recently. “Their new first years block like a fort,” you remembered what Coach Yamiji had said in the bus that morning. Despite far from being as crafty as Nohebi or as versatile as Nekoma, Tokyo teams were a force to be reckoned with.

What a terrifying sport, you thought to yourself for what seemed to be the fifth time this month.

“Left! Left!”

On the other side of the court, Sarukui, Bokuto and Akaashi scrambled to follow the ball’s trajectory. Though you were only a rookie in this entire volleyball thing, you were quick to notice that Bokuto’s footsteps were a bit smaller and slower than the first two...

Wait, is he planning to delay the timing of his block now?!

It was definitely a quick from the other side. It was evident, even to you. And when the two jumped to block the ball with their ace lagging behind, the ball had already streaked over him at a dangerous angle. Point Torasaka.

Landing on the pads of his feet, Akaashi’s expression shifted between “candidly annoyed” and “visibly concerned” as he watched the captain raise his head for his team to see.

“You’re kidding me...” Sarukui groaned under his breath. Behind him, the others followed promptly with their own reactions of disbelief.

His infamous salt-and-pepper hair deflating alongside his shoulders, Bokuto whined, loud enough for you to hear from the benches. “The hell... I thought I had that block mastered. Why’d they have to make it look so easy?”

Time-out! Akaashi turned to you and the coach a with pleading stare, hard enough for your supervising teacher to shoot upwards and signal the referee for their second break of the match.

Groaning, you stuffed your face in your hands, hoping that your senior managers in the audience were praying for your good health.

“What were you thinking?!” Coach Yamiji hissed, giving the sulking ace a well-deserved smack to the side of his head. Bokuto didn’t even flinch. “You could’ve—”

“Coach. Let me.”

Snapping his head in your direction, the old man grew pale when he heeded the dark aura that spewed from your body. Even the others, though they were only watching the entire event go down, was hyper-aware of the invisible, nightmarish fog that came with your frustration.

You’d always seemed so sweet and indulgent, never angry. Never. And yet Bokuto had finally gotten you to drop the tether that held your patience together.

Walking to Bokuto, you sent him a scowl so cold, he forgot how to blink. The rest of the team, the coach, your teacher and even Yukie and Kaori in the stands shivered from the sudden gust of frosty air that oozed from you. Some of the audience surprisingly turned their heads to watch the spectacle of the tiny Fukurodani manager who seemed like she was about to trample on their ace.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

“Bokuto, you—!”

You froze. No. If you scolded him now, that only make matters worse. Bokuto didn’t fare well when he was scolded by Kaori or Yukie either. Besides, you were his manager, not his mother. But what else were you going to do?

Bokuto thinks you look cute when you’re embarrassed.

Swallowing a nagging lump in your throat, you recalled the words of your seniors. Embarrassed? How do you do embarrassed? Was that even a thing you could pull off manually? Taking in a deep breath, you tightened your fist before loosening them in front of your body. Something was better than nothing.

“B-Bokuto-senpai...?”

“Senpai?!” the others snapped towards you, jaws on the floor. Even Bokuto was stunned.

Eyeing his interested gaze, you continued, fidgeting bashfully, “Bokuto-senpai’s such a slob... If you just listened to the others... you’d be a lot cooler...”

Komi tugged at the back of Konoha’s jersey, whispering in the blonde one’s ear, “She’s pulling out the ‘Cute Tsundere’ card!”

Stupefied, the wing spiker muttered, “Bokuto’s actually taking the bait... Scary. L/N-san’s scary.”

And take the bait he did. You didn’t even realize how red you were with the way he was looking at you—and the shade was fully unintentional, much to your chagrin. But Bokuto’s sullen mood was far gone, replaced with the brighter interest of infatuation.

“A lot cooler...?” Bokuto savored your words in his tongue, before whipping out both his hands to grab at your shoulders. “Y-You think I’m cool?!”

You didn’t even have to pretend to be shy anymore. The close contact of his skin, the scent of his sweat mingled with the musky aroma of his cologne and the pinkish tint on his cheeks. It was too much, and you soon wondered if Bokuto had always seemed this charming to you.

“Y-you airhead! Of course I do,” you mumbled, lowering your sight to the floor. “You’re already really good at volleyball, but you do things like forcing yourself to do a block you can’t do just because you want attention and... and now everyone has to bear that burden.”

“Please go on a date with me.”

You flinched in his grasps. This was escalating much faster than you’d hoped it would. Unable to register what he had said, you asked him to repeat himself.

“The cute Y/N-chan thinks I’m cool. That’s like a dream come true, right? So if I become cool again, won’t you go on a date with me?”

How unbelievable. One second he almost reminded you of the small boy that lived below your apartment, and the next he was like some sort of phantom thief, ready to whisk you away from the confines of your castle and steal your heart. You smiled earnestly; Bokuto Koutarou really was a man of many wonders.

Slipping yourself away from his grip, you raised an index finger between his eyes. “If you win... I’ll consider it.”

Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the ace lit up once more. Revived, renewed, and heart set on taking you out. While dragging Akaashi back onto the court, Bokuto made it a point that he was looking at you all the way. You giggled. What an interesting person.

From the stands, your gaze traced the motto of Fukurodani’s Volleyball Club. Pour all your soul into each ball. Bokuto played with passion, with his emotions and whenever the time was right, with his logic too. For a while, volleyball seemed like the last thing you’d want to spend your life doing. But seeing the ace’s blushing grin to you when they’d scored the final match point... it might not be as bad as you thought it’d be.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #haikyu #hq #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fluff #bokuto koutarou #bokuto koutarou x reader #bokuto x reader #bokuto koutarou imagine #bokuto koutarou scenario #sfw #bruh haikyuu writing #fukuroudani x reader

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toru-oikawas-milkbread · 3 years

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10 Character Special: Issei Matsukawa | What Their Love is Like

Notes: If you want to see the rest of my 10 character special, you can follow {this link} to my masterlist page for it 💕

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- The two of you are destined to spend a lot of time with Makki; whether he comes over for a movie night at least once a week or the 3 of you go out to dinner some time, he’s close to both of you and sometimes randomly shows up on your doorstep with literally no warning

- Middle of the day naps while it’s raining on the weekend are one of his favorite things to do, especially with you. He likes when you lay on his chest. He’ll run his fingers softly along your spine in a soothing manner even if you aren’t afraid of the storm. He finds them very relaxing, but he will also build a fort with you if you’re scared and hide beneath the blankets to cuddle

- He plays the violin. He just does, and he will play all the time. If you’re bored and he hasn’t played it in awhile, he’ll play some and you can listen or he’ll even show you how to play a few chords and even work your way up to a whole song. He’s a shockingly good teacher and makes really good sense as well as being ridiculously patient

- I don’t know why, but I feel that he has an extremely high alcohol tolerance. He doesn’t get drunk very often, but when he does he’s very clingy. He just wants to lay his head on your chest and take a nap for like 3 and a half hours. When he wakes up with a hangover, he has the worst pounding headache of the century and he always whines and buries his face further into your chest to hide from the sun. However, he can still drink just about anyone under the table and it isn’t because he drinks a whole lot, it’s a naturally high tolerance

- Matsukawa loves big dogs. German Shepards, Doberman Pinschers, Saint Bernards, Boxers, Labradors, etc., so if the two of you ever lived in an apartment where big dogs weren’t allowed (even if you didn’t have a dog at the time) he would move. He wants to get a house in the future with a nice big yard so his giant dog can have lots of room to run around

- When this man is sick, he’s an even bigger baby than Bokuto. He whines, complains, asks for soup but when you bring it to him, he no longer wants the soup. All he wants is for you to lay down and cuddle with him, but he also wants tea and more soup because the old soup got cold when he refused to eat it. He needs lots of attention, acts like he can’t do anything, and if you don’t cuddle or shower with him, he takes it very personally

- His lock screen is a photo of the two of you with Makki in a theatre after awhile of not seeing each other since you 3 were sort of a chaos trio back in high school, but his home screen is a picture of you looking back and smiling at the camera that he never changes because he’s in love with that photo

- His favorite way to cuddle is to lay on your chest. Other positions are great, like spooning and facing each other, but he also likes to lay face down on top of you

- He is not very crafty, and he cannot draw at all, but if you were artistic he would still sit down and try and do stuff with you. He might just sit there and watch for the most part, however he would still take little tips from you and slightly improve over time. This does not mean he’s ever going to be very good at drawing, but it means he might advance a little bit from stick-figures

- There’s no end of trust in this relationship; he has absolutely nothing to hide and you know it. Not only do you know his phone password and he knows yours, but he often times asks you who texts him if he hears the ding of his phone and he’s in the other room or he’s insanely comfortable and can’t see his phone. Even if you were hurt in the past by someone cheating, his phone is found more times than one unlocked and face up on the kitchen counter, not just because he wants you to know that he’s trustworthy and would never cheat on you, but also because he forgets his phone a lot

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x female reader #haikyuu x reader fluff #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu issei matsukawa #issei matsukawa #issei matsukawa headcanons #issei matsukawa x reader #issei matsukawa x female reader #issei matsukawa x reader fluff

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crushzone · 4 years

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Haikyuu!! Characters As A Film Crew (Pt. 1: Pharmacy Commercial for Gardening Tools

NO ONE asked for this, but I felt a strong urge to bring it to existence. 😂

Will probably be a multi-series because I breath, eat, and sleep on film sets, and even if they are the same crew positions, they all got different styles and reactions based off the premises.

Also, not all positions will be included. I’m only typing the specific ones where Haikyuu!! characters occupy.

So consider each of these headcanons as one film shoot. And the next part as a different shoot. Some characters might get called back to be on future shoots, so expect some reappearances.

And if you have a goofy idea for our next premise, we might be able to open a lil brainstorm pool.

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Premise:

The crew gathers, bright and early, on a commercial shoot for a pharmacy store. They’re trying to promote their newly stocked Spring gardening products where a shopper browses through the aisles, then a group of dancers and a leaf mascot emerges and begins dancing.

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1st Assistant Director - Sugawara Koshi

He’s so happy to be here. When he hears that there will be dancing involved, he gets SO excited.

When the shot is rolling and people are dancing, he will be right by the director, swaying happily to the songs that they are dancing to. By the end of the first day of filming, he’s already remembered all the dance moves.

Because he enjoyed the fun dancing so much, he gets too distracted to...you know....actually do his job.

Is the main reason why the film shoot goes overtime; because he forgets to keep the director’s and cinematographer’s time in check.

He’s also not very harsh when it comes to putting his foot down and telling the cinematographer that this HAS to be the last shot before they move on.

When the cinematographer kinda brushes him off, he will pout a lil, and mentally settle on allowing them 2 mores shots just cuz the dance is so fun in this. And same goes for the other shot, then the other...holy crap we have to be out in 15 minutes?! Where did the time go.

If they need more extras to dance, he low key wishes that he could hop in and help out. And when they let him, he is freaking happy.

Is very kind to any production assistants who may be new to the gig.

Makes every instruction sound like a very polite request.

All production assistant interns have a crush on him, and they keep trying to bring him fruit snacks from crafty.

Cinematographer - Tsukishima Kei

The wrong man for this particular shoot

He’s low-key a little embarrassed that he is going to be filming a bunch of people dancing and being happy.

While everyone is happily dancing along, he just glowers by the camera when some dancers can’t seem to hit their mark right. They’re not going to get the perfect spotlight he’s designed for them, dammit!

Gets a little annoyed by how Suga is so excited about the dance.

Also hates the fact that there are so many actors, it’s making him a little anxious about any background actors knocking on his lighting or camera equipments.

Needs to sip on some Caprisun to calm his nerves, asap.

Will never tell his brother, Akiteru, how his shoot went when he gets home. That, or he’ll make it up, that he actually shot a horror film or something less “lame”.

Will eat the catering meals that are provided, but will silently judge how stiff the chicken is, or how overcooked the pastas are.

The kind of cinematographer who always remains by the camera, and doesn’t really help lighting and grips much when they need it. (It’s a very small crew, so some people are doubling duties.)

Will also leave most of the work to his camera assistants, treats this commercial shoot with the standards of a feature film, and will get kind of annoyed when his expectations are not met. However, if someone asks him if he’s okay, he’ll just smile and say that it is all dandy.

Wouldn’t even accept fruit snacks that his assistant camera brought for him, in an attempt to lighten his mood.

Sodium levels are very high.

Lighting - Wakatoshi Ushijima

Just general really quiet and stoic

No one really notices him, but even before the cinematographer can figure out how to describe the way they want the shot lit, he’s already had a massive light set up on stand by and is ready to go.

Also freaking strong, while the other electrics are figuring out a way to carry this lighting contraption across the pharmacy, and up the stairs wit no elevator, he’ll just say “Let me try”, picks it up, then walks out there alone like he’s holding a feather.

Him and his big lights lol

Somehow, his hands are heat resistant? He tends to lose his leather gloves when he lends it out to someone who needs it. So he just uses those cheap, thin gloves from expendables to adjust some hot lights, and he never flinches. We will never know if it actually hurts him or if he just doesn’t react, even when we can clearly see the smoke coming from his melting gloves.

Doesn’t know anything about voltages though, if there is an outlet, he will plug. Keeps blowing the fuse, and while some people are afraid to mess with the pharmacy’s breaker, it doesn’t bother him. Flips EVERY switch till it works, without reading the labels. definitely gave locations a heart attack.

Never complains about poor catering, but he will bring his own healthy lunch and breakfast.

Though he’ll occasionally snack on fruit snacks from crafty. However, if he got the last packet of fruit snacks available on crafty and someone wants it, he will give it to them in a heartbeat.

Makeup - Satori Tendou

There will be people dressed as leaves and trees? Some farmer-themed costume? DANCING?! He’s DOWN.

He probably had no makeup experience, but he found a way to fake his resume, so that he can put in all of his acrylic finger painting “experiments” as his experience.

When he gets there, his eyes sparkles at ALLLL of the people who are waiting for him to turn them into something.

Doesn’t really listen to what he was instructed to do, so some of the customers who were suppose to have some natural makeup, got turned into a tree as well. Fortunately, the director was able to work around this error, but now they are very short on human-looking actors.

Surprisingly not as awful with his body painting as he could’ve been? Not the best, but he’s not too shabby.

Started off doing the actor’s makeup with one of his original random humming, but when he steps outside to see some of the dancers practicing their moves, the song instantly got stuck in his head, and he CANNOT stop singing it. It’s beginning to drive some people insane.

He will be by the monitor, wiggling his lil hips and humming to the song. He had to be hushed by the Assistant Director Suga a few times, but he can’t help it, music just kind of rumbles out of him like breathing. Also, it’s not like Suga is so harsh about his hushing to begin with, but it did annoy Tendou for a hot sec, before he disregards him since he also notices him dancing next to the director.

Terrible at sanitizing his brushes. Will use the same brushes on different actors (gross). When an actor complains about sanitization, he just pretends like it had JUST occurred to him that they are right. Then he would set the brushes down and go at it with his freaking fingers.

Tilts his head like an owl and steps 10 steps back to study how his makeup job looks, before coming back to examine up close. Just really not subtle about it.

Grip - Keiji Akaashi

This man is a grip i would HIRE in a heartbeat.

Just like Ushijima, people don’t really notice him, per say, but in a way, you also can’t help but notice how he’s always shadowing the cinematographer so he can get a head start on instructions and problem solving.

However, he is very methodical though. Never just asks his team to grab a gear until he is sure it will be used. He just understands that most equipments are freaking heavy, and he never wants to overwork his crew.

Always hella crafty; need a dolly shot, but you couldn’t rent one? Here’s a shopping cart lol. Sound department misplaced their dead cat? (It’s a fluffy thing that you put over the microphone to prevent wind sounds), just let me buy a teddy bear from the kids section and make one for you. His rigs definitely makes it to shittyrigs Instagram page often.

But you have to admit that his shittyrigs are pretty impressive AND actually secure.

Ended up getting pulled into the commercial to be one of the costumers, since they were short on actors (Since Makeup Artist Tendou kept turning actors into trees). He barely reacts to anything so they had to pull him back out.

Because his roommate, Bokuto, is taking the role of the main leaf mascot, he cannot wander off to rest between takes because Bokuto keeps looking to him for approval haha.

Really quiet, but when anybody comes up to him for some advice, he never hesitates to share what he’s learnt from his experience.

Lead Actor (Mascot) - Kotaro Bokuto

Is Akaashi’s roommate.

One day when Bokuto returns home, all pouty, because he decided to quit his job, Akaashi tries to think of a way to get this man a job that he would enjoy.

Then when he tells Bokuto that he’s hired for a commercial shoot as a Grip, Bokuto basically threw him a little ice cream party (he probably throws Akaashi a little celebratory party every time he gets a gig, and he is an experienced regular who gets gigs ALL the time.) but he did sensed something wrong: As happy as Bo is for one of his many grip gigs, there’s an underlying atmosphere of sadness that he can’t brush off.

“How do you feel about potentially dancing in a leaf mascot costume for a commercial shoot?” And at that question, Bo’s eyes sparkle ✨

Seeing as Akaashi had worked with this advertising company as a freelancer for a while, he put in a good word for his friend.

When Bokuto shows up for audition, the casting directors LOVE him. Gets the role right away, and from that day on, this company keeps re-hiring him as their different mascots.

The crew loves him, the client loves him, and the casts love him. This man is THRIVING.

Not the best dancer, but he’s energetic enough that it’s just endearing in his own way.

When he gets handed the leaf costume, he’ll accepts it as if someone’s handing him a sword.

Just stomps around the pharmacy as a lil leaf, the heat of the suit doesn’t even bother him when he could look this cool. However, he’ll trip on his costume A LOT, but he’s fine because it’s actually pretty cushiony.

In one of the shots, he tripped on his costume, and simply stands back up to continue dancing like nothing’s happened, cuz the show must go on. That was the shot that made it to the final commercial.

The choreographer actually tried to teach him a dance, but because he’s pretty bad at learning dances, they just let him do his thing.

Boom Operator - Lev Haiba

This tall boi is BORN to be a boom operator.

Due to his naturally friendly demeanor, a lot of background and dancers thought that he is flirting with them. However they later realize that he’s just friendly when they figured out they were all swooning over the same person.

Can hold boom poles very high, like he can hold it over the aisles without a ladder sometimes.

This is his first gig, so he doesn’t really know tricks to hold the boom pole for an extended amount of time.

So his arms will probably tire out real fast. And sometimes you can turn around mid dance to see that he has his eyes closed and his arms are TREMBLING. (Poor boi, but please keep your eyes open when the camera is rolling lol.)

And when the shot is cut, he will bring his arms back down and smile SO big cuz he gets to relax. But will cry when they have to go again.When will this shot cut omg. The dance sequence is so long.

Because he keeps his eyes closed, he always accidentally dips the microphone in frame. I can assure you that you will hear “BOOM IN FRAME” about a 100 times on this shoot.

When the director views their favorite shot, they realize the microphone is in frame, Lev would smile VERY innocently when the director groans.

Trips on his own microphone cable. Akaashi had to come up with a contraption to save him from tripping.

No idea how to coil cables, so it’s always just a big spaghetti mess.

Always eats SO much during lunch.

Always bumping into shelves, counters, fridges. If you hear the sound of 30 cans falling from a distant aisle, it’s probably Lev and his boom pole. Will also give locations a heart attack.

Same goes for if you hear “OW!!” it’s probably him too, but this time he is tripping on his cable, before the pole lands on someone’s head.

Just overall a very chaotic and dangerous boom operator.

Transportation - Hinata Shoyo

Honestly has no idea what he is doing. JUST learnt how to drive recently, so he figured, he’d make some money.

Can’t even follow the GPS so well. GPS: turn left at Baker St. Hinata: BUT WHEN?! Is it this street? Whoa, this car is coming out of the street...oh...that was Baker St. uhh, I’ll do another loop. Actor: this is your 4th loop!!

Gets kind of overwhelmed by how many actors he had to pick up. This is a pharmacy commercial shoot right? Why are there so many actors?!

Just gets really awkward when there is no one to transport though. Like what else is he suppose to do now?

Would just hang out around crafty and stress snack. Then he’d have to run to the bathroom often cuz he ate too much.

Because of that, you can’t really find him when you need him, sometimes. He’ll have to keep responding to his radio while in the restroom.

Totally thinks that the distortion of the radio will mask his flushing. But he is WRONG.

Dancer - Terushima Yuuji

Is actually a pretty great dancer. He gets to be one of the dancers who get the most screen time.

The choreographer loves him, he even asked if he can please add his own flair to it, and when he attempts some free styling, the whole team is impressed, some even swooned.

Found a way to convince the director to have him wink at the camera, and that may or may not be why the pharmacy’s gardening products were nearly all sold out the moment the commercial aired. Never knew gardening could be this sexy, did’cha? *winks*

Playboy af. At the end of the shoot, he’s got 10 new numbers from cuties on set, can’t even decide who he should hit up first. Some of these numbers, he got them from crew/cast members who genuinely thought his cocky behavior’s pretty hot, but a good half of it also came from his persistence.

Demands some fancy snacks for crafty, but when the crafty person leaves to go find that snack for him, he quickly shoves a handful of some junky candy and cheetos in his pockets.

And those snacks will probably be his dinner tonight.

Is a little bit of a jerk to “newer” actors. Like bruh, this is not even a film shoot for a movie, it’s just a commercial. 🤷🏻‍♀️

REFUSES to be turned into a tree. He will maintain his sexy human form, please, and thank you. But sexy farmer is fine, I guess.

Background Actor (who dances too) - Kageyama Tobio

Shows up thinking that all he has do is to just push shopping carts around in the background.

Wrong

He didn’t know he had to dance too. And suddenly all blood drains from him.

What is he going to do?! He was already in 2 of the shots, he can’t back out now.

When it comes to the dancing part, he is as stiff about it as you can expect.

Why are there no yogurt or milk at crafty? :( He needs it now more than ever, to calm his nerves.

But when he did get it, and drank it, it didn’t seem to sit too well in his tummy when he dances. He’s confused.

Freaking transportation guy keeps occupying the bathroom. His name is Hinata? He knows because he can hear Hinata’s name being called through the walkie while he is in the restroom.

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A/N This is my first headcanon, so please let me know if there are things I can improve on! 🥰

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Taglist (open): @shhhlikeme @ceo-of-daichi @karasu-hoes @super-noya @nonexistent-social-life

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sunriseinorbit · 6 years

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How the Haikyuu!! Soundtrack Reflects Tsukishima Kei’s Character Development

Disclaimer! I’m only talking about the anime because that’s what has music and I’m not caught up with the manga anyway.

Haikyuu!! is really good and you know what else is really good? Its soundtrack, composed by Asami Tachibana and anime soundtrack god Yuki Hayashi (you may know him as the man behind the iconic soundtrack to Boku no Hero Academia as well as Death Parade and Kiznaiver among others).

And you know what else is really good? Its character development, specifically this guy’s:

(Am I biased? Hell yeah I am, do you know how big my crush on him was freshman year? But I digress.)

One thing I love about this series is how it brings characters in as antagonists and makes them super relatable and then, in many cases, sees them become protagonists in their own right, if not protagonists in the eyes of the narrative. Tsukishima is no exception. He’s the second character to do it after Kageyama, and the two of them are by and large some of the most developed characters the series has to offer, along with Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Oikawa.

But we’re talking about Tsukishima, and specifically, we’re talking about how the soundtrack highlights his character development through three specific tracks. (If you want to see me talk about his character development specifically, I wrote a meta on that last year!) And this is going to be a long one, so I’ll put the rest under a read more.

The first, Kageyama vs. Tsukishima from Season 1′s OST, is the odd one out of the bunch, but it does have his name in it, so I thought it was worth looking at.

At this point in the series, we view Tsukishima as an antagonist, an obstacle Hinata and Kageyama have to overcome in order to gain their spots on Karasuno. And the song reflects that, with an ominous electronic bassline serving as an ostinato (a short melodic or rhythmic phrase that repeats in the background throughout a piece of music - one of the most infamous examples in classical music is Ravel’s Bolero).

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This bassline also stays on the same 2 E’s the whole time, making for dissonance when the actual bassline ascends chromatically. This builds tension, especially when the bassline hits an F at 0:25 and an F# at 0:31 that never really resolves at the end of the song, even when the melody ends at 1:01. This ascension is also very slow, making for an even more ominous tone.

Speaking of the melody, one of the other interesting things about this track is how it weaves in a chord progression between the melody (which comes in at 0:21) and the bassline. This chord progression isn’t present at the very beginning, but as it slowly creeps in, there are a lot of seventh, ninth, and eleventh chords that never really resolve to major or minor (though the whole song does have a minor tone, it’s still kind of ambiguous).

The combination of electronic instrumentation and the lack of resolution, along with a fairly simple melody on top of it all. give an impression to the audience that at this point, Tsukishima is cool and collected but also someone you don’t want to mess with because you don’t know who he is yet.

Onward! Now the real fun begins!

Season 2, particularly the training camp arc in its first half, is a time of growth and change. The main conflict during this arc comes from characters who want to change going up against characters who want to stay how they are (e.g. Kageyama and Hinata’s fight) or characters getting in the way of each other in the process of changing (e.g. Hinata stealing the ball from Asahi)

And notably, this arc contains the catalyst for Tsukishima’s character development that’s continued steadily throughout the anime at this point. After all, we all remember episode 8, don’t we?

No, not that. Okay, kind of that but mostly this:

Episode eight is when Tsukishima actually starts putting effort into volleyball and into his own personal development, and his main song on the OST this season, Moonrise, reflects that perfectly:

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There are three parts to what makes this song special, and the first one is much more easier to understand than the other two:

This song starts with an ostinato, a simple drum beat (that sounds like a heartbeat, make of that what you will), and a simple (well, mostly) four-bar chord progression, all synthesized.

The rest of the song consists of adding things to that, like more concrete piano chords, guitar, and a solid percussion line. Taking separate elements and putting them together, specifically elements from other teams’ playing styles, is what Karasuno focuses on during this arc and this season. Noya tries to do the libero set that Watari does, Asahi tries to do Ubugawa’s jump serves, all of Karasuno tries Shinzen’s synchronized attack, and Tsukishima (along with Hinata) learns about blocking from Kuroo (and a little bit Bokuto). The song reflecting that adds a nice touch.

(This next point is where I get big on the music theory, so I’ll link a video about it a little bit farther down if you’re confused)

This song is, not unlike Tsukishima himself, calculated. It sounds smart, almost crafty, but it also has a bright quality to it. Why’s that? It’s time for everyone’s favorite music theory concept, modes!

These are the seven big modes (here’s a video about them) but we’ll mostly be focusing on these two:

Aeolian mode is your typical minor scale, but this song isn’t in C minor, it’s in C dorian, which makes all the difference: The raised 6 in dorian mode as opposed to aeolian mode.

So here’s the beginning of the song I transcribed earlier, except this time the raised 6ths (the A naturals) are all in red:

This use of A natural instead of A flat makes the piece brighter because we’re borrowing from a key that’s a step clockwise on the circle of fifths and thus a brighter-sounding mode. (There’s one video about this concept here and another one here about Persona 5 that also has a bit about Dorian mode! 8 Bit Music Theory is just really good y’all)

And is character development bright? Heck yeah.

The raised sixth also makes the 4-3 suspension in bars 7 and 8 go to F major instead of F minor, which makes that resolution more happy and hopeful:

The third thing about this song that makes it really interesting and fit Tsukishima’s character during this arc is its floaty feeling. It’s echo-y and synthesized and it sounds curious. Well, there’s two reasons for that:

The first is the tempo and meter, a slow-ish three that is clearly felt in one rather than three beats but isn’t a Strauss waltz or anything like that. The beats aren’t clearly defined, so it feels more floaty.

The second is the prevalence of 7th, 9th, and 11th chords that have ambiguous tonality - that is to say, they have elements of major and minor. (Think something from Zelda BoTW) Practically every chord in this song isn’t just a major or minor triad, which adds to its curiosity. For example, here’s a C minor 7 chord that’s used a lot in this song:

But hidden within this chord are both a C minor triad and an E flat major triad, the relative major (C minor is in orange, E flat major is in green)

That contributes to the ambiguity of the song and the feeling of uncertainty.

So now that we know Moonrise stupidly well, where do we go from here? Season 3, of course!

Most iconic anime moments of 2016 am I right?

Tsukishima’s main theme in the Season 3 soundtrack is The Halo Around the Moon (There’s also The Daytime Moon, but I’m not going to be talking about that in this meta because it doesn’t really fit in besides giving a more general heroic vibe)

youtube

You may notice right off the bat that this song has a lot in common with Moonrise, because it does. There are also a lot of differences, but I’ll talk about those later on.

First off, there’s an ostinato similar to the one used in Moonrise, and here they are back to back:

This first one is Moonrise:

And this second one is Halo Around the Moon:

Notice something interesting? I did, and I’ll put it in blue:

Yes, despite these two tracks being in different keys (C minor and G minor respectively), the beginnings of the ostinatos are exactly the same. That’s the first indication that Halo Around the Moon is a reprise of sorts of Moonrise.

And here’s something funny: The Dorian-mode raised sixth I was talking about earlier? Guess where C minor borrowed that from? That’s right, G minor!

Another key similarity is at 0:18 in the song. Recognize that chord progression? You should, it’s the same one that’s used in most of Moonrise, complete with 4-3 suspensions into C major thanks to, you guessed it, a raised sixth.

The third important similarity is, of course, the prevalence of seventh chords, which again contribute to a sense of ambiguity.

There are more similarities between the two songs than that, but this post is long enough already, so let’s get to the differences:

There’s one rhythmic difference between the two that contributes a lot to the tone Halo has compared to Moonrise. I mentioned earlier that Moonrise is floaty, in a slow three without emphasized beats other than the downbeat. In contrast, Halo is in a solid four with clear beats even before the drums come in. One of the biggest reasons this works is the syncopation (putting emphasis on offbeats, something that happens a lot in jazz music, which this song is sort of emulating). You can see it with the ties in the ostinato, with the chords in the piano and guitar, and in the bassline.

The other reason this song sounds a lot more serious and solid is the fact that it isn’t restricted to dorian mode like Moonrise is. You’ll never see an A flat anywhere in Moonrise, but in Halo, an E flat seventh chord is the first sound you hear. Since aeolian mode (typical G minor, with E flats), is a shade darker than dorian mode (raised sixths, in this case E naturals), this makes Halo a lot more serious. Even so, Halo does switch back and forth between dorian and aeolian mode, which makes it retain a little bit of the wonder that Moonrise had.

So what does that mean in context of the scene it appears in? It reflects that Tsukishima is more confident in himself and his abilities, which is one of the biggest points that scene tries to make. The mode switching also shows that he’s still unpredictable (one of the main points Kageyama vs Tsukishima tried to make, too!) and has somewhere to go (which he does - during this whole match, he becomes Karasuno’s chief strategist and even pulls a Hinata face when going in for a hit at one point). But most importantly, this song is triumphant, with the electric guitar chords at the beginning and the ending that builds tension and excitement the whole way through.

Tl;dr: Tsukishima’s themes, even without their obvious titles, are clearly connected to him through their use of ostinatos, ambiguous chords, and dorian mode to make everything seem a little brighter, and the subtle and not so subtle changes between them show how he’s changed right along with the anime itself.

#han originals #haikyuu!!#hq!!#tsukishima kei #meta #han's soundtrack metas #this is VERY nerdy and i apologize #i've decided to start writing soundtrack metas now i guess #gotta use my perfect pitch for something #i realized a lot of things just making this post lmao

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hexalianrebel-blackfeathers · 7 years

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The First Fox Hunt

Panda’s Notes: Here’s a taste of what I consider my favorite AU from my RPs with my birb friend, @tooticklishforyoo . Admittedly, this and the Rough Crows AU are in close competition, but I plan to give you more of both. The story for this AU runs deep with several characters, but please enjoy this piece spotlighting Suga’s role in the world.

A night like any other…

The wind blew by the city rooftops and kissed the face of a young man perched atop a building. Clad all in black: sweatpants; a long-sleeved shirt; black shoes and socks; and even a hoodie with a hood large enough to keep his face hidden; the average-sized 19-year-old sighed happily as he started to get up. He pulled on the backpack he’d brought, mostly empty to leave space for what he intended to fill it with.

“My name’s Koushi Sugawara!” The teenager called out to the wind, giggling softly as it’d be the first and last time anyone heard that name out loud for a long while. “And I’m gonna be the greatest thief this city ever saw!” He hoped the breeze carried it far—it was going to be lonely on the thief’s path, after all—but not far enough that he’d be caught.

***********

A night like any other…

The clock ticked patiently above the head of the company’s newest night guard. His hands fussed with the folds and buttons and badges of his uniform shirt, making sure he looked as professional as possible in front of his new superior. The older man nodded as he looked over his new trainee.

“You wear it well, kid. Alright, Bokuto-kun.” He said firmly, giving the tall teenager a flashlight for his belt and a walkie-talkie. “Tonight’s your first night handling the floor by yourself.

The trainee nodded eagerly, a toothy, but stiff grin on his face. He blinked as his superior tapped his chest lightly with the back of his hand.

“You can relax a little, you know.” He advised with a slight smile. “It’ll just be you here all night.” He walked past Bokuto, a mere five steps across the small security to the cross-section map on the wall. “Now, this building is zoned from the seventh floor up as office space for the housing insurance company; you’ll be manning the tenth floor: Child’s play, I promise. The top floor is impossible to get to without employee clearance. Just patrol around the area and make sure all the doors are locked, even the supply closets and bathrooms. If you need to use the bathroom, lock it after you leave. You can take a 30 minute break for ‘lunch’ or something if you need it; just call in on your radio, and there’s a vending machine in the employee break room up there.”

Bokuto just kept nodding; this was his very first night as a security guard, and even with butterflies fluttering about in his chest and stomach, he felt ready. He would prove himself tonight.

“My name is Koutarou Bokuto…” He murmured, as he left the security office to take the elevator up, a personal mantra he’d developed. “And I’ll be the face of justice in this city one day.”

***********

Suga adjusted the straps on his bag, feeling giddy, daring, and even a little stupid. A childlike wonder was sparking in his chest as he ran and jumped gracefully over the top of buildings, and he tried his best to quell it before he got to his mark. He sprang up one last time, his leather gloves squeaking as his hands caught the sill of an apartment in the tall building he’d marked. He peeked in for just a second before hopping over a few ledges to the building’s corner. This window, as he’d heard, had a broken latch. He peeked again, and—yes; the stairwell on the east wall corner: one of the maintenance/emergency corridors.

According to his informant, this window got opened a lot during the warmer months since the stairwell and adjacent maintenance halls only had old clunky fans, and with the heat pushing into October, the window was still loose and easy to open, even from outside. Suga hopped inside, his shoes touching the concrete floor with a quiet tap. The small map he’d been given showed an elevator in the maintenance hall just near the window; and he found himself dwarfed by the large doors. Apparently, these maintenance lifts weren’t equipped with any special security since these halls were already off limits. Suga knew this city was quiet, but that’s just a foolish thing to skip out on. He pressed the button, easy as anything and just waited. Pessimistic thoughts assaulted his mind at an astonishing rate:

“What if the elevator is monitored? Someone could be alerted that you’re coming and plan accordingly.”

Even if it was, he forced himself to believe he was crafty enough to avoid them.

“What if there’s a camera? The security team could look right at you from their seats and know you aren’t an employee.”

That’s what the hood was for, obviously. As long as they couldn’t see his face and he got away at the end, nothing would be lost.

“But what if the guard is up there when you come out of the maintenance hall?”

He tried not to think about that one. He stepped inside the elevator when it opened, and selected the top floor. His informant had been very clear: there was a safe hidden in a stationary closet up there: buried way in the back behind shelving units and strategically placed, never-to-be-opened boxes. Apparently, it was a leftover from when the building was first constructed, and it was an old-fashioned tumbler safe: supposedly easy pickings for someone like Suga, who had no prior thieving experience. Suga wasn’t sure that his informant had any thieving experience either, but he still went along with it. As long as he could hear the tumblers, it should have been simple enough.

He stepped out of the elevator and checked his map. The stationary closet wasn’t too far from the tunnel entrance on this floor. In and out, just like he’d been told. Should be fifteen minutes at most.

***********

Bokuto wandered the empty floor, checking the knobs on office doors and making sure the copy machine and main printer were turned off. Everything was quiet so far; he hadn’t seen or heard anything of note.

Five whole hours of this for four nights a week…

Well, he supposed he had to start somewhere.

He lifted his radio off of his belt. “Um, senpai? Is there anything I should know while I’m up here?”

“Aside from what I told you? I thought I was pretty straightforward.”

“I—Well, um…”

“Getting bored up there already, huh?” His supervisor laughed lightly, and Bokuto couldn’t help cringing in embarrassment. “Ah, kid; I tell them every other day that we’re short-staffed; we ought to have at least two or three people to a floor, I think. Don’t worry about it; someone will always be down here to talk to if you get too bored. Can’t have our staff going crazy, after all.”

Bokuto smiled slightly, thanking the other guard and continuing to roam. He eventually found himself passing in front of an unmarked door, presumably a closet. He suddenly heard something clatter to the floor inside, and he instinctively unlocked the door to check inside. It was a stationary closet, apparently: full of cheap plastic shelving units holding up boxes of printer paper, folders, staples, paperclips, ink cartridges, et cetera. Glancing around and pulling up his flashlight, his eyes finally fell on a shelving unit across the room. The corner of the second lowest shelf was broken right where it intersected the post holding that corner, and a box full of smaller cases of staples had fallen onto the floor; the little boxes and some wayward staples littering the thin, dark-colored carpet.

“Hey, uh… A shelf just broke in a closet up here.” Koutarou said calmly into his radio, brushing the staples as best as he could into a pile with his shoe.

“Is it the stationary closet?”

“Yes? I’d assume so, at least.”

“Well, yeah, those shelves are always breaking. They’re cheap as dirt. Company’s pretty well off; you’d think they’d spring for some metal shelves or something. Just let it be; keep walking. There’s nothing really important in there anyway.”

The young guard turned the radio off, glancing one last time at the small mess before shrugging and leaving as he was told, making sure the door was locked as he did.

***********

Suga had pushed open the door out of the maintenance hall, catching sight of the retreating form of the night guard. He gasped faintly, having the tiniest hint of a heart attack and only relaxing when he realized he hadn’t been noticed.

He quickly slipped through the door and approached the stationary closet. That guard had seemed to be walking away from—yeah, it was locked. He sighed almost silently as he pulled his hand off the doorknob. He glanced around again; this would have to be fast.

Suga slipped a hand into the side pocket of his backpack, pulling out the lock pick he now held so dear. He’d practiced on a hundred different locks in preparation for this, and the old bolt lock on the knob wasn’t even a match for an amateur like him. He smiled like a fool as the handle gave, turning it quietly and pushing the door open enough to creep inside. He closed the door with the softest click he could manage, stepping away from the door and nearly jumping out of his skin when his something made a crinkling sound under his boots. Suga blinked as he examined the floor. Staples. He’d scared himself with wayward staples. He walked over the small bits of metal, stepping around the fallen box when he came to it and making his way to the back corner of the closet.

He crouched beside the unit against the wall, slipping his backpack off and slinging it onto the shelf above him. He barely registered the crack that the shelf made, assuming it was the rattle of metal on his bag. He shifted the boxes around on the bottom shelf, his eyes lighting up a bit as he uncovered the dusty and rusted old safe. Suga gently toyed with the combination dial; it was so stiff, he almost thought it might be jammed. He drummed his fingers on the floor thoughtfully. Oiling the dials should be enough to fix it. He reached up to the shelf over his head, using it to lever himself up…

And immediately falling over as the shelf broke under his weight and the entire unit shook before tipping over. Heavy boxes collapsed onto his back, and Suga cringed in pain as pointed cardboard dug for split seconds into his back and hands as they covered his head and neck. He took steady breaths as he felt nothing but loose papers raining down on him. He was breathing fine; no punctures; probably no internal bleeding; his hands ached, but they’d protected him from a likely skull fracture and possibly a broken neck. As his adrenaline drained away, he slowly became aware of the box-loads of printer paper and some kinds of paperback books, along with the entire broken shelving unit, weighing him down.

He winced, trying to move his hands and feet to escape his new trap, but the sheer weight, especially combined with his now thoroughly sore body, was going to be temporarily insurmountable. Suga sighed and tried to keep himself calm. It was paper and a cheap shelf; this was not impossible. Then again, it was a pretty heavy shelf; he was slowly realizing the true weight of the broken unit as he became aware of its bulk pressing on his ankle. He pulled as much as he could without either hurting himself or getting stopped by all the paper. Koushi gave a quiet sigh as the weight disappeared in a single instant, only to groan angrily when he realized his shoe had come off. Again, this was simple, he could get out of—

He froze up completely at the sound of the door opening.

***********

Bokuto was nearly to the other side of the floor, the tedium of all the wandering setting in again. He considered calling in for his break, just to hunt for a vending machine, but just before he could grab his radio, he heard a loud crash from all the way on the side where he’d started. Part of his mind pressured him to brush it off. It was probably just that stationary closet again; but that crash had been way too loud to be an accident. He found himself sprinting back to the closet, his radio still holstered. He didn’t even feel the need to be worried; even if someone had broken in, any person foolish enough to make that much noise probably wouldn’t get away easily.

His hand was on the doorknob within 20 seconds at most, and Bokuto cursed under his breath when he realized it was unlocked. Someone was here, probably still in there. He kept his nerve though, pulling open the door and flicking the light on. At a glance, one wouldn’t even think there had been an incident had they not heard it, but stepping inside, the mess of stark white paper was easy to pick out against the mostly dark colors in the room.

Bokuto sighed heavily, approaching the pile and studying the toppled shelf. He felt guilty; this was his fault. His first night here and someone had already managed to slip past him. Whoever it was must have already scurried off like the rat they were. He was about to lift it back into place when he noticed the black shoe on the floor. Okay, anyone can make a mistake and break a shelf, but no one could be dumb enough to actually leave—

The mass of paper was moving; a foot covered by a black sock stuck out of the pile. Bokuto felt like an idiot. The little thief was still here. He caught the leg swiftly by the ankle, and he couldn’t hold back a smirk at the full-body flinch he got for it. Honestly, he just couldn’t resist. It wasn’t like this kind of thing just happened.

“Looks like someone’s in an awkward position.” He taunted playfully, drawing one finger down the sole of the trapped thief. At another flinch, Bokuto chuckled, kneeling slightly to trace tauntingly around the helpless foot. “I bet you really thought you’d get away with this, didn’t you?” His fingers scribbled, and he smiled at the sound of quiet snickers. They sounded almost like…

“You’re just a kid!” Bokuto said incredulously. Well, not a kid, but definitely a teenager, maybe even his own age. “Oh, my God, you little bastard!” Turning to sit on the floor, the young security guard hooked his arm around the smaller boy’s ankle and scratched roughly at the entire length of the socked foot. Another smirk crossed his face as his new captive yelped and tried to pull out of his grip. “Oh, no, you are not getting out of this so easily.”

*****************

By the gods, Suga wanted to die.

When he had left his apartment earlier that night, he’d assumed that the worst that could happen was that he got caught and thrown in a holding cell for attempted robbery. This city was pretty loose with people who screwed up robberies as long as they go in unarmed, and they cracked down hard on anyone performing armed crimes.

But this?! Not only being partially trapped inside the building he was trying to rob, but being found and now tickled by a security guard. Tickled of all things…

He could feel the blush creeping onto his face as he tried to stifle the laughter clawing at his chest. Suga had always been ticklish; he’d never deny it. Hell, he loved being ticklish; he loved being tickled; he used to love tickling his friends goofy, and he still tickled his roommate when he had a rare chance to sneak up on him.

That didn’t make this any bet—Okay, it made it a little better, but—

No.

No, dammit; this is bad!

The thief's resolve started to break down, and he found himself resisting his own mind giving into a stupid fantasy he used to have about situations like this. Real life doesn’t freaking work like this normally! Real life shouldn’t work like this; it’s really inconvenient.

Suga was giggling, and giggling hard. His hands gripped uselessly at his hair and the collar of his hoodie as he broke further and started to laugh. Trying to pull his foot out of the guard’s grip wasn’t doing any good. In fact, it seemed to encourage him. A squeal rushed out of the smaller teen’s mouth as the offending fingers moved to focus on his toes, and he cackled helplessly.

“I can’t help but wonder wat could have possibly been going through your head, shorty.” The guard taunted, not letting up for an instant. Ugh, the goddamned taunting; Suga could never handle it, and this guy just wouldn’t shut up.

“S-Stop!” He whined through his laughter, trying to struggle again when the taller male’s fingers traced his leg to find and scratch the back of his knee. He flailed a bit, all his writhing helping to throw the bulk of the papers off of his body.

But did he want it to stop? Well, yeah, actually, it was pretty imperative that he stopped, or else Suga would get caught by someone who wasn’t up to playing games.

Then again…He wouldn’t lie once he was out of this: It was a story for the ages alright.

Out of this. He had to get out.

He blinked his eyes open, having to steel himself against the sensation to reach out and grab the strap on his backpack. He cried out and cringed as he laughed brightly; why was this guy such a good tickler anyway? His hand clutched around the backpack strap, and he moved his free foot as subtly as possible. This had to be perfect, or he’d be caught again in an instant.

**************

Bokuto snickered as he kept running his fingers along the thief’s foot and lower leg, reveling in the squeals and cackles he was able to draw from just this limited position. As much as he was enjoying this, and as much as he wanted to tease this kid for the rest of the night, his conscience nagged him to just scoop up the little thief and take him down to the security office already. He finally gave his captive a break, his free hand pawing around for the male’s other leg. He blinked when it wasn’t anywhere on the floor near him, and just before he could turn to look, the leg in question delivered a swift kick to the back of his head.

He cried out and keeled over, momentarily stunned. He watched, through hazy vision and while clutching his aching skull, as the thief snatched his shoe and slipped it on before darting out of the stationary closet with his backpack in tow.

“H-Hey…Hey, get back here!” Bokuto called groggily, getting back to his feet to give chase. His mind caught up quickly, and he pulled his radio off of his hip. “Senpai! I need your help! I saw someone sneaking around up here! Hurry; I don’t think I can catch him!”

“I’ll be right up; try to keep up with him!”

Bokuto nodded, smiling as he pumped his arms to try to speed himself up. “You are in so much trouble, you little brat!” He called playfully after his former captive.

The thief darted around the corner, leading him in an entire loop around the floor before slipping into the maintenance door. “Hey, stop!” Bokuto shouted, grabbing the handle of the door and struggling with it for a moment. He could hear a rattling sound before the clatter of something metal falling to the floor. The door flew open just afterward, and the young guard burst into the maintenance hall, looking around frantically. He paled when he saw the numbers on the small screen above the elevator ticking downward.

There was no way. Even if he called to tell his trainer that the thief had changed course, they wouldn’t catch up to him; and it was unlikely he planned to just waltz out the front door anyway. The little punk had won…

“Koutarou!” Bokuto turned at the sound of his name.

“Senpai…” He murmured, looking at the older man guiltily. “I-I…”

“He got away, huh?” The trainee could only nod, feeling worse and worse by the second. If he hadn’t been screwing around then—

“Well, c’mon, let’s check the damage.” Bokuto followed slowly. “It didn’t look like anything was moved though. Where did you find him?”

“He was poking around that stationary closet you were telling me about. He broke a shelf in there, and he started running when I came to investigate.”

“Hm… I’ll check it out.”

Bokuto stood in the doorway, watching his supervisor lift and examine the shelf and the area around it. He knelt in front of the wall, shining his flashlight there, and Bokuto was surprised to see that there was an old safe there.

“Must have been after this…” The older man stood up, tapping his flashlight on his hand. “It’s barely touched. Breaking this shelf must have shaken him up.” He scoffed and crossed his arms. “Just an amateur. You did well, Koutarou. Didn’t give him a chance to try and crack the safe. Aside from this mess, there’s no harm done. I’ll tell maintenance that they need to put up a new shelf.”

He slapped Bokuto’s shoulder proudly. “Pretty exciting for a first night.” He blinked and leaned to look at the trainee’s head. “That’s a nasty bruise, kid. Tell you what; you’ve had enough for tonight. I’ll pay for your cab home, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Bokuto couldn’t help but smile. He still felt guilty; he still felt terrible; but he’d stopped a thief from actually stealing anything. Everyone makes mistakes, but he’d get better. He was on his way. He’d be the face of justice in this city in no time at all.

**************

Suga could already hear his informant laughing at him when he got back to the apartment. His roommate always did love to tease Suga while he was teaching him things.

But…

It was worth it. A smile was stuck on the young man’s face as he ran across the rooftops and sprang between them as necessary. His nerves were still tingling; his feet were light. He’d lived a fantasy and gotten away. He couldn’t help but be ecstatic. Tonight was just practice anyway; he had no reason to care about failing. He’d gotten away completely, no evidence left behind but that guard’s own memory of a figure clad in black.

He felt a tingle in his hands: a desire to use them. Gripping the sill of his apartment window wasn’t fixing it. He curled his fingers as he stood in his room. He wanted to get someone and get them good. Maybe someone who might give him a new mark once he’d practiced enough. He chuckled lowly; this city wouldn’t know what hit it.

A smirk crossed his face as he remembered the note he’d left in the maintenance hall of that building: a prototype of his calling card:

A business card with paw prints lining its edges and with a simple message: “Marked by the Silver Fox.”

#sugawara koushi #bokuto koutarou #Tickling #fanfiction #haikyuu!!#Silver Fox AU #a panda writes a thing

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bruh-haikyuu · 4 years

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A/N: ITS FINISHED WHAT THE FFUCKK 7000+ WORDS THIS IS A BEAST. ENJOYY!!! :DD Thank you for all your support!

Fem!MC in this is the guitarist/lead vocalist of the rock band PARANOIA! She also went to the same middle school as Konoha, but because she’s deemed as a prodigy, they didn’t get to talk so much. I hope you all enjoy the interesting take I’ve put in MC’s personality!! :))

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (Coming Soon!)

ensemble. | konoha akinori

part 1 - overture.

word count: 7287

warnings: slight angst, a lil’ bit of manipulation

(n.) an orchestral piece at the beginning of an opera, suite, play, oratorio, or other extended composition

You’re not the type of person to care. Things flitted over your head so easily like they’re nothing more than a light breeze. But were you an airhead? Not exactly. President of the Light Music Club and one of Fukurodani Academy’s prized minds, people sought of you as a genius or a prodigy. But you never really understood what they meant.

Weren’t you just a high school student like them?

You just got bored very easily. That’s all there is to say. Sure, you hopped between multiple clubs and interests in your first year, but wasn’t that initial year your chance to discover yourself? At least that’s what your parents told you. And you did! Eventually. The Light Music Club was the only club you felt the most interest and where you could be your fanciful, “blunt” self without everyone else worrying about you.

What’s up with that, you asked yourself much too often to be comfortable. Worrying’s for old people like parents, or grandparents or even middle-aged women who’d found no hope for love. Exams are temporary, people are temporary, and if they’re going to last for only a while, why think so much about it? You could never get why everyone made being a high school student so complicated.

But it’s kind of frightening. Being a high schooler but not completely understanding what it means. What were you then? Maybe you were just as “alien” as everyone called you. Put yourself in other people’s shoes, was what you were often told by your bandmates when you’d told them about your woes.

“I’ve decided!” you announced today as your bandmates slash club members sat around you in a circle. “I’m going to get a boyfriend.”

“...L/N, this ain’t another one of your social experiments, is it?” your drummer Reo sighed, exasperation dripping in his voice.

“Yes, and no,” you said, crossing your arms. “Reeeooo, it’s not wrong for your little ol’ club president to find love, right? Besides, I’m already a second year, it’s only a matter of time until I graduate. So why not make full use of it now?”

Bassist Iori exchanged a glance with Reo before chuckling deeply. “Always the unexpected one, huh, Taichou*? Alright then, you have our full support, this is bound to be funny at a point.”

“What is your type anyway?” the first-year keyboardist Tsumugi (occasionally MugiMugi much to his dismay) asked. “Right now, I mean... Since you switch between interests so quickly, senpai.”

“Well it’s neither of you, if you’re curious. Reo’s got a girlfriend already. Iori-kun’s too stingy. And MugiMugi seems like the kind of guy who’d get married to his own mom.”

“Oi, senpai!”

It was true. They heavily reminded you of your three older brothers. And you were thankful to the heavens that they all decided to move away once they graduated high school. One more ounce of “brotherly defense” and you were sure you were going to run off to live in some live house.

“Still not sugarcoating your words, I see. But I’m glad you’re not going to force us to date you, ” Iori muttered, finding interest in the pegs of his bass. “Do you even have someone you like? You seem to be, uh...”

“Very much married to your guitar,” Reo followed. Your drummer and his short-cropped hair was particularly quick to catch on cues and make a humdrum comment about it. It’s very obvious that he tries (keyword: tries) to empathize with you, but the fact that you just become a deeper enigma everyday just pisses him off.

You frowned, getting up from your rickety chair. “Lennon-chan is a very valuable item to me, but I won’t stoop so low as to marry it! I’m interested in a human. Hu-man. We went to the same middle school, so if you were thinking that my affections are baseless, then think of another question for me to answer.”

How unbelievable. You didn’t understand how people thought you were less of a person than they were. You have a set of lungs, human skin without a zipper that opens up to your Martian scalp and a teenage heart for another to hold. What’s so hard to believe that you were able to like something long-term?

“So, who is it then?” Tsumugi asked.

Tapping your finger on your chin in mock wonder, you gave them an impish grin. “Konoha Akinori.”

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

Second-year student Konoha Akinori was not a big fan of surprises. He only enjoyed them when he was surprising the person. Other way around... not so much.

Which was not aiding to the reason why he was standing at an impasse with Fukurodani’s resident free-spirited prodigy L/N Y/N.

Your eyes twinkled brightly as you edged closer to him in the school’s near-empty courtyard. “Hello, Konoha-kun.”

“H-hello, L/N-san.”

What was going on? Why was this happening? Was this some sort of prank Bokuto had pulled on him? If it was, then how unfair. To have the prettiest girl in their grade approach him so suddenly... The entire thing reeked of craftiness, and Konoha resolved that Bokuto wouldn’t have gone so far to pull his leg. But why was this happening, again?!

“L/N-s-san, you’re a bit too close,” he choked, back pressed against a wall. Much to his gratefulness, you pulled back to let him breathe. If you had advanced one more step, he’d turn into an oversized tomato soon. Konoha Akinori the Human Tomato—that didn’t look so good on his college applications...

This girl’s danger, he thought. He knew about you. Heck, he even went to middle school with you. Sure, Konoha appreciated your beauty and talent as a person, but your alleged habit of jumping around interests just because “you were bored” terrified people to no end. You were a troublesome one, weren’t you?

“Konoha-kun, is it true you have a crush on me?”

Troublesome! Konoha cursed. His first real confrontation with an attractive girl and it had to be completely direct? No frills, no shoujo sparkles? How unpleasant. At least you shouldn’t pin him to a corner wall like this! Konoha just wanted to melt into a puddle and become absorbed into the soil.

“L-L/N-san, a lot of people have a crush on you!”

“I know. But I’m asking you. Do you like me?” your poised smile was the photograph of absolute nuisance. Blunt this, blunt that, was the way people described you, but Konoha never expected you to be this plain-spoken. Was there even a right answer when it came to your questions?

“L/N-san, you can’t just ask me something like this! I-I mean you’re pretty and smart and everything, so of course I had a crush on you, but isn’t this a little too late for that?”

Konoha swore your shoulders drooped at his words. But even that slight action was enough, to form a small incision to his heart. Just how human were you to have so heavy of an effect on him?

At that point, he was sure you were going to give up and leave him alone—possibly looking for another boy to meddle with... Until you chirped again in your nonchalant manner.

“But do you still like me?”

“I-I don’t know—”

“Then, why don’t we find out?”

‘Find out’? This was getting increasingly complicated. Out of all the people you could’ve trifle with, why did it have to be him? If only you were just more cute, instead of just plain out... surreal.

“We can go out for two months. You can find out if you do still have feelings for me, and I can learn why people make high school love seem more complicated than it should be,” you explained, counting off your reasons with a raised finger in each hand. “If it doesn’t work out by then, we’ll break up and I’ll leave you alone for good.”

In the silence that followed, Konoha was registering the information that had left your lips. Your words glitched in his mind like his mother’s old computer; always loading, never processing. There were so many questions he wanted to ask you, but he’d expected you to fling them back with more perplexing questions of your own. So he said nothing. In the silence that followed, he didn’t notice the glower that surfaced on your features as he let your offer dangle in the wall of space between you.

“We can go out and you can make Bokuto-kun and KomiKomi stop harassing you about being lame when it comes to girls.”

“How—” No. He wasn’t going to ask how you had his entire case figured out. Because he knew whatever reply was going to come out of your mouth was just going to be an indifferent: “It wasn’t a difficult process”. At least, Konoha knew that much about you.

Of course, the feeling of having a girlfriend—and someone like you, surprisingly—was going to be more than enough to rub into Komi and Bokuto’s faces. In fact, they’d leave him alone for eons if he did! It was a tempting deal, and he ached to shake your hand and get it over with. But your own motives... “Complicated,” you’d said. The way you’d said it to him was almost pitiful. Konoha guessed you really did live on a different wavelength than other people.

Still avoiding your anticipating eyes, he replied, “Give me time to think about it.”

You didn’t particularly enjoy being forced to wait—not because you were an impatient person. “Thinking about it” only blooms ambivalence in return. And the longer someone thinks, the more doubtful they’ll become of their genuine resolve. If Konoha became cynical of the truth, your little ‘investigation’ would definitely go awry. What would happen to your ‘love’ then?

“Alright, but don’t take too long,” you spoke, raising your hands to your hips. “I’ve got your number so I’ll send you a text and you can save mine.”

Watching you spin on your heel and your back slowly shrink into the horizon, Konoha did a double take, finally taking in your final words to him.

“Wait, how’d you get my number?!”

Stopping in your tracks, you turned your head. Shooting him an impish grin, you broke the short absence of noise, and all at once Konoha really felt like he was in trouble.

“It wasn’t a difficult process,” you said.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“That’s...” Sarukui rolled the zipper of his jacket between his fingers before deciding on an appropriate word, “...very unsettling.”

In the privacy of the boys’ club room, Konoha crossed his arms. He’d made a face, just enough to border between pity and discontent. “Unsettling’s right. Do you think she’s a creep for just having my number like that?”

Tapping his chin with his index finger, the lax-faced boy replied, “I mean we are in the same grade. And she was class rep in our first year too, so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if she just had our numbers kept with her.”

From the corner of the room, Washio rumbled, “She’s actually not that bad. Though I admit she’s very strange.”

Turning his attention to the burlier male, Sarukui put his hands together, “That’s right, you’re in L/N-san’s class, aren’t you?”

“I remember that time she offered to lend me her World History flashcards because I forgot mine,” Washio recalled, moving towards the center of the room. “It was great for a while since she’s the smartest person in the class... but then...”

“...Then?”

“It didn’t matter because I couldn’t read anything she’d wrote on it. There were a couple of cards where she wrote backwards and all while she kept switching between kanji, hiragana and katakana mid-word... A prodigy’s brain is truly terrifying.”

Even though the story was rather amusing, the three only let out a despaired sigh.

“Aah, but it’s true that Y/N-san’s a really nice person,” a voice piped up behind them.

Their manager Yukie silently trudged into the carpeted floor, her usual skittish smile broadening against her face. The four second-years pooled around the room, one visibly concerned, the other confused, the third conflicted and the last... slightly hungry. Drawing out her breath, the hungrier one explained.

“She doesn’t seem like she has any bad intentions to me, it’s just that she tends to look into things too much... I mean, Y/N-san always gets to the point without any reason for her actions. But that’s because she doesn’t know how to explain it in her own way. If you think about it... don’t you think she’s actually really shy?”

‘Shy’ had no business with the way you’d confidently strode up to him, asking for Konoha to go out with you. Though he was blatantly thinking of the fact that you’re just messing with his head, Yukie made a point.

You’d barely made any friends in middle school, always separated from the crowds... but you’d react like it didn’t matter. You were always on a different wavelength with the special treatment the teachers gave you, so he hadn’t bothered to talk much with you either. The whole time you were so quiet back then, was it because you were trying to understand the situation?

Now Konoha felt really bad for calling you a ‘creep’. “Geez...”

“Hey, hey, hey! G’morning!”

Like the heavens had heard his woes, they sent him Bokuto for God knows what reason. Barreling inside the club room, the wing spiker was an untamed ball of energy and mischief that Konoha didn’t want anything to do with right about now.

“Y’know, a couple of girls approached me today at lunch. I was super shocked and everything,” Bokuto trumpeted, unravelling his tie. “My chances have grown pretty big since I started using my straights, don’t you think?”

“Not bigger than your head, I hope,” the blonde scoffed.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Bokuto laughed raucously enough to make the entire room silent lest for the drop of a pin. Slinging an arm around Konoha, he poked at his sides making the boy flinch and jump.

“Heey, Konoha-kun... You don’t have to be so mean when you’re jealous~” he grinned. Konoha rolled his eyes in retort. “You’ll get your big chance one day.”

Bokuto’s attempt at being passive-aggressive was just so Bokuto that anyone in the right mind would’ve found it extremely annoying. Konoha didn’t even know if he was even “jealous” anymore; the entire concept of having the ace constantly pester him everyday for the rest of his life for being so lonely was exceptionally haunting.

And to think that he’d constantly thought the things that came out of Bokuto’s mouth could be genius... maybe it had just been provoking. Blood boiling. As the others stifled their quiet snickers, Konoha reached for his pant pocket, the stiff outline of his cellphone taking the shape of his palm. Perhaps he could humor you. Just this once.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“Good morning, Aki-chan!”

Snapping his head quick enough for whiplash, Konoha’s widened stare locked itself on your beaming profile. Putting two and two together, he reddened at the affectionate name you had gifted him.

“L-L/N-san, you don’t have to call me that...”

As you bent down to slip your outside shoes from your delicate feet, the boy couldn’t help but to ogle at your tantalizing figure, but quickly averted his gaze once you smirked at his actions. Keep it together, teenage hormones! he scolded himself.

“Why not, though? I mean, we’re dating now. You can call me by my first name too if you want, you know.”

That’s right. Fueled by the frustration he’d harbored for his friends, Konoha took the action of texting you back, saying that he’d taken up your offer. Your reply was nothing short of innocent giddiness and delirium that he’d felt the searing tightness of regret in his chest.

But it wasn’t like you wouldn’t be able to see through his intentions soon enough. If anything, you’d even brought it up during your “confession”. You’ll be fine, Konoha had convinced himself. Like the rumors said, if you didn’t like it, you’d probably just leave. You knew that much, at least.

“I don’t think couples immediately start calling each other by their given names on the first day they go out. Besides, isn’t this just a trial run?”

“You’re supposed to get the entire experience in a trial run, right?”

“Well yes, but—”

“Don’t you want to get as much out of two months as possible?”

He’d almost forgotten about the limited time he’d have to use you against Bokuto and Komi before you mentioned it to him again. Two months is long enough, he thought, the effect will last even longer if they knew I was dating L/N-san.

“Right, L/N-san.”

“Y/N.”

“Um... L/N...chan?”

“Y/N-chan.”

“Anyway!” Konoha slammed the door to his shoe locker for emphasis, privy to his crimson cheeks. “Homeroom’s about to begin. D’you want me to take you to your class on my way?”

You looked up at him placidly, “Class 5 is on the end of the hallway though... Won’t that mean I’d be taking you to your class?”

Moving behind you to give you an encouraging push on your shoulders, your new boyfriend sighed hurriedly, “Yes, yes. Let’s just go already, L/N-san.”

And like it was your birthday, your face lit up like Christmas lights. Pulling the arms that rested on your arms so it wound securely around your torso, you looked over your shoulder to send the flushed second-year a grin.

“Oookay! The Aki-chan-Y/N-chan train is leaving the station, hold on tight~”

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

The face Iori gave you made you think your lungs would fall off from laughing. Your light-haired classmate blinked twice before realizing that his knife was close to grazing his finger. Giving the fragrant chocolate one last slice, the bassist turned to you for affirmation.

“Taichou’s cheating on Lennon-chan... How daring...”

Veins popping from the grip on the rolling pin, you leered at him from where you were standing. “Do the three of you still think I’m married to my guitar?”

“Of course—Ow! Don’t hit me with a pin if you know I’m right!”

“Now, now, L/N-san, Tsuyoshi-san, don’t get too excited about making cookies back there,” your bearded Home Economics teacher (who’d heavily reminded you of an endearing bear) guffawed heartily, before turning to the left side of the class in utter concern. “W-wait, Shirofuku-san, don’t directly eat the dough!”

Nudging you with his elbow, Iori whispered, “So... two months? How do you know the guy’s not just using you to get back at the Volleyball Club?”

Turning on the tap, you let the cool torrent of water pool in your hands before replying to your bandmate earnestly.

“Oh, he is using me to get back at the Volleyball Club. I figured it out when he texted me back. ‘S not a big deal, though.”

Iori’s shoulder drooped in melancholy. It was sad, on the verge of plain out pathetic. You were his friend, for Heaven’s sake. Yet, he knew you were lonely. Of course, he felt eternally relieved that at least he and the rest of PARANOIA could temporarily lift that despondency from you. But due to God’s intent, neither of them were fated to completely understand your dispositions. And for that, he lamented behind the wall that the world planted around you, unable to reach out nor sympathize. If this Konoha guy was your last resort to your long-term goal of universal comprehension, then it better not be a big deal.

“People say it takes about 2 to 3 months to fall in love with a person. If these two months don’t turn our relationship in the path we want, then... I don’t care if we break up too. It wasn’t like I expected much from myself in the first place.”

“Taichou...”

In the solemn silence that followed your words, your nose perked up at a certain toasty smell coming from behind your friend.

“Iori-kun, the chocolate.”

“Don’t change the subject. You need to consider if this “relationship” will really make you happy.”

“Iori-kun, it’s burning.”

“I know despite your flaming desire for love, you—Aagh!! My chocolate! Taichou, why didn’t you say anything?!”

You scratched your nape as you watched your frantic classmate splash the bowl of darkened chocolate with a flood of cold water, kindling plumes of sweet-smelling smoke to rise softly in the class.

Happiness. You frowned back at Iori’s words (as the latter sobbed at his valiant efforts in scraping his overly-meticulous work from the steaming bowl). I’m already happy enough though.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“L/N-san... You don’t have to follow me to lunch on the first week,” Konoha grimaced at the girl trailing behind him through the staircase.

“Why not though? We’re—”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he rustled, “We’re dating. Yes, yes... But don’t you usually sit with your band during this time? Won’t they ask where you are?”

You hummed hopping down the last few steps before turning around gracefully in front of your boyfriend. “Mm... I think they’ll be more thankful they’re getting a day off from me. Don’t worry though, I won’t say anything if I don’t have to!”

Oh boy.

“L/N-chan’s at our lunch spot...” Bokuto murmured blankly.

Amongst the burly volleyball players eating their lunches in the courtyard, you seemed like a dainty flower about to be devoured by a pack of Titans—as if you weren’t the more threatening one in the bunch. While the familiar third-years gawked with their heads short-circuiting in your presence, the meek first-year setter politely bowed, his obvious ignorance of you surfacing.

“L/N-chan’s eating lunch with us...” you watched Bokuto aimlessly mumble against the yakisoba bread in his mouth.

“Bokuto! Don’t go to the light! W-we’re sorry about this, L/N-chan,” Komi shook the owl-headed spiker in his trance. Thrusting his own box of food towards you, he reddened. “P-please have some of my sausages as an apology, O’ Great Deity!”

Sarukui pulled the libero back by his blazer, sending the boy flying backwards with his bento still thankfully intact. “Hey, Komi, don’t just suddenly ambush a girl like that... Say, L/N-san, you want to try some of my tamagoyaki*?”

“Saru, you leech!”

Anyone who was passing by could indefinitely tell that this group of people was undoubtedly hazardous. An overly-excited Bokuto who had sparks and smoke coming out of his head, an apprehensive Akaashi trying to calm their spiker down, Komi and Sarukui wrestling over their lunch boxes, a bulky but terrified Washio who was slowly edging away from the crowd, a Konoha who was gradually regretting his choices and a L/N Y/N, though seemingly frail, was able to create chaos with a bat of an eye.

Watching the entire ruckus go down, you did feel a bit bored. Gaze flickering to your side, your mouth watered, “Ooh, Aki-chan, is that spicy konnyaku*?”

“Huh? Yeah, you want some, L/N-san?” your boyfriend said, offering you his food nonchalantly.

Dipping your chopsticks into his box, you flashed him a beam brighter than any sparkling night. “Thank you for the food~ Mm, not spicy enough...”

In the silence where you chewed the stinging cake, the Volleyball Club’s bedlam had finally subsided. Their star-struck gazes at you replaced with incredulous glares at Konoha who proceeded with his meal in peace.

“‘Aki-chan’...” Komi repeated. “What’s going on with you two?”

Leering in mischief, Konoha grinned. Chest puffed out like a breasted bird, he set down his food before taking your hand and raising it for the rest to see. At the warmth of his hand, you couldn’t help but redden from the blood that rose to your face. Moments like this really did remind you why you thought he’d seemed so attractive from the beginning.

“Oh, I haven’t told you yet? We’re dating,” he smirked, making sure that he drew out each syllable, prolonging his announcement as much as possible.

“Huh?!”

Dwarfing the previous catastrophe into the size of an ant, the boys went frantic again. Even Bokuto who’d seemed so shocked by your attendance, snapped out of his daze from the outrageous amount of disbelief.

“E-eh?! Konoha and... L/N-chan... no way. That doesn’t make sense... something’s not right...”

You smiled behind the soft pads of your fingers. Noticing Konoha’s worried gesture, you played along, much to his delight, “What is it, Bokuto-kun? You also have girls surrounding you. What’s so different?”

“Ehhh? Lost your chances, Bokuto?” Konoha continued, the smirk on his face growing wider.

“Dammit! The Great Deity’s going to get stained... she’s going to get stained...” Komi wailed.

“Bokuto-san stopped breathing! Konoha-san, do something!”

He felt like it had rained after years and years of a drought. Refreshing. Cool. Satisfying. The same people who’d teased him for lacking a ‘chance’ was now melted in the head from his relationship. It was exactly how he wanted it to be. And you played it out so perfectly for him. A beautiful ‘girlfriend’ with a heart of gold.

Sighing, Konoha smiled at your giggling face. He wondered. For someone so advantaged and strange, you only seemed like a high school girl to him right now. Just his ‘girlfriend’ for two months. Not the genius L/N Y/N, not the zealous musician L/N Y/N. Just... L/N Y/N.

The shrill shriek of a chime brought you to wake, as you pulled him up from his seat while snickering. “It’s getting very loud here, isn’t it? Come, Aki-chan, I’ll take you to class again.”

Tightening his grip on yours, he gave you a knowing nod before following you to escape the scene in a trail of laughter. As the bell subsided in your wake, you didn’t even realize you’d arrived at the second-year hallways. And all that while interlacing hands.

Quickly retracting your hand, you sheepishly glanced at your shoes, “Ah, sorry. You probably don’t want to have that much physical contact so soon.”

Damn, if you were already pretty with even a poker face on, seeing your blushing face took the cake. “N-no, it’s fine. Thanks for backing me up back there. I don’t think anyone would’ve believed me if you didn’t say something.”

Tilting your head sideways, you said, “It was getting a bit dull, so I was glad we made it more lively. You’re very entertaining, did you know?”

“And so are you, Y/N-chan,” he smiled, ruffling your hair.

In the light of the midday sun, Konoha Akinori was blind to his own natural appeal. It was unfair and admittedly cool of him to just ensnare you with a dazzling twinkle, all while taking you by surprise with a reposeful call of your name. Your middle school classmate who’s now your temporary boyfriend... you just wanted to have him all to yourself forever.

He couldn’t deny it. You were magnetizing. Attractive in a way that lived beyond beauty and intelligence. Konoha couldn’t believe that someone so strange would make his chest go tight. It disappointed him that it would only be temporary. Once the two months expired, you’d treat him like no more than a stranger. But just this once, he wanted to relish this quiet moment with you.

Suddenly, like an iron wall had emerged from the ground between the both of you, your phone rang. You didn’t know if you felt relieved that your embarrassment was interrupted or were you annoyed because of it.

Quickly reading over the text, you smiled eagerly. “Ooh! Iori-kun finally finished the reservations for the live house!”

Konoha had almost forgot you were in a band. A rock band that consisted of you and three other male members. Lips faltering, he bit his tongue. They’re her bandmates, Akinori! What are you so jealous for? It’s not like you’re her real boyfriend or anything...

“Got a performance coming up, L/N-san?”

“Yep! It’s our first anniversary show since we formed PARANOIA,” you said, trailing off before a light bulb flickered in your head. “Do you want to come and watch? It’s in a few months.”

And like a cupid had shot his heart, Konoha found himself with a ticket for one to PARANOIA’s Anniversary Concert by the end of the day. Concert tickets that would expire the same day as your relationship.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

If you could list down all the things that happened this past few months, you’d probably end up describing it as “adventurous”. Even for you who’d expect a couple things or two from the start, the things you could do while in a relationship took you by surprise most of the time.

Little by little, your boyfriend had opened up to your usual audacious advances. Compared to the cuter, more nervous Konoha who you approached two months back, this Konoha was more bold, and vivacious. And unbearably even more attractive than you’d hoped he’d be. But he was considerate as usual—though you wished he wasn’t, because this ‘modesty’ of his was especially embarrassing on your end.

His friends slowly got used to your presence (while Bokuto was still slightly dazed from your relationship status). You came to the Volleyball Club’s practice matches, both under Konoha’s request and your own bored intentions. And it came to your attention that he flaunted his feathers more vigorously when you were around. Fukurodani’s Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None... was much more of a show-off than you’d thought. How amusing, you’d think.

On the other hand, your bandmates had kept hanging on to their belief that you were still easily aroused when it came to your guitar (though you were very sure that it was more of a teasing gesture than their own immature stupidity). For this reason, you’d dragged a pale-faced Konoha to your practices in the Light Music Club more often than he’d hoped. He was your stamp of proof that even you had standards—a terrified-looking stamp that flinched whenever Reo spoke to him.

“Reo, you ever thought of putting on a Precure shirt on when you talk to people?” you’d said to him one day, as Konoha’s ears perked up from your conversation.

“No,” the drummer had replied vacantly, giving his other bandmates a boiling glare when they stifled their giggles.

“Ehh? Why not? Your gorilla face is just too intimidating for the world to get used to, so if you wear a shirt from the cute anime you love—”

“L-L/N! You promised to never say I liked Precure out loud! K-Konoha-san, please forget about this!”

And that day, you’d seen Konoha laugh. A genuine laugh not laced with nervousness or pity. A laugh caused by your own honest-to-morbid humor. It had been a pretty laugh. And Konoha admitted he hadn’t laughed so freely in such a long time.

There was also countless things he’d never done in such a long time, and all that was revived in a mere two months with you in tow. Eating spicy hotpot with you until his lips grew swollen, visiting a CD shop to spam all the music players in the store to play the same song, teaching someone to serve a ball, studying together in the library (though he ended up studying much less with your intricate rambling). Your penchant for boredom made you seem brighter to him. And Konoha began to wonder if it was a crime to finally realize he had feelings for you, even when he’d used you to get his friends off his back.

She’s better off not dating a jerk like me, he’d decided.

But it hurt. It was like a thousand daggers had pierced through his heart every second he thought that it’d be over soon. It hurt to admit that Konoha thought you were funny, pretty, smart and so goddamn endearing.

He loved you. He loves you. But just because he does, doesn’t mean you do.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“Thank you for your support for this past year! Please continue to give PARANOIA your love for the following years to come!”

Your throat felt hoarse from the singing, but as soon as you stepped inside the dressing room, it was all squeals and giggles again. Even the high-strung Tsumugi, forehead shining in sweat, was jumping up and down with an equally excited Iori in his embrace. And for a while, Reo seemed much softer than his usual demeanor.

“Reo-kun~ That a smile on your face?” Iori teased once the four of you had settled down.

“Shut up, ‘Ori, you’re grinning like an idiot too,” he shot back.

Tsumugi piped up, untying his tie from your stage outfits, “It’s good that we’re smiling, isn’t it? We played really well, we should at least appreciate ourselves for that effort.”

Moving towards your unsuspecting underclassman, you poked him behind his ear, amusedly watching him flinch and swat your hand away. “Ah, MugiMugi’s talking like a wise, old man, but that totally contradicts how much you were hopping around during our last song, right? Young people are cute, aren’t they?”

Blushing profusely, he scoffed, “Don’t call me cute when you have a boyfriend. That’s just troublesome, senpai.”

And like the devil had ushered for him, a knock sounded on the door. Reo, closest to the entrance, swung the door open and gave their guest a pleased smile.

“Ooh... it’s Konoha. Thought it’d be my admirers or something,” he muttered in a mock pout.

“Ehh, you have plenty of admirers out there, Mizushima-san,” Konoha chuckled. “But I’m here for your guitarist.”

When Reo, Tsumugi and Iori moved out of your way to rush to the exit to “leave the both of you alone”, you placed your hands on your boyfriend’s shoulders. “Say, Aki-chan, let’s go on a date right now.”

“Right now?! Where?”

“There’s an arcade nearby,” you chirped before leaning over to whisper flatly into his ear, “It’s our last day. Let’s make it count.”

He nodded, but his face faltered at your forced grin as you led him out the door in your typical “Aki-chan-Y/N-chan train” fashion. Last day, huh? That’s right. Konoha had nearly forgotten about it. And the fact that you’d brought it up panged across his chest. This “train” of yours could just be the last time he’d ever be so close to you. The real you.

After that, nothing.

Determination crowning his face, he grabbed your hand as you exited the live house and rushed to get to the arcade as soon as his legs could carry him. Too soon. Two months passed by too soon. Not yet. Not yet.

It couldn’t end like this.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“For someone with really good analytical senses, you suck at claw machines.”

You elbowed his side, laughter bubbling from your lips. “Look who’s talking! You looked like you were going to eat me when I scored a point in that air hockey game.”

Stopping in his tracks on the quiet sidewalk, Konoha winced at the memory. Perhaps he should’ve held back, considering you were a girl. But that would’ve been a stupid move altogether, knowing that you’d expect his moves. Konoha won anyway, much to his surprise—but only to have the game spew out a total of zero tickets before you realized the machine was faulty.

“What did you get with your tickets?”

Rummaging in your pocket, you pulled out a plastic package with a silver chain glinting inside it. “A souvenir for you. Mm, if I had more tickets, I would’ve gotten you a rice cooker or something~”

Taking your offering, Konoha raised his eyebrows. “A flower necklace? Shouldn’t you keep this sort of present? I mean, you won it and everything—”

“Keep it. It’s a gift for putting up with me this entire time.”

“Ah... thanks.”

Konoha wanted to say something. Anything to make the moment last. Alas, nothing. You didn’t say anything either—not like you could. It’s over now. Everything has ended. Did you grow to love him in the end? You didn’t know.

“It’s... getting a bit late. We should go home,” Konoha said. Though he wished he didn’t. “I guess this is goodbye... Thanks for being my girlfriend, L/N-san.”

You said nothing in reply as he slowly turned his back to you to leave. It was a temporary thing, things that come and go. And he’d used you to his own advantage against his luckless friends. But why were you so worried about his goodbye? You’d pulled off this entire thing in hopes to feel a romantic love that you couldn’t comprehend. It was supposed to be fluffy and heart-pounding like your mother and your brothers’ manga had described it to be.

But it was painful. Like a skyrocketing jolt of pain that nearly made your knees buckle. Why? You didn’t even know if you could love someone when you’ve been isolating yourself for so long... You loved your family, you loved your band, but did you love Konoha? You didn’t get it. What’s with that...

“I don’t understand...”

Hearing a quiet sniffle with a familiar lilt, Konoha spun around to be met with your teary gaze. And it was like the entire word had been sucked into a meaningless void, and the both of you were left to inhabit this desolate world.

“H-hey, L/N-san... d-don’t cry, come on,” he rushed to your aid as more tears rolled down your cheek soundlessly. Oh, how Konoha wished he knew how to comfort a crying girl. “Look, I’m here. I-it’s okay, it’s okay. Agh, I’m not very good at this... um...”

“I’m sorry I made you do this,” you wept. “I’m sorry I forced you into dating someone you don’t like. Everything’s all wrong...”

“Y-you don’t have to apologize! It was fun, everything was fun with you,” he blabbered, hands rubbing soothing circles on your arm. “I-it was my fault too... I just wanted to get back at Bokuto and Komi that I—”

Crap, he said it.

“I knew you were using me for that. I’ve always known.”

Konoha froze. Of course you’d find out, he’d established that point the moment he texted you in agreement. But something about your revelation made it feel like he had committed homicide. He really just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“I thought I wouldn’t mind if you broke up with me since you’d accomplished your goal... but I’m so upset. You used me but you treated me well. You used me but you made me feel loved. You don’t seem to have any feelings for me, but you made me like you... like like you. I don’t get what you’re trying to do. Konoha-kun’s so confusing...”

The entire time you’d been making him feel butterflies in his stomach... you were trying to understand him? Konoha frowned. Gutting any residual feeling of doubt, he grabbed a plastic package in his coat pocket and shoved it in your hands.

“You don’t have to understand anything if it makes you happy!”

Your blood ran cold. He’d never shouted at you. But the determined expression on his face urged you to open the package sitting daintily in your palm. It was the same chrysanthemum necklace you’d given him. Was he giving it back? No... this necklace was slightly different from the one you gave him.

“I got it for you when you were out to the restroom. I was planning to confess to you with this after our date, but you made it seem like you didn’t like me. What’s with that, huh? Of course I like you! You don’t think I regret using you for a petty revenge every single moment we went out? When you made it so hard for me to not fall for you?”

Konoha couldn’t even hear the words coming out of his mouth. Whatever they were, he hoped he got his message through to you. Good and honest. Honest and true. Panting, he watched your tears slowly subside.

Wiping the droplets with the sleeve of your jacket, you weakly punched him on the chest. “You’re an idiot for falling for me.”

Ruffling your hair, he sighed, “That makes two of us. Idiot.”

As the silence dwindled, you played with the hems of your skirt as you spoke quietly, “So, are you going to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Confess.”

“Ha... now? Right here?” he groaned with a cheeky cadence.

“Don’t mess around. I’ll definitely cry again if you don’t do it.”

Chuckling, Konoha pulled back from you with the necklace he’d gifted you back in his hands. “Yes, yes. How bossy...”

He bowed. In the middle of a public sidewalk. But it didn’t matter, because whatever was going to happen next was in your control.

“L/N Y/N-san! I’ve always liked you since middle school when we were on cleaning duty together and you helped me erase the blackboard. My feelings died out for a while because I thought you’d be too distracted to acknowledge me, but after two months of your “trial experiment”, I’ve grown to like you again. So please! Go out with me.”

“Ehh... that was much blander than I’d thought...”

Suddenly, Konoha knew how Reo felt when he’d wonder whether or not you were giving out enlightenment or backhanded comments. Clicking his tongue, he crossed his arms. “How would you do it?”

Proudly clearing your throat, you bowed as he did. “Konoha Akinori-kun, the ignorant fool from Class 2. I’ve come to realize my feelings for you. Though I don’t remember the ‘you’ from middle school, I’m glad you were there to remember me anyway. You were right. The time we spent together was fun; I don’t think I’ll ever get bored with you around... If you will, please accept my humble feelings. I want to keep understanding things with you. That itself would bring me the greatest joy in the world.”

“That... that was actually pretty good. Though, let’s talk about the part where you called me an ignorant fool—”

As Konoha spoke, you reached into his pocket to extract the necklace you’d given him earlier. Placing it in his palm, you smiled warmly, relishing in the blush that dusted his face. “I’ll be in your care, Aki-chan.”

Slipping his own necklace into your hold, he clasped your hands together. “So will I, Y/N-chan.”

And like déjà vu, your stomach rumbled loudly. Embarrassing, you groaned.

Taking one hand in his, the both of you walked through the sidewalk. “Wanna eat? I’ll pay.”

“...Sichuan hotpot*...” you said under your breath.

“No way! I’ll end up with diarrhea like last time. We’ll just eat fast food...”

“Ehehe, Aki-chan can’t handle spicy food~”

“Y/N-chan, pick on me one more time and I’ll split the bill.”

As the two of you burst out in laughter, your arms swung back on forth against the course of the wind. Neither of you even thought of letting go.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

“K-Konoha’s wearing a flower necklace... Dude. If you have a secret you want to tell us, we can always financially support you...”

“Bokuto, I don’t know what ridiculous things are going on in your head, but I know they’re absolutely wrong.”

Buttoning up the last button of his shirt, he slipped the silver chain behind the fabric, it’s steel coolness imprinting itself near his tepid heart. Noticing the faint chirps of little sparrows, Konoha turned his attention to the light streaming from the west-side window. Autumn’s here.

“Hey, are you going to eat with L/N-san again today?” the ever-smiling Sarukui called for him from the door.

“Ah, yeah. She said she wanted to show me a new song she was working on.”

Chuckling, his friend let out a long breath, “Lucky you.”

Konoha smiled. Lucky indeed, he thought as you waved at him from where you stood below. In the green of the plush fall grass, yellow, pink, red and white blossoms surrounded the courtyard where you’d first approached him. Yellow, pink, red, white, and two silver chrysanthemums to welcome the new season.

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

Glossary:

taichou - captain/leader

tamagoyaki - japanese rolled omelettes

konnyaku - japanese yam cakes

sichuan hotpot - a REALLY spicy hotpot with sichuan peppers

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #hq #haikyu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #konoha akinori #konoha akinori x reader #konoha x reader #konoha akinori imagine #konoha akinori scenario #fukuroudani x reader #bruh haikyuu writing #ensemble bruh haikyuu #2K special #sfw

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