#admiringlove | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shu-glue · 2 years

Text

Chapter 7: Operation Help You Help Me, Commence!

Summary: You and Suna finally begin studying! At least, you would have begun if you both weren't so pissy with each other. After getting kicked out of the library, you take Suna to your secret study spot.

A/N: i am so over this /j tumblr kept nerfing the chapter and i couldnt figure out what was wrong im so sorry to the taglist, yall kept getting tagged omg. hopefully it works now and yall enjoy the chapter hsfhgjshgjsh

prev / masterlist / next

taglist!

@milkteeboba @fairywriter-oracle @s-adidass @admiringlove @mmmaaannnsssiii @pavo-ocxllus @jojowantstocry @alienvarmint @meri-soni-meri-tamanna

"Suna…"

Said middle blocker doesn't lift his face from his arms. "Mm?"

Face muffled in your hands, you mope on the sidewalk outside Inarizaki with Suna beside you, also moping.

"I don't think the library would be lettin' us back in any time soon..."

"....Mm."

Earlier…

"Good morning, guys, where did we leave off last time?" The teacher steps off the podium and grabs a piece of chalk, beginning to write out the lesson on the board.

One girl lifts her hand tentatively. "We were learnin' about character archetypes."

"Thank you, Itto-san; now, please turn to page 95 of your textbook—"

If Suna wasn't so determined to prevent you from getting any more opportunities to get the upper hand on him, he would have gone to sleep one character archetype ago. Book propped up to cover his sleeping face, it was so, so tempting right now.

But alas, he knows that if he doesn't take down notes and you find out later, you'll never let him off the damn hook for the rest of the afternoon (god forbid).

It's the day after you and Suna made your agreement and signed that goofy contract. That goofy ass contract. You'd think someone like you would have some cutesy handwriting, not chicken scratch and sentences that look like they're an airplane taking off.

He would have laughed out loud at the ever increasing irony yesterday if he hadn't felt so irritated with you.

("Hey. If ya didn't try ta blackmail me," you were smirking that goddamn smirk, unfortunately the very first 'smile' he's seen that reached your eyes, "I would have agreed ta tutor ya.")

Suna bites the nail of his thumb, glaring ahead. He'll admit, he was a bit too hasty in trying to mess with you. He'll have to be more careful around you in the future since you've proven to be able to turn the tide.

And because he's going to be around you more often now.

"That's suspicious."

Suna closes his eyes as if he feels a headache coming on and slowly opens them again as he turns to his right. Osamu is side-eyeing him, twirling his pen between his fingers. Dun eyes look him up and down, narrowed and eyebrows furrowed. What's all this scrutiny for?

"Are you quoting a meme or are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talkin' ta the window." Osamu rolls his eyes. "Ya never take notes. Usually yer dead asleep by now and I have ta cover fer yer ass."

"Well, excuse you, maybe I'm actually going to take this class seriously." Suna rolls his eyes, ignoring the way Osamu snaps his head towards his friend, an eyebrow raised.

"Now that's even weirder. Who brainwashed ya?"

"Shut up."

Osamu's usually not so inquisitive and Suna would prefer it if the former would fucking stop right now. The thought of meeting with you later is already enough to make him want to lie about getting sick and take the rest of the day off. "Did ya get a tutor? That's the only explanation I could think of." Osamu tilts his head, as if he's more curious than he should be.

"Why are you so annoying about this?"

"I just didn't expect anyone to want to tutor you with your horrible personality." Suna glares at him at the comment. "Who's the unlucky bastard stuck with teachin' yer dense ass, anyway?"

Well, everyone is bound to know one way or another, and coming clean to begin with will stop any rumors from spreading.

When Suna says your name, it takes Osamu a couple of seconds to fully register it. He turns away from Suna to look towards the board, then back at Suna again. He looks at his notebook before he snaps his head towards Suna once again, this time with wide eyes as the words sink in. "WHAT."

"Mr. Suna, Mr. Miya, would ya like ta discuss whatever yer discussing right now to the class?" The teacher asks them, every one of their classmates turned towards them once again.

"Ah… n-no sir." Suna mumbles, averting his gaze at the same time Osamu mutters an embarrassed "sorry".

"Just don't do it again or I'll have you both spend the rest of the class in the corridor."

The teacher returns to teaching and Osamu returns to… being Osamu; annoying the shit out of Suna. "Are ya messin' with me? Them?? The girl you've been having bad blood with for the past few days???"

"Yeah."

"Did ya blackmail them ta do it?"

Suna is unfortunately reminded of his failed attempt at blackmailing you yesterday, which makes his face sour. "No, what makes you say that?"

Honestly, the thought of you tutoring Suna would raise some—if not all—eyebrows. That video posted the other day has made its rounds enough for everyone to guess that you and Suna are "mortal enemies". If someone from another class were to be asked what they think, they'd say that you and Suna being in the same room would just spell trouble (and inconvenience).

Neither of you are exactly thrilled at the prospect of being around each other either, but there's nothing else to be done.

"How did ya convince them, then? Last I checked, they hate yer guts too. Maybe even more 'cuz you've been messing with them yesterday." Osamu asks, propping his chin on his palm.

Suna sighs, leaning back and tapping his pen on his desk. "Well, we made a deal, in exchange for tutoring me, I teach them—"

("Firstly, no one should know about this deal, especially Kita. If I found out ya tell anyone else about this, god forbid those Miya twins, yer dead to me." Maybe Suna should have asked if the soul-piercing and deadly glare on your face was serious or not.)

"—how to choose better manga next time." Now, Suna panicked; he said the first words that came to mind, apart from 'teach you how to be a girlfriend which is, in hindsight, such an absurd idea'. He just hopes you'd kill him a bit more gently now for outing you as an avid manga reader (you will not be pleased).

Osamu blinks. "...manga."

Suna's voice breaks. "Yes."

Osamu blinks again. "...they read manga?"

"They do; they, uh, they're not obsessed," (debatable), "and they don't read anything weird," (also debatable), "but, yes." Suna coughs. "They do."

God probably heard his plea because Osamu finally dropped it, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover." He says, turning back to the front of the class and Suna does a silent and subtle fistbump.

Morning classes end and lunch comes and everyone walks out of their classrooms. Everyone except for a few, however; and that includes you.

You're glaring at the unopened melon bread package in front of you, wanting to eat so bad but your stupid brain is scolding you too much to do so.

What were you thinking?! Do you want to die early from high blood pressure?!

You shouldn't have agreed to Suna's offer! A player with a bad track record of bad relationships isn't the best source of relationship knowledge! You should've thought about that.

Maybe it was the urge to one up him or maybe you were just that desperate, but in hindsight, this entire agreement is fucking WHACK.

You whine out in frustration, dropping your head in your arms to bury yourself away from the world. You even said you need to be careful of falling in love. As if you'd ever fall for someone like him! He's the worst! The absolute worst—!

"Hey—"

"Shut the hell up and leave me alone." You whine, lifting your head up to glare at whoever decided to interrupt your self-pity party. Only to have your eye almost poke out of their sockets when you see the familiar mop of silver hair that could only belong to Kita. A concerned looking one at that.

"Hey, are ya okay?" Kita asks you, thick eyebrows knitted together in concern and your mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, absolutely mortified.

"K-Kita! I'm sorry, I didn't—Oh my god, I'm so sorry," you let the sentence out with a rushed tone.

"I know ya never snap at people like that fer no reason, don't worry." Kita crouches down so he's eye level with you. "Then again, I haven't seen ya so irritated ever since we were kids. What's got ya so worked up?"

You let out a nervous laugh. Kita always knew if you were feeling down or feeling frustrated about something. That's just who he is, how he's been with you all your life. He could be a mountain away and he'd still be able to tell that you're overthinking about something.

("If it's real, then why hasn't Kita fallen for you yet?" The only good thing that happened after these words was the way Suna shut the fuck up at your glare.)

"Uhm, it's just something stupid, Kita." You say, hoping that that's enough to appease him. Alas, this is Kita. Mr. No-Gaps Kita is what his teammates call him, from what you heard.

"Ya can tell me anythin', remember?" Kita assures you, placing a hand on your forearm.

God, if Suna were here, he'd probably comment on how rigid you became. "It's really nothing…" You trail off at the look on Kita's face and you internally groan.

Kita has two expressions that he knows absolutely, absolutely, wins you over every time. The Puppy Dog Eyes is his go-to because you always crumble under them after 3 seconds.

And the 'I'll Tell You're Brother About That One Time in the Porch And Won't Help You When He Teases You For It' look. He rarely ever uses this one. But when he does, you know he’s serious because he has shown you long chat threads between him and your dear older brother (you think the number one mistake in your childhood was allowing Kita and Shinichi to become friends as well) where Shinichi asks about how you're doing.

“Okay, fine! Just don’t tell Shinichi!”

“I didn’t say I’d tell him…”

“Ya didn’t have ta.” You sigh, fixing your fringe. “I’m, uh, I’m tutoring Suna.” At your words, Kita's eyebrows raise and he straightens his back, surprised. You were adamant about not helping Suna with even a single chemical formula, so this is a shock.

"Ya sure? Ya don't have ta if you don't wanna, even if I ask ya to do it." Kita looks worried. "He needs the help but if he keeps being a bother to ya—"

You snort derisively, leaning back in your chair. "Well, he did try ta blackmail me," your admission immediately has Kita's face falling, replaced by an unimpressed glare.

"Oh. Did he now."

"Ya can stop thinkin' of making him suffer at practice later, we came to a compromise." You deadpan. "I know how to handle blackmail, Kita, I've done it plenty of times before. I wouldn't have agreed ta tutor him if we didn't have a deal."

Kita's face falls further, guilty, and you panic at the sight of it. You wave your hands frantically in front of you, stuttering over your words. "H-hey! Don't feel so guilty, Kita, it was my choice ta tutor him in the end." You assure him. "Besides, I ain't doin' it for free, he said he'd teach me—"

Shit.

"—hOw to play volleyball!"

If Suna were here, he wouldn't have just taken a picture, he would have recorded that audio. Maybe even taken a video. Because this would singlehandedly be the most embarrassing state you've been in ever since you were born. No, ever since your soul entered this world.

Kita blinks, confused at your outburst yet again. "...volleyball?" He repeats, as if bewildered.

God, you hope your voice doesn't crack again. "YeAh!" Sigh. "Volleyball. I—I don't know how to play so like, I thought—I thought it would be fun, ya know? Since ya play. And yer the captain of the volleyball team. Ya should know, how fun it is…. since ya play it everyday."

If the ground doesn't swallow you up in the next five seconds, you're going to purchase the next ticket to Antartica. The penguins won't judge you there.

Kita blinks again before he frowns and his eyes are downcast. "You could've asked me ta teach ya."

If the ground doesn't swallow you up in the next five seconds as punishment for making Kita sad, you're going to purchase the next ticket to Antartica so the penguins can judge you instead (Rockhopper Penguins look judgemental enough. Though you're not sure if there are Rockhopper Penguins in Antartica).

"I-I didn't wanna bother ya, Kita, yer already so busy with yer team…" You say immediately, trailing off when you see the slightly disappointed expression on his face.

You never liked to lie to Kita. It makes your stomach ache worse than when you met him for the first time. You've dubbed it the worst feeling in the world when your lie makes him sad in the process as well.

"I want to." He replies.

"I'm sorry, I really just didn't wanna bother ya…" You say, clasping your hands together on your lap. "When I learn how to play volleyball, let's play a match together! I'll beat yer butt like old times!"

Finally, Kita sighs and gives you an endeared smile, smothering a laugh and patting your head. It's warm. "If ya say so. Though, I don't remember a time ya beat me in anything."

"Sure, there was. Ya remember that time with—"

It was nice, talking to him like this again while it lasted. A cough interrupts the two of you and you both turn to the doorway to see Aran standing there awkwardly, wearing an awkward smile. "Sorry ta interrupt, Kita, the coaches called for ya." He says, giving you a sheepish nod in greeting, which you return.

Aran knows Kita is fond of you, though he had never been able to decipher why their captain took a liking to you (in their eyes). "Right, I'm coming." Kita says, standing up straight once again.

Before he walks away, he turns to you and, with a soft smile, he says, "see ya later."

You politely wave goodbye, and watch as Kita and Aran walk out of your classroom and out of sight. When they're truly gone, you slowly deflate, eyes downcast and lower lip caught between your teeth.

You're so tired of acting like strangers.

With your art club duties done for the day, you immediately go over to the gymnasium. You finished at the same time the volleyball team finished practice, it seems, seeing as they are now busy tidying up the gym. You stand by the entrance, looking into the wide space with a blank but curious gaze.

Oddly, it's the older Miya twin who notices you first, freezing in the process of pushing the ball cart across the court. You blink, nodding at him. Which one was he again? Osamu? Atsushi? Atsumu?

"Pardon the intrusion," you say instead, bowing in politeness towards the faux blond. Instead of a proper reply, Atsumu gawks at you, eyes and mouth open wide, and he whirls around towards his twin with such speed you thought he broke his neck.

"SAMU. YA WEREN'T KIDDING, THEY REALLY ARE GONNA TUTOR 'IM." Were the words that escaped the blond's mouth in a rather eardrum-breaking shout. Honestly, judging from how he interacted with Nana the other day, does he really not have a low volume setting?

"SEE, I TOLD YA, YA DIDN'T BELIEVE ME." His twin is no different.

"Shut the hell up…" You finally notice Suna next to the gray-haired twin. He honestly looks close to melting to the ground. Maybe he shouldn't have told Osamu if he knew the latter would pester him so much.

"Pay them no mind. They're just surprised." Kita tells you as he walks towards you, but he has his piercing glare set on Atsumu and Osamu, who both stand rigid at the silent scolding.

You sigh. "Clearly." You mutter, before schooling your features. "I'm just here to fetch Suna."

"I'm coming, I'm coming, you don't have to escort me like I'm a kid." Said middle blocker glares at you with his sleepy eyes.

"I'm just makin' sure ya don't chicken outta our deal last second."

"Your sass is not appreciated after gruesomer-than-usual training." Suna rolls his shoulder to release the tension in his muscles. Practice is strangely harder than usual (Kita silently looks over strategy plans in the corner).

Osamu perks up as he suddenly calls your name, taking your attention. "If ya wanna read a new manga, try One Piece if ya haven't yet."

Silence. You blink once, twice, tilting your head. Suna silently covers his face beside you. "What?"

"Suna told me he'd help ya choose better manga next time in exchange fer tutorin' him."

Silence. You slowly turn to Suna with a scarily blank face, eyes wide and eyebrow twitching. "What?"

"Eh?" Suna hears Aran blurt out. "I thought Suna would teach them volleyball. That's what ya told me, right, Kita?"

It's your turn to freeze and slowly cover your face, as Suna slowly turns to you with a scarily blank face. "What?"

"We're doin' both!" You immediately exclaim, lifting both hands to slam them on Suna's mouth to stop him from talking. "He'll teach me how to choose better manga series," you give him a pointed glare, "and he'll also teach me volleybAll."

Before anyone could respond, you literally push Suna, middle blocker, 73.2 kilograms, out the double doors. "We'll be on our merry way now, goodbye!"

You're both out the doors and out of sight, leaving the rest of the team baffled at having one of their members—essentially—abducted.

Kita rubs a hand over his face. "I feel a heavy cloud covering me…."

"D-Don't worry, Kita! They'll be able ta be civil for a few hours at least!" Michinari cheerfully assures Kita. "The worst case scenario is that they kill each other!"

"......the cloud is getting heavier……"

"KITA!!!"

"Yer a goddamn asshole."

"I didn't exactly out you as an otaku—"

"I'm not an otaku!" You jut your pen at Suna’s face threateningly, which he easily moves to the side away from his vulnerable face. The air is slightly cold with the air conditioning, the ‘Please lower your voices in the library’ sign swaying idly in the draft. A couple of other students, maybe ten or twelve, are sitting at the other tables of the library. Some are just hanging around and refusing to go home yet, others cramming for quizzes tomorrow.

“Yes, sure, denial does not look cute on you, High and Mighty." Suna says and you massage your temples, feeling the worst migraine of the week coming on. You hate everything annoying.

"Let's just focus on studying fer now before ya give me a bigger headache." You say, sighing loudly as you pull out the materials you need for tutoring Suna. "Let's rank yer subjects from best to worst."

"What? Why?"

"In order ta pass midterms, we need to get all yer subjects at a passing grade. If yer best subjects are the ones yer already passing in, then we'll focus on your kryptonite first." You explain, tapping your pen on the table. "We'll give strict attention to your worst subjects then slowly start reviewing for yer better subjects once midterms are closer."

Suna opens his mouth to retort on instinct, but shuts it close again as he processes your words. "Makes sense."

You give him a passive shrug and a small smirk. "Of course it does, I said it."

"Sounding a little high and mighty there, High and Mighty."

".............." You're dead silent, slowly raising a fist threateningly at Suna, who gets the message fairly quickly.

"Alright, I'll shut up."

Rolling your eyes, you listen as Suna lists Literature as one of his better subjects (a total shock to you, and when you tell him this, Suna pinched your arm) and lists Math and Science as his worst subjects (which didn't surprise you as much but when you tell him this, he still pinched you.)

"Lucky for you," you say, pulling out your Math and Science notes, "I tolerate those two subjects enough ta excel in 'em. We'll focus on Math an' Science fer now and work our way down to your easy subjects."

"I said Math and Science are my worst subjects but I don't think my grades are that bad." Suna interjects, crossing his arms.

"Well, that depends. Can I see yer recent quizzes from your Math and Science class?"

"........."

"I said, can I?"

".................."

Slowly, Suna pulls out a stack—more like crumpled PILE—of papers out of his backpack that you deadpan at, as he places the pile on the table and pushes it towards you. "...Additional Rule Number 7, don't shove yer test papers into yer bag as if they're cotton stuffin' fer a teddy bear."

"I was in a hurry." Suna wasn't exactly lying, per se, he was just in a hurry to not see the scores anymore.

Deadpan, you look down and sift through the pile, finally finding Suna's latest quizzes—

"..................................."

You're dead silent once again but instead of trying to hold back boiling rage, you're absolutely speechless. You alternate between the two test papers over and over again, as if it's going to change what you see on the paper, even turning them over again and again. A few other students in the library have decided to take glances at the two of you, wondering why there's so much incessant sounds of paper crumpling.

You finally look up at Suna with a blank expression, the two test papers in each hand. "Yer grades are fuckin' piss poor."

"It's not that bad—!"

"I don't know if a score of 0.5—in fuckin' total— is considered 'not that bad'!" You're waving his test papers in the air frantically, trying to channel your anger without punting him. "Look—LOOK—there's a freebie, a bonus question on the end, yeah? 'What is the name of yer Science teacher', yeah? That's the only source of yer score! And ya didn't even use the correct kanji!"

"I remembered it enough," Suna trails off, averting his gaze. "What would I do with the excess grades anyway?"

"Ya did not just call them excess grades!"

You massage your temples as you stare straight through Suna, finally realizing just what the hell you signed up for. This is it. The headaches to end all headaches. The peak of headacheness. The goddamn summit. No future headache will ever climb this high again.

"When are midterms…?"

"....in four weeks."

You slowly cover your face with your hands.

"...tutorin' just on weekdays ain't enough." You slide your hands down your face, already tired before you even started tutoring. "Yer not entirely a lost cause," ("Thanks???"), "but if we're gonna get ya ta pass midterms, we need a lot more sessions. A lot."

You're way too emotionally invested at this point because you cannot STAND to see grades that low again. "I'll hav'ta tutor ya on the weekends now too." You lean your chin on your palm. "This Saturday fer example, I'll come by yer house."

Suna grimaces at that and averts his gaze, scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe not my house. My little sister hates people in the house."

You hum. You understand the sentiment, since you don't like random people in your house either. "Then, we'll find somewhere quiet ta study. And fer god's sake, please review yer lessons at home."

"I do study at home, mind you."

"With grades like these??" You wave Suna's test papers in the air in front of his face. "No, ya ain't!"

"I'm sorry not everybody can be 'Miss Perfect' like you." Suna shoots back, glaring as he leans his chin on his hand as well. He's wearing such an arrogant and aggravating expression right now, and his tone is not helping.

"Miss Perfect??" You bristle, placing his test papers on the table again to clench your fists, not noticing your voice getting louder.

"What, you prefer High and Mighty, High and Mighty?" He goads, lips now stretched in his now familiar and all too infuriating smirk. Oh, he can just go and jump off a bridge while doing a triple backflip.

You and Suna glare at each other as the tense air around you increases tenfold, catching the attention of the rest of the students in the library. "Mind if I call ya Jackass then?" You shoot back.

"Bossy bitch."

"Baggy eyes."

"Whiney voice."

"Mr. Bean Haircut."

"Simp."

He did NOT! "Motherfu—!" You're about to release a spew of curses at the middle blocker in a fit of utter aggravation, fed up with his antics even after 20 minutes of being together. But you both flinch when you hear somebody shush you. Loudly.

The librarian is a mean lady and the only reason why you very rarely visit the library even though it has a considerable amount of books you'd like to browse through someday. Graying brown hair tied into a tight bun, egg shaped magenta glasses perched high on her snotty nose bridge. She's so vexing.

"Quiet." She says, eyeing you and Suna with the dirtiest look you've seen of her to date as she points up at a 'Please lower your voice in the library' sign. She's vexing but she gives you the shivers all the same.

"Ah, we apologize." You mutter, bowing your head.

"Sorry, I was just arguing with my tutor." Suna says at the same time and you whirl around to glare at him fiercely, which he ignores.

The librarian scoffs but returns to whatever she was doing before she set her ire on the two of you. "Great job, Suna." Your harsh tone doesn't evoke a response from him, his impassive gaze set on you. "Ya almost got us banned from the library!"

"Me?" Suna's scoff almost sounds identical to the librarian's. "You're the one who's getting riled up here, High and Mighty."

"Because you insist on bein' a pain in the neck!"

"I didn't even DO anything these past few minutes!"

"YER EXISTENCE IS ANNOYIN' IN GENERAL!"

"YOU'RE A PAIN IN THE NECK TOO, FOR YOUR INFORMATION—!"

"ENOUGH. YOU TWO. GET OUT!"

Present…

"Will ya please be serious about this fer once?!" You snap, finally lifting your face from your hands to glare at Suna for the nth time this afternoon. "We coulda been banned! The librarian just kickin' us out might be the nicer thing she coulda done ta us!"

"Your dialect gets stronger when you're angry." Suna unhelpfully comments instead of being serious like you asked. "That's a first, I gotta say."

"What first, that I was stupid enough ta argue with ya in the library?!"

"I was talking about almost getting banned from the library." Suna stands up and dusts off his pants. "But yeah. Seeing you get so riled up was entertaining, High and Mighty."

You sigh loudly, standing up as well and dusting yourself off too, stomping your foot. "At least yer the one who finds all of this funny." You send him a scathing glare. "Call me High and Mighty again and I'll break yer fingers, get ya benched from tournaments regardless of grades."

"Oooh, threatening me now. Not so innocent, are you, High and Mighty?" The kick you deliver to his shin completely wipes off the smirk that was starting to form on Suna's face. You're smug on the inside but you don't let it show on your face, turning around to walk away.

"Go home fer now, Suna."

You don't let him have the last word, walking away before he could respond. You love doing that to him, don't you? Leave it up to you to rile Suna up just as much as he does you.

Not even the Miya twins are this annoying to him (and to say someone is more irritating than Atsumu? That's a feat). "High and Mighty… you've got no shame, do you?" He mutters under his breath, running a hand down his face. He has no shame either.

When he finally goes home to the apartment, he catches Risumi coming out of the living room, homework and empty strawberry milk carton in hand. Suna raises an eyebrow when he sees her and Risumi frowns, rolling her eyes.

"I'm home." He says as she turns around to walk back to her room. "Did you eat dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Risumi, if I open the fridge and see the curry untouched, I'm telling Mom you're not eating again." Suna threatens, following Risumi to the hallway that leads to their rooms. "Risumi."

"Whatever." Risumi turns her head just enough to glare at Suna before she slams the door to her room shut behind her. Suna's nose would have been crushed if he was standing just an inch further.

Suna sighs loudly, partly in pettiness so Risumi could hear him through the door, before trudging to the living room. He drops his bag to the floor, rubbing his face as he plops down on the couch and covers his eyes with his forearm.

How are you and Suna going to complete even one study session if you're both at each other's throats all the time? Maybe if you hadn't judged his grades earlier— ugh!

"Dad," Suna calls out to the air. The small shrine sits pristine at the corner like usual, Suna's father—Suna Masashi—smiling brightly in the picture. "How do you deal with people you can't stand?"

Their dad was always good at that, Suna somewhat remembers. Dealing with people without letting his emotions or ideals get in the way of things. Their dad was always professional, stoic. But so warmhearted with him and Risumi and their mother.

Suna abruptly pulls his arm away from his face. "It's not like I didn't antagonize them first." He admits to the empty space. "But you know, they proved my point anyway. So annoying…"

He finally looks at the photo sitting atop the small shrine. Eyes crinkled at the corners behind dark rimmed glasses, lips turned upwards in a radiant smile—the only smile reserved for their family. Slight showings of a light stubble on his chin. Suna frowns.

Their dad was described as cold and arrogant. He heard his elementary classmates back in Nagoya say so while their dad was still alive. Cold, arrogant, stoic.

The front door opens and Suna turns to see their mother, Suna Tsubomi, walk into the apartment, tired and dressed in her nurse uniform. She blinks when she sees Suna and gives him a bright smile as she kicks off her shoes. "Rintarou! I'm home." She readjusts her low ponytail.

"Welcome home." Suna greets back, nodding at her. "Uhm, mom."

Tsubomi blinks, tilting her head as she places her bag down on the couch next to Suna's bookbag tentatively. "What's wrong, Rin? Something bothering you at school?" She asks Suna, eyebrows furrowed.

"No, not really." Suna averts his gaze. "What was dad like in high school?"

"Hot."

"Mom."

Tsubomi laughs heartily, patting Suna on the head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist like I couldn't resist your dad when we were second years." Her words make Suna groan in embarrassment. "Well, to answer your question, your dad was like… hmm, he was the same when he was in high school and when he became your dad.

"He was real quiet. Real intimidating, too. Everyone avoided him like the plague when he first transferred." Tsubomi giggles fondly. "But he wasn't as scary or arrogant as everyone thought him to be, mind you. I saw him chase down a cat that stole his underwear, you know," Suna snorts, "it's true! Chased it down three blocks before he got his underwear back. Your dad had his moments."

"What made you like him?"

Tsubomi hums, holding her chin with her fingers. "I didn't like him at first. Like everybody else, I thought he was rude and arrogant and cold." Her eyes soften ever so slightly as she looks over at the picture in the corner, atop the small shrine, as if a distant memory is replaying in her head. "But then, I don't know.

"I looked at him from a different angle."

Suna blinks, sitting up straighter when he hears those words. Tsubomi laughs, waving her hand. "And then we had you and Risumi so I guess that new perspective was worth it. Why do you ask, Rin?" Her eyes suddenly shone like stars. "Do you like somebody, perhaps?"

"No. No, it's just… somebody from school I've been having trouble with." Suna says, averting his gaze again. "They're cold, distant, and rude, and it always feels like they're judging everything and everyone." (You do, though.) "We were…supposed to be working together today, but we couldn't get anything done because we kept butting heads."

Tsubomi frowns, placing her hands on her hips with a stern expression. "Are they the one causing trouble?" She asks.

"...it's not entirely them." Suna admits, sighing.

Their mom hums. "Maybe the both of you butt heads because you haven't come to an understanding yet. Just give it time, and do what you're supposed to do. Who knows," she smiles brightly, close eyed, "maybe you'll see them in a different light, as they will you."

The middle blocker is silent, lips sealed shut as he glances at Masashi's picture once again. "Debatable."

Ring. Ring.

Tsubomi raises an eyebrow at the ringtone, watching as Suna pulls out his phone and stares at the unknown phone number in confusion. "Who's that?"

"I don't know."

Suna hangs up the call and not even two seconds later, the same number rings again, accompanied with a lone, borderline aggravated message:

unknown [7:37PM]

pick up the phone jackass

"I'm going to my room for a bit." Suna says, nodding when their mother tells him to just come out for dinner in a few minutes.

There's only one person he knows that would be able to channel such irritated energy in a text like that (it's lowkey funny). Plopping down onto his bed, the door shut, he finally answers your call. "Yo."

"Ya take so long ta answer a simple call."

"I don't normally answer random calls from random numbers." Suna furrows his eyebrows and rubs his temple. "How did you get my number anyway?"

"A little silver birdie gave me yer number when ya conveniently forgot ta do so."

"I didn't forget to give you my number. I remembered to not give you my number. Biiig difference."

"Whatever." Suna lets out a small 'snrk' at your exasperated tone. "I remembered a good spot for us ta study. It's a hole in the wall cafe some blocks away from the school. Only a handful of people go there, and I'm pretty sure no one from our school knows the place."

"A hole in the wall, huh?" Suna muses, clicking out of the call to scroll through his social media, rolling his eyes when he sees a video of you and Suna arguing in the library entitled 'Suna Rintarou and Asagao Kid finally duke it out! #NO CLICKBAIT!!!' (he knows he records and posts videos of Atsumu and Osamu brawling from time to time but come on). "Sounds like a good idea. I don't really like the idea of other people watching us. I'm willing to guess you don't want other people to watch me teach you how to be in relationships, too."

"Of course I don't, jackass!" He hears you sigh from the other end of the line. "Then, let's walk together after yer practice and my club activities. It's a little hard to locate the cafe if yer not used to the area."

"Sure, High and Mighty." Suna smirks when he hangs the call up right after, knowing he didn't let you respond this time. Heh.

His phone pings again.

unknown [7:49PM]

youre an ass

He couldn't help it; he actually laughs out loud at your message, collapsing back onto his bed with a slight bounce of the mattress, his phone on his stomach. Maybe he should change your contact name to something he knows you'll roll your eyes at and chastise him for when you ever decide to steal his phone.

high&mighty [7:50PM]

dont change my contact name to anything stupid on your phone, okay

suna [7:50PM]

too late :P

"We finished earlier than usual!" Nana cheers, pumping her fists in the air in victory as the three of you walk out the clubroom after another long day, stretching her back while she does so.

Ryuji grins brightly back, glancing at you. "The posters for the volleyball team should be done by the end of the week as well, earlier than we planned."

"I know, I'm sorta happy about it." You smile, already imagining the elated face Kita would have once the posters are finished. "I'm kinda proud of them too."

"Ya should be more than 'kinda' proud of 'em, senpai!" Nana turns to face you, a stern expression on her face. "Ya worked on those posters real hard! And they all look so amazin', those meatheaded volleyball players would be downright stupid if they call yer hard work ugly!"

You giggle lightly, Ryuji rolls his eyes. "No one is going ta outright call Vice Prez's posters ugly."

"Ya never know. A couple of those volleyballers are outright dumbasses."

"Yer talkin' about the blond Miya."

"How'd ya know."

"Guys, stop it." You chastise them and they both sigh loudly, muttering drawled 'okay's. "Speaking of the volleyball team, I need ta go over to the gym and fetch Suna again for tutorin'."

Nana turns to you with a 'scandalized' expression, Ryuji blinks at you curiously. "WHAT? But I thought the both of ya got banned from the library! There was a whole video about it online!"

"We were just kicked out, not really banned. I found a good spot he and I could go to to study without anyone else catching us arguing." Your casual tone makes the two of them freeze, bodies going rigid and book bags almost falling from their shoulders from lack of support.

"S, somewhere… secret?" Nana starts.

"Where no one else will see the two of ya?" Ryuji continues, face going white.

Oblivious, you turn around with a curious and impassive expression, mentally wondering why they suddenly stopped walking. "Yeah, why?"

You are responded to with Nana abruptly grabbing your biceps, holding you there with an urgent look on her face. "S-senpai, if Suna touches ya in any way, you run the opposite direction, ya hear me?" Her words prompt a weird noise from you, something between a strangled goat and a guy choking on jello, pounding on your chest to prevent choking yourself.

"Wh— wait, no, yer misunderstanding! We really are just going to study, we aren't going to be completely alone—!"

"Take this pepper spray with ya just in case." Ryuji hands you a small container.

"I don't need it! Why are y'all being so weird about it!" You ask, flustered at their ill hidden assumptions.

"Senpai, Suna Rintarou is a PLAYBOY and yer going to be together, ALONE." Nana pulls on her long wild hair for emphasis, in part frustration and part worry.

"I'll be fine!" You pout, crossing your arms. You're getting annoyed at their paranoia.

"Vice Prez, we're just worried about ya. We know he's not that bad," Nana gives Ryuji a hard glare, "we know he might not be that bad, but it's always better ta be safe than sorry."

Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, you drape yourself on Nana and Ryuji's shoulders, pulling them close to you with an exasperated and defeated expression. "Fine, I'll just be extra…"

"Extra careful." Ryuji points at you with a long finger.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be extra careful."

"And kick him in the nuts if he does anythin' perverted!" Nana exclaims, some students around you turning their heads at Nana's words.

You cover your face to avoid being associated. "Got it. I'm leaving now."

"Remember, senpai, the nuts! Go for the nuts!" Nana yells after you and you walk faster, eager to escape the embarrassing situation.

On the plus side, you arrive at the gym in record time. On the down side, your shins hurt. Trudging to the entrance, you can hear the sound of the ball hitting the polished wooden floorboards and the squeaking of sneakers against the surface. You'll probably be hearing this a lot in the following weeks.

Moving the net away so you can enter, you announce your entrance, "Sorry for the intru—"

Only to be almost hit with a volleyball that's probably going the speed of a bullet train. "—sion." You calmly finish, passively watching the ball bounce to a stop a few feet away and slowly turning your gaze to see who almost hit you.

"I'M SORRY." None other than Miya Atsumu shouts from the other side of the gym, frozen on his post-jump serve position and face white as a sheet. You deadpan.

Is this something you have to get used to in the coming weeks too…?

"Great job, idiot." Osamu's sarcasm is met with a fiery response from Atsumu, who whirls around to face his twin with a crimson face.

"SHUDDUP, 'SAMU!"

This interaction alerts Kita of your presence while Akagi goes to fetch the wayward ball, the former already beginning to jog towards your side when Suna beats him to it.

"High and Mighty, careful or you'll mess up that pretty face." He teases you, hands shoved in his shorts as improvised pockets. You feel annoyed already.

"Aww, ya think I'm pretty, Suna?" You drawl sarcastically, throwing a halfhearted glare his way and daintily covering your mouth with your hand.

He rolls his eyes. "Got me again, you goofy cow."

"Did you just call me a cow—? Ya know what, don't answer that."

"I meant a cow as a compliment!"

"Oh thank you, great sweaty ass Suna." You drawl, rolling your eyes and crossing your arms.

"I'm sweaty, huh?" Suna outstretched his arms. "Gimme a hug."

"Ew, no. Yer gonna get yer disgusting sweat on me."

Suna gives you an unamused expression and suddenly stalks towards you, arms still outstretched and dead set on hugging you with his sweaty ass. "S, Suna, no. Absolutely not. Suna Rintarou, stop that this instant—SUNA!"

"Just one lil hug."

"No!" You squeal, clumsily trying to dodge his tall frame and his stupid long arms.

"You're so cruel, High and Mighty, denying a guy his hugs." He's deadpan as he chases you around the court, earning looks from the rest of the team. You continue to yell curses at him, evading him around the net that Aran and Ginjima are trying to take down to return to the storage room (and failing because of the two of you).

Akagi arrives back with the ball Atsumu served way out of bounds, raising an eyebrow at the scene in front of him as he glances at Kita. "Shouldn't we stop 'em?"

Kita watches you and Suna, Suna finally getting close enough to wrap his sweaty body around you before you kick him in the shin. Osamu laughs at the middle blocker's plight. "No, let them be. We're finished with practice anyway." There's a small, soft smile on Kita's face, brown eyes crinkling at the corners. Akagi raises his eyebrows but doesn't reply, sporting a small smile as well.

Suna finally gives up and heads to the showers with the rest of the team, much to your relief. You don't want to walk around smelling like expired fish sauce. When he finally emerges from the locker room, dressed in his uniform and book bag slung on his shoulder once again, he drapes his large frame over you, his heavy weight making you grunt.

"I'm tired, carry me."

"Get off of me, ya jackass!"

"Yer goin' already, Suna?" Osamu calls out to the both of you, Atsumu close behind his gray haired twin.

"Yep, I'm getting tutored by High and Mighty here." Suna pats your head. "This noggin's my lifeline right about now."

"Then ya better focus on studyin' a bit harder." You kick Suna in the shin again, making him pull himself off you as you begin to walk towards the exit, Suna dramatically limping right after you singing a string of curse words.

Osamu glances at his twin, an eyebrow raised. "Ya think they'll ever finish even one lesson?"

Atsumu doesn't answer that, instead narrowing his honey brown eyes at you and Suna before you exit the gym, more specifically at your retreating figure. "'Samu."

"Hm?"

"Aren'tcha a little bit, I don't know, suspicious of the Asagao kid?" Atsumu crosses his arms. It's seldom that Atsumu is serious and actually thinks of something seriously other than volleyball.

"Why would we be?"

"Crap, I dunno, just—ya know, what if they're like Katatsu—" Atsumu stops, shaking his head and scratching his temple, nose scrunching. "Nevermind. Forget I said anythin'."

Osamu frowns and crosses his arms as well, everything from last year flooding into his head. He doesn't have to be Atsumu's twin to be on the same wavelength as him, to understand exactly what he's saying. "To be fair, I don't think there's anybody worse than that woman."

Atsumu snorts in derision. "Worse than her? No, never." He narrows his eyes. "But as bad as her? Maybe."

If Suna hadn't deemed you at least sane enough to not kill him for all the times he's messed with you, he would have hightailed it outta there once he saw the dodgy alleyway you led him to.

At least, he's sure you're sane enough not to do that, he thinks as he follows you down said dodgy alleyway at 6PM, the sun about to set, away from the mostly bustling street into the quiet, conspicuous, perfect-for-an-inside-job—

"I feel like you're going to have me murdered." His tone is blunt, face impassive when you turn your head behind you to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "At least let me say goodbye to my mom and my bratty sister first."

"I dunno, do ya think I'm capable of havin' ya murdered?" Suna is not too sure if that's sarcasm or not.

"I mean," Suna adjusts his book bag, "maybe not you alone."

You only hum in response, choosing to not reply to that as you continue to walk forward. "Wait, are you."

"Am I." You deadpan but you stop in front of a quaint, sliding door, flanked on either side with a vast array of flowers, bouquets placed onto small wooden boxes, with light brown awning.

It contrasts greatly with the rest of the alley, which is dark, damp, and honestly a little smelly. There's a wooden sign placed above the awning, the words 'Chiho's Flower Lab' written gracefully in calligraphy. There's also a relatively smaller sign next to it, which Suna almost didn't notice. 'Cafe on the second floor'.

"I hope ya ain't allergic to flowers." You say to a confused Suna, before you slide the door open, letting the light from inside bathe the dark and damp alleyway.

Asagao General Hospital ID: Suna Tsubomi

Age: 43 years old

Birthday: February 13

Fun Fact: In high school, Tsubomi followed the gyaru trend and was one of the most popular girls among the student body (oh how did Masashi win this gal's heart?)

Sports Instructor ID: Suna Masashi

Age: 38 (deceased)

Birthday: April 4

Fun Fact: Masashi was the team's starting setter when he was in high school, though a bit of a loner because of his intimidating attitude.

Student ID: Suna Risumi

Age: 13

Birthday: August 11

Fun Fact: She's a closet otaku, none of her classmates in Kitsuhana Middle School know this side of her. Suna has caught her reading manga past 3 am in the past.

#suna x reader #suna rintarou x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x fem!reader #haikyuu suna x reader #suna fluff #hq x reader #hq fanfic #please teach me how to be a girlfriend #shu writes

30 notes · View notes