Little lion man
Of course people would stop and stare. It wasn't every day that you found such an enormity of almost two meters tall standing in front of your faculty scrutinizing people's faces like a jittery dog looking for its owner. However, the guy ignored the looks and whispers that his presence caused. His mind was set on one person and he would find them. Although he wasn't even sure about the reason behind his determination. Because their relationship hadn't started all that well.
In fact, it was hard to come up with a worse first impression.
When he first entered the pavilion reserved for the volleyball club of Nekoma, his gaze wandered through the bright space of high ceilings and polished wood, with such wonder that any observer would have sworn it was his first time in a gym, until his attention was attracted by the voices of those who would be his companions. Specifically, his eyes glued to the boy who was facing the group of first-year candidates.
He smiled without realizing it before that rookie with light hair that, despite his short stature, kept a firm and resolute pose in front of the group. His smile widened when his brown eyes fell on him.
"Hello! Don't be shy, big boy, come in and introduce yourself."
"Hi! I'm Haiba Lev. You are a first year too, right? In which class are you?"
Everything around them seemed to freeze. The second and third year students fell into an expectant silence. That should have warned him.
"E-excuse me," the short guy's smile flickered like a candle, "you think I'm a first year?"
Lev faltered for the split of a second before opening his mouth… and Pandora's box.
"Sorry, you are so short that…"
A few weeks would pass before the first kick -a blow to the shin that made him limp for a day and a half- and the occasional smacks -less frequent because Lev's neck was usually out of reach-, but that day the half-Russian had the dubious honor of breaking the record in getting on Yaku Morisuke's nerves. With an impressive mark of seven seconds and eight hundredths, he pulverized the twenty-four with three of Kuroo Tetsurou.
Not bad for a first day.
With such a history, it was difficult to explain why he was there, on the campus of the Todai, like an oversized lost pup. Any other person would have said goodbye to his senpai at graduation, he would have wished him the best, and they would have only seen each other in the alumni meetings and maybe in a game.
But Lev was not just anyone.
There were many things that characterized him, such as his noisy, energetic and ungovernable nature, or the fact that he did not have a single filter between his brain and his mouth. However, there was something much more elementary and defining of the half-Russian: his stubbornness. Once he was set on something, stopping him was like trying to stop a truck without brakes; it required enormous skill, cold blood and certain suicidal tendencies.
An internal earthquake seemed to shake Lev from head to toe and his eyes lit up like jade suns when a small figure stopped a few steps above him, looking at the boy in confusion.
"Yaku-san!" a wide smile spread through his face.
The chesnut-haired opened his mouth to reply, but a third person spoke before he could utter a word.
"Huh, what do we have here? A lost kid?"
Lev hadn't noticed him before, but right next to the libero stood another of his former senpais, with his ever-present smirk and laid-back attitude.
"Kuroo-san." he pouted upon registering the taunt, "you are only two years older than me."
"Age is a mental issue, brat."
"In that case the two of you should go back to kindergarten" Yaku intervened. "What are you doing here, Lev?" he asked before any of them could complain.
"I wanted to see you" he answered, smiling again.
His senpais waited for him to add further explanation, because nobody in the world would simply say something like that. On the other hand…
It's Lev.
"So…" the libero hesitated, "do you need something from me?"
"Not really" he shrugged. "I just wanted to hang out with you."
"Awww, how cute" the raven-haired sung at the expenses of the blush that dyed his friend's cheeks. "Someone suffers from NMS syndrome."
"What's that? Is it bad?"
"Lev, no!" Yaku moaned, facepalming.
"It's the 'Notice me, Senpai' syndrome" Kuroo answered, revelling in his despair. "Severe cases might cause serious disorders to both the patient and people around him. Fortunately, judging by the vasodilation of his facial skin capillaries, our little friend here is head over h- Ouch!"
"Shut up, you Osmium!" Yaku shouted to a sore Kuroo, who balanced on one leg to rub his battered quill. Yaku could be short, but he was far from being harmless. "Lev, you should know better than to ask about this sort of things."
"I'm sorry, Yaku-san. What did you call him?"
"Haven't you heard the 'no asking' part?" Kuroo mumbled.
"I just want to know that word" he pouted. "It sounds like 'moron'."
Yaku giggled. It was as if the laughter bubbled inside him and poured without his consent, honest and melodic. The sound seemed to reverberate inside the half-Russian's chest, tingling and making him smile.
"That too, but I called him 'osmium' because is the thickest element."
"Oh."
Lev looked at him with such admiration that, paradoxically, Yaku felt himself dwarf. In the months he had been attending college, training with his new team, he had met brilliant and physically imposing people. However, it was in front of that ungainly walking skyscraper, simpler than an amoeba and as direct as the hook of a boxer, that he felt self-conscious.
"If I'm osmium then the two of you are neutron stars" Kuroo declared from a prudential distance.
"What are you talking about, Astaxanthin?" Yaku arched a brow, looking at him suspiciously.
"But Yaku-san is a libero, not the star…" Lev mused.
"Neither are you."
Lev puffed. Yaku was used to that gesture of his. The novelty was that, being two steps above the half-Russian, he could look at him face-to-face. It was refreshing. Without realizing what he was doing, he reached out and pressed a finger against his cheek. Lev released the air little by little, stupefied, although not as much as the chestnut-haired himself. Kuroo's shrill laughter shook the libero out of his paralysis. He withdrew his hand brusquely, turning tomato-red.
"Thick is what you are, Lev, you neutrino head. You've been dating for a year without even realizing it."
Yaku let out a strangled noise, as if he had swallowed his tongue, and buried his face in his hands. That night he would watch a marathon of 1000 ways to die and write a list of the ten most painful and humiliating to test them in the soon-to-be corpse that was his so-called friend...
"If Yaku-san and I are dating, are Kuroo-san and Kenma-san married then?"
…Or not.
Perhaps his intervention would not be necessary. Maybe Kuroo would suffer a spontaneous combustion in the next few minutes. His face, at least, seemed two degrees away from bursting into flames, despite the cold autumnal air.
Yaku laughed until his abdomen ached and his head felt light. He had missed it, damn it. His exuberant character, absurd discussions, naive comments, sometimes hurtful, but devoid of malice. He looked at Lev, his smile radiant, as if seeing him laugh was the greatest prize he could hope for, and he understood it. His 'I wanted to see you'. The feeling that something was missing since he didn't have him scampering around every day.
"Y-you" Kuroo stammered, barely recovered from his stupor, "don't change the topic. It's obvious you like each other, don't deny it."
"I don't" Lev replied.
"Wait a moment, Lev" Yaku said, He tried not to shiver when the green eyes focused on him. "Kuroo is talking about like-like. Not as a friend or your senpai."
"Hmmm" Lev rubbed his chin, pensive.
None of the older ones remembered seeing him meditate before. The half-Russian was more likely to act on impulse, guided by sheer intuition. The fact that he was considering the matter with such intensity produced mixed feelings in Yaku. On the one hand, it didn't repel him at all to think of Lev having that kind of feelings for him. Although he would never admit it out loud. On the other hand, the idea of the two of them in that way made him dizzy. And a third part demanded an answer because do you like me or not, dunderhead, what do you have to think so much?
"How do you know if you like-like someone for real?" he finally asked.
"Uh…" Fair question.
"That…" Kuroo scratched the back of his neck. "Well… I guess the person you like is the one that makes your day feel brighter just by seeing them, or with a mere message. Someone with whom you can talk about everything and nothing, with whom you are free to be yourself… although you are shameless, so I guess that doesn't count."
"I think you really like someone when their happiness is what matters the most to you" Yaku blinked a couple of times before realizing what he had just said.
"Since when do you have a romantic side, Yakkun?"
"Say that again and Kenma will widow" he threatened as convincingly as he could while his face turned into a light bulb.
"Then yes" Lev announced. It took a few seconds for Yaku to connect a neuron with another and understand what he was talking about. The half-Russian set a foot on the next step and leant towards the libero, who vaguely wondered how those eyes could be so green and if his face would ever not look like a beet. "Do you want to be my boyfriend, Yaku-san?"
The chesnut-haired ignored Kuroo's hysterical schoolgirl-like scream and forced himself to think coolly.
"Lev, we've known each other for a year, and it's not like we have had a great relationship."
"Is because I say you are small?" he asked, consternated.
"Partly" he replied, uncomfortable.
"But it's true, you are small."
"Lev" he groaned, stretching his name until turning it into three syllables.
"I don't say it to annoy you. I think you are incredible. And strong. Your height makes it even more amazing, Yaku-san."
Yaku tilted his head and put his hands on his hips. He didn't know whether to laugh or not, because it was funny, indeed. He had never thought that Lev had a single gram of malice, and yet he had done nothing but to lose his temper every time he pointed out the obvious. He was so frustrated with his stature, he was so horrified to be judged because of it, that he shuddered at the single mention of it.
It never occurred to him that someone could give him some kind of credit, recognize the value he had to make his way in spite of it.
"Since when are you this awesome?"
"I have always been" he grinned. "'Though not as much as Yaku-san."
The libero shook his head with a dazzled smile. His past self would probably be pulling his hair. Maybe that Yaku needed a smack. Or two. To stop creating problems in his own head.
"I do" he murmured before merging his breath with Lev's.
Starting off on the wrong foot was not always synonymous with failure. Not having brakes did not necessarily mean ending up crashing. Kuroo threw a rain of fallen leaves shouting "cheers for the newlyweds!", And it was ridiculous, and sweet and better than he could have ever imagined.
-.-.-
"Good morning, Kenma-san. This is for you."
"What's this, Lev?"
"Your wedding present."
"…What?"