More Espresso, Less Depresso

Summary: That one time Lev was so stressed about exams that he started crying in the corner of the coffee shop, and his saviour who gave him a cookie.

Or: "He's like an espresso shot. Small… and bitter."

"What did you just say?!"

"Motherfu –"

He remembers it all too vividly. It was sometime during the graveyard shift when he'd entered the coffee shop. There were a couple of people sitting around, trying to cram for their exams. Lev was about to become one of them.

Recalling specific information was hard for him. Especially when he didn't have the chance to really apply his knowledge. He was a slow learner too, so his confidence in passing his exams weren't very high for the time being. Seeing as he was supposed to sit it in twelve hours, his stress levels were increasing by the minute.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried hard enough throughout the year – because he'd had tutors and everything – the problem mostly remained in the ability to retain old information after processing the new. There were simply too many terms, facts and theories to remember for one single exam. And there was no guessing which parts of the course were going to appear on the paper, so it was important that he revised all the content to ensure that he could at least recognise everything in the exam.

He sat down in the corner booth, heaving a sigh. Lev knew he wasn't the brightest student around, but at times like this he wished his was. Despite his love for sport, especially volleyball, there were other dreams he had that he wanted to fulfil in the future. Passing college was vital to this.

Pulling out his notes and textbooks, he opened up the course outline and read the first dot point. It was then when a feeling of frustrations yet helplessness built up inside of him, and tears prickled at the back of his eyes. He really needed to pass this exam, but the idea suddenly seemed unachievable to him. The first tear fell, smudging the ink of his notes, and then another. He hunched up in his seat, only looking up when he felt a presence appear next to him.

Lev rubbed at his eyes, feeling embarrassed that someone had seen him like this. He blinked to clear his vision and take a better look at the boy who'd approached his table in the café's uniform. The boy was short, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. His stature made him seem like a child, but Lev wasn't that stupid to know that the only people allowed on the campus grounds at such a late hour would be the students or lecturers. He supposed the stranger was rather cute though. He sniffed pitifully, "I-Is there something you need?"

The honey-haired boy gazed at him kindly and shook his head. Wordlessly, he pushed over a plate with a large, chocolate-chip cookie on it toward him. Lev eyed the baked good hesitantly. "I didn't bring any money to pay for this…"

"It's fine. It'll be stale by tomorrow so I was planning to put throw it out. You look like you need it more than the bin does, anyway." The stranger's voice was soft and comforting – almost reminding Lev of a caring mother.

The tall freshman was surprised by the boy's kindness and felt lighter almost immediately. He straightened up. "T-Thank you!"

"No problem, don't stress yourself okay?"

His mood dampened immediately, clearly shown in the way his shoulder slumped back down and the waiter's eyes glossed over with worry. "Well, I don't know if I'm going to pass. It's really hard… to remember everything…" he mumbled, feeling the tears welling up again.

A small, encouraging smile spread over the brunet's lips as he patted Lev's shoulder. He looked at the array of work on the table and pointed to the notes he had. "For starters, your notes look complete and up-to-date. It's just a matter of reviewing them again. You've already learnt everything once, so relearning it again takes less time. I recommend going through and highlighting the things you absolutely can't remember or understand. Then go through your textbook to cover it in more detail."

Lev's eyes widened as he sniffed, "Will that really help?"

"Well that depends. Are you just going to give up?"

"No!"

"Then I think you'll do just fine." He gave Lev one last pat on the back before walking away to refill someone else's coffee.

Feeling rejuvenated, Lev turned back to his notes and set to work.

Not to mention, the cookie was delicious.

~ . ~

He'd passed exams satisfactorily. And he could only thank the student in the coffee shop for giving him the confidence to do so. Even after a week's break, the stranger was still on his mind.

Thus, he'd taken up to gushing about the 'super-nice-and-caring' boy that'd helped him out that one night (the story excluded the tears of shame, of course). His friends had been subjected to his constant praises for over three days before one of them finally asked him why he hadn't bothered to go back to the coffee shop to properly meet the man. It was at that point he had the epiphany wherein he didn't even know the small boy's name.

"KUROO-SENPAI!" He wailed, "I FORGOT TO ASK HIS NAME!" The boy dramatically clutched onto Kuroo's arm, his eyes blown wide.

His senpai from high-school looked at him with exasperation. Running a hand through his bed hair he sighed, "Well you should at least know what he looks like, right?"

Lev nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! He was about this short with brown hair and brown eyes and he was really small and kind of cute!" He gestured wildly.

"Ah…" Kuroo recognised the description immediately as the boy he'd met through Kenma. "You mean Yakkun?" He brought out his phone to pull up a picture of Kenma and his friends in the Campus Shorty Club™.

"THAT'S HIM! YOU KNOW HIM?!" Lev's eyes widened dramatically. "Tell me more about him! Please, Senpai!"

Kuroo blinked lethargically and turned to Lev slowly, reaching up to put his hands upon Lev shoulders. The younger male was nearly bouncing around too much from excitement. "Listen here Lev. I have some sound advice for you. Yakkun… he's not quite the person he seems to be on the outside."

"Huh?"

"He's like an espresso shot y'know?"

The half-Russian tilted his head in confusion. "No? I don't think I know?"

"Well, like an espresso. He's small… and bitter." The raven head paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I mean, he can be sweet sometimes, so maybe it's more like a babyccino but with a butt ton of pure cocoa powder or something, but –"

A menacing growl sounded from behind him, and a shiver ran up Kuroo's spine from the voice. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

Kuroo paused to wrack his brain for a response. But it was too late. The kick was like a wooden bat swinging at a bruising force that hit the back of his legs. He wheezed as he fell harshly to the ground. "Motherfuck."

The small boy looked triumphant at the defeated male and turned to leave, only to have his vision blocked by a wall of lankiness. He looked up to see shining emerald orbs, "Yakkun! Hi! Do you remember me?"

"What did you just call me?" Yaku gave the male a once over. He quickly adopted a guarded expression and stood a little straighter. He wasn't about to let this odd, lanky puppy intimidate him with his blessed height. Curse gravity's grudge against him and his ancestors.

"Eh? Isn't that your name? 'Cause that's what Kuroo-senpai called you."

The brunet's eyebrows furrowed as rubbed at his temples, exasperated. "It's Yaku. Just call me Yaku."

"Oh. Yaku-san then!"

"Right… and what about you, Mr Skyscraper?" he grumbled bitterly. It simply wasn't fair that he was well over 6 foot while he'd only just managed to surpass the average height of the Japanese female population.

The silver-haired male perked up excitedly. "I'm Haiba Lev! But you can just call me Lev!" He laughed, leaning down to match Yaku's height a little more – even though he was still towering over the older boy. "Also, I'm not really a 'skyscraper', you're just extremely short!" He placed a hand down on the brunet's head before measuring the crown of his head up against his chest to compare their heights.

A vein popped as Yaku's patience was pushed to the limits. "Don't call me short…"

"But Yaku-san is so tiny and cu– geh!" Lev crumpled to his knees from the kick to the back of his legs. Infuriatingly, even on his knees he was still about the same height as brunet huffed, giving the other boy another bop on the head for good measure.

"No crafty synonyms either!"

~ . ~

Yaku sighed for the nth time that day, His shift at the café had been slow thus far and so he'd allowed Yamaguchi to clock off early so that he'd have more time to finish their assignment. Currently, the shop was empty, so he took the time to sweep the floors, refill the sugars on each table and wipe down the counter.

The bell chimed, breaking the silence in the café, and Yaku turned to find his youngest club member wandering in through the glass door. "Shouyou, I'm surprised to see you here…" he greeted, making his way behind the counter.

The ginger nodded and bounded up to meet him. "Yeah! I'm kinda hungry, so I decided to stop by! You know I would visit more often but," he scrunched his nose in distaste, "coffee is yuck."

"You know, coffee isn't the only beverage we serve here, we have tea as well." The brunet chuckled and watched as the younger looked at the display of baked goods. "What're you up to after this?"

Hinata glanced away for a fleeting second to grin, "Hmm well, me and Kenma are gonna meet up to play video games in his room… Can I have two of these?" he pointed to one of the golden pastries in the cabinet.

Yaku nodded, and slipped in a separate slice of apple pie into the takeaway box. "For Kenma, since you're going to meet him anyway." He explained, passing the container over the counter. He paused Hinata in his search for his wallet, "Don't worry. It's on the house."

"Really?!" The boy's sunny smile grew bigger if possible, "Thanks Yaku! I'll treat you next time we go out for drinks, for sure!"

Hinata began to exit the café, Yaku sending him off with a wave and a call of 'don't stay up too late with your games!'

The younger student merely waved back at him through the window panes of the café, a pastry already half-eaten and hanging from his mouth. Yaku sighed and shook his head, partially in amusement at Hinata's antics, but also due to the silence that enveloped the coffee shop the moment the boy had left. He preferred it more when the shop was busy – despite what some people said about his snark, he liked to have someone to talk to.

Glancing up at the clock, he noted there was still another half-hour until he clocked off. Seeing as no one else was around, he decided to make himself his own cup of coffee. Despite what many people believed, he much preferred a mocha over an espresso. There was something about the perfect balance of bitter and sweet in the drink that would have his taste buds tingling.

He'd effectively wasted ten minutes making and consuming his drink when the bell above the door jingled and footsteps approached the counter. "Yaku-san!" The greeting was bright and cheerful.

Yaku sighed internally, but let the corners of his lips stretch into a pleasant smile as he welcomed Lev into the café. "Good afternoon Lev. What can I get for you?"

"A chocolate-chip cookie!" The silver-haired boy's voice filled the entire establishment, echoing off the walls. Both of them winced, before Lev added – quieter this time, "Please."

"Takeaway or have here?"

"Oh, um... takeaway? I have volleyball training soon so I don't really have the time to stay. Unless you want me to of course, and if that's the case then I can maybe come up with an excuse. Except then Kuroo-senpai will get mad at me and I'll have to do extra laps and drills for being late and –"

Yaku nodded absentmindedly, not paying attention to Lev's ramble. It was a habit he'd grown into since most people liked to talk on and on about their day when all he wanted to know is if they wanted their order to have here, or takeaway. Placing the cookie into a paper bag, he straightened so that he could be seen over the tall display of pastries. "Anything else with that?"

Lev's eyes shined brightly with hope as he leaned over the – very recently wiped clean of germs – counter and pasted a grin on his face. "Your number? A-And after that, maybe even a date?"

"Get out."

...

It was later that night – Hinata and Kenma were still in the latter's dorm playing video games and the older two had decided to join them for a while before heading out for dinner. While the other three had reported nothing interesting occurring in their day, Yaku found himself the centre of attention as he recalled his moment with Lev in the café.

Nishinoya reeled back, "You said what?!"

"It was on instinct okay! I couldn't help it, no one's ever... y'know... asked me out before." He trailed off and averted his eyes from the intense stares of his friends.

Huffing, Nishinoya leant back and rubbed at his temples. "I can't believe you let go of your only chance. Even Hinata could do better than you."

Said boy yelped in offense while Yaku glared back. "As if you can talk! You and Azumane were dancing around each other for ages. Besides, I barely even know the guy. It seems odd that someone like him would be interested in me... especially considering the impression I must've given him."

"Oh, let me guess. He called you short so you brought him to his knees like usual?" It was Nishinoya's turn to cross his arms and give him a disapproving mother look. Yaku held his gaze defiantly and the shorter of the two deflated. "Morisuke, you're hopeless."

The honey-haired boy curled into himself and nodded. "I know."

The sounds of buttons being pressed and swords clashing stopped for the time being as Kenma hesitantly placed a hand on Yaku's shoulder, joining the conversation for the first time of the night. "Don't stress yourself over it." He spoke quietly. "By the way you put things, it only seems like something Kuro would've put Haiba-san up to."

"Yeah! Don't mind it!" Hinata cheered. "Let go get food, I'm hungry!"

~ . ~

Lev trudged sullenly to the gym, eyes downcast and head hung low. Upon entering, he was immediately confronted with a sly looking Kuroo, whose eyebrows were raised in a curious manner. Sniffling slightly, he turned his head to the side to avoid Kuroo's intrusive stare. "I tried Kuroo-san... but your advice didn't work."

"Eh?"

"He told me to leave. He didn't even make me pay, that's how quickly he wanted me gone."

"You're kidding! Those lines have never failed me before. Maybe you did something wrong?" Kuroo ran a hand through his hair in slight frustration. He was a good senpai – meaning he wanted the best for his team mates. Even if it meant playing wingman to pair Lev up with the tiny demon.

The silver-haired boy sighed in defeat, "I did what you said word for word though." He froze and suddenly looked up. "Do you think it's because I stuttered?"

The older middle blocker snapped his fingers, "That's probably it! You need to have more confidence!" He clapped Lev on the back in support, "It's okay, I'm a big believer in second chances."

The next few weeks had Lev actively seeking out Yaku for a date, but to no avail. Each attempt was met with a steely look that would send him running back to Kuroo and complaining that he was too nervous.

Yaku seemed to be getting more and more annoyed as time went on, resorting to walking in the opposite direction whenever Lev came into view, and even asking his co-worker to take Lev's order whenever her came into the café. The silver haired boy wasn't one to give up so easily, but after so many rejections he was beginning to lose hope. And it was clearly showing.

He'd missed the last four spikes in practice, and had be using his face to block attacks more than his hands and arms during the most recent practice. A hand tapped him on his back, and he turned to see the team's manager extending a water bottle toward him. He took it gratefully.

"Thank you, Kiyoko-senpai."

She shook her head and clutched her clipboard tighter. "It's nothing, Haiba-san. I came over to tell you that Coach would like for you sit out for the rest of practice. Has something been bothering you lately?"

Heaving a sigh, a heavy weight settled upon his shoulders as he slumped over and made his way to the benches. "The person I like... I don't think they really like me back. If at all?"

Kiyoko eyed him carefully with a concerned expression. She took the water bottle back and handed him a towel as he sat down. "Are you perhaps talking about Yaku-san?"

"H-How did you know?" Lev's eyes widened in surprise. Kiyoko was very observant.

"I don't know much, and I didn't mean to pry, but I overheard you talking to Kuroo last week." She cocked her head in thought, "It seemed like he was giving you... advice...? Perhaps that's putting it lightly but..."

He nodded, "Yeah, Kuroo-senpai has been giving me tips."

The corner of Kiyoko's lips twitched, and she reached out to take Lev by the hand. "Haiba-san, it's not quite my place to say, but love is a very different concept from volleyball. While you can ask for help from time to time, you shouldn't be copying someone to ask a person out like you copy your team mates to block a spike. Just be yourself when you ask them out." With that, she let go of his hand and softly patted him on the back before walking back over to their coach.

Lev was left sitting on the bench, awed by Kiyoko's intelligence and the newfound hope she'd gifted him. The rest of practice had him fidgeting impatiently and waiting for it to be over. If he was fast enough, he might be able to catch Yaku at the end of his shift. It could be his only chance, considering he had no idea where else he'd be able to find the brunet.

When the final whistle blew, he quickly ran onto the court to pack-up the equipment - despite wanting to get out of there. It would be suspicious, but also rude of him to leave his team mates behind. As such, Kuroo had managed to sidle up to him and hook am arm around his shoulder teasingly. "So, I saw you with Kiyoko earlier. The others were getting jealous."

"Kiyoko-senpai was giving me advice to ask Yaku-san out. It was really helpful." Lev replied. "I think I might actually have a chance now."

The raven's eyebrows rose disbelievingly, "Oho? So, you prefer Kiyoko's advice over mine? I'm hurt Lev. Really, truly hurt."

Lev straightened, eyes blown wide. "That's not it, Kuroo-senpai! It's just that your tips haven't worked so I should try something new." He spoke, ever so bluntly.

Kuroo reeled back at his words, and Lev stilled - worried that he had hurt his friend's feelings even more so. The older boy's expression relaxed and he gave a breathy laugh. "Damn it, I just felt like a proud father." He shuddered and began to walk away, muttering under his breath. "The little bastard's becoming all grown up..."

~ . ~

It was just past eight in the evening when he had said his final goodbyes to his co-workers before leaving the store. He was exhausted from not only the long day, but the need to stay actively alert throughout the week in case he caught sight of Lev (so that he could run away) or Kuroo (so that he could punch him in the face). At this point he was ready to curl up into his bed and sleep the whole weekend away.

However, lady luck has never truly favoured Yaku, and he found himself suppressing a groan when a familiar voice called out to him. He turned to face the skyscraper and frowned – there was no point in ignoring him now, considering that if he were to run, Lev would only need about two seconds to catch up to the distance he could cover. He sighed, "What do you want?"

"Hm? I just want to talk with you."

"Well, how did you know it was me? What if you'd accidently just called out to a random stranger?" He accused. He knew he was being rude, but he wanted to get back to his dorm.

Lev grinned, his pale skin glowing in the moonlight. "It was easy tell of course, since you're so sh-"

He cut himself off when he saw Yaku hold up a hand to pause him. The brunet heaved a sigh.

"Okay, I get it. What did you want to talk to me about?" The taller male began to reply, but was cut-off when his stomach grumbled – begging for food. Frowning, Yaku poked Lev in the stomach, regretting the action immediately when his finger pressed against the solid mass of muscle there. He subtly laid a hand across his own stomach, feeling the soft pudginess there after years of forgoing exercise. Pushing the thoughts to the side, he continued frowning, "Haven't you eaten dinner yet?"

Lev blinked owlishly before shaking his head. "No? I just finished volleyball practice." Yaku huffed, grabbing Lev by the wrist and tugging him along. "W-Where are we going?"

"To get food." Yaku spoke, determined. "I don't condone skipping meals, it's important to stay healthy." He continued to lead Lev off campus to the noodle restaurant nearby. Lev's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, I know this place! Kuroo-senpai works here."

Yaku shrugged his shoulders, although he'd been lucky thus far to never visit during the raven-head's shift, Kenma was the person to introduce him to this place. He pushed at Lev's back, gesturing for him to go in first.

By now it was half-past eight, and the dinner crowd had begun to die down. They were quickly seated, and needed little time to decide what they wanted to order. When the waiter left their table, Yaku turned back to Lev curiously.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

The silver-haired boy stopped fiddling with his chopsticks and looked up. "Huh? Oh... I guess I want to know you better."

Yaku was stumped by the response. He was confused – even after ignoring the boy for weeks he still wanted to be around him. If Kenma was right, Kuroo and Lev must have a hefty reward for winning whatever bet that was going on between them. Yes, that must be it. He narrowed his eyes.

"Is that so?" He watched as Lev nodded enthusiastically. "Fine then. I'll indulge you for now. What do you want to know?"

Lev smiled widely before launching a myriad of questions at him, and Yaku struggled to keep up. Their meals arrived and their conversation continued; Yaku trying to remain unaffected by the expression Lev would make when he refused to answer a question. There were some things that Yaku preferred to keep personal after all.

At some point in the night, Yaku had mentioned his love for children and his companion had immediately jumped onto the topic. The brunet watched, with a fluttering in his stomach as he'd watched Lev talk passionately about his dreams to help children in the future – thus his major in Youth Services and minor in Psychology.

It was nice, to hold a proper conversation with the younger student. He hadn't expected for conversation to flow so well.

By the time the two had finished their meals, Lev argued that it was only fair that he paid, considering he'd technically made Yaku come out after his shift due to neglecting his hunger. That, and he'd yet to thank the brunet for the cookie the first time they'd met.

As they walked back to campus, Yaku allowed a content smile to slip upon his lips. Looking up at Lev, he decided that perhaps he shouldn't be so harsh on him anymore. Spending time with him had made Yaku realise that Lev was a good person, and that he'd severely misjudged him. He cleared his throat, turning to face Lev. "Hey Lev, I – um – I'm sorry for being rude in the past couple of weeks... Tonight was fun. I'm glad I've gotten to know you better."

"Really?! Dinner was really fun for me too! We should do it again sometime!"

Yaku nodded, "Yeah, we should. How about I give you my number? That way you can text me instead of creeping around campus and calling out my name to people you think are me."

"You mean it?" Lev scrambled to pull his phone from his pocket, "Here! You can call yourself so that you'll have my number too!"

The brunet chuckled softly at the boy's enthusiasm, and quickly entered his number, calling himself before handing back the device. It may have been a trick of light, but his heart pounded loudly in betrayal when he saw what seemed to be a look of adoration in the volleyball player's eyes. He cleared his throat. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah!" Lev waved goodbye and they parted ways, "I can't wait to tell Kuroo-senpai about this!"

Yaku's footsteps stuttered to a halt as he snapped his head back to look at Lev's disappearing profile. He scowled. Of course, how could he forget... But despite his thoughts, his heart continued to beat erratically in betrayal.

~ . ~

Lev was confused. He thought everything had gone well last Friday night. Although it hadn't been an official date, he believed that progress had been made that night. Thus, he was left scratching his head when Yaku didn't respond to his texts and had begun his routine of ignoring him and letting other people take his order at the café again.

Slumping over in his seat, he watched people walk by the windows of the coffee shop, pouting whenever a happy couple would make their way past. It wasn't until he saw a specific person that he jumped into action, slinging his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his takeaway cup. Rushing out of the café, he ran after the person who he'd never actually met, but was certain that he was the one who could help him. Surely, there was only one person with the description of a 'pudding-head' on campus anyway.

"Kenma-san!" He called, watching as the boy flinched, hunched over and then began to walk faster. "Kenma-san!" He caught up to the faux blond quickly, and stopped him in his tracks. He spoke his name again, "Kenma-san, that's you, right?"

There was a pause, causing Lev to think he'd stopped the wrong person. But he was relieved when the boy gave a hesitant nod.

"I'm Lev! I'm with Kuroo-senpai on the volleyball team!" He said, "Kuroo-senpai tells me that you're good friends with Yaku-san, so I was hoping that's you'd be able to help me." Another nod from the quiet boy. "You see, I really like Yaku-san and he keeps ignoring me and I don't know what to do? We even went out for dinner and exchanged numbers, but after that he started running away from me again."

He watched as Kenma's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed. The boy tucked his chin deeper into his scarf before mumbling something that Lev only just managed to pick up. "I... thought Kuro was up to his silly antics again... so I may have told Yaku... that... you weren't being serious..."

It clicked immediately. Lev wasn't amazing smart, but it made sense that Yaku would avoid him if he didn't want to be hurt. At least he now knew how he could fix things. Grinning, he thanked an anxious-looking Kenma started to run off. But a second thought hit him and he turned to face the blond again. "One last question... do you know where Yaku-san might be?"

Kenma averted his eyes for a moment in thought. "He'd most likely be in the courtyard where the big pine tree is." He whispered. By the time Kenma looked back, the silver-head was already far into the distance.

…

Now, Lev didn't know exactly where this courtyard was located. But he figured that finding a supposedly 'big' pine tree would be would be easy enough. It took him nearly twenty minutes of running around campus to finally find the right place, and he was lucky that he hadn't been a minute later. Yaku was standing there, frozen. His backpack was around his shoulders, and it was obvious that he had been getting ready to leave.

Easily catching his breath, Lev stepped forward and placed his hands upon Yaku's shoulders. "Even if it's just one date, go out with me, please!" The brunet's surprise from seeing him quickly morphed into anger.

Yaku tore himself from the taller boy's grip, exasperated. "Lev, I really don't want to play your silly little games. Especially when Kuroo is involved. If all you want is someone in your bed at the end of the night, or some cash to keep your pocket warm, then – mmf!" His breath was taken away as he registered the foreign, but not unwelcome feeling upon his lips. Silenced, Lev took this opportunity to finally get his feelings across.

"Kuroo-senpai has nothing to do with this. I've admired you since the day we met; you're so caring and nice and really fun to be around. I really like you... I want to go out with you and have little dates. I want to stay in and watch movies and cuddle and everything. You make me happy and I just want to be with you. So, will you let me?" Lev spoke, his lips brushing against Yaku's with every word.

Courage sparked through his body and Yaku closed the distance once again. A mere press of lips together that slowly melted into something deeper. They pulled closer – Yaku on the tips of his toes and clutching at Lev's sweater for balance. Lev's chapped lips warmed up his whole being and made him burn alight with something so extraordinary, he couldn't help but want more. Suckling lightly at Lev's bottom lip, he whimpered when the boy grabbed him by the waist and pulled him up.

Wrapping he legs around Lev's waist, he moved to tangle his fingers into silver locks and prodded deeper with his tongue – he craved for it. The lips against his fell pliant and time became meaningless until Lev pulled away, with one last, lovingly soft peck. Warmth bubbled in his veins as Yaku breathed heavily, cheeks ruddy and eyes filled with a dazed expression.

They stared into each other's eyes, unsure of the other's reaction.

"Yaku-san, is that a yes? " Lev whispered, desperate to not break their moment.

"Of course, you idiot." The boy thumped the volleyball player on the shoulder softly, "Now, kiss me again."

~ . ~

「おまけ」

He was stressed – finals were drawing in again and there was no way he'd been able to juggle the amount of study required and training for volleyball quarter finals. Lev had only just found time to delve into the stack of notes from the duration of the semester.

A hand placed upon his shoulder brought him out of his reverie, and he looked up to see his boyfriend standing there, holding a cookie and a tray with two coffee cups. He was so thankful to have such a considerate boyfriend.

"Good luck on your studies Lev, I'm sure you'll be able to do it." The older male sat down across from him, pulling out his own notes.

"You too!" Lev smiled, leaning forward and resting his arms upon the table. "But, I could use some encouragement." He tapped his cheek.

The brunet eyed him warily with a sigh, "I told you to stop taking lines from Kuroo, you look silly doing it."

Lev pouted, sinking back into his seat. Yaku was still looking at him however, and allowed a small smile to slip onto his face as he reached out to grab Lev's cheeks, squishing them together. Leaning close, he placed a heady kiss upon his boyfriend's lips before letting go with his own cheeky grin, "How's that for encouragement?"

"U-Uh." The he stuttered, struggling to form coherent words. "Yes."

Yaku rested his chin in the palm of his hand, using the other to tap at the pile of Lev's notes. "Good. If you study well, maybe you'll even get a reward."

...

「おわり」

Alternate epilogues I was thinking of:

A cold hurricane of water splashed across Lev's face and body, rousing him immediately and leaving him gasping for air. Looking up, he saw Yaku's form towering above him with an empty bucket, his deep brown eyes filled with mischief.

"Who's the tall one now, fucker."

OR

Kuroo was battered. Kuroo was bruised. His ribs ached a little every time he shifted in his seat. But there were no regrets.

The reason: a picture of Yaku and Lev holding hands with the caption #pray4Yakusbutthole

And that's it! Thank you for reading!

Since this collection of one-shots were published on FFN first, any additions will be posted here and on AO3 which is where I am mainly posting my stories now. This is probably the only times you will see me posting on this account from here on.

I've also changed my username; it's now the same on AO3.

I hope you enjoyed!

-Tsu