"No, no," Kuroo sighed. "That's not right, Bokuto!"
The golden-eyed ace groaned in frustration. "This doesn't make any sense!"
Akaashi finally spoke up. "Take five, okay? Kuroo, quiz Y/n." You nodded and sat across from the raven-haired captain.
He just sighed in annoyance. "Let's start with something easy... Newton's third law of motion - go."
You stared up at the ceiling. "For every action... oh! There's an equal opposite reaction!" You exclaimed.
Kuroo nodded. "Good. Uhhh... The atomic number is 19, atomic mass is about 39. Do you know it?"
"I'm not good with numbers!" You whined. He rolled his eyes then grumbled "Bananas."
"I'm not bananas! You are - how do you even memorize all of these numbers?!"
Akaashi tapped your shoulder. "That was a hint. What's in bananas?" He whispered.
"I don't kno- POTASSIUM!" You exclaimed.
Kuroo nodded. "Yeah, good job. You're learning. Oh! Speaking of potassium, did you guys know that when it catches on fire, it makes the fire purple?! Isn't that awesome?? It has a low melting point and-"
You giggled at his little rant, then your eyes wandered over to Bokuto. "Hey, you okay?" You asked. He shook his head.
"If I don't raise my grade, they can kick me off of the team... I'm stressed and I have no clue how to do this problem!"
You leaned over to where he was and looked at his homework. It was math - and you hated math.
"Okay, lemme see if I can help." You scooted closer to him. "Can I see your pencil?" You asked. He handed you his pencil - his hand lingered on yours for a second, then he pulled it away quickly.
You stared at the problem - your mind was blank. "Uhh... Okay. So erm-"
Kuroo peeked over at the paper. "It's multiplying fractions. You learned this in middle school - remember?"
You nodded. "Well, yeah, obviously you just have to... uh... Kuroo can explain it to you!" You laughed nervously as he scanned the paper.
Kuroo looked at the little flower bracelet on Bokuto's wrist. "Flowers? Isn't that kinda girly?"
"Huh? I think it's nice." He responded. You joined in. "Yeah, I've met a lot of really cool girls. You should take 'girly' as a compliment!" You exclaimed.
Akaashi agreed and Kuroo shrugged.
He explained the process to Bokuto and helped him with his math and science homework. You helped him with English and history.
"Thank you so much Ame-san! I get it now." He embraced you and you put your arms around him. He smelled like the beach - sea salt, sandalwood, breezy lavender, and a hint of vanilla. You closed your eyes and took it all in. His scent engulfed you. His warmth comforted you. The way he squeezed you in the hug as he held on tight made you feel safe, even though you just met him yesterday.
You finally pulled away. Kuroo was glaring at you. "Can I speak to you," He grumbled? "In private?"
You nodded and got off of his bed, then followed the bedhead boy out of the room. He closed the door and looked down at you.
"What are you trying to do here?" He asked.
Your eyebrows furrowed. "Study?"
"No, with Bokuto. Are you trying to take him away from his friends or something? I've seen this happen a million times, I'm not gonna let you-"
"No!" You interrupted him. "I'm not trying to do any of that! Bokuto and Akaashi are just my friends, why don't you trust me? You've been shooting me dirty looks this entire time!" You exclaimed.
Bokuto opened the door from Kuroo's room. "Is everything good?" He asked. You stared at him and smiled, nodding.
"Yeah, we'll be there in a sec."
He closed the door and Kuroo's eyes widened. "I see what's going on here," He crossed his arms and looked down on you as if you were a bug.
"You like him, don't you?"
You shook your head. "No way! We're just friends, that's all!"
"No, friends don't hug like you two did. I saw that. You were practically begging for him to not let go."
You rolled your eyes. "My god... Okay, I don't care what you say, rooster-looking ass. I'm going back there because I came here to study with my friends. Maybe if you hung out with me, you'd see that I'm just a normal person with no ulterior motives."
And with that, you walked back into his room and sat next to Bokuto.
After around 30 minutes, Akaashi stood up and stretched. "It's getting late, guys. We should go home." He yawned and grabbed his backpack.
You gathered your belongings with Bokuto and started walking out of Kuroo's house, but he stopped you.
"Y/n, get your feelings in check. I saw how you stared at him." He whispered to you.
You crossed your arms. "The hell is your problem, bedhead?"
Kuroo shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry. But I don't trust you just yet."
You followed the Fukurodani players as they walked down the road, exiting the neighborhood. "Akaashi," Bokuto called. "Do you think I'll be the best?"
"Sure, I think you can try. You're a very skilled person." the setter replied.
You joined in the conversation. "No way! I'm gonna be the best!"
Bokuto shook his head. "Nope. I'm gonna win! I'll be number one in the world!"
"Oh yeah? Spike this!" You jumped on his back and held on to his shoulders. He stumbled a bit, then caught his balance and carried you on his back.
He laughed and held your legs so you wouldn't fall off. As you neared Akaashi's house, he warned, "Bokuto, don't drop her."
Bokuto nodded and Akaashi went inside of the house.
You lifted your head up and realized that sunflowers were planted all around Akaashi's house. You smiled at the plants that surrounded his house and Bokuto leaned down a bit.
"Alright, get off!" He exclaimed.
You hopped off of him and he grabbed your wrist gently. Then, he ran to the brightest flower he could find and picked it out of the ground. It was a bluish-purple flower with tiny petals. He put it in your hair and smiled.
"Do I look swag with my new flower~?" You asked.
"Not as swag as I'm gonna look when I find a flower!" He shouted and took off the 'flower' part of a huge sunflower and placed the giant colorful plant on his head like a hat.
You laughed with him when it fell off of his head and continued walking to your house. "So," You started, adjusting the flower in your hair. "Does Kuroo not like me or something?"
"No, it just takes some time for him to trust girls. I won't go into detail, but he had a pretty bad girlfriend a while back. So, he just has some trust issues." He explained.
You nodded. "Do you think there's anything I can do? He seems like a nice person, but I don't want it to be awkward between you and him."
"Nope, just prove to him that you're trustworthy! I mean, you seem pretty trustworthy to me!" Bokuto exclaimed.
You stopped at your house and looked at your friend. "Thanks for walking me home, Bo! I'll see you tomorrow." You fled into your house before he could say anything.
"Huh? Bo?! Did the Ame-san just give me a nickname?!" You giggled as you heard him shouting outside.