So, here's a quick update!


This chapter is dedicated to Chic White for being my first review! Thank you sooo much and I hope that you'll keep enjoying the story!


I'm looking forward to more input!

12 ways: Bunting

The bell rang out, making the teacher falter in his writing on the board. As he assigned homework to the class Chiharu let out a sigh, stretching in her chair and slumping back. She heard the door open as students piled out, leaving the classroom for lunch break. A chair moved to the right of her and Chiharu opened her eyes. The familiar pudding head of her favorite setter greeted her.

"Hey Kenma." She smiled. The boy nodded at her, his eyes never leaving the PSP screen. She had often wondered how Kenma found his way around, staring at the screen almost constantly. It was like some kind of magic which helps him make it through the day. After all, she'd never seen him bump into someone or trip. Then again, he did get lost easily. Maybe that was a side-effect of his great coordination with walk-playing. "Got a bento today?"

"Um." He confirmed. "Mom made it." Kenma finally put down his PSP and swapped it for chopsticks. The bento he has was simple, but nutritious. Chiharu gave him a nod of approval, opening her own lunch. She hadn't had the time to make something extravagant, so it was just a simple sandwich that day.

"My two favorite people in the whole world!" A loud voice greeted the two quiet second years from the door. And, there entered Kuroo, the scheming captain, with a straight face and an easygoing grin. "I'll join!" He shuffled over, pulling out the chair from the desk in front of Haru's. He sat down the wrong way around, just like he usually does, making her frown at him. But she didn't comment. This time. There was no teaching an old dog new tricks, as odd as that sounded when concerning Kuroo.

"Kuroo." Kenma spoke up, thankfully taking Kuroo's teasing attention of Chiharu for once. "About the new set-up…" His soft voice faded out of Haru's ears as she focused on the problem at hand. She wanted to finish her math homework there, rather than at home. Then, she would have more time to study up on their next opponents in the competition. She still needed to make additional notes about their libero to give to Yamamoto, after all.

As she chewed on her sandwich and solved equations with brief pauses, she didn't notice Kenma going quiet to eat. Nor did she notice that Kuroo's attention was on her again. His eyes were taking in every movement which she made. The small bites she took out of her sandwich while writing, a huge contrast to the large chomps she would take in between problems. Then, the way her pen moved in her hand, along those long fingers as she thought about the best way to solve the solution. Most importantly, Kuroo couldn't look away whenever Haru pushed back her hair or played with it.

He loved her hair. It was dark, untameably curly and fell down to the middle of her back when she left it loose. And that day, it was down. Kuroo leaned on his hand, elbow on the back of the chair, lazy grin on his face as he shamelessly stared. He knew that Kenma knew. Nothing failed to escape his longtime friend. So, his fascination with Sakurano Chiharu was a no brainer. Kenma had known about it before Kuroo had.

As Chiharu focused on one of the tougher problems, biting her lower lip and tapping her pen, Kuroo felt his body move before his brain could catch up. He leaned it, pressing his forehead against Haru's and taking in a long, deep breath. Today, she smelled of coconuts and coffee, an odd, yet horribly exotic combination. Just like her.

"I'm trying to focus here." Haru grumbled, already used to Kuroo's weird antics. She'd given up on trying to escape or change them at some point, and now simply aimed to bear through them with a straight face. But, there was a telltale blush on her tanned cheeks regardless.

"Feel free to." Kuroo shot back in a low tone, almost intimate, which sent even more heat to Haru's cheeks. By the determined look in her brown eyes, he knew that she wouldn't rise to his jibe. Instead, she refocused on the problem on the paper. Kuroo's smirk widened.

He stayed there, just breathing in the scent of coconuts and coffee for a few moments, before deciding that it wasn't enough. There was a flowery undertone which he definitely wanted to identify before the end of lunch break. Kuroo rubbed his head against Haru's, messing up his bangs against her forehead and gaining a small grumble of annoyance. It was followed by a calming deep breath from her, an obvious attempt to calm down and refocus. But, he loved this game a bit too much.

The Master of Provocation wouldn't let it end like this. He wanted complete flustered yelling and everything from her. So, Kuroo moved his head a bit to the side, the loss of pressure causing Haru's head to lean forward. He had felt her press against him on instinct at some point. The new position of his cheek, right against her curly hair, allowed for him to rub against the side of her head and lean further in, nose buried in the dark locks. He took in a long breath.

"Ah!" Kuroo exclaimed just as Haru was at her breaking point. "Tangerines?" He asked, pulling back. He smirked a little as her head followed his, as she had begun to lean into his pushing. Haru's eyes were wide now, a blush clearly visible on her face as she spluttered in shock.

"U-uh y-yeah…" She trailed off.

"Nice, I like it." Kuroo shot back and leaned in once more. This time, she let him push his cheek against her soft hair, from her ear all the way down to her shoulder where he buried his nose towards her neck into her curls and took another deep breath. "Coffee, coconuts and tangerines. Like a relaxing morning after, don't you think?" Despite his muffled voice, Haru heard him perfectly.

"Exactly." She replied. "Like my morning after." Kuroo grumbled as he pulled away, frowning at her winning grin. "Which you'll never get to experience, stupid cat."

"It's still up for debate." Kuroo shot back, head on her homework now, giving her bedroom eyes from below. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"No, it's not." A soft voice joined in, breaking the perfect balance of the pair. Kenma looked up from his PSP with a blank expression. "Never happening." He agreed with Haru, making her burst into laughter.

"Kenma! You were supposed to be on my side!" Kuroo complained, arms flailing about.

"It's just the reality." The small setter delivered the finishing blow much to Haru's delight.


Bunting – your cat might give you gentle headbutts or rub against you to leave their own scent as a sign of affection


Hope ya'll enjoyed! And… my omake fever strikes againnnnn!


Omake:

Kenma joined Chiharu at the door to the gym after school for practice. She was standing there, fumbling with one of the water bottles with a troubled expression. Kenma gave her a moment, before reaching out and unscrewing it for her.

"Thanks." Chiharu grinned.

"There's a trick to it." Kenma replied in a matter-of-fact tone. She nodded.

"Say, Kuroo was weird today." Chiharu's voice stopped Kenma from entering the gym. He turned to look at her expression. Her brows were furrowed, telling him that she was bothered about it. "More than usual."

"Really?" The setter asked with a soft voice. "I thought he was being his usual self. Like a cat showing his owner affection." And, with that, Kenma entered the gym leaving Haru to mull it over. Soon enough, she was pulling up a new tab on her phone, Googling the ways cats showed affection.

Now I'm actually done hahahaha