Thank you very much everyone for all the favorites and follows! Also, thank you Chic White for being an awesome reviewer!


This is my favorite chapter so far, I have to say. I'm looking forward to your input. Enjoy :D


12 ways: Gifting odd gifts and prey

The first time Kuroo offers Haru something odd completely freaks her out. She goes to Kenma, holding the half of an eraser like it's some form of a disgusting sludge and plops it onto his desk. Kenma is, of course, just as confused. But, he reassures her that Kuroo is perfectly sane, but has a bit of a whacky side, and to simply let him do as he wished if he wasn't bugging her too much. Though, he promises to intervene in case his friend goes from whacky to downright creepy. These aren't the exact words in which Kenma expresses himself, but this is how Haru remembers the gist of their conversation.

So, she decides to give Kuroo's sanity the benefit of a doubt. The next time he offers her a random knickknack he barges into her class, which gains him enough attention seeing as he is a third year and she is a second year. Without a word, he drops a shiny marble onto her desk, pushing it with one long finger so that it rolls towards her. Haru catches it, on reflex only, and by the time she's looking up, he's waving goodbye with that annoying smirk on his face and leaving her classroom.

The following gift is a spur of the moment thing. During lunch time, after Haru had finally broken down under the Boys' Volleyball Team's begging and joined as a manager, they all sit together in an odd circle of weird people across all three years of high school. That's when Haru realizes that she is still hungry, despite having gobbled down her lunch quickly. She'd missed breakfast in order to be on time. Kuroo, without missing a beat, breaks off his an pan in half and pushes it into her open mouth while she's speaking. Miffed, but still hungry, Haru accepts the gift in silence, despite the fact that Kenma facepalms rather obviously from his space in between Inuoka and Kai.

Kuroo, unfortunately, makes this whacky behavior a habit, much to the amusement of Chiharu's friends. At this point they're betting on which day of the week he will randomly pop in to give an odd gift to his, apparently, favorite second year girl. And, Chiharu is pretty certain that she saw a paper pool with what random knickknack he will give her next time. Kuroo, of course, exceeds expectations. This time he catches her before lunch time, while she's returning from the bathroom, and offers her a shiny azure earring with a happy grin. One earring. She doesn't even have pierced ears. It's obviously not expensive or useful to her, but Haru ends up taking it home.

By the middle of the school year, Haru has a drawer for Kuroo. And, not in the traditional sense. She has a whole space cleared for his odd gifts, which she just can't seem to get rid of. Of course, there are some that she uses or eats, like the erasers, pens or random snacks he gifts her with. But, it's those which are more out-of-the-box which she keeps in a drawer at home. Her mother endlessly teases her about owning a high school boy sized cat with whacky antics and Haru silently agrees. There's the odd earring in that drawer. Also, a few marbles and beads from God knows where. There is a plush toy of a cat which oddly resembles an annoyed Lev to her that Kuroo gave her during one of the carnivals they visited as a team. A few flowers which had been placed into her shoes in her locker have found their way into the drawer, all carefully pressed to be preserved. And, how could she forget, there is also a set of flamboyant hair ties which he offered her cheekily one day after practice. But, these are only a few items. If Chiharu were to list them all, there would be well over a hundred stupid and useless things Kuroo has pushed into her hands at odd times. But, she loves them more than any birthday gift she's ever received. And, that emotion bugs the hell out of her.

"Is that from Kuroo-senpai, too?" Akari asks one day when Chiharu arrives to school. She is the current seatmate of the Nekoma manager and her best friend. Also, she is the biggest Kuroo supporter.

"What do you think." Chiharu growls out with a dark expression. Yet, she can't help but glance at the odd strap on her phone of a grinning neon green cat. Ridiculous. It even glows in the dark. Kuroo has really surpassed himself with that one.

"Does he have a matching one?" Akari giggles just as the teacher enters the classroom and the lesson starts. Chiharu can't help but wonder the same. So, next time she sees Kuroo, she demands to take a look at his phone. Something about her internet not working and how she needs to Google something. She forgets all about her pretense of needing his phone as soon as she spots the flamboyantly pink cat with a huge bow dangling from Kuroo's black device. Instead, she gives him an embarrassed tongue lashing with warm cheeks and tries to ignore the way he patiently takes it with a wide grin. Damn him. But, she doesn't remove the green cat from her phone for some reason. Instead, she takes even more care not to lose it.

The gift that she's probably most embarrassed about comes somewhere before the Spring High Tournament. She shares her envy of not owning a jersey as a manager with Inuoka and Kuroo apparently overhears. The next day the familiar red and black jersey with the number one underlined is waiting in her gym locker next to her manager jacket. It's washed clean and pressed, smelling of aftershave and sandalwood. Haru doesn't even need to look at the number to know whose it is. She tries to give it back to him with the whole 'you missed your locker' ruse, but he evades her with surprisingly slippery behavior. She gets the gist of it. She's supposed to keep it. So, it finds its way into the drawer, making her whole room smell like sandalwood and aftershave for weeks. Kuroo gets into a land of trouble over ordering a new one with the coach, of course, but he can't seem to keep the smirk off of his face as he apologizes for misplacing it.

"Will you wear it tomorrow?" Kuroo asks as they're leaving the school one day. Haru gives him an incredulous look, because she knows exactly what he's talking about.

"For the Spring Tournament?" She gapes. "Are you insane?"

"Only a little bit." Kuroo offers her a smile, not a smirk, a rare and precious thing to be seen by anyone. And, he waves at her as he gets on the train home.

The next day, when Haru unzips her manager jacket in front of the whole team because of the ridiculous heat inside the gym before the first match, she is faced with endless teasing and catcalls from the team. But, the look on Kuroo's face of surprise, then pure joy, is worth her red cheeks and absolute mortification.

"Alright, let's go score a win!" The captain exclaims joyfully, ending all the teasing remarks their manager is faced with.

The gift that she will remember the most, however, comes somewhere in the middle of their school year. Nekoma enters a local volleyball competition and comes into second place, with a makeshift team where half of them is from Fukurodani and the plays are all messed up. It's after Bokuto pulls her up on the platform with them and squeezes her in between himself and Akaashi that something falls around her neck. She looks up and behind her to see a grinning Kuroo, who has removed his own makeshift medal signifying their second place and placed it around her own neck. When she tries to return it, he leans down, stopping her with two strong arms on her shoulders and whispers into her ear intimately.

"I'll lend it to you." His breath is hot on her neck and ear, leaving her without any air in her lungs. "But only for today~" And she wears it proudly during their celebration, despite Konoha's annoying teasing.

The last gift Kuroo gives her during that year is at the very end. They are graduating and Chiharu can't seem to keep her eyes dry. She's not like Inuoka and Lev, who are bawling openly while Yaku screams at them to stop, misty eyed as well. She just stands to the side and bites her lip, trying to keep her own tears at bay. That's when Kuroo absolutely destroys her and makes her bawl like those two idiots.

"One last whacky gift, alright?" He asks smoothly when he comes to stand next to her. Haru nods, because she doesn't trust her voice not to tremble at this point. "You need to close your eyes, alright?" And she raises one suspicious eyebrow at him but complies. He takes her small hand into his calloused one and places a round object there, making her squeeze it by closing him palm around hers. And then, just as she's beginning to open her eyes, he kisses her.

And Inuoka and Lev's bawling stops in an instant due to utter shock. And Yaku stops yelling for a few seconds before the volleyball team boys are cheering and exclaiming something along the lines of 'finally!', 'go captain!' and 'get married already bedhead duo!'. She's pretty certain that she hears Akari squealing with joy somewhere, as well. But, to Chiharu, it all fades into the background. Her hands rise, slipping from Kuroo's grasp and she's clutching onto his formal uniform for dear life with her fingers, pulling him closer.

His lips are perfect against hers, soft and he tastes like spearmint and smells of sandalwood and aftershave and she is certain that she will faint if he keeps kissing her like that. But, she doesn't. And Kuroo's arms are around her then, pulling her even closer as he exchanges kisses with her, ranging from soft loving ones and playful nips at her bottom lip to full blown French ones where his tongue makes her weak in the knees. It should be illegal to kiss like that, Haru thinks, but she still can't let go. And God, when he finally pulls away she's left breathless and flushed and completely unbothered that he's just made a mess of her in front of the whole school and his own parents. The only thing she can think about is that annoying smirk on the man's face and how she can wipe it off.

So, she does, by pulling him down by his tie for another steamy kiss.


Gifting – your cat will show you affection by bringing you odd knickknacks and making certain that you're fed through sharing their prey


Am I done?... Not yet! Enjoy a little moreeeee!


Omake:

"What are you up to?" Kuroo asks, entering Haru's room. He's come from college to visit her during his break and they ended up at her home, which is empty, for once, which means the whole old volleyball team and the new one is occupying it. He peers over her shoulder, arms coming around her to pull her body flush against his.

"These." Haru looks up at him, offering a small peck on his lips. The third drawer of her nightstand is open, showing a display of random objects and a jersey which doesn't smell like aftershave or sandalwood anymore.

"Oh Gosh." Kuroo laughs, blushing. "I was awkward back then, wasn't I?" He comments, burying his face into her neck to pepper it with absent-minded kisses.

"Beyond awkward and just a little creepy." She agrees with a sigh.

"Got your attention, didn't it?" Kuroo grins like a cat who's eaten the fish and canary and is ready to move onto the bowl of milk that's eagerly waiting for him.

"And the attention of everyone in the second year." Haru agrees with a frown, but a smile still slips through. She reaches out to touch the last gift he'd given her in high school. The second button from his uniform, most commonly given as a sign of confession.

"So, one more gift?" Kuroo asks, tilting his head to the side. Haru turns around in his embrace, letting go of the button. Kuroo fumbles for a second, searching through his pockets, before bringing out a small box. He places it into her hands, fingers cold and trembling. He's beyond anxious, she can tell. Haru opens it, forcing her mind not to go to weird places. Of course, Kuroo surprises her, as always. There is a key inside the jewelry box on a thin silver line.

"Tetsurō, what is this?" Haru asks, now thoroughly confused. Of course, he wasn't proposing. Knowing Kuroo, he would have a more extravagant way of doing so. He was a drama queen through and through.

"Move in with me?" When she doesn't respond immediately, he's talking again. "Not now, of course. But when you graduate. A-and I know it's a small place, but we can move to a different one when you join me. You can choose it, of course. I'm alright with anything as long as there's a bed and a desk to study. O-or if you don't want to, we can-"

Haru's lips finally shut up his nervous babbling and he eagerly welcomes them after getting over his initial surprise. They separate after a moment, Kuroo grinning.

"I can take that as confirmation, yes?" He smirks but ends up grinning goofily in the end. Haru shakes her head slowly, a loving smile on her own face.

"Yes, you absolute awkward nerd." Kuroo kisses her again, quickly, grinning all the while and making it sloppy. Then, he moves a bit away and yells out.

"She said yes!"

"The bedheads are finally getting married!" Someone shouts from downstairs and Haru can't help but facepalm as Kuroo guffaws his weird laugh.


Urgh, get married already bedhead duo!


On the side note, here's what I listen to while writing about these two:

Mercy – Shawn Mendes (totally the theme song of this fic)
Don't let me down – The Chainsmokers ft. Daya/LP
Water Under the Bridge – Adele

Gosh I'm a sap.


And a small question for everybody: Would you like a multi-chapter fic about Kuroo and Haru?