ARGH! There are so many more things I want to write but we're almost at the 50s chapters! " I might cut off a few moments, or reduce it... so that I canf inish this fanfic in time for the posting of Aliens, coinciding with Beautiful Disaster.
Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited and reviewed! :D
I'm answering your reviws from chapter 44 as well.
starrat : I hope you'll liked the following chapters as well! :D
xxjaelee : Aaah, Kijime, and mostly Hajime, still have a lot to learn when it comes to intimcy but they're slowly getting there. ;)
Aquafin : Well the third years like to know that their boy, that the couple they ship so badly, is going smoothly! ;)
forevertrash97 : Ahah! I'm glad you loved the chapter 44 and their intense moment! :D
xxXsilverXxx : I think it's fascinating how quotes can fit so well the contents of a chapter which was written with no thought abuot said-quote or the original book/movie ti comes from. :) You are the kind one for reviewing, he least I can do is answer to you! :D Ahah! I'm glad you're reading Sowlmates as well, I hope you like it anddon't worry about the tears, i cried a lot writing it as well, and happiness will come up eventually! ;)
pinkdoughtnuts : Ahah... I never said Makki wasn't creepy by taking pcitures, but he's done that for a while now just out of teasing against Kiku and Hajime so...
xxjaelee : Ahah, you'll see why she asked THIS to Oikawa, and no, he doesn't like her! She's just a good friend, but Oikawa's girl (an OC for his future story Aliens) will appear soon! ;)
Hopeful Guest : Thank you for reading my stories! Did you review with the same pseudo, because I don't remember? *blinks in confusion*
FANFICTION
HAIKYUU! : QUIET VOICE
CHAPTER XLVI : As Blue as the Ocean's Depths
"The problem with human attraction is not knowing if it will be returned."
― Becca Fitzpatrick, Hush, Hush
"…As long as nothing happens between them, the memory is cursed with what hasn't happened."
― Marguerite Duras, Blue Eyes, Black Hair
"Desire is the kind of thing that eats you and leaves you starving."
― Nayyirah Waheed
"He isn't so much flirting," Cerise murmured. "Either he doesn't like me or he doesn't know how."
"Of course he likes you. You're lovely. He probably just doesn't get it. Some men have to be hit over the head with it. Her aunt rolled her eyes. "I thought I'd have to draw your uncle Jean a giant sign. That or kidnap him and have my evil way with him, until he got the message."
― Ilona Andrews, Bayou Moon
"And you can't love, not fully, unless you are loved in return."
— Lauren Oliver, Requiem
"I've always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect."
— Jennifer L. Armentrout, Obsidian
"I think perhaps love comes from finding someone you feel utterly comfortable with, someone who makes you comfortable with yourself. It's like finding yourself, or maybe it's like finding the other part of yourself."
— Candice Proctor, Whispers of Heaven
"Can you help me have sex?" Kiku asked suddenly, looking up at Oikawa, blushing in embarrassment.
"Eh?" He said, blinking in disbelief, shocked by what she had suddenly said.
Kiku-chan showing up at his place out of nowhere was a surprise. But her request was a shock.
Before she could repeat her words, he understood what she meant and gasped:
"EEEH?! NO! I can't do that to Iwa-chan! What you are asking of me is too much, Kiku-chan! It'd be–"
"Not with you, stupid!" She exclaimed, glaring at him for thinking she wanted him.
"Oh."
Suddenly embarrassed at the awkwardness of the situation, but still not understanding what the hell was going on, he just lifted up his hand in front of his mouth turned into a 'o' shape.
"Then… why aren't you asking to… you know, your boyfriend?" He continued, shaking lightly his head in confusion.
Kiku hesitated, before sighing and looking up at her friend.
"I just… I just need your help… I-I don't know how Hajime feels towards me anymore a-and he refuses to touch me and I just…! You know him better than anyone, right, so… help me out! Please!" She pleaded, sounding desperate.
Oikawa looked down at her, a little confused, then he opened his door to let her in. He wasn't sure what was going on, but if he could help his friends and whatever love trouble they were going through, even if Iwa-chan didn't say anything, then…
Kiku barely looked at the bedroom, but noticed quite some references to aliens and space, and about three volley balls laying around.
"All right, so, what's troubling you?" Oikawa asked as they sat in front of one another, a little awkwardly to go on such a delicate topic.
"U-um…"
Kiku hesitated, now, not quite sure how to ask Oikawa anything. She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts, the setter waiting for her to talk even if he felt curious and impatient.
"Y-you know Hajime better than anyone so does… did he ever mention… wanting to… do things with me?" She finally asked, blushing.
"You mean… touchy things? Physical things like… sex?" Oikawa asked to be clear, she nodded, blushing even more, "Well… no?"
She immediately looked dejected, looking down at her hands and shoulders dropping.
"But he's not the type of guy to say much about his relationship anyway. Truth be told he never really talks about you."
She looked up to him, but Oikawa quickly realized that his words did not have the expected effect – she looked like she was about to cry.
"I-I mean! Iwa-chan is very discreet, I'd even say he's shy when it comes to you know, sexuality! We don't talk much about it because it makes him uncomfortable, we usually just tease him because he's so, y'know, inexperienced. But that was before you came into the picture because even if he didn't say anything, I'm certain you two got some physical experience, right?"
When Kiku didn't answer, he realized what was troubling her.
"Oh… you didn't… you did do something, right?" He asked, brows furrowed because after two months of relationship and so many week-ends spent together it seemed impossible not to at least have a few steamy make-out sessions.
"He… touched my breasts, once." She admitted, looking away in shame to reveal such a thing, "And we… kinda… w-we did have a make-out session but only this one time… a-and I tried to give him signs, to get to him but he's… he's always rejecting me… This one time was special and he told me he thought I was beautiful and I believed him but I also know that I'm not pretty or thin like the beautiful girls you, or Makki, or Yahaba-kun, or Mattsun, date all the times and I-I'm not good enough for Hajime and I-I think he's… I think he doesn't feel any attraction to me… I even think that he's realized he's not actually in love with me – maybe he mistook his feelings of pity and admiration for love…"
She looked down, unable to meet her friend's eyes, Oikawa looking at her sadly.
"Oh, Kiku-chan… Iwa-chan might need a little time to understand things from times to times, but he never does anything without thinking carefully. Why do you think he waited so long to start dating a girl?"
She looked up hesitantly and Oikawa continued with a confident, reassuring smile:
"He waited for the right person to love. And yes, he fell in love with your personality before your looks but don't think he would lie about finding you beautiful. Just because he doesn't show he's attracted to you doesn't mean he isn't – believe me, you missed all the longing stares and all the times he let slipped comments about you! And that's a lot of slips of tongue from Iwa-chan!"
"T-then why does he act so distant? Why does he refuse that I touch him, or never even tried to actually touch me?" She asked.
He opened his lips to answer, but had none to give. It actually confused him now that he thought about it. It was true that he (and Makki and Mattsun) often teased Iwa-chan about Kiku-chan, now that he had a girlfriend… but they never pushed him to the point of angering him or going too far (most of the times, they might have received a few volley balls behind the head once or twice… or more). Whenever they'd tease him, he'd ignore them, or avoid answering, he'd blush and be awkward but he… never said anything… Which was weird. There were so many longing and staring, so many "she's cute" or "she's adorable" and "I love her so much" but never Iwa-chan had admitted being sexually attracted to Kiku.
"Ah." He said, realizing the problem, "And he never touched you?" he asked again.
"Only once, my breasts; and it was very quick and it wasn't even that good – please, don't tell him that."
"He does lack experience. And if he's not trying to gain any, it's not going to get any better."
Silence fell on them, until Kiku finally glanced hesitantly at Oikawa:
"So… c-could you help me…? Give me a few advices on what he might like… or at least trying to find out for me… what he thinks…?"
"Of course I'm going to help you. I never thought I'd actually help a friend get laid, but it feels like my time has come. I've been prepared for this for a long time! And I'd never reject a lady's request, or the need of a friend. But I'm going to need some help and some more insight. I might know Iwa-chan better than anyone, but the one who knows sex better than anyone isn't me."
Kiku sighed, knowing exactly who he was referring to.
"I don't necessarily want sex right away but just, at least the reassurance that he's not disgusted by my body." Kiku mumbled.
"Is that a yes for Makki's help?"
"I suppose…"
And that was why, less than an hour later, Makki and Mattsun had joined the duo at Oikawa's place. They had not been warned of why, and were surprised to find the two without Iwaizumi.
"What's going on?" Matsukawa asked.
"We're going to help Kiku-chan get laid~!" Oikawa exclaimed happily.
"…With one of us or with her actual boyfriend?" Hanamaki asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Kiku.
"I'm going to pretend you did not just ask this," she replied, feeling disgusted and already regretting ever asking their help.
Kiku and Oikawa quickly explained what was troubling her, hoping they'd have some clue about whether or not Iwaizumi was sexually attracted to her, but without surprise, he had never said to either of them anything.
"He did touch your boobs, which means he knows what he's supposed to touch. That's a good start." Mattsun said.
"After what you said are you sure he's even functioning? I mean, we've teased him for years but he never actually said anything about even masturbating or his desires, we just assumed so… what if the reason he's been so embarrassed was because something was wrong with him and we wouldn't know?" Makki continued.
"I would know!" Oikawa exclaimed, offended he'd think Iwa-chan wouldn't tell him such an important detail.
"And we're taking showers with him everyday, we would have noticed if he wasn't fully made," Mattsun added.
"Yeah but maybe there's something wrong anyway – I mean, we never caught him being actually turned on, right? No matter the movies, or the magazines we'd look at, or the talks we were talking about! Which are very descriptive and detailed! But he never acted bothered by any of it!"
"…What are you even doing when you're all alone?" Kiku asked worriedly, "And if by functioning you're doubting of his capacity of… having an erection… that's not the problem here. He just has… an annoyingly good control of himself…!"
"Right, you gave him a blowjob. So he's functioning." Makki remembered having shared the information with the others, "How big is he? Because he never told us and we need to know – for the ranking in our competition to know which one is bigger and–"
"Makki, we'll discuss this detail later, okay?"
"You're just scared to lose to him in size, Oikawa."
"GEH! Let's just get on with it! Kiku-chan needs our help!" Oikawa exclaimed.
"Right, right, we got it, we need to push them to do something naughty." Mattsun concluded, shrugging it off casually.
"We've got it covered. And with the summer training camp coming up, we're going to have so many opportunities he'll be banging you within the first three days." Hanamaki added, staring at Kiku confidently.
She swallowed hard, blushing, not sure it had been such a good idea, asking their help… also, she doubted of their abilities if they never got Iwaizumi turned on in three years of dirty talk to the point of doubting of his capacity of having an erection.
"Why… why am I having regrets suddenly…?" She murmured to herself.
"Just trust us, Kiku-chan, it's going to be fine~!" Oikawa exclaimed with an encouraging smile, "Let's get started with the 'Let's Get Iwa-chan with Kiku-chan 2.0' plan!"
"Dude, you really have to work on the titles of your so-called 'plans'," Mattsun said, shaking his head in despair.
"But it sounds good! And you're not cheering, you should be cheering!"
"Oh dear…" Kiku sighed, covering her face with her hands.
For some reason, which didn't reassure her at all, they asked her to go on with her life and trust them. She wasn't sure what to expect but she went home and prayed she hadn't made a terrible mistake. She was about to reveal everything to Hajime out of sheer guilt when she received a message from him.
Sorry I won't be able to call you tonight, surprise movie night with the guys! I'll see you tomorrow at school! Good night, cupcake!
She put her phone down, but she kept nervously staring at it most of her evening.
Movie night at Oikawa…
"So, is there a particular reason why we're having a movie night in the middle of the week?" Iwaizumi asked, letting himself down on his favorite spot in his friend's bedroom.
"To celebrate the end of finals, duh!" Makki answered, rolling his eyes.
"Fair enough. I thought we could celebrate tomorrow after practice with the whole team, though."
"We'll do that too! Don't worry, you'll get to celebrate with your girlfriend~!" Mattsun teased, elbowing him.
Iwaizumi stared at him suspiciously, catching that he was suggesting something.
"Right… we're supposed to go on a date this week-end anyway."
"That's good, what you have you planned?" Oikawa asked as he brought the snacks and dvd.
"Aquarium." He answered, checking on his phone that his father had fed Godzilla.
"I see what you did there," Makki said with a smirk, "I'm proud of you."
Iwaizumi glanced up at him, confused, before nodding:
"Thanks? I guess? She never went to the aquarium before, she loves animals and the other day she sent me a video of a cute little seal who hid on a tourists' boat to get away from an orc who was trying to eat him. So, I thought it'd be great if she could see sea animals up-close."
"I would have been that orc, I would have knock over the boat and eat the seal and the tourists," Matsukawa said very seriously.
"Thank goodness you're not an orc, then."
Makki decided to intervene, trying to drag Iwaizumi back on the trail he had been trying to send him on.
"But you have to have some other intentions than just visiting the aquarium with Kiku, I mean… it's very dark, there are lots of corners and doing it in public is very exciting."
Iwaizumi stared at him, slowly realizing what his perverted friend had in mind.
"What the– no! We're not going to do anything! Have you thought of Kiku? She's too innocent to undergo such a treatment! We're going there to have a good time, not to jerk off!"
"Not that innocent if she wants to fuck you that bad…" Matsukawa murmured to himself, being hit by both Oikawa and Hanamaki.
"What did you say?" Iwaizumi asked, frowning.
"Nothing, what Mattsun MEANT is that… did you consider that maybe, Kiku might… want to go to the next step of your relationship?" Oikawa continued.
"W-we've been dating for only two months, don't be ridiculous, it's too early to do anything…!"
"Dude, I lost my virginity after one week of dating." Makki said.
"I know, you bragged about it for months afterwards," Iwaizumi answered, rolling his eyes.
"I lost mine after three weeks with my second girlfriend because the first was well, that's a tale for another day," Oikawa added with a smile.
"And I lost mine after a month," Mattsun concluded.
"K-Kiku and I are fine! We like it as it is, we don't need to rush things! We're both happy with how things are!"
All three stared at Iwaizumi who flushed, suddenly feeling under attack, cornered by his friends. They glanced at each other then looked back at Iwaizumi.
"Iwa-chan, at least tell me you did show some love to Kiku-chan?" Oikawa asked, even if he knew the answer.
"W-what are you asking? It's! It's private, you don't need to know that!"
"Come on, we've all been through this, we're not going to judge and we're definitely not going to get embarrassed. Sexuality is normal, it's not a taboo – you have the right to feel sexually attracted to your girlfriend and it's nothing to be ashamed of." Hanamaki said, earning surprised looks from his friends because he had actually said something serious and that didn't sound twisted.
"I-it's… you're! Why do you even want to know that?" Iwaizumi asked instead of answering and now they noticed it was his coping mechanism to avoid answering embarrassing questions, but they would not give up this time.
"Because we want to make sure that your and Kiku's relationship is sane and stable." Matsukawa said.
"It is sane and stable!"
"But are you trying to fuck her?" Hanamaki asked, exasperated, "Because that's the ultimate goal of a relationship in most cases – we're not in the middle-ages so stop pretending to be all noble and admit it! Do you want to fuck her?"
Iwaizumi's lips fell open in shock at the harsh words, blushing terribly. Even Oikawa and Matsukawa glanced worriedly at each other, before glancing between the two, wondering if Hanamaki didn't go too far this time with the way he had said it…
"I-it's… don't talk about Kiku and I's relationship like that, it's–"
"Oh, come on! You have to give us something! Are you sexually attracted to her or not?!"
"YES I AM! Happy now?!" He shouted, an angry vein popping at his forehead.
Silence fell on the room and Iwaizumi looked away from his friends, too embarrassed to look at them. They discreetly sighed in relief, knowing that it was one trouble off Kiku's shoulders.
"So… did you ever touch her or do anything that might suggest it?"
"…No."
"Can I ask why?"
"B-because… because it's Kiku! I-I can't… I-I don't want to… to…"
"You just said you are sexually attracted to her so how can you not want to get your engines going? Forget starting the engines, they need to warm up and then, it'll require a kick start and–"
"I don't want to hurt her!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, cutting Hanamaki in his talk.
They all stared at him as he sighed deeply, letting his shoulders drop and shaking his hair in frustration:
"Every time she gets too close, or we start kissing and things get good, I freak out because I don't want to hurt her but I lose control! I don't want that, I don't want to hurt her by accident and I'm not sure I would be able to stop myself even if she asked me to!"
Oikawa, Hanamaki and Matsukawa glanced at each other, glad that his friends was finally opening up a little.
"Iwa-chan, you don't have to worry about that…"
"I'm pretty sure all she wants is for you to lose control," Matsukawa added, earning a confused look from Iwaizumi but once again, Oikawa and Hanamaki pushed him off.
"What Mattsun is trying to SAY is that… you're in love with Kiku, so much, and you want to keep her safe and it's a beautiful wish and very noble but… in the case that you were losing control, and she was hurt, if she asked you… you'd stop at once. Because you love her that much. If you're willing to hold back all of your lust for weeks with the thought of her safety in mind, one word from her will be enough to stop you." Oikawa said with a reassuring smile.
"A-are you sure…? But what if something goes wrong and I hurt her anyway, or what if I don't hear her asking me to stop, or what if–"
"What ifs are not going to help you. If anything, holding back everything will end up coming back to bite you in the ass. Instead of not saying to Kiku you want her and let her insecurities kick in, why don't you two talk about it and set up boundaries? You'll take it slow and this way, everyone is happy." Hanamaki said.
Everyone stared at him, stunned once again.
"What? Don't look so surprised! I too can say some good stuff every once in a while!" He exclaimed.
"It's… it's surprisingly nice of you…" Iwaizumi finally said.
"I am nice. Which is why you're going to follow my wise advice and when you'll go to that aquarium, you're going to grab her behind, at least once." Hanamaki said.
Iwaizumi blushed but for once, he didn't avoid the topic or refused the possibility of it happening.
The following day, last practice before the summer training camp…
At the end of practice, while the first and second years were putting everything away for the week-end, the third-years gathered to discuss the plan: the team was to gather for ice-cream for the end of finals and beginning of holiday – the coaches were offering. After changing clothes, or simply putting on pants to avoid catching a cold, everyone went to the nearby convenience store. The ones who wanted more to eat went to get their own snacks while Hanamaki and Oikawa volunteered to go get the ice-creams for everyone.
"Remember I can't have one with milk," Kiku told them before they left.
"Any more allergies we should be aware of?" Oikawa asked everyone but they were all in their own conversations and Kiku confirmed that no one had any allergies (she was making the meals for them, after all, she would be aware of it otherwise).
Iwaizumi and Kiku remained behind to keep an eye on the team but without the other third-years shenanigan-makers, it was calm and quiet.
"Why did you change in your school uniform?" He asked, pointing at her summer school outfit, even if it was missing her usual bow and it was slightly left opened on her cleavage.
"I'm seeing Yuuna after and I prefer to wear my school uniform," she answered sheepishly.
"So, I won't see you until tomorrow?" He concluded, knowing they'd part their own ways after the team gathering.
He looked perfectly fine but Kiku bit on her lower lip and couldn't help but leaned towards him, a curious smile appearing on her face:
"…Would you prefer I'd spend time with you afterwards?" She asked.
He glanced down at her, flushing a little at how cute she looked with her hair around her face, her eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed with this mischievous smile…
"N-no, not really… I know you don't get to spend as much time as you wished with Yuuna, so it's fine." He answered, glancing away.
GOOD that you don't spend too much time with my rival… He added to himself.
"We're here~! With the ice-creams~!" Oikawa suddenly announced, coming back with Hanamaki and a few more players who had gone to get personal items and snacks.
They started the distribution according to everyone's tastes. Hanamaki gave a popsicle to Kiku, the long, colorful kind; she smiled, glad he had listened to her (for once). Oikawa, on the other hand, almost got smacked by Iwaizumi when he gave him a Godzilla ice-cream – the kind for children.
"I thought it'd make you happy, Iwa-chan! We haven't eaten those since we were kids!" He exclaimed.
"If you want something else, I don't mind exchanging," Mattsun said.
"It's fine! But I know the only reason why you chose this one for me is to make fun of me! Children are the ones to eat this ice-cream!"
"Well, you're as short as a child, so the mistake is understandable," Matsukawa added, already putting his own ice-cream in his mouth.
Iwaizumi glared at him for saying that and a few minutes later, the whole team was sitting in small groups in a nearby park, unusually silent as they were focused on eating their ice-creams before it'd melt completely.
"Is it good?" Kiku asked Hajime.
"Mm. Yeah. You want to taste?" He asked, showing it to her.
She gave him an apologetic smile, sighing a little.
"She can't, it's got milk in it," Makki commented.
"Oh, right, I had forgotten…"
"It's fine, do you want to taste mine?" Kiku asked instead.
"No, thanks," he answered, not wanting to take the risk that some of the vanilla and chocolate ice-cream from his mouth would go on her popsicle and make her sick.
She kept staring at him as she put it in her mouth, wondering whether or not there was a good reason for refusing. Perhaps he'd feel awkward about sharing food in front of others – even if he had proposed to her first… She didn't realize that she put the long popsicle in her mouth, slowly sliding it in and out of her mouth until it escaped with a popping sound.
Hajime – and the others – stared at her and he couldn't help but flush a little, quickly looking away, reminded of the amazing blowjob she had given him a few weeks ago. He tried to cool himself with his ice-cream but caught sight, in the corner of his eye, of Oikawa elbowing Hanamaki with a huge grin. Hajime glared at them for staring at his girlfriend when she was sucking on her ice-cream with dirty thoughts going through their perverted minds. Little did he know they were just excited he had noticed it as well and had flushed. Iwaizumi and Kiku didn't know that the one who had proposed the idea of ice-cream for the team to the coaches was Hanamaki. And of course, he didn't choose her ice-cream shape just because it was safe for her.
After a moment he considered safe, Hajime glanced once again, not realizing his friends were observing closely all of his reactions. Kiku had to use her thumb to keep some melting sorbet to not drip along her chin – Hajime blushed and breathed heavily, trying to stay calm. She glanced up at him curiously and seemed to finally understand what might be going on in his head – and she understood that it was Makki's plan all along… Too lost in her thoughts, Kiku didn't realize that some of the ice-cream had melted and fell off. She startled when she received some of it in her cleavage, already sliding down against the curve of her breast.
"Oh…"
She quickly caught the bit of ice-cream before it'd escape in her bra, sucking it off her fingers while Hajime stared with wide eyes and blushing cheeks, his gaze now focused on her cleavage. She didn't notice him staring when she took a handkerchief to clean herself, showing a little of her bra.
"Need help to clean that off?" Hanamaki proposed with a grin, "Perhaps Iwaizumi should just lick it off."
Kiku gasped, blushing while Iwaizumi turned towards him with a stunned but still murderous expression on his face. A few of their kouhais had heard and several flushed, glancing at the breasts of their manager they had tried so hard to ignore when ice-cream had fallen against her cleavage.
"I–"
Hajime was interrupted when his own ice-cream that had melted too much (he had been too busy staring at Kiku to actually eat it) fell off right on his crotch. He clenched his teeth at the cold sensation while his friends snickered, wondering if Hanamaki wasn't a magician of some sort.
"Perfect timing," he said, winking at Kiku, "You'll get to lick ice-cream off each other, this way, no one is jealous."
"She can't, milk," Oikawa said with a pout.
"That's not the point of my remark, Oikawa," Hanamaki answered, glad the couple was blushing, catching on what he was trying to do.
She blushed, quickly swallowing the last bits of her ice-cream before keeping the stick in her mouth, not having anywhere else to put it, and taking another handkerchief she handed her boyfriend. He gladly took it, cleaning himself while she used her water bottle to wet another handkerchief.
"You should get changed, the school isn't that far and you won't look quite as awkward when you'll go home," Kiku said.
"Or you could just take of your pants, you have your training shorts under anyway," Oikawa said, earning a hard glance from Kiku, "Oh. Or you could go back and get changed at school."
"Nah, I'll take it off here, there's no one beside the team anyway." He said, already standing up and glancing around to make sure there was no passerby.
Kiku sighed while he quickly took off his pants, no one really caring, she started biting annoyingly on her popsicle stick. She had hoped that if Hajime had gone off to get changed, she would have accompanied him and with the way he had looked at her before she had hoped he'd be aroused enough for a few heated kisses. But no, Oikawa had to intervene and give him a reasonable plan. The setter, who had understood her intentions a little too late, sent her an apologetic smile but she ignored him.
"I'm going to join Yuuna now, I'll see you guys on Monday. Except you, Hajime. See you tomorrow!'" Kiku exclaimed, grabbing her bag.
"Wai–" He started but she had already gone off, waving at the boys.
He had been too busy putting his pants in his bag to have time to accompany her or kiss her goodbye. It was strange, she never missed a goodbye kiss… He stared at her leaving, feeling a little down he didn't have his kiss today…
His three friends noticed the apparition of his disappointed frown and they leaned towards each other:
"I told Kiku to play hard to get, it's working," Hanamaki whispered to them.
"Makki, was it your plan? The ice-cream accident?" Oikawa asked with a mischievous smile.
"I didn't expect it to go that well, but yeah," he answered with a chuckle.
"You smooth son of a bitch…" Matsukawa breathed with an impressed nod.
The following day, at the Aquarium…
"Sorry, I'm late!" Kiku exclaimed when she arrived next to Hajime.
"It's fine, I just arrived," he answered, pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning against.
She was flushed from her running and before she had time to add anything else, he leaned down and kissed her lips. She blinked and smiled giddily.
"W-what was that for?" She asked, glad of his attention.
"You look very pretty, and I missed you," he admitted, flushing a little.
She blushed with a happy smile as he slid his fingers with hers and they started walking to the entrance of the aquarium, talking of everything they could. Once they were in the maze of diminished light and blue atmosphere, surrounded by fishes and ocean animals of all sorts, their focus quickly switched on what they were seeing. Especially Kiku, she was amazed at everything she was seeing, making Hajime smile as well. It was only a long time later that his mind wandered when he recalled what Hanamaki had suggested the other day…
"It's very dark, there are lots of corners and doing it in public is very exciting."
Hajime glanced quickly at Kiku, her eyes brighter than ever with the low, blue light… He swallowed hard, she was so beautiful, she was driving him crazy. His eyes wandered over her figure, her curves showing thanks to her pretty outfit and short skirt.
"You're going to follow my wise advice and when you'll go to that aquarium, you're going to grab her behind."
"Get out of my head, pervert…" He muttered in a low voice.
"What did you say?" Kiku asked, turning towards him.
"Ah, eh, nothing!"
She tilted her head in confusion and he pointed at a fish, flushing in embarrassment:
"This one! Look! It's… it's an… ervert." He improvised, almost biting his tongue in his embarrassing and shameful lie.
"I never heard of this fish before," she said, blinking, staring at a very common-looking fish.
"D-did you know there is a fish species called 'Oikawa'?" He continued with a smile, feeling a little awkward but this time knowing what he was talking about.
She immediately laughed, looking up at him with an amused expression on her face which him smile as well, thinking back on the expression his friend had done back in KitaIchi when he had found this fish in a biology book:
"Really? I can't help but imagine a fish with Oikawa's face!"
"True! He'd look stupid!" He laughed.
"Don't be so rude! He's your best friend!" She exclaimed, slapping his arm slightly.
He chuckled and realized that she didn't move away from him, still gazing into the vast view of the ocean. He glanced down at her and he caught sight of her cleavage, swallowing hard when he thought back on what had happened the previous day with the popsicle incident. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought back on it a few times ever since, Hanamaki's teasing had unfortunately gotten into his head. Obviously, it lead back to remembering the one time he had seen her breasts… Hajime licked on his lips, his throat suddenly feeling dry, his eyes wandering over her body a few more times. Finally, he put his hand against the curve of her back, a little lower than usual but she didn't seem to mind, still reading whatever was written about this aquarium in the flyer she had been carrying around since they had entered. His hand slowly wandered south, until he felt the beginning of the curve of her behind, his eyes automatically going down. He could imagine it, how beautiful it'd look, under this black skirt, with lacy panties… He wondered how soft her skin would be, compared to her breasts…
He put away his hand, flushing at his line of thoughts, determined to have it stop there but the flyer slipped from Kiku's fingers. She bent down to retrieve it and before Hajime had time to move away, with her move and slight turn, his hand was on her behind. By accident. She froze, eyes wide and red blushing. Well, most of it was an accident but it was obvious his hand hadn't landed there out of the blue if he had been touching her back casually, or if he had let his hand drop at his side. Too shocked to move, they remained like this a short moment, Kiku not quite believing his hand was on her behind and that he wasn't taking it away – but the shock might be why he kept it there.
"Mom, dad! Look, the mister is touching the miss' butt!" A child exclaimed, pointing at them while his mother threw an offended look at the two, quickly covering her boy's eyes.
Kiku straightened up at once, and Hajime pulled away his hand, crossing his hands behind his back. He apologetically glanced over his shoulder at the family but the father gave him a sharp, proud nod. Hajime quickly looked back in front of him, so red he looked purple in the blue light.
"Um… s-sorry about that… it was… an accident…" He murmured awkwardly, not daring to glance in Kiku's direction.
She glanced up quickly at him, just as red, but she smiled to herself…
"Just tell me one thing… was it a hundred percent of an accident?" She asked in a low voice, still smiling lightly.
He glanced at her then looked away, biting on his lower lip in shame. She chuckled at his adorable embarrassment, bumping her hips against his and remaining at his side, close enough that they could feel each other's warmth.
"Don't worry, it's forgiven, Hajime. As long as you don't traumatize more children." She said, trying to lighten the mood and it worked.
"I think the mom was more traumatized than her boy, though…" He replied with an amused smile.
They glanced at each other with amused expressions, relaxing again. It was reassuring for both that they could have awkward moments like that but still be themselves and relax soon after. It proved they weren't in the awkward first stage of their relationship.
Kiku was slowly realizing that Hajime wasn't as disinterested as she had thought, and he was slowly realizing she wasn't as innocent as he had thought.
Quickly enough, she looked back at the aquarium, continuing her reading. Hajime discreetly sighed in relief, quickly looking back at her face. Her soft expression, her amazed smile and her eyes… her blue eyes were as bright as the light surrounding them, sparkling like jewels hidden in the depths of the ocean…
Sensing a gaze on her, Kiku glanced up, noticing that he was staring at her with a tender expression and soft smile.
"Y-yes?" She hesitated, flushing a little under his intense gaze.
"You're beautiful…" Hajime said suddenly.
She blushed, lips falling open in shock. Her heart started beating faster, warmth of happiness spreading through her body. It wasn't the first time he was telling her, it was the second time and she had imagined that when he'd tell her again "you're beautiful" it'd be a little less intense that the first time but… but it wasn't. It was just as intense. Tears of happiness filled her eyes, her smile getting bigger and brighter under the compliment leaving her out of breath. Her expression left him breathless so instead of saying anything, Hajime just leaned down, kissing her lips for a long and soft kiss. She kissed him back, her fingers delicately brushing his cheek.
He pulled away with a delighted sigh, brushing his nose against hers, which made her laugh adorably.
Neither had thought it'd be possible, but every "you're beautiful" would as intense and meaningful as the first one had been and it meant the world for Kiku to be seen this way by Hajime. And for him, just seeing her expression of happiness, knowing he made her happy was enough to make his heart miss a few beats.
Holding hands, they silently continued their way through the exploration of the ocean depths, even though, for Hajime, it looked dull compared to Kiku's beautiful eyes.
The following arc is the summer training camp (I had wished Kyouken-chan woudl have been a part of it but he won't go back to the team until the return to school) + Hajime dealing with his fears concerning Kiku.
NEXT CHAPTER : The 'Let's Get Iwa-chan with Kiku-chan' Plan 2.0
Don't hesitate to tell me what you think! :)
Yours Truly,
May