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Worth a Million lifetimes

Chapter 37: Pre-camp gathering

Notes:

WAAAAA GUYS WE AREN'T GONNA TALK ABT MY TARDINESS
I had written this chapter, deleted it, then wrote it again cause I wasn't happy with it.
Then the demon slayer movie lit had overridden all my senses and I'm STILL going thru a hyper obsession despite having watched the movie like two weeks ago at the Cinema.
Yes this took a while for me to write cause of college chewing me up and spitting me out and also I kind of moved to writing on my laptop.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
We are nearly halfway thru this fic!
I think.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

He deserved it. I thought as Kuroo doubles down coughing and cursing, while Bokuto gasps and gawks in awe.

“WOAH! YOU’RE STRONG!”

Y/n had mentioned to me before that sometimes Oikawa drags her to the gym with him, not just because he needed someone to keep his fans away but also to make sure she stays fit and isn’t holed up at home all day. It’s basically what Kuroo does to me, except Kuroo is definitely more loud and annoying about it, but I’m sure Y/n would say otherwise.

Y/n then wraps her arms around Kuroo, pulling him into a hug. “You’re too tall for me to reach.” She says.

“You could have just asked me for a hug!” Kuroo whines, hugging her back but with a pout on his face.

Like I said, he deserves it. He was making weird faces at me while she was hugging me.

“How’s Sakura doing?” He asks Y/n, and her eyes light up. I really like how she gets along Sakura amazingly well, and so does Y/n’s other friend, Ito. Sakura does deserve some good friends. Well, they all do. Sakura usually calls me every now and then, blabbering about all the stuff she gets up to with Y/n and Ito, and on other days, I sometimes even hear about the Aoba Johsai’s volleyball team too.

“Sakura’s doing great! She’s actually helping out our friend Runa with clearing out her room as we speak! Runa’s moving next door to me.” Y/n responds, her smile widening, visibly getting more excited. “Anyways~ Hey Bokuto! How’s it going?”

Bokuto perks up, practically bouncing. “HEY IZUMI! YOU REMEMBER ME?”

“You’re a hard person to forget!” She laughs, and it amazes me how she can get along with everyone- ah, almost everyone.

She turns to Kuroo. “What’s the plan, Captain?”

Oh dear, don’t go stroking his ego, I beg.

Although, she’s probably the only person other than Yaku to have no problem with humbling him. I then realize, recalling all the times I’ve seen Y/n put Oikawa in his place.

Kuroo pumps out his chest, and he points a thumb at himself. “Your Captain has managed to get the group together at our usual restaurant, to familiarize you with the rest of the team, and then you’ll stay over at my place with me and Kenma, if you are ok with that?”

Y/n beams from ear to ear at his words. “Sounds like a plan! So, where is this restaurant?” She turns to me expectantly.

Oh…

‘Um… I don’t think it’s far from here… maybe a six minute walk.”

Bokuto clasps a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, probably from shock, while Kuroo gives a stomach-wrenching grin.

And his next words were stomach-wrenching.

“You sound like you know the way! You should take us there, ey?”

What am I? Your personal chauffuer?

He knows I don't like being put on the spot like that.

“Ok.” I sigh, spinning on my heel, walking away, heading towards the restaurant.

A few seconds later, Y/n catches up with me, walking next to me, humming happily.

It was kind of cute.

Stop thinking like that. I cringe, looking everywhere but her.

“SO!” Bokuto booms from behind us. “ARE YOU READY TO SEE ME IN ACTION IZUMI?”

“Not like there’s much to see anyways.” Kuroo covers behind a cough.

Upon Bokuto”s pouty sad face, Y/n chastises the culprit.

“Don’t be so cruel! That’s not how you treat friends.”

Kuroo lets out a half-shocked, half-guilty gasp. “That’s coming from YOU? Didn’t Oikawa ask you how amazing his jump serves were and you responded with ‘what jump serves? Those shitty serves always going out of the court?’” He enunciates Y/n’s words with finger quotation marks.

Y/n stares at him, and I could practically hear the cogs turn in her brain as she tries to recall the memory, and horror dawns upon her as she points at Kuroo. “WHAT?! That was a joke! He knows I didn’t mean it.”

“You also compared his looks to a trash can.” Kuroo deadpans, and Bokuto cackles at it.

“And I compared my brother’s to a chimpanzee.” Y/n shoots back. “Your point is?”

Bokuto is now howling with laughter, so loud that my ears are starting to ring.

Get me out of here.

I spare a glance at Y/n while her back was turned, busy bickering with my annoying captain.

Well, I guess it isn’t all that bad.

Her eyes were twinkling despite the fact she was growing at this current moment, telling me that she wasn’t truly all that bothered about Kuroo’s words. She even had her arms crossed, looking as if she was a teacher listening to her lousy students make up an excuse to why they were late to lesson or didn’t bring their homework.

“WOW IZUMI! YOU’RE SUPER COLD! Surely they can’t look that bad!”

Y/n shrugs, rolling her eyes. “My brother, no. But Oikawa, yes.”

Kuroo does one of his pervy laughs and he waggles his eyebrows at Y/n, and the way she scrunched up her face was akin to mine.

And that wasn’t the end to Kuroo yet.

“Now, you’re only saying that about Oikawa cause he’s hot as hell and you, missy,’ He sticks out an accusing finger in Y/n’s direction, and her eyes widen comically as he continues. “You know it better than anyone- OW! DON’T YOU HAVE AN INJURED LEG OR SOMETHING?!” Kuroo cries as Y/n kicks him in the shin, hard.

“How many times do I have to repeat myself to you, huh? Aren’t you some nerd in chemistry? Can’t you just figure out the chemistry between people properly instead of them constantly reminding you?” She huffs, watching Kuroo rub his shin.

He deserved that as well.

“He’s selectively deaf. This is one of those times.” I gently tell Y/n, but with enough snark for Kuroo to snap his eyes to me.

“Someone’s extra comfy now.”

“Let the poor boy be, Kuroo.” Y/n quips playfully.

“You’re only saying that because he treats you like a princess and the rest of us like peasants!”

I groan, rolling my eyes. “No I don’t. Shut up Kuroo.”

“Yeah.” Y/n sides with me, smacking her lips. “Man up Kuroo, jealousy isn’t a good look on you~’

“HAH?”

Cue more bickering between the two, and my head was starting to ache the more and more I heard Bokuto’s obnoxious laughter thrown in the mix of Kuroo and Y/n”s loud talking.

If I can’t handle this, I’m definitely going to start digging myself a grave when we get to the restaurant. I think, remembering how chaotic last group up our volleyball team had.

And as if she sensed it, her shoulder gently brushes with mine, and I tense up, stiffening up shoulders up. I snap my head in her direction, and she wore a small smile on her face which quickly disappeared as she looked back at the other rowdy boys behind us, barking at them to shut up so we could finally get to the restaurant.

I let out a small sigh in relief, relaxing and mouthing ‘thank you’ to her, for which me nods her head in response.

I liked that about her. She always paid attention to me in ways the rest didn’t. As creepy as it was, it was somewhat comforting.

We walk for a little while more, turning corners and crossing the busy roads until we get to a small restaurant just at the end of the Main Street.

The restaurant wasn’t popular, but it was the team’s favorite place to hang out. Not to mention it was the only restaurant where the workers didn’t seem to mind how noisy the team was.

Surprisingly.

Kuroo lets out a low whistle as we stand infant of the restaurant, patting me loudly on the back despite me constantly reminding him how much I hated it. “Impressive! I didn’t think you had it in you!”

I do it in video games all the time, dumbass.

Y/n whips out her phone, tapping her thumbs on her screen with a small smile.

Her smile isn’t wide enough for her to be texting somebody, so she’s probably noting down what she’s doing while in Tokyo. Like a diary.

She then quickly pockets her phone, staring up at the big sign above the window, printed in cursive. The letters have gone slightly  rustic now, but it adds to the nostalgia, I guess.

“So, will Bokuto be ok finding his way back himself?” Y/n asks, the concern evident in her voice. Bokuto had to part ways with us since he was meeting up with his own team, and before leaving us, Kuroo had to very carefully give him directions to where Akashi had instructed Bokuto to meet him up.

“He’ll be fine~” Kuroo waves his hand in dismissal. “If he needed me, he would have called by now-“

And on cue, Kuroo was cut off by the ringing of his phone, and Y/n bursts out in laughter as Kuroo takes out his phone, staring at Bokuto’s name on the screen as if it insulted his entire bloodline and some more. “I’m going to have to take this. Kenma, take Izumi in with you, the others should be inside by now.”

 

 

“Hi! Over here!” Yaku calls out from across the restaurant as Y/n and I walk in. He spots Y/n, as gives a small wave, to which Y/n smiles warmly and returns. At this, all the others turn their heads to us, and I suddenly feel the crushing weight of their gazes. Holding my breath, I start walking over, and I just know that she was behind me, and it kind of reminded me of the first day we met.

I must have accidentally slipped out a smile, because Lev, being the usual annoying idiot, busts out “Oh my gosh! Kenma’s smiling!”

“Shut up Lev. I’ll make you forget how to smile.” I mutter quietly, not wanting to hear his antics this early in the day despite it being 5 in the afternoon.

Not to my surprise, he clearly didn’t hear me, and laughs loudly. “Izumi! You should come over more often if that means Kenma’s usually in a good mood around you!”

Kai gently tells off Lev. “They just came. Leave the two alone and let them in on your side of the table.”

Shit. The realizations hits me like a brick to the nose, and I eye the empty space next to Lev. Clearly Yaku opted to sit opposite Lev, probably to kick Lev whenever he mentions his height.

I look over at Y/n with my eyes wide. “I don’t want to sit next to him.”

Y/n blinks at me, looking confused. “I thought you were just going to slide in against the wall anyways.”

She knows me too well. My eyes slightly soften, and I throw a small smile in her direction before I turn back around, the smile disappearing as I saw Lev’s stupid face.

Yaku smiles as I slide up against the wall, Y/n sliding up next to me, and Lev left some space in between him and her, presumably for Kuroo.

Tora, was stunned to silence, staring open-jawed at Y/n.

Y/n, unamused, raises a brow. “Got a problem?” She asks, but not unkindly.

When Kuroo had announced that Y/n was volunteering to be our temporary manager, it was Tora who seemed the most ecstatic. Most of the boys grinned, a few “great!”s and “nice!” Floating around, but it was Tora who got worked up over it, cheering and tearing up because now we apparently have a “hot girl manager”. The disgust must have been evident on my face, because then Tora pestered me the entire evening, asking why I didn’t agree with him.

She’s my friend. I don’t think about her like that.” Was all I responded with at the end of the day when I couldn’t take it anymore.

Yaku tuts. “You’ve been blabbering non-stop about her the entire day and now you’re quiet?”

Luckily Y/n didn’t hear it, because I have a feeling she would be irked out by it.

“Do you play?” Tora blurts out suddenly, and Y/n smiles politely. “ I know my Volleyball.”

Tears start rolling down his face as he lets out a strangled gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Kai gently asks Tora, and Tora lifts his head up, pumping his fist.

“She’s hot and smart. Kenma, you really have outdone yourself!”

I imagined kicking him under the chair, hard,  but in reality, I just scrunch my face up in disgust. “Never say that again.”

Y/n hums from next to me. “He isn’t wrong about the smart part though.”

“Don’t entertain him.” I mutter under my breath, and she giggles, nudging me playfully.

As Kuroo comes into the cafe, Y/n asks no-one in particular. “So, are there going to be many schools there? I know that Karasuno and then Bokuto’s team are coming.”

Fukunaga shrugs. “I think there’s only a few more teams, not many. Like you said, there’s Karasuno and Fukurodani, and then there’s also gonna be Shinzen and Ubugawa.”

Lev gets up to let Kuroo slide in, and then everyone starts to read through their menus.

Y/n shifts to face me a little bit as everyone mutters amongst themselves about what they were going to get. “What is your usual?”

I raise a brow at Y/n, confused on her question. I had never mentioned this restaurant to her before today, so…? “What do you mean?” I ask her quietly. She stares at me for a moment or two, looking like she was loading something in her head.

“Well, you knew the way here by yourself and you seem very comfortable here, unlike when we went to Heaven’s Haven back in my town. So I thought you were very familiar with this place.”

I pause, staring at her with a loss for words.

She had noticed all that?  I didn’t think she would have. After all, we weren’t even sitting next to each other, and she was more occupied with Oikawa ‘annoying’ her.

It still surprises me how she pays a lot of attention to me. Not something I’m used to, but something tells me I should get used to it.

But, it’s nice that someone is actually paying attention to me more than usual.

“I share Pizza and chips with Kuroo. He insists I eat.” I finally tell her, fighting not to smile.

“He’s not wrong. I’ve seen that you don’t eat much. As a growing boy you need to eat. It’s not healthy if you don’t” She gently tells me, and unfortunately, everyone was listening in.

Yaku nods slightly, as if he was agreeing, but of course Kuroo didn't keep his mouth shut.

“Thank god, Izumi. Please tell him for us.” Kuroo sighs, shaking his head.

Y/n scoffs, pointing a finger at him. “As if you’re one to talk! Your appetite’s gone down too, especially the last time I saw you.”

Kuroo flinches away as she pointed her finger at him, tittering nervously.

I stiffen up, busying myself with the menu.

She’s very observant. It’s scary sometimes.

But nice.

I’d had noticed it too with Kuroo, but I kept silent, knowing that he wouldn’t listen to me.

“Don’t bother, Izumi.” Yaku scoffs. “If you think Kenma’s stubborn, Kuroo is on a whole different level when he’s ready.”

Lev laughs. “Really? I had no-“

“No one asked, Lev.” I mutter quietly, and miraculously, he heard it, and he whines.

“Kenma! How comes you’re so nice and polite with Izumi but not me!”

“Lev.” Kuroo claps him on the back, dragging him close. “You want to survive during the training camp? Don’t get on Izumi”s bad side.” Kuroo then leans back, raising his voice so everyone could hear. “Her boyfriend can vouch for that, you kno-“

Inuoka gasps happily. “You have a boyfriend, Izumi?”

Y/n, who was drinking a glass of water in the present moment, chokes a little, slamming her glass down on the table with a loud DUNK, and from under the table, I see her stomp on Kuroo’s foot, and she pierces Kuroo with her gaze.

“Not my boyfriend, Kuroo.”

“Funny, you seem to know exactly who I was talking about~”

“Oh for- You know what?! Oikawa has a girlfriend! Surprise!” Y/n sticks her middle finger up at Kuroo, shoving it in his face. “So suck on my fucking dick asshole!”

Tora spits out his drink, spraying it out on his lap and he chokes, Inuoka laughing and slapping him on the back to get the water out. Kai chuckles why Lev bursts out laughing, while the rest laugh with him. Yaku shakes his head, his eyes twinkling. “A manager who humbles the captain? I think we are gonna get along very well, Izumi!”

Y/n offers him a mischievous smile in return. “Why, I think so too!”

 

Oikawa Tooru’s POV:

 

I was getting some of my work done, planning to go over some volleyball strategies to try out with my team, when I hear a knock on my door. It wasn’t the usual loud banging that Iwa-chan normally announces his presence with, so I immediately ruled him out of my list of suspects at my door.

It couldn’t be Y/n either, as she was away at the camp I would have loved to go to, and Mum was out shopping, and Takeru-

I know who it is.

Stopping myself from rolling my eyes, I clear my throat before speaking in a cheery voice. “Come in!”

And as I had guessed it, my older sister pokes her head around the door, and she waggles her eyebrows at me, before walking across the room and sitting down on my bed, uninvited.

“Your girlfriend is waiting downstairs, you know.” She says, sounding slightly pissed.

I drop my pencil, letting it clatter on to the table top, my heart picking up its pace.

Pushing myself away from my table and getting up, I nod, leaving the room, but my sister stops me.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did I have to hear It from mum?”

You don’t need to know anything. I’m only being nice because you’re my nephew’s mother.

“The thought must have went straight over my head!” I smile brightly at her, waving as I walk out of the room, grabbing my hoodie and walking downstairs into the living room.

I walk in to my living room to see Akira sitting on the couch, looking around. She flinches at the creaking of the boards beneath my feet, and she abruptly gets up, spinning around.

“Oh! Hi! I’m sorry, I knocked but your sister just let me in despite me insisting to wait outside-“

“It’s fine! Don’t sweat it.” I wave in dismissal.

Her face splits into a smile, a smile that felt all too real, and made me annoyingly sluggish.

I shouldn’t be falling for her. I keep trying to remind myself, but every time we hung out, every time she laughed, or every time our hands have brushed against each other, I felt a little more every time.

And I shouldn’t feel.

Because it wasn’t real.

And I’ve been struggling to keep my guard up around her.

Even though we both called it a fake relationship, it felt real.

I return her smile, more stiff than I intended it to be, and I raise a brow at her. “Did I startle you?”

She giggles, and I curse my heart for skipping a beat. “I think you already know the answer! But it’s ok!”
I nod, unable to speak because I was too busy smiling like an idiot when I shouldn’t be. “Wanna go out somewhere?”

Akira nods, holding her hands together. “I’d like that very much.”

In the beginning, it was obvious that she was playing along with me as I agreed to help her get back at her ex, and stop people from bullying her so much, but now?

I don’t know if she’s playing along anymore.

And it terrifies me.

Especially in moments like these where’s she’s looking at me like I was Tooru, not just Oikawa Tooru, Captain of a volleyball team.

 

Iwaizumi Y/n”s POV:

 

Evening came all too quickly for my liking, and I was sad to leave the restaurant.

Until I remembered that I was staying over at Kuroo’s place.

Kuroo, Kenma and I walked side by side, down quiet streets which I thought shouldn’t really exist in Tokyo.

“Your team seems so fun and chaotic! I’m really looking forward to working with you guys at the camp!” I grin, watching Kuroo light up proudly. “Wait till you see us play! That’s when you’ll see our magic! Oh, and Kenma’s magic!” He nudges Kenma, and I could tell Kenma had found  the nudge a bit too hard for his liking. The boy in question rolls his eyes, tapping away at his phone.

“Put that away while we’re walking, Kenma.” Kuroo huffs, and Kenma just stares him right in the eye.
“No.”

Kuroo tuts, clearly annoyed. “It’s not good for you.”

“Your bed head isn’t good for you either, yet here we are.”

Kuroo gasps, and I stifle a laugh behind my hand.

Oh, he went there.

Kuroo glares at me, before grabbing me and throwing me over his shoulder, handing my duffel bag to Kenma, who takes it, bewildered at what the latter was doing.

My whole world turns upside down as my face crashes into his muscled back. “OW- LET ME DOWN!”

“Nope. You’re going back to the station and back home.” He says, walking off in the opposite direction, and I hear Kenma grumble quietly from behind him. What he says, I don’t quite catch.

“What did I do?! I didn’t say anything!” I shriek, trying to wriggle my arms free.

“You’re a bad influence on Kenma!”

“Kenma’s always like this!” I counter.

Kenma sighs with exasperation. “Kuroo, let her down. It looks like you’re kidnapping her. And she’s right. I’m always like this.”

Kuroo spins around to face Kenma, spinning around with him in the process. I squeal as he does so, still trying to get him to lessen this soon like grip around my waist and arms.

It boggles my mind that he’s doing this with just one arm.

“You never talk this much.” Kuroo tells Kenma.

I can practically hear Kenma’s face scrunching up, and I could also hear the demanding edge in his voice as he orders “Put. Her. Down. You’re embarrassing me.”

I still, and so does Kuroo.

One thing I’ve learnt about being Kenma’s friend:

It’s one thing to embarrass him around close friends, but it’s an entirely different matter out in proper public, with strangers OR just people he’s unfamiliar with.

At that, Kuroo mutters “Jesus Christ” before gently setting me down, and stick my nose up at him, trying not to laugh as I softly take my bag off of Kenma, smiling at him.

“Thank you.” I say, not intending for it to come out like a whisper but it does.

He blinks, before his eyes softened like it did earlier at the restaurant, and he shrugs like it was no big deal, as if he wasn’t sounding like he was about to incinerate Kuroo’s entire bloodline a few seconds ago.

I liked the way his eyes softened around me.

And because of that, I quickly spin around, starting to walk again so he didn’t see the widest grin on my face.

He probably caught it anyways, knowing him.

I’m so glad he’s comfortable around me.

It felt like the achievement of the year.

Notes:

Ok lemme try and redeem myself guys.
Next chapter out on 11th of october.
What did you guys think about this chpater?
Feel free to leave comments and Kudos!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Sorry for taking impossibly long!