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Fukunaga liked watching. It wasn’t really a secret either. If you put any effort into paying attention, then you could see the way they often stared at seemingly nothing until you followed their gaze and realized there was always something going on. Or perhaps you noticed when they bring up an embarrassing moment that you had naively thought no one had witnessed. Or perhaps when they would point out small things in someone’s character with pinpoint accuracy that wouldn’t be known without careful observation.
Their favorite subject as of late was their boyfriend, Yamamoto Taketora. Tora never failed to amuse and entertain. He was always moving, always doing something . When he wasn’t practicing, he was talking. He would be coaching Lev, chattering animatedly with Inuoka, making fun of Kuroo, or simply talking to Shōhei. They liked when Tora would talk to them. It was usually a one-sided conversation, but they still liked hearing his voice, and it didn’t seem that Taketora minded much.
When he was practicing, he was focused. So focused that it would take more for him to notice the staring. But still, he would always notice. It would be after a particularly good spike when he would feel Fukunaga’s eyes on him, or when he received a difficult ball. It would be when he was waiting to see where the ball would set and when he was thinking about how to best serve.
So yeah, Fukunaga liked watching but the benefits were even better. See, Taketora would take his staring as their way of asking for kisses. And he was always more than happy to give Fukunaga what they wanted.
----
They knew that they were staring. They also knew it was only a matter of time before their boyfriend would notice. Just a little longer… ah. There it was. The slight tilt of his head when he first noticed and that gentle smile. Then he- went… right back to cleaning.
Oh. Well, maybe he was just tired from the team’s constant teasing and would kiss them later.
Taketora didn’t kiss them later.
Everyone else has already left and it was just the two of them. They were looking forward to the kisses in front of their house as they walked home in silence. In retrospect, they should have realized then and there something was wrong because Tora doesn’t do silent. He’s always talking, even when he doesn’t expect a response. Fukunaga signs softly into their scarf and turns to face Tora, who stood with a bit more space between them than what was necessary. Fukunaga brought their hands up to their chest, almost reaching out, but Tora was already leaving.
“Goodnight Sho-chan! See you tomorrow!”
Oh, yeah. Something was definitely wrong.
Taketora always kissed them—on the lips—when he couldn’t kiss them during the day. Always. He would kiss him for every one missed and would hold their hands up between their chests, pulling their bodies as close together as possible.
Their cat meowed, annoyed, and brought Fukunaga out of their head. When had they gotten inside? Oh well, they had to feed Betta. They would see if anyone had maybe done something to discourage their boyfriend’s kisses and if they had then, well, they would simply have to Kill Them.
The thing with Tora was that he was so head-strong and rash that when he did stop to think, it was usually to overthink. But he wouldn’t overthink too hard unless something was questioned and since they would never in their life question Tora’s kisses, it had to be an outside meddler. And they would make sure whoever it was suffered for their crimes.
Betta meowed again.
Yes, Betta, Tora not kissing them is considered a crime. A hate crime, in fact.
----
The next morning they woke up determined. It was even showing in their spikes—which they were praised for—but that was not what they were here to do. Today, they were here to watch Taketora less and everyone else more. Their first victim was the captain. He was one of the biggest instigators and would sometimes say things without thinking of their consequences. Although, if he had made a mistake, Kenma would’ve known and it would have been fixed almost immediately.
Their next suspect was Inuoka. The first year was kind, but not very bright. He would be the type to make a seemingly innocent off-handed comment that Tora would take too far. That lead was shut-down, however, when he remembered their conversations from yesterday. It was only about volleyball. Plus, Inuoka wasn’t one to really tease his senpais.
Their third and final suspect was Lev. That, in and of itself, should be reason enough and they were already seeing the evidence of it. He had already returned most of their glances during practice—when usually he was too clueless to notice—and when Fukunaga was caught staring, Lev would just turn away. Normally he would smile, wave, or maybe even call out to them. He also pointed them out to Tora every single time without fail. Tora’s smile would always then falter, without fail.
That wasn’t it, though. On top of pointing them out, they would share frequent and hushed words. If there was one thing Lev was, it wasn’t quiet . They also kept giving them gossipy looks. They didn’t like those. Tora turned his head a little too far once and locked eyes with them. In any other circumstance, they might’ve laughed at the way his face simultaneously paled and colored, but now it just made them even angrier. Especially since, for the rest of practice, he didn’t turn to look at Fukunaga again unless he had to. Which was unacceptable.
Fukunaga quickly took out their phone and sent a few short texts to Yaku.
>> Yaku-san i am going to murder your boyfriend
>> You had better control lev before i get my hands on them. Hes messing with Tora.
Yaku gave them an odd look, somewhere between concern and anger, but just as he opened his mouth (either to ask him why or yell at Lev he didn’t know) the whistle blew and practice resumed. They saw Yaku give Lev a kick in the ass and say to stop doing that, but it was clear Lev didn’t know why he was being punished. Fukunaga stifled a sigh and muddled through the next hour and a half, disappointed.
----
Practice was finally over and they were more than ready to pull Tora aside and kiss him senseless, but they were stopped in his tracks when they saw Lev talking to Tora, again . Well, Yaku had his chance. Now, it was time for Fukunaga to take matters into their own hands.
They were just about to get up and go separate that stupid first year from their boyfriend when they were—once again—stopped. This time by Kenma. (If it had been anyone else they would’ve been ignored or bitten).
“You look angry.”
Well, yes.
“You keep staring at everyone. Like, more than usual. You kinda look like you wanna murder someone.”
If they aren’t stopped, they probably will.
Realizing they weren’t going to get any semblance of an answer, Kenma turned to look at what Fukunaga was attempting to use their eyes to burn holes through. They let out a small “ah” when they saw Lev and Tora whispering to each other.
It was then Lev decided to point their way (at Fukunaga specifically) and say something that looked to have a great emotional impact on their boyfriend. Tora’s shoulders slumped and his head hung ever so slightly. He looked at them (Lev was still pointing, Christ was this kid never taught manners?) and, while it was too quick and fleeting to see well, they knew that sad look in his eyes.
“Oh,” they chuckled darkly, “Absolutely not.”
They stood from the bench faster than they’d ever moved in his life, startling Kenma and also Kuroo, who happened to be right beside them. They ignored the rest of their teammates staring at them, wondering what could’ve possibly upset Fukunaga of all people. Yaku looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it when he saw who was at the end of their warpath. As they got closer, Lev noticed them. Tora didn’t, as his back was facing them, but it didn’t matter because stupid Lev greeted them with a far too cheery exclamation for the situation.
“Oh, hello Fukunaga-san! Is everything okay?”
They would never admit it but they glowered a bit. It wasn’t that noticeable if you didn’t know them, but Tora definitely picked up on it.
“Sho-chan? Is somethin’ wrong?”
Yes, you haven’t been kissing me. They didn’t say it, and instead curled their fingers in the sleeve of Taketora’s shirt and tugged. Tora went with them easily. No one in the gym stopped them when they walked out. Practice was over and their cleaning duties would just be pushed on Lev, who more than deserved it, and they would come back to change later.
“Sho-chan? Hey, c’mon now. Did I do somethin’? Sho-chan, I’m sorry if I did. Shō. Shōhei.”
Tora pulled them to a stop when he said Fukunaga’s given name and circled around to face them. Tora took Fukunaga’s face in his hands, forcing them to look at each other.
“Shōhei. What’s wrong? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this mad before. I wanna fix it but I don’t know what’s wrong. You gotta help me out here, Shō.”
Fukunaga thunked their head lightly against Tora’s and brought their hands up to peel Taketora’s off of their face and instead hold between them. They lifted their eyes up off their hands to stare into Tora’s. It only took him a second to figure out.
“You’re mad ‘cause I didn’t kiss you? Oh. I-I didn’t know if you liked it or not, because you never stopped me but then Lev said that you probably weren’t asking me to kiss you when you stared at me since you stare at everyone and do it a lot so I decided to test it out and didn’t kiss you yesterday when I caught you looking and I mean you never brought it up so I just thought Lev was right and you didn’t want me to kiss you so that’s also why I didn’t after school but I guess I was just bein’ stupid, huh?”
Fukunaga hummed and nodded. Tora laughed, loud and boisterous. When he quieted again, he firmly pressed his lips against Fukunaga’s. It lingered longer than usual. Once they pulled away, they finally spoke.
“Again. One for every kiss you missed. Like always.”
“Yeah? How many’s that?”
Fukunaga pretended to think. “Twenty-seven.”
Tora laughed again and pulled them closer by the waist.
“Twenty-seven, huh?” he pressed a soft kiss against Fukunaga’s jaw and lowered his voice to a murmur. “I think I can do that.”