Date<3: so r we meeting at 9 tonight?

Shigeru: Yh, we r

That had been four hours ago.

It was now ten at night, in winter, and Yahaba was still standing outside the restaurant he had been supposed to meet his so-called date at. He had been stood up. He wanted to cry. In fact, he probably was. He could feel his shoulders shaking and his bottom lip quivering. 

Watari had warned him. He had told him that he was going to be stood up if he went.  He had warned Yahaba that his date was just some dick who'd flirt with him and then leave him to get his heart shattered. Watari had sent a few texts in the past hour, asking if the guy had shown up. Yahaba had left him on read.

Oikawa had been worried about him. He had told Yahaba to call him if he needed to get out of there but Yahaba didn't want to. He looked up to him too much. He couldn't stand the idea of seeing the look on Oikawa's' face. The look of pity and sympathy. The look he didn't want Oikawa to give him.

The worst part was how he had dressed up for it. He was wearing his favourite outfit - one he'd only wear when out with his friends or people he liked. And now he had been stood up.

So here he was. Standing outside a restaurant, with a chain necklace, loose t-shirt, fishnet sleeves, tight ripped jeans, with fishnet stockings underneath, and then converse shoes. And now he was actually crying. Now tears actually fell down his face. He was now getting upset. Really upset.

He wanted to throw something, so he picked up a pebble, about the size of his palm and hurled it across the empty road. It soared through the air and landed in a garden bush opposite him. Then he collapsed on the sidewalk, bringing his knees up to his face and he started sobbing uncontrollably.

What he didn't notice was the fact he had nearly thrown the pebbled into the face of Kyoutani Kentaro who, at that moment, had been skating home from the gym. His first reaction was to grab another pebble and hurl it back but, when he looked up, he just saw Yahaba collapse to the ground. Awkwardly, he took out an earbud and started to hear the setter sobbing loudly.

He didn't know why, but it broke his heart.

Actually, that was a lie. He knew exactly why it broke his heart. Because he was such a fucking simp. He didn't want to be, believe him, but there was something about Yahaba that made his heart race. It was, honestly, why he was so mean to him. He didn't want his heart to be shattered simply because he had the misfortune to fall in love with the shallowest asshole in school.

So, naturally, he stopped his skateboard and picked it up from the ground. Glancing to each side, he crossed the road and sat down next to Yahaba, who hadn't noticed him yet.

For a long moment, he debated whether to say anything at all. Yahaba was still crying. Then, he awkwardly cleared his throat, deciding to get his attention. Instantly, Yahaba jumped and pulled back, his eyes widening upon seeing Kyoutani.

"K-Kyoutani!" He yelped, staring at the uncharacteristically concerned boy. Quickly, he turned away wiping his eyes. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Well," Kyoutani shrugged. "Some bastard threw a rock at me and then started crying. Wondering if you knew something about it."

Yahaba laughed weakly and shook his head. "Sorry," He sighed. "I was just... upset."

Kyoutani hummed slightly. "I can see that. What happened?"

The setter sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I just... I had a date and he... stood me up..."

Kyoutani's' jaw dropped. For a second, he expected Yahaba to say he was joking but, obviously, he wasn't. And then he realised he needed to comfort him. So, ignoring the large ball of jealousy beginning to squirm in his gut, he blurted out the first thing that came to his head. "Who in their right mind would stand you up when you look like this?" Yahaba stared at him dumbly and Kyoutani registered what he had just said. Shit.

"Um, wh-what?" He asked awkwardly.

Kyoutani cleared his throat. "Um, I mean, y-you've put the effort in to look, uh, kinda nice, I guess, and he's just, uh, stood you up like that. It's, um, just... kinda rude." Nailed it.

Yahaba blinked at him. "Uh, right..."

There was a long pause and then Kyoutani glanced around. "Are you, um... Do you have a way home?"

Yahaba sighed. "I guess I could call Oikawa-san, but... I don't want him to, um... y'know, pity me."

"And Watari?"

"He warned me about this. I... I don't really want to listen to him telling me he was right..."

"What about your parents?"

Yahaba tensed slightly. "They, um... They're busy. Work stuff."

"So you're just planning to walk home, then?"

The setters' silence told him everything and Kyoutani stood up and stuck his hand out aggressively. Yahaba stared at it and Kyoutani's' ears went red. "Well, don't leave me hanging," He grunted embarrassedly. "I'm helping you up, dumbass."

Yahaba's' cheeks went pink and he tentatively took the offered hand, letting Kyoutani pull him up. He noticed, looking the spiker up and down, that he was wearing a loose hoodie and baggy tracksuit pants.

"You can ride back with me, if you want," Kyoutani continued grouchily.

Yahaba looked around. "On what?" He asked curiously.

Kyoutani managed to turn redder and he showed Yahaba his skateboard which, at that moment in time, he wished looked a little nicer, maybe a bit newer. He had never really minded the fact it seemed tatty or grubby before until he now realised that Yahaba Shigeru, who was the most beautiful person in the world, in his opinion, was now looking at it. It made him go red with embarrassment.

"Oh, um," Yahaba folded his arms across his chest. "Isn't that a bit too small?"

Ah. That too.

Kyoutani went redder and quickly began to withdraw his offer. "Shit, yeah, you're right. I just, y'know, kinda suck at comforting people, sorry. Um, sorry."

"N-No, it's fine," Yahaba laughed a little and Kyoutani's' heart skipped a beat. "Anything's better than me wallowing out here in self-pity all night. You don't mind, do you? I won't overbalance you or something, will I?"

"Nah," Kyoutani promised. "I'm good at this, trust me."

Yahaba nodded and Kyoutani set the skateboard down. He put a foot on it and then gestured for Yahaba to climb aboard before he kicked off. The setter, cheeks rather pink, climbed on and then hesitated, standing stiffly. 

Kyoutani glanced back at him. "You're gonna need to hold on, or you'll fall off."

Yahaba went from pink to bright red and then awkwardly moved his hands to rest on the back of Kyoutani's' shoulders. Assuming this was as good as he was gonna get, Kyoutani sighed and kicked off.

At the jerk of movement, Yahaba yelped and instantly wrapped his arms around the spiker tightly, one hand resting on his left collarbone and the other on his abdomen. It was annoyingly distracting and Kyoutani forced himself to keep skating and picking up speed.

"I've decided," Yahaba whispered, his grip tightening against Kyoutani's' hoodie, "That I don't like skateboards."

Kyoutani snorted a little. "Oh, don't worry," He assured. "We've just got a downhill coming up and then it's smooth sailing."

Yahaba looked up. "We what?"

The spiker smirked. "Hold on tight!" He joked and Yahaba hurriedly did so, tensing up and hiding his face in the back of Kyoutani's' neck, eyes screwed shut tightly. The board began to tip and Kyoutani quickly took hold of the direction, shifting his weight carefully in order not to send him and Yahaba flying. If he did, he doubted he'd ever be forgiven.

The hill was over quickly, but Yahaba still didn't loosen his grip. Instead, Kyoutani was pretty sure he had begun to rest his head in the crook of Kyoutani's' neck. He could feel Yahaba's' hair against his cheek and it felt very annoyingly soft. Dammit.

No, do not have a gay crisis while the shallow bastard you like is riding home with you. Do not have a gay crisis, do not do something you'll regret and, for the love of God, do not say something stupid-

"The stars look cool," He blurted randomly. Shit.

Yahaba hummed slightly and glanced up at the sky. "Yeah, they do. They look so pretty. I don't usually get to see them like this. Makes you understand how Oikawa-san is so infatuated with space and stuff."

Kyoutani looked over at him and smiled softly, knowing his face was growing warm. Then Yahaba glanced at him and they both went bright red. Kyoutani quickly turned his attention back to in front of him and Yahaba hurriedly pulled back, letting his hands fall back to their original position on his abdomen and collarbone and then resting back on his shoulder blades. Kyoutani glared dead ahead of him. Stupid idiot, he thought, you made it weird.

They rode in silence for the next few minutes.

"Um, my place should be just down this street," Yahaba said awkwardly, gesturing with his hand.

Kyoutani nodded. He steered the skateboard down the road Yahaba pointed at and cleared his throat. "Sorry about earlier," He apologised gruffly.

There was a moment of silence, then Yahaba wrapped his arms around Kyoutani again. "It's alright."

Kentarou, stop having a gay crisis, please, or you're going to kiss him and you're going to get rejected.

The silence filled the streets for the next two minutes until Yahaba told Kyoutani he could stop now. He disembarked off the skateboard then proceeded to stand awkwardly, wondering what to say.

"Uhm, thanks for helping me get home," Yahaba said, avoiding Kyoutani's' eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I... appreciate it."

"Yeah, well... You owe me." Shit, that's not what he meant to say.

Yahaba blinked and then his expression turned a bit colder. "Oh, of course, I do. What, do you want to skip practise or something?"

"No, I..." Kyoutani sighed and then grabbed Yahaba's' hand and kissed his knuckle. "I'd like," He muttered, sounding too annoyed for his own good, "if you went on a date with me. Maybe."

"I-! I, uh, a-are you-?"

"If it's a 'no', then I'm changing the favour to you getting me out of the volleyball club so it doesn't have to be awkward."

"Uh, Kyoutani?"

Kyoutani glanced up and saw Yahaba smile warmly at him. "I wouldn't mind at all."