I Can't Say "I Love You" | Kuroo Tetsurō

Chapter 1: Volleyball

Mirai was craning her neck to look at her classmate and friend, the half-Russian volleyball player Haiba Lev, as he began to talk about his training with the team regulars. From what she knew, Lev had only just started playing volleyball in high school and had absolutely no knowledge in the sport whatsoever. She wasn't sure how well he was going to do, but decided that he would be able to handle it on his own.

"You should join the team, Mirai-san!" Lev added enthusiastically as they left the classroom together.

"Erm, Lev, you do realize that this is a boy's volleyball club, right?" Mirai sweatdropped. "Last time I checked, I'm a girl."

Lev laughed lightheartedly. "No, I meant you should join as our manager, Mirai-san!" He corrected. "Our team hasn't had a manager for a while now and Taketora-san has been wanting a female manager ever since their practice match against our old rivals."

She tilted her head curiously, "Rivals?"

"They're from Miyagi Prefecture! I heard from the regulars that they have this freak duo with a really incredible Quick!!" Lev grinned, eyes sparkling with determination. "I want to be able to stop that amazing technique!"

"I'm sure you will, Lev..." Mirai giggled, finding his excitement adorable.

The two stopped at the doors of the gym and Mirai turned to walk away. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then-" She began to walk home, but a firm grasp on her forearm made her stop and turn her head.

"Wait a minute! I thought you were going to join as our manager, Mirai-san!" Lev exclaimed.

"Eh?! I-I never said such a thing!" She huffed at him. "Besides, I'm not the sporty type anyway!"

Lev whined and began tugging her arm, trying to drag her inside the gym. "At least meet my teammates! And watch one game!! You might even start to like volleyball!!!" He opened the metal doors to the gym and gently tugged her arm.

As much as he wanted her to stay and watch them, he was aware of how fragile her body was and tried his best to not break her arm as he pulled.

"Are you crazy?! No way! You know how I feel when I'm around a group of guys!! Lev, NO-"

Alas, he managed to pull her through the doorway.

A yawn escaped Kuroo's lips as he walked through the nearly emptied corridors of Nekoma. His best friend walked alongside him as they made their way to the school gym for practice. Their practice match against their old rivals really impressed him. Kuroo smirked, wondering what kind of training they would undergo to improve themselves for their next meeting.

"Hm?" He paused in front of the gym and listened as the team were excitedly chattering inside.

Kenma noticed the noise as well and stopped playing on his phone to look up at the door with a stoic expression.

"What's going on in there?" He mumbled, half-interested at the loud commotion.

"Let's see," Kuroo took a step forward and slowly opened the door.

Once inside, he saw the team crowding around Lev and chatting excitedly about something to someone beside him. Kuroo raised an eyebrow and glanced over to their coach, who didn't seem to mind at all.

He and Kenma quickly changed their shoes and walked over to the crowd.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kuroo asked curiously.

Yamamoto spun his head around to look at his captain. He had blobs of tears streaming down his cheeks and snot dripping from his nose. Kenma flinched at the sight and wondered what the hell caused it.

"KUROO!!! A miracle... A MIRACLE JUST HAPPENED!!!" Yamamoto cried dramatically. "WE FINALLY HAVE OUR VERY OWN CUTE MANAGER!!!!"

"Eh?" Kuroo blinked.

Then, he looked behind the ace and saw a short girl with medium-length chestnut brown hair. She looked embarrassed, nervous, and completely scared as the crowd around her began to talk all at once.

"Uhh, guys? I think you're scaring the poor kitten." Kuroo chuckled and nodded towards the girl. She visibly flinched and stared at him wide-eyed.

Lev grinned and pushed her towards Kuroo.

"This is my classmate, Hoshizora Mirai!" He introduced the girl to his captain and gently nudged her forward.

Kuroo scanned her from head to toe, studying her carefully. She seemed nervous under his watchful gaze and tensed up, hands shaking as she balled them into fists. He smirked.

"So! You came here to apply for the manager position?" He asked, leaning down a bit to look her in the eye.

Having his face a little too close to her personal space made her take a step back, causing Kuroo to widen his grin in amusement. He watched as a small hand reached up to push up her glasses, her eyes darting around and trying desperately to avoid his.

"U-Uhh, that's...not entirely true." Mirai answered, casting a light glare at Lev. "I only walked here with Lev while he was talking about the club and he dragged me inside saying that I should be the manager."

Upon hearing this, the team slumped their shoulders dejectedly.

"Aww..! I was hoping that we would finally have a manager of our own." Inuoka, a first year, sighed in disappointment.

However, none had taken the news to heart as much as Yamamoto, who was now in-between sadness and anger as he approached the half-Russian.

"LEEEEEV!" He growled in annoyance. Lev stiffened as his senpai made strangling motions with his hands. "I can't believe you got my hopes up like that, you jerk!"

"W-WAIT..!" Lev tried hiding behind Mirai, but she was so much shorter compared to him that his upper half was still clearly seen.

"How noisy..." Kenma sighed.

Kuroo patted their ace on the shoulder, calming him down effectively. He turned to Mirai and frowned slightly.

"Hoshizora-san, was it?" He said. "Sorry about that misunderstanding."

"I-It's fine," She nervously laughed and waved her hands dismissively. "Besides, it was Lev's fault for suddenly proclaiming me to be the manager."

From behind her, Lev pouted at her.

"Hey!" He huffed. "Why shouldn't you join? It's not like you're in any clubs anyway, Mirai-san!"

"That doesn't automatically mean that I'm going to join this club either!!" She snapped at him, annoyed. "I don't know the first thing about sports, Lev, and you know it! So don't drag me into a sports club when I could very well be holding them back because I'm not good enough for the job!"

The entire gym was silent as she spoke. Even coach Nekomata seemed to be observing her without a word.

Mirai noticed the silence and felt embarrassed for having said too much. She mumbled an apology then exited the room in a hurry.

Kuroo clapped his hands together, "Alright. Time to set up."

The others snapped out of their thoughts and shouted a response, before going off to start setting up the nets. Coach Nekomata began to chuckle, catching the captain's attention. There was a knowing glint in the old man's eyes.

"She's interested in the sport, but is afraid to hold the team back because of her lack of experience with it." He summarized the earlier situation with a mirthful laugh. "It's funny since the one who invited her is the one with the least experience on the team."

"That's true." Kuroo agreed in thought as he walked away to change his clothes. "But we can't force her to join if she doesn't want to either..... However... A little coaxing wouldn't hurt."