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

Chapter 15: Fuel to Fire

It was the day of the beginning of the Tokyo Games, a set of practice matches with the Fukurodani group consisting of different schools from the prefecture. From what she was told, it was hard to get in to these sort of practice matches without an invitation, and it turns out that coach Nekomata happened to invite a group from the Miyagi prefecture. "I finally get to meet your Karasuno friends." Mirai said to the Nekoma team with a nervous smile.

"What's wrong? Are you nervous?" Kenma asked, tying his volleyball shoes.

"A-A bit." She confessed with a sigh. "I mean you mentioned a setter with a pretty mean glare and a guy who has the exact personality as Taketora-senpai."

"So Taketora-san makes you nervous?" Lev laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yamamoto cried, his heart breaking in two.

Yaku sighed in exasperation, "It means what it means. Hoshizora-san gets nervous around you because-"

"B-B-Because being around you is just kind of overwhelming! I-I mean you're the ace of Nekoma so naturally you have that amazing aura around you that overwhelms others!" Mirai quickly interjected before Yaku could break whatever pride the wing spiker had left.

Fortunately, Yamamoto's spirits lifted immediately and the fire in his eyes returned. Yaku frowned confused.

"I don't want him playing badly because of what I said..." She whispered to the libero.

"Ah, so that's it." He chuckled.

Of course since the name of Fukurodani was being carried, Mirai should have expected to see none other than the captain of the Fukurodani team himself. With his grand entrance of a loud "HEY HEY HEY", it was hard to ignore his presence.

"Akaashi, let's win them all today!" Bokuto jogged into the gym with a cheerful mood.

"Yes. That goes without saying, Bokuto-san." Akaashi replied in his usual cool manner.

"Oh? Isn't that the glasses girl?" Bokuto stopped abruptly when he caught sight of the glasses girl, making Akaashi bump into his back. A wide grin spread across his face as he started to wave at her enthusiastically. "GLASSES GIRL! HEY, HEY, HEY!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mirai echoed and waved back with a smile. "Kōtarō-senpai, let's have a good game!"

"HELL YEAH!!"

Akaashi nodded politely in greeting upon seeing Mirai, before dragging his energetic captain away to their side of the gym. "DON'T FORGET, GLASSES-CHAN! YOU HAVE MY MORAL SUPPORT!!!" Bokuto yelled and gave a thumbs up as he was pulled away.

Kuroo walked up to her and told her to get ready for their warm-ups since coach Nekomata would need their manager at his side to keep tabs on the members and their scores. Just because they all passed their exams and are now on summer break for six weeks doesn't mean that they should relax too much. The Spring Tournament was closer than ever and Nekoma needed to stay in shape.

Unbeknownst to everyone, their rookie player was keeping a watchful eye on their captain and frowning like he was wondering what to do. Yaku called him into attention and kicked him for spacing out.

"Yaku-san, that really hurt!" Lev whined.

Meanwhile, on the Fukurodani side of the gym, Akaashi was observing the behavior of the scheming captain. When Bokuto noticed the intense stare his setter was giving their rival team, he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"Is something up, Akaashi?" He asked curiously, following the eyes of his kohai and found Kuroo.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking." Akaashi shook his head and went to get in position.

The Fukurodani Academy Athletic Association already started their practice matches. So far there were four schools in total within their group, but with Karasuno on their way to Tokyo as we speak, that would make five which was an odd number. Assuming that Nekomata already figured out how to make it work, Mirai took her clipboard with her as she followed her team.

Matches carried out quickly and the entire court took rotation as each team got the chance to play against one another. There were other female managers like Mirai and they would occasionally greet her or hold a small chat during a match. Everyone was generally friendly towards each other despite their rivalries.

"Huh? Where's Shōyō?"

Mirai turned her attention to Kenma who was looking at a small group of high school students that just arrived. Yamamoto mentioned something about supplementary tests and the missing players would be coming later once they've finished.

"T-Tora!" One of the newcomers gasped as he stared at Mirai with hearts in his eyes. "Is this h-h-her? The manager you were talking about?!"

The guy was bald and somewhat scary-looking, but even she could tell that he was as much trouble as their team's ace. With an awkward and forced smile, she waved at the boy and he immediately jumped back like he had been struck with lightning.

"Ryū, this here is our precious manager. Hoshizora Mirai-san!" Yamamoto boasted proudly while his friend clutched at his chest.

"Amazing! Simply amazing! She's undeniably perfect like our Kiyoko-san!" The bald headed one gasped and the two began to cry like babies.

Mirai found herself laughing at their strange way of bonding. She later met the Karasuno managers, namely Shimizu Kiyoko and Yachi Hitoka. The three girls quickly became friends as Kiyoko was very mature and reserved while Yachi was timid and inexperienced like she was.

Karasuno joined in the practice matches until late afternoon when their missing members finally showed up. Both were first years and Mirai was instantly in awe at their amazing freak quick.

"They're so cool," she told Yachi with obvious excitement in her voice.

The blonde manager looked proud of her team after the comment and promised that she'd introduce her to the members after they finished. Mirai also promised to properly introduce her to the Nekoma team.

Karasuno won their first set that day and the coaches soon ended the practices.

When the managers were leaving together to the cafeteria, Bokuto approached her with an eager grin on his face. She looked puzzled when he suddenly suggested that she should join him and his team for dinner.

"Well? What do you say?" He asked, eyes silently pleading.

Mirai didn't have the heart to reject the sweet owl captain. Plus, it would be nice to meet his team.

Before she could agree to his offer, an arm shot out from behind her and encircled the girl's waist, a familiar mess of bedhead leaned in beside her face. She flushed at the sight of her captain lightly glaring at Bokuto.

"Kuroo!" The Fukurodani ace beamed, oblivious to the dagger look his friend was shooting at him.

"Bokuto," the Nekoma captain replied in a rather bored tone. "Can you please not steal our manager? You have your own, you know."

Mirai sweatdropped at the one sided tension in the air. It seemed like Bokuto's aura was bright and bubbly while Kuroo had this dark and intimidating one.

She wasn't sure if she should tell the ace or not about the Nekoma captain's sour mood. If she did, Kuroo might think she was taking Bokuto's side.

"Kuro, I'm hungry. Let's go eat already." Kenma called from outside the gym.

"Ah, yeah. Sure." Kuroo immediately switched back to his normal self and dragged Mirai out of the gym with him.

The frazzled manager sent the confused owl captain a weak and apologetic smile as they left. Akaashi walked up to Bokuto and sighed.

"I think you just added fuel to the fire, Bokuto-san." The setter remarked.

"Eh? What are you saying, Akaashi?" Bokuto questioned. "Didn't you see Kuroo putting his arm around her? I think they're making progress!"

"No, Bokuto-san... I think he was annoyed that you were being too friendly with her." Akaashi sighed again and walked away, not wanting to deal with his captain's retorts about the situation.