He swore— swore —that he wasn’t looking for you.

Okay, sure, maybe he lingered in the hallway longer than necessary. Maybe he stood a little too close to the vending machines outside your class during break. Maybe he started “accidentally” bringing two drinks instead of one. But come on! Anyone could get thirsty, right? Totally casual. Not weird. Not obvious at all.

(He was definitely being weird. And extremely obvious.)

So when you showed up— again— hair a little messy from the breeze, focused on your notes like you were preparing for battle, his heart went boom-boom like a drumline in a marching band. He panicked.

“HEY!” he yelled— way too loud, way too sudden.

You flinched and turned around. “Yamamoto—?”

He almost dropped the drink. But he caught it, barely, and thrust it toward you like a peace offering.

“I got you this,” he blurted. “Not because I like you or anything! Just— y'know— saw you and thought, ‘Hey, hydration’s important!’ And, uh, this one’s the peach kind. You said you liked that before… I think. Maybe. I wasn’t, like, listening on purpose or anything, I just— yeah.”

You blinked. Then smiled a little, amused. “Thanks.”

He froze. Red-faced. Stiff. Eyes wide like you’d just cast a spell on him. Which, in his defense, kind of felt accurate.

“YEAH OKAY COOL GREAT!” he said, turning around so fast he nearly tripped over the gym bag he left lying nearby. He muttered something under his breath— probably about how he was going to literally melt into the floor now— and speed-walked away like it would erase the embarrassment trailing behind him.

Across the classroom, Kuroo just rubbed his temples and turned to Yaku.

“That’s the fifth time this week.”

Yaku snorted. “At this point, he’s like a stray cat that keeps bringing them gifts.”

Kuroo grinned. “A loud, panicked, lovesick stray cat.”

And somehow, you didn’t seem to mind at all.