Friday...

She uncrossed her legs and leaned back against the soft pillow on her bed, eyes half-lidded, as they were beginning to droop. Once, twice, the third time. Well aware of the midterm exam right around the corner, she knew this was no time to be dozing off. But at the moment, her maths textbook was discarded to her side as it was no longer of interest to her. Her mind was off somewhere else, her brain couldn't take in anything anymore. Trying to put up a valiant fight against sleep, [f/n] rubbed her tired eyes roughly, forcing them to keep working. 

Ding! Her phone sounded, notifying her of a late night text.

Glad of a temporary distraction, she unlocked the phone to find that it's a message from her volleyball-crazed boyfriend, Kageyama Tobio.

'oi, I'm guessing you're still up. it's past midnight already. don't prioritize revision over your health. go to sleep.'

Smiling softly to herself at his rare caring side, [f/n] ran her thumbs across the keyboard. 

'hey speak for yourself. if you'd been able to send that, you should still be up as well. but knowing you, i'm sure you're not up revising. what are you staying up late for, anyway?'

A reply came a few minutes later.

'rewatching our match against nekoma. their setter's tricks seem useful.'

'...looks like someone's gonna flunk their maths exam' The corner of [f/n]'s mouth tugged up at his Kageyama-like response.

Kageyama ignored her sarcastic remark.

'if you're gonna pull an all-nighter trying to cram it all in, you're gonna sleep past our date tomorrow's morning. now sleep.'

'ok ok yeesh. you sleep too ok? love you :*'

'night '

Before [f/n] knew it, sleep enveloped her in a heartbeat. The last thing she saw before drifting off was her maths textbook and the final fleeting thought in her head telling her:

Screw Maths, you have a date tomorrow. 

Saturday...

Something was hitting on [f/n]'s back. An irritated voice followed it. 

"Mfghh..." She grumbled in and buried her face underneath her pillow, but the voice kept infiltrating through the fabric like the reverberant construction noises of your next-door neighbor's house that you can't cope with. 

"-up it's 9 already! I thought you said you have to go revise with your friends at 9.30!"

9...9.30...revise...

As quick as lightning, the girl sat straight up and bolted to the bathroom. She had to get ready as quick as possible! Her date with Kageyama was her much-needed break -- an excuse from all the all-nighters she pulled some days before trying to memorize formulas and equations. By the time [f/n] had finished getting ready (not to mention the quickest breakfast of her life in which a piece of toast was slammed into ), the clock had stricken 9:43. 

Puffing out the frigid yet refreshing air of Torono Town on a Saturday in early January, she dashed to the coffee shop in the town central where they were supposed to meet. Running as fast as her feet could take her, she knew from their 3 months of dating that Kageyama was not the most patient person on earth. 

Stumbling through the doors of the coffee shop, she immediately came to the conclusion that her boyfriend was late as well after scanning the place for the tall yet well-built figure with splayed tresses of dark hair framing his forehead. He wasn't there. A mixed feeling of relief, slight irritation and curiosity crashed on [f/n] at the same time. 

Sitting down rather hesitantly, she waited. After discovering that she had forgotten to take her phone with her and deciding that running back to fetch it would take too much effort, she spent nearly 30 minutes waiting like a loner in the middle of a bustling coffee shop.

He couldn't have slept in; almost everyone who was involved in squads knew that Kageyama had woken up at the crack of dawn on more than one occasion to practice volleyball. Possibility discarded.

He couldn't have been sick since he was just fine yesterday at college. Possibility discarded.

He couldn't have stood her up... right? Kageyama was quite punctual for a guy, much to some people's surprise. He had never stood her up before, nor had he kept her waiting more than 5 minutes on their previous dates. If he had, he would have phoned her earlier on. Moreover, it was he who reminded her of their date last night. 

Her boyfriend wouldn't pick up. 5 calls were enough. [f/n] could feel anger stirring and growing inside her. Giving the phone back to the coffee barista whom she borrowed from, [f/n] muttered a bashful thank you before taking off in the directions to Kageyama's house. A sudden small wave of guilt washed over her from the lie she told her mom last night, that she was going to a group revision instead of a date with a boy right before exam week. She promised to be home by 4 in the afternoon, and it would seem awfully suspicious if she turns up at the door 30 minutes after her hurried departure. 

God had to be playing a cruel joke on her, [f/n] thought as she tried to not make eye contacts with all the carefree couples strolling hand-in-hand on the streets, enjoying a delightful weekend together.

'TOBIO!'

Unselfconsciously, her fist banged on the hard wood of Kageyama's door. Twice. 'KAGEYAMA TOBIO! YOU'VE GOT AN ANGRY GIRLFRIEND AT YOUR DOOR!'
 
3 minutes. 7 minutes. Frustration. Anger. This date was the highlight of her week -- the reward for studying so hard. Finding the time to squeeze it in was hard enough. 

10 minutes. [f/n] couldn't take it anymore. She climbed through the (apparently) open window of the Kageyama household's kitchen. Thank goodness his parents were out of town. She searched through his house and finally came to a stop in front of his bedroom door.

Kageyama was in his bedroom. The boy was asleep sitting in his chair with his head on top of the computer's keyboard. One of his hands draping loosely over his phone on the desk. The yellow glow of sunlight lit the outline of the unkempt muss of dark hair on his head golden. A thin line of saliva trickled from the corner of his mouth. 

'So you're the one who's sleeping through our date, eh, Tobio?' [f/n] muttered to herself. 

Once again, her feelings were a mess. Just as exasperation was dominating her, Kageyama Tobio was making her warm and fuzzy inside at the sight of him deep in slumber because it was so... adorable. 

Coming closer, she realized that while his body was at ease, his face wasn't. On the contrary, his face was unusually beet red. His brows furrowed unnaturally, making the slightly dark circles under his eyes more apparent. Something about him wasn't okay to her.

Concerned for her boyfriend, [f/n] touched his soft hair. 

Kageyama stirred in his sleep. '[f/n]...' He murmured unselfconsciously.

Her skin touched his as he shifted slightly. Surprised, she recoiled her hand at the burning sensation his forehead emitted. She felt his forehead again, just to make sure what she's thinking wasn't true. His forehead was searing hot. 

Rushing off to soak a towel in lukewarm water, she felt horrible about mentally taking it all out on Kageyama earlier on while the poor boy was actually suffering a bad fever. [f/n] lifted him up with all her might and hoisted him on her back to his bed across the room. Being so tall as a towering 6-foot teenager, Kageyama wasn't the lightest to carry-- him unconscious made it worse. While trying to hoist him up, his hand touched his phone and the screen blared to life, displaying a yet-to-be-sent text. 

'[f/n] listen i don't think i can make it. i'm sorry. this fever's killing me. i promise i'll m'
                                                                                                                            Last Autosave: 9:26 am

Sitting next to the boy who was lying down, she dabbed the wet towel across his forehead. Relieved at the sight of his complexion returning to the tone it used to be, she heaved a sigh.

That is until a hand touched and caressed her wrist.

'[f/n]...'

The thin streams of winter sunlight that shot into his face forced his eyelids open, but the soft dabbing against his forehead and the familiar scent of his girlfriend was what pulled him from his deep slumber. Dazedly, a pair of midnight blue eyes fluttered open slowly. His deep weary irises slowly coming to a focus to register the beautiful girl looking down at him. 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Kageyama didn't need explanations as to why his girlfriend was in his house, he didn't need to think. It all made sense to him in a heartbeat. His sudden blush seared through the tips of his ears and his nose, and for a second he thought his face was on fire. But Kageyama's gaze shifted to the small briny tears that gathered themselves in the corners of her eyes. 

'D-, why are you crying?' His own voice came out hoarse and raw, breaking the heavy silence in the room.

[f/n], almost as if she was suddenly pulled out of a trance that shrouded the both of them, instinctively wiped away the beads of water her body had shed without her acknowledgment. 

'B-Bakageyama!' She wanted to speak but all she could do was croak. 'Do you have any idea how worried I was?!'

Kageyama brought his hand to her face and brushed away the sparkling oceans that had refilled themselves in the corner her eyes with a calloused thumb. 'I'm sorry.'

[f/n] wrapped her arms around his head and buried her face in the crook of his neck. A pair of arms wove themselves and came to rest on the small of her back as if returning the favor. When they finally clasped each other in a warm, slow and luxurious embrace, they felt the whole world around them melted, and that only this room is alive with love. 

'I woke up late this morning,' Kageyama breathed into her ear. 'As soon as I opened my eyes, my skin was heating up... like I was gonna spontaneously combust from within. I-I couldn't see clearly-- it was something like a hangover. My breaths came out rigid and odd. I couldn't even stand up without my knees buckling. So I tried to send a text to you but... everything sank into darkness before I knew it.'

[f/n] tightened her arms around her boyfriend and whispered into his skin. 'You idiot... don't prioritize sports over your health.'

She could feel Kageyama's husky chuckle resonating against her ribcage. Just one small reaction from him got her all smiling again. They stayed like that for a while.

But suddenly remembering he was still sick, and that health had to come first, she pushed herself up. 'I'll pop over to the pharmacy and get you some meds, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes.'

And just like any old nostalgic romance tales, the boy was unwilling to let his girl go. And just as it happened in this one story, he grabbed her arm just as she was getting off the bed. 'I- I barely got to be with you the whole week... Stay.'

Perhaps [f/n] really couldn't resist her boyfriend's plea and the way he came to realized what he just said and his cheeks burned hot immediately afterward, or perhaps her heart didn't even want to leave his side in the first place. Either way, she didn't regret her decision. 

[f/n] climbed into the bed next to Kageyama. She could always get the medicine later.

Once they were settled he leaned over and kissed her. Then the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

'...So is this a home date then?' [f/n] said. She could feel his warm arm draping over her waist.

'I promised I'd make it up to you, didn't I?' Kageyama replied, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. 

His chest rising and falling against her back, their breaths in unison, and the warm blood that they could feel in each others' embrace were enough to make them happy.

On one cold breezy Saturday in early January, the people of sleepy Torono town went on with their daily lives, writing their stories, making new contacts, creating joy, and spreading love. 

All was well.