'Welcome home.'
You tightly closed your fist around the keys, feeling both happiness and the weight of the situation bubble up inside you.
"Thank you!" You threw yourself at him and he easily caught you in his arms. Hands on his cheeks, you peppered him with kisses.
He pulled you in for a proper kiss before taking off his coat and putting it on the coat rack. You followed his example and stood on your toes to hang your coat on one of the upper hooks.
"I'll put your luggage in your room, you can heat up your lunch if you want." He told you as he walked past you to grab your suitcase.
Holding the plastic bag from the convenience store in one hand and your phone in the other you made your way to the kitchen. You were typing a message to Marie, telling her you had arrived at Wakatoshi's apartment, while you put your yakisoba in the microwave when you realized you had no idea how to operate the thing.
"Wakatoshi?" You called out, but when you heard him place your luggage down in the bedroom next to the kitchen, the one where his workout equipment was, you decided to go ask him directly.
The sliding door was halfway opened and you immediately noticed that the treadmill that had taken up a big part of the center of the room was gone. As you stepped inside you saw it folded and tucked away in the corner. The weights and other smaller equipment that had been there before were nowhere to be found along with the volleyballs. The shelves had been partly cleared as well.
Another thing that was different was a little desk and chair that stood in front of the balcony window.
"I thought you could use that for studying. I can still move it somewhere else if you'd like." He told you as he caught you looking at the piece of furniture.
"No, it's perfect, thank you so much." You said, not able to properly convey your appreciation enough.
"I have a futon for you, if it's not comfortable enough we can go buy something better." He continued.
"No no, I'm sure it'll be fine, I can't have you go through even more trouble on my account." You assured him and got back to the reason you originally went to find him before he could offer you more things. "Can you help me with the microwave?"
"Of course." He said as he followed you out of the room. He told you what the most important buttons were and a few minutes later you were both sitting at the small dining table.
"I have a meeting I need to be at in two hours, but I took tomorrow off." Wakatoshi said before getting started on his food. You nodded your understanding as you chewed.
"We'll have to go shopping for food tomorrow morning, since I spent the last two days in Tokyo the fridge is pretty much empty." He said in between bites and again all you could do was nod.
"I'm going to go running before that, you're welcome to join if you want, but it'll be an early rise." As you again only nodded in reply he called your name, sounding a tad worried.
"Is everything alright?" He asked, making you lift your gaze from your plate to him.
"Yeah, of course! I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we're here, planning our days together. It feels so unreal, like I could wake up in my dorm room any moment. Just a month ago I still had to plan my schedule so I could get maybe an hour at an appropriate time to video call you.
Now, even if I somehow pack my days to the brim, I'll still get to see you every morning and every evening. It's almost too good to be true you know?" You said as you poked your chopsticks around your food.
"I know what you mean, I feel the same way." He told you with a small smile and watched you eat for a moment before he continued with his own meal.
You had just finished doing the dishes when there was a knock at the door. Wakatoshi glanced at his phone to check the time and muttered something in Japanese.
He dried his hands and made his way to the entrance hall. "It's my neighbor." He told you as you walked behind him. "A few times a month she brings me fruits from her son's farm."
He went to open the door as you stood a good distance away. You saw an elderly lady hand him a bag and make some conversation with him. You could hear, but not understand their banter so you had no clue what they were talking about. That is, until you heard her drop the word 'kanojo' in a question and him replying with 'hai'. She looked at you curiously and you waved at her embarrassed.
Then with a few more words and a pat on his arm, she was gone again.
"She seemed nice." You said as he returned to put the fruits in the fridge.
"She's my next-door neighbor, Satou is her name. She is nice, but a little nosy. She drops by at least once a week just to have a little chat." He told you as he arranged the apples and pears in an orderly fashion.
"Oh, that often?" You asked, getting a little worried.
"Yeah, but you don't have to open the door for her when I'm not around, she knows I'm out a lot. Also, I don't invite her in, so you don't have to worry about entertaining her." He assured you and you wondered how he knew your worries so well.
"Okay, thanks." You said as you breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm going to have to leave in about fifteen minutes, will you be fine?" He asked as he glanced at the time again. "It'll be a couple of hours, but I'll be back for dinner."
"I'll be fine, I guess I'm just going to get started on my studies." You said, in your mind already thinking of which subject you should tackle first.
"Oh! That reminds me, do you know any stores nearby that sell calligraphy supplies? I promised a friend, who's helping me with keeping up with college to get her some." You asked as Wakatoshi was just about to go into his room to get ready to leave.
He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I'll do some research on it." He promised you before closing the door behind him.
You made your way to your own room to get your study books sorted out.
You had just decided on what you would be doing for the next few hours when you heard Wakatoshi call from the living area. "I'm off!"
"Okay!" You called back, but only a moment later you jumped off your chair yelling: "Wait!"
You hurried after him and found him still at the entrance, front door already opened.
"Is there still something you need?" He asked you, slightly worried at the way you had called out to him.
You nodded as you walked up to him and grabbed his coat lightly to pull him down a bit.
"See you later." You said after kissing him.
He pulled you closer with his free arm and kissed the top of your head. "See you tonight." He said and you felt him smile into your hair, prompting you to hug him tight.
"Go, before you miss your train." You told him as you reluctantly let go.
"Right." He said before he took off for real this time.
Giddy, you made your way back inside. If every day was going to be like this, you looked forward very much to the coming months.
As you tried to spend your time studying, you noticed that your mind continuously wandered off. When you got a text from Wakatoshi asking to meet at the ramen place you had went to on Christmas you had barely gotten any studying done.
Luckily the place was very easy to find and you had gotten used to using your maps app, so you didn't get lost on the two-minute walk.
During dinner, Wakatoshi told you a bit about his meeting and you complained about how you had gotten barely any studying done in the time that he had been gone. He assured you that once you had gotten used to living with him that you would be able to concentrate much better.
It was already pretty late when you got back from the restaurant and you made a show of using your keys to enter the apartment. You kicked off your shoes at the entrance before asking him if it was alright if you watched some anime on his couch and if he would like to join you.
He agreed and soon the two of you sat snuggled up together, his laptop the both of your knees. As it approached 11 pm he told you he would be going to sleep soon, having to get up early tomorrow to go on his run before you would go grocery shopping.
You reluctantly agreed and told him you'd be taking a shower first. After rummaging through your clothes, making a mental note to put everything on the shelves orderly tomorrow, you produced a towel and nightwear, which consisted of a shirt and a pair of shorts along with your toothbrush and shower supplies.
As you crossed the living area to go to the bathroom, Wakatoshi had just pulled a futon out of the closet and made his way to your room with it.
You enjoyed a long shower and brushed your teeth afterward, leaving your toothbrush next to his after you were done.
You left the bathroom in your sleepwear, the wooden floor cool on your bare feet. The sliding doors to Wakatoshi's room had been shut, so you tried to be as quiet as you could while making your way to the guest room, your room.
You looked down at the neatly made futon and your Vabo plushie that was sat upon the pillow. How could such a stoic man perform such cute gestures? You turned off the light in the living area and noticed light filter out from underneath his door, indicating that he was still awake.
Before you could make a conscious decision about it, your feet had decided to start walking towards his room. As you crossed the living area butterflies started fluttering around in your abdomen.
You came to a halt in front of the door and seemed to come back to your senses. 'What am I doing?'
Before you could turn around however, the door slid open and you came face to face with Wakatoshi. You felt your face heat up at the discovery that he was not wearing a shirt.
"Is everything alright?" He startled you out of your almost paralyzed state.
"I uh, yes uhm..." You had no idea what to tell him, since you had walked over here without a plan whatsoever.
"Do you want to come in?" He asked and extended his hand for you to take.
You simply nodded and took his hand. You could barely make yourself to look at him, so you fixed your eyes on the shelves filled with books that graced one side of his room.
You had caught a glimpse of his upper body before. But that had been once and from a distance. Now that you found yourself within touching distance, you reached a whole new level of embarrassment.
He pulled you into his room and sat you down on the side of his bed, after which he sat down next to you.
"So... Is something wrong?" He asked you, not able to keep the worry out of his voice.
You had to gather your thoughts a bit before giving your reply. "Well, nothing was wrong, but now I don't know."
Before he started questioning you, you continued.
"I guess I just have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that you settled for me. I mean, there's you..." You waved your arms up and down, at his torso. "And then there's me." You repeated the gesture on yourself. "You've got all those super pretty fans and yet here I am. I saw them getting your autograph at the match and karaoke the other day and I think any of those girls would look better with you."
You settled your gaze on his knees, studying the fabric of his black sweatpants. "I find it hard to believe that between all those pretty girls there isn't one who is just as good, or probably even better for you. Did you settle for me because I was just the first to not 'objectify' you?" You aired your heart to him, relieved that you got it off your chest, but terrified of his reaction.
"Can you not look at me?" He asked, and you thought you detected a bit of hurt in his voice. You gathered your courage and raised your eyes to meet his, feeling embarrassed.
"I didn't settle for you. Did you settle for me?" He asked looking you in the eyes confidently and you briskly shook your head.
"Of course not!" How could he even ask that?
"Yet there are many better-looking guys than me out there. Ones that are way better with their words than me and who have less trouble showing their emotions. Guys that aren't so obsessed with volleyball and more romantic." He said and you were about to open your mouth to complain, but he stopped you with the tiniest shake of his head.
"I did not settle for you, I fell in love with you. I don't care if you think all my fans are prettier than you, they're not you." He said with such conviction that you couldn't do anything but believe him.
"How can you say you're bad with words?" You said averting your eyes again.
"How can you think that there's someone out there who's better for me than you?" He retorted as he placed a hand on your cheek, turning your blushing face to him once again.
From up close, you noticed his face was lightly flushed as well and you wondered if he was just as nervous as you were. Your lips met in a soft kiss, his thumb lightly caressing your cheek.
"I love you." You told him as the two of you parted and he hugged you, pressing your head against his chest. You could hear his heart beat fast in his chest and it soothed you to know that he was just as excited about you as you were about him.
You lifted your head to press your lips to his and he eagerly returned the gesture. Your hands naturally came to rest on his chest and you reveled in the feeling of his bare skin against your palms. It took only the slightest of nudges for him to lay down on his back, pulling you with him.
Your upper body rested on his, with your legs still next to his. His tongue explored inside your mouth, while his hands caressed your back. He slowly slid his hand underneath your shirt, as if testing the waters. Remembering the little stunt you had pulled back in the hotel when you had first arrived in Japan, you decided it might be best to be proactive in letting him know you were fine with him touching you.
In a bolt of bravery you pulled away from him, but before he could get the wrong idea, you swung one of your legs over him and sat up, straddling his stomach. You took his hands and put them on your waist, underneath your shirt. You could feel his tenseness in them and before your confidence could escape you again, you grabbed the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head.
As you did so, you heard a sharp intake of breath and you let out a yelp when he sat up all of a sudden. You had to put a hand down to keep your balance as you moved to sit comfortably on his lap, still straddling him.
He wrapped his arms around your back and buried his face in the crook of your neck. "You're so beautiful." You heard him whisper and the words made your heart skip a beat.
He leaned back a little to kiss your lips again and then moved to kiss your ear, your neck, your shoulder,...
There was no way you would be spending the night in your own room.
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A/N:
I'm sorry you had to wait for the chapter a little longer, but I'm thinking it might have been worth it (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
I loved writing this and I feel kind of sorry to have to fade to black. If I feel comfortable enough with it in the future, I might release a bonus chapter that would fit in between this chapter and the next. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
In any case I hope you enjoyed it and see you all Sunday for the next one!! (✿'꒳')ﾉ°