Because mentioning them in the last oneshot made me want to write about them so boom!

Futakuchi was quite dreamy. Almost all the girls agreed. He was snarky, had a bad-boy demeanour that thinly veiled a softer, caring side, and he was tall, dashing with eyes that sparkled. However, despite all of this, Aone had never expected to fall in love with him before he even knew his name. Especially when he knew he was never going to get noticed.

It had been on the first day of volleyball practice, in their very first year at Date Tech. They were all introducing themself when Futakuchi had stepped forwards.

Aone had looked up instantly, feeling his ears go hot, as this mystery first year grinned in a laid-back way, slouching in a relaxed manner.  He was captivated by the way Futakuchi sneakily teased the second years, he was drawn into the level-headedness and snarky calmness and he was infatuated by the end of the week.

To everyone else, it just looked like Futakuchi had managed to rope the biggest, scariest first year into becoming his guard dog but, in reality, Futakuchi had been just as confused when Aone started appearing behind him protectively. Not that he had really minded Aone's' presence. That's how they had become inseparable in the first place.

By the second year, they still had the same routine going on. Futakuchi would taunt his upperclassmen and string along the first years and Aone would act like the scary shadow that reminded people to take it lying down. Still, Aone was just as head over heels in love with Futakuchi as he had been on that first day, possibly even more. 

And, just like a year ago, they were completely invisible.

One day, Aone had been sitting on the bus, making his way to school, when he realised he had to do something about it. He had to, or else, something might happen. Someone might get there first. But what the hell could he do? If he asked Futakuchi out, the wing spiker would probably just assume it's a dare. Even if he made Futakuchi believe he was serious, the future captain might just shut him down and reject him. He could be a stone-cold bastard often, in Valentine's day proved anything, and Aone didn't want to be one of the many admirers to get their hearts broken. Aone got to the volleyball gym earlier that day, before anyone else and he practised his serving to calm his nerves.

Coach Oiwake walked in fifteen minutes after and saw how many balls had been served over. The answer was, not that many. Plenty had gone out, most had hit the net, and others had gone flying across the gym. Some he had even missed when going to hit and they were rolling lazily around his feet.

"I see Futakuchi isn't with you today," Oiwake commented, knowing something was up. "Did you two finally get in a fight? Is he sick or something?"

Aone narrowed his eyes and silently served again, swinging down so hard at the ball that he effectively spiked it into the gym floor. "We didn't fight," He muttered as the ball bounced away.

"Huh? So where is he?"

The middle blocker reached for another ball. "I... Left early. Without him. He doesn't know."

To say Oiwake was surprised would be an understatement. There was an illogical part of him that told him that this was some kind of freaky dream. But, obviously, it wasn't. "Well, that's odd. I was under the impression you never leave each others' side."

"It's not gonna be a regular thing," Aone promised, although it seemed more like he was telling himself that. "I just... needed to think today."

Oiwake had to admit, he was a little worried. Aone was speaking more than usual which either meant he was excited or upset. The rest of the team slowly piled in and Futakuchi was last to arrive, stumbling into the gym mid-way through morning practise, face flushed and breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Oi, Futakuchi," Oiwake called out. "You're late-"

"Aone!" Futakuchi snapped, making the huge middle blocker freeze awkwardly. "Where the hell were you this morning?!"

Aone avoided eye contact. "I forgot."

"Eh?! Forgot?! You've been breaking down my door every morning since we were first-years, what do you mean, 'you forgot'?!"

With a quick glance at the coach, Aone shrugged awkwardly. "I-I woke up late. I thought you'd already be here, Besides, I just arrived." Oiwake didn't call him out on his lie and neither did the rest of the team. However, it didn't fool his annoyed friend.

"You know that if you wake up late, I go to your place instead!" Futakuchi shouted, putting his hands on his hips angrily. "I always do! And what kind of idiot do you think I am? Do you honestly think I'm gonna believe these lame excuses! Your mum told me you left super earlier, don't try to bullshit me! C'mon, Aone, what the hell!"

"What does it matter?" Aone blurted suddenly, turning away from him and shutting Futakuchi up instantly. The whole gym was completely silent no one daring to speak out and break the horrid aura that had settled around them darkly.

Futakuchi just stared into the back of Aone's' head, as if waiting for Aone to glance back at him, or apologise. When he didn't, Futakuchi just turned on his heel and marched out of the gym, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his school blazer. The team watched him storm off, then slowly turned to Aone, who scowled intently at the floor and walked over to the serving line and began to frustratedly hit balls over the net without relent.

During school hours, even Aones' and Futakuchi's' friends outside of volleyball picked up on the tense atmosphere between the two. There had never been a day in the history of their friendship that they ate lunch separately are hung out with different people during breaks, but it seemed that today was different. Futakuchi was louder and brasher than he had been yesterday, a behaviour that worsened when Aone was in earshot, and Aone even ignored the teachers when they called on him to answer questions.

By afternoon practice, everyone was uncomfortable. The coach tried to patch things up subtly, by having them on the same team for a small practise match within the club, but they behaved distantly and coldly, despite working together on the blocks. When the match was over, Futakuchi was the first to leave, a small squad of second and first years following after him obediently. He badly hid his glances to a seemingly unbothered Aone, who was taking his time.

Upon walking home, once the first years were gone, Futakuchi huffed loudly. "Can you believe that guy?" He said loudly.

The two second years who were still with him glanced at each other. "You're talking about Aone right?" Asked Obara.

"Well, duh, who else!" Sniffed Futakuchi, crossing his arms with a pout. "He's upset and I don't know why. Today was so odd, he didn't try to approach me once after this morning."

Onagawa shrugged. "Maybe he's just in a bad mood?"

"Nuh-uh, when Aone's in a bad mood, you can tell!" Futakuchi promised, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "Something important is bothering but it's not like it's anything personal. I went to his house this morning when he didn't turn up and they said everything seemed fine!"

"Maybe he's just a little sad today," Obara tried. "You don't always need a reason for emotions."

Futakuchi hesitated in his response and his pout deepened. "Well, he could at least try to talk to me about it. I know he doesn't like to be vocal but that's never stopped him before when he's sad!"

Onagawa laughed awkwardly. "Okay, 'Kuchi, I think you're taking this a bit too personally. It'll be fine by tomorrow. Maybe you should apologise-"

"Eh?! Apologise?! What have I done?"

Obara rolled his eyes and Onagawa quickly backtracked. "W-Well, maybe storming off and sulking wasn't the best idea! Y-You could always try to, like, just stand around him tomorrow."

"That would be creepy, though. I can't just stand there and not say anything."

"Uh," Obara raised an eyebrow with a sly smirk. "That's exactly what Aone does with you, y'know, and you've never had a problem with it."

Futakuchi went slightly pink. "Well, that's because it's Aone, he doesn't make it creepy, he makes it cool! Besides..." He trailed off slightly. "What if he's just fed up with me?"

The other two second years nearly stopped dead in their tracks. To hear Futakuchi so worried about someone else's opinion of him was almost chilling. Usually, he couldn't care less if someone hated him or not, whether they were an upperclassman or a teacher. Now he was genuinely worried that Aone may have had enough of him.

Onagawa glanced at Obara. "Maybe, we could talk to him?" He offered hesitantly. "We could see what's up. He probably is just going through something but doesn't want to bother you."

"Yeah," Futakuchi sighed, a small but fond smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as his cheeks turned pink. "He's sweet like that."

.:*:.

It was three in the morning and Aone had a plan.

Granted, it was an absolutely terrible plan that was unoriginal and cheesy and honestly quite pathetic, but it was worth a shot. Once again, he didn't turn up at Futakuchi's' house that morning and he caught the early bus to arrive at school again. As he got closer and closer to school, he read over the letter he had prepared.

Words had never been his strong point, at least not vocally, and he was too scared that he'd mess up if he spoke aloud. When the bus pulled up to its' stop, he made a beeline straight to the gym, reading over the letter until he had memorised every single millimetre of it.

As the gym filled up with his teammates, Aone just sat on a bench in the corner, stuffing the letter in the envelope and sticking the envelope onto a large sack. The longer it took for Futakuchi to arrive, the more he fidgeted and fidgeted, fiddling with his fingers and the edges of the bench.

Onagawa slowly approached him during this moment. "U-Uh, so, Aone," He began nervously, freezing when Aone swung round to look at him. "Futakuchi, well, h-he was just wondering wh-why you were so upset yesterday? I-It made him nervous because h-he wanted to make sure you were okay."

Aone simply shrugged and continued to restlessly wait for his best friend to appear.

When Futakuchi finally did arrive, last again, Aone stood up, holding his sack and envelope gently with hands that were slightly shaking.

"Aone," Futakuchi began. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. Something was bothering you and I ran off sulking and I didn't behave like a good friend. I'm really, seriously sor-"

Before the wing spiker could finish his sentence, a beet-red Aone kissed him briefly but affectionately on the lips. When he pulled back, Futakuchi looked like he had just short-circuited, staring dumbly at Aone who avoided his eyes when he dumped the sack in Futakuchi's' arms and scampered out of the gym and out of sight.

"W-Wait, Aone!" Futakuchi tried to cry after him when his brain came back online, but the middle blocker was long gone. There was complete silence in the gym until Kogane began to freak out excitedly.

"Oh my god, did he just kiss you? Are you two dating? What's that? What's in the parcel? What does the note say-?"

"Woah, woah, Kogane," Obara quickly pushed him away. "Give 'Kuchi a moment to process that, alright? Uh, Futakuchi, are you alright, man?"

Futakuchi just stared off at where Aone was last. "He just kissed me," He whispered softly. A blush slowly crept into his cheeks before appearing across his entire face, making him turn rose-red. "He just kissed me! Oh my god!"

"Wait, wait, what's in the parcel?!" Onagawa quickly asked appearing over his friends' shoulder. "And what does the letter say?"

Fumbling with shaky fingers, Futakuchi tore open the envelope addressed to him and saw his best friends' familiar handwriting across the page.

Kenji Futakuchi, you're my best friend and I probably shouldn't like you as much as I do. But, you are just so amazing and witty and you're the light of my life. Ever since the first day I saw you, I knew I had to have you in my life but I've always been too cowardly to say anything. I'm sorry I'm not telling you this to your face I just don't want to see the disappointment in your eyes when you find out.

Anyway, I don't wanna ramble because you're probably not interested. I hope you like the gifts anyway. Please don't make fun of me. I love you.

Futakuchi felt his eyes well up with tears and he carefully closed the note, making sure not to tear it or damage it in the slightest. Now, treating the parcel like it was the most delicate and most precious china vase in the world, he opened it and peered inside. Then he gasped.

Inside the sack was a large, stuffed teddy bear from a funfair they had visited a month ago. Futakuchi had wanted it desperately but he just couldn't win it, no matter how hard he tried. The effort Aone must have gone through to find it was shocking. Next, he saw several bars of his favourite chocolate and a small album of photos, compiled of the days they had spent hanging out.

Futakuchi looked over the gifts, feeling tears running down his cheeks freely and then shoved the bag into Onagawa's' hands.

"I'll be back!" He said.

"Where are you going?"

"To get me a boyfriend!"

.:*:.

Aone was hiding shamefully behind the gym when footsteps came running out of nowhere and Futakuchi appeared before him, crying. For a moment, he panicked. Had he really messed up so badly that Futakuchi was crying?

"I-I'm sorry-" He began but Futakuchi shushed him, kneeling beside him.

"I swear, Aone," The spiker muttered softly. "You are just adorable." And he kissed him.