It had all started about a month ago, when you'd had dinner with the men's volleyball team from Datekou. As their statistician and a friend to most if not all of them, their team dinners were events you were always welcome to attend. While you didn't have to go with them, you always ended up doing so since Futakuchi, in particular, usually called you on the phone and complained to you if you didn't show up.

After a long night of eating endless amounts of food and cheering Koganegawa on as he tried to scarf down as many dumplings as he could to win a prize, it was safe to say you'd had a good time.

On your way out with the team, you felt a hand grab your arm and give it a gentle tug, making you turn around to find yourself face to face with the team's new captain. "I'll walk home with you, (f/n)," Futakuchi offered with a confident smile.

You couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he released your arm and walked next to you. "I don't know why you tell me this every time... I thought you walking me home was a given at this point?" you teased.

You saw him roll his brown eyes as he jokingly scoffed, "Whatever you say, princess!"

The two of you enjoyed your usual banter after saying your goodbyes to the rest of the team and taking a different path that led to your house. Once the two of you had arrived at your house, you exchanged a parting hug and thanked him for walking back with you, as per usual.

However, he decided to do something different when you started to walk away.

"Hey, wait up."

When you heard him call you and felt his hand grab yours, a bright pink blush instantly colored your cheeks. He, however, looked as calm and confident as ever, even as he boldly pulled you closer to him and pressed a kiss against your lips. This had been a dream come true for you since you'd had a crush on him since you'd first met him at Datekou.

Your kiss, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. You'd never kissed anyone before, but you were pretty sure it wasn't supposed to feel as awkward and rough as this.

"Kenji..." you spoke softly with a slight nervousness when the two of you pulled away.

You saw the confident look on his face dissolve, and he hung his head for a moment, letting his brown hair fall in his face. "I know, (f/n)," he sighed, "It's okay that you're not a good kisser."

Your jaw dropped at his remark and you gave him a shove. "Hey! You can't put that all on me!"

"But you've never kissed anyone before so it's not like you would know what to do. I understand," he tried to assure you with a big smile.

You could tell he was just trying to get a reaction out of you, but even though you knew that, you couldn't help but continue to give him just that.

"Oh? And who have you kissed? Hopefully nobody with an attitude and kissing skills like yours!" you growled angrily.

"Maybe I've had some experience."

With that comment, you suddenly felt inferior, and the heat of your anger was replaced with embarrassment. You rolled your eyes and turned away from your friend when you felt tears sting them.

"God, you're such an asshole sometimes, Kenji! I know you can tell how much I like you, yet all you do is play with my feelings all the time! Even in moments like this, when I finally thought you'd be a little more serious!"

Upon realizing that he'd taken his usual teasing too far and had hurt your feelings, he reached out for you and touched your arm, but you yanked it away from him and stormed into your house, shutting the door behind you without another word.

"Fuck!" Kenji hissed as he turned away from your house and made a lonely and unsuccessful journey back to his.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Koganegawa has interrogated his team captain in the locker room before practice.

"Oooh! Did you do it? Did you kiss her?"

Futakuchi scoffed and said with a confident smile, "Of course I did."

As the young volleyball player questioned him relentlessly and Futakuchi responded with his usual, overly confident answers, he took his phone out of his bag to check it. He'd texted you relentlessly, desperate to get a response from you, but you still hadn't rewarded him with one, making his heart sink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After practice that day, he opted to walk home alone so that he wouldn't have to lie to anyone else he'd told about his plans to kiss you. Not soon after he'd left the school gym, he noticed you sitting on a bench, looking around as if you were expecting someone. When you noticed him, you got up, dusted yourself off, and made your way over to him.

Before you could open your mouth, though, Futakuchi wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into a hug. "I'm sorry, (f/n). I shouldn't have teased you about something like that, and I should've just owned up to the fact that I'd never kissed anyone before either, but I didn't want to accept the fact that I suck at it," he apologized.

After remaining still for a few moments, you let your head come to rest against his shoulder as you embraced him in return. "I'm sorry I got bent out of shape. I just... I like you so much that you making me feel like I'd ruined something as simple as that upset me a lot."

You felt him gently rub your back as he suggested, "Well, if you agree to be my girlfriend, we could work on the whole kissing problem."

Your face heated up and you squeezed his body with your arms, holding onto him more tightly. "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two of you spent the next few weeks taking time to work on getting your kisses right. While it was frustrating at times and disappointing at others, progress was being made.

"No, that was still weird."

"Really? Damn it..."

Your boyfriend put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands as he sat on the floor in front of you with his legs crossed. Once he'd thought of another idea, he took your face in his hands and gently pulled it closer to him before he pressed his lips against yours again.

You felt like he was puckering his lips so much to the point where they felt hard and slightly painful against yours. "Kenji, I think you need to stop puckering your lips that much."

He groaned dramatically in return. This was going to take forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much to the surprise of both of you, it didn't take forever. It turned out that the key was simply not thinking about it while it was happening.

After spending the day together after school doing homework and watching Netflix, the two of you had decided to go for a walk in a nearby park.

You were holding hands as you strolled through the park, occasionally stopping to pet a dog or three, and talking about anything and everything.

"Yeah, now that I'm captain of the team and I have new freshmen to deal with handling, I've realized how much of a pain in the ass I've been to Moniwa."

"Well I guess you deserve to have the newcomers sass you all the time, then."

A look of fake shock crossed his face as he looked at you. "And I thought your job was to support me?"

"Ehh..."

"(F/n)!"

"I'm joking!" you giggled as he gave you a playful shove.

The two of you laughed and joked around for a while, only stopping when Futakuchi gave you a look that made your heart flutter in your chest. He stopped walking and stood in front of you, regarding you with a small smile that made you muster one as well.

Everything felt so natural as his arm moved around your back and pulled you closer to him, and his hand tilted your chin up towards him so that he could lean down and press his lips against yours. The kiss that you shared felt soft and affectionate, rather than rough and unsure.

When your lips separated for a moment, you both paused before Futakuchi captured your lips with his once again. You wrapped your arms around his neck and let your body melt into his as his tongue swiped across your bottom lip and you silently agreed by parting your lips even more. You both discovered that you were really good at French kissing, and savored the intimate moment you were sharing before finally letting your lips separate.

You both smiled at one another as you tried to regain your breath, which had been lost during your passionate kisses.

"That was amazing," he commented, moving his hands down to yours and giving them a squeeze.

"Yeah. Why couldn't you have done that the first time?" you joked, making him chuckle.

"I wish I could've," he responded, "But I'm glad that I got to learn how to do that with you."