The words on the pages of your textbook all looked like nothing more than a jumble of incoherent letters to you. Despite your keen focus on trying to comprehend the material, it felt as if your brain just didn't want any more information. You'd spent so long studying that you figured your inability to read and understand simple sentences was your brain's way of telling you to take a break. Okay, you thought, playing mental games with yourself, since I can't focus on this, I'll just start my homework from another class, then!

When you reached for your other textbook, a loud knock at the door of your dorm room gave you pause. Upon answering it, you found none other than the volleyball ace of your school, Ushijima Wakatoshi, standing in the hallway. "Hey, Wakatoshi-kun! What's up?" you asked, giving him a small smile. Any other girl would've nearly passed out on the spot at seeing him at their door, but the two of you had been friends since you had become a manager of the volleyball team during your first year at the school.

His stoic, olive eyes were motionless as he wondered, "Are you coming to practice, (f/n)?"

Placing your hand behind your head, you averted your gaze and admitted, "No. I have a ton of stuff to get done for tomorrow." His attention shifted to the pile of books and papers on your desk before he returned his focus to you once again. "You never ask me that. Did you need me to come?"

He shrugged. "I'm not asking for myself."

"What does that even mean?" you questioned, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

With a wave of the hand, he said dismissively, "Focus on your studies, but just know that your absence this week hasn't gone unnoticed. Tendou's been a complete pain in the ass. More so than usual, anyway." Before you could even form a response, he was already down the hall, leaving you standing in your doorway with your mouth slightly agape.

After spending three years with the team, you knew they appreciated your presence at their practices, but you didn't think that missing a few days to catch up on your homework would make too much of a difference. To learn that your crush, Tendou Satori, had been acting up in your absence gave you a strange feeling of satisfaction and validation. He thoroughly enjoyed messing with you at practice and between classes, so he was probably missing his favorite target, even though he had all the rest of his teammates to pester.

You couldn't help but wonder, though: if Tendou wanted you to go to practice that badly, why hadn't he asked you himself? Probably because he couldn't swallow his pride. Why had Ushijima taken it upon himself to come knocking at your door? Maybe he'd just been tired of Tendou's behavior and hoped you'd put an end to it right then and there by agreeing to come to practice.

A buzz from your phone prompted you to return to reality from your ceaseless thoughts, and you closed the door before plopping back down at your desk. When you picked it up and turned it on, you noticed a text from the boy in question.

guess monster >:)

(F/n)-chan! U coming to practice tonight????

With a chuckle, you typed out your response: Nope! Got lots of hw :( Have fun!

Picking up your pencil and putting your phone down, you turned your attention back to your homework. Only a few moments went by before you were interrupted by yet another buzz from your phone. Grumbling, you grabbed it once again so you could read another message from the persistent middle blocker.

guess monster >:)

Laaaaaame!!!! Get everything done so u can come tmrw! Wakatoshi-kun's getting restless without u :(((((((((

Even though you knew you were going to practice tomorrow, you decided to tease him a bit anyway and say, We'll see...

You couldn't deny that hearing him beckon you to come to practice made your entire body feel warm. The fact that he was trying to put the blame on Ushijima only reaffirmed how prideful he was and gave you a good laugh. He was an interesting one, that was for sure, but that was one of the many reasons why he'd caught your eye in the first place.

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The following day, you stood in front of your door, your heart racing in your chest and your brain urging your legs to move but with no success. After spending the whole night thinking about the attachment you had felt to Tendou for quite some time now, you'd decided that it was finally time to put the issue of whether or not he returned your feelings to rest. At today's practice, you were going to find a way to confess to him or get him to confess to you; whichever came first. As much as you hoped he would have the balls to admit the feelings you were almost ninety-five percent sure he had for you, you weren't counting on him to do it. So, instead, you'd decided to grab life by the horns and give yourself an ultimatum.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm your jittery nerves, you finally pulled your door open and made your way over to Shiratorizawa's gym. The place had been somewhat of a third home to you--since your dorm was technically your second--but, this afternoon, you felt nervous for the first time in a while. However, as soon as you walked into the doorway and saw Tendou standing with Ushijima by the equipment room, you felt a comforting sensation of warmth wash over you. Seeing your crush in person had a calming effect on you rather than a nerve-racking one, strangely enough.

"Ah, (f/n) better show up today or else I'm going home!" the tall, crimson-haired boy complained, leaning against the wall, "I hate practicing when she's not here."

Ushijima scoffed, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "She's a busy student. You can't expect her to be here all the time when she's not a player or a paid coach."

This comment made Tendou slump even further against the wall and hang his head. "I know! But, still, nobody cheers for me the way she does..."

Hearing this conversation between your crush and your friend made your heart thud happily in your chest, and you couldn't help but enter the gym with a bright smile on your face. "Sa-to-ri!" you exclaimed, drawing out each syllable of his name.

The boy in question immediately perked up and whipped around to face you. "(F/n)-chan!" he shouted with joy. He looked like he wanted to run over and give you a hug, but he restrained himself, allowing you to approach him instead. "Look, Wakatoshi-kun! I got her to show up for you! Aren't you happy?" he gloated, turning to his lesser enthused friend and awaiting a reaction he wouldn't get.

"Thrilled. I'll play even harder, now," was Ushijima's simple response, devoid of all emotion and totally characteristic of him. When you beamed at him in return, you could've sworn you saw the slightest of smiles ghost across his lips before he walked into the supply closet to grab some antennas for the net. Whether it was one of gratitude or relief, you had no idea. But it was a smile, nonetheless.

"Well, even if he does a horrible job of showing it, he's very happy to have you back. He was just... how do I put it... devastated by your absence! He was hitting the tape constantly on his swings!" Tendou rambled on, making you direct your smile at him. When your (e/c) eyes met with his own ruby-colored ones, you could've sworn you saw a hint of a pink on his cheeks.

"You know," you began, tapping your chin with your finger and furrowing your eyebrows in mock confusion, "now that you mention it, Satori, that doesn't sound like him at all!"

Eager to explain himself, Tendou followed you over to the corner of the gym, where you usually put your bag so it wasn't in the way. "W-Well... I could just tell!" he stuttered.

Shooting him an incredulous look, you uttered, "Say whatever you want, dude, but I think you're trying to cover up for the fact that you were the one who missed me."

He placed a taped finger against your lips. "Okay, maybe I missed you a little bit," he admitted, "But only because you always cheer for me, so it feels weird when you're not here."

With a coy smile spread across your mouth, you moved his hand away from your face and suggested, "Sounds like someone has a crush on me!"

Sure enough, your devilish plan to coax the answer to your question out of him worked, but not in the way you had expected it to. You thought pestering him by implying you knew his true feelings would push him to give you verbal confession, but, instead, he let out a small sigh of defeat before grabbing your face and pressing his lips against yours. The suddenness of the kiss caught you off-guard, and you froze for a moment as your heart nearly stopped.

He didn't give you enough time to react before he pulled away, so you used the front of his jacket to bring him back towards you for another kiss. This time, his arms wrapped around your torso, bringing your body flush against his and surrounding you with warmth. You giggled softly between kisses when he enthusiastically peppered a few on your cheek, sending tingles across your skin before returning to your lips once more.

"Oi, Tendou! Come help finish setting up! You can kiss (f/n)-san later!" a voice rang out across the gym, making the two of you reluctantly separate from one another. Semi stood at the side of the court, placing a cover around one the poles holding the volleyball net up and regarding his teammate with a stern gaze.

Tendou groaned with dismay and said to him, "Be there in a sec, Semisemi," making the setter huff loudly. He then turned back to you and let his ruby gaze rest on you for a few moments, taking in how cute your face looked after it was all flushed from kissing him. "Ah, (f/n)-chan, always keeping me guessing. Who would've known you had such strong feelings of passion for me? Looks like I'm not the only guess monster here!"

Giving him a gentle push, you warned, "You heard Semi. You'd best be getting to work."

With a sly smile, he added, "Yeah, and he also said we could kiss later, so don't worry; we can pick up where we left off. I promise I'll try to be good today now that you're here."

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A/n: here's lil satori's one shot debut! Okay, not gonna lie, took me some time to figure out how to write our beloved guess monster's character lol please let me know how I did since I'd like to make more one shots for him!