imagine-knb:

Prompt: Blind Date / Set up by friends

Midorima

He was going to kill Takao.

He’d told him time and again he could handle his own social life and to stay out of it but somehow his former teammate (and reluctantly admitted friend) had coerced him into a blind date, on Valentine’s day of all days.

He reached up to adjust his tie, then his glasses, his fingers feeling oddly tingly without their usual tape, the wearing of which he’d grown out of after college ended. Midorima hated feeling out of his depth but not knowing one thing about the person he was to meet except what Takao had said put him more on edge than he wanted to admit.

You’ll love them, they’re perfect for you.

But Takao’s idea of perfection and Midorima’s were in grand opposition to one another.

Sighing, he looked at his watch once more; five more minutes until the inevitable.

He supposed he could just leave, had considered it more than once, but it wasn’t your fault his best friend – since when did he let that consideration slip into his mind – was an idiot.

“You must be Midorima-san. Takao-kun mentioned you’d be a bit fidgety.”

Your voice caught him off guard, making him start and lending credence to the assertion of his nerves.

Yep, he’s a dead man.

But Midorima’s formulation of Takao’s impending murder and the subsequent cover up came to a grinding halt the moment his eyes landed on you. As far as first impressions went, it was a very good one. Not usually one swayed by outward appearances alone, Midorima was startled by the intense and immediate attraction he felt at first sight. He wouldn’t call it love, he wasn’t fanciful enough for that, but there was definitely something worth exploring.

Remembering his manners, he stood quickly, extending a hand to shake yours and when you smiled, let out a little giggle he wasn’t sure was from amusement or nerves, Midorima felt his heart palpitate a bit quicker.

“Yes,” he finally said, trying to clear his throat of apprehension, “and you must be _____. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Really? And here Takao-kun had warned me you’d be a cold stick in the mud.”

His cheeks flushed crimson and you laughed a little more. “I’m sorry, if you couldn’t tell already there’s a reason Takao-kun and I are friends, we both don’t know when to quit teasing.”

Midorima took a deep breath, gathering enough wits to finally wonder what his face must look like and tried not to flush a deeper red. As distraction, he swiftly moved to the other side of the table, pulling out the chair nestled against its edge and waved you to have a seat. Smiling, you did as bidden, thanking him quietly as he pushed you in comfortably.

He retook his own seat, signaled the waiter and ordered a bottle of wine. Settling his folded hands on the table, he fixed you with what he hoped was a confident stare. “Now that the awkward pleasantries at my expense are out of the way, how about you tell me a little about yourself?”

The indelicate snort you let into your water glass let him know the likeliness of that was fleeting at best. “So serious,” you teased, setting down the drink, “no need to treat this like a job interview.”

He huffed, looking down at the table, fingers clenching a bit tighter. Jaw tight he intoned, “Forgive me, this is….not something I usually do.”

He looked up to see your eyes soften and nearly drew his hands back when your own covered them. “I’m sorry…I…I’m nervous too and, well, teasing is my defense mechanism.” Taking your own deep breath, you released his hands, sat back and took another drink of water before saying, “Let’s start over shall we? Really give this a chance?”

He hummed agreement, taking the bottle of wine which appeared at that moment and poured two glasses. Lifting his own, he said, “To new experiences with new acquaintances.”

“Here, here,” you agreed, tapping his glass with your own.

As you both drank, you settled, bodies relaxing and conversation flowing a little more easily. Maybe Takao knew what he was talking about after all.

Hyuuga

“I swear, they should be here any minute,” Hyuuga mutters, checking his phone for what must be the fiftieth time in the span of five minutes.

“Hyuuga-kun, it’s fine. You know how they are,” you assure, though you can’t quite keep a note of irritation from your voice. Was it really so bad spending time together…alone? You’d been dancing around each other practically all year, much to the chagrin and irritation of your mutual friends, but neither you nor Hyuuga were ready to admit to yourselves, much less to each other, how you felt.  

“That’s it, I’m calling Teppei,” Hyuuga grumbles, drawing you out of your musings. You sigh, watching his back as he walks a bit away, unsure why he doesn’t just stay by you to make the call. Then again, he’s probably going to give his best friend an earful for being so late and doesn’t want to make you an uncomfortable witness to it; Hyuuga can be quite intense when he’s upset.

Down the lane, Hyuuga finally gets Kiyoshi’s on the phone. “Where the hell are you?” he practically shouts into the mouthpiece.

“Well hello to you too, Junpei.” Kiyoshi’s mirthful tone is enough to set Hyuuga’s teeth on edge.

“Cut the crap, where are you and the rest of the guys?”

“Home,” comes the simply reply.

Hyuuga pauses, feeling the vein on his temple rise. “Excuse me? You ditched _____ and me? On single’s night?!”

Kiyoshi chuckles and Hyuuga can just picture him shaking his head. “Yes and no. We ditched you so that you could become not single anymore.”

“Wha-”

“Now you cut the crap, Junpei,” Kiyoshi admonishes voice dropping to a more serious tone. “The two of you need to get your act together and put us all out of our misery watching you fumble over the fact you’re crazy for each other!”

“Go for it captain!”

“You can do it!”

“We believe in you!”

The background chants of his team do little to encourage Hyuuga, instead putting him more ill at ease. “I told you,” he hisses, “to leave it alone. To let me…us…whatever handle it as we see fit! I don’t even know if _____actually likes me like that! I don’t know if I like ______ like that!”

There’s a garbled protest and then Riko is the one shouting on the line. “That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard Junpei! Now be a man and tell _______how you feel or so help me, I’ll-”

“Ok, Riko, ok, that’s enough,” Kiyoshi’s voice says over the line. Then to Hyuuga he adds, “You might as well get it over with, because if you don’t we’re done playing nice.”

“Nice? You call this nice? Dumping us off together on single’s night on Valentine’s day?!”

“Who’s dumping who now?”

Your voice makes Hyuuga almost drop his phone. From the other side of the city he hears Kiyoshi laugh loudly. “Now you’ve done it. Good luck!” And the line goes dead.

Slowly Hyuuga looks at you, cheeks burning red all the way up to his ears. “Hey, are you ok?” you ask, stepping into his personal space and stealing the very breath from his lungs when the back of your hand touches his forehead. “Geez, you’re burning up, Hyuuga-san, we should get you home and-”

“I like you,” he blurts out stalling your words.

Blinking up at him, your mouth opens and closes but no words come out. Gathering courage he quickly pockets his phone, replacing it with your hand in his. Giving it a squeeze he repeats, “I like you, _____.”

And when you smile bright and wide, he feels a flood of relief rush through his chest. He’ll have to make sure to thank his team properly the next time he sees them.

Imayoshi

You stood, body shaking both from the cold and, you hated to admit, irritation. No, it had blown way past irritation into the neighborhood of hot blooded rage. How dare someone be so…so…callous! So cruel! And you without your phone to call and give him a piece of your mind, lost somewhere and another thing you’d have to deal with.

“This is exactly why I don’t date,” you huffed, breath coming out in steamy vapor.

“______-chan?”

The nearness of the voice made you jump, your eyes wide as you turned to face whoever had managed to get into your personal space without you noticing. When his visage came into focus, you smiled ever so slightly. “Good evening, Imayoshi-san,” you offered, tilting your head slightly.

He returned the gesture, never losing his trademark smirk, the one he hid behind so often. “And what, pray tell, has you in such a tiff?” he asked, the steam from the cup in his hand an inviting distraction from the cold.

Snapping your eyes to his face, you shrugged. “Oh, um, well.” No sense in denying it, he’d probably already figured it out. “I got stood up.”

He clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, the nerve of some people, and on Valentine’s day too.” He shook his index finger to and fro. “Very naughty.” You nodded, turning to look back out over the water. “Good thing I came along,” he added, stepping closer to the edge of the bridge and by proxy yourself. “Would hate for you to have done something irreversible.”

You smacked his arm. “I wouldn’t jump over something so frivolous.”

He grinned. “Good to hear it.” A pause and then, “Well, seeing as you’re alone and I’m alone, why don’t we be alone together? Somewhere preferably with a heater and hot food, perhaps?”

Shoving down the tiny glimmer of hope that flooded your heart, and reminding yourself this was merely your good…friend?…being kind you nodded, accepting his arm.

When you reached a suitable and uncrowded bistro he ushered you indoors away from the cold. Taking your coat, Imayoshi glanced back through the door, smirking as your would be date wandered two and fro looking aimlessly for you. Such a shame, Imayoshi considered as your phone in his pocket buzzed for probably the tenth time, but you were his…you just weren’t aware of it yet.

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I know Imayoshi’s is a bit…odd…but I can just see him setting up his own date like this. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these! – Admin Jade