Thanks for participating! I felt like these two would have
an interesting dynamic!

---

Walking into the park, your heart starts beating faster when
you see your long-time crush Tanaka Ryuunosuke headed your way. He’s in town
for a tournament but has a break between games so asked you to come see him when
you were off work. The two of you have been flirting over texts after meeting
at a volleyball co-ed training camp and really hit it off.

Spying you ahead of him, Tanaka’s hands start sweating, his
neck getting tense. He likes you sooooo much and really wants to ask you out
but he’s been dragging his feet. Today Noya threatened that if he didn’t grow a
pair and finally confess he’d do it for him. Knowing the hyper active libero
would make good on his word, Tanaka requested an opportunity to see you.

“Hi, Tanaka-san!” you shout waving jovially. He smiles
lightly, blush coming up on his cheeks as he waves back. In little time, you’ve
meet half way both wanting to hug the other but refraining from doing so due to
your nerves and not really knowing where the other person is.

“Hey _____-chan, thanks for meeting me. It’s too bad you
couldn’t make it to the game, you would have seen my awesome spikes!” he says
adding a bit of bravado to his voice to cover his nerves.

You laugh to cover yours, sighing, “I know! I tried really hard
to get out of my shift but no one would cover for me!” You let out a little
pout and he thinks you’re the cutest girl he’s ever seen.

“No problem, we have more games tonight and tomorrow cause
we’re going all the way to the top!”

You nod enthusiastically. Then, remembering why you’re here,
you ask, “So, what did you want to talk to me about Tanaka-san?”

Tanaka’s eyes widened a bit, his throat becoming a bit dry
which he clears, repeatedly, trying to drum up the words he wants to say. Just
as he’s about to open his mouth, you notice someone behind him and yell out, “Oh!
Rinnosuke-kun!” Dodging around the bewildered volleyball player you launch
yourself into Mitobe’s arms, his large frame easily catching your smaller one.

Inside Tanaka is dying a little, ok maybe a lot, because he
was sure you were single and you’d
never mentioned a boyfriend and he couldn’t conceive of you being so cruel as
to lead him on and-

“Tanaka-san, this is one of my very best friends, Mitobe
Rinnosuke. Actually, I guess it would be more accurate to call him my big
brother!”

Big…brother…so this was
the guy. You’d mentioned your “brother” before but until now had never said his
name. He sizes up the tall male, not entirely pleased with the expression on
his face and while normally he’d be asking if he has a problem, it’s quite clear
that would be a rhetorical question.

Mitobe raises his eyebrows at your mention of Tanaka’s name
prompting you to blush furiously and hiss out, “Oh shut up!”

Tanaka is confused; did the dude even say anything? If so,
it must have been pretty low.

Another beat of silence passes but then your attention is
once again diverted when your name is called by a group of girls over by a
shop. Squealing out a hello, you whip your head to the boys, “Sorry guys, I
need to go chat with them for just a minute. But that will give you time to
become acquainted! Be right back!” Before either of them can protest you’re
running off to your friends.

Turning back to look at Mitobe, Tanaka crosses his arms. “So,
you’re _____-chan’s “brother”. She talks about you a lot, seems you two are
pretty close.”

Mitobe nods, his face remaining neutral, eyes focused on
Tanaka. Despite his cocky attitude, Tanaka does, deep down, care about what people
think of him. And it’s pretty clear that this guy means a lot to you, which
means he should probably put in some more effort to get to know him. After all,
if he wants to date you, doesn’t “family” usually come along in the mix?

“Um, _____-chan tells me you play basketball. Uh, that’s…cool…I
guess,” Tanaka says. Again, Mitobe just nods. Tanaka can feel himself getting
irritated with the guy. Is this some kind of a game? Pushing his buttons so he
can get him to explode or make a fool of himself in front of you? How is he supposed
to get to know the guy if he won’t talk?

“Oi,” he says a bit gruffer, “aren’t you gonna say anything?”

Mitobe shrugs, turning his head momentarily to look at you
then back at Tanaka. He repeats the motion, one eyebrow inclining slightly.

Sighing, Tanaka somehow
gets what he’s “saying”. “So, you figured out that I like her, huh?”

Mitobe nods, eyes narrowing a bit.

“And she’s really important to you, obviously,” Tanaka adds.

Another nod, arms crossing in front of his chest.

Scratching the back of his head, a sudden thought occurs to
Tanaka. “Well, seeing as you’re pretty much the only “family” _____-chan has, I
suppose this is appropriate.” He sees Mitobe’s eyes soften, a slight curve
downward of his lips as he recalls just how you’ve become an honorary member of
his family. Tanaka goes on, “Yeah, well, seeing as that’s the case, I guess….um…I,”
he sighs, closing his eyes before opening them again and blurting out, “Could I
get your permission to date her?”

Before Mitobe can react, a sudden shout from you draws both boys’
attention away from one another. You’re standing by yourself now, your friends
apparently having left, but there’s a guy messing with you, not letting you
leave.

Tanaka is there in a flash, yanking him back from you and
injecting himself between him and you. “Just what the hell do you think you’re
doing?” he shouts, fists clenched.

“Scram brat, this doesn’t concern you!” the bully says
moving to shove Tanaka out of the way. He dodges, grabbing the guy by the wrist
and twisting his arm around making him grunt in pain.

“Now,” he says gruffly, “get the hell out of here before I really
mess you up.”

He pushes him forward, making him stumble. The guy whirls
around, about to try again, when Mitobe arrives standing just behind Tanaka. At
the sight of the imposingly tall basketball player, the offender leaves,
cursing under his breath.

Tanaka turns to you. “Are you ok?” he asks. He’s barely finished
the question before you’ve flung yourself into his chest, tears streaming down
your cheeks. Awkwardly, Tanaka places his hands on your back, while yours wrap
more fully around his waist. He gulps, patting your head, unsure exactly what
to say but figuring he can help by just holding you.

His eyes shift to Mitobe who is standing very still watching
the two of you. Slowly, a soft smile pulls up his lips, his eyes flicking from Tanaka
to you then back again before he lifts his hand and shows a thumbs up.

Tanaka grins, saying lowly, “Thanks man.”

You sniff, pulling back to look up at your rescuer. “Did…did
you say something Tanaka-san?”

“What? Eh, no. Hey, I never did get a chance to talk to you,
you know?” he says smiling into your tear stained face. He pulls you along,
unwilling to ask his question in front of anybody else, brother or not.

As Mitobe watches you go, Koga arrives, standing next to
him.

“So that’s the guy?” he asks and Mitobe nods.

“Do we like him?” Mitobe nods again.

“Good, come on, the captain’s waiting,” he concludes, turning
on his heel headed back to the park court Seirin is practicing on. With one
last glance at you and your new boyfriend (he’s sure he’s right judging by how
you’re hugging him) Mitobe turns to follow his friend, glad he won’t have to
worry about you as long as Tanaka is around.