6 YEARS LATER
"i'm home."
the raven-haired girl's eyelids fluttered open at the sound of the door opening, her boyfriend's arrival home interrupting the short nap she had planned on taking after a long day of track practice.
she rubbed her eyes tiredly, before going up to him, tiptoeing to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a peck on the cheek.
her cheeks were still tinted pink at her own actions-even after all those years. the same went for the latter.
it had been six years.
six years since the start of the two sports prodigies' relationship, and they were still going strong.
after graduating from high school, the couple had moved out of miyagi, to the bustling city of tokyo, renting an apartment big enough for the two of them to stay in.
their move from countryside to city was mainly because of ayako's acceptance into tokyo university, after getting scouted because of her exceptional performance in high school track.
that very same year, both of them, had also represented japan at the rio olympics, one playing for the volleyball team and the other running in the 800m and 1500m women's.
yes, they'd fulfilled their childhood promise after all those years.
while ayako went to university after graduation, the setter in turn advanced to the v-league instead of university, going pro-he was never one good at academics, anyway.
in a nutshell, one was now a college senior majoring in sports science by day and a national runner by night, and the other a full-time professional volleyball player.
and as for physique wise, the setter grew a good seven centimetres taller, as well was wider in build, while the track athlete barely grew, hence having to tiptoe whenever she felt like displaying affection for her boyfriend.
kageyama dropped his gym bag on the sofa, before placing the plastic bag of food he had brought home onto the dining table.
"i brought dinner home."
her mouth forming into an 'o', ayako walked over to the dining table to peer inside the plastic bag.
and of course, it had to be two boxes of pork curry takeout. pork curry was the only thing her boyfriend ever brought home when he was in charge of buying dinner.
she pulled the two boxes out of the plastic bag, along with the plastic cutlery that had been given, placing one box in front of her, and the other in front of the seat opposite, which the raven-haired male had slipped into.
she sat down as well, both of them mumbling a quick 'itadakimasu' before digging into their food.
"do you think you could get a couple of days your training and skip some classes next week?" the setter asked out of the blue.
ayako raised an eyebrow in question. "probably, since the season just finished, but why?"
"i'm having a game in miyagi next week," he replied. "and i thought you might wanna come, since its in our home turf and all..."
"ohh i see," she replied knowingly. "i'll check with my coach then."
a smile formed on his lips. "okay."
-
much to her delight, her coach had willingly let her take a couple of days off training, and she'd gotten a friend to help her take down notes for the lectures she was going to miss.
which was why ayako soon found herself back in her hometown a couple of days after kageyama had proposed the idea of heading back to miyagi.
when they arrived, the girl couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia rush through her.
all the high school memories came flooding back.
they'd both decided on staying over at kageyama's place for the night, and since she was only back for a short stay, ayako hadn't notified her parents.
"where are we headed again...?" she asked, as they left the setter's house for 'somewhere he wanted to go'.
"not telling," he replied, with a teasing smile and a hint of pink tinting his cheeks.
the sky was already painted with a light orange hue, evening dawning on them.
the curiosity lingering in her only grew. what exactly was he up to?
she had no idea. it wasn't as if today was a special occasion for either of them.
but little did she know.
the raven-haired male was trying his utmost best to keep his composure, despite his heart palpitating wildly on the inside, and his hands turning clammy.
he'd been planning for this day for months, he had to make sure he wasn't going to give himself away at the last few moments.
ayako squeezed his palm, upon noticing how his hands were cold and clammy.
"are you okay?"
he nodded, praying his expression wouldn't give him away. "y-yeah."
doubt flashed across her face for a split second, but she let him be. "okay."
and it was only when they took a turn at an all too familiar intersection when the girl took a guess at where they were going.
her eyes sparkled as she spoke. "tobio are we going to-?"
he didn't even need to wait for her to finish, and he nodded. "yeah."
she let out a long exhale. "wah, it's been such a long time. do you think it's still there?"
kageyama shrugged nonchalantly. "it should be, considering how the entire neighborhood barely changed."
"i hope it is."
and it was.
the vending machine, the one that was a part of so many of the memories the couple had made together still stood there, exactly the same as how it was when they'd last seen it three years ago.
ayako approached the machine, dropping in a couple of coins before turning back to kageyama with two packets of yogurt drinks in hand.
he smiled, as the two of them took a seat on the bench in front of the vending machine.
their high school moments spent together at that very place seemed to replay in their minds like a movie rolling out.
in their first year, the vending machine had brought them together.
in their second year, the vending machine had stopped them from drifting apart.
in their third year, the vending machine watched as they bought their last packets of yogurt drinks, graduation certificates in hand, talking about how they were going to move to the city.
and now, what was the vending machine going to do?
it was going to mark the start of the next chapter of kageyama and ayako.
in the midst of her reverie, the setter pulled out a small, black box from his pocket, and slowly got up from his seat, shakily getting down on one knee.
by the time her brain processed what was going on, kageyama was already knelt down in front of her, hands trembling as he opened the box.
even after all these years, kageyama tobio was still the worst when it came to confessing his feelings.
fumbling over his words, he finally managed to get the words to come out of his mouth after a good few seconds of stuttering.
"w-willyoumarryme...?"
the four words spilled out of his mouth so quickly that they may have been hard to catch.
but she'd heard them, clearly.
the same blush that tinted her cheeks six years ago, when he first confessed to her after karasuno had won the spring preliminary finals for the first time, tinted her cheeks once again.
and a smile, the pure, bright smile that just made him fall in love with her all over again, spread across her lips.
"of course i will, boke."
a chuckle escaped his lips upon hearing her answer, and he got back on his two feet, pulling her into a kiss.
a long, passionate kiss, that left both of them breathless when they pulled away.
both cheeks were flushed bright red, but identical shy smiles had formed on their faces.
not letting go of her yet, the setter rested his head on top of hers, gently whispering an 'i love you, ayako', into her hair.
she wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face into his chest.
"i love you too, tobio."
and behind them, the vending machine watched, and smiled.
just like how the very beginning of their journey had unfolded together here, they were starting the very first line of their next chapter together, at the very same place.
and the vending machine knew she had nothing to worry about.
yes, there were going to be ups and downs, but the both of them were going to be just fine, as long as they had each other.
and in the near future, if anyone asked about their high school sweetheart story, they'd reply with a chuckle,
"we caught feelings after daily conversations and several packets of yogurt drinks in front of a vending machine-yeah, that's our story."
a/n im crying.