Chapter Text
A knock on the door interrupted Tetsurou as he was preparing for his next lecture on his laptop.
“Come in,” Tetsurou said before facing the door of his tiny office in the university building.
A man with dark, short wispy hair entered the room and nodded to Tetsurou.
“Keiji!” Tetsurou went to stand to pour a drink from his overused coffee machine but halted when Keiji waved his hand. Keiji Akaashi was also a professor in the same department, and their offices were close to each other.
“Don’t bother, I’m only here to give you a hardcopy of the new syllabus.” Keiji handed the neatly collected and stapled document over and glanced over the state of Tetsurou’s desk.
Tetsurou opened his mouth before Keiji could. “I know I know you don’t have to say it.” He rolled his eyes before grabbing the document.
Keiji smirked. “I was going to point out that your clock had stopped.”
“I know–hah?” Tetsurou grabbed the black cat clock Kenma had picked out for him during a Christmas shopping spree and squinted at the short and long hands. Sure enough, Keiji had been right – actually, Keiji was always right. As he changed the batteries, Keiji started rearranging his desk. Usually Tetsurou disliked having his things moved out of its place – even if he didn’t know where they were at first – but Keiji was a close friend, and someone who he had trusted Kenma with on a few occasions. He was about to make a mom joke when Keiji spoke up.
“Will you be alright this weekend?” Keiji asked, preoccupied with the masses of papers on the desk. He glanced at Tetsurou when he had gathered all the relevant documents into one pile.
Tetsurou nodded gently as he returned the clock to its rightful place – in his line of view, next to a photo frame of Kenma cuddling a black kitten. They had discovered the kitten when they had heard meows coming from the bush behind their house a few years ago. Fortunately, they had been able to revive the kitten with a warm blanket, food and water, before taking it to the local veterinary.
Kenma had named the kitten Jiji, after the black cat in Kiki’s Delivery Service movie. Over the next few weeks, Kenma and Jiji were inseparable. Their house was no longer quiet with the occasional giggles from Kenma, and meowing from Jiji. Tetsurou would often pet Jiji and silently thank her for making their lives brighter and giving his son a companion for moments when he was too busy with work or chores. It had been lively in the Kuroo household.
But their time with Jiji was short-lived. Three months after the cat came into their lives, Tetsurou had received a phone call from his neighbour while he was at work to inform him that Jiji had been found dead on the road a few blocks away. It appeared that a car had hit her and left her body on the side of the road.
The neighbour – an elderly lady who was fond of Kenma – had been generous enough to wrap the deceased cat and bury her so Kenma wouldn’t have to look. Breaking the bad news was the most difficult thing Tetsurou had had to do since explaining to a three-year-old Kenma why his parents could no longer come home.
Tetsurou jolted back to the present when Keiji’s hand touched his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.” Keiji removed his hand and settled back into his seat. “You looked like you were about to cry.”
Tetsurou opened his mouth to protest but Keiji seemed to have read his mind and stood up.
“My offer still stands, okay?” Keiji offered a small smile before exiting the room before Tetsurou could reply.
Every year around that day, Keiji would offer to house sit so Tetsurou and Kenma could go on a trip. And every year Tetsurou would politely decline the offer because Keiji was a busy man himself, and his neighbours were always more than willing to look after the house. But every year Keiji would ask the same question – deep down Tetsurou suspected that Keiji did it as a way to say that he was there for both father and son.
After checking the time and gathering some of his belongings into his satchel bag, Tetsurou made his way home, purposely taking a detour this time knowing that Kenma wouldn’t be home until after dinner because Hitoka had invited their circle of friends over to show off her new pet cockatoo.
It was still light outside and Tetsurou decided that a walk in the park wouldn’t hurt. Approaching the park he often frequented with Kenma, his mind started replaying the scenes of a night he would rather forget–Stop! Not now! He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled deeply as he ran through happier memories to distract himself – Kenma’s first day at school, Kenma’s first award at school, Kenma playing hide and seek with Jiji, Kenma introducing him to Shouyou and Hitoka, their day at Disneyland, the day he introduced Koutarou to Keiji at a party, Kenma’s first tooth fairy present, the day he and Kenma helped Keiji and Koutarou move their stuff into their new apartment, the day he opened the door to a handsome policeman...Daichi.
It had been over a fortnight since they last met when Daichi had come over for dinner and movie with his family and Kenma’s friends. They hadn’t been in contact since that night. Tetsurou’s workload had increased and Kenma’s friends had been out of town at different times so he couldn’t gather everyone to his house since then. Kenma had asked about Daichi and movie nights on a few occasions and if he was honest to himself, he had been looking forward to seeing Daichi again. The bright smile and the belly laughter never left Tetsurou’s mind. He love–liked the way Daichi’s eyes crinkled when he beamed, the way his shoulders shake when he laughed, those round brown puppy eyes, his natural ability to gain children’s trust – including Hitoka, who had had bad impressions of policemen. Everything about that man made him look like someone out of a cheesy rom-com.
The idea of dating had crossed his mind a few times. But every time he thought about having someone else in his life, he would shake his head and reject the idea with “I already have my hands full with Kenma”, “how would Kenma feel”, or “what if they don’t like the idea of me already having a child”. More often than not, the thought of losing someone close to him hovered over him, preventing him from committing to anyone else apart from Kenma, his friends and family. He hadn’t even told his two best friends - Koutarou and Keiji – about Daichi.
Even he was surprised that he hadn’t told them about Daichi because he usually told them everything. Perhaps he was in denial about Daichi being a part of his life? Or the idea of Daichi being a part of his life sounded like wishful thinking? It felt strange to him to think about, well, dating Daichi because he had stopped denying his attraction to the policeman.
What was stranger, however, was how he found himself standing in front of the local police station by the park. How did he even make it there without hitting into the lamp posts? He spotted a man dressed in police uniform heading towards him. The man had chin-length wavy brown hair, and a goatee. He appeared fairly intimidating, which must be useful for a man of his career.
“Hello, do you need help?” asked the policeman – whose name tag read Police Officer Azumane Asahi.
“Ah-no-I-I’m okay!” Tetsurou bowed and turned to walk away when his eyes met with a pair of brown puppy eyes – yes, those eyes.
“Tetsurou?”
Nodding was the only reply Tetsurou was capable of giving. Then he realized that he only confirmed his name, not his purpose of being there – not that he knew the answer to that himself.
The goatee police officer had left the scene, leaving the two of them by the entrance.
“How can I help you?” Daichi asked and flashed that blinding grin.
“I–uh...” Hurry! Come up something! Anything! “...came here to see you.” He mentally face palmed himself.
“Oh.” Daichi scratched the back of his head and shifted his eyes to the side. “Well, here I am.”
Tetsurou was momentarily distracted by the endearing on Daichi’s face. He opened his mouth to say something back but no words came out – like a cat got his tongue. He ran through a number of replies in his head – ranging from “I wanted to see you” but that sounded cheesy, to “I was in the area” but that was a given since his house was down the road and not much different from the “I wanted to see you”.
Eventually for what seemed like eons, Tetsurou said “I was taking to take a walk in the park.” Yeah, that sounded alright.
“I see.” Daichi tilted his head and scanned Tetsurou’s face. “But that doesn’t really explain why you’re here...and wanted to see me.”
This is why Tetsurou was a “terrible liar” according to Keiji and Koutarou. He realized that he had dug a hole for himself so deep he couldn’t climb out even with his superb rock-climbing skills. Tetsurou wondered how much deeper he could dig in this hole. “Would you like to go for a coffee sometime?”
“It’s a little late for caffeine though.” Daichi pointed to hints of the sunset in the distance. “My shift is ending soon...why don’t we go somewhere to eat?” He paused, then added, “Take Kenma too.”
“Kenma is over at a friend’s for dinner tonight. How about...” Tetsurou gulped. “...you come over and I’ll cook dinner?” He hoped the sunset in the background would somehow camouflage the blush on his face. The question sounded like asking Daichi on a date and he was sure the policeman saw it that way too.
They stood still in awkward silence as the entrance to the police station opened and closed behind them. Neither of them seemed to notice a silver-haired policeman sneaking up behind Daichi.
“Hey!” the silver-haired policeman patted Daichi’s shoulder and nodded to Tetsurou before turning to Daichi. “Time to call it a day, any plans?”
Tetsurou was positive he saw a subtle smirk from the silver-haired policeman.
When Daichi quickly introduced the two men to each other, Tetsurou swore he saw a subtle smirk from the silver-haired policeman.
“Ah! So you’re the Tetsu–ow!” Koushi rubbed his side that had just been jabbed to Daichi’s elbow.
Tetsurou wasn’t sure of what that meant so he just nodded. Koushi seemed to be friendly, and close to Daichi. He wondered if the goatee policeman was a close friend too...
“How about you Tetsurou? Any plans for tonight?”
It could have been the trick of the street lights which had turned on, but Tetsurou could have sworn he saw a flicker of light in Koushi’s eyes. He decided that this Koushi may be more than he appeared.
“I was going to go home and cook dinner...”
“For yourself?”
“Well...” Tetsurou felt like he was being interrogated under the gaze of Police Officer Koushi. He nearly missed the little jab Daichi gave Koushi, but the latter remained unfazed. “I was going to ask Daichi for dinner but...” Wait, but what? What was the but doing there? Why was there a but? He may have dug a deeper hole and there was no going back.
“Daichi is a terrible cook–“
“Hey!”
“–would you help feed him for tonight?” Koushi patted Daichi’s shoulder harder this time and sighed dramatically. “Sometimes I’m worried he doesn’t get enough nutrients.”
Daichi grunted. “You say it like I’m a stray cat,” he said resentfully, but that had no effect on Koushi. “And besides it’s a bit late to intrude into Tetsurou’s house like that.”
“Isn’t Ukai Family Store just around the corner?” Koushi fluttered his eyelashes and pointed his thumb over his shoulder.
“Don’t put pressure on him,” Daichi whispered rather loudly.
Tetsurou started feeling like a third wheel in the conversation, but it was fairly obvious what Koushi was hinting at. “I don’t mind really, if you don’t mind a little detour to the store.”
Daichi’s mouth opened but before any words came out, he was pushed – or rather, shoved –by Koushi.
“Great! Off you go then! Enjoy your meal.” Koushi waved to the both of them before disappearing around a different corner.
Daichi glanced at Tetsurou and apologized for his friend’s behaviour. Tetsurou laughed it off and the two walked with occasional casual chatter on their way to the store.
At the store they decided to split ways to make the shopping trip more effective. Tetsurou had decided to make prepare a simple soba noodle salad as to not keep Daichi waiting. As he browsed the noodle section, Keishin the store clerk walked up to him and slipped a paper to him before disappearing back to front counter.
Tetsurou unfolded the small piece of paper to unveil a handwritten note that read:
It might be too late to make this tonight but next time, please make shoyu ramen – it’s Daichi’s favourite ;) – Koushi
And at the bottom of the paper read Good luck!
Tetsurou blinked at the note and may have focused a little too long on the winking smiley. He repeated the words “next time” in his head, before folding the paper and tucking it into the pocket of his coat.
Next time, Tetsurou thought as he scanned the shelf of dried noodles. His lips curved at the thought. He started imagining the two of them and Kenma sitting around the kotatsu table that had been untouched in their storage room for years. At the same time, he could hear Koutarou’s voice laughing at him for being such a hopeless romantic.
With the ingredients gathered, and another round of fighting over who pays that quickly ended with Keishin snatching the credit card from Tetsurou.
They returned to casual conversation on their way back to Tetsurou’s place after Daichi stopped pouting over not paying for the bill.
Preparation went relatively smooth with the two working and conversing in the rather small kitchen for two adults – save for the little hiccup with some of the noodles spilling as they were served from the pot to the bowls – but otherwise everything was satisfactory if he could say so.
Tetsurou deposed of the pots and utensils into the sink while Daichi set up behind him. Tetsurou quickly glanced at Daichi in the reflection in the window above the sink before checking the state of his hair (which was still as messy as it was this morning, and all his life really). He noticed Daichi staring at something in the living room.
“Are you and Kenma going on a trip soon?” Daichi asked. He must have noticed the travel bags sitting near the couch in the living room.
For a split second Tetsurou wanted to tell Daichi the whole story, but he muttered “yeah” without looking at Daichi as he wiped his hands on the hand towel.
“Shall we start then?” Daichi rubbed his hands as he seated himself.
Tetsurou was relieved that Daichi didn’t pry further about the trip, but a part of him was eager to talk about it. There was a time and place for everything and having a guest you’re trying to impress was probably not the best setting.
They ate comfortably. Tetsurou even queried and teased Daichi about his supposedly “terrible” cooking skills – which Daichi responded with a blush and stuffing more food into his mouth. After the meal Tetsurou poured them both some wine and they continued to talk until the doorbell rang.
“That should be Kenma,” Tetsurou said and took one last sip of his wine before walking to the door.
After thanking Hitoka’s mother, Tetsurou walked Kenma back to the kitchen, where Daichi had started to put their plates away.
“Daichi!” Kenma perked up when he saw the familiar man in the kitchen. He wasn’t the type of person to jump at someone they like at first sight – like Shouyou – but the enlarged eyes and the upward curves of his lips conveyed the same message.
Daichi started asking Kenma about his day and the two started exchanging stories. Tetsurou took the opportunity to finish tidying the table. By the time he rejoined Daichi and Kenma at the dining table, it seemed that the two of them had forgotten he existed.
“Hey, I heard that you’re going on a little trip, are you excited?” Daichi asked.
Shit. Tetsurou did not prepare for this. He had to do something to distract Daichi from the topic.
Kenma shrugged his shoulders with his eyes downcast. Daichi seemed to be confused at the reaction – and Tetsurou couldn’t blame him for that.
Daichi looked up at Tetsurou, which the latter took as a cue to intervene.
“Kenma, why don’t you go get ready for bed since we have to wake up early tomorrow?”
“Okay...” Kenma slipped off the chair to hug Tetsurou, and waved at Daichi before disappearing down the hallway to the bathroom.
Daichi stood up quietly. “I think it’s time for me to leave so you can rest up before tomorrow.”
Tetsurou nodded and also stood up from the table, ready to walk Daichi out.
Daichi hadn’t moved from his spot and but had his back to Tetsurou. “I’m sorry...it looked like I may have struck a chord.”
Tetsurou couldn’t see Daichi’s face but that voice was laden with guilt. This wasn’t exactly how he had envisioned the evening would end, but it wasn’t Daichi’s fault. “No...it’s my fault for not telling you.”
“Not telling me?” Daichi looked back over his shoulder and blinked at Tetsurou.
Tetsurou inhaled deeply and gulped before he settled in the chair again. “Do you have some spare time?”