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“This isn’t a joke.”
Tsukishima was right. It wasn’t.
“I know someone has them.”
Tsukishima was wrong. No one had them.
“Give me back my glasses.”
Tsukishima found it hard to get a response from the volleyball net.
“Tsukishima, you’re talking to the volleyball net.” Kageyama leered from Tsukishima’s left. Tsukishima whipped his head around to face the noise and glowered. He was barely able to make out a blurry mess of a person. Judging by the height and black hair (or what was assumed to be hair), it was Kageyama.
He could also tell by the shorter object topped with orange next to it.
“Tsukishima, can’t you see without your glasses?” Hinata laughed raucously. “Or are you really that blind?”
Tsukishima narrowed his eyes even more, finding it hard to concentrate with Hinata moving around and the increasingly irritating snickering. Today was not a good day.
“It’s not a big loss; I never really wanted to see atrocities like you two clearly anyways.” Tsukishima rolled his shoulders back, hearing satisfactory cracking noises. “Although Hinata’s barely at eye level to begin with.”
Tsukishima learned a while ago that it didn’t take much to rile either of them up. As per usual, Hinata began yelling and thrashing in a strenuous manner; Kageyama’s face turned sour and began muttering strings of complaints under his breath (at least, Tsukishima assumed that Kageyama was doing such-- he couldn't say for certain without his glasses.)
“Have fun getting back to the house on your own, then, Tsukishima!” Hinata huffed before the odd pair marched out of the gym.
Oh, yeah.
Shit.
At that moment, Karasuno was taking part in a joint training camp with Nekoma in Tokyo. The teams took turns each night cleaning up the gym after practice in order to ease the number of people in the bathing room. Today was no exception.
Tsukishima sighed. It was seven in the evening. In turn, it was very dark. The last of his team just left after cleaning out the gym. Tsukishima pushed up his glasses up only to find that they weren’t there.
Oh, yeah.
Fuck.
Tsukishima took one step. He held his arms out in front of him in hope to compensate for his lack of vision with the sense of feel. He took another.
God, he wished Yamaguchi was here. This time around, Yamaguchi’s parents did not allow him to go to the camp due to slipping grades. It was weird for everyone, not having Tsukishima and Yamaguchi together.
Mechanically, Tsukishima took another step. Fuck you, Yamaguchi.
God, he felt so pathetic. Tsukishima groaned. It wasn’t that his vision was awful; he could see the general shapes of things. It was simply that his vision wasn’t good enough to navigate him out of one building and into another, much less in an unfamiliar city.
He took another step. He felt his hand brush against something. He looked up and squinted.
It didn’t take perfect vision to recognize hideous bed hair.
God fucking dammit.
“Tsukki,” the vowels dragged out and dripped in honey, “what’re you doing?”
Tsukishima could hear that shit-eating grin in his voice. He chose not to respond or move, save for a finger twitching. His hands were still spread out in front of him and his legs remained stiff.
Kuroo moved his face close enough to Tsukishima’s so that he could literally see the smirk on his face.
God, it’s even more irritating than I pictured.
“Tsukki, are you practicing a new form of blocking? It’s not going to help you much if your arms are chest-level.” Tsukishima could feel Kuroo’s heat on his skin. Kuroo’s hair brushed against Tsukisima’s ear. It was still damp from the baths. “Oh, it also might not help much if you can’t see.”
Indignant, Tsukishima scrunched his nose up. “How observant of you, Kuroo.” He put his arms down, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. Of all the people to catch him like this.
Kuroo’s gleeful expression seemed to multiply tenfold. “Tsukki, where are your glasses?”
Tsukishima had run out of insulting replies. “I lost them,” he spat as spitefully as he could.
Kuroo practically purred, circling the taller male. “Oh, how awful!”
Tsukishima felt his temperature rise. He grit his teeth in order to restrain from launching at Kuroo.
Kuroo’s eyes widened with false enlightenment, his hand flying up to his mouth with a flattened palm and extended fingers. “Oh, but how will you ever get back to the house?”
“I don’t--” Tsukishima’s throat burned, “--really know.”
A warm, smoothed hand slid into the crooks of Tsukishima’s calloused fingers. Tsukishima jolted back and looked down, although he already knew what happened. What he didn’t know, though, was why it was happening.
Kuroo gave Tsukishima another sideways glance, again only a few inches away from touching. “Your cheeks are red.”
Fighting the urge to deny it, Tsukishima answered evenly, “You’re holding my hand.”
Kuroo turned away from Tsukishima and snickered, free hand covering his mouth. “Is that what you’re worried about? Tsukki, a blushing, swooning maiden?”
Ironically, Tsukishima felt his cheeks flush. “That’s not what I meant.” He pulled his hand away, but Kuroo nimbly snatched it up again.
“Tsukki, don’t you know? I’m leading you back to the house, that’s all,” Nekoma’s captain mused, watching Tsukishima in an indulgent manner.
Tsukishima cursed his vision inwardly. He was expecting his negativity and loathing over his lost glasses would divert him from a scary, yet simple fact:
Tsukishima was liking Kuroo.
Unfortunately, Kuroo’s hand entwined with his overpowered Tsukishima’s pure irritation. He was liking Kuroo. It’s probably the heat of the moment, he decided, he’s just a weird guy. Tsukishima also decided to ignore the heat steadily rising to his face.
“Tsukki? Are you going to say something?” Kuroo blinked a few times more than Tsukishima deemed necessary.
He turned so that Kuroo couldn’t catch his eyes. “Let’s just go already.”
Everything was dark. He could occasionally see things whenever he was led underneath a street lamp, but otherwise, Tsukishima couldn’t see anything. The streets weren’t constantly illuminated the way the gym was. There wasn’t much in ways of moonlight, either--from what he could tell, the moon was barely a sliver.
“Tsukki, are you completely blind?” Kuroo relished. Tsuki ignored his comment. They kept on walking.
“Hey, but really, how bad is your vision?” Kuroo dropped his gloating tone, taking a more natural, conversational lilt. Tsukishima looked up from the ground to where Kuroo was. When he found that he couldn’t distinguish the black hair from the black night, he settled for looking at their hands.
“Not bad. It’s just dark.” Kuroo’s hand was warm. It was cold outside, but Kuroo was warm.
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
Tsukishima glowered. “Three.”
Kuroo turned to look at him with wide eyes, impressed. “How’d you know?”
“You have an ignorant misunderstanding of vision.”
Kuroo turned forward again, laughing lightly. “Don't be mad at me.”
Tsukishima looked back at their hands. Kuroo was pulling him along. With every step they took, their hands shifted a bit. Kuroo’s grip remained steady.
"Why were you in the gym?” Tsukishima surprised himself by speaking up.
Kuroo was also surprised. Again, he turned his head to examine Tsukishima. He faced forward again. “All the other Karasuno guys were back at the house, save for Kageyama and Hinata. When those two came back and said you were stuck at the gym, I came over to get you.”
“Why?” Tsukishima stared at their hands.
“Couldn’t leave my precious apprentice, could I?” Kuroo smiled playfully, eyes focused on the road ahead of them.
“No, really, why?”
Kuroo clucked his tongue. “Really though, I was worried for you.”
Tsukishima’s gaze flickered up and then back to their hands. “Okay, Kuroo.”
Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Is it that hard to believe that someone worries for you?”
Kuroo let go of his hand. Tsukishima looked up. His hand felt cold.
“Is it?”
Tsukishima looked to the side. Not really, he’d wanted to say, in that way that he usually did. Not really, he’d say, and the conversation would end, having satisfied the asker.
Tsukishima surprised himself again.
“A bit.”
Kuroo was facing him now. Even without his glasses, Tsukishima could tell that something was different. He had an expression that Tsukishima couldn’t place; he hadn’t seen one like it on Kuroo before. Although Tsukishima searched, there were no mischievous half-smirks or teasing, smoldering glances. It was so foreign to him. How could he describe it? Pity? Seriousness?
Concern?
“Why?”
Tsukishima bit back his stutter. “Why, you ask…” He clucked his tongue. “I don’t know.”
Kuroo’s eyes were intense. Tsukishima found he couldn’t look away. “It’s because you think you’re an awful person.”
Tsukishima shrugged.
Kuroo's face twisted, pained. "I knew it."
Seeing that Tsukishima wouldn't respond, Kuroo continued in the softest voice he could muster, "You're a pretty good guy, you know? I don't see why you hate yourself so much."
Tsukishima wanted to be far away from here. "Let's not get sentimental. I'm pretty sure I know myself better than you."
Tsukishima tried to walk past him, but Kuroo grabbed his hand again. Tsukishima stopped. After a pause, Kuroo persisted, "I don't want to get all wishy-washy either, trust me. But you know I'm telling the truth, right?"
Tsukishima shrugged again. "I guess."
Kuroo bit his lip in hesitation before sighing.
Tsukishima felt a slight tug on his hand, then all at once. "Hey--stop pulling--" Kuroo led them to the side of the pavement, the two lined up neatly against the brick fencing of the houses. Kuroo jerked his hand to the side, spinning Tsukishima’s back parallel to the wall. Kuroo straightened his elbow, pinning Tsukishima’s hand against the wall. Kuroo used his free hand to grab Tsukishima by the shoulder and pressed his back against the wall. Slanting his head, Kuroo closed his eyes. Tsukishima kept his eyes open and wide by default. Though impaired, they saw Kuroo closing in and oh my god he’s going to kiss me, oh my god he’s going to do it, he’s going to kiss me.
Kuroo’s lips were thin and soft and really good at kissing. Tsukishima’s lips were chapped and rough but parted slightly because Tsukishima was caught by surprise. First, Kuroo kissed him softly, gently. “Um,” Tsukishima said and suddenly Kuroo was kissing him with more urgency. Tsukishima felt a surplus of blood rush to his brain. Kuroo was sucking at his lower lip and slipping his tongue into his mouth and tracing his hand from his shoulder down his bony side to his hips and hooking his fingers into the elastic band of his volleyball shorts and Tsukishima was hyper-aware; he could feel Kuroo exhaling hot air through his nose; he could feel heat pooling in his face, and in his chest, and around his knees, and between his legs--
Tsukishima turned away, stopping Kuroo short. His cheeks were undeniably red, even without the lamplight. Tsukishima’s chest rose and fell violently, trying to make up the breath he forgot to take earlier.
Kuroo was sudden and unpredictable. Everything that happened that night was sudden and unpredictable. The kiss was sudden and unpredictable. Somehow, though, Tsukishima found himself thinking that maybe this was good; maybe this was okay.
Maybe, just maybe, this was natural.
Kuroo tilted his head, licking his lips quickly. "For a smart guy, you were acting pretty dumb. Sorry, I felt this was the only way you'd understand."
"Understand what?" Tsukishima understood.
Kuroo dropped his hand, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "I like you."
Tsukishima didn't act surprised. "Oh."
"I like you, so don't think that you have no good traits, all right?" Kuroo paused before laughing lightly. "It's a bit insulting that you'd think I'd fall for any piece of trash."
"So you want a special piece of trash."
Kuroo rolled his eyes and jabbed Tsukishima in the side. "I like you because you're a good person, alright? At least try to treat yourself better. And if you try to like yourself, but you can't--" he took his hand once more, gentler this time, "--then I'll just have to do it for you." Kuroo smiled a genuine, comforting smile. Tsukishima, face red, turned to look at him again.
"Okay."
"What?" Kuroo laughed again. "Didn't catch that."
Tsukishima dropped his gaze stubbornly, knitting his brows in furious embarrassment. "I said 'okay.’"
Kuroo took a moment before breaking out into a sly grin. "You like me too, right, Tsukki? You’re not just saying this because I kissed you, right?"
"I do!" Tsukishima yelled. “I mean, I do like you, not just because you kissed me, I mean, your kissing was really nice and cool and stuff and we should do it again, but I really do like you!”
They could hear the streetlamp hum faintly. The air was static. “Tsukki, you are so embarrassing.”
Tsukishima glared at the ground resentfully, face woefully red. “Are you going to kiss me again or not?”
Kuroo grinned.
This time, Tsukishima made sure to do it properly.
Although the house was roughly ten minutes away, the two arrived an hour after they left the gym. Hinata peeked at them from behind Kageyama.
"Tsukishima! You're so late! We were getting worried!"
Tsukishima narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Who's fault is that, shortie?"
Hinata let out a yelp and hid behind Kageyama again; from there he did his best to imitate Tanaka in hopes to intimidate Tsukishima. Tsukishima sighed.
“Tsukki, when you’re done bathing, come to my room, alright?” Tsukishima turned around. Kuroo was back to his easy-going grin, one hand shoved in his pocket and the other one waving. Tsukishima let himself watch Kuroo walk down the hallway for as long as his blurry vision allowed before turning away. Keeping one hand running along the wall for support, he walked in the opposite direction towards Karasuno’s side.
Tsukishima was kept guessing on what Kuroo could want. He was guessing when picked up his towels and his change of clothing. He was guessing when he walked to the baths. He was guessing while he sat in the water until his skin wrinkled.
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t letting his imagination take him to steamy scenarios. Thankful that he was the only one in the bath, Tsukishima let himself imagine him entering Kuroo’s room, Kuroo pushing him against the wall, Kuroo nipping his lip and laving his neck and pawing at the band of his pants--
Tsukishima finished his bath, skin rosey from bathing too long.
Yeah. Bathing too long.
Tsukishima forgot that Kuroo didn’t have his own room. That discredited about half of the things he thought would happen when he next saw Kuroo. He was angry at himself for being disappointed. Regardless, he turned into Nekoma’s sleeping quarters.
It wasn’t much different from Karasuno’s, save for the color of the futons. Tsukishima squinted, trying to identify the people inside. Since he didn’t pay much attention to them in the first place, he didn’t get anywhere.
“Tsukki!” Tsukishima looked up.
“Don’t call me that. What did you want?” He looked at Kuroo nonchalantly. No way he’d let any clue of what happened earlier slip.
Kuroo grinned. “You were fine with it earlier!” Tsukishima’s eyebrow twitched, struggling to hold his facade of vague disinterest. Taking his silence as a cue to continue, Kuroo held up a hand, “Wait here, I have something for you.”
“Wait--” Tsukishima blurted out before he could stop himself.
Kuroo turned to look at him, eyes wide like saucers. “What’s the matter, Tsukki?”
“I,” heat threatened to crawl up to his cheeks, “could we do this somewhere else?”
Kuroo, fully understanding, grinned and said yes, we can do this somewhere else, but first let me get it and then we can leave. Tsukishima nodded in acknowledgement and waited, leaning against the doorframe and trying to ignore the stares and whispers of the Nekoma team. Nonetheless, Kuroo returned quickly with his hands jammed into his jacket pocket. He let his shoulder brush against Tsukishima’s.
“Ready to go?”
Tsukishima shrugged and pushed himself up off the doorframe and back onto two feet, walking away from the room without waiting for Kuroo. He heard his feet pad lazily after him, as expected. When the two were far enough from Nekoma’s sleeping quarters, Tsukishima stopped and faced Kuroo.
The two were in the darkened hallway, illuminated only by the faint glow of Nekoma’s room. Tsukishima’s hair stuck up in sandy tufts, unruly from towelling it haphazardly after his bath. It almost rivalled Kuroo’s.
Tsukishima’s hands reached up to both sides of his face in efforts to push his glasses up. His eyes widened when he remembered that he didn’t have them. Tsukishima dropped his hands quickly. Kuroo laughed. “Cute.”
Tsukishima ignored the last comment. “I have something to say.”
Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Shoot.”
“Don’t make fun of me.” Tsukishima warned, glaring at Kuroo intensely.
“Promise.” Kuroo leaned against the wall.
Gripping the hem of his shirt and looking down deliberately at the tatami mat, Tsukishima took a deep breath. “Earlier, I think I wasn’t given a proper chance to tell you,” Tsukishima’s voice caught in his throat, “that my feelings are real. I mean-- I mean that, I feel that I could have given the wrong impression.” Tsukishima was forced to take another breath. “So, I need to tell you now--” Tsukishima’s hands started to shake in either annoyance or nervousness. He cleared his throat.
“I honestly, I really, no lie, I really like you. And I guess it’s not completely true to say I realized it before today. I think… I only accepted it today. All along, you’ve just been this great guy who’s really talented at volleyball and cares for his teammates and even cares for me and I was so surprised when you even started talking to me, because it was just so sudden, and I really think that…” Tsukishima’s ears turned red as he ran out of fuel. “Um, yeah. And stuff.”
Kuroo, with a faint smile on his lips, opened his mouth but Tsukishima interrupted. He didn’t want to hear what Kuroo had to say in response.
“But yeah, forget what I said, okay? I just wanted to let you know.” He furrowed his brows in concentration, trying to get his facade back to normal. “What was it you wanted to give me?”
Kuroo raised his eyebrows at being cut off, but returned to his signature grin quickly. “Yeah,” he put a hand in his pocket again, leaving it there as it grasped something inside, “hold your hands out.” Tsukishima held his hands out, watching them expectantly.
“Don’t tell me you’re giving me the ring already.” Tsukishima smirked.
Kuroo pressed his lips into a thin line, unamused. “Don’t get cocky, Tsukki. Geez, and you were a blushing mess earli--”
“Okay, okay, shut up already!” Tsukishima recoiled, squeezing his eyes shut as if it could make his memories disappear.
“Oh,” Kuroo stepped back, looking smug, “have I found some sort of leverage?”
“Are you going to give it to me or not?”
Kuroo laughed. “I can’t stop thinking about how cute you are. And now I know just what to say to get you all riled up.” Tsukishima felt a chill rush down his spine. “I can’t wait for practice.”
Tsukishima resisted the urge to kick him in the groin. “I’m leaving if you don’t do what you have to do,” he bit, although it lacked his usual malice.
“Alright, but you have to close your eyes.” Tsukishima closed his eyes. “And don’t open them until I say so.” Tsukishima grunted in affirmation, giving Kuroo the go to place the object in his hand.
“Oh, and don’t get mad at me.”
Wait, don’t get mad at him--?
Tsukishima opened his eyes suddenly. Kuroo, standing on his toes with back hunched for maximum stealth, froze midair, fingertips handling Tsukishima’s black glasses into his expectant palms. Neither of them said anything. Kuroo twisted his lip and shifted his eyes before looking back to Tsukishima.
“I didn’t say ‘open.’”
Tsukishima kicked him in the groin. “Asshole!” He snatched up his glasses, putting them on just in time to see, in twenty-twenty vision, Kuroo sliding to the ground with his hands on his crotch. Tsukishima looked down at him darkly.
Kuroo groaned pathetically. “Tsukki… I just wanted to hold your hand…”
Tsukishima could have blushed or done something saccharine. However, he felt that kicking him again would be more appropriate.
So he did.