Work Text:
It was in the school’s cafeteria where tsukishima found peace and quiet. It was the last day of their first Tokyo summer training camp and he was physically and mentally drained. Even if it can’t be seen from his facial expression, he was grateful the coaches decided to spend only half the day in training and the rest would be for cooling down.
He was almost in a better mood than when they first entered the school gates of Shinzen High. Although he felt his mood slipping towards the negative slope, as the time he was supposed to spend resting in solidarity was rudely interrupted by a group of noisy individuals, who became even noisier when combined.
After they ate barbecue for lunch, the teams were given free time to either catch up on sleep or mingle with everyone. With most of Karasuno’s ability to adapt quickly to their surroundings, it wasn’t a surprise when a huge variety of individuals from different schools decided to crash into their quarters. How they all manage to make friends with almost everyone is incredible, at least within a slightly introverted point of view. The newfound friendships, however, resulted in tsukishima being robbed of his space and privacy as the room became packed full and he was desperate to leave fast.
Skimming the crowd, he quickly noted how Fukurodani’s setter and captain are not present, as well as Nekoma’s captain. With how noisy the room became, it wouldn’t take long before those two came barging in, stringing akaashi-san along no less.
That being said, tsukishima feared that his chance of escaping would narrow down to a complete zero if those three joined the chaotic crowd. He told yamaguchi, who was busy laughing with hinata and a few others from nekoma, that he would be back. He doesn’t feel bad leaving without a reason, yamaguchi would understand anyway.
Heading outside was out of the question, as it was hot and humid and he’d rather not suffer under the sun like an idiot. Walking through the corridors, he did pass by a few rooms with sensible people who can mingle without bursting one’s eardrums; even nekoma’s quarter seemed too quiet, with most of its members in karasuno’s room.
Although some of the rooms are relatively quiet, tsukishima wasn’t exactly rearing to go interact with people he barely knew. So he continued his strides until he reached the school canteen, which was empty. A blessing, really.
Sighing softly, he sat down on one of the empty chairs and proceeded to think. Seeing as he, in his rush to leave the room, forgot his headphones and phone. Which left him no choice but to drown in his thoughts, and sort some of the annoyingly persistent but seemingly important matters that he kept on shoving unto the farthest corner of his mind since that night.
That night when his internal crisis was interrupted by two dudes with hairstyles he couldn’t understand.
Bokuto, no matter how ridiculous his hair was, tsukishima found him and his intentions easy to predict. He was more wary of Akaashi, whose sharp eyes unnerve him sometimes. He can never tell what he was thinking. His presence is a welcomed comfort though, even when he feels as if he was being studied very closely.
However, that does not hold a candle on how he feels every time kuroo looks at him. More than being studied, he feels like he was slowly being unraveled, caressed open like a book, his thoughts and feelings overflowing freely, and at the same time, he feels like shrinking within himself, his chest heavy, heartbeat a little bit faster, and his brain malfunctions for tiny 3-second intervals.
And that was what bothered tsukishima. He has an inkling as to what exactly he was currently experiencing; he’s read about it once or twice, the woman from the telenovela he and his mother watched before exhibited the exact same symptoms. The fact that he was 90% sure of his feelings towards the provocative asshole comprises half of the problem.
Groaning, he surges forward, arms on the tabletop as he holds his head on his palms. The perfect representation of despair.
His mind currently running through every possible scenario, different ways to disregard and forget his feelings, various lines to use for a confession, anxiety over having feelings for a third-year boy from Tokyo. The more tsukishima lets his mind loose the deeper he falls into the rabbit hole of misery.
That’ s so dramatic. It ’ s embarrassing.
His internal suffering was interrupted by familiar voices which he’d rather not face right now because he was currently having a mental breakdown and the newcomers probably include the source of his current predicament.
“Hey hey hey tsukki!”
Added by the ever-present yet gentle reminder,
“not too loud, bokuto-san”
He recognized those voices, he spent most of his time hearing them after all. What made him raise his head, however, was the absence of one specific voice. He saw them approaching, it looked like they just came back from the convenience store, judging by the paper bags held by bokuto. His eyes involuntary swept behind them to see if he could see a certain bedhead, but his vision suddenly dimmed.
Someone was covering his eyes for sure; at least his glasses aren’t being squished to his face. Whoever has the guts to do this stunt, to him of all people, is either stupidly courageous or just plain stupid. Or Kuroo.
Yep. It definitely is kuroo.
Tsukishima might have remembered the scent of his clothes from all those times they were stuck near each other, whether in blocking practice, kuroo arranging his arms to teach him better stance, or simply kuroo placing his arm around tsukishima’s shoulders and lean on him.
What am I? a freakin’ pole? Tsukishima internally musses.
But.. those hard muscles that are hidden within smooth looking tan skin though-
Tsukishima’s trip down memory lane was ruined when he felt the owner of the hands currently stuck to his face press closer. Now with warm hands on his face and a definitely toned torso pressed to his back, tsukishima sat still as if he couldn’t think of any useful thing to do with the lack of oxygen in his brain. He might be internally panicking, his whole being felt like it was close to overheating.
The person I may or may not have feelings for is draped over me, by now it feels more like a hug goddamnit, how does anyone react in this kind of situation?!
In the span of time he spent panicking, he heard the nearby chairs scrape the floor, reminding him of the fact that this scene is real and is currently happening and that he hasn’t reacted since kuroo fucking tetsuro decided to kill him today with how hard and warm his body is- and he fucking smells good too how-
He felt the hands on his face go slack before it completely went down, he had to blink a few times to readjust his vision and quickly get used to the afternoon glow. Just when he thought he could breathe again, he felt kuroo slump closer, placing both palms on the table in front of him.
Tsukishima inhaled sharply, having your crush literally falling over you is a concept he couldn’t understand at the moment. Turns out, inhaling was the best mistake he has ever made. Having his face near kuroo guaranteed a sure whiff of his cologne; tsukishima refrained from curling his toes because that’s just too much.
Of course, being this close also meant he could hear kuroo loud and clear even if he whispers. And that’s exactly what he did.
“tsukki.. You’re supposed to guess” kuroo whispered softly, albeit involuntarily making his voice deeper and huskier.
It fueled tsukishima’s inner fantasies he never knew until today. He straightens his back. When did he lean towards the other boy? He clears his throat, having enough brainpower to actually respond this time. He just hopes his voice doesn’t sound meek and soft.
“t-that’s lame”. Fuck. He stuttered, fuck. He sensed, or more like knew, that kuroo wouldn’t waste the opportunity to tease him for that slip-up, no matter how small it was. He carefully and ever so slowly turned his head towards the voice, and surely enough, tsukishima could see that slight tilt of his lips and the mischievous look in his eyes. He already knew kuroo would be close, but seeing his face mere inches away is making him lightheaded. Kuroo, however, seemed unaffected by the minuscule space between them, going as far as leaning more to close the distance.
Tsukishima couldn’t thank the heavens enough that he did not close his eyes for kuroo merely smirked and walked back, leaving a dumbfounded blonde sitting still with flushed cheeks. But not for long though, as kuroo went to sit across from him.
Tsukishima glared at kuroo the whole time he walked his way leisurely towards the chair on the opposite side of the table. He can see bokuto and akaashi watching them from the neighboring table, with bokuto failing to muffle his laughter and akaashi staring intently he would have felt self-conscious if not for the presence in front of him, who soaks up all his focus like a sponge.
Kuroo doesn’t break eye contact with him even after sitting down, now with both of them face to face and with the same eye level, staring each other down was an easy feat, after all, they have been doing that every time they were positioned on the opposite sides of the net.
Staring at kuroo was the same always, tsukishima thinks. Always the same mild-tension, the background noise gets muffled, the surroundings blurring, and his heartbeat thumping erratically. It’s not even those creepy non-blinking type of staring, tsukishima blinks to prove the point. And kuroo does too, except he does it just a tad bit slow, making his eyes appear so innocent and fond. A very contrasting feature since those eyes are much more dangerous as it is alluring.
A particularly loud snort from bokuto bursts their bubble, the two of them glancing towards the sudden sound. Tsukishima found two pairs of eyes looking back at him, and then at kuroo, who was staring at him again. He can feel it.
Movement caught his eyes and he glanced back towards kuroo, only to find himself staring at his outstretched hand. Kuroo looks so good like this but it’s bad for tsukishima’s heart. Tsukishima gave him an unamused look. Kuroo’s arm was outstretched towards tsukishima, his elbow on the table as he wiggles his fingers as if to entice the blonde. Without knowing what kuroo wants him to do, tsukishima merely raises an eyebrow.
“what?” He’s glad that this time, his voice doesn’t crack. He just hoped his face isn’t as flushed as he thinks.
“c’mon tsukki.. Indulge me a lil’ bit” kuroo all but purrs.
“what exactly do you want me to do, kuroo-san?”
“arm-wrestle with me.” Tsukishima sees the way kuroo’s smile turn a bit more sly after he issued the challenge. He really shouldn’t play along with this, especially knowing his own competitive nature, he doubts kuroo wouldn’t take advantage of. But the urge to prove something gnaws his rationale. He knows kuroo would probably overpower him, he is, after all, older and his arms are probably as strong as they look, but the feeling of backing out on things kuroo proposes leave a bitter taste in his mouth.
He wouldn’t just agree though. “And why would I do that? Are you bored that much?”
Kuroo just grins wider, and it gave tsukishima a sense of dread.
“ehh.. you’re not scared, are you? Chickenshima-kun”
Tsukishima sends him a glare, dark enough to make hinata sweat. “never call me that again.”
“chickenshima-kun.”
One could say that kuroo has no sense of self-preservation. That, or he’s just that much of a death-seeker. The answering snicker to tsukishima’s glare was proof enough, his hand still between their faces.
“I’m. not. A chicken. Stop it.” Tsukishima all but mutters, his patience running out as seen on how he emphasized every word. Kuroo may be an attractive man in tsukishima’s eyes, but that does not eradicate the fact that he’s a provocative asshole. It’s a huge disadvantage for tsukishima, since he realized he was attracted to kuroo because he is an attractive asshole, which he came to like for his hidden sincerity and thoughtfulness. Plus he’s intelligent to a fault, and that’s hot. He just hopes kuroo is dense enough not to realize that himself, since tsukishima doesn’t trust himself around the man, he’d probably reveal his feelings accidentally.
“besides,” he quips, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, “I don’t see myself gaining anything useful from this. This might be one of your dumb pranks again and I won’t fall for it.”
Instead of being put down by the rejection, kuroo seemed to grow more confident. “oho ho, a bet then, something you can’t refuse. Unless of course, if you really are worth the title chickenshima, right? Let’s see.”
Tsukishima hadn’t had the time to interrupt and say hell no, as kuroo already began explaining the negotiations.
“Since you’d prove yourself strong enough not to need me advising you to eat more-“
“More like pestering and forcing me to eat until I throw up.” Tsukishima adds, disregarding kuroo’s over the top pouting.
“as I was saying, if you win then-“
“when I win, kuroo-san.”
“tsukki!” kuroo reprimanded, exaggerating his pouting and displeased facial expression, but with his eyes looking so happy and lips struggling not to curl upwards, it’s clear to see that he’s more than happy bantering with the blonde. Of course, the feeling is quite mutual, with tsukishima letting out a soft snicker and his eyes crinkling at the corners, the expression nearly gave kuroo a heart attack.
Kuroo straightens in his seat, his hand persistently on the table, palm patiently waiting. “okay sure, when you win, I will stop pestering you with food for the rest of the summer training camp. And when I win, you and I are going outside tonight for dinner, as a temporary farewell for my kohai who secretly admires me, my awesome skills and my charming personality. Deal?”
“but-“
“yes, chickenshima-kun?” by that, tsukishima’s pride snapped,
“tch. Fine, you better stop bothering me after this.”
Despite tsukishima’s pissy attitude and furrowed eyebrows, kuroo looked like a kid given free reigns in a candy shop.
“rules?” tsukishima asks as he readjusts his sitting position, placing his right hand opposite of kuroo’s, palm hovering a few inches from the other. Without preamble, kuroo slides his palm unto tsukishimas, gripping the other’s hand tightly.
Warm. Kuroo’s hand is so warm.
It’s embarrassing, really, how tsukishima internally panicked and melted at the same time. The sensation of kuroos’ hand gripping his own was causing his heart rate to speed up, his occupied hand tingles, and his mouth dry. Tsukishima swallowed, hoping to force the imaginary pesky butterflies down. He couldn’t let go of his defenses now, emotionally and physically. He can feel his limbs weakening, his fluttering stomach and erratic heartbeat are the ones to blame. He took a second to be thankful that he is at least seated, since he doubts his knees are stable enough to hold his stand. He just hopes he has enough arm strength to hold out for a few moments and not pathetically loose within the first two seconds.
“Basically, once the back of your hand touches the table and stays there for five seconds, I win. Or vice versa.” Kuroo grins, and it looks more like giddiness rather than provocation. “in the count of three then, tsukki. Ready?”
Tsukishima nods, signaling kuroo to start the count down. By The drop of one, tsukishima actually used a lot of effort into exerting his strength. And although he didn’t really expect that he could overpower kuroo in terms of arm strength, he was surprised that kuroo didn’t push his hand back immediately. It didn’t look effortless for kuroo, but he doesn’t look like he’s struggling either. And while tsukishimas’ push remained still, so was kuroos’.
His confusion must’ve been evident on his face as kuroo simply offered his crooked smile. With that, their staring match resumed, along with their clenched hands stuck in the between them. Neither hands dipping sideward, a pair of clasped hands strained and straight up.
An inconspicuous click broke off their stare as they faced the sudden sound, only to hear it once more when akaashi snapped another photo. “It’s not every day that kuroo-san finds someone who can hold him off this long.” The way akaashi explained his reasoning was reasonable, but the glint in his eyes express much more than his tone. Akaashi gave kuroo a long knowing stare, which was not new since he likes to torture kuroo the most, so tsukishima ignored any possible theory behind their silent and seemingly telepathic interaction.
Except that he couldn’t, because he overthinks and over analyses things a lot. His inner mussing was interrupted by a loud voice, startling kuroo, akaashi and himself.
“HOW?!”
Tsukishima was wondering when will bokuto join the conversation. Turns out, he was just having a hard time processing what he is currently witnessing to form any solid thought.
Tsukishima watched as bokuto slammed both his hands on the tabletop, then directing his wide bewildered eyes towards him and kuroo.
“kuroo! We’ve played this a lot of times and we are basically tied in terms of score, but this is the longest time you’ve been held out dude, tsukki are you really that strong?! Can we play next?!!”
“bokuto-san has a point, I’ve witnessed you defeat most of your own teammates in this game quicker than this. Although it is entirely possible that tsukishima is just that strong.”
“but akaashi! Tsukki’s arms look so thin! I was worried I’d break’em the first time we practiced.”
With that statement, tsukishima let out an annoyed huff, muttering an incredulous “excuse me?”.
He heard kuroo snort, eyes focused on his face. Tsukishima gives him a deadpanned stare, which makes kuroo laugh. Their grips, however, didn’t waver. Their hands sway a bit from side to side, tsukishima can feel his arm feeling the strain of having to exert and hold his strength for so long, and he can see kuroo’s arm muscles straining his shirt sleeve, which is the wrong thing to focus on because goddamn.
He couldn’t say how much time their hands struggled to push one another specifically, but he is quite sure it has been more than a few minutes, close to the ten-minute mark probably.
“damn tsukki, didn’t know you had it in you.” Kuroo teases.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but you’re quite weak, kuroo-san. It’s been what, ten minutes?-“
“twelve and counting, actually.” Akaashi interrupts, leveling them with another stare after glancing at the clock by the wall.
Ignoring bokuto’s indignant “what?!”, tsukishima continued to goad.
“I never thought a mere first year like me could take you on, third-year powerhouse captain kuroo-san.” Now tsukishima just wants kuroo to finish the game. No matter how pleasing it is to have kuroo’s hand with his, his arm is starting to cramp and his palms are starting to sweat, so he finds a way to end the game without embarrassing himself.
“you haven’t really pushed me down though, tsukki.”
Tsukishima is astonished with himself on how quick his mind twisted kuroo’s words into something risky. Push him down?! I’d rather him push m-no. not now goddamn.
No matter how his pride screams at him not to give in, his arm really started to hurt, so he just let it all go.
When tsukihsima’s arm started to lax, he expected kuroo to take advantage and smack it right away. Kuroo, however, seemed to relax his hold as well. Their hands waver in between, alternating how they lessen their strength until they are merely gripping each other’s hand without pushing.
Kuroo was staring at him as he stared at their hands. His half mushed brain struggling to process what this means. Without solving anything, he stared at kuroo hoping to see answers in those dark mesmerizing eyes. expression was the same, except for the slight reddening of his cheeks. Which explains a whole lot and yet made everything more confusing.
It took two minutes of plain hand-holding for tsukishima to address his confusion, since kuroo doesn’t seem to be in the mood for explaining what the hell is going on, and he is sure that the more this continues, the redder his face would become.
“kuroo-san.”
“tsukki.”
“what.”
“what what?”
“you know what.”
“noooo?
“kuroo-san…”
In the end, tsukishima couldn’t ask his questions outright. It was embarrassing and it is difficult to word it properly. By this point, he’s sure kuroo understood what he wants to say, he’s just being an absolute shit about it.
Although tsukishima may not know exactly what’s going on, he isn’t naïve. He has a few theories born the moment kuroo’s hand remained stationary in the middle. But those theories were unreliable, seeing as tsukishima’s own feelings might’ve affected his perception of the whole thing.
His suspicions, however, were proven true as kuroo leaned forward without breaking eye contact with him.
Tsukishima stared as kuroo slowly and gently placed a kiss on his hand, and stayed there for a few more seconds, lips pressed on his knuckles.
No words were exchanged yet tsukishima understood.
By now, the butterflies are bursting inside his body, sending multiple sparks everywhere, he feels warm. More than warm, actually.
Burning. He is absolutely sure his face is an embarrassingly dark shade of red.
He couldn’t hold it in any longer, with his unoccupied hand, tsukishima covers half of his face and leaned down to hide his flushed face and ecstatic smile. And by the look of adoration on kuroo’s face, tsukishima new kuroo understood him as well.
They’d definitely talk about this properly soon, but for now, they are basking in the warm feeling of expressing their emotions in small actions.
A few minutes of prolonged hand-holding, expressions of pure happiness and adoration were exchanged, and tiny shy smiles straining not to spread into wide and broad cheek-hurting grins passed, before the moment was interrupted by yet another sound of a photograph being taken.
“Congratulations. Documentation to remind us how cunning kuroo is and how tsukishima is a secret sap.” Akaashi explains with a wide grin of his own, obviously happy for his two friends.
Tsukishima splutters a weak “am not”, realigning his glasses in jerky movements using his left hand, seeing as his dominant hand is still being held captive by kuroo.
“so.. WHO WON??” three pairs of eyes stares at bokuto, then shifting all the attention towards the now dropped set of hands placed on the tabletop. Kuroo holding tsukishima’s hand with both of his.
“well, since nobody managed to win, although I can definitely say that I won because I finally got to express my feelings for tsukki-“
“by tricking him into holding your hand through a game of arm wrestling, kuroo-san?” akaashi interrupts kuroo, teasing him with his tone laced with thinly veiled amusement.
“Excuse you? My plan was 100% foolproof.” Kuroo defended. “Bo!”
“Dude! It was brilliant! I bet tsukki was internally swooning bro!” Bokuto enthusiastically cheered, giving kuroo a double thumbs up.
Tsukishima blanches after hearing bokuto, fearing that his feelings were that transparent after all. How did he- he couldn’t have..
While kuroo and bokuto were busy with their usual exchange of “bro that was an incredible idea!” And “Bro I know! You have’ta try it sometime!”, Tsukishima shifted his gaze towards Akaashi, only to be met with his teasing expression. Slightly embarrassed, tsukishima just shrugged, looking away with a tiny smile as he was too happy to try and keep his facial expression stoic.
“As I was saying!” Kuroo quips, “because technically nobody won, we’ll have to do both of the bets since canceling both would be boring. So tsukki, I promise not to pester you on eating during our summer training camp. Although said summer training camp ends today, so I guess that’s moot.” By the end of kuroos explanation, tsukishima glares as he belatedly realized that he was one-upped without his knowledge. His mind worked overtime to find loopholes in kuroos own proposal.
Smirking, tsukishima gathered his bearings, and with confidence, he doesn’t know he had- in terms of conveying emotions at least- he leveled kuroo with a serious look.
“I get to choose where we’ll spend the night then?” Ah, I should’ve phrased that better...well seeing kuroo-san’s flustered face is worth it, I guess.
“Geh! Tsukki! Are you implying something?! Though I’m not going to decline-“
“Eating kuroo-san, we’re going out to eat as per bet negotiations..” tsukishima interrupts, he doesn’t think he can handle what else kuroo planned to say, his mind already supplying him images and oh my god don’t think about that holy-shit.
“Since you didn’t specify, I’ll choose where we’ll go.”
“Fair enough tsukki~”
.
.
.
“I wanna eat some strawberry cake.”
“Anything for you moonshine~”
.
.
.
Kuroo’s POV
Ah he’s so red, his expressions are killing me.
“stop being so cute tsukki I’ll kiss you.”
“...you can. I- I mean, well..”
.
.
Ah, my adorable firefly.