Chapter Text
September
A shrill ringing sounded from across the room. Daichi slowly staggered up over to his phone and shut off his alarm. Shaking off his sleep haze, he changed into workout gear, brushed his teeth, and grabbed a banana from the kitchen. With his running shoes on and some pep in his step, he exited the apartment complex and headed for the nearest park for his daily morning jog.
It was a beautiful day, summer soon turning into autumn, and blessedly not too hot at that hour in the morning. Slowing his breathing and his steps, he spent a few minutes with the ducks he saw every morning at the pond.
A mated pair of ducks came over close to him, exploring the grassy areas by his feet. A few others were preening themselves nearby, with a larger group slowly gliding across the calm waters of the pond. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said to them, before heading back to his humble abode. When he got back, there was a person standing outside his door.
It was his landlord.
“Oh hello, Daichi. I’m happy I caught you this morning. You’re going to have a roommate starting today! He is also a young Japanese man doing a study abroad program, and should be here sometime this afternoon. Please let me know if you two need anything.”
“Absolutely. Thank you,” Daichi said politely. After wishing each other a good day, his landlord turned to leave and Daichi stepped into his apartment. He did a quick once-over - it was pretty clean, he cleaned it every week - it should be in a good condition for when his new roommate (a roommate!!) arrived.
In his post-endorphin cloud, he took a shower, wondering what this new roommate would be like. He dressed, had cereal for breakfast, and grabbed some snacks and his backpack to head out to a full day of classes.
Last year, while studying at Tokyo University, Sawamura Daichi had applied to a year-long study abroad program in New York City on a whim - and got it. His parents had been nervous but he assured them that it would be no different from living in Tokyo.
In some ways, he was right - big city, tons of people, good public transportation - but in other ways he felt like a fish out of water. His English was quite good by Japanese standards, but in New York everyone spoke quickly and there were many different intonations and accents to get used to. His vocabulary was rapidly increasing by the day, which was rewarding but also really tiring. He had been in the city for just over a week and hadn’t really made any friends yet. He wasn’t too worried though. It still felt like an adjustment period due to the fast-paced nature of the city and school, and he had his close friends from home that he messaged regularly. His thoughts slipped to his new roommate - he was excited to have someone to be able to speak Japanese with comfortably in the same time zone, and hoped they would get along.
~~~~~~
After his long day of classes, Daichi was more than exhausted - all he wanted to do was drop onto the couch with a movie playing in the background or listen to some oldies. He had always felt a pull towards American oldies music and American entertainment; his love of American movies was how he had developed his competency in a second language.
He noticed the lights on in the apartment and remembered his new roommate must have arrived. He unlocked the door and stepped in.
His roommate was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window. He was tall, dark-haired, and dressed in clothes that looked nicer than anything Daichi had in his own closet. He also had quite the case of bedhead, which was quite the juxtaposition paired with a crisp button-down shirt and snug fitting dark-wash jeans. Did he just wake from a nap? But his clothes looked immaculate? The stranger turned from the sound of the door opening and their eyes met. “Oh… you must be my roommate,” said the newcomer. “Hello.”
Daichi felt his mouth run dry. Not only was his roommate handsome, the fact that he was associating the word “handsome” to his new roommate was both shocking and awkward. Fists clenched at his sides, this tall handsome roommate might’ve been nervous waiting for him. Daichi willed his vocal cords to work properly.
“Hi, my name is Sawamura Daichi. I hope you had a good flight in. The landlord let me know that you were coming this morning. And you are…?”
Something flitted across his roommate’s eyes in a flash so quickly that Daichi must’ve imagined it. “So nice to meet you, Sawamura-san.” He smiled widely. “I’m Tetsurou, please call me Tetsu.” He stepped forward to offer his hand.
Daichi took his hand in a handshake. He smelled a faint whiff of cologne and something indescribable - but even better - underneath it. “Oh, you can call me Daichi. Or just Sawamura. Sawamura-san is how people refer to my dad.”
“Okay. Sa~wa~mu~ra,” Tetsu tested out.
“I hope you’re not too jet lagged.”
As if on cue, Tetsu yawned. The flight had been pretty brutal, but he wanted to stay up a few more hours to try to adjust time zones quicker.
To commemorate his roommate’s arrival, Daichi suggested they order in some famous New York pizza for dinner.
They agreed on some pizza toppings, Daichi pulled his phone out to call the order in, and Tetsu retreated to his room to change into something more comfortable.
~~~~~~
Shutting his bedroom door, Kuroo Tetsouro leaned against the door and let out a huge sigh of relief. He began rummaging through his belongings looking for a simple t-shirt and sweatpants.
He had always wanted to continue his studies, but being a decently popular actor in Japan made it difficult to attend university there. After middle school, he had tutors that worked around his filming schedule, but he missed being around other people his age and learning in a group setting. He was hoping for a fresh start, or to at least be more anonymous in New York than he could realistically be at home.
Originally, he was supposed to be living alone in New York. So when he had heard from his manager that they found him housing in New York with a fellow Japanese boy, he was immediately nervous. He didn’t want his anonymity blown on his very first day in the city, at the place that was supposed to be his home for the next two semesters.
But then his roommate ended up being one Sawamura Daichi. When Kuroo first arrived at the apartment, he browsed the collection of DVDs and CDs on the rack of the common room. He was quite interested to see that his roommate seemed to be very into American entertainment. The only hint of anything Japanese in the apartment was some kitchen spices, cookware, and the volleyball posters in his bedroom. Kuroo had hoped that he might have a roommate who would be discreet, who wouldn’t make a huge fuss about his career and ask a million questions. What he got was better than anything he had ever hoped - it seemed like Sawamura really, truly didn’t recognize him.
He thought back at Sawamura’s smile when they introduced themselves, of his deep brown eyes, of his warm, strong grip when they shook hands, and felt his cheeks warm.
A knock sounded at his door. “Tetsu! Pizza’s on the way. It should be here in about 15 minutes.”
“I’ll be right out!” Kuroo found what he was looking for and started changing.
***
[6:17 PM EDT] Kuroo:
met my roommate
[6:17 PM EDT] Kuroo:
he didn’t recognize me :)
[7:20 PM JST] Kenma:
you must be happy
[6:21 PM EDT] Kuroo:
i am SO RELIEVED
[6:21 PM EDT] Kuroo:
he’s also really cute
[6:22 PM EDT] Kuroo:
not that that means anything
[6:22 PM EDT] Kuroo:
he has a super deep voice and smells good too
[6:22 PM EDT] Kuroo:
not that that matters!!!
[6:23 PM EDT] Kuroo:
but i couldn’t help noticing that the apartment smelled really nice when i arrived
[6:24 PM EDT] Kuroo:
anyway it’s cool to have a guy who speaks Japanese here with me who seems real nice as my roommate
[6:24 PM EDT] Kuroo:
and it’s just really nice he didn’t make a huge deal because he doesn’t know who I am :)
[6:25 PM EDT] Kuroo:
i’m saying weird things. just ignore me.
[6:25 PM EDT] Kuroo:
i’m so tired and jetlagged
[6:27 PM EDT] Kuroo:
kenma?
[7:35 PM JST] Kenma:
hang on, in the middle of a boss fight
[7:55PM JST] Kenma:
i’m happy for you kuro
[7:55 PM JST] Kenma:
keep me posted. good luck in the big city
~~~~~~
Dinner was a delicious affair. There really was nothing quite like authentic New York pizza.
“So I see you’re into volleyball? Did you play in high school?” Tetsu asked between mouthfuls of cheese pizza.
Daichi’s eyes lit up. “Yes! You too? I played as wing spiker but my specialty is in defense.”
Tetsu gave a lopsided smile. “I played back in middle school. I really enjoyed it. I was a middle blocker.”
“I bet you were, with your height. Were you even tall in middle school?” Daichi wondered, pulling some crust off of his slice of pizza to eat first.
“I guess I’ve always been tall for my age. Think there’s anywhere we could play volleyball around here? Might be hard though to get enough people.”
“I haven’t checked, but that would be cool sometime, even if it were just the two of us.”
They fell quiet as they went back to their pizza slices. “Hey, were you also team captain or vice captain of your high school volleyball team?” Tetsu asked after a swig of sparkling water.
Daichi’s eyes grew wide. “I was team captain in my senior year. How did you know?”
Tetsu shrugged. “You give off a captain vibe… you seem very reliable.” He grinned. “This pizza is amazing by the way.”
To that, Daichi laughed. “Isn’t it?? So, what are you coming here to study, Tetsu? How good is your English?”
Tetsu switched to English. “I’m fairly confident, what about you?”
“Ooooooh,” Daichi teased. Switching himself, “I’m okay with English. Probably not as quite as comfortable as you.” Going back to Japanese, “So what are you here to study? I’m studying biology, because I want an eventual career in sports medicine. I’ve been thinking about becoming a physical therapist.” He took another bite of pizza.
“Biology huh? I’ve got a pretty terrible memory so I was never all that good at biology. But like you, I’m here to study science, in particular chemistry. I might also take an engineering class to see if I’d prefer chemical engineering to the straight science.”
From there, the conversation naturally ebbed and flowed. Daichi caught Tetsu up to speed on his coursework, on his daily routines, and they talked about splitting up household chores and buying groceries.
Tetsu started nodding off at the dinner table as they were finishing up. Daichi nudged his shoulder gently. “Hey… I’m happy to clean up. Why don’t you go to bed first?”
Tetsu looked at the clock and groaned. “I had hoped I would be able to stay up a little longer but… that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Sawamura. Good night!” He got up groggily and headed for his bedroom.
Daichi looked after his retreating form. Embarrassingly, he realized that he might have been more deprived of human contact than he had thought. He couldn’t get Tetsu’s smile, his mussed up hair, or the timber of his voice out of his mind. He shook his head and continued cleaning the table.
***
[9:08 PM ESD] Daichi:
Got a new roommate today :)
[10:10 AM JST] Suga:
tell me more
[9:12 PM EDT] Daichi:
He seems really cool.
[9:13 PM EDT] Daichi:
He’s a Japanese exchange student.
[9:13 PM EDT] Daichi:
He used to play volleyball too!
[9:13 PM EDT] Daichi:
He said he was a middle blocker. He’s really tall.
[9:15 PM EDT] Daichi:
He’s also really good looking, he could be a model.
[10:18 AM JST] Suga:
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
[9:20 PM EDT] Daichi:
Stop it Suga.
[10:21 AM JST] Suga:
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
[9:20 PM EDT] Daichi:
No but in all seriousness he seems really nice and down to earth.
[10:22 AM JST] Suga:
i cant pay attention in class bc im so happy for you
[10:23 AM JST] Suga:
i was afraid you’d be lonely there
[10:23 AM JST] Suga:
keep me posted okay? and i wanna see a picture
~~~~~~
The next morning, Daichi awoke before his alarm went off, to what sounded like some voices in the hallway.
He checked the time. His alarm was set to go off in just 15 minutes anyway, so he got dressed into workout clothes and ventured into the kitchen for a banana. He noticed the door to the apartment propped open by Tetsu’s foot. Tetsu was out in the hallway talking in a quiet voice with a man dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks.
Tetsu turned from the noise. “Oh, good morning Sawamura!”
“Good morning Tetsu. You’re up early,” Daichi replied easily, taking a bite of his banana.
Tetsu scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I woke up at 4AM and couldn’t go back to sleep. I’ve been playing games on my phone and reading.” He gestured at Daichi’s clothes. “Are you going to work out now?”
“Yep, I’m going for a run around the park a few blocks over. Wanna come?”
Tetsu looked over at the other man in the hallway who was typing voraciously into his phone, and back at Daichi. “I’ll take you up on that offer tomorrow? Just talking to someone from work from back home. I’ll explain more later.”
“Sure, no worries!” Daichi finished his banana, threw the peel into the compost bin, and pulled his running shoes on.
Exiting the apartment, he said goodbye to Tetsu, nodded at the man in the hallway, and headed off.
~~~~~~
“You told him to call you Tetsu?” Kuroo’s manager asked, somewhat surprised.
“Yeah, don’t screw this up for me dude. He doesn’t know who I am, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Kuroo replied, looking off in the direction Sawamura had gone off in.
“HE DIDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU?” now he was incredulous.
“YES. Is that so hard to believe? Anyway why are you here in person… you know you can call or text me instead of flying across the world. What do you want?”
His manager told Kuroo that the agency who wasn’t very happy that about his decision to come to New York to study rather than continuing to audition for new roles. “If you stop now, the populace is going to forget about you” was the agency’s opinion. Kuroo didn’t think that would be the case, but even if so, he had always wanted to have other options other than acting.
He had hoped that New York would be enough of a popular, busy place (wasn’t it always said that people pass each other on the streets not even really looking at the people they are passing?) that he would have a chance at normalcy and anonymity. By a stroke of luck, his own roommate who was Japanese didn’t recognize him. He thought that was a sign from the ethers that this was a good decision.
His manager didn’t look so sure. “Well… okay, just listen. You know I support you and what you love. They wanted me to come bring you home, but we’ve been in this together from the beginning, right? I’ll head back to Japan and we can keep in contact electronically or by video chat. At the least though, you need to promise me that you’ll make sure your roommate does not post any photos of you on social media. Otherwise, fans will see you in them and they WILL FIND YOU. If you’re not going to tell him, I will.”
Kuroo groaned. Of course he hadn’t thought of that. He promised to talk to Sawamura later that evening.
***
[9:25 AM ESD] Kuroo:
well my manager came to visit today
[9:26 AM EDT] Kuroo:
said i have to ask my roomie not to upload any photos of me on social media
[9:26 AM EDT] Kuroo:
so i guess the gig is up
[9:27 AM EDT] Kuroo:
at least i got one day of anonymity T_T
[10:30 PM JST] Kenma:
it’s probably for the best
[10:30 PM JST] Kenma:
he would’ve found out eventually
[9:31 AM EDT] Kuroo:
i know, it’s just…
[9:32 AM EDT] Kuroo:
never mind
~~~~~~
Daichi came back from studying at the library after class to find his roommate on the couch, nose buried in a book. “Hey, I’m going to make some pasta and meatballs for dinner, does that sound okay?”
Tetsu looked up, surprised. “Of course, do you want any help?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’re still jet lagged.” Daichi dropped his backpack, rolled up his sleeves, and walked over to the kitchen.
He started gathering all of the ingredients for the tomato sauce first. “Ideally we’d want this to cook a little longer than we have, but I’ll just make extra so it’ll taste even better tomorrow or the day after,” he said over the table between the kitchen and living space.
Tetsu ventured over to the edge of the kitchen, watching Daichi as he methodically worked. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the taller boy took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “So, I wanted to ask you something. Sorry if this is weird…”
Daichi looked up from chopping an onion. “What’s up?”
“So… that guy you saw me talking to this morning, I told you he’s from work. Truth is, he’s from the agency I work with back home. This is kind of random, I know, but due to privacy reasons, he just wanted me to ask you to not post any photos of me on social media…” his voice trailed off, and his gaze fell.
“Social media?” Daichi laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I am so useless when it comes to technology. Suga - that’s my best friend - is always making fun of me, calling me a dinosaur. The only reason why I even have a Facebook account is because he created one for me. Speaking of which… I don’t think I remember my password.”
Tetsu's eyes found their way back to Daichi.
“He also created an Instagram account for me because he wanted me to follow him and everyone on our high school volleyball team. I go on there sometimes, usually when they tell me to, but I’ve never posted anything,” Daichi continued. He went back to chopping.
Tetsu started snickering. “No kidding, I… I guess you continue to surprise me, Sa’amura.”
“Agency huh,” Daichi mused. “Yeah I figured, with how you were dressed when I came back to the apartment. I had wondered if you were a model. Your secret is safe with me.” Daichi grinned and reached his fist out.
Tetsu smiled back and bumped Daichi’s fist with his own.
***
[10:15 PM EDT] Daichi:
Sooo, remember how I said my roommate was so handsome he could be a model?
[11:16 AM JST] Suga:
yes
[10:16 PM EDT] Daichi:
Well, he is. A model I mean.
[11:16 AM JST] Suga:
WHAT
[11:17 AM JST] Suga:
(゜Д゜;)
[10:17 PM EDT] Daichi:
He told me today that his agency doesn’t want photos of him uploaded to social media.
[10:18 PM EDT] Daichi:
And before you ask I’m not going to pry into his business… we just met after all.
[11:19 AM JST] Suga:
aww you’re no fun daichi
[11:20 AM JST] Suga:
just get me a picture and ill be satisfied
[11:22 AM JST] Suga:
will you send me a picture if i promise to never send it to anyone else or upload it to social media?
~~~~~~
[10:35 PM EDT] Kuroo:
good news
[10:35 PM EDT] Kuroo:
he thinks i’m a model
[11:37 AM JST] Kenma:
you didn’t correct him
[11:37 AM JST] Kenma:
?
[11:45 AM JST] Kenma:
kuro…
[10:48 PM EDT] Kuroo:
i just wanna keep my anonymity for a little while longer
[10:49 PM EDT] Kuroo:
i will tell him soon
~~~~~~~