Work Text:
Of all PEs na pwedeng mapunta sakin, itong folkdance pa talaga.
Tsukishima Kei, a 2nd year Biology major at UST, adjusts the collar of his stiff, itchy Barong Tagalog in front of the comfort room mirror for the nth time that day. “Bwiset. Bakit ba ang kati-kati nito?”
He hears his groupmate and friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi, snicker beside him. He was also fixing his Barong, albeit less aggressively that what Tsukishima’s currently doing. “Kasi naman, Tsukki. Kung nilabhan mo yan kagabi, di ka sana namomroblema.”
Tsukishima curses under his breath as he pulls on the collar harder. “Pakshet naman kasi ni Shouyou.” Pull. “Wag sana syang tumangkad habambuhay—” Another pull. “Wag sana s’yang replyan ni Kenma—” Yamaguchi’s laughing now. “Sana matamaan sya sa mukha ng spike ni Ushiwaka—” Tsukishima gives one last pull to adjust his too-tight of a collar and Yamaguchi only laughs harder at his expense.
((Somewhere in the building, a very creeped out Hinata Shouyou suddenly feels his whole body shiver, like some mambabarang is trying to cast a spell on him. He’s almost not wrong, though.))
“Sorry na, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi says in between hiccups, “Ikaw lang kasi yung inis na inis saming lahat eh.”
Eh kasi naman. If it weren’t for that little orange shrimp of a groupmate (and, ugh—Tsukishima dare says—a friend) ordering the wrong size and replacing his Barong with the right one only yesterday, Tsukishima would have had time to get this costume laundered.
Tsukishima just rolls his eyes at this and makes a move to go out of the comfort room. “Tawa tawa ka pa dyan. Tara na nga.” Yamaguchi follows him closely, still snickering.
They head to one of the PE classrooms in the Quadricentennial Pavilion where they’ll be presenting their mid-semestral project. Tsukishima’s group will be dancing to Cariñosa, a type of romantic Philippine folk dance between soon-to-be lovers.
As Tsukishima opens the door to their classroom, he makes his most dangerous-looking face as he prepares to berate Hinata for making his life a living hell.
He did not expect, however, for his sour mood to be broken by what was— or who was— standing on the other side of the door.
Tetsurou Kuroo, a 3rd year in his class who delayed taking PE because of a previous shoulder injury, and whom Tsukishima maybe, just maybe, has the tiniestlittlebitofcrushon , was wearing what looks like a botched and almost bastardized version of a Katipunero costume.
Instead of the usual long-sleeve kamisa chino shirt paired with loose red pants, the sleeves of his shirt were ripped away to the level of his shoulders, turning his supposedly decent costume into a scandalous muscle tee (scandalous to Tsikishima anyway).
His muscular arms, bared for everyone’s eyes to feast on, is such a wonderful, wonderful sight that it made Tsukishima’s eyes almost bulge out of their sockets. Almost.
The red shorts, though still at a length which will allow him to go through the school gates without being shouted at by the guards for indecent clothing, is so painfully fitted at the thighs that Tsukshima’s brain just basically fries on the spot..
The first thing that registers into Tsukishima’s mind is how much Kuroo looks like a very toned, very athletic, very male human being.
Tsukishima feels his mouth go dry. If it weren’t for his Barong covering most of his now reddening neck, the world would have already known about his well-kept secret.
Fuck. Putashet. Gago, Tsukishima thinks to himself as the cogs on his brain malfunctions until his mind only consists of nothing but Kuroo’s biceps; their Cariñosa steps be damned.
A waving hand— Kuroo’s veiny hand— tries to rouse him from his thoughts. “Hello, okay ka lang?”
Instead of getting his shit together though, Tsukishima's brain only short-circuits further, because rold jeezus — just when he thought things couldn’t get any better, it occurs to him that Kuroo’s arms are flexed reeeeally nicely, the outlines of his fucking batak na biceps getting more defined with every movement.
Pwede na ‘kong humimlay. ..
Kuroo brings his hands together to clap softly, trying to get his attention once more.
At this, Tsukishima finally snaps from his reverie, suddenly realizing that he’s been shamelessly looking at Kuroo’s arms for a good minute now.
Having been caught red handed, his defense mechanisms start springing into action.
Uh, oh. Tsundere Tsukishima is starting to take over. “Tangina naman!!”
He must have said that really harshly, because now Kuroo’s used-to-be confused face is displaying signs of shock.
“Ahm…” Kuroo half-stutters, probably wondering what the hell he did to be on the receiving end of Tsukishima’s curses at seven-ish in the morning.
Sensing Kuroo’s distress, Tsukishima tries to do some damage control. After all, he may be an ass to other people (read: Hinata), but not to Tetsurou Kuroo, no.
“Ah, shet, di para sa’yo yon. Oks lang ako. Makati lang kasi.”
“Yung alin?”
Ako. “YUNG BARONG! Yung barong.”
“...ooookay?”
Tsukishima doesn’t reply. Well, more like he doesn’t know what to reply, so he just shuts his mouth before he embarrasses himself further.
Where the hell was Yamaguchi when he needed him most?
It feels like a decade of silence has passed before Kuroo starts talking again. “ahm,” Kuroo begins, “kung oks lang, pwede ka bang gumalaw?”
...Ha?
“ Sorry pakiulit?”
“Di kasi ako makakadaan kung nandyan ka, kanina pa ko na-c-CR eh malapit nang mag-bell.”
Embarrassed (again) at his stupidity, Tsukishima immediately moves himself out of the way and lets Kuroo through.
Before Kuroo disappears from his line of sight though, he hears Kuroo call his name.
“Tsukki?”
This time, Tsukishima’s more prepared, mumbling out a casual ‘hmm?’ instead of malfunctioning like he did minutes prior.
Kuroo gives him a soft smile. “Goodluck sa perf.”
At this, Tsukishima feels the corners of his mouth lift slightly. “Thanks, ikaw rin.”
He refuses to accept that that interaction just made him smile.
A while later, Tsukishima sits on the floor of the classroom with the rest of the class while waiting for Tobio Kageyama, their group leader and ka-barkada , to transfer their music into their professor’s laptop.
“Oi, Yams,” Tsukki calls out to the dark-haired boy who just arrived, “Asan ka galing, ba't bigla ka nalang nawala?”
Yamaguchi replies, confused. “Ha? Eh ako nga yung nauna sa’yo dito. Nakikipag-usap lang ako kay Lev sa may likod.”
“...ah.”
“Yan kasi, masyadong busy makipag-titigan kay ano , nawala na sa sarili.”
“Ohhh what’s the tea?” Shouyou Hinata suddenly appears from nowhere, as if any word of chismis just summons him the same way the Genie would appear whenever Aladdin rubs his lamp. “Sino nanamang kawawang tinitigan nang masama ni Tsukki?”
Yamaguchi corrects him. “More like tinitigan ng parang strawberry frappe. Kulang nalang higupin nang buhay eh.”
At this revelation, Hinata exclaims, eyes wide. “Hala may crush si Tsukki?!”
He immediately looks around him, probably itching to spread the word to the next friend available. Said available friend was Hitoka Yachi, who was seated against the wall beside them, dozing off despite the chaos around her.
Hinata shakes her not-so-gently. “Yachi gising!!”
Yachi refuses to budge. “‘Maya na, puyat ako…”
Hinata tries to wake her up again, this time poking her cheeks. “Dali na kasiiii! Importante to!!”
“Ano ba kasi yan…”
“MAY CRUSH DAW SI TSUKKI!”
At this, Yachi immediately rouses and moves in front of Tsukishima, shaking his shoulders rather violently. “HA? MAY CRUSH KA TSUKKI? Homaygoodness, homaygad, Sino, SINO? Sabihin mo na now na!”
“Ano ba, Yach, bitiwan mo ko!”
Yachi doesn’t listen. Hinata eggs her on. “Not until you tell me!”
“Wala! Ano ba yan! Pag di ka tumigil tatapakan ko yang palda mo mamaya!”
Yachi only shakes him harder. “Empty threats don’t work on me anymore, Tsukishima Kei! Di na ko yung dating Yachi who’s perpetually scared of your six-foot ass! I’m a changed person!”
“Oh talaga? Eh ba’t yung height mo di pa rin nagbabago?”
“TSUKISHIMAAAAAA!”
“Yamaguchi!”
“Ayaw. Deserve mo yan, Tsukki.”
“INAMO.”
“Tsukki dali na! Sabihin mo na kasi—”
“Guys! Ang gulo!” A deep, loud voice from behind startles them. Oh no. Kageyama just returned and he’s pissed. “‘Maya nyo na kulitin yan si Tsukishima. Ready na yung music. Tayo na next.”
At this, everybody stands up, walking towards the side of the makeshift stage. There are 8 of them in the group, and Tsukishima pairs with Yachi while Kageyama, Yamaguchi, and Hinata pair with 3 other girls from their class.
((Kageyama, knowing that Yamaguchi has a crush on Yachi, wanted to pair them together because he’s secretly a sucker for the friends-to-lovers kind of romances. But because he worries that Tsukishima might make their other groupmates cry with his salty attitude, he decides to pair Yachi to Tsukishima instead. He convinces himself that he made the right decision even as Yachi continues to pester Tsukishima and Tsukishima tries to pretend she doesn't exist.))
As the group waits for their professor to play the music, Tsukishima hears Kageyama whisper darkly behind him. “You better prepare yourself, Tsukishima. Di matatapos ang araw na ‘to hangga’t di ka nagsasabi.”
Tsukishima pretends to not hear him.
The music starts and the girls enter the stage first, playing the role of beautiful Maria Clara’s talking to each other demurely behind their fans, their other hand being used to gracefully flutter their long saya’s across the floor, perfectly in sync with the Rondella playing in the background.
Their other groupmates certainly are doing a good job at portraying a Dalagang Pilipina .
Yachi, on the other hand...
"Tangina nito ni Yach," Hinata snickers, “Di ko alam kung si Maria Clara ba ang ginagaya ni Yachi o si Mimiyuuuh!”
Kageyama only glowers at Yachi. “Di ako natutuwa.” He mouths an 'umayos ka!' to Yachi and she almost faints on the spot.
Yamaguchi looks like he’s on the verge of laughing as well, but he still tries to defend her. “I think she looks cute! Modern times naman na tayo, guys.”
“Pero hindi naman yata tamang magmukha s’yang sumasayaw ng ‘it really hurts’ ano?” Tsukishima pipes in.
Hinata only laughs harder at this, and Kageyama almost does, but he shakes it off. “Teka, malapit na yung cue, focus na guys.”
A few seconds later, the boys make their entrance and waltz into the stage, settling into a semi-circle behind their partners, who start swaying to the music as well. A few waltzes later, the group disperses across the stage with their partners and they start the dance proper.
The song has barely started, but Kageyama already looks like he's so done with his life, and Hinata looks like he’s about to shit his pants on the spot. Yamaguchi’s staring at Tsukishima in lighthearted jealousy for being Yachi’s partner, and Tsukishima…
Cool-headed Tsukishima Kei is finding it hard to focus on their dance routine, as he feels Kuroo’s eyes intensely staring at him from the audience.
Keep it cool, Kei. 20% to ng grade mo kaya umayos ka, he scolds himself.
Kuroo, meanwhile, just continues his staring, unaware of the turmoil that he created inside Tsukishima’s body.
Tsukishima manages to keep calm by averting his eyes from the right side of the audience where Kuroo was seated.
Halfway through the song though, he gets lost into the routine that he forgets he actually has someone to avoid, so he accidentally looks to the general direction of Kuroo.
What the hell is he staring at him for? It’s not like Tsukishima’s little crush on him is that obvious… is it?
Suddenly, Tsukishima remembers how Kuroo used to tutor him Inorganic Chemistry last semester. Kuroo was a Chemistry major—an excellent chemistry major—so it’s only natural that when the Chemistry society opened up a tutoring program for students in need, Kuroo was included in the roster of student tutors.
And when Tsukishima signed up for the program—it actually got people whispering because, Tsukishima? Yung top student sa Bio? Hirap sa Chem?— Kuroo just so happened to be the person assigned to him.
Tsukishima hated his guts at first, because, a) who the hell wears their hair like that in school, and, because, b) Kuroo Tetsurou looked like some arrogant prick who’ll surely find every opportunity to rub all his glory and excellency in Tsukishima’s face.
He’s just so sure of it, because when they’ve been first introduced, the first thing Kuroo says is a teasing “oooh?” as his ego seems to shoot to the sky at the thought of tutoring one of the brilliant minds in his college.
He’d also seen him before in the hallways of the Main Building, perpetually wearing that goddamned smirk of his as he approaches his classmate Bokuto Koutarou, just to brag how he got perfect scores in the last quiz again. And as if bragging about it isn’t enough, he would take out his Scantrons and shove them to the latter’s face just to prove a point.
So Tsukishima finds himself surprised when he sees none of that arrogance during their meetings.
Kuroo Tetsurou has just enough air of confidence in him to make people respect him for his abilities, but he never let it get to his head. He’s so self-aware towards both his capabilities and shortcomings that Tsukishima found himself wonderstruck only thirty minutes into their first tutoring session.
He discovers that it’s actually only towards Bokuto that he’s so smug towards, because that’s just how their friendship works.Outside of Kuroo’s friendship with Bokuto, though, all of that smugness dissipates like it never even existed in the first place.
On top of that, he’s such a patient teacher too. Tsukishima remembers having such a hard time balancing chemical equations that even he himself thinks he’s starting to be a pain in the ass, but Kuroo looked like he didn’t mind at all. Whenever Tsukishima makes a confused face, he would patiently dumb down his words to a level wherein Tsukishima would understand. And he would do this without a single ounce of arrogance.
Who wouldn’t fall for that?
See, Tsukishima doesn’t appreciate being proved wrong. His pride would never allow it. But Kuroo proving all his assumptions null had him sighing in relief for some unknown reason.
((The reason being that he actually does find Kuroo’s messy bedhead attractive and his boisterous personality endearing, but he would rather cross the Arch of the Centuries first before admitting it.))
He couldn’t recall the number of times he’s been caught staring at Kuroo’s face during their tutoring sessions. Kuroo would snap his fingers at Tsukishima’s face to bring him back into focus, and Tsukishima would always feign indifference despite being caught red-handed.
“May something kasi sa pisngi mo.”
“Bakit ganyan ka mag-ayos ng buhok?.”
“May ipis kasi sa pader.”
“Naka-contacts ka ba?”
And every time he does it, Kuroo’s ears would redden out of embarrassment, but he would always answer Tsukishima’s questions or observations earnestly.
“Oh? Pwede pakitanggal? Thanks.”
“Ah, ito? Ganyan lang talaga sya kahit iligo ko. Wala na kong magawa kaya hinayaan ko nalang.”
“Hala ASAN? Tsukki patayin mo!”
“Nope. Ganito talaga mata ko. How about yours?”
After all those little interactions, Tsukishima honestly expected that something would happen at the end of their tutoring agreement, but they only part uneventfully like any other tutor-tutee. He didn’t know why he expected Kuroo to ask him out when he’s the one displaying obvious signs of attraction.
Way to go, Kei.
But that’s beside the point right now. The point is Tsukishima’s been so painfully obvious with his staring that even someone as dense as, say, Haiba Lev, would immediately know what’s going on. Much more Kuroo.
Shit . He’s in deep shit.
Suddenly remembering that his little secret is in fact, not-so-secret anymore, Tsukishima cool-headed-to-the-point-of-disbelief Kei panics for the first time in his life, now hyper aware of Kuroo’s eyes on him. He fails to switch places with Yachi when he’s supposed to do so.
Yachi, upon seeing Tsukishima’s unfocused eyes, panics and violently grabs the front of his Barong to forcefully make him switch places with her.
“Aray pucha!” Tsukishima exclaims loudly.
The whole class, including Kuroo, laughs in amusement.
“Sorry Tsukki!” Yachi nervously whispers, trying (and failing) to keep a cool demeanor.
((On the other side of the stage, Kageyama looks like he’s ready to murder two unsuspecting groupmates for underperforming.))
Surprisingly, Yachi’s violent gesture gets Tsukishima back on track. After that small blunder, the group finishes the rest of the song without much problems, and their professor commends them for a job well done
When it was Kuroo’s group’s turn to perform, Tsukishima tries to go to the bathroom so he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself from staring at Kuroo for three whole minutes. But Yamaguchi was having none of it.
“Oops, bawal mag CR habang may nagpeperform, di ‘ba?” The freckled boy teasingly tells him.
Tsukishima tries to reason out. Can’t Yamaguchi understand that he’s already embarrassed enough? “Wala naman makakapansin.”
“Tsukki. 6 footer ka. On top of that, you’re blonde. What makes you think makaklabas ka sa pinto nang di napapansin?”
“Yamaguchi.”
“Kung ako sa’yo, i-eenjoy ko nalang yung view.”
“…”
“You know I’m right.”
“Fine.”
And with that, Tsukishima sits back and resigns himself to his fate.
Kuroo’s group will be performing a dance called Tinikling, a Philippine folk dance where two people slide and tap two bamboo poles against each other on the floor while a couple dances in between the moving poles. Kuroo’s in no way the star of the show, because he’s only assigned to tap the poles on the floor. But the way his costume clings to his skin attracts Tsukishima’s gaze to him like a bright neon sign.
The dance starts, and the sound of the Rondella fills the room once more. Kuroo and his groupmates start sliding the bamboo poles, and Tsukishima swears he hears some of the girls and boys in the room squeal.
He’s not sure if he would sigh in relief or huff in frustration at the thought that he’s not the only one getting affected by Kuroo like this.
Around him, Hinata and the rest of the group starts to notice the attention Kuroo’s getting from the class as well, but Tsukishima barely pays them any heed.
“Ohhh mukhang agaw-atensyon si Kuya Kuroo ah!” Hinata whispers from beside him.
“His biceps are really nice,” Kageyama comments. “Ano kayang workout routine n’ya?”
Yamaguchi agrees. “Same. Mapapa sana-all ka nalang.”
Yachi meanwhile shudders, clearly not sharing the same sentiments with the group. “I’m scared. Parang feeling ko pag sinakal n’ya ko mamamatay ako agad.”
“mmmhm…”
The group suddenly stops their commentaries, their full attention now gearing towards Tsukishima.
Tsukishima Kei who just licked his lips and basically shuddered at the sight of one Kuroo Tetsurou.
Everybody’s eyes widen at the revelation.
“So si Kuya Kuroo pala yung hidden crush mo?!”
“Homaygad. Mahihimatay yata ako. Ang laswa.”
“Tsukishima. Be more discreet.”
“Tsukki ambaboy! What the heck?!”
Tsukishima has had it. He’s already caught practically salivating like a dog, so what’s the use of denying?
“Sige, lakasan n’yo pa!"
“Holy sh—So totoo nga?” Hinata cautiously asks.
Kageyama answers for him. “Duh. ‘Di pa ba obvious?”
“Tumahimik nalang kayo, pwede?” Tsukishima dismisses them. “Let me watch the show in peace.”
“Sure. We’ll let you ogle at Kuya Kuroo in peace.”
“Yamaguchi. Isa.”
“Okay. Shutting up na.”
At this, the group finally calms down, content for now at Tsukishima’s semi-affirmation. Kuroo and his group’s performance is almost ending, the Bamboo poles now progressively thumping faster with the beat. Kuroo, as usual, is doing a great job with his assigned task, but Tsukishima can’t help but notice that he looks like just saw some miraculous apparition and his life has now changed because of it.
Kuroo was staring at Tsukishima. Which means Kuroo surely saw what he just did. Which means Tsukishima might just be the reason for Kuroo’s increasingly reddening face. Which means…
His train of thought was suddenly cut off by the sound of Kuroo growling in pain.
The performance stops at Kuroo’s exclamation. The professor, who was watching from the side of the stage, worriedly stands up to approach Kuroo, who’s now clutching his left hand.
One of the Bamboos that Kuroo had been using for the performance gave out and splintered, and before anyone knew it, the sharp pieces already nicked his palm and caused him to bleed. Luckily, none of the splinters got stuck on his skin.
It wasn’t a serious injury, but Kuroo feels himself getting more light headed at the sight of his own blood.
"Let's get you to the health service," The professor tells Kuroo while putting pressure on his bleeding palm. "Di naman s'ya ganun kaseryoso, pero namumutla ka na kasi. Do you have a friend here who can accompany you?"
"Ahm—"
He then turns his attention to the rest of the class. "Can someone please accompany Kuroo to the health service?"
Their professor was met in silence.
"Sir, it's okay. kaya ko naman po mag-isa—"
"Sir."
All heads turn to the source of the voice coming from the back of the classroom.
"I'll bring Kuroo to the health service since Red Cross naman po ako." Tsukishima says calmly. He turns to Kuroo and looks at him in the eye, completely indifferent. "Kunin ko na rin bag mo, baka matagalan eh. San nakalagay?"
Kuroo reddens and stutters at his piercing gaze. "Uh, d-dun sa may likod. The black duffel bag. Yung m-may pusa na keychain."
Tsukishima just nods and walks to the back of the room to retrieve Kuroo's bag, trying his best to calm himself down.
He ignores the faces and the lewd gestures that his friends (mainly, Hinata and Yamaguchi) were making as he passes by them.
Tsukishima didn't really know what made him volunteer to accompany Kuroo to the Health Service, but he blames it on Kuroo's reaction to him licking his lips. It made him want to test something, want to see if he could elicit a similar reaction if he does something surprising again.
And he could. Kuroo’s reddening face is already proof enough.
He takes both of their bags and proceeds to the door with Kuroo in tow. Their professor shouts a ‘balitaan n’yo ko ha?’ as they go, and just like that, Tsukishima and Kuroo are alone once more.
“Oks lang kahit ako na magdala ng bag ko,” Kuroo says as they walk along the campus. He holds his palm out in front of Tsukishima as if to prove a point. “Di naman masyadong big deal ‘to.”
Tsukihima just brushes him off. “And me bringing your bag isn’t a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
When they reach the health service, they are met with busy staff and long lines.
“Di p’wede to, Tsukki.” Kuroo complains to him. “May quiz ako in 30 minutes, baka di ako umabot kapag ipinila ko pa ‘to. Di naman na dumudugo saka maliit lang yung sugat. Maya nalang ako babalik.”
Tsukishima doesn’t reply, deep in thought. He knows Kuroo’s palm is in need of some cleaning, or else it might risk infection later. He already knows what he could do, but he doesn’t want to offer lest he make a mistake.
But then again, if he doesn’t do anything, the two of them will have to part again, like they did before. And he doesn’t want that.
Parang tanga, Kei. Nasugatan na nga yung tao, landi pa rin iniisip mo—
“Tsukki?”
The opportunity is already presenting itself. And Tsukishima is a man who takes opportunities when he sees them. He doesn't have the courage to ask Kuroo outright yet (his pride wouldn't let him), but judging by all of today's staring contests and not-so-secret exchange of glances, he knows that with a little effort on his part he could make Kuroo ask him out. If he plays his cards correctly.
Cautiously, he speaks. “Meron akong first aid kit sa locker ko. Let me clean your wound first before you go."
“Ohh... right. Marunong ka pala mag-ganito. Sige.”
They make their way to the third floor of the Main Building, where Tsukishima’s supplies are kept. Once he acquires his first aid kit from his locker, they find an unoccupied classroom to settle in.
Tsukishima gestures Kuroo to sit in one armchair as he drags another one to sit in front of him, their thighs almost brushing as he does. Kuroo holds out his injured hand and Tsukishima takes it with his own (now gloved) one.
As Tsukishima starts disinfecting the wound, Kuroo hisses slightly in pain but he tries to hide it by making small talk. “So, uh, marunong ka pala mag first-aid—ow!”
“Oh. Masakit ba?” Tsukishima asks, halting what he's doing to look at Kuroo's face. He subconsciously rubs Kuroo’s hand in an attempt to soothe him, but Kuroo only reddens in response to the gesture.
A little innocent hand-rub is affecting him this much?
Tsukishima decides to go in for the kill, making sure Kuroo knew that he knew how much his ministrations are affecting the dark haired student. “Sorry. Inisip ko lang na baka kumalma ka if I do this. Titigil ako kung ‘di ka komportable.”
The tension in the room is so thick, Tsukishima finds it hard to breathe himself. But he looks at Kuroo's face and thinks, onti nalang , and he'll be able to crack his defenses.
“Okay lang! Gawin mo lang— I mean— go lang.”
“Okay. Linisin ko na ulit yung sugat mo.”
Kuroo attempts a light-hearted conversation again, this time to distract himself from Tsukishima's proximity to him. When did he get so close? "So... red cross? Di ako aware na ma-org ka pala."
"I'm not part of the school org, per se. Trained lang ako. Pero di ako sumali this year."
"Oh… Wala kang balak mag-org at all?"
"Kung p'wede lang, sasali ako sa Volleyball Team."
"What's stopping you?"
"'Di pa ko nakadorm. Mahirap mag varsity nang nag cocommute."
"Sayang. We could really use your height in the court."
""We?""
"Oh, yes. Kasama ako sa team. Si Boks yung captain namin. Kilala mo sya, di 'ba?"
"How could I not. Ang ingay-ingay n'yo kaya sa corridor araw-araw."
"Oh, so pinagmamasdan mo pala kami araw-araw— aray! Tsukki naman!"
"Wala akong ginagawa."
Tsukishima laughs and continues to clean Kuroo’s wound in silence, rubbing comforting circles on his hands whenever Kuroo expresses pain. In the middle of it all, both of them unknowingly moved closer to each other, with Tsukishima's thighs now completely enclosing Kuroo's own. When he looks up from Kuroo’s hand to tell him he’s already done, he’s surprised to see Kuroo’s face only a mere inches from his own.
He already knows he’s capable of affecting Kuroo in some way, but not like this. Maybe it’s the proximity, or maybe it’s the fact that they’ve been exchanging not-so-innocent glances at each other for the past two hours, but Kuroo’s eyes are glazed over with something different— a look that Tsukishima knows all too well, because he himself has shown that look before.
Want.
“Tapos na.” Tsukishima whispers, breath hot against the cold room. He doesn’t make a move to pull away nor break eye contact.
Kuroo doesn’t seem to hear what Tsukishima just said. “Tsukki,” he starts, voice low. “You look really good in that barong.”
“Do I?” Tsukishima challenges him.
“Hmmm.”
Kuroo licks his lips, and with his uninjured hand, he cups Tsukishima’s face and brings their faces closer, their lips almost touching.
This is it. Tsukishima knows what’s bound to happen next, and he’s welcoming every bit of it. He looks at Kuroo's lips anticipation, and drops his eyelids as they both begin the close the gap—
But he suddenly remembers they’re still inside the campus and all the classrooms are equipped with CCTVs in every corner.
He forces himself to pull away, gloved hand cupping Kuroo’s lips to physically stop them from getting closer to each other
“Stop. May CCTV.”
Kuroo’s eyes glaze back to their usual hazel, a sign that he’s now pulled back into reality. He panics at the realization that he almost, almost made out with Tsukishima Kei in a room full of security cameras. “SHIT. Oo nga pala. Sorry, Tsukki, sorry talaga, di ko sinasadya, di na mauulit—”
Tsukishima seethes at the words that came out of Kuroo’s lips. SORRY? Hindi sinasadya? What the fuck? Is Kuroo really going to tell him he didn’t mean any of that?
Oh no no no Tsukishima’s not having it. Not today. Not when he’s almost inches away from literally getting what he wanted. Fuck trying to get Kuroo to ask him out. Fuck his pride. And fuck the CCTVs (or not).
He cuts Kuroo’s wholly unnecessary apologies. “You can kiss me later if you want to.”
“HA?!”
“Sabi ko, you can kiss me later if you want to! Pero kumain muna tayo.”
“Okay ka lang sa ganito?”
“My god, Kuroo, hindi pa ba obvious enough?”
At this, Kuroo laughs. His face paints an expression of fondness despite all of today’s embarrassing fiascos. “Okay, okay, gets ko na!!”, he says, grabbing their bags and gesturing for them to go out of the room, his uninjured hand offering to hold Tsukishima’s own. “Pero, mag qui-quiz muna ako. And then we can have lunch.”
Tsukishima takes his hand in return, smiling subtly. “Deal.”
“Pero magbihis muna tayo, Tsukki. Mukha akong alipin mo dito eh.”
At hiis words, Tsukishima just laughs. Oh, if only you knew Kuroo Tetsurou, if only you knew.
-fin-
BONUS!
Kuroo Tetsurou
PREEEEE
Bokuto Koutarou
SUP KUROOBROOOOO
Kuroo Tetsurou
GAGO DI KA MANINIWALA DITO
SI TSUKKI PAREEEEE
Bokuto Koutarou
ANONG MERON? DID U FINALLY ASK HIM OUT
NAPAKA TORPE MO PA NAMAN
Kuroo Tetsurou
HINDII
AKO UNG INASK-OUT
LUNCH PARE
MUNTIKAN NA KONG HUMIMLAY
ANG GWAPO PA NYA SA BARONG NYA PUTAAAAAA [nanginig]
Bokuto Koutarou
CONGRATS KUROBROOOO <3 MAY LABLAYP KA NA
Pero tama ako HAHAHA
Diba sabi ko naman sa'yo IT WAS MUTUAL
Pero isa kang fucking tanga pinahirapan n'yo pa isa't isa nang isang buong sem SKSKSKSS
Kuroo Tetsurou
HEH
walang ebas ang di makaamin sa isang Akaashi Keiji na limang taon mo nang crush
Bokuto Koutarou
...sabi ko nga the best ka pre <3