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After years of being together, first being “mentor”/“mentee”, then friends, then finally (after much pining) getting together and becoming boyfriends, Tsukishima finds that he’s become soft. And there’s only one person to be blamed for that. One Kuroo Tetsurou.
The constant reassurance and soft words drove Kei insane, in the best ways possible. Now he can’t even imagine waking up and not having the older bed headed man whispering gentle “i love you”s into his ear.
It was something that was said on a regular basis; when they woke up, when they went to work, random times during the day, during steamy and eventful nights, and before they went to sleep. They’d even say it when they fought (apparently Kuroo couldn’t sleep when Tsukishima was mad at him). It was just a fact, Kuroo loved Tsukishima, and Tsukishima loved Kuroo.
Kuroo would constantly tell Kei as such, and the blonde would reply earnestly.
But every now and then he’d wonder how Kuroo would react if he never said it back. When they first started their relationship, the younger wasn’t prone to responding to the proclamations of love, but now he gives just as good as he gets. Knowing Tetsurous’ inclination to being extra, if Kei stopped, he would probably have one of two reactions.
1) Start thinking that Tsukishima no longer loves him (which couldn’t be farther from the truth.).
Or the second;
2) Bother Tsukishima until he says he loves him back.
Tsukishima was willing to bet on the latter. So he did.
He calls up his two closest friends, Akaashi and Yamaguchi, asking them how they thought Kuroo would react. Yamaguchi admonished him for playing with his boyfriends feelings, then wagered that Kuroo would pester him. Akaashi couldn’t help but find the situation Kei was about to get himself into funny. When he finally finished sniggering, he hypothesized that Kuroo would probably cry, then he offered to do a similar prank with his own boyfriend.
Tsukishima decided to put his plan into action when Kuroo would come home the next day. He himself had an off day, no training or museum work, but Kuroo still had to go into the JVAs’ Sendai division office. After rushing Kuroo out, with a swift kiss on the cheek, he opened Instagram and scrolled through his feed. He stumbled upon the original video that gave him this idea in the first place. A girl ignoring her boyfriend and him looking defeated. It was honestly very funny, while also being wholesome. He read some comments before closing the app and deciding to be productive.
When Tetsurou finally came home, he let out a “hey babe” before running towards the bathroom. Apparently he had to hold off on using the restroom, after rushing out the office to avoid a very pushy supervisor, who had been making moves on him ( the cons of "being godly", he claims).
Kei sat himself in front of the vanity that his mother insisted they get for their shared apartment. Kuroo loved it, because Kei could do his nightly routine within arms reach of him. Kei had to admit it was serviceable.
As Tsukishima applies the night cream his team has him sponsoring, Kuroo enters their bedroom and drapes himself upon the blond. He places light kisses onto his temple.
“I’m thirsty, I'll be back okay,” Kuroo says, letting go of Tsukishima with one last kiss, and backing away, towards the door.
“ ‘Kay bye,” Kei replies.
“I love you.”
“Bye babe,” Tsukishima says, feigning disinterest.
A resounding silence swept across the room.
“I love you!,” the older man tried again.
“Bye babe.” It was just the beginning, but the blond was already fighting down small chuckles.
“So you’re mad at me.”
“Huh!?” This was going to be a lot harder than he originally predicted.
“So you’re mad at me,” Kuroo repeated, sounding more confused. He started approaching the blond, apparently forgetting about his prior need for a beverage.
“I’m not mad at you.”
“What’d I do?”
“Nothing,” the blond sighed.
“Are you sure you're not mad at me?”
“I’m not mad at you, Tetsurou”
“Okay good,” Kuroo said, letting out a relieved breath. “I love you. And I'll be right back.” he gently grabs Keis’ chin, placing a kiss on his lips.
“'Kay bye.”
“Babe!,” the (supposedly) older whined. “I love you.”
“Bye babe.”
“Are you mad at me?” At this point Kuroo had a look of defeat painted across his face.
“I’m not mad at you,” the blond said, exasperated, and fighting to keep his act up. “I literally just said I’m not mad at you!”
“You’re mad at me,” Kuroo attempts to cut him off.
The dark haired male mumbles something under his breath, to which Kei replies, “Huh?”
“Then what's the problem?!”
“There is no problem!”
“Okay, I love you. Now let's try this again. I love you,” he closes the space between them, once again drawing Tsukishima into a languid kiss, this one longer than the last few.
“Bye,” Tsukishima says after breaking the kiss. He was barely able to fight the upturn of his lips.
By now, Kuroo should have caught up with the jest, but apparently this was one of those days where the calculating part of his brain shut off.
“Babeee,” he whines, “What the heck?!”
At Tsukishimas silence he continues with a defeated sounding “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” The blond runs a hand through his hair, staring at his boyfriend through the mirror.
“Are you mad at me?” Kei wondered if he should put the poor man out of his misery.
“I’m not mad at you. I promise Tetsu,” he places a hand onto Kuroos cheek before leaving a swift peck on his forehead.
“Then what did I dooo?” He was pouting. Honestly, this little “prank” was probably for the best. Tsukishima was clearly spoiling him. He made a mental note to be a little tougher on his poor, unassuming boyfriend.
“You didn’t do anything,” he says as he runs slender fingers through his lovers messy hair.
“Then why don’t you say ‘I love you’ ?” At this rate, Kuroo would get permanent frown lines.
“Bye babe.” Kei lets go, and returns his attention to “organizing” bottles on the vanity.
“Oh my-” Kuroo grabs Tsukishima by the cheeks, letting himself smile a bit. He knows the blond still loves him, if he didn't he’d definitely be trying to get out of Kuroos' hold right now. “Give me a kiss.” That was enough warning for Kei to not be surprised when Tetsurou dove into his space once more.
“I love you.”
“Bye.”
Kuroo lets out a frustrated grunt, all good natured if the bright smile and enamored look adoring his face was anything to go by. He gives his smiling boyfriend a little shake, which just made the blond smile wider.
He knows Kei’s playing with him, and he’ll make sure to get him back. But for now, he needs a drink.
BONUS:
(10:45) Akaashi: Did you do it yet kei?
(10:47) Tsukishima: yeah.
(10:47) Tsukishima: he kept kissing me and repeating that he loves me. Kept asking what he did wrong too😭. How about yours?
(10:48) Akaashi: He cried 😐
(10:48) Akaashi: He went into one of his moods, then he cried.
(10:49) Tsukishima: I can't say I envy you 🤷
(10:50) Akaashi: I can't say I envy me either 😑