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Going for walks around the college campus was Kuroo’s second favourite way to pass his time and relax a little (after sitting in his room, alone, with complete quiet and a music sheet.
As he distracted himself from his upcoming finals, Kuroo noticed a new flyer on the bulletin board, drawn colourfully. The poster read: local band looking for a bass player! Call now with a number listed on the bottom.
Kuroo decided he might as well try his luck, and snapped a quick picture of the number on his phone, and then continued walking, not paying much thought to it anymore, but rather how he was going to study for all the exams he had.
It takes him four more days to remember the poster. As he cleaned his gallery, he saw the picture again, but wasn’t sure if he should call the number or not. He pondered a while longer before pushing the thought away, as he had work to do.
The thing that finally pushes him to make the call is a second flyer, right outside of his dorm room. At this point he decided it must be some sort of sign and decided to make the call.
The phone rang three times before someone picked up on the other side.
“Hello?” He heard a cheery voice from the other end.
“Hi, uh, I’m calling about your ad- for the band. I play bass.”
“What’s your name?”
“Kuroo Tetsurou.”
“Well it’s nice to meet ya! I’m Bokuto Koutarou. Say, when are you free?”
“Well, I have finals in the next two weeks, but after that I’m good.”
“Great. How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Awesome. I’ll save your number and we can talk later?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great! Bye.”
“Bye.” Kuroo hung up, and started smiling.
Two and a half weeks later, he finally scheduled his audition for the band, in four days. He had to choose some sort of song he wanted to perform in front of them. He decided to call that Bokuto guy again, to ask an important question.
“So what genre do you guys play?”
“Oh we do all sorts of things. Mostly indie and rock, with some soft rock and prog-rock thrown in there,” Bokuto answered happily. “Why’d you ask?”
“Just wanted to choose a fitting song, I think I got it.”
“Great, see you soon.”
“Yeah, see you.” Kuroo hung up again, and began his preparations.
“This’ll have to do,” he mumbled to himself.
Four days after that, he was making his way to the studio the band recorded their songs in. He got a chance to listen to them a bit and noted their lyrics really were great, and not much lacking in their music itself. He wondered what made the last bassist quit.
He quickly got there, and was welcomed in.
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you face to face!” Bokuto grinned at him.
“Yeah, you too.”
Kuroo walked inside. “Nice place. How do you rent it?”
“Kenma mainly pays for it.”
That’s when Kuroo noticed they weren’t alone in the room. In the corner two other people sat, a guy with short black hair and someone else, with shoulder length hair that was partially bleached.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
“These are Akaashi and Kenma,” Bokuto quickly introduced them all.
“Nice to meet you two.”
“Nice to meet you,” Akaashi said, and Kenma just nodded.
“C’mon, let’s see what you got.” Bokuto patted Kuroo’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“Thanks…” Kuroo sat down.
“Do you just play? Or do you sing?” Akaashi asked.
“I took a few years of vocal training, so I can sing.”
Akaashi didn’t reply.
“What song are you playing?” Bokuto asked.
“Oh, I went with Talk by Hozier, since I really like the bass for this song and it’s fun to play.”
They all nodded in agreement.
“It’s a good song,” Kenma muttered.
“I can join you with guitar if you want,” Akaashi suggested. “I know the song.”
“Actually, that’d be nice.”
“Alright.” He went and quickly got his guitar, tuning it. “Start whenever you’re ready.”
“Will do.” Kuroo adjusted his bass for a moment, before he started playing the song, and Akaashi joined him on guitar.
Kuroo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
“ I’d be the voice that urged Orpheus
When her body was found
I’d be the choiceless hope in grief
That drove him underground
I’d be the dreadful need in the devotee
That made him turn around
And I’d be the immediate forgiveness
In Eurydice
Imagine being loved by me .”
At this point Kuroo relaxed a bit more, and opened his eyes, finding Bokuto and Kenma’s eyes fixed on him, while Akaashi focused more on his guitar. He didn’t let the sight intimidate them, and continued singing.
“ I won’t deny I’ve got in my mind now all the things I would do
So I’ll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I’m imaginin’ you.
I’d be the last shred of truth
In the lost myth of true love
I’d be the sweet feeling of release
Mankind now dreams of
That’s found in the last witness
Before the wave hits
Marvelling at God
Before he feels alone
One final time
And marries the sea
Imagine being loved by me .”
He sang the chorus again twice, and slowly the instruments died out, leaving them in a buzzing and tense silence.
“You’re good,” Bokuto said, uncharacteristically quiet.
“Thanks.”
“We had a couple of other people come in, but you’re the last. So we’ll think about it for a couple of days and give you a call,” Akaashi added quickly after Bokuto.
“That sounds good to me. It was nice to meet you all.”
“You too!”
Kuroo gathered his stuff and left again, feeling more light headed than before. He turned when he felt something. He saw Bokuto, looking right at him with an expression Kuroo couldn’t decipher. When Bokuto seemed to have noticed Kuroo, his lips curved up into a smile and he waved at Kuroo, who quickly returned the gesture before turning back around and walking away.
A few days later he received the news over the phone, out of every candidate that tried to apply, and Bokuto said there were definitely some good ones, he was the one to join the band. It made him happier than he thought it would, but he decided not to question it. It will just be a new chance to practice his abilities and actually perform, something he hasn’t really done up until now.
He blended into the band rather easily, coming to the practices three times a week while juggling his university work, just as Akaashi and Kenma did (Bokuto said he never really wanted to study anything, and his dream was always to play music).
About three weeks after he joined the band , Bokuto asked him to stay with him in the studio after the end of their practice. Kuroo couldn’t understand why, but complied with the request.
“So why’d you ask me to stay?” He asked after Akaashi and Kenma left.
“Do you write music?”
“Only lyrics. Is that why you asked me to stay?”
“Yep. I had a feeling you do.” Bokuto nodded, hugging one of his knees.
“Alright…”
“It’s just that I could use some help with writing new songs, we wanna be out with a new album soon and for that I’m gonna have to work hard. Akaashi usually helps me out, but I know he doesn’t like it much. Kenma says they won’t do it. But if you write lyrics we can do it together!”
“That’s a pretty good idea.” Kuroo smiled. “I’d love to write with you.”
“Perfect! We can start now if you want.”
Kuroo shrugged. “Sure, I’m done with all my work anyways.”
“Awesome, come sit here.”
Kuroo sat next to him, and they started brainstorming. Seems like their writing styles weren’t so different from each other’s, seeing how they found a theme and a few basic ideas quickly. As they continued on, Kuroo felt more fired up about it all. Bokuto seemed to genuinely love his ideas, and they managed to combine most of it together.
“We’ll need Akaashi and Kenma’s help for the music part, but other than that I’m pretty sure we can handle the songs on our own.”
“Really?” Kuroo asked.
Bokuto nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm. This is awesome!” He looked over at Kuroo with a large beaming grin. “I’m really glad you’re a part of our band now.”
“Thanks…” Kuroo had no idea why he was getting so shy, but he didn’t even mind it so much. When he saw Bokuto smiling at him, he was sure the sun could go out and he wouldn’t notice it all. Kuroo wished Bokuto would smile at him like that all the time. But everyone probably does.
“You have a really pretty smile, you know,” he said distractedly, while jotting something down. He didn;t realise he was thinking out loud until Bokuto reacted a few seconds later.
“Really?”
“Uhh yeah. I like it.”
And this time it seemed like Bokuto was the one getting shy. “Thank you.”
“I bet you get that a lot though.”
“No, not really.”
“Weird.”
Bokuto was almost too quick to change the subject. “Okay, so I was thinking for the next track that we could do…” He started, and Kuroo put everything down and listened attentively. When Bokuto spoke about music something about him became exciting. Kuroo didn’t know anyone else who was like that, so full of passion the same way Bokuto was. And when people truly stopped to listen and look at him (Kuroo did so rather often) they could see a real sparkle in his eyes, something so simple but sweet. Kuroo absolutely loved it. He could sit and listen to Bokuto talk about music until the end of time.
On some days, it was all he craved.
Three months after that day, Kuroo was sitting alone in his dorm, thinking of how much everything changed for the better since he joined the band. (Since he met Bokuto, he barely dared to admit). He found himself smiling for no reason a lot more than he used to.
Just as he was pondering about it, he got a call from Kenma, who rarely ever talked to people on the phone.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“We have a bit of…” A loud crash was heard in the background. “An emergency.”
“What’s going on?”
“Bokuto’s really sick, but he’s saying he’s fine. Could you come help out? I really can’t catch anything right now, I have some important stuff coming up.”
“Yeah, sure. But I thought Bo doesn’t get sick.”
Kenma sighed. “Usually not. But he insisted on taking care of Akaashi when he had the flu.”
“Oh my god.” It was Kuroo’s turn to sigh, expresated.
“Yep.”
“I’ll be there soon, you can go.”
“I think I’ll stay until you get here at least. I’m worried that he’ll accidentally hurt himself if no one’s watching him.”
Kuroo chuckled. “He’s not a kid.”
“Definitely not, but you’ve never seen him sick. You could have mistaken him for a child.”
“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration, but I’ll come to see for myself. Bye.”
“Bye.” They quickly hung up the phone.
Kuroo quickly got dressed and grabbed a mask, making his way to Bokuto’s apartment quickly. He got there in about fifteen minutes, to see Kenma and Akaashi chasing Bokuto around.
“Uhh…”
“HELP ME!” Bokuto yelled. “THEY WANNA KILL ME!”
“Just take your medicine Bokuto-san!”
“I’m not sick!”
“Okay, you two can go. I’ll handle him,” Kuroo said.
“You sure?” Kenma asked.
“You can go,” Kuroo repeated definitively.
“Alright… Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Kenma and Akaashi scurried off rather quickly once Kuroo told them to, quickly exhausted from the morning they had.
“I’m not sick,” Bokuto said again.
“I know. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll make us something to eat.” He took the bag of groceries he brought and went to the kitchen, while Bokuto followed him.
“It’s freezing here, what’s going on?”
“Radiator stopped working.”
“I’ll look at that later. You want soup?”
Bokuto looked at him suspiciously. “Sure…”
“Then go sit down, I’ll make it.”
“Alright.” Bokuto seemed relieved as he crashed into one of the kitchen chairs. “Thanks.”
“No problem man.” Kuroo got everything he needed, asking where things were placed when he wasn’t sure. He started making the food, and soon after the meal was made.
“Here you go.” He handed Bokuto a bowl, and took one for himself.
“Thanks.” Bokuto started eating slowly.
“So why’d you give Akaashi and Kenma such a hard time?”
“They kept insisting I’m sick.”
“And you’re not?”
“No. It’s stupid, I don’t get sick. I’m not weak.”
“Alright.” Kuroo nodded understandably. “But you know it is okay if you do get sick, right? You don’t have to be strong all the time.”
Bokuto froze. “I know that…”
“Good. How’s the soup?”
“It’s good.”
“I’m glad. We’ll finish eating and I’ll see if I can do something about your radiator.”
“Are you sure you won’t screw it up more?” Bokuto jeered.
“Probably not. My dad was an electrician, he taught me tons of stuff. If I can’t help, I’ll call someone to do it.”
“You don’t have to.” Bokuto shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”
“You shouldn’t be living in the cold like this, it’s unhealthy. No matter how strong your immune system is.”
Bokuto just shrugged again, not saying anything as he slowly finished the meal that Kuroo made for him.
“Thanks for the food. And for taking me seriously.”
“No problem. For both. Now show me what’s wrong.”
Bokuto got up and started walking to the hall, Kuroo walked after him quickly.
“The pipe has some issue, but I don’t wanna mess with that.”
Kuroo examined it closely. “I can fix it.”
“How are you so sure?”
“This happens at my dorm a lot, I just do it myself. Do you have a wrench?”
“Yeah, I’ll get it.”
A few minutes later Bokuto was back in the hallway and handed Kuroo the wrench. The latter crouched down and started fixing the radiator.
Bokuto slid down the wall, hugging his knees with his back leaning on the wall as he watched Kuroo work.
“So what happened?”
“Something came undone, and it’s blocking everything. It takes a while to put it back but I can do it easily.”
“Should I pay you? I feel like I should.”
Kuroo laughed. “No, no. I’m good.”
“You know, this is almost like we’re boyfriends. Taking care of me while I’m sick, fixing stuff for me,” he joked.
“Yeah, it kind of is.” The thought of being Bokuto’s boyfriend ran through Kuroo’s brain for a split second, filling him with some warm mushy feeling he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but it overflowed him and for a moment he was so perfectly joyful. “So you admit you’re sick?”
Bokuto rested his chin on his knees. “I guess.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
“What if you get the flu too?”
“If I stay with the mask on as long as I’m not eating I’ll be fine.” Kuroo waved his hand distractedly.
“If you say so. Thanks for the help.”
“Of course. I’m almost done with the radiator.”
“Great.”
After a while, the heating was finally going through and filling the apartment, while Bokuto and Kuroo both shivered from the sudden change in temperatures.
“You seem tired,” Kuroo pointed out.
“A little.”
“You should sleep. I’ll clean around here a bit while you do.”
“You don’t have to! You helped so much already.”
“I want to help Bo. Go change and sleep.”
“Fine,” Bokuto grumbled and dragged his legs on the way to his bedroom, and Kuroo understood what Kenma meant earlier about Bokuto acting more childish when he was sick.
About twenty minutes later, he finished the basic cleaning of the apartment so that it looked in a somewhat acceptable state. He went to Bokuto’s room and sat on the floor by his bed, seeing Bokuto was already asleep.
“You’re strong even when you’re sick too, y’know? I think you’re strong all the time,” he said. “Maybe your body needs a rest from being strong for so long. You should let people take care of you more often. Maybe it’ll help.” He listened to Bokuto’s even breath for a few more seconds. “I’ll help you more if you let me.”
From that moment on, he stayed silent. But a few moments later he saw Boktuo shifting under his blanket, and heard him mumbling something unclear, until he caught two words.
“Thanks Kuroo.”
Two months later, Kuroo could say confidently that he truly was a part of the band’s small friend group. He and Akaashi sat and studied together twice a week, before rehearsals. They had interesting discussions regarding their majors (Akaashi was majoring in art history, Kuroo went with literature, a choice he was happier with every day).
He and Kenma usually met on the weekends, after finding out they both played video games. Most of their meetings went in silence aside from exchanges that had to do with whatever they were playing, but as Kuroo saw it, it was the easiest way for Kenma to bond with someone new, and he was happy about it.
Kuroo and Bokuto got along especially well, it seemed like the latter was excited to have another more outgoing person in the band.
“It’s not that I don’t love Akaashi and Kenma, they’re my friends and they’re great. But it’s nice to have someone who’ll go out with me and is more talkative.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Kuroo nodded distractedly. Truth was, he didn’t really understand what Bokuto meant, as he was always a more reserved person in a way. He had a few close friends, and all of them introduced him to other people, but he found it hard to feel real closeness to people. The most similar thing he had was his friendship with Sawamura Daichi, a guy he knew since the beginning of junior high. Daichi was probably the person Kuroo considered his best friend.
But now he had Bokuto, a cheerful and friendly person who welcomed him into the band and his social circle with open arms, Kuroo couldn’t be more thankful. He almost forgot how much he enjoyed the company of new people (though in his heart he was always an introvert, and had to admit that sometimes after hanging out with Bokuto for a long time he had to rest a bit and recharge his social battery).
Nonetheless, he enjoyed Bokuto’s company a lot. During writing sessions, going out for food, getting some drinks together, or any other activity the two engaged in together.
Kuroo especially enjoyed the writing sessions. It turned out Bokuto composed most of the lyrics for their songs, and his other bandmates were only involved in the process in its later stages (for writing the music in general, it seems. Kuroo quickly found out Kenma was a real genius for that kind of work).
It seemed like Bokuto liked writing with Kuroo though, despite being used to doing it on his own. He embraced Kuroo’s ideas openly, and shared some of his own. About five months after joining the band, Kuroo decided to show him the notebook filled with songs he had written and composed in earlier stages in life. Some of them were not great, but Kuroo was rather proud of many of the lyrical choices he made in that notebook.
He and Bokuto were meant to meet up that day anyway, to eat lunch together at Bokuto’s apartment (it was secretly one of Kuroo’s favourite things to do together, since Bokuto’s cooking was amazing). So along with his wallet and keys, Kuroo brought the notebook he hadn’t written in since the day of his high school graduation.
“Hey!” Bokuto opened the door with a smile.
“Hey.”
“Come on in.” He stepped aside.
“Thanks.” Kuroo walked in and took his shoes off quickly. “What are we eating today?”
“Miso soup, since it’s cold and I need to get rid of all the miso I got last winter.”
Kuroo shook his head. “So I’m just a trash can for you?”
“Well, you eat everything. Not my fault you’re so hungry,” Bokuto teased back.
“Like you’re one to talk.” Kuroo snored. “We both eat a lot.”
“Well, I gotta get a lot of calories to maintain these guns.” He flexed with a smirk, and Kuroo rolled his eyes.
“Let’s go eat.”
“Sounds good, I’m hungry anyways.”
They walked to Bokuto’s kitchen together, getting bowls of soup.
“Wanna watch a movie too?”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun. Any movie you wanna watch?”
“Just something fun.” Bokuto shrugged.
“Well, how about Pacific Rim? That’s a great movie,” Kuroo suggested.
“You watch that stuff?”
“A bit, my friend showed me the movies. And a whole bunch of other sci-fi shit.”
“That’s cool!”
“Yeah, he’s a fun guy but he’s crazy about these things. Astronomy major, too.”
“Maybe you should introduce us.”
“Maybe I will.” Kuroo smiled and sat on the couch next to Bokuto, who was busy finding the movie.
“Oh, there it is,” He said eventually.
“Great.”
The movie started playing and the two of them fell silent, watching carefully. Time went on as the events of the movie unrolled on the screen in front of them. By the time the movie ended, it was starting to get dark outside.
“Oh wow, I keep forgetting how early the sun sets during the winter.”
“Yeah. It’s crazy every year again.”
“I like it though.” Kuroo grinned. “Winter’s my favourite season.”
“Mine’s summer.”
“Not surprising.”
“Well, do you like getting stuck in places? Because most areas around here are flooded. I don’t think you can go back to your dorm for now, sorry.”
“It’s fine, I’ll find some solution.”
“You can stay here,” Bokuto suggested. “I have a guest room.”
“You sure? I don’t wanna overstep my stay.”
“Of course you can stay, it’s fine!” Bokuto beamed at him.
“If you say so…”
“I’m sure, really.”
“Alright.” Kuroo nodded. “But if the roads open again I’ll go home, I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You won’t be, I promise,” Bokuto reassured him. “We can work a bit, if you’re already here.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
Bokuto ran to get something from his room, while Kuroo sat in the living room alone, and waited.
The feeling of being alone in another person’s house never got less weird for Kuroo as he grew up. At first he figured it was just teenage awkwardness, but now he was nineteen (arguably not a teenager anymore) and the feeling never faded away. His whole skin was crawling from those few moments alone on Bokuto’s couch, the eerie sensation that he didn’t belong there, and the common sense that reminded him it was true.
It was unbearable.
But the spell broke a few seconds later, as Bokuto walked back into the living room holding his notebook and a pencil.
“Alright, so I have this idea for a song…” He started talking, and a warmer sensation settled into Kuroo, making the chill of his bone run off, filling him with softness as Bokuto explained his newest idea, and they spoke about it, bouncing ideas off of each other with ease.
They sat there for a long time, and to Kuroo’s relief their conversation was devoid of any sort of awkward pauses or silence.
It was one of Kuroo’s favourite things about conversations with Bokuto. Even when they did fall into a silence (which happened rarely), he was never stressed about starting another conversation. Silences with Bokuto were easier, and Kuroo felt less tense around him. Overall, he couldn’t be happier that they were friends.
A few hours later, when it seemed the flood wasn’t going to end any time soon, Kuroo finally decided he’d stay. Bokuto set things up for him on the couch, and gave him some clothes to change into. At first, Kuroo fell asleep rather quickly, but much later into the night he woke up from the thunderstorm, and couldn’t fall asleep, so he decided to get up for a little while and see if doing something else would help him out.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know the layout of Bokuto’s apartment that well yet, despite spending an almost unreasonable amount of time in there. He bumped into a chair, which then fell over with great noise.
“Fuck,” Kuroo mumbled, hearing shuffeling from Bokuto’s bedroom.
He came out of there a few seconds later, holding what seemed like a baseball bat (though he couldn’t be sure in the dark).
“Who’s there?” Bokuto demanded.
“It’s just me!” Kuroo raised both his hands quickly, as if he was surrendering.
“Oh.” He slowly lowered the weapon. “It’s late, why are you up?”
“The storm woke me up, it’s hard to sleep like this.”
“Ohhh.” Bokuto nodded understandably. “Makes sense. I’ll make us some tea.”
“You can go back to sleep-” Kuroo started, but was quickly interrupted.
“No, no. My mom used to do this when my sisters and I couldn’t sleep in storms. It always helped.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, come on.” Bokuto turned on the kitchen light and got everything he needed, while Kuroo sat down hesitantly.
“Thanks…”
“No problem.” He turned around with a beaming smile, and he was so bright that Kuroo couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m always happy to help.”
“Clearly.”
And suddenly, Kuroo remembered the notebook he had brought.
“Hey, Bokuto?”
“Hm?”
“Since we’re already awake… Would it be fine if I showed you some old stuff I wrote in high school? I just remembered that I brought it with me. I think there might be material we can use there.”
“Sure, just let me finish with the tea.”
“Alright.” Kuroo fiddled with his fingers anxiously.
A few minutes, they were sitting in the living room, each holding one cup of hot tea, while Kuroo showed Bokuto the notebook with slightly trembling hands.
“It’s nothing amazing, of course, but maybe parts of it can be used,” he quickly said, as Bokuto examined the notebook carefully, idly flipping through the pages.
They sat in silence for five minutes, but it felt to Kuroo like forever, and while Bokuto read through those songs all he wanted was for the ground to swallow him whole.
Eventually Bokuto put it down, uncharacteristically quiet.
“So?”
Bokuto slowly started smiling. “I think we can use most of it, actually.”
“Really?” Kuroo asked, taken aback.
“There’s some great stuff in there! I don’t know what you’re talking about. You shouldn’t question yourself so much.”
Kuroo chuckled. “Maybe… And thanks.”
“Of course. Can I keep this?”
The question caught Kuroo by surprise. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“If you don’t want me to, it’s fine.”
“No. No! It’s fine, really. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Alright.” Bokuto smiled. “Wanna watch something until we fall asleep?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Anything special?”
“Just… Something mindless. Saiki K.”
“I didn’t think you’d watch much anime.”
“Why not? I like some.”
“I dunno. You seem… Sophisticated? Is that the word?”
“Yep. And I still like watching animated stuff. I still watch my childhood shows every now and then, especially when I’m sick.”
“Cool!” Bokuto put the show on, cuddling into Kuroo. “Is that fine?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Kuroo leaned on Bokuto, putting an arm around his shoulders.
From five months of being friends with Bokuto, Kuroo learned he was rather touchy. He didn’t mind it, it was nice to see Bokuto felt close enough with him to do stuff like that.
After a few episodes, Kuroo noticed it was almost three in the morning, and turned to Bokuto.
“We should probably sleep now-” his voice died out seeing Bokuto was already sleeping soundly on his shoulder. He looked down at him in shock, wondering how he hadn’t even noticed yet. Is he really this comfortable with Bokuto? For a moment, his head was filled with terror, but then Bokuto snuggled a little closer to him, mumbling something unintelligible, and Kuroo’s heart was filled with unimaginable warmth and softness. He smiled down at Bokuto’s calm face, and went to sleep himself.
Kuroo didn’t know why he was so nervous about their upcoming performance. They’ve all done it before (even though he had less experience than his bandmates), and this crowd isn’t going to be any different than the ones they performed to before.
But he was still undeniably skittish. He couldn’t rest still for even a second, always bouncing his leg or fiddling with his fingers while they were all warming up backstage. For a moment a thought crossed his mind, if this was how Bokuto felt all the time, seeing as he never stayed in the same place for too long if it was under his control.
It didn’t matter how nervous Kuroo was, because the show was happening anyway and his bandmates needed him there with them.
So he came out on stage with them, setting up his instrument and adjusting the microphone.
“Everybody ready?” Bokuto asked one last time, and everyone nodded affirmatively.
“Let’s do this then!”
After the concert finally ended and they were all leaving together, laughing and smiling, Bokuto pulled Kuroo aside for some reason. He couldn’t fathom why, aside from the possibility he messed up somehow.
“Hey, so what’s wrong”
“What?” Bokuto looked at him with his brows knitted together. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Then why’d you ask to talk to me?”
“I need to ask you something.”
If Kuroo didn’t know better, he would say Bokuto was nervous. But that never really happened, so he ruled off that option quickly. It made sense to him though, with Bokuto’s shoulders hunched over, while he picked on his nails, eyes darting around, never meeting Kuroo’s.
But of course he wasn’t nervous, it was Bokuto. He had this general aura of indisputable confidence wherever he went, something Kuroo absolutely adored about him (along with pretty much every other part of his personality, he quietly admitted to himself).
“What is it then?”
“Uhh-” Bokuto stuttered. Kuroo’s never seen that happen before.
Maybe he was nervous. That thought just made Kuroo feel the same.
“I was wondering if…”
“If?”
“If you’d go on a date with me.”
Out of everything Bokuto could have asked him, Kuroo did not expect that.
“Are you asking me out?”
“Maybe? Only if your answer’s yes.” Bokuto avoided eye contact once again.
Kuroo swallowed hard, left slightly confused. “Let me get this straight, you’re asking me out? Yes or not.”
“Yeah,” Bokuto admitted sheepishly.
“Alright…” Kuroo took a deep breath, trying to internalise everything that was going on in just a few seconds.
“So?” Bokuto turned back to him, finally making eye contact. “What’s it gonna be?”
Kuroo never remembered a more tense moment he shared with someone his entire life.
“Yeah, yeah. That sounds fun, I’d love to.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Bokuto suddenly seemed like he just put down a heavy weight, relaxation washing over him.
“Great! How’s Saturday? After rehearsal.”
“Sounds good.” Kuroo nodded.
“I’ll pick you up?”
“Alright. Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Okay, sounds interesting.”
“Perfect. See you Saturday.”
“See you.”
Kuroo started walking away, with an unfamiliar feeling setting into him. He has a date with Bokuto in three days.
And then he started to smile.
I have a date with Bokuto this Saturday!
When the day finally came, Kuroo was an absolute mess. He hasn’t been on many dates before, and had no idea what he should do, wear, say or even think. So he did the only thing he could think of, and called up an old friend.
“Sawamura, I need your urgent help.” He immediately said after Daichi answered the phone.
“Well hello to you too.”
“I don’t have time for that now, man. Just come over.”
“I’ll be there in a few.”
“Thanks, bye.” Kuroo hung up quickly, and waited anxiously for Daichi to arrive.
A few minutes later, the door opened and his best friend finally walked in.
“Hey, so what happened? You said it was urgent.”
“I have a date in a few hours.”
“With who?”
“Bokuto.”
“I never thought you’d get the balls to ask him.”
“Actually, he asked me. Wait what?”
“Yeah, I mean you’ve liked him for ages.” Daichi shrugged. “Even I noticed.”
“I don’t like Bokuto.”
“Yes you do.”
“Don’t just invalidate my feelings like that! Or actually my lack of feelings.”
“No, you’re in denial.”
“I’m not!”
Daichi groaned in frustration. “You’re even worse than me, gosh. You spend the night at his place almost the same as in this room.”
“Yeah, so?”
“ You told me he’s hot and you want to kiss him .”
“That doesn’t mean shit. I was drunk.”
“Listen to yourself! If I said this about anyone else, what would you say?”
“That you’re in love with them,” Kuroo replied with zero hesitation. “Oh.”
“There it is.”
“I’m in love with Bokuto.”
“Yep.”
“How did I not realise?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do I do?”
“Well, you have an advantage.” Daichi shrugged.
“Which is?”
“You’re going on a date with him later.”
“SHIT I FORGOT!”
“Oh god.”
“Fuck, Sawamura, what do I do?”
“You shouldn’t be asking me.”
“You’re the one who’s dating two different people!”
“Oh. Right.” Daichi blinked in surprise.
“I’m telling Suga-chan and Yui-chan you forgot about them.” Kuroo sniggered.
“Please don’t.”
“So what do I do?”
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“Nope.”
“Text him and ask what to wear.”
“Alright…” Kuroo pulled out his phone and texted Bokuto, getting a reply almost instantly. “He said to dress casually. What if I look bad?”
“You won’t. But I don’t think I should be picking clothes for you.”
“Definitely not. You dress like a disaster.”
“Ouch. I could call Asahi.”
“No, let’s not bother him. I’ll be fine with the outfit, but what about everything else? I’m a wreck.”
“Okay, this is gonna be very cliche but you should just be you.”
“That’s a horrible idea!”
“I know. But if Bokuto asked you out, he probably likes you for you.”
“What if I get nervous and don’t know what to say? What if he wants to hold my hand but I get super sweaty? What am I supposed to do then?” Kuroo could feel himself spiralling deeper into his irrational fears
“You can’t control the second one, just pray.”
“Alright…”
“And if you’re too nervous, you could just tell him.”
“No way.”
“I’m serious!” Daichi crossed his arms. “The only way to get the nerves out of the way is to really talk about them.”
“This is bullshit,” Kuroo grumbled.
“Yep. But I promise you’ll be fine.”
“Fine.”
“Choose something nice to wear, send me a picture so I’ll have Koushi and Yui approve of it, take a shower and you’ll be fine. I promise.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, thanks Sawamura.”
“Happy to help, go get him.”
A few hours later, Kuroo was ready and Bokuto came to pick him up. He was still very stressed about the date, but knew how to deal with it a lot better.
“Hey!” Bokuto said as he got into the car.
“Hey.”
“Ready to go?”
“Mhm.” Kuroo nodded.
“Great. You look nice by the way.”
“Oh thanks,” Kuroo smiled, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders melting away. This was still Bokuto, someone who he felt perfectly comfortable with. He’ll be fine.
“You do too.”
“Thanks!”
“So are you finally gonna tell me where we’re going?” Kuroo buckled his seatbelt quickly as Bokuto started driving them.
“Not until we get there.”
“Come on,” he complained. “I wanna know.”
“And you will. Not yet though.”
Kuroo huffed slightly. “If that’s how you wanna do this.”
Bokuto laughed lightly. “You’ll love it, I promise. Just wait and see.”
“I trust you.”
The rest of the drive went on smoothly as they talked about all kinds of different topics, and Kuroo almost managed to forget that they were on a date until the car came to a stop.
“We’re here!” Bokuto announced excitedly.
“And what’s ‘here’ exactly?” Kuroo asked suspiciously.
“You’ll see, c’mon.” Bokuto got out of the car and opened the trunk while Kuroo followed him.
“What’s in there?”
“Stuff for a picnic.”
“So that’s what we’re doing?”
“Not exactly.”
“You’re not gonna tell me, are you?”
“Nope!” Bokuto answered gleefully. “Let’s go.”
Kuroo quickly followed him to wherever they were headed.
“Where are we even?”
“Just somewhere outside the city, not super far away.”
“Huh… It’s cool here.”
“Right?” Bokuto turned to Kuroo with a smile. “I found it in high school, I used to come here all the time.”
“That’s nice.” Kuroo hurried for a moment to match pace to Bokuto, walking side by side. Their hands came so close to touching that Kuroo was starting to imagine they did. He oddly liked it, but every muscle in his body really just wanted him to take the leap and grab onto Bokuto’s hand.
Before he could do that, Bokuto took his hand, interlacing their fingers with a smile, acting as if he didn’t notice Kuroo’s deep red blush (or maybe he genuinely didn’t, it was hard to know with Bokuto).
“It’s right over there.”
“What is?”
“An abandoned amusement park,” Bokuto finally revealed the location of their date.
“That’s… That’s fucking awesome.”
Bokuto laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Definitely.” Kuroo chuckled. “So we’re having a picnic in the sunset in this cool abandoned place? I didn’t take you for a romantic,” he teased Bokuto, slightly nudging his side.
“I thought you’d like it.” Bokuto shrugged.
“I love it.”
“Great.”
They continued walking for a little longer, until reaching a large fence made of chicken wire that Bokuto pulled aside with ease.
“After you.” He gestured inside.
“Why thank you.” Kuroo let go of Bokuto’s hand for the first time in several minutes and walked in, his date quickly following him.
“This is cooler than I thought…”
“I knew you’d think so. C’mon, there’s a cool place we can sit to eat in.”
This time Kuroo was the one to take Bokuto’s hand, happily letting him lead the two to wherever he wanted to go. When they reached a nice grassy hill, Bokuto stopped abruptly and sat down.
“Woah…” Kuroo stared around in awe. He hadn’t realised it, but during that short walk they were climbing up to the top of the park, and from the point they were sitting at they could see the whole place.
“What do you think?”
“That’s amazing.” Kuroo sat next to Bokuto, who was busy taking out the food from his basket of secrets.
“I’m glad you think so, I never really showed this place to anyone.”
“I’m the first person you brought here?”
“First and last,” Bokuto affirmed.
“Wow…”
“What?” Bokuto looked back up at him with a grin.
“You trust me that much?”
“Of course I do. It’s you.”
“Thank you.” Kuroo smiled softly.
“Don’t mention it. You hungry?”
“Always.”
“Perfect, I got us so much food.”
Kuroo laughed. “Great.”
Their conversation died out rather quickly while they ate, but Kuroo didn’t feel any urgent need to fill the silence that settled over them like he usually did. Today he was happy to just sit in it, with Bokuto. He didn’t care about the silence. They sat there basking in the sun for another thirty minutes or so, until Kuroo broke the calm.
“So…”
“So?”
“You asked me out?”
“Pretty sure I did, yeah.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to go on a date with you.”
“Does that mean you want to date me?”
“Yep.”
The conversation was a lot less tense than Kuroo imagined. It was also less romantic, but he liked it this way. It was so them , and he absolutely adored that for some reason.
“Why?”
“Remember that time you came over and helped fix my TV because I didn’t have money for a new one? And then my radiator, and then helped me figure out what was wrong with the water pressure of the shower?”
“Your apartment is so crappy.”
“It is. Remember how I joked about it feeling like we were boyfriends?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think it’s a joke anymore.”
“So you asked me out because we act like we’re in a relationship?”
“No. I asked you out because I liked the feeling that we were in a relationship. I asked you out because I like you. And I’m hoping you feel the same way…” Bokuto’s posture sagged, as if he was trying to disappear into himself as he opened up to Kuroo.
“I do. I wouldn’t have said yes otherwise.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then wanna be my boyfriend?”
“For sure.”
“Okay.” Bokuto started grinning.
“Okay.” Kuroo smiled back at him.
“Honestly I thought I was so obvious.”
“I had no clue,” Kuroo confessed. “I didn’t even realise I liked you until Daichi told me.”
“Then why’d you say yes to the date?”
“Because it sounded nice. And I wanted to go on a date with you.”
Bokuto stared at Kuroo and blinked slowly. “You are so dense.”
“I know.”
“I fell asleep cuddling you so many times! I almost kissed you after you told me you got the best marks in your class!”
“I know!”
“You’re so dense,” Bokuto repeated in disbelief.
“But now I’m your dense boyfriend.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They softly smiled at each other.
“Do I have permission to kiss my dense boyfriend?” Bokuto asked shyly.
“Absolutely.”
They both slowly leaned in, until their lips met in a quick and sweet kiss, which left them as two giggling and blushing messes.
“I liked that,” Kuroo said.
“Me too.”
“Guess that means we’ll have to do it again.”
“That sounds perfect.”