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It had been one hell of a journey at the Nationals. Karasuno had unfortunately been eliminated after losing to Kamomedai in the quarter finals. Kei’s mind keeps drifting back to their last day in the tournament. They went through two intense matches that day, in which, one of them was against Nekoma; Kuroo Tetsuro's Nekoma. Yes, it was super tiring, but Kei genuinely had fun. Facing off against Kuroo, the guy who, arguably, has the biggest impact on his blocking, was fun. Kei remembers that Kuroo did try to irritate him during the match, and most of the time, it worked. Despite that, Kuroo also actually helped him. Indeed, Kei had asked Kuroo why the older boy would want to help him, an opposing player, to improve his skills and Kuroo himself had also given him his answer in the past, but there’s one thing that Kuroo had said during the match that’s been on Kei’s mind since.
Thank goodness, I wasn't wrong.
When he heard Kuroo say it, Kei couldn't quite figure out what he meant by that. He decided that it wasn’t the right time to overthink it, so he just kept concentrating on the match and would just think about it later. So, here he is right now; Kei finds himself repeating Kuroo’s words again and again in his head. As if reading his mind, his brother, who is currently sitting in front of him, asks something that Kei doesn’t expect.
"Kei, are you, by any chance, close to Nekoma's Kuroo-kun?"
Kei almost chokes on his drink. Akiteru has insisted on treating him to dinner at a burger joint close to their home, and Kei is starting to regret his decision.
Jokes on you, Nii-chan, I don't even know the answer myself, he wants to tell his brother that. Instead, Kei just gives his brother a shrug.
“Is that so? I assumed that you two would be close with the way you guys… interacted. I also saw you smile at him, Kei, and it wasn’t your usual sarcastic smile! A genuine smile that, well, you used to give me in the past. So, I kinda thought that you two must be… close or something,” says Akiteru.
Kei feels his face heat up at what his brother just said. He hates how his brother pointed everything out, especially the smile. Embarrassing, Kei thinks. “Uh, well… he kind of gave me some tips on blocking during the training camp back in summer.”
Akiteru gives him a nod. “It’s really nice to see you becoming friends with people from outside of your school.”
Friends? Is that what he and Kuroo-san are? “I don’t think we’re friends or anything like that, Nii-chan.”
“Are you not? But, I also saw him approaching you after the match! He looks, I don’t know, proud? I can somewhat tell that he is, because I’ve experienced it myself, y’know? Being really proud of you.”
Kei’s eyes widened. Kuroo-san? Being proud of him? Was that what he had meant by ‘not being wrong’?
“Earth to Kei,” says Akiteru, waving his hand in front of Kei’s face.
Kei lets out a sigh. “Nii-chan… actually, I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead, Kei! I may not look like it, but I could give you relationship advice if you want,” says Akiteru with a grin.
Kei could feel a blush creeping up his face at that. He takes one fries from his meal and proceeds to throw it to his brother. His brother only laughs at that. “Sorry, I was just joking!”
The younger Tsukishima sighs and then clears his throat. “So… Like I said earlier, he taught me a lot of things, but mostly about the essentials of blocking, and we practiced together pretty often during the many individual training sessions whenever our respective teams weren’t doing any practice matches. It has been bothering me, and it still kind of does; why would a third year from a different school help a first year from a rival school improve? It just doesn’t make sense. He said that he wanted to make ‘the battle of the trash heap’ come true and therefore he needed us, Karasuno, to win our way through, and yet I can’t help but think about what he had said to me during our match.”
When Kei doesn’t continue, Akiteru asks, “So, what did he say?”
“Well… he said, ‘thank goodness, I wasn’t wrong,’ Nii-chan.”
Kei can see Akiteru’s lip forming an O as the latter’s eyes widen. Akiteru then brings his hand to cover his mouth, stifling a small laugh that Kei can clearly hear. “You’re being very helpful here, Nii-chan.”
Akiteru mutters an apology and proceeds to smile at Kei. “I’m sorry, Kei, but maybe you’re thinking way too much about it? I mean, you and I both probably know already what he actually meant by that, but if you really want an explanation, maybe you can just ask him? Do you not have his number?”
“... I do. He asked for my number on the last day of the summer camp and we have texted a few times since,” says Kei nonchalantly.
“Oh my God! Kei, my brother, have you ever considered that he might be interested in you? That he helped you with your blocking and all because he just feels like it? From your story, it’s actually kind of obvious.”
Kei begins fiddling with his fingers, “Do you think so, Nii-chan?” asks Kei, face flustered.
“I can’t say for sure, but, what about you, Kei?”
What about him?
“What about me?”
“Do you like him?”
Kei blinks at his brother. He takes a sip of his strawberry milkshake, thinking carefully about what he’s going to answer. He closes his eyes and proceeds to think back about these past few months since the Golden Week’s practice match against Nekoma; his first meeting with Kuroo, the training camps, the practice matches, and, while it’s still pretty fresh in his memory, the match against Nekoma at the Nationals.
Kei takes a deep breath before answering. “I think I do. I mean, he’s been very nice to me all this time. Even if he doesn’t feel the same, I still would like to tell him how thankful I am of everything.”
“Kei…” calls Akiteru, Kei can see his brother tearing up but the former quickly wipes it away. “I honestly think he does, and thus, my advice remains; go talk to him.”
“I’ll try, maybe tonight.”
Akiteru smiles at him. “That’s my brother.”
“Thank you for listening, Nii-chan,” Kei smiles back at him, “it’s been a while since we talked about anything that’s not related to volleyball.”
“I’m always all ears whenever you feel like talking, Kei! You know that.”
Kei nods and proceeds to finish the last bite of his burger.
Later that night, Kuroo Tetsuro gets a very long text from someone he doesn’t expect.
From: Tsukki
Hello, Kuroo-san. It’s Tsukishima. When you asked me how volleyball has been for me, I told you that every once in a blue moon, it’s fun, and the battle of the trash heap was definitely one of those. I had so much fun playing against you and your team. I would like to thank you for everything because I wouldn’t be the player that I am today without your help and all. Thank you.
I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve been thinking about what you said to me that day, Kuroo-san. ‘Thank goodness, I wasn’t wrong.’ If you don’t mind, I want you to tell me what you actually meant by that. If it’s too complicated to explain through text, maybe we can talk over the phone or meet up somewhere? It would be very appreciated if you’re willing to explain it to me.
Sorry to text you at this hour, I hope you sleep well tonight.
Tetsuro can’t hold back the smile that’s forming on his lips when he reads the text. He keeps rereading it again and again. He still can’t forget about the loss, but, hey, if there’s any silver lining to his team losing, maybe this is one of them?
“Kuro, stop smiling at your phone already, it’s starting to become unsightly.”
Tetsuro looks at the smaller boy beside him, as the latter’s eyes are already back to only focusing on the screen of his console. Tetsuro gives him a nervous laugh. “Sorry, Kenma, but I think I just hit a jackpot.”
Kenma visibly sighs. “If you think that receiving a text from the guy that you have been crushing on for months is equal to hitting a jackpot, then, sure, you maybe just did.”
Tetsuro feels his face become flustered. “Kenma!”
Kenma shrugs and ignores Tetsuro’s yell. Tetsuro brings up his phone again and starts to type out a reply.