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Five days. It’s been five days since Tetsurou last saw the cute barista guy in his favorite café – it’s definitely not his favorite because the cute barista guy. No, absolutely not. That would be nonsense.
Okay, maybe it is.
But really, can anybody blame him? Who wouldn’t crush on this guy? He’s tall – even taller than Tetsurou, which is something, considering he’s tall as fuck. He’s gorgeous – his blond hair shines gold when the afternoon sunlight floods the café with golden rays, and his eyes are the most gorgeous honey-color Tetsurou has ever seen. He’s smart – he always has a witty remark for shitty costumers, and he’s very clever as well. Tetsurou can hear from his usual seat near the cash register as he outsmarts his coworkers and laughs loudly at their stupidity every day.
Oh, how Tetsurou wishes he could see him laughing like that! But he doesn’t even smile when he’s working, not even that fake-ass customer service smile he’s supposed to wear. For that, Tetsurou settles for only listening to the beautiful, if a little smug laugh when he’s given the opportunity.
He has written his phone number on a piece of napkin many times before, and even planned what he would say to the cute barista when he gave it to him, but so far he’s always chickened out last minute. Usually, he’s confident in himself, and can ask somebody out without any struggles, but something about this guy makes him act like an awkward teenager.
This Monday he walked into the café with every intention to finally talk to him, but to his shock and surprise he wasn’t working that day. The same thing happened on Tuesday, on Wednesday, and yesterday as well. Today is the fifth day in a row that he’s not here, and Tetsurou can’t help but be afraid that he doesn’t work here anymore at all.
Maybe he found a better place, a job that pays more, or something. Tetsurou dreads that possibility. If the guy is gone from here, there’s no way Tetsurou can ever find him again.
“Next!” The ginger barista calls, pulling Tetsurou out of his thoughts.
Great, he thinks. This guy always fucks up my order.
“Welcome to Five Crows Café, what can I get you?” The guy asks with a huge grin on his face as Tetsurou steps forward. He wonders if this is the barista’s customer-service smile – but honestly, it seems too genuine for that. But he always smiles like this. Who has this much happy energy? Tetsurou definitely doesn’t.
“Oh, wait, you’re a regular! Kuroo, right?” He starts searching in the small stash of post-it notes right next to the cash register. Tetsurou nods. “Yeah, I have your usual here. Is that what you want?”
“Yes, please,” Tetsurou says.
The barista nods. “Okay, anything else?” Tetsurou shakes his head. “Alright, take a seat and someone will bring it to your table.”
“Thank you.” Kuroo moves out of the line making place for the person behind him.
He’s happy to see that his usual seat isn’t taken. He throws himself on the chair and groans as quietly as possible so the other costumers in the shop don’t think of him like some weirdo. But then again, he’s done worse things in public than groaning – but if possible, he’d like to avoid of thinking about those things.
The thing is, he doesn’t even know the cute barista guy’s name. None of the workers wear nametags here and it drives Tetsurou crazy. The cute barista guy his name, probably knows his usual order by heart at this point – he’s been coming to this café for months now, after all – and he doesn’t even know what’s his name! Seems very unfair in Tetsurou’s humble opinion.
Maybe he should ask the ginger guy. They all seem to know each other pretty well, maybe he could tell him his name. Or maybe why he isn’t here right now – on a second thought, that seems too private to share with random customers.
And anyway, wouldn’t it be weird if he just asked the ginger guy about his co-worker? There’s no logical explanation for why Tetsurou would want to know anything about him. Who knows, maybe he’ll even kick him out of the café for good. Okay, maybe not, he seems too kind for that. But the other guy, who’s usually in the back, with black hair and imitating scowl definitely would.
After a few minutes the ginger barista is approaching him with a tray in his hands and his usual smile on his lips.
“Hi,” he greets Tetsurou, although they’ve already met before. “Here’s your cinnamon latte, with extra sugar. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thank you,” Tetsurou says.
The guy turns to leave, but without thinking about it first, Tetsurou stops him.
“Uhm, sorry.”
Damnit, why did I do that? What do I say now?
The guy turns back with wide eyes. “Is something wrong with the order?”
Tetsurou hurries to shake his head – although he hasn’t even tasted the coffee yet – and the barista seems relieved by that. He looks at Tetsurou curiously, waiting for him to say whatever he wants. But now Kuroo feels bad, because he doesn’t really want to ask him about his colleague, but he had spoken before he thought it through, and now he has to come up with something to say if he doesn’t want to make a clown out of himself and waste the barista’s time completely.
But if he thinks about it, maybe it’s his perfect opportunity to get to know something about the guy. Perhaps not just the perfect, but the only one. But does he want to risk getting kicked out in order to maybe get some information about the cute barista?
Actually, seriously thinking about it, yes. Yes, he does. He’d rather give up the best damn coffee in this part of the city than live in the dark forever. Even if the ginger guy doesn’t tell him anything, at least Tetsurou has tried, right?
“I wanted to ask about the other barista. The blond one.”
The guy’s eyes light up and his jaw drops. Before Tetsurou knows, he’s taken the seat on the other chair that belongs to Tetsurou’s table, and he slams his hands on the surface, almost making the coffee spill. The barista doesn’t seem to care.
He beams. “Are you asking about Tsukishima?”
Tsukishima. So, that’s his name? It’s pretty. It fits him a lot. Kuroo has the urge to say it out loud, just to see how it rolls on his tongue, but he restricts himself. That would be weird, way too weird.
Well, not weirder than the barista being very clearly happy about a random stranger asking about his colleague. What’s with that, anyway?
“I guess?” Tetsurou responds, trying his hardest to act nonchalant. “I don’t know his name.”
The barista slams himself in the forehead. “Right, we don’t have nametags. I told Yachi we should have nametags, but she said they’re unnecessary. Ugh. Anyway, I’m Hinata, the blond guy is Tsukishima, the angry looking one with black hair is Kageyama, green hair with freckles is Yamaguchi and the blond girl who only comes in like once a week to check on us is Yachi.”
That was quite of an information dump that Tetsurou definitely needs more time to process. He totally doesn’t remember the names. This one is Hinata, right? And the cute barista is Tsukishima. Honestly, that’s all that he needs to know.
Hinata continues without missing a beat. “Why do you ask about Tsukishima? Do you want to ask him out on a date?”
Okay, wow, that Tetsurou has not expected. Why would Hinata assume something like that? And even if he assumes that, why would he just ask it like that?
Tetsurou blinks a few times, trying to find an appropriate answer – he does want to ask him out, but should he really just say it like this?
“Uhm-
“Please say yes, I literally I can’t take his pining anymore. I even offered him money if he asked you out, but he refused.” Hinata puts. “He’s so annoying, I swear to god. He’s a smartass and he kept on calling us idiots when Kageyama and I were trying to figure out our feelings for each other, we’re dating, by the way, but now he won’t even let me bully him for having a crush on you, because it doesn’t affect him!” He sounds so offended; he’s straight out whining.
But barely any of his words register in Tetsurou’s mind – the only things he can focus on are pining and for having a crush on you. He feels his cheeks heat up, he knows that he’s blushing furiously at the moment, but he can’t do anything to stop it.
Tsukishima, the cute, gorgeous barista Tetsurou’s been pining over for literal months has a crush on him? And the pining has been mutual this entire time?
No, this cannot be real, this is just a joke.
But Hinata still hasn’t stopped talking, although Tetsurou has no idea what he’s babbling about, and he doesn’t show any clues of lying. He’s just smiling and sometimes frowning, he makes big hand gestures and raises his voice every once in a while – he seems genuine.
But if he’s being serious, that means…
“Wait, wait, wait,” he interrupts Hinata, holding his hands up. “He has a crush on me?”
Hinata’s complexion suddenly goes incredibly pale, he slams both his hands against his mouth and the previous enthusiastic shine is replaced by fear and worry in his eyes.
“Damnit, I wasn’t supposed to say that,” he admits, even more color leaving his face. “He’s going to kill me.”
Tetsurou would gladly laugh on this situation if he weren’t still thinking about the previous things that Hinata said. He’s still unable to process that Tsukishima has a crush on Tetsurou and has been pining over him this whole time. No, he definitely can’t believe it. It feels like a sick joke, a fever dream.
But the honest fear on Hinata’s face is clear evidence that it’s true.
Suddenly it hits him – the cute guy he has a crush on him. The cute guy has a crush on him!
He doesn’t know what he’s done in his previous life to deserve such fantastic news, but he’s thankful for it. The only thing left is to find out when he’s coming back to work. Or his phone number, that would be even better. Now that Tetsurou knows that Tsukishima isn’t indifferent towards him, he feels very brave out of the blue, and wants to ask him out immediately.
Hinata has started rambling again, this time he’s talking about the gruesome ways Tsukishima is going to murder him when he finds out that he’s revealed his secret to his crush of all people.
“Man, I’m such a terrible friend! How could I do this to him?” He raises his eyes at Tetsurou and leans closer to him. “You can’t tell him I told you, this needs to stay between the two of us. Promise me you won’t tell on me.”
Ah, there’s a good possibility, he thinks, happy that his brain can fully function again.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut,” he says slowly, articulating every single word nicely. Hinata releases a deep breath, and he closes his eyes. Tetsurou can only imagine the type of relief that must be washing over him right now. Too bad he’s about to end it so fast. “On one condition.”
Hinata’s face falls again, concerns seeping back on his features. “What condition? I can’t grant you free coffee for life. I might be the owner, but my hands are tied.”
Well, that’s a surprise.
“You’re the owner?”
He wouldn’t have taken this guy for a business-owner. Maybe Tetsurou shouldn’t judge people without getting to know them first. After all, the coffee is popular and is doing well, so Hinata must be doing something right.
“Yeah? Co-owner, actually. All five of us are. We don’t have equal parts, but we all have ownership over it. It’s fair to everyone involved.”
Okay, that makes a lot of sense, even if Tetsurou would’ve never guessed it on his own. It’s always been the five of them working here. There’s never been new staff or even hiring posters. And now even the name of the place makes sense. Well, part of it. Five Crows. Five for the five owners – and probably friends. He has no clue why crows of all animals, but maybe he can ask about that later. Maybe during a date with Tsukishima? That would be truly amazing.
“Cool,” Kuroo answers. “But no, I don’t want free coffee.”
Hinata tilts his head, confused. “Then what do you want?”
“Tsukishima’s number,” he states simply. He wonders if he should’ve asked about the time Tsukishima’s going to be back in the café, but it’s too late for that now. Now that he knows that Tsukishima is a co-owner of this place, at least he can be sure that he hasn’t changed occupations.
Hinata’s eyes widens. “You what? Why?”
There’s some familiar, but at the same time completely unknown confidence bubbling in his chest – just the thought that he’s this close to be able to ask his crush out boosting his confidence to no ends.
“You asked if I wanted to ask him out. The answer’s yes. And since I don’t know when he’s coming back to work…” He leaves the sentence open, expecting Hinata to finish it in his head.
Hinata’s jaw drops at that, not hiding his surprise at all. “You serious?”
Tetsurou nods. “Yes. Very.”
You have no idea how fucking serious I am Hinata. I don’t think I’ve ever been more serious about anything in my entire life.
He needs to ask Tsukishima out. He has to. He feels like he would auto combust if he didn’t.
Hinata beams again, reaching for a napkin under Tetsurou’s plate and the pen that’s clipped to the top of his apron. He digs his phone out from his pocket and starts writing the number, careful, double-checking every character.
“His exams start next months, so he took off a few weeks to prepare,” Hinata explains as he scribbles the numbers.
Ah, he’s in university! I knew he was smart.
Hinata checks it one more time to be sure it’s correct, then hands the napkin to Tetsurou. “Text him, don’t call, he hates phone calls. If he asks, you didn’t get it from me, okay?”
Tetsurou nods, taking the napkin from Hinata’s hand. “Deal,” he agrees.
“Hey, dumbass!” The angry-looking guy – Kage-who? – is standing at the register, looking at Hinata with his hands on his hips. “Stop bothering the customers and get back to work.”
“Gimme a second, you moron, I’ll be there!”
Tetsurou lifts his eyebrows. “Didn’t you just say you’re dating?” Hinata nods, a soft smile appearing on his face. “Your petnames are weird.”
Hinata laughs. “Old habits from high school.” He shrugs, then he looks Tetsurou deep in the eyes. “Next time I’m working is Monday, and I know you’ll be here, so that’s your deadline. I’ll throw you out if you don’t ask him out by then.”
With that, not even waiting for a response from Tetsurou, he stands and leaves. “Tobio!” He shouts as he makes his way to register. “You won’t believe what I just did!”
Tetsurou is left speechless at the table, with a probably cold coffee. Has just this guy really given him an ultimatum? How nice of him. Good thing Tetsurou wasn’t planning on waiting until Monday – he’ll text Tsukishima the moment he arrives home.
He can’t wait to get home.
Tetsurou has written, deleted, rewritten, deleted again, rephrased, deleted the message a hundred times in the past few minutes. All the confidence he felt in the café have left him the moment he stepped inside his apartment, slopped on the couch and started writing. The messages are lame. Way too lame. Tsukishima might not reject him for not liking him back, but he will definitely reject him for a poorly written text.
Or maybe that’s stupid and Tetsurou’s overthinking it.
But the thing is, he’s been staring at the lastest message he wrote, still unsent, for about a minute now. It seems fine. But he doesn’t want fine. He wants a message that…
Well, he doesn’t even know what type of message he wants. It definitely shouldn’t be flirty; he doubts Tsukishima would appreciate that. But he can’t just send him a simple, “Hi, I’m Kuroo, a regular from the café, wanna go on a date?”. That sounds more like a recipe for a disaster rather than anything else.
The front door opens.
“I’m home!” Bokuto yells, loud as ever, before he shuts the door with a bit more strength than he should.
“Welcome home!” Tetsurou calls, but he doesn’t move from the couch. He doesn’t even look up from his phone.
He deletes the message. He needs to think of something else.
Bokuto’s head appears in the doorway of the living room, eyes bright as ever, with a huge grin on his eyes.
“Can Keiji come over for- Hey, why do you look so stressed?”
His expression becomes more serious as he walks closer to Tetsurou and sits on the couch right next to him.
Tetsurou groans, leans back and rests his head on the back of the couch.
“I got the cute barista’s name and phone number from one of his co-workers.
Bokuto turns to him with such force that Tetsurou almost drops his phone on the ground. But Bokuto doesn’t seem to care about it, he’s staring jaw-dropped, wide eyes at Tetsurou like he has just given him the best news in the whole damn world.
“Then why the hell aren’t you jumping for joy or something?” He asks incredulously. “This is perfect, you can finally ask him out! What’s his name?”
“Tsukishima.” Kuroo sits back up. “But I don’t know what to do! The other barista said to text, not call, but I don’t know what to write.”
Bokuto tilts his head. “Say hi. Then introduce yourself. Maybe apologize for texting him like this. And then ask him out. That’s it. It’s not science or something.”
Tetsurou gives him an unimpressed look. “You realize I have a degree in chemistry, right? I wish it was science!”
“I said science. Physics is science, too, and you suck in physics.”
“Whatever. My point stands still.”
Bokuto rolls his eyes – which alarms Tetsurou about many things. Bokuto hardly ever gets annoyed – he’s usually the one annoying people – and never at Tetsurou. So, this right now raises a few questions in his head.
“You’ve been pining over that barista for months, Kuroo. If you don’t ask him out, I will do it for you.”
Bokuto would definitely do something like that. Hell, he’s done it before. Back in high school, in their third year when Bokuto was the captain of his volleyball team, he asked out one of his teammates in the name of another teammate, because, “I can’t deal with their pining anymore. It is my gods-given duty as a captain to solve this problem.”.
The two guys have been together ever since. In fact, they’re married, their wedding was last month and Bokuto, as Konoha’s best man, gave a very long, very stupid speech about the couple, and he put a lot of emphasis to the fact that it was him that had made this entire thing – the wedding, the relationship, everything – possible.
Tetsurou had never seen Akaashi so embarrassed in his life.
For this exact reason, Tetsurou unlocks his phone, and starts typing again. He doesn’t want Bokuto to start navigating his non-existent love life.
“That’s what I thought,” Bokuto says, and Tetsurou doesn’t need to see him to know that there’s a smug smile on his face, and he’s watching Tetsurou enthusiastically, waiting to be done with his text.
All he manages is “Hi,” and that really isn’t all that he’s supposed to send. But what more should he write? He should introduce himself, that’s for sure. He might have Tsukishima’s number, but Tsukishima doesn’t have his. It would be strange, getting a text from an unknown number that only says hi.
“For fuck’s sake,” Bokuto groans, grabs Tetsurou’s phone, and before he knows it, Bokuto presses the send button.
“Hey! That was uncool!”
Bokuto shrugs, handing back the phone to Tetsurou. “And you were acting lame.”
He stands from the couch, stretching his back and arms. “Imma start dinner, Keiji’s coming over. I strongly suggest that by the time he gets here you have a date settled, or you’re not getting food.”
Tetsurou pouts. “Unfair! What if he doesn’t even reply?”
But Bokuto’s already out of the living room, not even sparing a glance at his suffering friend. “Not my problem!”
Tetsurou groans. Although he knows that Bokuto wouldn’t let him starve, and even if he did, Tetsurou knows how to cook, even the idea of not getting dinner is upsetting. Bokuto, as unbelievable as it is, is a fantastic cook, if it were possible Tetsurou would eat his food forever. And especially now that Akaashi’s coming over, Tetsurou knows that Bokuto’s going to make sure that whatever he’s cooking, it’s perfect.
But it’s unfair of Bokuto to threaten him with that! The possibility of Tsukishima not even texting back is huge – after all, all Tetsurou (or more like Bokuto) sent him was “Hi”. Tetsurou knows that he himself wouldn’t reply to a message like that. Hell, maybe he’d even block the number.
He takes a deep breath.
Well, there’s nothing he can do about it now.
It’s four hours and a missed dinner later that Tetsurou receives a message. He’s chilling in the living room with Bokuto and Akaashi, talking about everything and nothing. Akaashi is telling them about this new job offer he got as a manga editor that he could get after his graduation this year. Bokuto’s swallowing up every word his boyfriend says, eyes shining, a happy smile on his face, arms firmly around his waist that results in a permanent blush on Akaashi’s cheeks – the two of them are so disgustingly in love, it’s almost sickening.
At the sound of his phone pinging, Bokuto turns his head towards Tetsurou.
“If it’s the cute barista guy, you can have leftovers.”
“Tch. Like you didn’t save a portion for me.”
Bokuto purses his lips. “I didn’t.”
“He did,” Akaashi adds.
“’Kaashi, you’re supposed to be on my side!”
Tetsurou checks his phone, but he doesn’t hope that it’s Tsukishima. Four hours isn’t a long time, but it was long enough for Tetsurou to abandon all hope about getting a reply.
That’s why his eyes open wide as he sees that the sender of the message is Tsukishima.
“Oh, it is him!” Bokuto exclaims, crawling over the couch to peek at Tetsurou’s phone over his shoulder. “Come on, open it!”
He’s a bit scared to open it, but he doesn’t want to risk Bokuto grabbing his phone again and opening it himself. So, he swallows hard and taps on the new message icon.
Tsukishima: Who’s this?
Well, it’s not like he hasn’t expected something like this. It’s probably the most normal reaction in this situation.
“Okay, good start,” Bokuto declares. “Tell him you’re you, the love of his life, his future husband and you wanna ask him on a date.”
Tetsurou feels himself getting a bit sick. Why does Bokuto have ideas like that? It’s almost like he wants Tsukishima to reject Tetsurou’s invitation for a date.
Except, Tetsurou knows he doesn’t, he only wants the best for Tetsurou. Even if sometimes his ways are weird, his intentions are always pure.
“Maybe that’s a bit too much, Kou,” Akaashi says, and only now does Tetsurou notice that he as is staring at his phone as well.
Ignoring both of his friends’ words, Tetsurou starts typing.
Kuroo Tetsurou: I’m Kuroo from the café.
“A bit lame, but I guess it’ll do,” Bokuto says.
Tetsurou presses the send button, and watches as the circle next to it fills with color, signaling that it has been delivered. He doesn’t have time to think or do anything, as the word “Seen” appears almost immediately under his text.
And then a moment later Tsukishima is typing.
“Wait,” Tetsurou stands, locking his phone and dropping it on the couch.
He walks over the coffee table and starts pacing up and down, Bokuto and Akaashi both following him with their eyes. “What if he doesn’t even know who I am?”
“You’re a regular,” Akaashi points out. “He takes your order every day.”
“And? That doesn’t mean he knows who I am! Maybe I’m just the tall guy with bedhead who orders cinnamon latte with extra sugar every day.”
“He writes your name on the cup,” Akaashi retorts, voice as calm as always.
The soothing voice of his friends often manages to calm Tetsurou’s running thoughts, but this time it doesn’t. He can’t get rid of the feeling that-
His phone pings. Then again. Then for a third time.
“Oho!” Bokuto yells. “Somebody’s eager.”
He grabs Tetsurou’s phone and hands it out for him, but Tetsurou doesn’t take it.
“Kuroo, if you don’t check it right now, I will, and I will ask him out in your name. But I’m not taking responsibility for how I’m going to do that.”
Tetsurou frowns but takes his phone from Bokuto’s hand.
“You’re horrible. Why am I friends with you?”
Bokuto’s satisfied grin makes Tetsurou roll his eyes. He repeats his motions from before; he swallows hard, unlocks his phone carefully, then goes to his messages and taps on Tsukishima’s name.
Please know who I am, please know who I am, please know who I am.
Tsukishima: How do you have my number?
Tsukishima: Actually, Hinata gave it to you, didn’t he?
Tsukishima: Sorry if he was pushy.
“He’s apologizing!”
“What?” Bokuto and Akaashi ask at the same time. Under normal circumstances Bokuto would start cooing over this, saying that they’re soulmates, but the situation at hand makes him more serious than usually.
“I think he thinks the ginger gave me his number without me asking for it,” he explains, only hoping he’s reading the situation correctly.
“Well, then tell him that you asked for it, and you wanna ask him out! Do I have to put every word in your mouth?”
Tetsurou huffs. “Fuck you, Bo. I’m at a crisis here, be a bit more understanding!”
Bokuto slumps back in the couch with a deep sigh. Akaashi rolls his eyes at his boyfriend’s behavior, but Bokuto doesn’t notice it.
“Remember what you did to me when I was too scared to ask ‘Kaashi out?”
Tetsurou does. He remembers it very well. He admits he was a bit unfair – or more like, a total asshole – but to his defense, he just couldn’t take it anymore. As much as Bokuto loves playing wingman for his friends, he’s always been horrible at managing his own love life.
But truth to be told, what he did was very not cool. His intentions were good, but his deeds were more than questionable. He regretted doing it a moment after it had happened.
For weeks after that Tetsurou kept on apologizing to Bokuto, even though he had never been mad at him, especially because at the end everything turned out fine.
And now here they are, happy, Bokuto is planning on proposing after Akaashi’s graduation, and they’re the most perfect couple Tetsurou has ever seen. Lucky bastards.
Still, he felt horrible after the incident. He still feels bad when he thinks about it.
“Okay, don’t go all guilty on me now, we’re cool, bro,” Bokuto assures him, probably seeing on his face that the memory of that event still leaves a bitter taste in Tetsurou’s mouth. “All I’m saying is that you went all out on me three years ago, so now I’m going all out on you as well. So, stop being a big baby and text him back, will ya?”
Akaashi shifts closer to Bokuto, leaning on his shoulder.
“I’m gonna give you an ultimatum,” he says and Tetsurou groans.
“Again? This is gonna be the third one today.”
Akaashi ignores him, as he does so many times. “I’ll have my exams soon, meaning I won’t be coming over like this for a while. You said he has his exams in a few weeks, too, right? Here’s my deal. Next time I’m coming over, I’m picking him up from wherever he lives and we’re doing a double date.”
Bokuto starts nodding like one of those toys people put in their cars.
Tetsurou huffs. “Oh, great. Hinata wants me to ask him out by Monday, Bokuto threatened me with no dinner if I don’t text him, and now you want me not only to start dating him in one month but also get close enough to invite him over and have a double date with you guys.” Akaashi nods, smiling slyly. “I feel betrayed.”
Both Bokuto and Akaashi just nod. Tetsurou watches them through his eyelashes for a moment, before he retreats, and rereads Tsukishima’s messages.
What is he supposed to text back?
If this wasn’t Tsukishima, just a random guy he wanted to ask out, what would he do? Or, to be more specific – if this cute, gorgeous guy didn’t make all his confidence and cockiness disappear from a moment to another, how would he ask him out?
Probably he’d just say the first thing that comes to his mind, hoping it’s not too stupid to make him reject him immediately.
Maybe he should do that now, too. Just text the first thing that comes to mind. That’d be the most authentic solution.
Kuroo Tetsurou: He wasn’t pushy, I asked for your number
This time Tsukishima doesn’t see the message immediately.
“So?” Bokuto asks with a grin on his face.
“I told him I asked for his number.”
Bokuto throws his hands in the air triumphantly as his smile grows even broader. “Great! I bet he’ll want to know why, and then there’s your chance to ask him out. Easy-peasy.”
Easy-peasy my ass!
His phone pings – he knows who it is without even checking.
Tsukishima: Why?
“What did he write?” Bokuto’s quite literally bouncing with excitement, making Akaashi pull away from his shoulder with a pout. But then he looks at Tetsurou with the same curiosity as Bokuto does, though a bit less enthusiastically.
“He asked why,” he answers.
“See? I told you. I’m a psychic.”
“Sure, you are,” Tetsurou tells him, but he doesn’t really pay attention anymore.
He’s already typing his answer. He needs to, if he waits or overthinks it, he’s going to chicken out. That can’t happen. This might be his only chance to ask his crush out – he sure as hell would never go back to the café after today ever again – and he’s not about to miss it. He needs to get this over with, he needs to type the text, then press the send button without thinking about it twice.
He doesn’t even reread to sentence for possible typos, he just sends it as it is.
Kuroo Tetsurou: I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me
He does reread it after the message is delivered – and maybe he should’ve phrased himself a bit better. So, since Tsukishima hasn’t seen it yet, he quickly types another text, to clarify his intentions.
Kuroo Tetsurou: On a date
A second after the second message is sent as well, Tsukishima sees the text.
Tetsurou panics. He locks his phone and throws it on the couch. He doesn’t pay attention, so it almost collides with Akaashi’s knee.
“Sorry,” he apologizes. He starts pacing again, walking up and down in the small space.
His heart is beating just a bit too fast for his liking. Was this a mistake? Maybe he shouldn’t have done it. If Tsukishima says no, he can’t ever go back to the café, it would be way too awkward for the both of them.
Or maybe only for Tetsurou. After all, Tsukishima is gorgeous, it wouldn’t be surprising if random costumers asked him out daily. Perhaps he’ll just say no and continue living his life like nothing has happened, not even batting an eyelash when Tetsurou walks into the café the next time.
Damn, why isn’t it possible to remove messages?
“Kuroo, would you stop? All’s fine,” Bokuto assures him on a friendly, soothing voice, though it does nothing to calm Tetsurou’s nerves.
“No. I shouldn’t have done this, I-
“Kuroo-san, not for nothing,” Akaashi interrupts him. “But you said it yourself that Hinata-san told you that Tsukishima-san has a crush on you and has been pining after you this whole time. What are you even afraid of? There’s no way he’s going to say no.”
Why does Akaashi have to be the voice of reason all the fucking time? Tetsurou hates that he’s always right.
Because he knows that logically speaking, Akaashi’s right. Everything points to Tsukishima saying yes. Most people Tetsurou knows would be ecstatic if their crush asked them out – Tetsurou himself included – and no way they’d say no. So, why would Tsukishima be the exception? Of course, there’s a chance that he is the exception but…
But Tetsurou can’t actually be that unlucky, can he?
“It’s been like five minutes, why hasn’t he answered yet?” He asks instead of answering Akaashi. (Even though he knows that not-answering is an answer by itself.)
“It hasn’t been five minutes,” Akaashi says. He rolls his eyes. “Relax, he’ll answer. Maybe he hasn’t even seen-
“Yes, he has. That’s why I threw my phone. I panicked.”
Bokuto purses his lip. “Give him some time, maybe he’s having a meltdown just like you.”
Tetsurou pouts. “I am not having a meltdown.”
“You sure about that? To me it looks like you are.”
Tetsurou folds his arms in front of his chest and frowns a bit more.
“It’s not a meltdown, it’s a perfectly normal reaction in this situation.”
“Yeah, but not for you! You never act like this!”
Bokuto thinks Tetsurou doesn’t know that? He’s perfectly aware that he isn’t acting like himself at all – he’s behaving like an awkward teenager after they squeezed their confession letter to their crush’s locker in those shitty American movies. But he can’t help it.
What he can do, however, is getting rid of the glances his two friends are throwing at him right now, weird mixes of worry and amusement.
“You know what? I’m not listening to this anymore. I’m going to have a shower. And I’m gonna take my time. So don’t plan on sexy times in the shower. I’m not gonna hurry because of your horny asses.”
He shouts the last bit from his bedroom that he has walked into while talking, gathering his pajamas.
“Our shower is way too small to have sex in there, Kuroo!” Bokuto yells back, but Tetsurou’s already in the bathroom. He closes the door behind himself so he doesn’t have to answer.
He only has one problem – he left his phone in the living room, which means he can’t listen to music while having a pity party in the shower cabin.
Fuck.
He really wanted to stay here for a long time and have a hot shower to release at least some of the tension of the day, but this way he can’t. He’ll grow too bored, and his thoughts are going to be free to wander in the quiet, so he won’t be able to enjoy this as much as he wanted to. Still, it’s better than having his phone in here with him. He’d be notified about Tsukishima’s next message immediately, and he’s not ready for that yet.
It's about twenty minutes later – if he had to guess, but maybe it’s been longer – when Tetsurou finally emerges from the bathroom. Bokuto’s room is right opposite to the bathroom, and if the light seeping out from under the door and the quiet noises coming from the room are anything to go by, Bokuto and Akaashi have decided they have had enough of Tetsurou’s crisis, and it was time for them to take off.
Not that Tetsurou wants to know. With how thin the walls are in this apartment, he’ll be very aware of their activities soon enough. He can’t even count how many times he’s heard Bokuto moan as loudly as he shouts on the court or Akaashi cry out in pleasure.
(Definitely not the noises he’d want to hear his best friends make, but there’s nothing he can do about it, really. He can’t just tell Bokuto to stop having sex. That’d be unfair.)
He walks to the living room. His phone is on the coffee table, with a blue post-it note sticked on it.
he hasn’t replied yet :( sorry bro
Fantastic. He checks his messages just to be sure – since he doesn’t know how long ago did Bokuto and Akaashi go to their room – but as expected, there are no new texts.
Maybe there won’t be new texts at all.
Tsukishima saw the message immediately after Tetsurou had sent them, but he hasn’t responded ever since. He doesn’t only not want to go on that date, but he’s also ignoring Tetsurou. He wishes he at least told him no explicitly. That way he could accept it and move on, but he knows that this way a tiny pang of hope will continue living in his chest for a while.
Tetsurou releases a deep sigh. He really shouldn’t have texted him.
He walks to the kitchen, with all the intention to eat the food Bokuto saved for him, but instead he reaches for the ice cream in the freezer. Bokuto bought this, and Tetsurou doesn’t like the flavor, but it’ll do. He feels pathetic and eating ice cream will make him feel even more pathetic – so it’s the perfect thing to devour right now.
He’s eaten the entire box of that awful pistachio ice cream, he’s watched that dumb Netflix movie Yaku told him to watch ages ago – and it was just as bad as Yaku said it was – and he even played a few rounds of a new game with Kenma. He lost all of them, but at least it managed to take his mind off certain things.
But now, in the middle of the night, laptop and video chat turned off, as he’s getting ready to go to bed, he can’t help but think about Tsukishima, who still hasn’t answered. Not that Tetsurou’s expecting him to do anymore. Tsukishima’s intentions are very clear, he doesn’t want to go on a date, and it’s fine. But that doesn’t mean Kuroo isn’t sad about it.
He is. He very much is. Not only he’s been rejected, he also can’t go to his favorite café anymore. He should’ve just kept his crush a secret forever, deny everything when Hinata asked about it, and pine over Tsukishima forever. That way he still could’ve watched him from afar, be in awe of his golden hair and have his heart skip a beat when he heard him laugh in the back where he probably assumed nobody could hear him but his friends.
But now Tetsurou has none of that.
He hugs his blanket tight to his chest, missing the plushies he used to sleep with at home, and regretting that he hadn’t brought any of them with him when he moved here. He should’ve. He really should’ve. Hugging a blanket doesn’t have the same effect as squeezing his decades old plush kitten to his chest.
He closes his eyes, but he knows that despite the tiredness that caught up to him while he was playing with Kenma, he won’t sleep for a while. His mind is crazy awake, coming up with more and more what if and I should’ve ideas in every second, not leaving Tetsurou to rest even for a moment.
How could he be so dumb to think this could work? He should’ve been smarter. Thinking before speaking has never been one of his strong suits, but only this once maybe he could’ve been more careful.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
A notification on his phone stops his swirling thoughts for a moment. It’s a text – and who the fuck is texting him at two in the morning? There are only three people who’d ever do that. One of them is Bokuto, who is in the next room, probably in the middle of a sex marathon with Akaashi; the other one is Kenma, who he talked to like thirty minutes ago and probably thinks that Tetsurou’s asleep already; and the third one is Yaku, who’s currently in Russia with Lev on a vacation. Any of them texting him right now is basically impossible.
So, he takes his phone, and checks it, only to drop it on the ground when he sees the name on the screen.
It’s Tsukishima.
He forgets how to breathe for a moment. He quickly reaches for his phone, blinking rapidly a few times to make sure his vision is clear and isn’t playing any tricks on him. But no, there it is, Tsukishima’s name displayed clearly among some other notifications of his social media and the games on his phone.
Tsukishima answered.
He replied!
Tetsurou has never understood the concept of butterflies flying around in one’s stomach, but he be damned if that’s not exactly what he feels right now!
Tsukishima texted back!
He wants to call Bokuto – he’s not sure he can look at the message alone – but he knows that he’s having sex with Akaashi at the moment, and he doesn’t want to ruin it for him. So, he takes a deep breath instead.
It doesn’t matter what the text says, at least Tetsurou will have his closure and worst-case scenario he can move on peacefully. (At least that’s what he’s telling himself to calm his rapidly beating heart.)
He holds his finger above the notification, not quite ready to open it just yet, but he scolds himself for it.
Don’t be such a coward! It’s just a text, just open it already!
He finally taps on his screen, and only after a moment there’s the message. He closes his eyes before he could look at it – why am I acting so pathetic? – but after another deep breath, that he exhales for way too long, he finally looks at the text.
Tsukishima: Yes. I’d like that.
It takes Kuroo a few seconds to process what he reads, he even rubs his eyes with his fist. He’s not imagining this, right? Is this really happening?
He refreshes the page, but everything stays the same.
Tsukishima: Yes. I’d like that.
He rereads the message like a million times. Those four words are the best things anybody has ever told him in his life. There are double as much butterflies in his stomach now, he feels them moving around his entire body.
He said yes.
Tsukishima said yes.
He said yes!
Kuroo has half the mind to muffle his scream with a pillow, not wanting to disturb his friends in the other room. When he pulls away, he’s grinning and laughing, and maybe he should feel stupid doing it in the dark, quiet bedroom, alone, but he doesn’t.
His heart doesn’t beat fast because of the fear anymore, it’s pounds at full force because of the excitement. His mind is already going through different scenarios about the date.
He takes a screenshot and sends it to Bokuto – he’ll probably only see it in the morning, but that’s fine.
Except a moment later the door of Bokuto’s room opens with a loud noise as it collides with the wall, and only a second later Bokuto storms into Kuroo’s room without knocking, with a happy grin on his face.
Tetsurou would appreciate the sentiment if Bokuto weren’t completely naked.
He throws the pillow that’s still in his hand at Bokuto.
“What the hell, Bo?” He locks his phone, so the only source of light disappears from the room, leaving them in total darkness.
Not that he hasn’t seen Bokuto naked before, but this is extremely awkward. Akaashi’s probably still in their room, Kuroo assumes just as naked as Bokuto. What’s worse is that Bokuto has definitely left his room while doing sexy stuff with Akaashi, and that is just way too bizarre to think about.
“He said yes, Kuroo! I told you he would! See, I was right!” He sounds so enthusiastic and happy; it would be endearing if the situation were different.
“Yes, yes, he did, Bo. Let’s talk about it the morning, huh?”
Bokuto gasps. “You’re right! I need to get back. I kinda left Keiji tied to the-
“No, I don’t want to know that,” Tetsurou says, throwing another pillow at Bokuto’s direction. “Just go.”
“I’m so happy for you, Kuroo!” Bokuto exclaims, but the end of the sentence is muffled as Bokuto closes Tetsurou’s room behind himself and leaves to get back to Akaashi.
In order to get rid of the scene that’s just occurred in his room, he reaches for his phone and checks the message again and rereads it a few hundred more times.
I should text back, he realizes.
But he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to write, so he doesn’t, not just yet. Instead, he lays back on his back, holding his phone firmly in his hand above his face and stares the message for a while longer.
He knows that he must have the most stupid smile on his face right now, but he doesn’t care at all.
Tsukishima said yes. They’re going on a date.
The unreachable, cute, blond barista that Tetsurou’s been crazy over for months is very much within reach right now, and he can’t even begin to express how that makes him feel. One thing is for sure. He hasn’t felt this happy since he graduated high school.
He bites his lower lip, but he can’t repress the giggle escaping his mouth.
I really am acting like a stupid high schooler.
But he doesn’t care.