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If there was one thing Tsukishima Kei cursed more than anything, it was god damn morning classes. And not just any old morning class, the ones that start at 8:00am on a Monday morning. The one that was actually compulsory to attend, and failure to do so without a medical certificate will result in immediate failure and a possible re-do of the subject.
Fuck this, Kei thought, dropping his things next to the desk he chose, and pulling out his laptop. If I wanted to be learning stuff this early I’d go back to high school. Scowling to himself, he started it up, and waited for the blue windows login screen to appear.
Someone slid into the seat next to him, and Kei paid them no mind, quickly typing his password in, and opened up the lecture notes, as well as a blank word document. He typed the date and lesson in the header section, and began doing headings for each individual slide.
“Woah, you’re organised.” the person beside him exclaimed, pointing at Kei’s screen with their pen. Kei’s eyes darted over to them, before scowling and shrugging.
“My brother told me this trick, it’s nothing special.”
“It seems like a good one,” the person repeated, “I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, and you are…?”
Kuroo Tetsurou was not what Tsukishima Kei would expect of a classmate. He honestly looked like he just got out of bed. His hair was a mess, sticking up in all directions, defying all forces of gravity Kei thought that he knew (thanks for betraying me, elementary school science class). He wore a red, short sleeved shirt that seemed to be well worn, along with black skinny jeans that looked to be bought that morning (how can anyone like them that stiff?) and some well-loved white joggers. He had this casual sort of grin, and cat like eyes that made Kei feel like he was being watched.
“Tsukishima Kei.” he said shortly, and Kuroo nodded.
Then again, Kei probably wasn’t what most people would expect. Overly neat and organised, yet barely took any notes, and they were all in a code that was incomprehensible by those who didn’t know it. Most of the time he had a few strawberry flavoured lollies in his pocket, ready to be sucked on when he started to get bored. He had headphones looped through his shirt, hiding in the buttons of his collar. He was diligent, yet uninterested most of the time. If he didn’t want to do something, he’d put minimal to no effort in, but by gods grace (or something of similar power and pity on him) he still did well, sometimes even topping the class with his work.
“Nice to meet you, Tsukishima Kei.” He held out his hand, and Kei stared at it, bewildered, and took it only to humour his neighbour.
“You too, I guess…” he turned back to his own work, and ignored Kuroo until the lecturer came, and he finally shut himself up, paying attention fully.
~
It was when Kei was packing his things up that Kuroo Tetsurou bothered him again. Kei was sliding his laptop into his book bag in peace, when Kuroo leaned against his desk, legs blocking Kei’s exit.
“What?” Kei demanded, slinging the strap over his shoulder and putting his legs underneath Kuroo’s, signalling that he wanted to leave. Kuroo’s shoulders faced Kei, whereas the rest of him was facing away. He had that same grin on his face, but it was even wider than usual.
“You want to grab a coffee or something to eat, Tsukishima Kei?”
“No.” Kei flat out refused, kicking his legs up against Kuroo’s, “Move.” Kuroo seemed to get the message, and moved his legs out of the way, but continued to lean against Tsukishima’s desk.
“I’ll see you around then, Tsukki.”
Kei stopped dead in his tracks, and looked back at Kuroo with an unpleasant face. “’Tsukki’?”
Kuroo shrugged, his grin appearing again, “Nickname. Suits you, don’t you think?”
“Don’t call me ‘Tsukki’.” he demanded, before stomping off, not giving Kuroo a chance to say anything back to him.
~
From: Akiteru
how was class????
To: Akiteru
boring. my neighbour is weird tho
From: Akiteru
define weird, ur in college so you have to be specific.
To: Akiteru
im at least 90% sure his hair defies all forces of gravity. he also asked me out for coffee
From: Akiteru
thats not that weird. one of my PROFESSORS came to class on a skateboard once. he was cool
To: Akiteru
i-
From: Akiteru
trust me 10/10 cool dude
To: Akiteru
i’ll talk your word for that then. but ugh im so hungry and i have class in ten minutes why me;--;
From: Akiteru
get a donut or smth u nerd. listen i gotta go but i’ll call you tonight okay???
To: Akiteru
save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
From: Akiteru
have fun ;)
~
Come Wednesday, Kei had his next class with Kuroo Tetsurou, which was a tutorial based on the previous lesson’s work. They were told to split into pairs to work on the questions set on the projector, and unfortunately for Kei, he didn’t know anyone else in the class. Kuroo didn’t either, because he immediately turned to Kei when they were given the instruction.
“Well hello there, neighbour.” he smiled pleasantly, but Kei couldn’t keep the scowl from appearing on his lips. Kuroo laughed, and nudged him, “Your face will get stuck like that if you keep that up.”
“Let’s just do the questions and get out of here.” Kei was not up for socialising with the person he met two days ago, but Kuroo didn’t seem to care about what Kei wanted.
“These are so easy,” Kuroo commented, scratching the answers away at a rapid rate. Kei noted that he didn’t seem to need to think about them at all, he just knew. It was more that could be said for him, as he had the document he typed up on Monday beside his new one, and his answers – compared to Kuroo’s – seemed to be lacking depth. That annoyed him.
“How do you know the answers so quickly?” Kei muttered, and Kuroo’s head turned towards him, and he smirked.
“I’ve already done all of these questions, they’re easy as.”
“You a study freak or something?” Kei asked, typing his own answer to the third one.
“No, I’ve done this subject before, but I failed it.”
Kei felt like laughing a little, but he held it in, “Bombed out on the test?”
Kuroo chuckled at that, and pointed his pencil at Kei, “Nah, it was a week before the test last term, and I was supposed to go to class, but my friend had an anxiety attack and I couldn’t leave him. Since I wasn’t able to supply a medical certificate, I had to redo. And here I am, living the hero life.”
Kei stared at him, “That was kind of you.”
Kuroo put a hand to his chest, “I am always that kind.” Kei snorted, “That was uncalled for.”
“What’s four? It’s not anywhere in my notes.”
Kuroo leaned over to take a look at his notes, and grinned, “No wonder, they’re a bloody cypher. The answer is under slide 30, read it carefully.”
~
To: Akiteru
you remember the weird guy I sit next to in one of my classes right
From: Akiteru
vaguely, why?
To: Akiteru
hes redoing the subject we’re in together. also, his hair is a bedhead and a disaster, I’ve been informed
From: Akiteru
oh my god really????? you said it was like a scallop on the phone im crying :’D
To: Akiteru
and hes kinda nice too idk
From: Akiteru
that's a first
To: Akiteru
whats that supposed to mean
From: Akiteru
nothing~
~
Kei ran into Kuroo Tetsurou at a coffee shop.
He went in to order something to keep him from passing out before midday, and bumped into Kuroo on his way out. Kuroo gave Kei a big grin, and asked him to wait while he grabbed his coffee, and Kei couldn’t exactly refuse, as they had their next class together anyway. Damn Monday mornings. God damn them.
He was surprisingly quick, and didn’t leave Kei a second longer than he needed, dragging Kei by his free hand away from the shop. Kei’s only choice was to run with him, attempting not to drop his coffee in the process.
“Do we have to run? I think I'm gonna pass out from exhaustion.” Kei complained loudly, and Kuroo dropped his pace, running alongside Kei, hands still laced together.
“You need to work out then, this is like, nothing.”
“It’s 7:30 in the morning, I’m not mentally ready for exercise,” Kei pouted, and Kuroo sighed, and stopped abruptly, and Kei followed suit.
“Fine. Only because I wanna drink this.” Kuroo winked, and Kei sighed, taking a sip of his own drink.
It was a nice temperature, and it warmed his body nicely. The more he drunk, the more alert he felt, and the better he felt about going to class. He smiled unconsciously. Kei looked up to see Kuroo staring at him, and he suddenly felt self-conscious.
“What?” he demanded, and Kuroo shook his head, clearly dazed.
“Nothing. Let’s head to class.”
Kuroo began walking, and Kei watched him, before taking a step forward himself.
~
To: Akiteru
ugh
From: Akiteru
ugh?
To: Akiteru
ugh.
From: Akiteru
weird guy do something
To: Akiteru
ughhhhhhhhh
From: Akiteru
lmao what happened
To: Akiteru
hes cute ugh gross
From: Akiteru
lmao nice. you gonna do anything about it?????
To: Kuroo
how does one tell someone they just met that they’re cute
From: Kuroo
you’re cute.
To: Kuroo
???????????????????? wAIT FUCK WRONG PERSON SORRY
From: Kuroo
who do you think is cute???? is it me
To: Akiteru
[New picture message]
From: Akiteru
oh my god rekt
keep me posted kei I wanna know how it goes
To: Akiteru
no
To: Kuroo
no one. go away
From: Kuroo
you texted me ;)))))))))
To: Akiteru
im a good person I don't deserve this
~
Kuroo Tetsurou doesn’t know how to let things up, evidently, because the second he sat in the seat next to Kei, just as he always did, he asked the question.
“Who’s cute, Tsukki?”
Kei ignored him initially, texting complaints to Akiteru, but it wasn’t enough, as Kuroo kept pestering and pestering.
“No one, go away.”
“It’s someone, so just tell me, yeah?”
“No.”
Kuroo shook his head, leaning his face dangerously close to Kei’s. “You know how you asked me how to tell someone that they’re cute? I can teach you.” Kei turned his face away, and Kuroo grabbed his chin, and guided it back, “You’re cute.”
“Huh?” Kei could feel his face heat up, and Kuroo repeated what he said.
“You’re cute, Tsukishima Kei.”
Normally he wouldn’t have believed it was sincere. In fact, he is still having a little trouble believing it, but there was one thing that wasn’t always there. An honest-to-god smile that reached his eyes, and caused ever so tiny dimples appear in his cheeks. Kei could feel his face burning.
“No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are. You are very cute.”
“Kuroo-“
“Tsukishima Kei, can I kiss you?” Kuroo asked politely.
Kei tried to pull away, “But there are people-“
Kuroo let go of his chin, “It doesn’t have to be here. It can be after class. Or at a café. Or somewhere, whatever makes you comfortable.”
“Not here.” Kei agreed, looking away from him in embarrassment. “Somewhere else.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Y-yeah.” Kei said, and he spared at glance over to Kuroo, who still had his smile, but it seemed wider, somehow, and happier. He smiled down at his notes, and Kei couldn’t help but feel a rush of affection towards him. He’s a bit weird, but it’s okay, Kei guesses.
~
To: Akiteru
nailed it.
From: Akiteru
nice