Chapter Text
There was music coming from a shop behind them, but the violent rain pouring down right in front of their feet made it impossible for Tsukishima to figure out which song it was. Kuroo and he were both standing underneath a small marquee of a shop at the side of the street, catching their breaths after running through the cold rain for about ten minutes now. Tsukishima peeked out from underneath the small shelter they found and looked up at the dark clouds covering the sky. It was unlikely that it stopped raining for at least a few hours and they were both completely drained since they started running from the station, seeking shelter everywhere they could when the rain was getting unbearable and they ran out of breath or the droplets crowding on Tsukishima’s glasses made it impossible for him to even see where he was going. His thick winter jacket was now heavy and disgustingly sticking to his body, but for some reason it didn’t bother him as much. When he looked back at Kuroo, who was standing close, a little behind him, he was literally steaming. Kuroo glanced at him from the corners of his eyes and laughed quietly, Tsukishima could barely hear the sound, but his lips twitched into a stressed smile when he looked at Kuroo’s hair, now clinging to his forehead and hanging, dripping wet, down over his ears and over his cheekbones. Tsukishima thought he looked a lot younger like this, boyish and handsome, but he would keep this to himself. He looked to the ground, then took off his glasses to wipe his sleeve over it and remove at least the bigger droplets that blurred his vision to distract his eyes.
He picked Kuroo up from the station around an hour ago, they had planned to meet up to study at Tsukishima’s house thanks to Akiteru, since they were always hanging around in a gym, café or family restaurant around Tokyo when Tsukishima went to practice with his brother. How Kuroo ended up getting along with him and joining training on a regular basis was still something Tsukishima didn’t understand and didn’t quite catch up to until they were sitting together in a family restaurant after every training session, when he watched Kuroo stuff as many fries into his mouth as possible. Mostly Tsukishima’s fries. But Akiteru was talking about Kuroo as if it was a blessing every time he stepped onto their university’s training grounds and thanked him for teaching and ”kicking his baby brother’s ass when he needed it most” every time he came to visit. Tsukishima knew it was Akiteru’s way of being thankful for him not giving up and putting an effort into his play despite what happened in their past. Because Tsukishima knew Akiteru was too soft to taunt him the way Kuroo could, and did more than asked for during practice, and he was happy for him finally making friends with people, even though Tsukishima didn’t know Kuroo as well as Akiteru had thought back when they joined for practice the first times. Kuroo liked the idea of them hanging out more than Tsukishima would have liked to think of and gradually weaseled his way into Tsukishima’s daily life. At first Tsukishima just thought of him as an annoying guy who was way too nosy for being just a supervisor in terms of volleyball. He also didn’t know what he should think of him and his brother getting along so well. He wasn’t too fond of Kuroo dragging him to places after training, when he just wanted to go home and flop down on his bed, exhausted, but Kuroo knew all the ways of keeping Tsukishima put with a sweet dessert after a small meal and the promise of helping him with his homework, with him being his senior and all. Tsukishima couldn’t quite believe that Kuroo was as good in school as he turned out to be. His scheming eyes and crazy hairdo along with his volleyball obsession and the ”weird” people that cluttered all around him made room for different thoughts. But then again, he had to be working hard if he was a captain of a successful team.
It was a horrible display, awkward meals where he watched Kuroo eat his fries and their table cluttered with books and sweets Kuroo bought for them, as the people around them sent weird glances and Tsukishima thought more than once that an employee might come around the counter and ask them to move their messy study-dinner session elsewhere any moment now.
Nevertheless, he found himself looking forward to those days, he realized after a while. Maybe because the training away from his own team and the time he spent with Kuroo, who was so far away from everything he had to do on a daily basis and didn’t ask him a thousand annoying questions about it, was distracting him from everything going on in his life, or the lack of thereof. He had found something that made his life a little more special, a little more interesting and the thought of his team possibly being jealous of Nekoma’s captain and a former team member of the little giant being so interested in helping dull and boring Tsukishima out was something he felt a little bit of pride in. Not that he would ever admit so or had any reason to brag with. His life was turning into the one of a normal high-schooler and not of a social outcast.
Akiteru suggested them to just meet up at home and Kuroo using his train tickets on a side note and even though Tsukishima disliked the idea of him meddling with his life and plans, he was kind of thankful for not having to ask Kuroo himself and possibly breaking his character by seeming desperate for Kuroo’s attention or having to bear the disappointment of being shut down, since they weren’t that close in particular for anyone to suggest anything like that and being as selfish as to ask Kuroo over all the way to Miyagi. He wanted to believe that this was all temporary, that one time he’d have to face his problems regarding volleyball and his social life alone again, because Kuroo was still at Nekoma and Nekoma happened to be not Karasuno and his life would go back to how it had been before Akiteru and Kuroo invaded it. But Kuroo had just looked at Tsukishima for some kind of negative reaction and upon meeting a blank face, threw a grin at him and agreed to it without a second thought. Akiteru sealed the deal and Tsukishima felt the pride radiating off of him for having brought more action into his brother’s life.
Tsukishima felt relieved at the time, even if there was this nagging pull in his stomach, but as the day was getting closer, he felt himself getting more and more restless at the thought of Kuroo invading his room - his personal space - even a bit anxious, which he felt stupid for. Not many people came over to hang out in his room, so he didn’t know if it was even presentable, if it was embarrassing or unusual even, in any way. He became overly aware of everything around him. The pictures on the wall and his bedsheets suddenly looked strange to him and when he stood in front of his dresser, he wasn’t too sure what to wear either. Usually he was wearing his school uniform or gym clothes when they met, but that was out of the question, since today was not a school day and he’d return home right after he picked up Kuroo, too, but something too comfortable seemed weirdly rude to him. When was the last time he went out with anyone else anyway? After he’d finally found something that seemed fitting to him, he felt silly for stressing over it at all. It was only Kuroo.
Because of the heavy rain, they decided to hang around the shops at the station for a while and aimlessly walked through the aisles of an old looking and empty kiosk around the corner. Tsukishima browsed through a magazine without looking for anything in particular, when Kuroo held up his phone a few meters next to him and a small ‘click’ chimed from the device along to a white flash exactly directed at him. Tsukishima’s eyes widened in horror and he turned his head to shoot daggers at none other than Kuroo, who just stood there, tongue sticking out in faked concentration, mischievous grin spreading on his lips as he looked at Tsukishima through the camera of his phone.
”What are you doing.” Tsukishima’s face wasn’t nearly as amused as Kuroo’s, who was now admiring his ‘work’ with a satisfied glint in his eyes while stepping closer to him.
”Don’t be like that, Tsukki, you looked kind of nostalgic.” He threw an arm around Tsukishima’s shoulders and tilted his phone for him to see. ”It’s pretty here, and I thought you fit right in.”
Tsukishima wanted to grab the device with the intent to delete whatever picture it was immediately after catching even only the blur of his figure on the screen. The color of his face had changed rapidly from pale to beet red at this strange behavior.
He never liked people taking pictures of him. He never knew how to act, where to look, what to do when someone pointed a lens at him. It was awkward and forced, and that usually showed in the outcome, which was why there didn’t exist many pictures of Tsukishima in the first place. But Kuroo’s presence somehow made him hesitate this time before pressing the little trash can symbol in the corner of the screen. That nagging feeling in his chest and the pull in his stomach caused by Kuroo stepping shamelessly right into his comfort zone and saying something as confusingly suggestive made his fingers shake and because he felt like Kuroo might notice his racing heartbeat, he actually looked at the picture properly, if only to hide his embarrassment and escape Kuroo’s overly attentive eyes.
The photo was of him, obviously, facing to the right where the magazine racks were blurred out towards the back of the aisle, and face tilted a bit while looking at the magazine in his hands, while not really looking at it. In the background you could see some racks in front of the big shop window and a few with flowers behind it. Outside it was gray and you could see the rain and the blurred lights of streetlamps, shop signs or cars driving by in contrast to the bright, greenish fluorescent lights inside, shining down from above Tsukishima’s head.
Tsukishima stared at the screen to avoid Kuroo’s eyes as he looked at him, observing his face for any reaction. Kuroo didn’t know how Tsukishima would react to something like this, but testing his waters was a thing he enjoyed doing lately.
”It’s weird”, he said, the tension from his voice faded, and it was definitely a lie, because as much as it was a simple picture taken with a phone, it did feel nostalgic, cozy in the little shop, even a little artistic, Kuroo had a knack for stuff like that apparently as he remembered all the corners of his textbooks that were covered with little doodles of him, and Tsukishima felt like this was really him on this picture, relaxed and natural, no forced smile or weird look. He was not embarrassed by the picture itself, but more at how Kuroo went about it and when Kuroo leaned in fleetingly and pressed his lips gently right underneath his eye, on top of his cheekbone, he felt even more heat tinging his cheeks, but also an indescribable adoration swell up inside of him. Even though it was a weird and silly gesture, no one ever took a picture of him without him asking to because they thought he looked nostalgic, just like that, and made him feel giddy inside only for that reason. Not that he ever believed he was as authentic to look at as Kuroo just said and definitely not for the fact that it was him on this picture, but because Kuroo was the one who took it, who wanted to take it, he liked it.
He turned to look at Kuroo, who smiled at him from beneath with his face leaning on Tsukishima’s shoulder and Tsukishima swallowed at the honest and attentive eyes piercing him, feeling like he would melt and get sucked right into them any moment now. He’d gladly drown in that sweet, smug look, if he didn’t wish to get swallowed up by the floor first for having to show any kind of reaction upon that crazy stunt, in a Kiosk on top of anything. Tsukishima could feel the eyes of the cashier gauging holes into his back and he suddenly felt dizzy with his mind running in circles with questions over questions. Why was Kuroo so.. not Kuroo today but also too much Kuroo at once? His heart felt like it would leap out of his chest any moment now.
Tsukishima was absolutely not a bold person with many expressions, but he couldn’t stop the feeling of wanting to run away or scream or maybe hit Kuroo with the sudden wave of confusing feelings and this sickening pull in his stomach, he had just turned his head away in a flash and said ”Let’s go home” with a voice betraying his entire personality. Kuroo didn’t even say anything, just smiled to himself and followed Tsukishima outside before he burst into laughter when Tsukishima stopped with a beet red face, realizing he still held the magazine in his hands without having paid for it.