Chapter Text
<~>
When looking back on it, he curses himself for not realizing sooner. It should have been obvious to him. They were about as subtle as two deer (making out) in headlights.
<~>
The first time Kuroo met Tadashi Yamaguchi was on the first day of their ‘Science, Technology, and Society 101’ course that he was required to take for his business major. One of the things that drew him to this university was that classes started mid-September instead of August– thank god. Upon waltzing in, he sits down in the back, as always, so he can play Candy Crush behind his laptop when he gets bored. He taps his fingers idly on the desk in front of him– too tiny for a guy of his size. He scoped out the people around him but they all looked pretty boring. He didn’t recognize anybody from any of last year’s classes, but it was a pretty huge campus so it wasn’t unusual.
Right before the bell rings, a guy with messy green-tinged hair (and more freckles than Kuroo had ever seen in his life) sits down next to him. Collapsed is probably a better word, he looks exhausted– out of breath and scrambling into his seat. He was about two seconds from being late, and he was holding his chest with wide eyes like roadkill with an oncoming heart attack.
Kuroo nudges his arm to get his attention. “You okay there?”
The guy gives a weak laugh. “Yeah… I got totally lost and sprinted here. Just need to- Uh- catch my bearings.” He assures, getting out his laptop. Kuroo’s not completely convinced. He seems to shake himself off decently fast, even if the ‘scared roadkill’ look still hasn’t completely left his face.
The professor blabs about the syllabus and other quote unquote “important class information” and Kuroo really tries to not tune it out, but he's pretty distracted by her innate resemblance to a chipmunk. After a torturously long google slides presentation, the professor shuts her laptop and claps to get the class’ attention, but half of Kuroo’s brain is shut off, and all he’s thinking about is if she has ever considered starring In an alvin and the chipmunks movie. One of his friends from high school compared him to a fish– never sleeping at night because he was already half asleep during the day– and it’s a pretty accurate description.
He sees freckles turn to him out of the corner of his eye with a timid look on his face.
“So- Um…. would you be okay with being partners?”
Kuroo blinks slowly, trying to register the information and wake his brain back up at the same time.
Freckles yelps. “Um- I mean, we don’t have to be– You can be with another friend or something I- Not that i’m trying to say we are already friends I just– Ugh, nevermi-,” He rambles in a panic, but Kuroo cuts him off.
“Hell yeah we can be partners,” Kuroo thanks whatever god is out there that he will hopefully actually know someone in this course. “Sorry, I never pay attention to these first day lectures. What are we supposed to be doing?”
Freckles exhales a sigh of relief. “No worries. We are picking our partners for the year and getting to know each other for the rest of the class period, because we would do a bunch of projects together…or something.”
Kuroo hums. This guy seems really nice. “Okay, sounds good,” He smiles and puts on the signature charm. “I’m Kuroo Tetsuro, double majoring in business and chemistry.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone double majoring in those, what career does that usually feed into?”
Kuroo laughs. “To be honest, I don’t even know, I’m kind of figuring that out myself.”
Freckles rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I get that. I’m majoring in human resources because I want to be a career counselor. I literally had no idea what I wanted to do, so… I decided to help others figure that out for themselves, I guess.”
“That’s sick! What’s your name, by the way?”
Freckles’s features soften as he smiles. “Yamaguchi Tadashi.”
“So, Yamaguchi Tadashi,” Kuroo starts, whipping out the next level of his expert charm. “What do you like to do in your free time?”
Yamaguchi hums in thought, tying his hair into a low ponytail. “Well… I play volleyball sometimes, and I’m a pretty good cook.”
“Wait, wait, wait, back up– Volleyball?” Kuroo leans back in his seat. “You’re joking, volleyball is totally my thing, I was literally captain my last year of high school.”
“No way, me too!” Yamaguchi beams. Kuroo is thankful for the mutual connection.
“Okay, besides volleyball, I also play videogames with my friends, work out a lot, and for some reason this past weekend I really wanted to learn how to play the guitar but I really sucked… so I gave up,” Yamaguchi snickers. “What did you do on your day off after re-orientation?”
A gentle smile makes its way onto Yamaguchi’s face. “Oh, y’know…. I went to this really nice bookstore downtown, then we stopped by an ice cream place on the way home. It was really fun.”
Kuroo feigns an over dramatic gasp. “Could this have been...A date?????”
Yamaguchi’s cheeks turn pink. “Well, you could say that, I guess.” He tucks a stray piece of hair behind his ear.
“Ohoho being mysterious now, are we?” Kuroo has been known to love a challenge– especially when it comes to getting information out of someone. He likes to consider himself somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes.
Yamaguchi waves him off and avoids eye contact. Interesting. “Okay, okay, let’s just go back to volleyball. What position were you?”
Kuroo uses the excuse to flex his biceps and even gives one of them a kiss. “Uh, middle blocker, obviously," Yamaguchi laughs.
They talk until the final bell rings, and wave goodbye when they part ways. Yanaguchi even throws him a rockstar hand sign. Kuroo later saves his number in his phone as ‘freckles STS partner :)’.
He saved some good starter information in his little Sherlock-style mental profile: Yamaguchi Tadashi. Two years younger than him, from way out in the middle of nowhere suburbs, and lives in the dorms. Majoring in human resources. Likes volleyball, cooking, and his friends. Relationship status:.....unknown. For now.
Part of him was itching to know more about the little mysterious date that he went on– because by nature Kuroo didn’t like information being withheld. It usually pissed him off, but for some odd reason this time it just sparked his curiosity. It was probably because of how nice he seemed, he didn't feel the need to tease Yamaguchi as much. Opposite from some…other enigmatic people Kuroo knew.
<~>
For example, if there was anyone in the world who really knew how to piss Kuroo off by withholding information, it was Tsukishima.
Even though he had known Tsukishima for a good five months longer than Yamaguchi, his mental profile was somehow much smaller. This was because Tsukki seemed to think that his privacy was being threatened if you asked what his favorite color was. Kuroo once asked what his given name was, and all Tsukishima said was that he wasn't going to ever use it so there was no point.
Tsukishima (given name unknown): Kuroo is only 50% sure he is in his second year of University. No information on where he’s from or where he lives now. Majoring in….something museum related, probably. Likes: ???????. Relationship status: Kuroo is pretty sure he’s single, because he couldn’t picture anyone being romantically interested in Tsukki, of all people. Of all the fish in the sea, Tsukishima definitely lives in a deep dark cave where no sunlight can ever reach.
However, much to Tsukishima’s dismay, Kuroo really likes pissing people off. And when they keep themselves all wrapped up in a little mummy ball of secrets and ‘professionalism’, like Tsukki does, it only makes him want to start figuring out even more.
Tsukishima and Kuroo are two out of the three administrative assistants at their university’s museum– mainly focused on archeology and paleontology, but they had special exhibits every couple of months. Kuroo took the job because it was the only paid ‘business’ position he could find close to his apartment. Technically he had no clue why Tsukishima took the job, but he had suspicions. Considering how well he knew the exhibits and how often he volunteered to help with the marketing, Kuroo had a feeling that he might be interested in museum management.
Their duties consisted of taking calls, coordinating school field trips, organizing the calendar, planning and advertising events, and other behind the scenes activities of the like. Kuroo’s third favorite part of the job– after Bokuto working security and getting to pester Tsukki whenever he wanted– is his boss. Takeda is just the right amount of lenient where Kuroo can call out sick last minute (a hangover), but not so lenient where he’s disorganized in scheduling shifts.
What started as an average September afternoon very quickly evolved into the start of a new adventure for Kuroo: figuring out the love life of his ever mysterious coworker Tsukishima.
Takeda, on his way out of the doors– suitcase in hand– stopped by the office to do a quick check-in before he left on a week-long trip for some conference.
“Kuroo, did you connect with Akaashi about the daycare field trips?” Takeda asks, coffee mug fogging up his glasses.
Kuroo gives him a swift double thumbs up. “Yeah, and when he comes in tomorrow we can figure out what to do about the other district. Have a good conference! I’ll make sure Tsukki here doesn’t get into too much trouble,” He ruffles Tsukishima’s hair and is met with a grunt.
Takeda laughs. “Yes, all right all right. Oh– and Tsukishima, happy early birthday! Sorry, I’ll miss it this weekend, but I figured I could wish you well before I left!”
Tsukishima nods, he is just as polite as Akaashi when it comes to the people he respects. For some reason, Kuroo and Bokuto were not quite up to his standards. “Thank you, enjoy the conference.”
“I will, goodbye you three, have a good week!” Takeda calls, waving to Bokuto at the front desk on his way out, but Kuroo barely hears him over the mischievous thoughts that run through his head. Getting this amazing tidbit of information was like a Tsukishima gold mine.
A sly smile spreads across his face. “Yo Bokuto, did you hear that?” He calls, and Bokuto cocks his head to the side.
“Hear what?” Bokuto yells back, and Kuroo gestures for him to come inside the office.
Once Bokuto scuttles his way over, Kuroo shares the news. “It’s Tsukki-poo’s birthday this weekend,” He whispers dramatically, loud enough that the ‘Tsukki-poo’ in question understands loud and clear.
Bokuto gasps and his jaw hits the floor. “Really? Dude, congrats! How old are you turning?” He asks, patting Tsukishima forcefully on the back. Tsukishima’s blank stare quickly turns into a scowl.
Usually, Tsukishima found a way out of questions like these, but a head on question was hard to avoid. “Twenty,” He grumbles.
“Ohoho that’s a pretty important number,” Kuroo leans over his desk to be closer for dramatic effect. “Got any special plans? Mind inviting the two of us?”
“Yes, actually, I do,” He deadpans. “And there is no way in hell.”
Kuroo looks up at the ceiling and hums until a lightbulb goes off. “Ohoho? Does Tsukki have a special someone?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Huh?” Tsukishima and Bokuto exclaim simultaneously.
Kuroo leans back in his chair like the mastermind he is. “You’re working on Sunday, so you aren’t visiting family or hosting, so it’s gotta be a birthday date, right?” Kuroo gives him a mischievous grin. SherlocKuroo strikes again.
Bokuto gasps and high fives him for ‘his expert detective skills’. Tsukishima just rolls his eyes. A rookie mistake– the lack of a response gave Kuroo all that he needed. Tsukishima was dating somebody. Probably. And Kuroo needed to learn about who it was as fast as humanly possible.
Because who on god’s green earth would want to be romantically involved with Tsukishima?
Little did he know, the answer was right under his nose. Or rather– sitting right next to him in class.