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As Tooru comes to a halt in the middle of the farmer’s market, he genuinely wonders if he isn’t simply cursed. Because how else would one explain the fact that he is on vacation in a small seaside village that no one knows the name of, and yet volleyball still finds him there. Well, he isn’t really mad or surprised about this, volleyball is always with him —a part of him. But not like that, not now, not this year.
“Ugh. Tooru, why d’you stop in the middle of the way?” His nephew groans when he bumps into his back. Tooru doesn’t have time to reply to him before the man standing in front of him opens his mouth.
“Well well well, if it isn’t the Oikawa Tooru.”
Tooru feels his eyes twitch at the teasing tone, although he can tell that the surprise is also evident in the other man’s features. He also can’t help but feel a little proud at being recognized.
“Kuroo Tetsurou,” he replies, voice purposely too high.
Kuroo doesn’t seem to care about his rudeness, if the way the man’s smirk only widens is anything to go by.
“I’m surprised you know who I am,” Kuroo replies, easy grin still on his face.
Tooru huffs. “I studied all the teams we could have potentially faced.”
The admission brings a lump in his throat and he forces himself to swallow it down. He’s sure Kuroo notices, but the latter is nice enough to not mention it. Kuroo simply hums.
Tooru continues before the other man can address the sudden weird atmosphere. “So, Kuroo-chan, tell me—How come a city boy like you finds himself in this lost village?”
Kuroo raises a curious eyebrow and snorts a laugh at that. “My grandparents live here. I come every year during the summer holidays to help out with their small, local business.” He replies as he gestures towards the stand in front of him.
Tooru hums, finding himself genuinely interested. He glances at the stand and sees several local foods that he recognizes as well as a corner of the table containing what he believes to be soaps. Kuroo answers his thoughts before he even has time to ask about them.
“My grandpa cultivates the different types of vegetables you see, they’re all bio and grown with love. And my grandma makes the soaps herself with different plants she grows as well. Only the honey ones are not entirely hers, but my aunt owns the hives so it’s still a family business!”
Kuroo grins at the end of his explanation and Tooru finds himself smiling genuinely in return before he even realizes it. It’s evident in the other man’s voice that he’s proud of what he just explained, and Tooru thinks it’s rather endearing.
His sister’s voice cuts through the moment before he has time to ponder that last thought he just had. “Tooru! What are you doing? Come on!”
He turns to look where the voice comes from and spots his sister along with her husband a few meters ahead of him. He nods, “I’m co–”
“He’s flirting!” Takeru promptly interrupts by yelling in the middle of the farmer’s market.
He hears the distinct sound of Kuroo choking behind him and Tooru forces himself not to look at him at all. Several heads turn in their direction at Takeru’s blunt statement; Tooru wishes for the ground to open up behind his feet and swallow him whole. He had, honest-to-god, forgotten his nephew was even here with him.
“Wha– No I’m not!” He yells back, turning around to offer his nephew one of his best death glares. The little shit head just smirks up to him, clearly happy with what he just did. Tooru’s face feels so hot, he’s not sure his whole body hasn’t entirely combusted.
“Oh dear~” His sister’s voice sounds then, way too cheerful for it to sound remotely natural. “Come on then, Takeru. Leave them alone. I’ll buy you ice cream.”
“Oh my God,” Tooru mutters, horrified.
He raises his head and immediately regrets it when his eyes lock with Kuroo’s. The latter is looking at him with surprise evident in his features and, if Tooru wasn’t feeling extremely embarrassed at the moment, he might have paused to appreciate how beautiful Kuroo looked under the sunlight with his cheeks redder than usual.
Tooru opens his mouth and closes it immediately when he finds himself at a loss for words. Not knowing what to say and to avoid both men any further embarrassment, he flees. It may definitely not be his proudest moment, but he’s not about to think about it now.
He makes a beeline to his sister, ignoring his flushed face and making sure to send her another one of his best death glares as well. Just like her son did a few moments ago, she doesn’t seem undeterred by it at all. In fact, it only makes her smirk widen and Tooru wishes, not for the first time, that he was born an only child.
“I hate you,” he grits out. She only laughs at him, clearly used to his antics.
Tooru huffs and fast-paces in the direction of the ice cream stand. After what she pulled, she better buy him the biggest ice cream he can find.
♡
Tooru manages to entirely avoid the farmer’s market (and Kuroo) for three days, before fate decides that it’s too much and he –literally– bumps into the other man at the local cinema.
He was enthusiastically typing away a long message in his friends’ group chat, which made him not notice the person that was standing in front of him. He immediately takes a step back and is about to apologize when his eyes widen instantly upon recognizing the face he’s spent the past three days trying to forget.
“Well well well,” Kuroo parrots his first words from the other day.
“Kuroo.”
An easy smile settles on the other man’s face and Tooru finds himself unable to resist looking at it. The action makes Kuroo’s smile turn into a smirk and Tooru instantly resettles his eyes back on the top of the other man’s face. He flushes when Kuroo’s eyes glint.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Kuroo says. His tone doesn’t carry any accusation, it’s simply stated as a fact and it compels Tooru to tell the truth. He nods sheepishly.
Kuroo hums, “Can I ask why?”
Tooru raises an eyebrow at that. Surely, Kuroo knows exactly why, but he also easily can tell that the other man isn’t stupid, so he opts for a few more truths. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Kuroo raises an eyebrow at the admission, his expression mirroring Tooru’s. “About what your…sister I assume, said?” He tilts his head to the side in what appears to be genuine curiosity.
Tooru rolls his eyes because it should be obvious, but he nods nonetheless.
Kuroo hums. “I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t really feel like you were actively flirting with me that day–” Tooru’s face flushes at the bluntness, “–but if you were, I definitely wouldn’t be uncomfortable.”
Tooru’s eyes widen impossibly at the admission and he feels his face heat up more. “What?” He sputters.
Kuroo smirks down at him and shrugs nonchalantly, as if that was a completely normal thing to say. Tooru feels as if his heart is about to jump out of his chest and, for what could be the first time in his life, he doesn’t know how to react. He is used to being flirted with, but it’s usually always girls. He has tons of fangirls at every game and he’s learned to react to them naturally.
But this —this is new.
Kuroo seems to notice his internal conflict because the latter takes a small step back and frowns slightly. “I’m sorry if that was too forward. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he chuckles awkwardly. “Oh God– Are you even into men?!”
Tooru’s eyebrows shoot all the way up to his hairline at that. “Yeah,” he chuckles, face flushed. “I’m bi.”
“Oh. Cool, cool, cool,” Kuroo nods repeatedly, face flushed as well. “Um. Me too.”
Tooru hums and a smile takes place on his face before he can even register it. Kuroo smiles in turn.
A strange, heavy tension fills the atmosphere around them then. It isn’t uncomfortable per say, but Tooru has definitely known better. Thankfully, Kuroo cut through it soon enough by clearing his throat in fake nonchalance.
“By the way, what are you doing here?”
Tooru blinks and looks around him. Oh, right. He forgot where he was. “Oh, I saw some signs about an open-air Star Wars projection? I wanted to get tickets.”
Kuroo’s face breaks into a grin at his explanation and Tooru has to force himself not to squint at the sudden light emanating from the other man. “You would be a Star Wars fan,” Kuroo snorts.
“Hey!”
Kuroo breaks into laughter and Tooru quickly follows, unable to resist the other man’s pull.
Kuroo clears his throat again a few moments later. “I um– I also wanted to go, I’m actually here to buy a ticket for myself too. Do you– um. Do you want us to go together?”
There’s a faint yet evident blush on the man’s cheekbones and Tooru finds himself completely enthralled by the sight of it. He hums and straightens up, pretending his stomach isn’t filled with butterflies at the moment.
He smirks, “Are you asking me out on a date, Kuroo-chan?”
Kuroo’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of red but he smirks back. “I sure am, Oikawa-chan.”
Tooru giggles at the way Kuroo mimics his way of talking and Kuroo grins as if he’d just won the lottery.
Then, they make their way to the booth and buy two tickets —not without arguing about who would pay both tickets, though. In the end, Tooru won and paid for the tickets, but only because he gave in and agreed for Kuroo to pay for their drinks and snacks when they’d go watch the movie. Kuroo seemed happy enough about the concession, and Tooru couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at the display.
♡
As Tooru walks in the direction of the beach, he can’t help but be a little nervous. He doesn’t think Kuroo will stand him up or anything of the likes, but what if they don’t click? What if their personalities don’t match and it ends up ruining the nice experience? He’s never had the chance to go to an open-air film projection before, and even less on the beach of a small seaside village.
Before he has the opportunity to overthink the situation more, a strong, tanned arm slips around his shoulders. Tooru jolts in surprise and turns to the side, eyes open wide. It turns out to be a terribly miscalculated move because his face ends up mere centimeters away from Kuroo’s.
The other man seems to notice it as well because suddenly the arm around his shoulders drops and Kuroo takes a step away, chuckling awkwardly. Tooru gulps and allows himself to catch a breath. He smiles when he sees the way Kuroo’s face turned scarlet. There’s something special in the way Kuroo seems as affected by him as Tooru is by the other man.
Kuroo clears his throat. “Sorry,” he chuckles, “Hey.”
Tooru snorts and laughs softly. “Hi.”
Kuroo smiles at him and, before Tooru can think too much about what he’s doing, he grabs Kuroo’s hand with his own. Kuroo’s breath hitches audibly and Tooru is two seconds away from apologizing and quickly pulling his hands away when he feels Kuroo tighten his grip around it.
He looks up at him and the smile on Kuroo’s face is nothing similar to his teasing smirk; instead, it’s a genuine, maybe even sheepish one. Tooru finds himself compelled to smile back just as softly. They allow their fingers to intertwine, and resume their walk to the beach. Kuroo’s presence next to him is soothing, his hand on his own is grounding —Tooru feels good.
Safe for a few comments here and there, they mostly walk in silence, yet the atmosphere isn’t tense or awkward. On the contrary, it feels entirely natural. Tooru forces himself not to think about what that could mean and uses that opportunity to watch the sunset. His breath hitches at how gorgeous the view is.
The sun is almost merging with the sea water ; the sight is simply breathtaking. Tooru unconsciously squeezes Kuroo’s hand slightly, and he blushes when he feels Kuroo squeezing back, as if he understands exactly what Tooru is currently feeling.
They remove their sandals when they reach the beach so as to walk more comfortably and Tooru hums pleasantly when he feels how warm yet not burning hot the sand feels under his feet. It doesn’t take them long to reach their destination—both men smiling widely when they take note of the several blankets and pillows that have been placed on the sand in front of a big, spread out, white sheet on which the film will be projected.
They’re some of the people who arrived the earliest so they make sure to choose a good spot. They opt for a blanket with two pillows that’s a bit to the side, a bit separated from the rest of the people yet still well placed in relation to the white sheet in front of them so they are still able to properly see the film. Tooru has already seen it a thousand times, but he’s still planning on watching it yet another time.
As soon as he sits down, Kuroo tells him that he’ll grab them drinks and some snacks. Tooru snorts a laugh as he remembers their small argument when paying for the tickets but he doesn’t try to stop him.
“I’ll take a strawberry milkshake then,” he announces instead, smiling warmly when Kuroo grins at him.
He watches Kuroo walking in the direction of the food truck at the edge of the beach and sighs, allowing himself to relax. He looks around and, not for the first time, Tooru finds himself thinking of how beautiful this corner of the Earth is. It’s the first time that he and his family come here on vacation, but maybe it won’t be the last for Tooru.
He then thinks back to when Kuroo told him that he comes back here every year and maybe, just maybe, that’d be an additional reason for Tooru to come back as well. He blinks and feels his entire face heat up when he registers the direction his train of thoughts is taking.
He quickly shakes his head, willing his heart to calm down, when he spots Kuroo walking back to him with their two drinks in one hand and some snacks in the other. The latter is wearing a white shirt that’s loose-fitted, with the top two buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up casually to his elbow. The sight shouldn’t be hot. However, Tooru is a weak man in the middle of puberty. So Kuroo is, in fact, very, very hot right now.
Tooru clears his throat and wills his traitorous thoughts to go away when the other man reaches him.
“There you go,” Kuroo says as he hands him his milkshake.
Tooru smiles and takes it. “Thank you,” he says before taking a first sip. He hums instantly. “It’s really good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he nods, smiling.
Kuroo seems to take that as a win of some sort and grins at him, clearly pleased with that, as if he was the one who’s made the drink. Tooru can’t help but giggle amusedly.
The film starts not long after that and both men settle comfortably against the two big pillows on their blanket. The more the film goes on, the closer their bodies get. Tooru is highly aware of it, he doesn’t know if Kuroo is too. Neither of them seem to really care about it, though. So they let it happen.
By the time the film reaches its middle, they’re snuggled against each other’s side. The weight of Kuroo’s body against his own feels so right ; Tooru refuses to overthink it and simply lets himself enjoy the moment. If he tightens his embrace around Kuroo’s body ever so slightly at the realization, well it’s nobody’s business but his.
They’re the last ones to get up from their blanket after the film ends, feeling way too comfortable in their position. They’re only obliged to leave when the open-air film projection’s organizers come to them to get their blankets and pillows back. Both Kuroo and Tooru immediately stand up and apologize profusely, making the organizers chuckle amusedly.
And just like that, it’s like the bubble they were in pops and they’re back in the real world. Tooru blinks and looks around him, Kuroo is standing next to and seemingly in the same daze as he is. He looks up and gasps in awe at the sight of the starry night. He watches it in Miyagi whenever he can, but right now it looks even more ethereal.
Without meaning to, he starts telling Kuroo about several stars and constellations. He stops himself when he registers it, afraid to bore the other man. But when he glances at the other man, Kuroo is simply standing next to him and looking up to the sky as well, listening attentively to every story Tooru recounts to him. Tooru’s face breaks into a huge smile and he forces himself to look away so Kuroo can’t see his flushed face.
When he’s done, they stand there in silence for a few moments, simply enjoying each other’s company. Then, Kuroo clears his throat and Tooru looks up at him. There’s that familiar easy smile on his face, but Tooru can also decipher some uncertainty on his features thanks to the closest streetlight at the edge of the beach.
Kuroo audibly gulps and locks eyes with him. He smiles softly and whispers, “Can I kiss you?”
Tooru’s breath hitches and he nods, whispering equally as softly, “Yeah.”
Kuroo grins and leans in. Tooru does the same and their lips meet in the middle in a tender, tentative kiss. They lean away the next second as if they’ve been struck. They blink and stare at each other for a few moments before they chuckle.
When they lean in again, the kiss is more defined. It’s still clumsy, their inexperience evident in each movement of their lips, but it’s somehow still amazing. Tooru feels those same butterflies as before in his stomach and he can’t help but grin into the kiss. He feels Kuroo’s mouth merge into a grin as well and when they pull away this time, there’s no more awkwardness around them at all.
As they walk back in their houses’ direction, hand in hand once more, Tooru can’t help but think about what just happened. He doesn’t know how to explain it, but for some reason, he feels as if he’s known Kuroo his whole life.
Although they knew each other’s names before, they’ve only properly met less than a week ago, and yet, Tooru ultimately feels drawn to the other man. As if there’s some sort of invisible pull linking them to one another.
Tooru’s never been the sappy type when it comes to himself, but he can’t help but think he was destined to meet Kuroo. He doesn’t know what the future holds, but even if they don’t live close, and are still young with their entire life still waiting to be lived; there’s a deep part inside of him that is sure he’ll meet Kuroo again. That he’ll always find his way back to him.