Work Text:
Tetsurou decided that Kei was pretty. He was horrible at coloring in the lines and playing ball but he was pretty like the flowers in his picture books even if he was frowning all the time.
He was even prettier when his parents got him glasses so that he could actually color in the lines and play ball like everyone else. He was quiet like Kenma but Tetsurou didn’t care much. He was the best reader in the class even if he was the youngest so he would help Tetsurou with his spelling while Tetsurou taught him how to do math that wasn’t until next year.
Kei also had an older brother which was really cool. He’d tell them all about what he was doing in class and the sports teams he was on. He even let Tetsurou call him nii-chan after the first time they had a sleepover at Kei’s house.
They had lots of sleepovers and Tetsurou would always share his strawberries with Kei during lunch because they were his favorite while Kei would give him his fish. Tetsurou still kept some of his strawberries though because he liked them too. They played a lot since Kenma got tired easily and preferred his gameboy.
“Mom, I think I love Kei.” Tetsurou mentioned in passing as he tried to help his mom with dinner.
“You two are really good friends.” She commented idly, the knife thunking against the cutting board as she chopped through vegetables.
“Can I marry Kei? That’s what you do when you love someone, right?”
“You can’t marry Kei, silly. I know you’re a big kid but Kei is two years younger than you.”
Tetsurou nodded sagely because his mom was always right. “Does that mean I can marry him when we’re older?”
“If that’s what both of you want then there’s nothing wrong with it.” She answered, ruffling Tetsurou’s hair as he ran excitedly to grab all his strawberries.
“I’m going to go see Kei!” He yelled as he rushed over to the Tsukishima household.
Kei was sitting on his floor with his dinosaur toys and the picture book about them Akiteru had gotten as a present. Sitting down in front of him, Tetsurou pushed the bowl of strawberries towards Kei who immediately took one and mumbled a “Thanks.”
“Will you marry me when we grow up Kei? I think you’re pretty and I like you a lot.”
“But I don’t wanna.” Kei answered, popping another strawberry in his mouth.
“Please Kei? It’s what you’re supposed to do with people you like! It’s the rules or whatever!”
“I guess,” Kei relented with a sigh, “But you have to give me all your strawberries forever.”
“Okay! You can have all my strawberries!”
“If you don’t I’ll just tell nii-chan.” Kei said as he pulled the current bowl of strawberries towards himself.
Tetsurou made sure to keep to his promise, and always set his strawberries aside for Kei to eat even when he forgot the reason why and when Kei moved away because of his father’s job. It was habit that whenever he had strawberries in his meals he would move them aside even though he had lost all contact with the blond. Instead Kenma would eat them now, even if they weren’t his favorite.
It wasn’t until they had their practice match in Miyagi that Tetsurou saw Kei again, and damn was he tall. He also looked a lot grumpier than he remembered but it was definitely him.
“Nice to see you, Kei. I didn’t realize you were going to Karasuno now.” Kenma said, as if he had never moved at all.
“Likewise Kenma.” Kei responded, once he got over the initial shock of seeing his childhood friends. “And you as well Tetsurou.”
“Damn it’s been forever.” Tetsurou grinned as he gave Kei a once over.
“Tetsurou still sets aside his strawberries for you whenever he eats.” Kenma added as he played on his PSP.
“What do you mean?” Kei asked, furrowing his brow slightly. It was almost too easy to miss the subtle changes in expression. He was also pretty just like Tetsurou had thought when he was little, but now it caused something warm to spread through his chest as he looked at honey eyes.
“When we were little Tetsurou asked if he could marry you and you told him only if he gave you all his strawberries.” Kenma clarified.
Kei was blushing now, though Tetsurou wasn’t any better off. He had completely forgotten why he had promised the sour blond all his strawberries but now it was returning with surprising clarity. He also couldn’t stop himself from opening his stupid mouth, “Does the deal still apply?”