Chapter Text
Kuroo Tetsurou had always been level headed, calm, and easy mannered, you could tell that easily from how he played volleyball. He was also passionate when it came to things he liked or cared about, things like being a good captain to the volleyball team, and making it to nationals, and sometimes about his studies, though only sometimes.
He now stood in the middle of a college volleyball court. It was new to him but he happily introduced himself to the upper year players.
“Kuroo Tetsurou, I come from Nekoma High School, I was a middle blocker and captain of my team.” He hadn’t had a hard time making it to the school on his academics, but he knew the volleyball team itself was highly competitive and he was worried he wouldn’t make it. He wouldn’t let that show though, he had finally made it out of that shitty house. Now, he could succeed as the adult he was. He looked to the next person in line and smiled brightly. Of course Bokuto was here and had decided to stand next to him.
“I’m Bokuto Koutarou. I come from Fukurodani Academy, I was a wing spiker, top 5 ace, and captain of my team.” Of course that bastard had the credentials, so of course he had made it into the university on a volleyball scholarship. So, it was likely he’d make a starter position in his first year, even though he was younger than everyone else. He looked at the others down the line from him. Next was a good friend of his.
“Yaku Morisuke. I also come from Nekoma High school, and I was a libero.”
Kuroo couldn’t help the small smile on his lips. He was glad Yaku was there. even though they hadn’t gotten along early on in high school, they definitely did now. He also knew he’d feel a lot better having Yaku at his back.
“Sawamura Daichi, I come from Karasuno High School, I was a wing spiker and captain of my team. We placed in the top 4 in nationals last year.” Not even Bokuto could boast a top 4 finish, Daichi had definitely led his team well, and he’d lead well here too. He was also a solid player with good attacks and defense, it was always nice to see Daichi here. He didn’t recognize the other four standing at the line though, so he waited to hear who they were.
“I’m Oikawa Tooru. I led the glorious Aoba Johsai High School volleyball team, and I was a setter.”
Kuroo saw the older players all shift slightly as they heard the guy’s name. Of course Kuroo had heard of him too. A genius setter who should have gone to nationals in his own right, and was the one the chibi deemed ‘the grand king’. Besides that he also seemed like a pompous jerk; the air about him was one that definitely spoke of self-confidence to the extreme. The guy might be annoying, but he had a great reputation for being able to pull the best out of a spiker.
The guy next to him sighed and introduced himself. “Iwaizumi Hajime. I also come from Aoba Johsai. I was a wing spiker and ace, as well as vice-captain of my team.” He was broad shouldered but definitely short, probably 10 centimeters shorter than Kuroo himself. He definitely gave off an air of power like Bokuto’s though, so Kuroo decided he didn’t want to mess with Iwaizumi Hajime. Before he had time to consider anything else though, the next man in line spoke up.
“I’m Hanamaki Takahiro. I come from Aoba Johsai, where I was a wing spiker, and you can call me Makki. You can blame Oi-chan for that nickname.” The man smirked as he gestured at Oikawa. It seemed like all the third years from Aoba Johsai had shown up, but he was surprised when the last man spoke up. he was just about as tall as Kuroo, so it was easy to guess his position.
“I’m Matsukawa Issei. I’m the last one from Aoba Johsai. I was a middle blocker, and you can call me Matssun. Oi-chan can also be blamed for that nickname.” This one had a stoic face and didn’t seem like the type to make jokes, but watching the smaller red-head nudge his shoulder made it obvious that wasn’t really the case. Kuroo sighed internally. What had he just gotten himself into?
As it turned out, he loved every single one of the people on his team and he wouldn’t trade them for the world.
That first year had been rough, as they hadn’t had Akaashi to help keep Bo under control, and Oikawa was still learning the little tricks to get him to cooperate. Of course Bokuto and Oikawa made it into the first string without a question. However, surprisingly, Yaku also made it. The team hadn’t had a good libero since their last one had retired and had spent a year trying to cultivate a new one, so Yaku had been a life-saver for them. On more than one occasion he had literally saved their team from a humiliating defeat. For Daichi, it was a lot harder since he wasn’t as strong as any of the other wing spikers, but his receiving was second only to Yaku. So, he made the decision to become a back-up libero for the team. Iwaizumi turned out to be a total team mom and kept everyone in line, learning how to handle Bokuto better than even Oikawa could.
Mattsun and Makki were a true force to be reckoned with when they were on the court at the same time, and he liked working with Mattsun after finding that his personality was actually a good balance of seriousness and joking fun. They had become a good team, learning how each other blocked and helping to create a good set of blockers around each other. But, he felt that if he had someone else it could be better. Mattsun was just a little too headstrong with Makki on the court at the same time and it didn’t make sense to separate the two.
The second year had been better. Akaashi had shown up to practice with them. They had made it obvious they didn’t wish to continue to play though. But Akaashi was indispensable for keeping Bo in line, always giving Oikawa tips when Bo got into his moods. They also gained Tanaka Ryuunosuke, the younger wing spiker proved to be a force to be reckoned with when he took up the mantle as ace whenever Bo was down. The man was even better than Iwaizumi now; his third year in high school had been instrumental in letting him thrive.
They soared that year, but it was proven that he definitely wasn’t a strong enough blocker with his team, and neither was Mattsun. They were defeated by one single spiker who just kept slamming through both of them, specifically targeting the pair of middle blockers. Now Ushijima Wakatoshi was a name he rued just as much as the former Aoba Johsai players.
Now that they were in his third year, he was hoping to make it even further this year, and he had one person in mind to make that happen. Tsukishima Kei was supposed to be coming from Karasuno with his best friend. The blonde had more than proven himself back in high school, but he had apparently suffered an ankle injury in his last year and stopped playing. But as introductions came for this new year, he was disappointed when he didn’t see the tall first-year. He did have to be happy about adding Kageyama, Hinata, and Yamaguchi to his team though. Yamaguchi however expressed that he wanted to be a manager to the team, not a player, as he didn’t feel confident enough in his serve at the college level. He had sighed at that but allowed it. It was honestly the best decision he had made as captain; Yamaguchi had proven that it was the best place for him to be over and over again.
They were at practice, getting down to the end of it actually. Everybody had left except Bokuto, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Yamaguchi, and himself. He had been walking around picking up balls as Bokuto and Oikawa did some spiking practice. Iwaizumi was quietly chatting with Yamaguchi on the sideline, vice-captain to manager work of course. When Kuroo stopped in the middle of the court he didn’t even realize it. Oikawa had pressed his glasse sup onto his face and he remembered Tsukki doing the same thing as they trained in his last year of high school. When he ended up with these thoughts something ached within him, he wanted to play with the blonde again. He wanted to be able to teach someone who had the potential to be amazing again. Even if it was just his thoughts he knew it wouldn’t happen. Yamaguchi had told him that Tsukki still didn’t want to play.
“Watch out!” The call broke him out of his musing just in time to look up and see a wide-eyed Bokuto just before the volleyball that Bo had just spiked hit him in the face. He curled up, throwing a hand to his face to check his nose. It seemed he got lucky, as it wasn’t bleeding and didn’t seem to be broken. Maybe a little karma was going his way for once since Bokuto had pranked him the other day.
“What the hell was that Bokuto? That seriously hurt,” he complained loudly as a distraught Bokuto came running up to him, Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Yamaguchi close behind.
“I’m sorry bro! You just stopped in the middle of the court for no reason.” Bokuto’s hands were all over the place, and his face was full of worry as they waited for him to take his hands away from his face. Oikawa just sniggered behind him.
“Maybe don’t get in the way, Tetsu-chan, ” Oikawa complained a little as Kuroo stood up and Iwaizumi handed him a towel in case his nose started bleeding.
“You ok?” Iwaizumi asked, throwing his boyfriend a glare for complaining. Oikawa just gave him an innocent face and a shrug.
“Ya, I’ll be alright. I don’t think anything is actually hurt.” He sighed quietly and stumbled over to his stuff. “We should probably get going anyway. What time is it?”
“10:30,” Yamaguchi answered and he heard Oikawa squeak behind him.
“What’s that for?” Kuroo questioned as he looked back at the other. Everyone turned to look at the brunette.
“Ya, why are you so worried?” Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at Oikawa.
Damn he is hot, Kuroo thought to himself as he looked at Iwaizumi’s face and then ran his eyes down to his rather impressive arms and stretched too tight shirt. It was little wonder that the two were dating.
“I have a paper due at midnight for my Intro to Modern Physics class!” Oikawa just about shrieked and looked around at all of them. Knowing the way the brunette left everything to the last minute he sighed.
“Get going then. Bo, Yams, and I can get everything packed up. Hajime, make sure he eats something.” He looked to his vice-captain who nodded.
“Of course I will. Let’s go.” Iwaizumi responded as he pushed Oikawa towards their stuff to pick it up and go. They both rushed out quickly and the rest of them went to work on taking down and packing away the equipment. They finally finished up after a while and headed out of the gym, they waved goodbye to the receptionist at the front of the gym—Yachi was her name.
“So Yams, how’s it going with courting little miss receptionist?” He teased Yamaguchi relentlessly about this. Yachi and Yams had known each other in high school after all, and they had spent all three years dancing around each other. Now, he was putting them together slowly, but surely. They were both adorably shy though. So, it was more difficult than he had planned. He saw Yamaguchi turn bright red before he spoke, fiddling with his fingers.
“N-nothing’s happened. We just talk, just like in high school.”
Kuroo had to give the other credit for only stumbling over the first word.
“Surely there’s been something more than that. Come on Yams, don’t make me force your heads together!” He fake sighed and motioned like he’d be pressing two things together with his hands.
“No! No! You don’t need to do that. I just want to take my time doing this.”
“You’ve known her for three years Yams! You’ve gotta do something soon or someone else is gonna come up and take her.” He saw Yamaguchi’s face pale.
“Do you really think that would happen?”
“It could. she’s cute, friendly, kind, I’d take her if I wasn’t gay.”
Apparently that little speech had the opposite effect of what he was aiming for. Yamaguchi’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“That’d be good for her,” the shorter male replied as he looked at his shoes.
Kuroo had to audibly sigh at that.
“Yamaguchi! Stop with that! I’m sure she’d much rather be with you than anyone else. I’ve seen the way she looks at you! Don’t pretend like you’re some lost cause!” he spoke forcefully and clapped a hand against the back of Yam’s shoulders. They were in the parking lot but he saw the other flinch.
“O-ok” was all he got before Yam’s got in his car and left. He looked at Bo with a puzzled look and his hands out, asking what just happened.
“No idea bro. I think you broke him, to be honest,” Bo responded to his unspoken question without a second thought.
“I was just trying to help!” He expressed by gesticulating wildly with his hands as he spoke throughout the whole sentence and afterwards.
“I know bro, but c’mon—you can’t just throw those two in a closet or something. They’re too shy for that. Just go slow dude.” He pouted and got into their car before he responded.
“Fine, I’ll let them figure themselves out.”
They drove home in a quiet companionship after that, singing along quietly to the songs they knew.
Once they got inside, they smelled teriyaki frying from the kitchen and looked around. apparently Iwaizumi had cooked something up for them and left it out for them to eat. That was one huge plus about living with Iwaizumi and Oikawa: Iwaizumi was a fantastic cook. On nights like this they reaped the rewards. They looked over to see Iwaizumi walking out of Oikawa’s room.
“Were you helping out like a good boyfriend?” Bokuto teased the other man as he sat down with them. Apparently he hadn’t eaten yet.
“Ya, he needed someone to proofread it before he sent it in.” Iwaizumi started eating quickly, not letting Bokuto get to him.
“That was nice of you,” Kuroo commented as he also started to gorge himself on the amazing food. “Also thanks for the food. Don’t worry about the equipment. we put it away.”
“Thanks, I figured if you guys were doing that I should cook.” Iwaizumi commented before he looked up at Kuroo. “You need to go take your meds; it’s past the normal time.”
Kuroo sighed and stood up. he went to his room and grabbed a pill bottle, popping it open and grabbing one of the round pills from inside. He returned to his food quickly as his mind wandered quickly settling on the issue of Tsukishima Kei again. He was worried about the blonde, during high school volleyball had become a passion for the kid. But now, well he didn't seem to have any desire to play at all, he didn’t realize he had audibly sighed until Bokuto spoke to him.
“You ok bro? That’s not normally like you.”
“Oh yeah, sorry Bo I’m just thinking about some things.” He hadn’t realized he’d stopped eating as well. He quickly started digging back into the food and tried to join the conversation that had somehow turned into a discussion on why dogs are not the best pets. Iwaizumi felt they were and Bokuto seemed to disagree.
“They just aren’t the best. they’re loud, smelly, and take forever to potty train. I mean who would like to deal with that?” Bokuto asked of no one in particular.
“I agree. They also have to be walked and trained on a leash and such,” he chimed in before Iwaizumi could speak.
“They’re also fiercely loyal, are much more willing to be trained, and if you know what you are doing, they’re very happy to learn through their whole life.” Iwaizumi pointed his chopsticks at both of them, trying to make a point. “And what would you be suggesting is a better pet? A cat?” he said the last bit sarcastically.
Kuroo shook his head quickly; that wasn’t his answer but Bokuto nodded at the cat suggestion.
“Cats are good pets. They can stay inside all the time, are trained to use a litter box, and don’t make friends with just anyone, ‘cause they only like truly good people!” Bo finished with a flourish of hands and chopsticks.
“I disagree, neither of them are the best pets. Fish don’t make any mess, and they’re easy to take care of. You just have to make sure your filter is working and you feed them. Change the water a little bit every week. It’s so easy,” he declared as he stood up from finishing dinner and went to wash his plate off in the kitchen. He could still hear them bantering since the kitchen and dining area were open to each other. But it was light hearted now, both of them laughing a little at his fish entry.
He headed to his bedroom and got into his bed quickly after changing into a pair of pajama pants and taking off his shirt. He grabbed a book off his bedside table to read for a little bit and got invested in it, taking him an hour to realize what had happened. He laid down and turned his light off, but after a couple of hours of tossing and turning he just couldn’t get to sleep. He found his thoughts were always about Tsukki, and how he could get the blonde to come back to playing. Finally at about 3 am he drifted off, his meds taking full effect and forcing him to sleep.
He woke up to his alarm at about 5:30 that morning. He knew immediately when he woke up that he hadn’t had nearly enough sleep. But he was going for a run anyway, since it was the only way for him to wake up in the morning. He got out of bed with a yawn and stretched for a minute. He had the earliest classes out of any of them and needed to get going. He switched into sweats and went to the door. He pulled out his running shoes and threw them on before grabbing his earbuds. He was in light gear since they were still in the little bit of summer before fall.
He finally left the house about ten minutes after his alarm went off and placed his earbuds in. Quickly hitting shuffle on his running playlist, he recognized Lane Boy coming through the wires and picked up his pace.
He loved to run, he loved the way he felt afterwards, he loved to watch the other people, he knew most of their faces since they had all been out running at this time every morning for the three weeks they were in to the semester. He also loved seeing everything around him. He made his way onto campus after passing by a bunch of businesses and apartments. It took some time but he ended up on the main roadway of campus that ran along the dorms, and it was there that he stopped in surprise. He was looking at someone that he never thought he would see, the man had been occupying his mind for the past few days, and it took all he had not to shout out his name, Tsukki.