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Kuroo, for the life of him, has never thought a day would come when he would be competing against his nephew over a certain blonde.
Riko, his sister, was looking for a tutor for her son as exam week was just 2 weeks away. He told her he knows someone but would check with that person first if he will be up for the job. He remembers Tsukishima mentioning the last time they met that he was looking for a part time job.
Kuroo tells it to Tsukishima when they hang out days later. He was hesitant at first if he should tell it to Tsukishima knowing just how hardheaded and rude his nephew could get but decided otherwise as wanting to help Tsukishima won over. And well, this gives him the gratification of making Tsukishima close to his family.
“Hey, Tsukki. Remember when you said you were looking for a part time job? Did you find any already?” asks Kuroo before taking a sip on his mango shake. Tsukishima who is sitting opposite of him looks up from his phone. “Almost but the café I applied for last time already found someone.”
Tsukishima fiddles with the straw of his strawberry shake mulling over again on the fact that he has not found a part time job yet. His parents, of course, still sends him his allowance but he wanted to start earning his own savings already as he realized that college life is not cheap with all the projects and research he needs to do.
“What do you say about being a tutor? My sister’s looking for one for my nephew. Well, it is going to be short stint but still work is work right? I’m just warning you now though that he can be extremely handful.”
Tsukishima ponders about it for a while. He had done tutoring before back in Sendai, and it was not a pleasant experience what with Hinata and Kageyama always testing his patience. Somewhat, you could say that those two are a good example of extremely handful so how worse could it get with a 6-year-old kid, right? And, he agrees with what Kuroo just said that it is still a work. He never even thought of doing a tutoring gig so he might as well give it a try.
“If your sister will be okay with me, I don’t see why I should not accept.” Tsukishima shrugs, accepting the offer.
“Great! Are you free tomorrow?” Tsukishima nods.
Kuroo arrives on the station here he would meet Tsukishima. He checks the time and sees that he arrived ten minutes early. For some reason, he is feeling a bit jittery. His sisters know just who Tsukishima is in his life and this is the first time they are going to meet. He would not say it to anyone but the thought of them meeting kept him all night. His only prayer is for this to be a good meeting, and that his nephew does not ruin it.
A few minutes later, he sees a tussle of soft blonde towering over the people around him approaching the gate. It is probably just Tsukishima’s height, and his romantic side taking over but despite the crowd his eyes will always find Tsukishima. A smile creeps up to his lips, wondering if a day will ever come where he will stop feeling like he did the first time he saw Tsukishima amongst the black & orange uniformed Karasuno members – full of curiosity of how this man could look so pretty and unbothered at the same time.
“Kuroo-san, you have to stop smiling like that or you will find yourself being reported as a creepy man.” Kuroo did not notice that Tsukishima has already walked over to where he was. “If that is your definition of me being handsome then I’ll accept it, Tsukki. I just know how shy you are complimenting my good looks.” That earns him a sneer from the other. “You should get over yourself, Kuroo-san. Anyway, I hope your sister would like these fruits I brought. It’s the only thing I could think of,” says Tsukishima as he lifts the plastic bag full of different fruits.
“Oh, you should not have bothered, Tsukki. But thanks. My sister likes any kind of fruits, so these are okay.” Kuroo takes the plastic bag as he ushers Tsukishima to the exit of the station and onto the streets.
Kuroo narrates stories about his nephew with his other tutors to Tsukishima. He finds the need to prepare Tsukishima to the spawn of hell he is going to handle. Few more minutes and they finally arrived at his sister’s home. Kuroo feels like he is having cold sweat as he is faced of the reality that one of his family members is finally meeting the person that Kuroo holds dear to his heart.
“I hope you’re not nervous, Tsukki. My sis is pretty much my female version, so you can definitely relax around her,” says Kuroo while they wait for his sister to meet them at the genkan.
Tsukishima has heard stories about Kuroo’s sister from him and he had the idea already that they do have the same personality, but he did not expect that she is the female version in every sense of the word. Kuroo is the exact photocopy of his sister minus the rooster head. Even the grin is a mirror of the man’s own.
“Hey you guys. I hope it was not too hot outside. Come on in.” Kuroo’s sister gives him the look while Tsukishima is putting his shoes on the shelf. It is a look that says I can see what you meant and why you are into this guy so much. That relieves some of the jitters that Kuroo was feeling.
While Riko is getting them a drink, Katsuo, Kuroo’s nephew finally shows himself and Tsukishima feels like he is seeing a small Kuroo Tetsurou. The young boy has Kuroo’s perceptive eyes that are currently trained to him. Kuroo is holding his breath hoping that his nephew will not do anything rude towards Tsukishima. To his surprise though, the kid suddenly rans away to his mother and starts to hide behind his mother’s legs while shyly peeking behind at the stranger who is sitting beside his uncle.
Tsukishima leans towards Kuroo and whispers, “Did I scare him?” Kuroo turns to Tsukishima bewildered as well on what he saw and says, “Well you can be pretty scary, Tsukki. I think my nephew finally found someone who intimidates him.”
“Tets, can you get Katsuo and play with him in his room? So, Tsukishima-kun and I could talk about the tutoring arrangement.” Kuroo wants to stay with Tsukishima but knows that this Tsukishima’s business.
He stands up from the sofa and picks-up his nephew. “Let’s go buddy. I hope your toys are excited for a new adventure.”
Before leaving, he sends Tsukishima an encouraging smile. All the while he is playing with his nephew, Kuroo could only think about Tsukishima and wonder if he is okay being left alone with his sister that he did not even took notice of how uncharacteristically silent his nephew is. Riko knocks on the door of her son’s room an hour later and Kuroo immediately went to Tsukishima leaving his nephew to his mother.
Kuroo and Tsukishima did not stay for long. As they walk back to the station, Kuroo asks how the talk went. “It was okay. I’ll tutor him every Monday and Thursday after my class, then whole day on Saturdays. She discussed the lessons as well that I’ll teach him and watch outs like what you have warned me.”
“I see. Well, I hope you won’t have a hard time teaching my nephew.” Tsukishima hopes as well but he’ll have some reservation. This is Kuroo’s nephew they are speaking about after all, and it seems the Kuroo genes is strong in their family.
On Thursday night that week, Tsukishima received a message from Kuroo asking how the tutoring is going so far. Tsukishima sits on his bed, hair still wet from the shower. He was asked the same question by Riko just before he left their home. He looked back at the first two sessions and said that he found that the Katsuo is actually smart and seems pretty behaved. Tsukishima only receives an amusing smile and a vague, “I see.”
When said the same thing to Kuroo, he received a confused gif image after asking if they are talking about the same Katsuo. Tsukishima just teases him with even though Katsuo looks like a splitting image of when he was a kid, it’s a good thing that his nephew didn’t get his shitty personality.
That is why Kuroo finds himself one Saturday afternoon at his sister’s home during when Tsukishima has a tutoring session with his nephew. He needs to see it with his very own eyes because even Riko was gushing to him how Katsuo is behaving so well.
“Where are they?” Kuroo asks the moment he enters their home. “They’re in the Katsuo’s room. You can bring the snack you brought later.” Kuroo bought Tsukishima’s favorite strawberry shortcake, and honestly, he wants to go up already to his nephew’s room because it’s been two weeks already since he last saw Tsukishima.
It took him an antagonizing thirty minutes when his sister finally told him to bring the snack upstairs. He takes two steps at a time, excited. He composes himself first before knocking and opening the door gently. Tsukishima and Katsuo are already both looking at the door when he peeks his head.
“Hey, Tsukki. Hey, buddy. I brought some snacks.” The sparkle on Tsukishima’s eyes is expected but that did not mean Kuroo is already used to it. And while they are taking a quick break, Kuroo asks him if he can stay in the room. “I promise you won’t hear a peep from me, like I’m not in the room.” Tsukishima just shrugs. It’s not like he minds the other’s presence at all. He actually cannot remember anymore when did Kuroo’s presence has become something constant in his life.
As Tsukishima resumes teaching Katsuo, Kuroo watches and observes them as he sat behind them on his nephew’s bed. Ten minutes in and he feels like he does not know who this kid is that he calls his nephew. He has never seen Katsuo so well behave, and he is actually listening intently to what Tsukishima is teaching him.
Tsukishima is not doing anything special, so he wonders how and why? He thinks of different reasons then came up jokingly that it could be because of his pretty face that tamed his nephew. He pauses and ponders on that thought a little more. Well, this is his nephew after all who shares the same blood and genes as him. He smiles wryly to himself and dismisses the idea. He is probably just thinking too much about it and decides to just play some games on his phone.
Three hours passed and Tsukishima finally wraps their session for the day. “Well, that will be all for today, Katsuo-kun. Make sure that you finish all the exercises I gave you before our next session, okay?” instructs Tsukishima to the younger one. “Yes, Tsukishima-sensei,” answers politely by Katsuo that Kuroo once again feels he is having a hallucination. “Good. Now, put all your thinks back to your bag.” Katsuo collects his notes and books and jumps off of his chair to fix his things.
Kuroo takes the opportunity to approach Tsukishima. “Unbelievable. I don’t know what you did but it’s working with my nephew.” Tsukishima just chuckles at the comment and proceeds to fix his things as well. “Are you going to go home already?” asks Kuroo. Hoping that he can spend even just for a few hours with Tsukishima.
Tsukishima checks his watch and it’s only just past six in the evening. He straps his body bag before responding to Kuroo. “I could kill some time. You have something in mind, Kuroos-san?” Kuroo forces himself not to pump his fist in victory. “Hmm. We could hit the arcade near the station, then hang out on the park.”
Upon hearing the word park, Katsuo walks to them and says, “I want to go to the park too with Tsukishima-sensei.” The two adults look down at the expectant face of Katsuo, then looks at each other, eyes communicating. Kuroo crouches down to his nephew’s height and puts a hand on the latter’s head, gently ruffling his hair. “Sorry buddy but it’s past your play time and it’s already dark outside. I’ll just take you to the park next time, alright?” Kuroo receives a pout before Katsuo grabs Tsukishima’s hand, and turns his attention to him. “Tsukishima-sensei, I want to go with you please.”
Kuroo saw the internal panic on Tsuksihima’s eyes. He is probably good at teaching kids, but he is at a lost when it comes to begging ones. It is an amusing sight to see but Kuroo decides not to tease him for now because time is ticking, and his nephew has already taken most of Tsukishima’s time for the day. Kuroo is in dire need as well of his own Tsukishima time.
“Katsuo,” calls out Kuroo, his tone stern. His nephew frowns this time, and the two of them visibly got rattled when Katsuo looks like he is going to throw a tantrum. Thankfully, before it escalates to a crying fest, they got saved by Riko’s call that it is time for dinner already. Kuroo answers back saying they are going down now, but Katsuo is not satisfied yet and he grips Tsukishima’s pants making the other gulp inwardly but heaves out a sigh of relief when Katsuo just asks him if he could have dinner with them.
“I hope you don’t mind, Kuroo-san, if I join you guys for dinner.” Asks Tsukishima and Kuroo understand right away what he is saying. This is better than placating a crying kid. “Yes, sure. I’m sure my sister won’t mind.”
The trio went down with Katsuo holding Tsukishima’s hand and it did not escape Kuroo’s watchful eyes. His nephew does not even hold hands with him anymore saying he is a grown up already, and now he sees this. To top it all, the kid naturally took Tsukishima’s hand which is something he has been dying to do. Truly unbelievable.
Once they are in the dining area, Kuroo tells Riko the situation. “Oh, it’s okay. I’m already intending to invite Tsukishima for dinner anyway.” Tsukishima excuses himself for a while to go to the washroom. When he was already out of earshot, Katsuo calls his uncle excitedly. “Uncle, uncle.”
Kuroo turns his attention to his nephew, and he balks at the question thrown at him. “Does Tsukishima-sensei have a boyfriend already?” Kuroo looks warily at his nephew before glancing at his sister who seems to be busying herself with preparing the food on the table, silent. He brings his attention back to his nephew wondering where in the world he even learned the word boyfriend. “No. I don’t think he has,” answers Kuroo truthfully. What he did not say out loud though he is planning to fill that position soon.
What he did not expect, however, is the palpable glee showing on his nephew’s face. Kuroo gets a small feeling of dread, weighing if he should ask why his nephew is asking him this question. He does anyway.
“Because I would like to marry Tsukishima-sensei, Uncle.” Katsuo says proudly.
“Nope. Nuh uh. You can’t,” answers Kuroo immediately earning a frown from his nephew.
“But you said he does not have a boyfriend. So, I can marry him,” insists Katsuo as he crosses his hand over his chest. Something that Kuroo does as a kid when he cannot get what he wants.
“I don’t even know how you learned that. But nope buddy. Maybe you should grow a little bit more before thinking about marrying someone,” retorts Kuroo and he did not expect the next words that his nephew says.
“But I already kissed Tsukishima sensei! And mom already agreed,” reveals Katsuo, huffing. At this, Kuroo is rendered speechless, sending an accusing look to his sister because she should know better, and how she could hide this from him.
Riko is only smiling, amused as she shrugs and says, “Well, he said he’ll behave if he can marry Tsukishima-kun. I didn’t think he was being serious.” Kuroo sends him a look that says they’ll talk about this later before turning back to his nephew who is still visibly upset at the fact that his uncle is telling him that he can’t marry his sensei.
“Listen, Katsuo. My dear, dear nephew. I hate to break your heart, but you need to look for someone else, okay.” Kuroo says as gentle as he could, but Katsuo is not listening.
“No. I want to marry Tsukishima-sensei.” Again, with the M word. Kuroo cannot believe he is having this conversation with his nephew.
“I’ll buy you that Nintendo switch that you like. How about it?” Kuroo tries to change the conversation, but Katsuo is adamant to stay in this topic.
Kuroo sighs. He does not want to break his nephew’s heart, but he has to say it, and so he declares, “I’m telling you now Katsuo that you can’t because the one who will get married to Tsukishima is me.”
And as cliché as it is like in the romantic movies, it is then when Tsukishima enters the dining area. Kuroo is sure he has stopped breathing, and Riko is just watching everything unfolds from the sideline. Katsuo, well, is walking up to Tsukishima now, completely forgetting the discussion he was having with his uncle.
Tsukishima and Kuroo stares at each other for a good full minute before a sardonic smile appears on Tsukishima’s face, and responded the way he would. “That is if I’m going to say yes to you, Kuroo-san.”
Kuroo hears his heart drops at that statement. Before he could say anything, Tsukishima is already bending down to face Katsuo. Things have become awkward, so he decided to just go home. “Sorry, little kid, but I don’t think I can join you for dinner. Sensei needs to go home already before I meet any bad guys outside. I’ll play with you next time, okay?” Katsuo is disappointed to say the least, but he concedes not wanting to happen anything bad to his sensei.
Tsukishima stands up and faces Riko. “Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Riko-san.” He bows and starts to walk away after giving Kuroo a quick glance.
Kuroo is left standing, frozen in his place. His mind working overtime on how he can still salvage his relationship with Tsukishima. Riko seeing his little brother acting this way guilts her a little. She nudges him to wake him up from his trance. “Go. I’m sure he has not walked that far yet. It’s now or never, Tetsurou.”
That gives Kuroo a push and quickly darts out of the dining area, cursing his shoes for having shoelaces. He runs immediately outside once he got his shoes on and turns to where Tsukishima should be walking to go back to the station. Luckily, his sister was right as he sees a tall figure walking not that far from where he is standing.
He jogs to Tsukishima’s direction while calling out to him. Thankfully, Tsukishima stops and turns to look at him, waiting. “I, uhh, I’ll walk you home,” says Kuroo timidly. Something that Tsukishima rarely sees from the man, but he did not react or say anything and just continues walking.
Kuroo can feel the awkward air around them, and he is racking his brain out on what he should say now to Tsukishima until he hears a sigh from the other man before speaking.
“So, was that your way of finally confessing, Kuroo-san? I didn’t think you’d propose as well.” Tsukishima decides to break the silence.
Kuroo stops walking and groans, willing the ground underneath him to open up and take him. Tsukishima has stopped as well, now looking at Kuroo who has turned his back to him as he gathers his bearing. It’s now or never, his sister said. Kuroo turns around with a determine glint on his eyes.
He steps a little closer to Tsukishima and stares at him for a while. “You know I seriously have long list of ideas on how I would be doing this that hopefully will make you swoon and swept you off of your feet, but I didn’t think my nephew will ruin it all. Damn him. Anyway, yes Tsukki. I am in love with you. Has been liking you since you were in high school. And I really, really hope th-“
Tsukishima cuts off Kuroo’s word by tugging him in for a kiss and that made Kuroo stop functioning. “You really talk way too much, Kuroo-san. And my answer is yes.”
Without waiting for any response, Tsukishima intertwines Kuroo’s hand into his and continue walking to the direction of the station.
Kuroo is still not speaking. His mind still trying to catch up on just what happened, making Tsukishima chuckles to himself. “And since you have made me wait for so long, Kuroo-san, and you nephew, bless the kid, ruined your plans. You have to up your game and surprise me for our first date.”
When Tsukishima’s words finally register, he came back to life, grinning from ear to ear and he has never said yes so quickly in his life. Damn he cannot believe this. He is holding hands with Tsukishima now. His smiles slowly faded when he remembers something.
He halts on his step, pulling Tsukishima a little in the process. He looks seriously at his now (finally!!!) boyfriend, and asks, “Where did he kiss you?”
Tsukishima tilts his in wonder. “Who are you talking about?”
“My nephew. I can’t believe he got to kiss you first. So where?” Tsukishima laughs, truly amused at this sudden display of jealousy and competitiveness.
“I’m being serious here, Tsukki. I need to replace that kiss.” As much as Kuroo wanted to savor the moment of Tsukishima laughing so freely like this, he has his priorities already set. Tsukishima now has tears in his eyes from laughing too much.
“I can’t believe you’d get so competitive with your own nephew. He’s just six, Kuroo-san.”
“He. Kissed. You.” Kuroo emphasizes each word. Tsukishima chuckles before leaning in, giving Kuroo’s cheek a quick peck to stop his whining. “There. He kissed me there.” Tsukishima looks at him with mischief in his eyes before he continues to speak. “Though I would really prefer if you would kiss me here,” says Tsukishima while pointing at his lips. Who is Kuroo to decline that?
And in the middle of the street, Kuroo cradles Tsukishima’s face before pulling him in for a tender kiss. Their smiles never leaving their lips after, their foreheads pressed together.
“Now that I have to break a 6-year-old kid’s heart, you better make sure to compensate and thank him.” Kuroo agrees before sealing Tsukishima’s lips once more with his own.
Katsuo receives a Nintendo switch days after that, and probably a lifetime supply of chocolate.