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1. His Attitude
Man, Tetsurou hated this guy. The person in question stood facing him, looking down at him as if he was less than the rat they were about to start dissecting. It was times like these that really made Tetsurou regret not taking Biology back in his first year of university. At least then, he wouldn’t have to deal with this asshole.
Said asshole was still looking at him, eyebrow now raised in question. Tetsurou quickly tore his eyes away and looked back down at the rat pinned spread eagle on the dissection plate. The knife was poised in his slightly shaking hand, and as he lowered it towards the rat’s sternum, he couldn’t make it stop.
It wasn’t that he was scared per se, he just had zero interest in seeing the insides of the poor rat. This was why he put off the biology class until the last possible minute. He wanted to spend as much time as possible living guilt free of slicing and dicing small animals as if he were some poorly trained butcher.
Asshole, or Tsukishima Kei, although Tetsurou was sticking with the former name, seemed to notice his hesitance and scoffed before grabbing the scalpel from Tetsurou’s hand and shoving him lightly out of the way.
“If you aren’t going to do anything, the least you could do is stay out of my way. I’m not failing this class because you’re a little squeamish at the sight of a dead rat.”
“I-I’m not scared of a dead rat.” Tetsurou sputtered.
“I never said you were scared, just squeamish. You came up with that on your own.” Tsukishima looked up from where he had been running the scalpel down the middle of the rat’s chest and gave him a look. He turned his attention back to the rat before continuing. “Either way, I’m taking the lead. You just take notes or something.”
Tetsurou couldn’t believe him. Sure he may not have wanted to cut open a rat but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have done it. He had been getting to it, he just needed time to prepare himself.
Stupid Tsukishima and his stupid attitude. He said as much to Yaku later that day as they were at a table in the common area of the library catching up on some first week homework.
“Kuroo, I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about anyone this much besides Kenma. Are you even sure that you hate him?” Yaku said, glancing up from the textbook he was highlighting.
“What? Of course I hate him. He’s such an ass, Yaku. I swear he thinks I’m stupid or something. He all but said it to my face. Don’t even get me started on his height. He’s so tall and lanky that a stiff breeze would probably blow him over. Like how do you even get to be that tall. I’d be tempted to invite him to volleyball tryouts if I didn’t hate his guts.”
“Sounds more like a crush to me,” Yaku smirked.
Tetsurou could only stare at his friend. A crush? On Tsukishima? Him?
“Have you not been listening to a single thing I’ve said?”
Yaku just looked at him, the smirk still plastered on his face, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“You know what, here,” Tetsurou said, as he flipped to a new page in his notebook. At the top of the page he wrote, Kuroo Tetsurou’s Definite List for Why He Would Not Ever Have a Crush on Tsukishima Kei.
“Number one, his attitude,” He said as he wrote it down. “I’ll write the reasons down as they happen. This way I can prove to you I definitely don’t like that guy at all.”
Yaku just shook his head in exasperation.
2. His Volleyball Skills
Over the next few days, Tetsurou almost forgot about his list. While they were lab partners, they were in different sections for the lectures, so Tetsurou didn’t see him for the rest of the week. Instead, his mind was focused on the volleyball try-outs coming up on Saturday.
Tetsurou was a long standing member of the team, having made it back in his first year, so he was excited to see all the new meat that these try-outs would bring. He had offered to come and help their coach with running a few drills so he’d get first hand experience playing with whoever they accepted onto the team before the season started.
However, come Saturday morning, that excitement was destroyed when he saw Tsukishima walk through the double doors of the gym, bag slung over his shoulder. Of course he played volleyball. Maybe once he saw Tetsurou standing there with the coach, he’d leave.
Tetsurou saw Tsukishima look around the room and pause when he made eye contact with him. He seemed surprised to see him there but quickly covered it up with a sneer and walked towards all of the other new recruits to unpack his bag and get ready.
After a small talk from the coach, they split off into smaller groups based on their preferred positions and it was just Tetsurou’s luck that Tsukishima ended up being a middle blocker. It wasn’t surprising, he was well over six feet but it was still annoying.
The coach had them run some general drills, watching everyone’s skills, and judging them on their overall performance. The blocking drills were what drew Tetsurou’s attention. Tsukishima used his height to his advantage, blocking out most spikes that came his way. It was clear that he was a skilled player. Calculating and knowledgeable, he certainly knew what he was doing.
Tetsurou didn’t know what it was but it all just made him so angry.
It was obvious he’d make the team. He was leagues above the rest of the middle blocker hopefuls and while he should be happy about bringing in a new, good blocker, he couldn’t help but be pissed that he’s probably have to deal with Tsukishima more than he already did.
Once Tetsurou got back to his room later that day, he pulled out the notebook where he started the list and wrote down his second reason, his volleyball skills. He couldn’t explain it, normally this would be something that made a person even more attractive to him, but there was just something he couldn’t put his finger on that made him pissed.
Jealousy, maybe?
Either way, he still couldn’t stand the guy, nothing was going to change that.
3. His Cockiness & 4. His Smirk
Number three on his list came quickly after number two. Not long after volleyball try-outs, Tsukishima was offered a position on the team. Tetsurou wasn’t one to fight his coach’s decision on who made the team or not, but this was a close one. Ultimately, he decided that his skills outweighed his doucheyness and he’d be willing to put up with him for a few more hours a week if it meant the team improving.
At least Tsukishima hadn’t been given a starter position right away, that would’ve been a huge blow to Tetsurou’s ego, who had only made starter last year.
Their first practice came almost too soon. The Tuesday after try-outs found the two of them facing off against the net. The coach, wanting to get a feel for how the new members played with the senior members, had them grouped up to play a practice match against each other. Their current positions had them both in the center of the front row, staring each other down.
“Just so you know, Tsukki,” Tetsurou said, almost mockingly. “I won’t be going easy on you just because you’re new. Watch and learn from your senpai.”
Tsukishima shot him a look of mild disgust. “Don’t call me that. Just for that, I won’t be going easy on you either, old mad.”
Tetsurou could feel the vein in his forehead threatening to pop.
Tsukishima’s team was the first to serve. The volleyball was easily received by their libero in the back row and sent towards the setter. The setter unexpectedly sent the ball towards Tetsurou, who thought he had an easy shot at a cross court shit. However, when he went to spike the ball towards the other side of the court, Tsukishima was there, waiting for him. Tetsurou knew the other middle blocker was perceptive, but he never thought he’d be able to read his movements that easily.
By the time Tetsurou followed through with the spike, Tsukishima’s hands were above the net, poised to send the ball back in a deflection. The ball hit the middle of his palm and fell neatly to the ground on Tetsurou’s side of the court.
“What was that about going easy on me, Kuroo? I think you might need a bit more practice.” The smirk was back on his face again, although it was less malicious than Tetsurou thought it would be. It was more taunting than anything, a challenge to try and beat him.
His fourth reason, his smirk, was added to the list shortly after the game was over.
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The thing about spending more and more time with a person was that it allowed you to see a more obscure side to their personality. This was no exception for Tsukishima, much to Tetsurou’s chagrin. The more time he began to spend with Tsukishima, the more he could see that maybe his initial judgement on him had been slightly off. The attitude that once used to annoy him, became more endearing. What originally appeared as a prickly exterior, quickly gave light to someone who cared about schoolwork and cared about doing well.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as bad as he originally thought. Yaku was still wrong though, there was no way that he would ever have a crush on the guy. Getting along was one thing, falling for him was another thing entirely.
The two were spending their night practicing their blocks together. In what Tetsurou can only assume was a rare turn of events, Tsukishima had requested him for advice on his technique. They had been working on different possibilities that he could use when approaching difficult spikers and while they were on a short break, Tsukishima looked at him, a bit apprehensive.
“Thank you for this. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but I really am grateful for you taking the time to help me out.” Tsukishima said, eyes not leaving the water bottle he had gripped tight in his hand. “I know I can be a bit difficult and hard to get along with sometimes.”
“It’s no problem, man. I mean, I totally thought you were an asshole when we met-”
“You wouldn’t cut into the rat. I just didn’t want to fail.” Tsukki cut in.
“- But, getting to know you better over the past few weeks has shown me that maybe you’re not so bad after all. And by not so bad, I mean pretty alright.” Tetsurou laughed.
Tetsurou could see the back of Tsukishima’s neck turn red at the praise, and he quickly made his way back to the net before gesturing to Tetsurou to continue spiking the ball for him.
Tetsurou just laughed again and picked up the ball.
Later that night, after he dropped Tsukishima off at the library and when Tetsurou got back to his dorm, he was taking some textbooks out of his bag to lay them on his desk, when he accidentally knocked a pile of papers down onto the ground. He groaned before bending down to begin picking them up.
As he was gathering the papers, the corner of a ripped out page from a notebook caught his eye. It was his list, started long ago now, and no longer an issue. He took one last look at the paper and thought about how stupid this list was now. Looking back on it, he could no longer see the reasons that made him annoying but rather, the traits that made him captivating.
His attitude was harsh at times, but only when it was closing in on the deadline for one of his courses or he was annoyed at something. For the majority of his time, he was kind and caring in his own way. His volleyball skills were nothing but impressive, no longer an area of jealousy for Tetsurou. His cockiness was well deserved, going above and beyond with schoolwork as well as volleyball. His smirk turned into a smile more often than not these days.
Looking back to the title of his list, Tetsuoru can start to see the irony of what he’s created. He made such a big deal over not having a crush on Tsukishima, that all of his reasons for not having a crush have quickly morphed into the reasons why he does have a crush on the other.
Tetsurou just huffed out a laugh before tossing the list in the garbage can and turning around to face the door, returning to where he just came from.
Tsukishima was sitting at his usual table when Tetsurou returned to the library. He quickly pulled up a seat across from him while Tsukishima looked up, startled.
“You know what, Tsukki? You definitely were an asshole when I first met you,” Tsukishima looked confused and Tetsurou could see the apprehension begin to form on his face so he quickly continued. “But, I realize now, that’s what makes you, you, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. You’re pretty great, Tsukki, asshole bits and all. Did you want to go and grab dinner sometime?”
Tsukishima stared at him for a moment before Tetsurou watched his face become very red, very quick. He watched with an amused look as Tsukishima repeatedly opened and closed his mouth before resoundly shutting it with a loud click. He nodded sharply once and looked back down at his textbook, clearly avoiding Tetsurou’s eyes, although Tetsurou did now have a direct view of the back of Tsukishima’s neck, lit up bright red in a blush.
Tetsurou just chuckled and stood up. “Great, let's go right now.”
Tsukishima’s head quickly shot up but before he had the chance to say anything, Tetsuoru was grabbing him by the arm and pulling him out of his seat, already thinking of where he was going to take the other boy.
At the end of the night, as Tetsurou walked Tsukki back to his room and as their lips met on the front steps of his dorm, Tetsuoru decided it was time to make a new list.
Kuroo Tetsurou’s Definite List for Why He Would Totally Fall for Tsukishima Kei.
1. His Everything