Work Text:
you should be in my space
you should be in my life
i.
Sometime during the start of classes, Kei gets pushed up against the wall by a senior in the corner of the library. He's clutching a timetable in his hands while he's trapped between two strong arms and a desperately hot mouth mapping him with tongue and teeth over his lips, his jaw, the side of his neck.
"Fuck," he murmurs against the other boy's lips - "Fuck, Kuroo. Get off me."
Kuroo's not listening. He's got his hands held tightly with his own against the wall and Kei can't help but think, he's gonna walk back to class with bite marks on the side of his neck and lips red with Kuroo's mouth and a fucking hard-on. Things had never been this bad since - since back then, when all Kuroo could do with him the most was to hold his hand and sing cheesy songs or leave presents by his door like a fucking cat.
This was a different Kuroo, however. Self-assured. vulnerable, despite that attractive cockiness. Tall, broad, muscular. Definitely has some experience making out with someone, despite the awkward fumbling earlier on. Guy who knows how to get what he wants, and what he wants is -
"Missed you," Kuroo says, breaking the kiss finally to murmur the words against the side of his neck, lovingly biting the skin all over down his shoulder, back up to his neck.
"You're gonna get me in trouble," Kei hissed at him, angrily, and Kuroo just laughs. It's a warm and deep laugh and fuck him, he's so attracted right now. "If I'd known you'd interrupt my first day here in Nekoma like this, I would've stashed you at the trunk of our car and soundproofed the damn thing as my brother drives off."
But then again, Kei thought dimly as Kuroo shut him up again with another round of kisses - too many fucking words, he replies, punctuating each word with a kiss, a bite, the drag of teeth against the skin over his jugular - then again, his tastes in men have always been shit.
ii.
Between Kenma and Kuroo, he's definitely the baby of the group, or so Kuroo insists. Kenma's just happy to have someone to play with since Kuroo doesn't really play video games in general. Both of them are perfectly happy to ignore his bullshit whenever they get together; for the most part, Kuroo's gotten used to being replaced by a video game every now and then.
Kuroo also likes him. In their younger years this often manifested in embarrassing gestures by Kuroo which made Kenma want to die. Stuff like writing Kei shitty poems. Buying him a bouquet of flowers and then forgetting he bought them in the first place, thus ensuring their death in a stuffy locker smelling like sweat and god knows what. Making him burnt cupcakes. Forcing Kenma to eat said cupcakes with him before his parents find out. Singing Kei's favourite songs awfully at three in the morning, which forced Akiteru to ban him from the premises for a week. And so on.
Later, when Kuroo learned how to be discreet and how to charm people in general as he became more and more socially aware of his effect on others, and while Kei spent some time growing up in school and bitterly hating the move away from Tokyo, trying to fit in a crowd he barely knows, Kuroo became more precise with how he expresses himself - short, perfunctory emails telling him he misses him, the occasional package to Miyagi containing baubles he and Kenma had worked hard to fill it with. There was still the goofiness, the awkwardness that made things so difficult for all of them back then, but this one was a more subdued, grown-up one, that even Akiteru wondered out loud if Kuroo-kun was courting his baby brother for real.
(The packages he sent were small but thoughtful: bottles of his mother's homemade jams, candies, photographs, stuffed cat toys he made in home economics for both of them, a matching shirt he got for Kuroo, which he continued to wear until it didn't fit him anymore. Kenma still has his, because he didn't really grow as much as Kuroo did.)
And then, first year high school, when his dad finally got that promotion that got him back to Tokyo, after all the excited emails and phone calls he'd exchanged with them about his return, and Kuroo promising him he'd show him around Nekoma first thing in the morning; and at home, after all the heartbreak after finding out Akiteru had lied to him about being an ace, and the pain of moving somewhere else, again, after having learned all of the names and faces in his class that he'd gotten used to - the pain of knowing that he might've belonged if he had a bit more time - first year high school, another big move. They packed up their things from Miyagi in smaller boxes and left to return to Tokyo: a different beast from the time he'd left it.
The uniform wasn't exactly to Kei's taste: black sweater over the shirt and tie, grey pants. It's a pallette he's not really used to; even for him, it's a bit too drab. He drapes a black jacket over his uniform, slips his headphones around his neck and makes the commute to the school, texting Kuroo and Kenma all the while -
- the tour of the school was a whirlwind of everything that Kuroo likes, and Kei wonders, privately, as he glances at him discreetly from the corner of his eyes, if Kuroo had always been that tall, or had his shoulders always been that broad, or his voice always that timbre -
and it ends with the library, where he manages to drop his phone onto the carpeted floor, along with his bag, as he finds himself with a handful of Kuroo Tetsurou kissing him, all pent-up emotion and raw lust making him weak in the knees, and Kei thinks to himself, I miss you, too.
Post-make out cigarettes weren't quite the same after that.
iii.
Not long after that, he joins Kei up in the rooftop during lunch hour, along with Kenma, and Kuroo finally broaches the subject of a volleyball club.
Kenma glances at Kei curiously. Both of them know about Akiteru. Both of them know how strained things have been ever since then. The fact that Kei learned how to smoke somewhere in between that, however, is new.
He lets the cigarette burn between his fingers before he replies to Kuroo - "I'm not really interested."
"It's fun, though. You get to meet all the rest of the guys and they're always excited to have someone new around. Plus, with your height, and you being a middle blocker, you'll definitely make our defense stronger."
"Kuroo has thought about this a lot," Kenma replies quietly. He's also got an exasperated look on his face because he more or less knows that if Kuroo is stubborn, so is Kei. Both of them were bad for each other, which is probably why they're together.
"I can tell."
"I'm captain now, you know. Why don't you try me?"
"I told you - I'm not interested."
"You're trying to tell me, out of this cool guy posturing shit of yours, that you don't like something you've been so invested in ever since we were kids?"
And of course, if Kei was good at insulting others, or making passive aggressive digs at anyone he doesn't like, then Kuroo, who's got well over three years experience dealing with assholes himself, can do it better.
Kenma shakes his head. "Kuroo," he warns the other boy, except that Kuroo's not listening and he's got his hands hooked over the pockets of his trousers, watching Kei keenly in a manner that reminds him of a cat waiting to sink his claws in to his latest prey.
(But Kei's no easy prey, either.)
"It must be nice," Kei starts, his voice practically purring with disdain, "To have found a sense of purpose in the four years you're going to waste in some club."
He crushes his cigarette underfoot; thanks Kenma for staying with him. (He doesn't take his eyes off Kuroo as he says it, and Kenma sighs and wishes there were other ways for these two to communicate properly.) Leaves. Kuroo grits his teeth as he watches him go, the smell of Marlboros lingering in his wake. So bitter. So angry.
Too fucking hot.
"Where'd I go wrong?" He glances at Kenma, and Kenma sighs.
"Maybe just give him some time."
"I don't like waiting."
"Well, maybe you should find someone else to recruit." He keeps on with his game. "There's a guy among the first years about as tall as he is. Try that guy."
Hor Kei's part, he walks back into his classes frustrated. He goes through his exams and tests breezily, passes them like thunder. He never gets bad marks. He's popular enough in his classes that he gets girls confessing to him every now and then and boys shyly admitting they like him. He has his share of assholes he intimidates with the slight lift of an eyebrow. He makes a friend or two. Maybe.
The last days of autumn burn off over the next few weeks before winter hits again, which leads him to -
iv.
- another tryst behind the school, this time in the supply room. Kuroo's mouth is hot and hungry against his own, his hands frantic on his sides as he grips his thighs, parts them so he can lift him properly over the edge of the table and have Kei wrap his thighs around his slim waist, pushing him down and grinding hard against his crotch.
"Kuroo - " was the only sound Kei manages to spit out before his mouth is engulfed by his own, again. He's sweating profusely against a dusty table in an even hotter room, the edge of the table marking his thighs, his protests turning into desperate moans as he feels Kuroo harden against his dick. Kuroo's wearing nothing but his jersey, and it's an hour or two before the practice that the volleyball team does before they get into a match and Kuroo's nervous, desperate, horny as fuck.
"Haven't seen you in a while," he tells him against his neck. Biting his skin where he knows it'll leave a visible mark, pulling Kei's trousers down his thighs so he can rub against his cock with a hand against the fabric of his underwear; Kei stifles a moan. "You avoiding me?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"That's a shit way to treat your senior." He's taking his dick out. He's taking Kei's dick out, and he's stroking both of them together with spit-slick hands.
"My senior keeps - recruiting me - even when I've t - fuck - ah - "
"Say that again." Kuroo grins against his mouth, kissing his lips, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. "I love it when you get frustrated."
"Shut up."
"Make me."
"Oh, you think you're so clever with that damn line."
"No, seriously." Kuroo licks his lips. He slows down his hands where he's stroking both their cocks, hips grinding against Kei's own sensuously, and Kei's body arches against the table when he realizes Kuroo's being a dick by slowing his pace down torturously, when he knows neither of them can hold their orgasms well enough. Kuroo thinks he's beautiful, really. Kei's blond hair was sticking everywhere around his head and there's sweat pooling over his throat which he licks greedily. "Make me, Kei."
"Oh my god - "
Kuroo ends up with scratches on his back and thighs, and Kei ends up with marks on his neck and thighs. They come messily on the table. And then because Kei's a shit, he pushes Kuroo against a wall to make him come again.
They're both panting at the floor of the room when they're done, and then Kuroo pulls him against him, kissing his temple.
"I've got a match to play in a few."
"First time with the new first years?"
"Yeah." He sighs. He's suddenly exhausted. Maybe it's not such a good idea to do this before practice, he's not sure he can pick himself up from the floor and walk to the gym after this.
"Good luck."
Kei fixes his uniform again, slips the tie back around his collar, wears his headphones around his neck even if it's a billion degrees out there and he's actually dying in his clothes. Kuroo watches him dress up, smiling as he struggles to hide the marks around his neck.
"... You're really not going to volleyball, huh."
"I told you," Kei says quietly as he knots his tie. "I'm not interested."
He kisses him at the tip of his nose. And then he leaves.
(For Kuroo's part, if he manages to get him to think of him during his cigarette break, for even more than one second - then he hasn't lost yet.)
v.
Predictably, Kuroo's team wins against the other school in that practice match. Kenma tells him via text. Kuroo drops the whole thing about recruiting him after that. Kei walks back with fewer marks around his neck, but that's because he's nagged Kuroo to be smart about where he places his mouth. They've moved on to - after practices as well, because Kuroo is his sort-of .... Boyfriend and he waits for him after their games so he can go home with him even if he doesn't have to. He thinks it's kind of pathetic. Kuroo thinks it's sweet of him. Kenma wonders if either one of them realize how deep they are in this damned relationship, and both of them awkwardly avoid his gaze.
They have their first big fight sometime before the christmas holidays; it's a case where Kei hasn't been answering any of Kuroo's or Kenma's texts because he's busy, he found a part time job that month and balancing it with studying is something else entirely, especially during the holidays; Kuroo's texts have turned from random youtube links to constant questions - why the hell are you still awake at three/four/five in the morning, I can see you on skype, go the fuck to sleep - to the more serious: hey, I haven't seen you for a while and you haven't answered my texts. Did I say something wrong?
Kei, bone tired from studying for his classes and after he's just finished a long shift in the store, reads his text. Throws his phone somewhere around his bed. Curls up in blankets after letting his mother know he's not feeling well, he's not going to school tomorrow. He gets fussed over for having worked so hard, but she understands and she lets him stay in the whole day.
He doesn't get any texts after that from Kuroo. But Kenma came over and he glanced at all the work he's done on his table - a lot more than he's ever done in his life, and he's just in his first year - and Kei curled up underneath his bedcovers with his phone somewhere on the floor. He's still wearing his work clothes. There are empty packs of cigarettes on his desk and side table. "Kuroo's worried," he says by way of greeting.
"I'm tired."
"You might be working yourself too hard ... Tsukki, you're only in your first year."
"My classes are ridiculous."
"... Do you want me to help? I can probably tutor you with some of these things."
"No, I know how to do them." he yawns tiredly. "I just - need to actually do the work involved."
Kenma, of course, resists pointing out to Kei that the reason he's so tired in the first place was because he was always hellbent to prove that he's something beyond average where his talents lie and therefore he burdens himself with way much more research, way much more writing, and way too much work involved with his homework where the minimum is concerned. He knows that Kei is more or less aiming for the top universities in a few years, which is impressive considering he doesn't even have a plan for the next year or something, and he's fairly sure Kuroo doesn't have any either, but it's that time of the year where everything is stressful to students and Kei is getting lost in the details, burying his insecurities - what ifs that plague him concerning the future, made worse by the coffee and the cigarettes - in work-related stress. He sits beside him and asks him more about things, lets Kei rant about work in a tired voice, lets him rant about Kuroo sending too many messages, far more than he can reply to, lets Kei rant about missing him.
"Are you guys ... Together officially?"
"I guess."
"You don't even know? Kuroo's pretty serious."
"He's always been serious ever since we were kids."
"He rarely gives up on something he's serious about, and if he does, it's because he's exhausted all other options for that situation."
"I know that."
Kenma sighs.
And on the day he actually returns to school, the morning where he still feels bone tired and still hasn't answered any of his texts except for the ones related to work, Kuroo picks him up from his house and commutes with him to school. No Kenma in sight.
"What's this about you not knowing if I'm serious about you?"
"- are we going to talk about this?"
"Well, I've got the time."
"I don't."
Kuroo glances at him. "How the hell are you this smart and not be able to understand that I like you, holy crap. I don't just give free handjobs to everyone, you know. what else do I have to do to make you understand?"
"Kuroo - "
But he's watching him. waiting for him to reply while they wait for the bus to arrive in the bitter cold, and then, just when Kei was about to reply to him with something snide, Kuroo hits him with, "You realize when we were kids, you were a lot more passionate about things than this piss poor attempt at being the very best at everything, which you already are anyway? How long are you going to blame your brother - "
That earns him a slap.
Kuroo gets on the bus alone.
vi.
Which, of course, doesn't stop him from cornering Kei, leaning against another locker as he watches him stuff his books inside in between classes.
It's been three days. Kei glances at him upwards from where he's busy stuffing his things in the lower half of his shelf, rummaging for his lighter somewhere in his mess when he hears a light tapping on the door - "What?"
Kuroo slips his hands in his pockets. Grins.
"Wanna do it?"
Kei bites his lower lip.
Well, he does miss him.
They end up in an empty stall in the restrooms, and Kuroo pushes him against the door and tells him he'd like to try something, he was watching porn and this was really cool, and that's about the only warning he gets when he starts eating his ass.
Holy fu -
He gets Kuroo's necktie slipped over his mouth and Kuroo whispering over the nape of his neck, pressing gentle kisses over his skin: you're gonna get us in trouble.
And then he gets back to work. Kei could barely stand as he slips his tongue and teases his hole until he was a needy, whimpering mess of barely-contained moans, hands slowly slipping down the wall of the toilet as his thighs shake from pleasure. He comes hard after that, cum streaking the surface of the door, and Kuroo follows not long after, marking his ass with his cum. And then he licks it off the curve of his ass, and just like that, Kei forgets why the hell he was even mad at him in the first place.
Later on, when they were both at the back of the school and Kuroo watches him smoke another cig to its filter, Kuroo asks him: are we cool?
And Kei nods, slipping his fingers in between Kuroo's. Much to his surprise. There's a genuine warmth in his face as he watches Kei hesitantly grasp his hand tightly in his own, and Kuroo grins as he says, I'm that good, huh. Which earns him a frustrated huff on Kei's part as he laughs.
He presses a kiss to his forehead and murmurs, seriously, though, babe. You're working yourself too hard.
I'm your babe now?
Honeybun. Strawberry shortcake. Love of my life. Moon of my skies. Firefly of my canceled shows. Eternal -
I'm not above divorcing you over your shit sense of humour.
But babe. You love it like that.
(And he does.)
vii.
Around January, he managed to give up smoking successfully for three months and counting, and then he shows up in volleyball tryouts for the first time. Kenma's shocked enough that he drops the ball he's about to serve to Yamamoto before calling Kuroo to see to the first years trying out for this year.
Kuroo can't stop smiling. Kei feels pathetic, but he likes the fact that he's happy again.
Just when they're more or less alone, he gives him a casual thump on the back and then says, in an undertone, "fucking love you, babe."
"You're gross, captain."
(But he loves it like that, and Kuroo knows anyway.)
end.