Chapter Text
"It's your move, asshole..." Tsukishima grumbled as Kuroo whined, falling hard onto the carpeted floor. Kuroo had insisted that they do something "new and exciting!!!" when Tsukishima agreed to stay with him and Kozume the weekend of his university visit.
He didn't know how "new and exciting!!!" translated to playing a game that Kuroo knew next to nothing about, but to Kei nothing that the older boy did really made much sense.
"Tsuuuuuukki, I thought you knew how to play this game!"
"I do know how to play, did you expect me to tell you how to win when it was your idea to play in the first place?"
"Have pity on your poor senpai! I just wanted to show off my top quality strategy to my dear kouhai"
Tsukishima exhaled, "I don't think volleyball strategy translates into chess strategy, dumbass"
Kuroo threw himself back onto the floor, mimicking an arrow slamming into his chest, whimpering about "no respect" and "precious kouhai" and Kei had to rest his head back on the ratty couch that was doubling as his bed this weekend.
He closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm himself like when he had to spend extended periods of time with Karasuno's freak duo.
He had come to Tokyo to meet with university advisors so he could finally decide where he wanted to pursue his degree in paleontology. Kuroo had mentioned them visiting the natural history museum with Kozume one day during the weekend, but with the way things were progressing he didn't see that happening.
He hadn't even seen Kozume yet.
Kei had already finished his meeting earlier in the day and Kuroo seemed dead set on wasting the rest of his weekend in Tokyo.
Kuroo yawned loudly and brought himself back to a sitting position, snapping Kei's attention back to the chess board on the table in front of him. Kuroo was playing with one of his pawns, trying to bounce it off the board. Why did he agree to this? Where did someone like Kuroo even get a chess set from? Kei pondered briefly. Maybe it belonged to Kozume. He seemed like the type of person who would not only play chess but get some sort of enjoyment out of it, very much the polar opposite of Kei at this point.
"Tsukki, I don't think I actually understand anything about this game" Kuroo pouted, grabbing a handful of pieces from Kei's pile of stolen pieces.
"Honestly Kuroo, I had no idea. You were doing such a good job at doing....whatever it is we've been doing the past half hour," he snickered and sat up on the edge of the couch. "Why didn't we just play one of those racing games that I'm awful at? If you really wanted to beat me so badly..."
Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows together and huffed, "No Tsukki, I'm a man of principles," He puffed his cheeks out, "and by principle I need to beat my precious crowhai at this game"
"I don't think I've ever heard you say anything as...stupid as that," Kei lifted his hand to his nose and idly scratched to cover the blush that was creeping up his face. What the hell was going on? "And honestly that's really saying something Kuroo."
Kuroo shrugged, "What can I say Tsukki, I'm probably some kind of masochist. You can ask Kenma. He'll confirm that I live to be insulted."
He muttered a small, "especially by you," that almost escaped Kei's hearing.
Almost.
Kei grabbed a pillow and sunk his face behind it as Kuroo threw his body back on the floor again, tossing a pawn into the air.
Kei heard a sneeze outside the door as the the deadbolt quietly clicked open, breaking the awkward tension that had surfaced. Kuroo popped up and shouted at the barely opened door, "Yo, Kenma, I'm a total masochist, right?"
Kozume shuffled in the door with bags full of boxes and...ornaments? Did the summer heat finally burn Kozume out? Kei wondered.
"You're a total glutton for punishment Kuroo," Kenma sighed as he set his bags down. He tossed one of the ornaments at Kei. "I was in Ikebukuro to get a new game and some stuff for Shou and I thought this might suit you."
Kei popped open the capsule and found a tiny dinosaur keychain. On closer inspection, it had tiny blush marks on it's cheeks. It was too cute for his collection and definitely not something he'd be seen in public with, but he felt himself turn more pink at the sentiment anyway.
"Thanks, Kozume, you didn't need to do this. I didn't even bring you anything"
Kuroo was laying down on the floor again, rolling around and whining that Kenma was too cruel, too cruel not buying his best friend anything when he even bought their guest a gift. Kenma threw another capsule at Kuroo and hit him directly between the eyes.
Kozume whispered behind his hand towards his guest, "Honestly, Tsukishima you're keeping him out of my hair for three whole days which is more than I could ask for."
Kei muttered a quick "it's not a big deal" as Kuroo celebrated his prize, a keychain with a tiny cat eating a rice ball. Kuroo was fighting the cat with his chess pieces and humming about tiny cats fighting tiny dinosaurs as Kenma dragged his bags to his room. He called out a quiet "behave, you two" before shutting the door to play his new game.
Kei brought his attention back to the abandoned chess game, then his embarassing upperclassman who was rolling around on the ground, and he sighed, sinking into the couch.
Their game was as good as over.