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Kuroo stared up at the coffee shop in front of him, remembering the conversation he had with his best friend a few hours before while they were in class and he had asked for recommendations after his go-to coffee shop had closed down when the owner had moved.
“Oh, I know just the place!” he grinned, “Fukurodani coffee is a great place! In fact one of my good friends works there so you should definitely try it!”
Well, it did give some homey feel to it so Kuroo decided he was glad that he had asked Bokuto and this was the place that was recommended to him.
‘Now, to see if they have good coffee’ Kuroo thought to himself as he pushed open the door to the coffee shop only to accidentally bump into someone as he did so, eyes widening in horror as he heard a surprised yelp.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” Kuroo apologized, cursing his luck— or lack of it rather.
‘This day just seems getting worse’ Kuroo internally sighed, turning to face whoever he had bumped into and fuck. He was definitely screwed. You just had to bump into an insanely attractive guy didn’t you Tetsu’
“Watch where you’re going next time” the gorgeous stranger sighed, sounding almost as exhausted as Kuroo himself felt. “Right, uh, sorry again” Kuroo replied dumbly, brain not functioning properly as the pretty boy— Akaashi, his name tag read— walked away from him.
It wasn’t until he was safely seated at a table that he had processed their interaction, scrambling to roll up the sleeve of his button up to reveal his soul mark which revealed the first wods his soulmate would say to him— or, did, as the words mirrored what Akaashi had said to him earlier, and there it was.
‘Watch where you’re going next time’
Kuroo took a deep breath as he stared down at his forearm, ‘Calm down Tetsu, don’t act so hastily just yet. It could be a coincidence just like last time’. There was just one way to find out, Kuroo pursed his lips, eyes scanning the place for the guy he had bumped into earlier, disappointment filling him as he noticed that the man was nowhere to be found.
‘Oh, well, there’s no time to dwell on a possibility of that gorgeous barista being your soulmate Tetsu, you have essays and papers you need to continue working on if you want to pass this semester’ Kuroo thought to himself as he took a drink from his coffee, ‘Time to get shit done’ he thought, ready for yet another tiring day of working on his papers.
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Kuroo sighed, dragging a hand down his face as he tried to keep his eyes open and focused on the laptop in front of him as he drank what felt like his twentieth cup of coffee that day.He quietly groaned as he dragged a hand down his face in an attempt to wipe at least some of the grogginess from his face. He needed to get this done by this week, there was no time to slack off.
‘Don’t you just love finals’ he thought to himself, sighing as he turned back to his laptop preparing himself to re-read the same paragraph for the hundredth time without actually understanding anything from the sheer exhaustion he was currently feeling. He was prepared to order yet another coffee when he heard a voice call out to him. He looked up to see who he suspected was the manager of the coffee shop. He looked to be around the same age as Kuroo. He was fit too, with messy black hair and a pair of glasses seated upon the bridge of his nose, bringing his attention to the striking pair of grey eyes that stared back at him.
Akaashi his mind supplied, the attractive barista that he bumped into that morning. The guy who said the words that were tattooed on his arm and have been for the past couple of years and even if the phrase wasn’t so rare and he had it said to him before this time felt different. It’s like a part of him just knew that this guy was his soulmate. That this was actually him. The guy he was meant to be with for the rest of his life and there he was. Standing in front of him looking gorgeous while he probably looked like a mess.
‘Thanks, universe, of course, I’d meet my soulmate while I’m in the pits of finals’ he silently cursed while trying to find his voice to speak. “Hi” was all Kuroo let out as he dumbly stared at the other man with wide eyes.
“Hi” the other replied with a twitch of his lips.”I’m Akaashi. Akaashi Keiji”
That name was strangely very familiar to him. “Well, hello Akaashi,” Kuroo smiled, “You’re Bokuto’s friend aren’t you?” Akaashi raised an eyebrow as surprise painted his features. “Yeah, I am, I’m surprised that you know who I am though”
“Bo was the one who recommended this place to me,” Kuroo admitted, “And he had mentioned your name when he told me about this place” Akaashi chuckled lightly at his words, “Of course he did, we have mutual friends and they come here often”
“I am glad he insisted on me going here after my usual place had closed down” Akaashi flashed the other a quiet smile at his words, “Oh, are you now?” Kuroo hummed in response. “Yeah, after all, I get to meet you” he smiled, eyes catching the words on the other man’s forearm, ‘Oh my god, I am so sorry !’ the exact words Kuroo had said to him that morning in response to his words to watch where he was going— which were the words tattooed onto his forearm.
“Guess that confirms my suspicion, huh?” he chuckled, lifting up his arm to show his own soulmark to the other man.
“Oh” for the first time since he’s met the man, this was probably the first time Kuroo saw him lose his composure as his eyes widened in shock.
“Yeah, oh” Kuroo chuckled, watching him as his eyes shone with amusement.
“Yeah, oh” Kuroo chuckled, eyes lighting up in amusement. “Bokuto is probably going to incredibly happy when he finds out” Kuroo mused to himself, “Especially when he kind of helped us meet with the way he sort of insisted that I try out this place instead of the one closer to our apartment”
“Well, he is rather fond of this place” Akaashi chuckled, flashing him a small smile after he had regained his composure. “I think I understand why” Kuroo glanced at him with a smile on his face. Akaashi shook his head in amusement before he fully turned towards the other man, “Hey Kuroo-san, do you happen to be free this weekend?”
Kuroo bit back the full-on grin that was beginning to grow on his face as he answered, “I’ve got one last final on Saturday, but I should be free on Sunday” Akaashi nodded, seemingly thinking over what he wanted to say next, “Why do you ask?” Kuroo questioned.
“Nothing, just, I’m off shift this weekend so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out, especially after what we had learned about each other?” Akaashi shrugged, motioning towards their arms where their soul marks were. “Yeah, no, I’d love to get to know you more Akaashi, and please drop the honorifics” Kuroo grinned over at him, “I mean, we are soulmates, after all, there’s no need to be so formal with each other”
“Are you always this much of a pain in the ass?” Akaashi sighed, looking both incredibly tired and amused, but before Kuroo could say anything there was a call of Akaashi’s name from the kitchen. “I better go check on that” Akaashi motioned towards the source of the noise.
“No, yeah, I understand, I should probably leave too huh?” Kuroo chuckled, “But, um, here” he hastily ripped out a page from his notebook and wrote his number. “Here’s my number, why don’t we meet up for brunch or something on Sunday?”
“Sure” Akaashi smiled, pocketing the paper, “I guess I’ll see you then” he nodded before making his way towards the kitchen, missing the smile Kuroo was directing at him, “Yeah, I’ll see you then, soulmate”
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“I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up or not” Kuroo looked up to see Akaashi approaching him with a small wave. “I’m not even late yet,” Kuroo grinned as he came to a stop next to him. “Well, you aren’t exactly early either” Akaashi shrugged, smirking over at him.
“Yeah, but important thing is I’m not late” Kuroo grinned. “I guess so” Akaashi chuckled, bumping their shoulders together as they walked, “So, what’s the plan for today?”
“Who’s to say there is one?” Kuroo hummed, breaking out into a laugh when Akaashi rolled his eyes, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding” he cut in before Akaashi could say anything. “It’s a surprise, so you’re going to have to wait a bit”
As it turned out, they had to wait a little bit more longer than that when the restaurant Kuroo had in mind was packed full of people. “They’re not usually this packed” Kuroo muttered to himself, frowning as he eyed the place. “You know what? Let’s go to a different place” Kuroo smiled before leading him past the restaurant and to a small ramen shop.
“Hey Ito-san,” Kuroo waved to the man behind the counter as he lead Akaashi to a table. “Tetsu, my boy! Haven’t seen you in a while” the older man smiled.
“Yeah, I was busy with finals” Kuroo chuckled, “I’ll just get my usual and, hey what do you want?” Akaashi blinked when Kuroo turned to him. “Oh, I’ll just get a tonkotsu ramen and an onigiri” Akaashi nodded.
“Alright then, we’ll serve them up in a bit” Ito nodded before he turned to start working on their orders.
“He seems to know you quite well” Akaashi observed, “You a regular?”
“Something like that” Kuroo chuckled, “He’s actually a long-time family friend” Kuroo admitted, “He practically watched me grow up, my dad used to frequent this shop a lot because of him”
“Well, the place seems cozy” Akaashi smiled, “It may be small, but this shop means a lot to them. It’s been in their family for generations” Kuroo chuckled. “Anyway, I’m sorry again that my original place didn’t work out, I really thought you’d like the place and it was such a good first date place to get to know each other too..” Kuroo trailed off.
“Well, I guess that’s the good thing about being soulmates huh?” Kuroo looked over to the other man in confusion, “What do you mean?” Akaashi flashed him a small smile before he replied, “We’ll have a lifetime to be able to get to know each other” before Kuroo could say anything Ito-san had arrived with their food.
“You better eat your food before it gets cold” Akaashi grinned knowingly at him before going back to his food. Kuroo shook his head in disbelief but did as he said. After all, he was right— they did have a lifetime to get to know one another, and he didn’t want to waste one moment.