Into You

Tsukishima knew that he was embarrassing himself, that he was making himself looked so foolish for reacting to the smallest thing that his boyfriend did. He knew… He knew what the raven was actually getting at, that his boyfriend must’ve enjoyed making him flustered so easily. And yet the blonde just couldn’t help his reactions.

Or, a collection of small events as Kuroo and Tsukishima navigate through their relationship over the years.
(This can be read as a standalone. You don't need to read the other parts to understand this one.)

Notes:

Hello! I'm so glad I finally got this out after a week. I know it's a long one but you'll definitely enjoy this! (hopefully)
As said in the summary, you can read this without having to read the previous parts. It would still make perfect sense. All you need to remember is:
1) Tsukishima's mother is a very busy nurse. We don't talk about who's canonically not there, aka his father.
2) Kuroo goes to Tohoku University. And oh, he's an only child here with a happy family.

Anyways please enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Kuroo was up to something, and Tsukishima had known Kuroo long enough that he must have done it on purpose. They had known each other since the summer of his first year of highschool, had been constantly hanging out with each other since his 2^nd year when he had moved in to Tsukishima’s neighborhood because he chose to attend Tohoku University, been dating each other for 72 days and had been living together for about 45 days (No, Tsukishima did not count each day).

They had known each other for so long that it took them no time to move in together, as if making up for loss time. It had happened so casually, one day as Kuroo slept over at Tsukishima’s house, nearly 3 weeks after they started dating, the morning when they were brushing their teeth together. It had occurred to Tsukishima suddenly as he was rinsing his mouth, so he mumbled nonchalantly, “Do you wanna live together?”

Because they had been inseparable ever since Kuroo moved in Sendai, seeing as he went to Tohoku University for college — long before they had even dated each other. They had been spending their time together as much as they could since then, either hanging out at Tsukishima’s house or Kuroo’s apartment, slept over at each other’s place on most weekends.

To Tsukishima, it was no different to them living together at this point, hence the suggestion. But Kuroo didn’t seem to think so as Tsukishima heard no reply from the other boy, and when he looked to the mirror in front of them, Kuroo had been looking at him with eyes widened and jaw dropped that Tsukishima was gradually getting redder at his own earlier words.

“W-what.. Where did that come from?”

Tsukishima was sure his face had shown his embarrassment upfront as he frantically shook his hands and his head, “You d-don’t have to if y-you don’t w-want — it’s not like I’m forcing you or… ah!”

Tsukishima yelped in surprise as he felt himself being embraced in a tight grip. “Tsukki!!! You really love me that much! I love you so bad!”

He felt Kuroo kissing both his cheeks in turn over and over, Tsukishima pretended to grimace in disgust to cover his embarrassment, “Have you even rinsed your mouth properly?! Ughhh!”

“I have! I love you.” Kuroo kissed his cheeks again before kissing his forehead and then the top of his head, embracing the blonde tightly as he whispered, “We’ll go apartment hunting together, alright?”

Tsukishima nodded meekly, returning Kuroo’s embrace and whispered back an, “I love you too.”

So that was then. They had gone apartment hunting together shortly after that as Kuroo’s 1LDK apartment was definitely too small for two big guys to live in, even if they’d had countless sleepover over there. But living together was certainly different than an occasional, one day sleepover. So they’d gotten a bigger apartment that was spacey enough for the both of them, about 15 minutes away from their neighborhood.

And now?

Now Kuroo was up to this.

“Kei, can you come here for a second?” Kuroo hadn’t even looked at the blonde as he focused his gaze on his laptop. Tsukishima had nearly, nearly, dropped the mug he was holding. It was lucky that he hadn’t sipped his water when he heard Kuroo said it.

Tsukishima pretended he heard nothing as he brought two mugs of water and placed it on the table near Kuroo’s side. The raven had looked up to him, smiling as he said a “Thank you.” before the blonde felt himself being pulled onto Kuroo’s lap as Kuroo continued working on his laptop.

The next day, it was when Kuroo just got home from his intern job at Sendai’s JVA as Tsukishima greeted him at the door and felt himself being pulled in an embrace as Kuroo whispered to his ear, “Tadaima, Kei.”

Tsukishima had hit Kuroo’s back lightly at the use of his given name so out of the blue, making the raven chuckled lightly, before softly whispering back an, “Okaeri.” with a flushed cheeks.

Another day, it was when they were making out on the sofa with the sound of the TV in the background. Their lips connected to each other, the blonde’s tongue inside Kuroo’s mouth before he heard a muffled groan, “Kei.. Kei..”

Over and over, even as they separated their lips for a moment to catch their breaths, even as they continued embracing each other in an open-mouthed kisses with their tongues tangling each other. Kuroo hadn’t stopped whispering his given name again and again that it sent chills down his spine, his skin tingled with goosebumps. Tsukishima felt his whole body trembled as Kuroo kept on calling him “Kei” through their kiss that he had to pull away, leaning his head against Kuroo’s shoulder as he hit the raven boy’s chest repeatedly.

Kuroo only chuckled lightly before asking, “What’s wrong?”

What a jackass, Tsukishima had thought. But he didn’t say it, because then he’d be lured into Kuroo’s trap and later on Kuroo would charm him into giving in. So Tsukishima only responded curtly, “Shut up.”

See, Tsukishima knew that he probably shouldn’t have made a big deal out of Kuroo using his given name to address him. Kuroo was his boyfriend, they had even known each other for way longer before they started dating — a bit more than 3 years now, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. But the thing was, no one other than his family, not even his childhood bestfriend Yamaguchi, had called him Kei. Of course the exception being that Kuroo had called him by his given name twice? three times? Before they were dating. Not to mention that the first two times was because Kuroo wanted to get a rise out of him, while the last time he did was when he apologized that one time the raven was too drunk that he pinned Tsukishima down on the raven’s bed and nearly kissed him.

Tsukishima knew that he was embarrassing himself, that he was making himself looked so foolish for reacting to the smallest thing that his boyfriend did. He knew… He knew what the raven was actually getting at, that his boyfriend must’ve enjoyed making him flustered so easily. And yet the blonde just couldn’t help his reactions. Because no one outside of his blood relatives had so daringly called him Kei, until Kuroo did.

It had been two weeks, each day Kuroo had been calling him “Kei” from time to time, when it’s most unexpected. The occurrence of it seemingly being increased each day, from once to a few times a day to nearly every sentence now. Like today for example, on the 72^nd day that they had been dating, so early in the morning that Tsukishima was barely awake as Kuroo suddenly asked, “Kei, have you seen my blue necktie?”

Tsukishima groaned in annoyance as he felt his cheeks gradually reddening. The blonde pretended as if he wasn’t bothered by it despite his flushing cheeks, and got up to help his boyfriend look for it, “it’s probably in the drawer.”

When he found the necktie, Tsukishima walked back and stopped in front of Kuroo. The raven reached for his necktie but Tsukishima had pulled his hand away, “Let me.”

“Hm?” Tsukishima saw Kuroo’s slightly surprised, seemingly embarrassed expression and heard Kuroo said, “Can you though? Karasuno’s uniform didn’t even have a necktie.”

Tsukishima lightly smacked Kuroo’s arm as he glared at the raven, fixing his collar so he could start by putting the necktie around it, “Don’t underestimate me.”

They emerged in silence as Tsukishima began tying his boyfriend’s tie. Tsukishima saw the way Kuroo attentively looked at Tsukishima’s hands that was fixing the tie, redoing it as he had started in the wrong direction, or the way Kuroo was shuffling his feet slightly, his cheeks slightly flushed in red, looking uncharacteristically awkward, unlike his usual confident, playful demeanor towards the blonde. It was as if Tsukishima had heard Kuroo’s heartbeat as they were standing so close from each other, or maybe it was his own and he was just imagining that it was Kuroo’s. Either way, the blonde rejoiced at the fact that his little revenge seemed to be pretty successful, that his minor actions too, had an effect on the raven-haired boy and not just the other way around.

When Tsukishima was nearly done with it, he heard the other boy said softly, “Brush your teeth after this and eat with me first.”

“I don’t really feel like having breakfast this early in the morning, though.”

“Come on, it’s nearly 8 am.” Kuroo gave him a warm smile, “And I’m lonely without you eating with me.”

Tsukishima only shook his head in fondness, agreeing to Kuroo’s suggestion. He patted Kuroo’s chest with both his hands as he looked at his handiwork satisfyingly, “Done.”

“am I the first one you did this for?”

“Second.”

“What?! How come?! I’m even your first lover so how—” Tsukishima laughed happily as Kuroo pouted in a sulk. He knew Kuroo was just pretending, and Tsukishima indulged him anyways. The blonde put both his hands around Kuroo’s shoulders, the raven immediately responded by putting his hands around Tsukishima’s waist and brought him closer as Tsukishima whispered, “It was my brother, when I was like, seven or something. Tried to teach me how to do a necktie.”

Tsukishima shrugged nonchalantly, “So you’re gonna get jealous with my brother?”

“Hm, maybe.” Kuroo gave him a playful smile before whispering right to Tsukishima’s ear, “I like having you all for myself. Maa, You should already know by now.”

The blonde only answered by pecking his boyfriend’s lips, softly muttering a, “Good morning. Though it’s quite late.”

Tsukishima pecked Kuroo’s lips for a second time before Kuroo also gave him a, “Morning. Fully awake now?”

He nodded briefly before trying to kiss Kuroo longer, deeper. Kuroo pulled away some time after with a chuckle, “Gross.”

“Don’t act as if you weren’t trying to kiss me too.” Tsukishima rolled his eyes and gestured towards Kuroo’s hands that were around his waist with his eyes.

“Right, right. Brush your teeth first.” Kuroo had ruffled the blonde’s hair lightly, with the blonde swatting his hand away before walking towards the bathroom.

A moment later, he heard Kuroo shouted, “Thanks, Kei!” And he knew Kuroo had definitely seen the way Tsukishima nearly tripped on his foot at the sudden use of his given name again. Tsukishima only gave the other boy his middle finger as the raven laughed cheerfully.

About five minutes later, Tsukishima saw that the table had been set with two bowls of rice, grilled salmon, tamagoyaki, some pickled vegetables and two cups of green tea. Now, it’s Tsukishima’s turn to sulk as he took a seat, “You should’ve let me cook for you, Kuroo-san.”

Kuroo only replied casually, “And ruin my baby’s beauty sleep? I don’t think so.”

Tsukishima pretended that he hadn’t heard the term of endearment casually thrown in the sentence, “But you’re gonna get tired later on, while I basically have nothing to do all day long.”

“Kei, I’m happy to do my share of work here.” Kuroo looked him in the eye as Tsukishima jolted slightly in surprise because again, Kuroo had used his first name so casually. “Though, I didn’t have the time to do the dishes. And you can cook for dinner if you want.”

“You’re getting off work early today?”

“Should be, yeah.”

“Okay.” They began to eat and Tsukishima dropped the matter, mentally noted to himself that he should wake up much sooner for Kuroo tomorrow so that he could cook for his hard working boyfriend. Since Kuroo basically worked full time during these summer breaks while Tsukishima truly had nothing to do except for his college volleyball team’s practice that only started around 10 am to 3 pm. For today though, Tsukishima insisted on making it up in another way, “I’ll drive you.”

“You don’t have to—” Tsukishima gave Kuroo a stern expression, that he wasn’t gonna be turned down this time.

“So stubborn. You haven’t even showered yet.” Kuroo sighed in defeat as Tsukishima kicked his leg under the table upon his remarks. Tsukishima saw Kuroo smiling fondly as he nodded in agreement, “I love you, Kei.”

Tsukishima kicked Kuroo’s leg again to cover his embarrassment, “I love you too.”

A moment later, they got to Tsukishima’s car (that his mother had given him as some sort of compensation for being too busy with work that she couldn’t attend Tsukishima’s highschool graduation), with himself on the driver seat and Kuroo on the passenger seat.

One thing that Tsukishima felt genuinely happy about was how he could drive for the both of them. He had gotten his license as soon as he turned 18 last year, and he was able to drive his own car this year (really, Tsukishima only started to constantly drive his own car once they began dating. He found the act too bothersome before that).

The thing was, even though Tsukishima had definitely seen Kuroo’s family car from the few times Kuroo brought him to his house before they were dating, Kuroo apparently hadn’t bothered to learn driving. Well, until Tsukishima started driving Kuroo places he needed to be at, it seemed. He had said that it would be more efficient to take turns if they needed to go somewhere that would take them longer with car, even though Tsukishima said he really didn’t mind driving for the both of them.

Because Tsukishima enjoyed spoiling his boyfriend like this (though he wouldn’t say it out loud, dear God he didn’t want to give Kuroo any more reason to embarrass the blonde), something that the other boy couldn’t really do in turn, to express his silent gratitude for the raven-haired boy who had patiently waited for Tsukishima to come around with his feelings towards Kuroo, so unyieldingly with a firm determination these past 3 years. It was also why Tsukishima would always feel so dejected when he failed to treat his boyfriend better in the smallest things, like this morning’s breakfast for example.

Once they arrived at Kuroo’s workplace, Kuroo reached for his bag on the backseat when Tsukishima asked, “What time are you gonna get off work?”

“You’re gonna pick me up?” Tsukishima nodded enthusiastically that Kuroo chuckled lightly at the blonde’s cute action, “5. But pick me up at 6:30 since I wanna go to the gym today. You know where to park right?”

“I know.” Tsukishima nodded again because he had picked him up in the gym’s building before, “What do you wanna have for dinner?”

“Fish! Any fish dish!”

Tsukishima sighed exasperatedly even as he smiled fondly at Kuroo’s suggestion, “Kuroo-san, we just had fish this morning. We had fish the whole day yesterday, or the day before yesterday, or even the day before that. Aren’t you sick of it yet?”

“Nope! There can’t be too many fish one can have!” Kuroo grinned cheerfully as Tsukishima (pretended to) reluctantly agreed. Kuroo then patted Tsukishima’s cheek lightly before pecking the blonde, whispering right to his lips, “See you, Kei.”

Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance and swatted Kuroo’s hand away, before he grumbled back, “See you later, Kuroo-san.”

Tsukishima watched as the other boy went to his work building in joyful steps, because he successfully got a reaction out of using Tsukishima’s given name again. As annoyed as Tsukishima was with Kuroo’s shenanigans though, he relished in Kuroo’s happy acts, at the fact that he was so in love towards the raven-haired boy. How for the past 3 years, this love had made him fear so much, but now it had given him so much joy, that he was a lot happier than he had ever been his whole life. All because of Kuroo.

As night came, it was as if Kuroo had made it a mission to use Tsukishima’s first name to address him every minute and hadn’t stopped since. Not when Tsukishima drove them back to their home, not when Kuroo helped the blonde set the table for dinner, not when they were chatting through dinner, certainly not even now as the both of them watched Masatoshi-san’s comedic show.

Kuroo had gotten up and walked to the fridge when he suddenly asked, “Hey Kei, did we run out of Sapporo?”

Tsukishima was definitely annoyed by now, Kuroo hadn’t stopped doing this at all today. He heard his boyfriend muttered, “Oh there it is. Still quite some left.”

“You want some, Kei?” Damn, it’s not like Kuroo magically forgot what age Tsukishima was now. It was so deliberate that Tsukishima was frustrated enough to finally give in to what Kuroo had actually wanted Tsukishima to do these two weeks with this slight mischievousness of his.

And so Tsukishima walked to where Kuroo was at before the blonde said in a much annoyed tone, ignoring his flushed cheeks, “Tetsurou.”

Kuroo closed the fridge and turned in surprise. Before he could gave a reply though, Tsukishima had grabbed his head harshly as he locked their lips together, biting Kuroo’s lips several times to express his annoyance over Kuroo’s mischief deeds in the past two weeks.

When Tsukishima pulled away, he immediately pulled both Kuroo’s cheeks forcibly that Kuroo yelped in pain, “A-ah! Damn, it hurts, Kei! Ah!”

Tsukishima bit Kuroo’s neck as Kuroo was still being playful despite his situation, didn’t stop biting one bit until Kuroo half-shouted a, “Stop biting! Are you a dog?!”

The blonde hid his face in Kuroo’s shoulder as he hit his boyfriend chest with a fist, “You’re so fucking bad. I hate you.”

“Oh no you don’t. You love me.” Tsukishima felt Kuroo’s arms embracing him when the raven whispered, “Took you long enough.”

“Fuck you!”

“Kids who can’t even drink certainly cannot swear towards their elder.”

“You’re only two years older than me!”

Kuroo only chuckled as a response and continued embracing the blonde. Awhile later, Kuroo pulled Tsukishima’s head away as both the raven’s hands cupped Tsukishima’s cheeks. Tsukishima avoided his gaze when Kuroo whispered so close to his lips, “Na, say that again?”

“Say what?” Tsukishima mumbled almost inaudibly.

Kuroo pecked his lips before saying, “You know what.”

And then Kuroo kissed his boyfriend gently, pressing their lips together for awhile before Tsukishima pulled away slightly, nervously whispering, “Tetsurou.”

Tsukishima didn’t give Kuroo time to react as he forcibly pulled Kuroo’s head again to kiss him, Kuroo responded to his action by kissing him vigorously, laughing through their kiss that the vibrations reverberated right to Tsukishima’s lips. That Tsukishima could feel the raven’s happiness from the laugh that was transferred right through his lips as they were sharing kisses.

“See, not so hard isn’t it?” Kuroo had pulled away slightly as he kept his hands on Tsukishima’s cheeks. And then he pecked the blonde’s lips again, “It’s not that I hate it, really. But don’t you think it’s a bit weird that you’re still going around with a ‘Kuroo-san’ even though we’ve known each other for some time now? My friends atleast called me Kuroo, and even Kenma dropped the ‘-san’ ages ago.”

Tsukishima only whispered weakly as he avoided Kuroo’s persistent gaze, “I’m not your friend. I’m not your childhood bestfriend either.”

“Exactly. You’re my boyfriend, my lover whom I’ve loved dearly for so long.” Kuroo bumped their nose gently, “So I want us to address each other warmly, atleast when it’s only the both of us around. Is that not allowed? Am I wrong?”

It took some time before Tsukishima shook his head. He had agreed to Kuroo’s suggestion and he saw Kuroo smiled at his agreement. Tsukishima pulled Kuroo in for another deep kiss before muttering, “It might take awhile to get me say it publicly.”

Kuroo had picked the blonde up and sat him down on top of the kitchen counter before answering back, “Like I said, I’m fine with that.”

As they were sharing a deep, open-mouthed kisses on the kitchen counter, Tsukishima hadn’t stopped softly calling him, “Tetsu… Tetsu...” While Kuroo responded with, “Kei.. my Kei.” each time Tsukishima called the raven by his given name through their kisses.

Kuroo was acting weird again. And this time, it wasn’t because he was trying to get Tsukishima to do something in his favor. But rather, it seemed that… Kuroo was avoiding to do a certain thing?

It was on the 154^th day since they had been dating, 127 days since they lived together (again, Tsukishima did not purposely count the days, it was just too easy to remember), that Tsukishima was truly convinced something was definitely not right.

It was a Saturday, Tsukishima didn’t have any volleyball practice today, nor did Kuroo have any intern work to do. In the morning, Kuroo got a call from his university saying that he needed to fetch some documents from there so they went together and then went straight to the gym. The both of them only came back to their apartment around lunch time and cooked their meals together. They’d been spending their time leisurely after that, either watching some random movies they found or whatever show that’s being played on TV.

Truth be told, since a few days ago, Tsukishima had been feeling rather antsy. They’d only been dating for 5 months and 4 days, sure. But they’d known each other for way longer than that, and Tsukishima had been yearning for Kuroo since he first met the raven. It wasn’t just Tsukishima apparently, because Tsukishima knew very well now that Kuroo had in fact, been pursuing him for years, nearly his whole highschool life. So, to some people, they might be moving too fast for barely even half a year of relationship — but not to Tsukishima.

Because Tsukishima had been yearning. For so long, he had been wanting Kuroo for himself. So it didn’t come as a surprise to Tsukishima that he wanted them to be much, much closer….. physically. Because Tsukishima is a healthy, young man in his late adolescence. And especially because they’d never even once gone past french-kissing since they began dating each other, not even touching one another beyond their shoulders (at most, Kuroo would hold his waist when they were sharing kisses, but that’s about it. He really didn’t do anything beyond that).

It was only some time ago that Tsukishima finally understood that Kuroo had in fact, been doing so deliberately, for whatever reason.

The signs had been especially apparently lately, like last weekend, for example. When Tsukishima was sitting onto Kuroo’s lap as Kuroo did his uni assignments (because Kuroo always liked having Tsukishima in his arms and well, the blonde wasn’t gonna outright refuse it now that they’re dating, even if the act embarrassed him). Tsukishima saw that Kuroo nearly finished his assignment, and he’d been feeling uneasy for quite some time today as he’d been deprived of Kuroo’s kisses for hours now. It’s not that he was being that clingy or anything, but weekends would mostly be spent on many, many kisses and yet they’d not been kissing at all (not counting light pecks) today.

So Tsukishima turned his head around, held Kuroo’s face in his hands gently before leaning in for a kiss. The kiss gradually deepening as Tsukishima bit Kuroo’s lips lightly and slid his tongue in. When Tsukishima suddenly let out a breathy, high-pitched moan that was so sultry, that he had never once let out before, Kuroo immediately pulled them both away from the kiss.

Tsukishima stared at Kuroo, breathless, his vision hazy and eyes wet from feeling so good after being kissed senseless by his boyfriend. The blonde could feel Kuroo's intense gaze on him, a look unlike any he had ever known. It sent a prickling sensation across his skin, making goosebumps erupt all over. Tsukishima didn’t quite realize the look he must’ve given Kuroo right now, merely feeling lightheaded from the kiss. But he felt Kuroo’s hands tightened the grip on his shoulders.

Tsukishima wanted, started craving for it as Kuroo’s intense gaze never once leaving him. And yet, when Tsukishima leaned in to continue the kiss, Kuroo had instead, forcibly turned him around, his back against Kuroo’s chest again and held him firmly around the waist. When Tsukishima struggled and tried to turn around, Kuroo just held him tighter so he would stay in place.

Tsukishima tried to struggle some more until he lost quite the strength, “What the hell, Tetsurou—”

“Kei, be good.” Tsukishima felt Kuroo held his waist tighter and then put his head on the blonde’s shoulder, before lightly kissing his cheek. Tsukishima suddenly had the feeling that the way Kuroo was holding him in his arms was as if he was something so precious. He definitely felt the love in Kuroo’s hold when the raven nuzzled his hair gently. So the blonde only sighed dejectedly at Kuroo’s loving gesture, warmth spreading through his chest as he stopped fighting the raven-haired boy for more.

“We’ll kiss some more later, yea?” Kuroo kissed his temple softly, “I still need to finish my assignment.”

The next time it happened, it was a few days after that.

Tsukishima had picked Kuroo up from his shift, and as soon as Kuroo opened the door, the blonde pounced on Kuroo — initiating a deep kiss.

Kuroo made the both of them walk back as they continued kissing, so Tsukishima would be pinned to the door. When Tsukishima felt the hard surface on his back, ensuring his safety, he wrapped both his legs around his boyfriend’s waist, practically jumping into it as Kuroo’s hold on his waist was tightened, all the while deepening the kiss and kissing the raven harder.

Kuroo didn’t stop him this time as Tsukishima purposely let out the same sultry moan like last time, and so Tsukishima continued his action with a goal in mind. Thinking that today might just be the day, as he heard the other boy letting out a low groan and called his name over and over.

It made Tsukishima felt a little brave, that he slid one of his hands that was previously around Kuroo’s neck downwards. He had even successfully unbuckled his boyfriend’s belt, even as Kuroo was seemingly tensing up at the blonde’s action. But just when his hand was about to unbutton Kuroo’s pants — it stopped. It had happened so quickly, with Kuroo pulling away from their kiss first, then making Tsukishima stand again on his own two feet, to then distancing their bodies a few feet away from each other. Tsukishima felt a profound sense of loss at the sudden break in contact — with only Kuroo’s hands resting gently around his neck.

The blonde felt himself being kissed on both of his cheeks, then his forehead, and both of his eyes when he closed them, to then their nose being bumped lightly against each other. A few moments later, he heard Kuroo said softly, “I’ll shower first and then we’ll have dinner together, yea?”

Tsukishima had stood there feeling lost and confused.

The day after that, as they watched the TV in the middle of the night and naturally leaned in for a kiss, Tsukishima felt as if he’s more affected than usual. He’s more breathless than he usually would when they were french kissing, that he himself had to break away from the kiss several times before chasing his boyfriend’s lips again.

Tsukishima felt the sensation of Kuroo’s tongue filling in his mouth much more vividly than ever, his saliva sliding down from both corners of his lips. He could hear the way both of their breaths had quickened, that perhaps it wasn’t just Tsukishima who’s deeply affected.

The blonde lightly traced his fingers down Kuroo’s body as they continued kissing. And just when he’s nearly, nearly successful in sliding his hand underneath his shirt, almost being able to feel Kuroo’s bare skin, Kuroo had grabbed the wrist and put the hand back around his neck, holding his hands in place while they kept on kissing.

Kuroo slightly pulled away after that. Just like last time, Tsukishima felt lightheaded from being kissed stupid, his vision blurry and the corner of his eyes wet. He knew very well that the expression on his face now must’ve given away his desire. He felt Kuroo’s hand that was holding his jaw tightening as his boyfriend stared at him intently with dark eyes.

And then Tsukishima felt his face being buried in Kuroo’s neck, holding him so strong in place that Tsukishima couldn’t even struggle out of it. The blonde exhausted his energy soon enough, most of it had already left him as they were kissing earlier — but it didn’t mean that his desire had left him. In fact, it had only gotten stronger as the minute goes by that Tsukishima let out a soft plea against Kuroo’s neck, his voice nearly inaudible as he said, “Please, Tetsu… please….”

It didn’t seem that Kuroo had heard it as the raven didn’t say anything in response, merely holding his head in place. Or maybe Kuroo did hear him, because he felt Kuroo’s other hand rubbing his back soothingly, over and over. The rub on his back seemingly became much gentler as Tsukishima’s breath sharpened, feeling himself about to cry in frustration, and then gradually calming down as Kuroo continued to alternate between rubbing his back and patting it in a rhythm.

They hadn’t continued their previous act after that.

The most recent time that it happened was two days ago. Tsukishima didn’t quite remember how they had even ended up making out in the kitchen, with him sitting on the counter and Kuroo positioned between his legs.

Tsukishima felt as if his whole body was on fire as their kiss deepened almost instantly. Kuroo was setting him ablaze with his aggressive kiss, rougher than any kisses they’d been sharing these past few days, that Tsukishima subconsciously felt thankful about their positions because his legs would’ve given out otherwise. He felt the way Kuroo held him seemingly to be stronger than any other day, or the way their quickened breaths had mingled together that Tsukishima involuntarily let out a moan in between calling him, “Tetsu..” over and over.

Once Tsukishima realized the sounds he’s letting out during their kiss, he exaggerated his moans purposefully, making it sound more erotic as if to tempt the other boy. It seemed to work as Kuroo pressed his body closer, one of his hands rummaging through the blonde’s hair, nearly pulling it to the point of hurting. Tsukishima definitely felt that he wasn’t the only one pitching a tent, Kuroo’s bulge pressing so close to his body — something that had never once happened before because Kuroo would always stop them before they could, the bulge seemed to grow bigger as Tsukishima continously let out a sultry moan.

When Kuroo pulled away from the kiss, Tsukishima felt scared for a second that Kuroo might just pull away again like last time. But the feeling didn’t last long as he immediately felt pain in his neck. Kuroo had bit him in the neck and immediately sucked on the skin, making a loud slurping sounds, that Tsukishima subconsciously moaned half in surprise and in pleasure. He felt his pants getting tighter as the pleasure of Kuroo sucking a hickey on his neck coursed through his veins. The blonde hadn’t even realized that his moans now had turned into a constant, soft yet desperate plea of “Please, Tetsu….” before Kuroo’s lips went back on his.

Kuroo was kissing him so vigorously that he felt the taste of blood mixing in their kiss. Tsukishima tightened his legs that’s around Kuroo’s waist when he felt that the raven was about to pull away again, their kiss becoming more desperate that Tsukishima started to tremble in Kuroo’s arms.

As Tsukishima ran his hand down Kuroo’s body, just when he’s about to reach Kuroo’s pants, Kuroo had forcibly pulled them apart, again.

The blonde was about to let out a sound of protest when Kuroo suddenly pressed his index finger on his lips. He then felt himself being kissed on the forehead for awhile, before he heard a breathless, “I need to shower.”

And then Kuroo was nowhere in his sight, leaving Tsukishima trembling from the intensity of their kiss being halted so abruptly. This was starting to seriously piss Tsukishima off.

It was why that now, on the 154^th day since they were dating, late into the night as they watched some random volleyball match they’d found on the TV that Tsukishima could careless about, Tsukishima was left deep in his thoughts.

He knew that the past few days weren’t just a fever dream, it had actually happened. He understood very well now that Kuroo was avoiding him on purpose, even if he didn’t seem to act like it.

He knew, and yet he didn’t seem to understand why.

He ran through the few conjectures that was formed in his mind, such as:

Was Kuroo immune to the idea of sex?

That truly couldn’t be the case because the last time it happened, Kuroo had actually pitched a tent as well.

Did something traumatic happen to Kuroo that made him firmly rejected Tsukishima?

That couldn’t seem to be the case either because the blonde had known him for so long, the signs would’ve shown otherwise.

That left him with possibility #3 that,

Perhaps Kuroo found the idea of fucking a virgin like him sexually unattractive?

Oh wow, that really might just be the case as it seemed to be the most plausible idea that Tsukishima could think of out of the 3. But then, why would Kuroo had a bulge for someone that he didn’t even find attractive? That wouldn’t make sense, unless Kuroo separated the idea of love and lust so distinctly. Or maybe, it was the idea of fucking a virgin so repulsive that he turned down his own damn boyfriend on it.

Before Tsukishima could even delve into it further though, he felt Kuroo kissing his temple before the raven said softly, “You’re thinking too loud. I can practically hear the wheels in your brain turning.”

And whose fault do you think is that?

Tsukishima hadn’t said that out loud, merely glared at his boyfriend and hit his arm lightly as Kuroo chuckled. The blonde then rested his head on Kuroo’s right shoulder, his hand holding the raven’s hand, slowly linking their ten fingers together. Tsukishima focused his gaze on their hands holding each other as his other hand patted the back of Kuroo’s hand that he was holding, seemingly mulling over something.

Awhile later, he heard his boyfriend asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

Tsukishima looked up to see Kuroo’s face painted with a gentle smile and a loving expression, and then moved his gaze back to their hands joined together. He took a deep breath before he stilled his nerves, and then went up to Kuroo’s lap that Kuroo now had a slightly surprised expression, his hands around Kuroo’s neck as the raven raised an eyebrow amusingly.

“I want a kiss.” Tsukishima demanded, and Kuroo immediately complied by pulling the blonde closer, their lips pressing together.

It took no time for them to pick up the intensity left from last time, short, quickened breaths and muffled moans being let out by the both of them as their tongues tangling each other. The sensation of saliva running down his chin as Kuroo persistently licked the roof of his mouth seemingly too erotic that goosebumps erupted all over his skin. It was also around this time that Tsukishima felt Kuroo’s growing bulge as he slowly inched himself closer towards Kuroo’s body.

When he felt Kuroo rummaging through his hair firmly, Tsukishima purposely rolled his hips forward, earning a surprised groan from the other boy. He briefly felt Kuroo wanting to pull away again, but Tsukishima held him tighter that Kuroo continued on kissing him.

But then as they kept on kissing, Tsukishima felt like he couldn’t take it anymore as he rolled his hips again, pressing their bulge against each other, their moans gradually filling up the room. Tsukishima felt so good about finally having a contact that he rolled his hips over and over, his muffled moans getting more high-pitched in contrast to Kuroo’s low groans. It felt so damn good to finally have Kuroo allowing him to do this, but it didn’t last for long as the raven, again, pulled away from the kiss and even made Tsukishima sit further away on his lap so that their bulge wouldn’t be touching each other anymore, all the while burying his face on Kuroo’s neck just as he let out a stream of protests.

Tsukishima struggled hard against Kuroo’s hold on him, but he held the blonde firmly in place as he half shouted a, “Tetsurou… let go!! I hate you! Stop doing this, Ughhh!”

“Ssshhh… It’s okay, Kei. You’re okay… You’re okay.”

“No! I’m not — ughhh… Stop this!”

“Shhh…” Kuroo continued shushing him and whispering a seemingly comforting words to his ears, kissing the top of his hair once in awhile. Once Tsukishima struggled less, Kuroo moved one of his hands to pat his back soothingly in a steady rhythm.

His soothing did successfully calm down the blonde’s intense nerves at being brought down so abruptly from such a height — but not his heart. As his body gradually loosened up, he felt the frustration and the anger building up in his chest, as if his heart was on fire. He was no longer able to sustain it as he pulled himself completely away from Kuroo’s lap and walked hastily towards their bedroom, slamming the door shut in a loud bang.

It was probably about twenty minutes later that Kuroo stepped inside their bedroom and turned the lights off, with Tsukishima’s back on him. He completely ignored his boyfriend even as he felt himself being spooned, his back pressing against Kuroo’s broad chest.

This was a thing with Kuroo. Somehow, ever since they began moving in together, it had become a habit for them to hold each other to sleep. It was so innocent that it’s truly the only thing they had ever done in this bed other than light pecks here and there. Tsukishima suddenly realized that they had never once made out in bed, that the closest thing to it was actually when drunk Kuroo nearly kissed him on the bed as his body pressed Tsukishima’s down to it. The blonde almost wished that Kuroo hadn’t damn sobered up then and just did him right then and there.

Because then, perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard for them now, for him. Perhaps if that had happened, Kuroo then wouldn’t be able to firmly reject him like this anymore. He could feel Kuroo’s bulge as Kuroo held him, his own bulge had not once gone down and instead, had become even more painful.

Some time later, he heard Kuroo whispered quietly, “You want it that bad?”

Tsukishima didn’t answer and continued on ignoring Kuroo. A few minutes later, Kuroo leaned over him to kiss his forehead before saying, “Sleep then.”

The words seemingly angering Tsukishima more that he turned around in Kuroo’s arms so that they’re now facing each other, glaring at his damn boyfriend as he said, “You think I would be able to sleep after you left me like this?!”

Kuroo didn’t answer him for awhile, an indescribable look written on his face, before he finally heard a long sigh. Kuroo pressed Tsukishima’s face firmly against his neck again that the blonde was about to struggle until he felt a hand palming his bulge through the fabric of his pants, that Tsukishima let out a surprised moan.

The hand gradually palming him stronger, until it suddenly went inside his pants and directly jerked his dick off, making Tsukishima moaned loudly against Kuroo’s neck, “Tetsu.. Tetsu… so good… Tetsu..”

Kuroo stroked Tsukishima’s dick so good that the blonde felt lightheaded, his mind filled with white pleasure. Kuroo was finally doing something, Kuroo was finally touching him and god did it feel so good that he knew his dick had become so wet in Kuroo’s firm strokes. Tsukishima wanted so badly to touch Kuroo’s as well, felt it on his leg that Kuroo’s bulge too had been swelling bigger at his sultry moans of pleasure. He felt his fingers twitching as he prevented himself from doing so, afraid of his boyfriend suddenly pulling away again just like before, leaving him hanging there or worst, he wouldn’t hold Tsukishima to sleep.

So Tsukishima let the raven do whatever he wanted, the hand stroking his cock alternating between pumping it firm and fast, to pressing a thumb against his slit that Tsukishima screamed a high-pitched moan.

It was so good that Tsukishima knew he would come soon. He tried prying his head away from Kuroo’s neck as he craved for something else, but Kuroo held it so firmly in place that Tsukishima had to plead, “Tetsu, kiss me.. please..”

And so Kuroo did, kissing Tsukishima so roughly that he was sure his lips would look like a mess later on. But Tsukishima didn’t care, feeling the pleasure coursed through his vein and went straight to his dick as Kuroo jerked him fast. He came a second later, his cum dirtying Kuroo’s hand, his mind blank and his body trembling violently from the pleasure as he moaned in Kuroo’s mouth. Kuroo stroked his dick some more until Tsukishima was able to calm down from the height of his orgasm, their kiss gradually becoming gentler as well.

It was a few minutes later that Kuroo pulled himself away to clean his hand, before going back to bed and holding Tsukishima in his arms again. Tsukishima smiled as he pressed himself closer in Kuroo’s hold. He hugged his boyfriend back as he let his eyes closed, feeling exhausted from the emotional roller coaster that had happened so quickly one after another.

Kuroo smiled back as he saw the smile on Tsukishima’s face, “Not angry anymore?”

The blonde didn’t answer with his words, merely shaking his head that was placed back against Kuroo’s neck.

“What about you?” Tsukishima mumbled quietly as he felt Kuroo’s raging bulge that ought to be painful as well.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about me.” Kuroo patted his back soothingly that it made Tsukishima felt a huge drowsiness clouding him. “Just sleep.”

But not before he teasingly moved a leg against Kuroo’s bulge, making the other man yelped. Kuroo smacked the blonde’s ass as he laughed.

Tsukishima then heard a low, seemingly dangerous tone as Kuroo said, “Be good.”

And Tsukishima did, because his drowsiness had soon won over him, drifting him to sleep.

Tsukishima had done something stupid again. It was so impulsively stupid that it’s immediately added up to “Top 3 Most Stupid Thing” Tsukishima had even done in his life. The first being the Spring Nationals match in his first year of highschool, the second when Kuroo had his highschool’s graduation.

And now? Now Tsukishima had done it again. It was as if hanging out with the likes of Hinata and Kageyama had also influenced him to become someone so impulsive and stupid.

Or, maybe…. Maybe it was because of Kuroo. Because these stupid things Tsukishima had been doing — that would’ve been very uncharacteristic of him otherwise, were all done because of Kuroo.

He loathed this side of him that’s becoming so desperate he’d do something so brainless. But before he had even realized it, he had gone done it again.

This time, it had happened because Kuroo had physically rejected him again and again that it left him so frustrated. It was also the fact that each time it had happened, Kuroo purposely acted as if he had done nothing. Tsukishima didn’t understand at all as to why Kuroo kept on doing it. All his conjectures were thrown out of the window with Kuroo’s last act.

Or maybe Kuroo was just pitying him that day, finally giving him a sense of release upon Tsukishima’s pathetic desperation. That Kuroo really did find the idea of going all the way with a virgin like him repulsive.

Either way, Tsukishima wanted to know. Their relationship couldn’t go on like this forever. And yet, the raven didn’t even let an opening for Tsukishima to address it at all. Not like Tsukishima had the bravery to directly confront his boyfriend now that he’s constantly rejected either.

Tsukishima needed a leeway, something that would make Kuroo unable to avoid it anymore.

He hadn’t actually intended to do it like this at first. It was just that in his moment of desperation, as he was scrolling through his instagram, he had seen something that left him feel quite…. awestruck. So something like that exists, he had thought.

He immediately opened his Rakuten app to look for something similar, and he hadn’t expected to be offered a bunch of it. He clicked on the one that seemed to be the prettiest in his opinion and ordered it without giving it much thought. Because atleast, it wasn’t as if Kuroo was entirely indifferent to Tsukishima’s advances. Each time Tsukishima had taken a step further, even if Kuroo always managed to pull away, it seemed that his control would slightly slip away.

He knew that Kuroo atleast had a reaction to him, proven by the way his boyfriend’s erection — that’s hidden by the fabric of his pants, was growing bigger when Tsukishima continously let out a stream of moans. He had felt it so vividly last time, Kuroo holding their bodies close while jerking him. And so, he wanted to try this. Even if Tsukishima hadn’t actually thought it through.

But it was okay. Because Tsukishima was on edge, he was desperate. He knew Kuroo loved him, hadn’t once doubted how strong the other boy’s feelings was towards him since they began dating — because Kuroo had always shown him. It was just this one thing that’s so confusing for him, that it drove Tsukishima to a corner. So, it was okay.

Or, so he thought — until he was actually dressed in the see-through lingerie he had bought: a baby pink set consisting of a bra, a panty, lace stockings with a garter on top. He was lucky that the package had come when Kuroo wasn’t home, he wouldn’t have been able to explain himself otherwise.

Tsukishima felt heat rushing to his face as he looked into the mirror — realization hitting him all at once. This was such a stupid, stupid idea. The most embarrassing thing he had ever done in his life. He had even… put off on picking Kuroo up from his intern shift just to put on this stupid thing, even though it was a Friday and Tsukishima was rather free anyways. Kuroo didn’t even know what Tsukishima was actually up to when he happily replied that he could always take the bus.

Tsukishima was just about to take it all off until he heard the sound of a door opening. There wouldn’t be enough time for Tsukishima to even change clothes and acted as if he had done nothing. So he merely put on Kuroo’s nekoma jacket that he had already placed on the bed earlier (because he was actually that embarrassingly stupid to even have the idea to pair the lingerie with Kuroo’s nekoma jacket), zipping it all the way up to hide what’s underneath.

He hadn’t even had the time to put on his pants when he heard Kuroo said, “Tadaima. Kei?”

“Kei, where are — oh.”

Tsukishima only peeked his head out through the small opening of the bedroom door he had made, fingers gripping the doorpost as he nervously answered, “O‐okaeri.”

Kuroo put one hand on his waist as he raised his eyebrow questioningly, expression half amused at Tsukishima’s weird posture when he asked, “What are you up to?”

Tsukishima tapped his fingers anxiously against the doorpost, “Uh.. Nothing?”

He knew Kuroo did not believe him at all, but the raven chose not to say anything as his grin seemingly became wider.

Just when he was about to completely close the door and lock Kuroo out of their bedroom for a moment, he felt his fingers being grabbed and then his arm being pulled. Tsukishima immediately stumbled on his steps, his head hitting Kuroo’s chest not so gently as Kuroo caught him, preventing him from falling.

It was then that he heard Kuroo’s breath hitched. He felt the terror of his situation quickly setting in as his boyfriend now saw the state (or rather the clothes) he’s currently in. But before he could even run away, Kuroo had fiercely grabbed him, roughly pulled the zipper down before putting Tsukishima a few feet away from the raven so he could take in the sight clearly, all the while holding Tsukishima firmly by the arms. The blonde couldn’t even struggle out of it as his boyfriend was holding him in place too fiercely. So he clasped his fingers together as if to hide the parts that he could. Tsukishima bit his lip and hung his head low as if he’d been caught out of his childish naught — not at all realizing the way Kuroo’s looking and him up and down several times in bewilderment, his ears red and his eyes going dark the more that he looked.

He heard Kuroo gulped as the other boy asked, “Kei?”

Tsukishima refused to give Kuroo any reply as he felt his face flushing in embarrassment.

A moment later, he heard Kuroo snorted before softly laughing, the laughs gradually building up and getting louder as the raven released his grip and turned around, clutching his stomach.

He had never thought that this would be happening again after they’re dating. Kuroo was laughing at him, again. Tsukishima was so furious despite his embarrassment that he resorted to hitting and kicking the other boy.

“Stop laughing, fuck! This is all your fault ughh!”

“Hahahahaha… You’re so cute… Ahahahahah….”

“Fuck you! Stop laughing!!”

“Ahahhahah… You’re really so… Who would’ve thought… ahahahhahah…”

Tsukishima kept on hitting Kuroo as his boyfriend continued to laugh oh-so-annoyingly, before he felt himself being pulled in an embrace.

Tsukishima immediately struggled against Kuroo’s tight embrace, but then he felt his ass being squeezed that he let out a yelp right to Kuroo’s ears, “Ah..”

“Kei, you really want it that bad.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement being said by Kuroo with a low tone. “ Do you even know what you’re asking for, hm?”

“Ah!” He let out another surprised moan as he felt a wet sensation on his right ear, before realizing what it was. Kuroo was licking his ears, all the while still kneading his ass with both hands. This was certainly a first. Kuroo had never touched him beyond his shoulders, had never even put his lips beyond the neck (and see, that one time Kuroo sucked a hickey on him a few days ago was actually a first too). And now Kuroo had become more daring, as if the piece of garments Tsukishima was in was encouraging Kuroo to do so.

This new sensation was just too much for Tsukishima. He even felt Kuroo’s growing bulge as he was being pressed closer towards his boyfriend. The blonde subconsciously tightened his grip on Kuroo’s arms as he felt his legs nearly giving out.

“Shut up — ahh…. This is all your fault! Hnggh…”

“So then you thought it was a good idea to put on a lingerie and my nekoma jacket?”

Tsukishima felt Kuroo rubbed his ass harder while lightly sucking his ear, making a wet sound as he struggled to even string his words, white pleasure filling up his mind, “S-shut up.. ah…”

“Goodness, Kei.” and then it stopped, for the nth fucking time. Kuroo hadn’t even kissed him before he stopped his motions. But then he felt the raven hugging him tighter around the waist, before letting his head hung low against Tsukishima’s shoulder as he mumbled, “What should I even do with you?”

“I don’t understand…” What’s holding you back? Why won’t you say it?

He heard Kuroo letting out a long sigh, all the while tightening the grip around the blonde, not uttering a single word anymore that it made Tsukishima feel antsy. So, he quietly muttered, “Tetsurou, you’re making me anxious.”

It was only then that Kuroo look up as he now held the blonde’s face with both hands, firm and yet gentle. Tsukishima finally saw how dark Kuroo’s eyes had become, like it was an infinite void, as if he’d be thrown into the fiery pit of flame if he stared at them any longer. It was only now that Tsukishima finally understood just how much Kuroo had been holding himself back, his lust over pouring through his eyes as it no longer able to be concealed.

“Have you thought this through at all?” Kuroo looked at him dead in the eye when Tsukishima nodded, “Are you sure?”

Tsukishima could only nod again. But he heard Kuroo commanded, “Say it.”

Tsukishima no longer hesitated even as embarrassment still lingered in him. So he answered firmly, “I’m sure.”

It was as if all hell broke loose as Kuroo lifted Tsukishima up and kissed him vigorously. The blonde immediately complied by putting his hands around Kuroo’s neck and tightening his legs around Kuroo’s waist. Kuroo’s hand was everywhere, rummaging through his hair and sometimes even pulling it, to rubbing his back sensually, or even kneading his ass, his fingers sometimes rubbing the cleft of his ass as the other hand supported Tsukishima, making him moan into the kiss.

Kuroo walked them towards their bedroom, lips never once leaving Tsukishima’s lips as his hands didn’t stop his actions. He heard Kuroo kick the door with great force that it made a loud banging sound against the wall.

A second later, Tsukishima felt himself being thrown so harshly on the bed that it made him bounce on it. Kuroo gazed at him intently that Tsukishima didn’t dare to look away. And then he saw Kuroo hastily took off his business suit, hands unbuttoning his white shirt so quickly that he was soon bare chested.

Tsukishima gulped nervously, this was a sight he had never seen so clearly in front of his eyes. He was just about to do the same when Kuroo suddenly reprimanded him, “No. Keep it on.”

Before Tsukishima could even protest at his demand, Kuroo was immediately on top of him, kissing him so intently that it made himself felt breathless in a matter of seconds. Even as he tried to turn his head away to catch his breath, Kuroo would grip his jaw tightly as he plunged his tongue back inside his mouth that it made Tsukishima choke.

But Kuroo didn’t stop, continuing on his rough kissing even when he knew Tsukishima was out of breath. He felt Kuroo pinning Tsukishima’s hands on top of his head before linking all of their fingers tightly. Kuroo slightly pulled away then, Tsukishima coughed as he struggled to catch his breath.

“I’m not gonna stop even if you cry and beg me later on.” Kuroo whispered with a voice so dangerously low that it tingled his skin, “So you need to slap my face if I’m hurting you too much, alright?”

Tsukishima’s eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion, suddenly feeling a little scared, but he quickly nodded his head off anyways.

He heard Kuroo let out another sigh, “Kei, do you even understand the gravity of this situation?”

He understood completely what Kuroo was actually implying at, and he felt anger building up in him because Kuroo was treating him like an ignorant child. He couldn’t even get his hands away from Kuroo’s grip, so he merely glared at the man on top of him as he shouted angrily, “I do! Just go with it already! Stop treating me like a — umph!”

Tsukishima felt both the dread and arousal as Kuroo’s lips was back on his.

Kuroo held true to his words of not stopping even if Tsukishima had cried and screamed for mercy. The whole night, his man didn’t even let Tsukishima get out of the lingerie at all. The only thing he was allowed to take off (and stripped by the raven), was his panty that was getting in the way much later (although he did fuck Tsukishima in it for their first round) — and the nekoma jacket that’s heavily stained by their fluids.

Even as Tsukishima was clawing Kuroo’s back due to the intense sensations of their bodies joined together, leaving red trails all over his back. Even as Tsukishima’s body violently trembled from being made to reach climax again and again. Even as he sobbed so loudly in ecstasy, tears of pleasure continuously streaming down his face — not just because the physical pleasure of finally being connected to Kuroo was so immensely great, but also because the overwhelming emotion that came with the act. The messier Tsukishima’s state was, the harder Kuroo would come at him. His boyfriend just would not stop at all.

Not like Tsukishima actually wanted him to, though — God, he would be crazy if he did. Especially because he’d been desperately trying to get them to this stage the past 3 weeks, getting his feelings hurt over and over again due to Kuroo’s rejection until Kuroo finally complied.

Even as he begged for mercy in his sobs — he didn’t actually know what mercy he’s begging for, as his arms would always pull Kuroo closer everytime. Or maybe he was seeking comfort in Kuroo’s presence from the intense feeling he’s drowned in. And yet, Kuroo’s presence which had once always been a grounding comfort for Tsukishima, was now gone in this moment. Kuroo was the one drowning him in a sea of lust.

Tsukishima felt as if he could barely breathe, his chest tightening as he let out a choke, despite Kuroo not restricting his airway. It was as if the blonde was being suffocated — by the intensity of their act, by the intensity of Kuroo’s love and desire for him. If Tsukishima had a sliver of doubt about whether the other man had any desire for him before, he surely wouldn’t now.

Because Kuroo was finally showing him how deep his desire actually went for Tsukishima — through his rough and yet caring touches. It was like a bottomless abyss that’s consuming him in vigour, like Tsukishima was being burned in it. It was so overwhelmingly hot, searing and suffocating all at the same time — which was new really, because the blonde didn’t think Kuroo’s love for him would be so unbearable that it would suffocate him like this.

Tsukishima felt the heat, the sea engulfing him, the intensity, the never-ending abyss that was Kuroo’s lust for him, that he begged for mercy while still pulling Kuroo closer. Which was redundant in itself, because Kuroo was the one making him feel this way. And yet, Tsukishima wanted Kuroo for more. He wanted so badly, even if he’s being suffocated by the other man. The craving being satisfied by Kuroo’s firm hold on him.

He didn’t know how long they’d gone or how many times they’d done it. It felt like a long time had passed and yet they still hadn’t stopped. Even as Tsukishima felt his consciousness slipping away several times, only to be woken up by Kuroo’s rough manhandling on him. It was so long that by the time Kuroo finally let go of him, Tsukishima no longer had the strength to even keep his eyes open. Even as he felt his boyfriend kissing his forehead so lovingly, an act that was so contrasting to what Kuroo’d been doing to him all night long.

But Tsukishima felt deeply satisfied, no longer in doubt or insecure about this whole thing anymore. And so he let his consciousness took over him and let go.

Tsukishima felt sore all over his body. There wasn’t a single place that didn’t hurt — his nipples especially swelled in pain and his ass throbbed. It was to the point that it’d have been easier to find a spot in his body that wasn’t covered with red marks than it was otherwise.

The blonde had been awake for some time. When he opened his eyes, he found himself being held in a sitting position in the bathtub as Kuroo washed him from behind, his back glued to Kuroo’s naked chest. This was another new for the both of them, bathing together in an intimate position like this.

Tsukishima had pecked Kuroo’s lips as soon as he woke up, feeling deeply loved and cared for as Kuroo washed him clean. But when he finally registered the pain all over his body, he pretended to sulk.

“I’m not gonna wash your jacket.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll wash it myself.” Kuroo responded nonchalantly.

“I don’t wanna sleep on dirty sheets.”

Kuroo smiled half-teasingly, “I’ll change it once we’re done.”

“You better buy me ointments for…” Tsukishima gestured to the red marks painted on his whole body with his eyes, “this. I have low pain tolerance.”

“Didn’t seem to me like you got low pain tolerance earlier.” Tsukishima clicked his tongue and hit the man behind him in (fake) annoyance as the raven laughed.

He heard Kuroo asked genuinely awhile later as he held the blonde by the waist and rested his head on Tsukishima’s shoulder, “Did I hurt you?”

Tsukishima mulled over the question, unsure of what Kuroo had meant. “Which one?”

“You know… these past few days.”

Tsukishima turned his head to the side where Kuroo was resting his head on while raising an eyebrow in annoyance, “You can’t not know how frustrating you’ve been acting?”

“Sorry.”

“Hm..” Tsukishima turned his head to the front, lightly playing with the water.

“When did you buy the lingerie? How come I didn’t know?”

Tsukishima bit his lip, not wanting to answer the question.

“Did you go to some offline store yourself and —”

“No!” Kuroo chuckled at the fast rebuttal.

“So, you got it online.”

“Where did you even hide the package?” Kuroo continued as Tsukishima refused to answer, “How did you guess that seducing me with my uniform and that sexy lingerie would have done the trick, hm?”

Tsukishima felt Kuroo licking his cheek before lightly biting it. He pushed Kuroo’s head away while rubbing said cheek, expression as if he was being wronged, “I don’t know! Stop asking already!”

“Did you go through my phone when I didn’t look or something? And that’s why you got the idea?”

Tsukishima definitely looked offended now, hands holding his chest as he stared at Kuroo, “You got models in bikini on your phone?!”

“Ahahahahah…. I don’t, I don’t. You can check my phone once we’re done.” Kuroo put his head back to Tsukishima’s shoulder as he scooted closer to the blonde, still holding him by the waist.

“Though, I’ve definitely fantasized about you in it… countless times.” That earned another hard hit from Tsukishima, “God, you don’t even know what effect you have on me.”

Tsukishima kept his silence at Kuroo’s remarks. He nervously tapped his fingers against his knees that he had bent up so that it’s touching his chest. He’s suddenly reminded of the overwhelming sensation of suffocation that’s taking over his whole body earlier as their bodies were connected together. The way it was so suffocating he was left gasping for air, as if he’s about to lose his life right then and there. And yet, Tsukishima relished in it.

I do know. You didn’t even realize you’ve burned me in your abyss of desire.

Tsukishima didn’t say it out loud, letting Kuroo thought whatever he wanted. Because it didn’t matter that much either way, whether Kuroo had known that Tsukishima actually understood the depth of Kuroo’s desire for himself.

It was a moment later when he heard Kuroo asked quietly, “Did I make you feel self-conscious lately?”

Damn, that was spot on again. Tsukishima still didn’t answer, but his silence was enough for Kuroo. He held the blonde tighter, “I’m sorry… I didn’t really think about it that way at first, just…”

“When did you figure that out?”

“Hm? Oh.” Kuroo moved one hand to let it rest on top of Tsukishima’s head, pulling their heads closer and rubbing the blonde’s hair softly, “I only got the gist of it when you slammed the door. I didn’t think I would’ve made you feel like that…”

“Tetsu, it’s—”

“Even though I promised myself I wouldn’t let you break the second time. And yet I did it again. I’m sorry.”

“Tetsu, it’s fine… it’s okay.” Tsukishima put his hands around Kuroo’s neck before kissing him gently, as if reassuring him, “I didn’t break the second time. I’m okay.”

Tsukishima pecked his boyfriend’s lips again, “When did you break me the first time?”

“It was….” Nationals, when you were so scared of losing me to life, Kuroo had wanted to say. But upon seeing Tsukishima’s genuine smile that suddenly made him feel at ease, the raven dropped the matter. “It’s fine… It doesn’t matter anymore. Just know that I love you.”

“Hm, it really doesn’t matter.” Tsukishima muttered in confirmation, “I know. I love you too.”

“I think you’re the prettiest.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You don’t know how sexy you were earlier in that lingerie and my nekoma jacket.” Kuroo grinned mischievously, “Where did my innocent Kei go?”

“Stop!”

“I don’t think I will. You have to know how perfect you actually are.” Kuroo turned Tsukishima’s face to his side again.

“You are so pretty in your everyday clothes.” a kiss on the cheek. “You are so pretty in your uniform.” a kiss on his forehead. “So pretty when you’re defenseless only around me.” A kiss on his nose. “So pretty in my nekoma jacket. God, I should dress you in my clothes more.” A kiss on his left eye. “So pretty in your pink lingerie.” A kiss on his right eye. Kuroo then whispered right to his ears seductively, “The prettiest when you’re naked under me.”

“Go to hell! You’re so— umpffhhh…” Tsukishima felt Kuroo kissing him so passionately that he was unable to pull away, nor was he able to finish his sentence. It was only when Tsukishima started gasping for breath again that Kuroo slightly pulled away, a string of saliva connecting their lips.

“Throw that lingerie away.” Tsukishima mumbled against Kuroo’s lips.

He heard Kuroo replied in a low tone, “Sure. I’ll just get you bunch of new ones.”

“No! I don’t want — hnggh…” Kuroo’s lips was back on his, gentle this time but still as passionate. Tsukishima felt Kuroo’s half erection now growing in size again as their kiss gradually deepening, getting messier as their breaths quickened.

That it was affecting the blonde too. That he started wanting it again. It was as if he was in heat, their earlier acts seemingly not enough even as it had made him fell unconsciously. But as Kuroo was kissing him rougher, plunging his tongue inside that the blonde felt like he was about to choke again, Tsukishima started craving for more.

And so he pulled himself away from the kiss and immediately turned around, positioning himself on top of Kuroo’s now fully erect cock and putting his hands loosely around Kuroo’s shoulders. He briefly saw Kuroo’s expression in mild surprise before burying his head in Kuroo’s neck, hiding himself as he said the embarrassing words of plea, “Tetsu, I want to go again.”

And so they did it again in the bathtub. It wasn’t as rough as the first time they did it, since much of their desperation had been satiated. But Kuroo’s movements were still sharp and steady as he brought Tsukishima to another satisfying climax, with the raven coming inside of him again.

Once they were done, Kuroo had dried Tsukishima thoroughly before helping him to put on his pajamas. He then carried the blonde bridal style, and let him sit on the sofa inside their bedroom as he changed the sheets to a clean one.

A few minutes later, they were already on the bed, holding each other sideways as Tsukishima buried his face on Kuroo’s shoulder, their legs tangled together. It was then that Tsukishima remembered, his curiosity piqued, “I feel like I got the general idea already but…. Why did you do it?”

“Do what?” He heard Kuroo sleepily muttered.

“You know what.” Tsukishima refused to explain further.

“Oh… it’s stupid.”

“What’s stupid?” Tsukishima felt even more curious.

“Just…. Stupid.”

“Tetsurou…” Now, Tsukishima started to feel annoyed.

“You want to know that bad?”

“I want you to say it.”

Tsukishima was so close to falling asleep until Kuroo finally answered. “I didn’t want to taint you. Your innocence. Your purity. Everything. I wish you to always look at the world naively. I thought I was capable of shielding you. Stupid, isn’t it?”

Wow. That was so embarrassing that the blonde immediately felt heat rushing to his face the more Kuroo said it. Did Kuroo think he was a 5 years old or something? That naivety was already long gone before he had even met the raven. Or maybe Kuroo meant it differently?

“It is stupid.”

“Indeed, it is.” Kuroo replied in an I told you so manner.

Tsukishima momentarily released himself from Kuroo’s grip to look at his stupid boyfriend, “But I love you.”

Kuroo had a surprise expression for a second before lightly chuckling, “Where did that come from?”

Tsukishima puffed his cheeks in annoyance, “I said, I love you.”

He saw Kuroo’s big, happy smile before he let the raven put his head back against Kuroo’s neck, “I love you too. I love you, so…. so much, Kei.”

“Hm”.

There was silence for a moment until Tsukishima said again, “Saviour complex.”

Kuroo pulled them slightly away from each other as held Tsukishima’s shoulder tightly. He looked at the blonde dead in the eye as he said in a deadpan tone, “I do not have a saviour complex.”

Tsukishima merely rolled his eyes before scooting closer to where he belonged in Kuroo’s arms, “Whatever, let’s sleep already.”

It felt like a long time had passed in silence as Tsukishima was slowly falling asleep, letting his drowsiness take over him when he heard Kuroo said, “Kei, I really don’t have a saviour complex.”

“Hm.. hm..” Tsukishima only drowsily muttered. He hadn’t believed the last words Kuroo said at all.

Their relationship had been smooth sailing after that. They still argued with each other sometimes, but it was always small, petty fights. Either because Kuroo teased Tsukishima too much or Tsukishima just felt like sulking that day. It was nothing that words of affection couldn’t mend.

Tsukishima had been trying to change his habit of calling him “Kuroo-san” to finally using his given name. It’s either Tetsu or Tetsurou in the comfort of their home (although he’d mostly use Tetsurou for when he’s exasperated by Kuroo’s antics). Sometimes, it’s still Kuroo in private — old habits die hard, but he dropped the honorific atleast, and mostly in public. It would have taken him years to finally use Kuroo’s given name both in private and in public (around the time Tsukishima would be pursuing his master’s degree). But Kuroo was content with that.

Tsukishima also discovered that Kuroo just could not be normal about sex. In a span of only about two months, they had practically done it in all of the corners of their home. Whether it’s the kitchen, the dining room’s table, by the door as soon as they opened it, the sofa in the living room, in the bathroom (whenever they’re even bathing together, you could always assume that they’d go at it), the garage, or even in his car. Every inch of the house you could think of, they’d done it.

It's as if Kuroo was unleashing years worth of lust now that he’s no longer holding himself back — both drowning the blonde and engulfing him in his flame of desire, each and everytime they did it. What’s worse was that Kuroo just didn’t seem to know how to do it gently at all, like he’s obsessed in making Tsukishima crying in bliss to the point of gasping for air during the act.

He’s very….. curious in bed too, trying this and that with the blonde that years later, they’d have a section of their drawer dedicated to all of their sex toys’ collection. But it was great nonetheless. Tsukishima found that he had soon come to like it as well, even if he put up a fight for it sometimes (for fun, just because the blonde struggled to be honest with what he wanted and Kuroo completely understood that).

It was also around this winter that Tsukishima got invited to play for Sendai Frogs, a freaking division 2 team. Although he had planned on going pro (hence his choice to attend Sendai University rather than other major universities like Kuroo’s that would’ve demanded all of his time), he hadn’t expected it to be this soon. A nobody like him, was actually noticed by a pro team and was even asked to play for them. Kuroo was so happy when he heard about it that he covered Tsukishima’s face with kisses, lots of kisses.

Later on once Sendai Frogs’ practice started, Tsukishima would no longer play for his university team now that he’d become a division 2 player, especially because he wouldn’t have been able to juggle practice time between the two teams. The choice was obviously a no brainer for him.

Around those times, Tsukishima had met Yamaguchi and Yachi who were on a date, in the café near his apartment as he went out for a walk with Kuroo. Tsukishima had re-introduced Kuroo to Yamaguchi as his boyfriend (because Yamaguchi had definitely seen Kuroo kissing his cheek outside of the café that he couldn’t avoid the explanation).

“See, I told you he’s got the love-struck eyes for you!” Yamaguchi happily exclaimed.

“Oh!! You got eyes freckled-kun!! Unlike someone I know here..” Kuroo pretended to look sad, holding his chest as he shook his head and sighed in fake glum, “Took him so long to even realize…”

Tsukishima had slapped Kuroo’s arm as he glared at the both of them. He turned to Yamaguchi with furious gaze, “You definitely never said that to me, Yamaguchi.”

Yamaguchi smiled half-playfully, he knew why he had phrased it much differently then. “Oh, I didn’t?”

“And you.” Tsukishima continued as he glared at his boyfriend, “better shut up, saviour complex.”

“Hey! I told you I don’t have one!”

Yachi nervously laughed with them and stared at them confusedly as the three of them continued to argue, wishing she could just disappear from the scene.

In Spring, he had officially met his Sendai Frogs’ team. He’s apparently recruited around the same time as Koganegawa did, it was actually quite relieving to find a familiar face (as annoying as Koganegawa was). When he surfed the team’s profile much earlier before his official admission to the team, he's quite surprised to see two other familiar faces such as Kyoutani and even Futakuchi. That made two Date Tech alumni. All in all, he thought it was a pretty solid lineup.

Summer of Tsukishima’s 2^nd year of university, as he skyped with his Karasuno friends one day in the morning, Hinata had told them about being pickpocketed just as he was already feeling exhausted that day. But like miracle, he had met Oikawa so out of the blue, the man offering him a meal he couldn’t have afforded that day that he was about to cry. Tsukishima, Kageyama and even Yamaguchi had teased Hinata relentlessly about it (with Yamaguchi being slightly more empathetic). Only Yachi was offering Hinata a temporary solution of lending him her money (because Hinata refused to leech off of her or anyone for the matter, but Yachi insisted on it).

Once they were done, Tsukishima had come out of their bedroom and looked for Kuroo, who was working on his thesis with his laptop on the kitchen counter.

“Are you busy? I need some help.” Tsukishima asked nervously. “I don’t know how to send money overseas.”

“Sure.” Kuroo turned his head to Tsukishima as he made a gesture for the blonde to sit on his lap, “Where to?”

Tsukishima felt Kuroo immediately kissing his cheek once Tsukishima sat on Kuroo’s lap, one arm around his waist, “Brazil.”

Kuroo then taught Tsukishima how to make a transfer to overseas bank card. But when he saw who he’s transferring money to, he couldn’t help his amused expression as he asked, “What happened to Chibi-chan?”

“Apparently got pickpocketed that he’s got no money left. Even the money from his part-time work was gone.”

Kuroo had chuckled at the situation, choosing not to comment about how Tsukishima had a cold exterior but always warm to the people he truly cared about. “That’s ridiculous.”

“We told him that too.” Tsukishima tapped the sent button, softly smiling once he got the receipt that it was delivered.

Kuroo ruffled Tsukishima’s hair gently before turning Tsukishima’s face to peck his lips, “My boyfriend is such an angel.”

Tsukishima put one hand on his waist, expression slightly irritated, “See, this is called being a decent hu—”

The rang of his phone interrupted his sentence. He picked up the call without much thought, only to be screamed at right to his ears that he had to immediately put it away, clicking on the speaker button so that he atleast wouldn’t have to be screamed at again when he least expected it.

“TSUKISHIMAAAA!!!!!” The sound of Hinata sniffling back his tears was definitely disgusting, “Your mouth is all sharps and knives but you’ve got a kind heart…”

“What’s that about my boyfriend’s mouth, chibi-chan?” Tsukishima heard Hinata making a confused sound as Kuroo continued, “You see, I’m rather possessive about my pretty boyfriend.”

Tsukishima hit Kuroo’s shoulder before covering Kuroo’s mouth as the raven chuckled. He heard Hinata continued making a confused sound, “What… huh?! HUH??? Who’s your boyfriend again?!?!?”

“Of course, my one and only Tsukishima Kei.”

Tsukishima rubbed his forehead in exasperation, “Your Kenma didn’t tell you?”

“It’s Kuroo-san?!?!?! IT’S KUROO-SAN!!!” Hinata exclaimed loudly, finally figuring out the situation.

Kuroo merely chuckled in amusement. “Yo, Hinata-kun.”

“Kuroo-san, hello!!!!” Then Hinata continued to say to Tsukishima, “And definitely not! You’re so stuck up with your private life too!!! Who would’ve figured it out?!”

“You’re the last one to know, Hinata.”

“WHAT?!?! Even Kageyama had already known?!?”

“Um, yes?” Hinata screamed in despair at that.

“Well, look at the bright side.” Kuroo happily ‘consoled’ Hinata, “Atleast now you know.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!!” Hinata screamed even more, like he was losing some kind of competition over who knew first about Tsukishima’s private life. He truly didn’t understand simple-minded people like Hinata.

“ANYWAYS!!! Your words are always so prickly and yet you chose to help me!! I’ll make sure to pay you back once I got enough money —”

“Don’t bother. Just keep it.”

“No!! I’m not gonna—” Tsukishima immediately hung up the phone, not letting Hinata finished his words as he did not want to discuss about this matter any further.

Around this time, once their free schedule coincided, Kuroo had brought him back to Tokyo, said he wanted Tsukishima to meet his parents again as his boyfriend now (especially since they’d been dating for a year now, approximately 370 days).

They had agreed to just drive their way there to cut down on expenses. They took turns in driving, agreeing that Tsukishima would drive on the way to Tokyo while Kuroo would drive on the way back (since Kuroo recently got his license too, and yes, Tsukishima taught him to drive). Tsukishima had said that he could drive on the way back too, but Kuroo had insisted, especially since the blonde would have practice with Sendai Frogs on Sunday. And so they would go on Friday night once Kuroo got off his shift (which was usually pretty late), and drove back on early Sunday morning before the sun rose.

Once Saturday morning came (since they got there in the middle of the night and were told to sleep first), Kuroo’s mother had said that she had expected it. She had sat Tsukishima down on the sofa, smiling as she said that the blonde could just regard her and his husband like his own parents now and told her if Kuroo misbehaved so she could talk some sense into him (Kuroo had protested, saying that he wouldn’t do that and that his mother was being unfair to his own son). Tsukishima saw through the corner of his eyes that Kuroo and his father had both exchanged a thumbs up, whatever it had meant.

His boyfriend had also brought him to officially meet Kenma, especially because it’s been some time since Kuroo had seen his best friend and all. Apparently, Kenma had been busy setting up his own company while becoming a streamer as well.

“His grin definitely looks more annoying now.” Kenma suddenly said right after Kuroo excused himself to the bathroom.

Tsukishima nodded in agreement, “I think I know what you mean.”

“But he’s truly happy with you… I’m glad.” Kenma turned around to give a small smile, the genuineness of it surprising the blonde.

“I thought you hated me?” Tsukishima definitely remembered the way Kenma scrunched up at him everytime they faced each other by the net, especially the first dumpster battle at Nationals.

“I just disliked you as my opponent,” Kenma grimaced at the memory, “You’re one annoying blocker.”

Tsukishima laughed lightly, at the irony that it was exactly Kenma’s bestfriend (who’s also now his boyfriend) that had made him be such a persistent blocker that Kenma found annoying. “Thanks to your bestfriend.”

“He’s one big idiot who wants to fix each and every person he met with.”

Tsukishima laughed even more, “That, he is.”

Tsukishima suddenly remembered the time during Kuroo’s highschool graduation when he had asked Hinata to ask Kenma his address. He clasped his fingers nervously as he said, “That time…. Thank you for helping me out.”

“When?” Kenma pondered about it for a moment, “Ah, that time… Technically I gave my address to Shoyo. I thought he’d be coming at first, wasn’t expecting to see you playing with a stray cat in Kuroo’s yard instead.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. We’re happy now too. Well, recently I guess.”

Before Tsukishima could ask what Kenma had meant though, Kuroo had come back with his annoying grin and interrupted them, “What have you been talking about?”

Kenma only nonchalantly said, “That you’re an idiot?”

Tsukishima chimed in, “And you have savior complex?”

“Kenma?! You are supposed to take my side?!” Kuroo then turned to face Tsukishima, “And how many times do I have to tell you I do not have savior complex?!”

And then Kenma continued to blame Kuroo for making him continue to suffer in volleyball against Karasuno even as Kuroo had happily left for university. Kuroo could only admit defeat at being attacked by both his bestfriend and boyfriend. Maybe it wasn’t that good of an idea to introduce them to each other after all.

That time, as the both of them were on the way back to Sendai so early in the morning, with Kuroo driving the car, Tsukishima had finally had the chance to confirm his suspicions.

“Is your bestfriend having an affair with my friend?”

“Don’t call that an affair.” Kuroo lightly chuckled, “They’re dating I guess, been like a week or something. Hinata didn’t tell you?”

“Hadn’t had the chance to even talk to him lately.” Tsukishima yawned sleepily, thinking that it’s no surprise after all because since their highschool days, the orange head would always go Kenma this, Kenma that so annoyingly loud during their practice. “What a small world we live in.”

“Indeed, it is. But it’s a perfect world when you and me are together.”

“Cheesy.”

“You love me for it.”

“Oh, I do.” Tsukishima let out a big yawn this time as his drowsiness slowly took over him. They stopped at the red lights.

“Just sleep, don’t worry about me.” Kuroo ruffled his hair gently as he kissed the blonde’s cheeks.

“Hm. Love you.”

“Love you too, moonshine.”

As Tsukishima got busier with his semi-pro life now that the regular season for division 2 had started, he had eventually come to realize that Futakuchi was hitting on him. At first, he had passed it off as just him trying to get the team to bond together in and outside the court, seeing as he didn’t exactly go around with just Tsukishima alone, that Koganegawa and sometimes even Kyoutani was there too.

What made Tsukishima realized it was when Futakuchi was getting handsy with him during practice, that it reminded him of the way Kuroo had hit on him through teaching him about blocking, all those years ago in Shinzen’s 3^rd gym. He had even offered to drive Tsukishima home, but Tsukishima firmly refused by saying that he always brought his own car.

One time, Futakuchi had tried to hold Tsukishima’s hand that he was still so pissed off upon coming home. Kuroo had spent the whole evening appeasing Tsukishima (getting him strawberry shortcake with kahlua and milk while holding the blonde on his lap as he enjoyed his favorite things, saying it’s fine not to follow his diet on days like this).

“You’re not jealous?” Tsukishima asked as they were now cuddling on the sofa in the living room, face buried in Kuroo’s necks as his legs wrapped around Kuroo’s waist tightly, while Kuroo’s hand was rubbing his back soothingly, the other hand softly running his fingers through the blonde’s hair.

“I’m more worried about your well-being that it’s pissing you off this bad.”

At first, Tsukishima had been a little disappointed about Kuroo not getting jealous over it (of course, Tsukishima being Tsukishima had bottled it up rather than said it, Kuroo didn’t even notice). But he soon discovered that apparently, Kuroo hadn’t been completely immuned to it.

It was during division 2’s mid season when a bunch of footage was being released, whether it be the team’s seasonal promotion video, vlogs, or even footage of the team off court (like before or after the match started, or when they had a timeout) from the official JVA’s Youtube channel.

Futakuchi had been flirting with Tsukishima so much that they had become one of the hot topic for division 2’s season in general, even going as far as having a compilation of “Futakuchi and Tsukishima moments” in Youtube because apparently, the viewers shipped them (not like Tsukishima had even responded to any of Futakuchi’s advances in those videos, mostly out of politeness if he couldn’t avoid it, but it seemed to be what the public loved instead).

Kuroo had taken matters into his own hands then. One day, he had suddenly said that he’d be driving Tsukishima to practice and pick him up, that he was gonna bring his car to a car wash (coincidentally, his car had truly needed it but he was too busy to even have the time to get his car cleaned). Tsukishima hadn’t thought anything of it at first. But then as Kuroo picked him up from his practice, it was obvious even to an outsider that Kuroo was claiming Tsukishima as his. Tsukishima had complied easily with the overtly public display of affection that he usually would have been too embarrassed to show in any other case. But he sighed in relief as he finally could put an end to some of this. Futakuchi finally stopped hitting him, atleast off-camera — because the higher-ups explicitly said that their “bond” was a good exposure to attract new fans and that they wanted to coin off of it some more.

The manager had privately called him about it, saying that Tsukishima could not publicize his romantic relationship just yet, because Tsukishima himself had been attracting new fans by his debut (Kuroo had once smiled so big, saying that he knew it would happen because Tsukishima was that pretty). That this whole Futakuchi fiasco had become the trending buzz of volleyball precisely because Tsukishima’s debut popularity (even some division 1 fans had heard it and followed the news of them).

Of course, it wasn’t as if Sendai Frogs only coined off of petty drama like this. They actually had the skill to back them up, especially this season. Tsukishima’s immediate popularity was not only because of his pretty face, but both because his visual and his skills that people were crazy about him. He was always talked about as the top 5 (sometimes even top 3) middle blocker in division 2 since the start of the season — which was already crazy in itself seeing that Tsukishima was still a rookie and it’s not as if there weren’t many experienced blockers in his division.

It was precisely because of this that Tsukishima could not publicize his romantic relationship as devastated as he was about it — especially not on his social media, seeing that his fans had even built a parasocial relationship with him. Sendai Frogs was gaining momentum, both exposure-wise and ranking-wise. It was a sensitive period for them that they absolutely couldn’t make any mistakes.

As frustrating as the situation was for Kuroo as well, because the shippers online had been getting wilder lately. But he had endured, mainly because he knew just how much Tsukishima loved him and to Kuroo, it was so painfully obvious how indifferent (and sometimes even annoyed) Tsukishima’s reactions had been in those compilation videos.

It wasn’t a baseless assumption on his part, because Kuroo was familiar with this. He had been pursuing Tsukishima too, for years even, and with him back then, even if Tsukishima tried to pass it off as indifference, Tsukishima had always blushed madly to Kuroo’s advances that Kuroo purposely teased Tsukishima some more just to impaled himself deeper into Tsukishima’s heart. He knew from past experience that Tsukishima could careless about anyone else’s advances other than himself. It was just that the public didn’t see it like he did that’s pissing him off. Tsukishima too, was just as devastated about the situation as Kuroo was.

And thankfully for the couple, as angry as they were about this situation, someone else had been even angrier about it that they (or rather, she) couldn’t hold it anymore. It was Futakuchi’s new girlfriend (how Futakuchi even got a new interest that fast, Tsukishima didn’t know nor did he care). She’d apparently been softly hinting about their relationship at first, that fans had found her instagram — even called her delusional for it.

But then during the award ceremony, Sendai Frogs emerged to be the dark horse of the season who went from a middle tier team in the division to now placing 3^rd, and even two people from the team got personally awarded — Tsukishima with his “Rookie of the Season” award and Koganegawa with his “Rising Star Setter” award. It was right after this that Futakuchi’s girlfriend suddenly came up to their side and immediately kissed him even as the camera hadn’t finished recording. Kuroo had laughed so loudly a few feet behind the cameras that Tsukishima immediately picked up on it, as crowded as the room was.

Of course, the people were devastated. Futakuchi’s instagram had been filled with the word “cheater”, Tsukishima’s with consoling words, while they also cursed at Futakuchi’s girlfriend on her page. But it died down soon enough, most of them had already moved on by continuing to ship Futakuchi and Tsukishima “moderately”, even in the presence of Futakuchi’s real, actual girlfriend. While some of them still regarded said girlfriend as getting in the way of their ship.

But it was fine, atleast they weren’t as crazy about it anymore. His comradery with Futakuchi hadn’t been strained because of this, because they were adults (well, young adults). He had even apologized for dragging Tsukishima into this, not knowing that he had already had a boyfriend.

Kuroo wasn’t affected by it any longer, and Tsukishima’s semi-pro career was still completely in-tact seeing as it wasn’t his side that had “broken” it. And especially because of the Rookie Award that Tsukishima had gotten even more popular as the season got wrapped up. Kuroo had continuously sung praises to the blonde the whole night, as embarrassed as Tsukishima was about it. Of course, they had their celebration-of-Tsukishima’s-successful-pro-debut sex that day, all night long into the next morning.

In all this time that the fiasco had happened, Tsukishima hadn’t bothered to put an effort into hiding his relationship, mostly because they were both so busy that they rarely had the chance to go outside together. And Tsukishima did not want to restrain the way he loved Kuroo. So the people who had already known, knew while the people who didn’t, didn’t.

In-between his debut season, he had dinner with his family and Kuroo as well. They had told Tsukishima’s mother about their relationship as soon as they got together a year ago. His mother had also been very supportive about it, especially since she had seen first hand how caring Kuroo had been towards Tsukishima long before they got together. While Akiteru had found out right after they confessed to each other, accidentally finding his younger brother on top of Kuroo’s lap, them smooching faces on the sofa of the Tsukishima’s household’s living room, so late into the night (he was supportive about it regardless).

That night as the four of them had dinner together, his brother had suddenly announced that he was going to marry his current girlfriend, Tanaka Saeko. Tsukishima had choked badly on his food once he had heard it, both Kuroo and Akiteru offered him a glass of water. It took some time for Tsukishima to fully embrace the fact that he’s now gonna be related to his Karasuno senpai, Shimizu Kiyoko and Tanaka Ryuunosuke who’s also going to be married in a few weeks. Truly such a small world that he lived in.

Tsukishima had attended his senpai’s wedding along with Kuroo despite their busy schedules. And then a few weeks after that, the Tsukishima family and Tanaka family had officially met. Tsukishima had asked if it would be fine to bring Kuroo along since he’s a longtime boyfriend now anyways, his mother had agreed. So it was a big meeting of four people from Tsukishima’s side, and five people from Tanaka’s side (Tanaka’s father, mother, Saeko, and then his senpai Tanaka and Kiyoko).

Kiyoko was a bit surprised to see Kuroo there (she hadn’t seen him at all during her wedding), while Tanaka himself wasn’t too surprised about it. He faintly heard Tanaka filling in on Kiyoko about the incident where Kuroo randomly showed up to Karasuno’s gym one time and held hands with Tsukishima as they went home together. Tsukishima remembered that incident as well, it was when he was suddenly avoiding Kuroo because his brother got cheated on, that Kuroo had no choice but to put Tsukishima in a situation where he couldn’t avoid the raven anymore (it was also why Akiteru was immediately supportive in Tsukishima’s relationship, since it’s in fact because of him that Kuroo had to wait for nearly two more years until Tsukishima finally came around, just when he was so close to getting the blonde).

In Tsukishima’s 2^nd year of university, things were going well. He never once had a serious fight with Kuroo, Kuroo’s family had received him well, his academic was well, his semi-pro career was flourishing exceptionally well that he even personally got awarded as the best rookie in his debut, and his family was having a fortune with Akiteru’s wedding — as displeased as he was to the sudden fact that his family was now packed with noisy people (atleast Kiyoko was quiet). But all was well, and Tsukishima was happy.

Towards the end of Tsukishima’s 3^rd year (during which Kuroo was now a full-time worker for Sendai’s JVA), something had happened that it threw the blonde off.

It had happened one fine Sunday when Tsukishima was tidying their bedroom while Kuroo was working on his laptop on the kitchen counter. Tsukishima had found a white envelope in their wardrobe when he was just about to hang his and Kuroo’s newly washed and ironed clothes. He hadn’t remembered he had seen it there before, so he casually took it thinking that perhaps Kuroo accidentally misplaced it or something.

As he took the letter though, he saw that there was JVA’s stamp just outside of the envelope, main branch even. His curiousity was piqued, so he had taken the content out of the already opened envelope. There was a letter in it, and as he read more into the letter that was dating back to nearly two weeks ago, his jaw dropped so big he had to cover his mouth.

Tsukishima stomped out of the room with the letter in his hand as he looked for his boyfriend, face red.

“What’s this?!”

Kuroo frantically tried to grab it as if to hide the letter from Tsukishima. Tsukishima moved his hand holding the letter away so Kuroo wouldn’t be able to reach it, that Kuroo soon gave up. “Where did you get it?”

“You’re evading my question.” Tsukishima felt his face flushing redder. It was anger. He was angry, furious even, because Kuroo had been successfully hiding this important letter from him for two fucking weeks. And Tsukishima hadn’t noticed anything unusual about it, at all.

He saw his damn boyfriend ruffling his own hair frustratingly, like he actually didn’t want to be confronted about it as he finally said, “An offer letter to transfer to JVA’s main branch, Tokyo. As you’ve most likely read, seeing that it’s already in your hands.”

“Why? Why did you—” Tsukishima cut himself off as he took a sharp breath, feeling his chest tightening in pain.

Kuroo’s silence at the blonde’s unfinished question was deafeningly painful. It was as if Tsukishima was thrown back to the guilt and frustration he had first felt all those years ago, of the winter in his first year of highschool after he finished Nationals, in the comfort of his room when Kuroo had skyped him and suddenly said that he was going to Tohoku instead of Tokyo University, even though he previously said he’d be going to Tokyo University.

All those years ago when Kuroo first moved to Sendai and the raven had gotten sick barely a year in, the guilt that’s eating him up as he saw how sick Kuroo had gotten due to Sendai’s more extreme weather compared to Tokyo’s, thinking that he wouldn’t have been this sick if it hadn’t been because of Tsukishima. The guilt that had been pushed to the back of his mind all these years, because of Kuroo’s comforting words at the time, only to be awakened by the same person.

Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you hide it from me?

“Have you agreed to it?”

Silence.

Tsukishima slapped the letter down on the counter, “Did you fucking reject it, then?”

Another silence.

“Tetsurou, fucking say something!” Kuroo finally looked up at Tsukishima’s frustrated shout, staring right into the blonde’s eyes, as if he was searching for something in those eyes.

“I told them I’d get back to them soon, that I needed time to think it over.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Why did you feel like you have to hide it from me?

“Because you just wrapped up your season. It’s a crucial year for your pro scene career, and your team finally emerged as the champion. You had your exam right after that.”

“I finished my exam two freaking days ago, Tetsurou!”

“Exactly! I didn’t want to overwhelm you! Look at you getting this angry now!”

Tsukishima rubbed his forehead frustratingly, feeling as if he was soon gonna lose his breath, “So you didn’t think that you were wrong?”

Kuroo looked straight to Tsukishima, staring intently. “I was right. I did the right thing.”

“Why? Why is it that you have to put yourself on hold in consideration of my schedules?”

Tsukishima finally saw Kuroo’s hurt expression, “Are you purposely being dense? Or is it that you really don’t know?”

“Because I don’t understand at all! Why is it always because of me that you have to put your own future —” Tsukishima stopped himself for a moment as his breathing had become erratic, “Are you seriously going to jeopardize your future again because of me?!”

“What the hell are you on about?! I didn’t jeopardize anything! Why can’t I even be worried about—”

“Because your worries make me sick right now!” Tsukishima saw how his words had now hurt the one he had loved the most, and yet he still continued, “I don’t want to fucking cage you like this! You don’t get it?! I just—”

And then it stopped. Tsukishima had unknowingly let out a sob that he was unable to speak anymore. He had seen it first rather than realized, through Kuroo’s eyes going from hurt, shocked, confusion and then genuine concern. It was then that Tsukishima felt the tears sliding down his cheeks, and only then did he realize that he was crying.

Tsukishima turned his back to Kuroo as soon as he noticed, one hand furiously wiping his tears as he desperately tried to stop his sobs from leaving past his lips.

“Kei, what—” Tsukishima pulled his hand away when he felt Kuroo tried to hold it. But then he felt himself being forcefully pulled into Kuroo’s embrace, face buried in his neck as Kuroo held his waist and back tightly.

Tsukishima immediately struggled hard as he screamed, “Let go of me! Let me go, fuck! Tetsurou!”

“Kei, shh…. Kei… Just let me hold you, please?” Kuroo whispered as he held his boyfriend tighter.

“You’re so bad! You’re so fucking bad! I hate you!”

Tsukishima hit the raven and thrashed in Kuroo’s embrace so much until he was no longer able to struggle out of it. And so, Tsukishima let out a loud, frustrated scream, his sobbing continuously flowed out this time, unable to stop. His pained scream seemingly rejecting Kuroo’s warm at a glance.

But in truth, it was because he was overwhelmed — by the sudden news, by the fact that Kuroo was hiding such an important matter from himself, that he felt he even had to hide it in the first place, the fact that all those years ago Kuroo had changed his future plan so suddenly because Tsukishima had fucked up and cried in front of Kuroo as he was afraid of losing him to life at the time, by the fact that he might be the reason for Kuroo possibly jeopardizing his future again, the fact that he had even hurt Kuroo by his words in the heat of the moment, that he had never seen Kuroo displayed such pained expression.

And it was because of him. It was all because of himself. Despite Kuroo loving him so deeply, despite himself having already known Kuroo’s love for him that was as vast as the sea, as endless as the galaxy. Tsukishima had hurt Kuroo with his words in spite of all that, because he had dreaded the thought of restricting Kuroo from a greater future. His selfishness had hurt Kuroo, both his actions and his words.

And yet, Kuroo was still holding him tight like this, right here, his presence and his embrace giving him such a huge comfort that Tsukishima now desperately fought to reject it.

“Just let it out. You’re not going to believe anything I say right now, anyways.” Kuroo embraced him in a tighter hug, “So let it all out. Until you’re satisfied. I’m still gonna hold you whether you like it or not.”

It took a long time before Tsukishima had finally calmed down as he exhausted all of his energy. His legs had even given out that Kuroo immediately carried him and moved them both to their bedroom, Kuroo’s back against the headboard as Tsukishima hid his face in Kuroo’s neck and hands loosely around Kuroo’s shoulders, legs on either side of Kuroo’s waist. When Tsukishima finally stopped crying, Kuroo still moved his hand on the blonde’s back in an up and down motion, running his fingers through his hair with Kuroo’s other hand.

It felt like forever before he heard Kuroo softly whispered, “Is this about my choice of going to Tohoku as well?”

A few more seconds had passed until Tsukishima nodded, still hiding his face from Kuroo’s sight. When the raven felt the movement, he sighed dejectedly.

“I told you at the time you better shot me dead than keeping the guilt, didn’t I? You really don’t listen.” Kuroo let out another sigh before continuing, “It’s good that you suddenly mentioned that one word you hadn’t even said in years, that I finally caught on. I seriously thought my heart was about to drop out of my chest earlier.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you.” Tsukishima finally let out the one thing that had tipped him off the edge and made him cry.

“It’s fine. I should’ve known better and explained to you properly.” Kuroo continued threading his fingers through his hair, as if comforting him.

Seconds, and perhaps minutes had seemed to pass in silence before Kuroo finally continued again, “Are you ready to listen now? It’s gonna be a long one, but I want to get it through you this time.”

“Hm.”

“Do you remember the first time you asked me about where I would be going for university, if I would go to Tokyo University, all those years ago when I just started on pursuing you?”

Tsukishima remembered, it was when he himself had unknowingly nurtured some kind of fear he hadn’t understood then, that he had only understood much later at Nationals — the time he thought it would be the last time he had seen Kuroo, that it was fear of losing the man that’s in front of him now, that he had thought they would be drifting apart as Kuroo focused himself on his own life.

At the time, Tsukishima had asked over the phone, late into the night as he heard Kuroo’s soft breathing as if the raven was seconds away from sleeping. Because he had dreaded Kuroo’s answers if he were to be anymore awake.

“I do.” Tsukishima finally answered.

“Do you remember what I answered with then?”

“You said a, ‘yeah, probably’ right as you were dozing off to sleep.”

“In your perspective, it looks as if I was throwing away such a great opportunity, all for your sake… is that right? You’ve been thinking about it like this all this time?” Tsukishima nodded.

“I should’ve known you weren’t one to easily let go.” Kuroo could only sigh at the blonde ‘s agreeing gesture, “Alright, now listen to what had happened in my perspective and think it through, alright?”

Kuroo only continued once he heard Tsukishima hummed his agreement.

“You thought that my ‘probably’ at the time didn’t matter much, right? But it mattered. It really was what I had thought of at the time, as drowsy as I was when I answered your question. Because I hadn’t finalized my decision, I was weighing my options. Tokyo University was one of them.

“As tempting as it was to get admitted into the nation’s number 1 university, it wasn’t an easy choice for me. Even if I was one of the top students in my year, in the end, Nekoma was just your regular, everyday high school. I’m not downplaying my school by the way, it’s a great one.

“What I’m saying is, I would still be up against the top students from prestigious high schools with good reputation, not just from Tokyo but also all around Japan. While Nekoma is just…. well, Nekoma. Neither a powerhouse school, nor was it known for its academic achievements. It really is just your regular school, just like your Karasuno. You get what I’m saying here?”

Tsukishima merely hummed again, Kuroo continued with his explanation, “Right. Frankly speaking, I didn’t have the confidence I would easily get in. In fact, I had run it over in my head countless times and the result was always me failing it. Atleast, this was the case for the top 2 universities in our country. Surprising from me, isn’t it?”

Indeed, it was. In all these years, Tsukishima had always thought that Kuroo wouldn’t have anything to be self-conscious about. That he had appeared as someone very comfortable in his own skin, one without insecurity and flaws.

Tsukishima heard Kuroo continued, “And the one major I wanted to pursue so badly was Business. I wasn’t going to compromise on that. Do you know how competitive getting into business major could be, especially when it’s from those prestigious universities? It was then that I figured out that I had to lower my expectation for the university, but I wasn’t gonna drop my pursuit on being into business.

“And then you came into the picture. It just so happened that Sendai also has a prestigious university in it. I might not have the confidence to get into the top 2 University in the country. But Tohoku? I could easily ace that. Top 4 was feasible for me, I knew I had the brain for it. And I was right.

“And see, you weren’t in fact, the only one dreading it at the time. I was the same. I was worried that we’d eventually drift apart before we could even make it happen. Do you think we would’ve gotten here like this, right now, if I hadn’t chosen this very path?”

Tsukishima shook his head, knowing very well that if they had stayed apart at the time, the blonde wouldn’t fight for it. Especially because way back then, Tsukishima hadn’t realized that the two of them shared the same feelings, and even then he had had so many unresolved things for himself.

“That’s why for me, it’s a brilliant move. Killing two birds with one stone. I got into a prestigious university without having to compromise my chosen major, and I would have to have you. However long it would take me, I knew I would have you in the end.

“Look, I even got to intern for JVA, my actual dream job, in my 2^nd year of university, something that many of the peers my age wouldn’t have achieved that easily.

“So while it’s true that it’s involving you, it’s not entirely because of you. Get it? I got my dream job, and I’ve got the person I’ve been dreaming of, the one who also deeply loves me to the point of crying at the thought of possibly losing me, right here in my arms. Where’s the wrong in that?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.” Tsukishima felt the tears silently streamed down his face the longer Kuroo went on with his explanation. He knew Kuroo had felt the tears, as it wetted his skin again.

Kuroo then gently pulled Tsukishima’s face, cupping his cheeks as he wiped the tears, “Don’t cry. I hate seeing you in tears like this.”

Tsukishima wiped his face as he felt the tears gradually died down, “You don’t seem to hate making me cry in bed, though.”

Kuroo softly laughed, “That’s different.”

Awhile later, Kuroo continued, “I was wrong too, I shouldn’t have hidden the letter from you. I had run it in my mind countless times, how to break it to you, dreading your reaction each time. I was unsure whether I wanted to accept or not, I was unsure of many things and still am. I’m sorry I hurt you again.”

“You didn’t really… It wasn’t your fault, I—” Tsukishima took a deep breath to still his nerves, “Tetsurou, I don’t want to cage you. I don’t want to be the reason that you hold yourself back from greater success. I don’t want you to feel like you have to put yourself after me. I…

“I support you… in life, in your future decisions, in your success, your career. Everything. I will always cheer for you. I want you to reach greater heights, and I know you could do it well. Because it’s you, and not anyone else. Are you perhaps worried that we might drift apart and lose ourselves in the distance?”

Kuroo smiled at the genuine words, letting their foreheads touch as he softly whispered, “I’m not worried about that. I know you love me. And I have the confidence in myself that I wouldn’t let us fall apart.”

Tsukishima exclaimed in a firm tone, “So you have to accept it. The fact that you didn’t outright reject the offer means that you’re considering it already. So go back to Tokyo, chase your dream and don’t worry about me.”

“Are you sure?” Kuroo was giving Tsukishima such warm smile that consolidated his heart, so he nodded.

He heard the raven continued, “I hate to be physically away from you though.”

“I hate it too. But I hate it more if I became the reason that’s holding you back.”

“Alright, I got you.” Then Kuroo pecked Tsukishima’s lips lightly while still smiling through it, “Now that I think about it, we’ve done this long distance trials long before we even got together, haven’t we? There was those days since last year when I kept on going to business trips too.”

“Hm.” Tsukishima finally put his hands around Kuroo’s neck affectionately as he leaned in for a kiss. Thinking that it would take him some time to get used to the distance again. But it was okay, he knew Kuroo loved him and he wouldn’t let go of the man in front of him.

Kuroo slightly pulled away to say, “You have to take care of yourself in my absence, yeah?”

Tsukishima only chased Kuroo’s lips at his words. It would be hard for him, but it would be okay. They were going to be fine, he knew it’s the truth. Because the depth of Kuroo’s passion for himself was giving him the confidence boost he needed that ensured him they would be alright. So it was okay.

He no longer held onto the guilt that he’d silently harbored as he thought that he’d been the one jeopardizing Kuroo’s future. He knew now that wasn’t the truth, that he was perhaps being too highly self-critical on himself. So he was okay now, as he continued kissing Kuroo passionately, mumbling “Tetsu.. Tetsu…” over and over, because how could the man in front of him love him this much?

In the back of his mind, Tsukishima felt that Kuroo’s savior complex had gotten so bad now that they spent each and every waking moment together. That maybe, the distance would also fix that negative side in him. But Kuroo needn’t realized that.

Once Kuroo accepted the offer letter, he had told the blond that he’d be transferred exactly 4 weeks from now. Tsukishima silently counted the days he had left. He made each day counted.

For example, even as tired as he already was, he’d ask Kuroo for a night walk or even a night drive (of course, Tsukishima would be the one driving). He’d make them go on a lot more outdoor dates rather than staying at home. Whether it be the shrines, the festival that they’d both been too busy to attend to, the cinemas that Tsukishima rented out a whole studio for one time, the park — everywhere he could think of, he had brought Kuroo there.

Because he knew once the distance existed between them, they would be either too busy or too tired to do these things and holed themselves up once they got to meet each other. So Tsukishima was making the most out of the many days they had left.

The blonde would always drive his boyfriend to and from work. Especially because after these 4 weeks were up, he wouldn’t be able to do this on a daily basis anymore. So he made it worth while he could now. Each time he picked up his man, he would record the enthusiastic reaction Kuroo would have when he spotted Tsukishima’s car (Kuroo would always do this when Tsukishima picked him up, but the blonde never bothered to record it until now).

D-20, Tsukishima had accompanied Kuroo to look for an apartment that would close enough to his new workplace, especially since the place was actually quite far from Kuroo’s parents’ house.

D-15, when Tsukishima was physically exhausted because Kuroo hadn’t let go of him the whole night that’s spent in lust and passion, Kuroo had suddenly asked what if he went back on his words and just stayed here with the blonde. Tsukishima had threatened him that he would just breakup with the raven if he went back on his words.

D-10, Kuroo had said that he would be cooking from today onwards until his departure, jokingly said that Tsukishiama wouldn’t get to eat this on a daily basis anymore. Tsukishima would always silently make an extra side dish everytime, because Kuroo’s “joke” was as true for the raven as much as it was for himself.

D-5, Kuroo had cried so painfully late into the night, saying that he couldn’t do this. Not when he’s had Tsukishima so physically close to him for years. In all of the years Tsukishima had known Kuroo, he had never seen Kuroo broke down in front of him like this. He knew that Kuroo loved him deeply, but he didn’t think that it would be this hard on the raven.

But Tsukishima himself didn’t cry, because he knew he should be the stronger one of the two since he was the one who pushed Kuroo to do it. He knew Kuroo actually wanted to flourish in his career and that he would do it in earnest. But the blonde also knew that Kuroo would immediately backtrack if he also broke down in front of the raven, so Tsukishima held back his own tears and comforted his boyfriend. Saying that if Kuroo got too busy, the blonde would always make the effort to come to his side.

D-3, Tsukishima had told Kuroo to bring enough clothes when he saw how light Kuroo’s bag was. Kuroo had sat him down on his lap while he’s packing his things into the bag, gave the blonde a peck on the lips and smiled as he said he could always buy new clothes, but he didn’t want to make Tsukishima felt as if Kuroo had completely left him here in this very apartment, because Kuroo would always come home to Tsukishima.

D-1, since it was a Saturday, Kuroo had spent the whole day until late into evening on having so much sex with the blonde that they didn’t even come out of their bedroom for breakfast or even lunch (Kuroo did come out to get some protein bars for the both of them, feeding Tsukishima mouth to mouth while continuing the deed). Kuroo had washed them both (of course he still felt the need to do it in the bathroom as well), changed the sheets, ordered them a bunch of takeouts for dinner and carried Tsukishima bridal style to the dining room so they could eat. Once they went to sleep, Kuroo had buried his face in Tsukishima’s chest, hugging him in a tight grip the whole night until morning came.

D-0, Kuroo had hugged the blonde for a very long time in front of his shinkansen, until they were announcing that the train would be departing in a minute. Tsukishima had stood there even as the train had already left, smiling despite the pain he felt in his chest, because he knew they would be alright. That the distance between them wouldn’t actually break them apart now, that it was just hard on the physical aspect, but their feelings would never fade away in the face of this distance. He knew that the both of them were stepping into a new beginning of their chapter.

And just as Tsukishima expected, even if they had done the trials beforehand, it was still hard not being able to see Kuroo everytime he came home. So much so that he intentionally went home as late as he could, so that he’d immediately go to sleep and didn’t have to look around the house that’s now too big for himself.

During this time, if Tsukishima didn’t have a tight schedule on that day that would make him come home late into the night, he would go everywhere he could. From visiting Yamaguchi (who had joked about how he rarely saw the blonde since highschool but he guessed he would be seeing more of Tsukishima now. It was in fact true, but he didn’t need to admit that), to his mother’s house when she’s home (sometimes he even went to sleep with her, his mother didn’t question him, already knowing that Kuroo got transferred back to Tokyo), to Akiteru’s house that’s just right beside his mother’s house (he had a few months old daughter now that Tsukishima helped taking care of when he’s there), and even helping out in Kiyoko’s store or Tanaka’s gym place in the weekend.

Of course, both Tanaka and Kiyoko were shocked at first despite them now being a relative, but once Akiteru and Saeko filled in on the situation (without Tsukishima knowing), they immediately got rid of their shocked faces and let Tsukishima did as he pleased. Even going as far as intentionally bringing out Tsukishima’s snarkier side just so Tsukishima wouldn’t look so gloomy.

And honestly, out of everyone (besides his mother), he liked going to Tanaka’s place the most. Yamaguchi would not stop teasing Tsukishima about his relationship with Kuroo that it annoyed him sometimes, while Saeko and Akiteru were well…. very loud with their care towards him that it made him so uncomfortable sometimes (although in a few years once Akiteru got more children, he would like the place more since their kids would always love ‘Uncle Kei’ ). Tanaka on the other hand seemed to be more empathetic than he was in highschool (most likely Kiyoko’s influence), while Kiyoko was still the sensible senpai he knew since highschool.

So it was great, there were quite a lot of people too in their store that Tsukishima would always willingly help them out, because this liveliness in a crowded place that he once hated — was now keeping his mind off of how lonely he actually felt in this long distance period.

It's not as if they didn’t try to meet up with each other once a week. They did, with either Kuroo going back to Sendai or Tsukishima going to Tokyo. But the longer they went on, one week had become two, two became three, three weeks became a month. Especially once regular season was about to start for Tsukishima, he would even have less time to visit Kuroo (of course they still texted and called each other everyday as well, no matter how busy they became, they would facetime each other when they had more time too).

He wasn’t gonna complain about it to Kuroo because he’s not a stuck up teenager unable to solve his own problems and be empathetic towards others anymore. He knew Kuroo was trying his best in Tokyo, so he shouldn’t disrupt the raven’s rhythm and supported his boyfriend in all the ways that he could, including dealing with his loneliness.

In this period, he had learned to enjoy other people’s presence in his life, no matter how different they were from the blonde (though, he’d still side eye anyone who didn’t like kahlua with milk). He had learned that a crowd of people in a room might not be so bad anymore. It’s better than holing himself up in his apartment feeling sad and lonely.

Tsukishima dealt with it so well that Kuroo hadn’t noticed it at all. He hadn’t realized that Tsukishima had rarely come home unless it’s night time, hadn’t even noticed anything was amiss everytime he came home since Tsukishima acted completely like there was nothing wrong that Kuroo actually felt a bit relieved. Not even knowing that Tsukishima hadn’t even cooked for himself anymore since Kuroo got transferred (the blonde didn’t feel the need to if he’s gonna be the only one who ate it now, even though back in his highschool days he used to cook a lot for himself when his mother got busy and Akiteru was away).

It was only in early November, nearly two months since they last visited each other (since the both of them got too busy in this period), when Tsukishima had made a slight slip up because he wasn’t expecting Kuroo in Sendai that day, that Kuroo had finally noticed.

Tsukishima had spent the whole afternoon helping out in Kiyoko’s store that Tanaka had even invited him to have dinner together with them. Once Kiyoko brought out the alcohol (of course it’s a Kahlua), Tsukishima had drunk it down to the point of unconsciousness. He was so drunk that he could only slump himself on the table in the living room.

Just as Tanaka was getting worried about Tsukishima’s state of drinking himself to the point of numbness, Tsukishima’s phone had rung, making Tanaka sighed in relief because it was Kuroo and Kuroo said he’d pick the blonde up.

Once Kuroo got there, Kuroo sighed dejectedly upon seeing Tsukishima’s state, because the raven knew Tsukishima had never once let go of himself and drunk his way to the point of unconsciousness like this. Tanaka had filled him in on the fact that Tsukishima was rarely home when Kuroo wasn’t around, and Kuroo had thanked both Tanaka and Kiyoko for taking care of his blonde in his absence.

So now here they were, with Kuroo carrying Tsukishima in his arms as he rummaged through his pocket to look for his key to the house.

“Santa?” Tsukishima blinked his eyes innocently at the one in front of him.

Kuroo had chuckled fondly at the blonde’s innocent behaviour, “Look at you being cute. Unfortunately, it’s not yet December.”

Tsukishima blinked his eyes again a few times as he traced his fingers to the other’s face, “Tetsu?”

“Hm. It’s me.” Kuroo smiled warmly at the blonde in his arms. But then, Tsukishima immediately went limp and shut his eyes tightly like he was playing dead in a very childish manner, making Kuroo laughed so hard for a good while at the cuteness. “What’s wrong?”

“Must be a dream if it’s you. So I need to go right back to sleep before you disappeared again.”

“You dreamed about me?” Kuroo softly asked with a smile as he opened the door and brought the both of them inside, immediately went straight to the bedroom to lay Tsukishima down. The blonde snuggled closer and hugged Kuroo tighter.

“Hm... every night.”

“What a coincidence, I dreamed about you too. Every night.”

“Then we must be..... a match made in heaven!” Tsukishima cheerfully exclaimed as if he was back to his 5 years old self.

“Want to hear the good news?” Kuroo whispered right to Tsukishima’s ears, the blonde happily nodded even with his eyes shut tight.

“We’re in fact, the happiest couple in heaven.”

“So we’re dead?” Kuroo had cackled so loud the sounds of it filling up the whole room. Tsukishima would’ve been so embarrassed if he had been sober.

“No, we’re alive and happy in this world.”

“Actually, being in heaven is good too... then you wouldn’t have to disappear in the morning.”

Ouch, that definitely sent a knife right to his heart.

“You miss me that much?” Kuroo swiped Tsukishima’s hair that’s sticking to his forehead gently.

“Hm. I wish you didn’t have to go in the morning, Tetsurou.”

Kuroo gently cupped Tsukishima’s cheek with one hand as he softly said, “Kei, open your eyes.”

“No!”

“Open your eyes and see for yourself, Kei.”

“No! I don’t want you to disappear!”

Kuroo sighed miserably. He kissed Tsukishima’s lips for awhile. “You believe me now?”

“Can’t fool me with the same old trick. You always do this and disappear as soon as I open my eyes, anyways.” Tsukishima puffed his cheeks as he pouted, “I won’t open my eyes even if you gave me a thousand gold bars!”

Kuroo could only sighed dejectedly at the fact that even in Tsukishima’s drunken state that had made him regressed 20 years back in age, the stubbornness in him still persisted.

“Don’t sleep like this, you’ll end up having a bad headache in the morning. I’ll get you some water first.”

Kuroo tried to disentangle himself from their cuddling position, but then Tsukishima pulled him back and hugged him tighter, “Don’t go! I’ll be an obedient kid but don’t go!”

And so he could only carried Tsukishima to get some water and went to sleep like that in each other’s arm.

When Tsukishima woke up, it was with a splitting headache so bad that even the dimness of the room still seemed to pierce right through his eyes like a knife cut. He didn’t know when or how he even got home, merely guessed that Tanaka probably drove him home or something.

But he faintly remembered of dreaming about Kuroo again. Tsukishima sighed dejectedly as he looked to the empty side of the bed, because of course it was just his wishful dream again. He thought that he should fix this bad habit of dreaming about Kuroo and then missing him in the morning soon, because otherwise if Kuroo found out —

“What are you sighing about so early in the morning?”

Tsukishima blinked his eyes. Once. Twice. Three times. His eyes following the figure that’s walking towards his direction with a tray of a white bowl and a glass of water, before putting it on the bedside table and sat in front of the blonde.

“Surprise?” Kuroo tapped Tsukishima’s cheek lightly.

Tsukishima blinked his eyes a few times again. Until Kuroo suddenly pulled both his cheeks apart and squished them so hard the blonde exclaimed in pain, “Ow! Ow! Stop! The fuck are you doing?! Ow!”

Kuroo just chuckled happily before he finally stopped, giving Tsukishima a big smile, “Do you believe that I’m real now?”

Tsukishima stared at Kuroo intently before suddenly jumping to hug Kuroo even if his headaxhe screamed at him at his eager behavior. Kuroo nearly fell back to the bed, the raven still laughing happily at the gesture.

“When did you come home?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Last night. Wanted to surprise you. Only to find the house scarily empty like no one had lived there at all.”

Oh, no.

“Had to pick you up at Tanaka’s place.”

Oh, no, no, no.

Kuroo tried to pull away from the hug but Tsukishima only hugged him tighter, “Want to hold you longer.”

“Ahahahah… so you know it’s coming?” Kuroo then purposely lowered his voice as he whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll hold you for a long time later. You don’t know how much your childish act makes me want to pounce on you last night.”

Tsukishima slapped Kuroo’s back at the debauched words. He heard Kuroo continued, “Come on, I’m not gonna talk some sense into you until I’ve cured your hangover. You’ve got a splitting headache, I bet.”

Awhile later, after Tsukishima had finished the hangover soup made with much love and care (Kuroo’s words, not his), they were now cuddling in a sitting position with their backs against the heardboard, Tsukishima’s head resting on Kuroo’s shoulder as their arms held each other sideways and their legs tangled together.

“I hate this side of you, seriously.”

“Which side?” Tsukishima pretended to act dumb even when he knew what Kuroo meant.

“Oh, I don’t know… perhaps your stubborn side that won’t even say anything to me unless it’s spilled over?” He heard Kuroo let out a frustrated sigh, “It makes me feel like I’ve made you break each time.”

It was then that Tsukishima put his head up to look into Kuroo’s eyes in earnest as he said, “You didn’t break me. You never did. Stop saying that.”

Kuroo put one hand to touch Tsukishima’s face, said hand playing with the blonde’s baby hair, “So lean on me a little, will you? Make a scene, curse at me, anything. I’m here, you know?”

“You nearly had a heart attack the last time I cursed at you.”

Kuroo softly chuckled, “And that was because you bottled things up for so long too.”

“I’m not a kid to cause a scene. I’m an adult.”

“You’ll always be a kid to me.”

“You’re only two years older than me!”

“What a surprise, you’ll never pass me in age too. So you’ll always be the kid,” Kuroo bumped their noses together, “Unfortunately for you.”

“Ughhh!” Tsukishima puffed his cheeks in annoyance as he put his head back on Kuroo’s shoulder, not wanting to see his face with his smug, stupid grin anymore.

“You can just say you miss me and even act like it, you know? I was genuinely a bit sad that you acted so normal.”

“Were you?” Tsukishima mumbled as he played with Kuroo’s shirt.”

“Hm. I thought you’ve matured up so much that it makes me really sad.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you to grow up and be mature. You can just, not grow up with me.”

Savior complex again, Tsukishima had silently thought. “Sorry for worrying you.”

“Hm.” Kuroo brought his chin up and kissed him gently, “So will you tell me what you’re feeling from now on?”

“I’ll try.” And then Tsukishima chased Kuroo’s lips for another kiss.

It felt like some minutes had passed until Kuroo pulled away, mumbling against Tsukishima’s lips. “Oh, right.”

“What?”

Kuroo then pulled away further, as if to show off his smug grin. “Guess how long I’ll be home this time?”

“Two days?”

“One month!” Kuroo exclaimed happily, “48 days to be precise!”

Tsukishima had hugged Kuroo in happiness at the news. Kuroo had explained that it was because division 1’s game this season would be held in Sendai Gymnasium and he had many promotional works to do during the season, hence the long stay — though he’d still go back and forth to Tokyo and Sendai, but he’d mostly be in Sendai for precisely 48 days.

Tsukishima had kissed Kuroo in delight at the news. And then he felt himself being lifted up that he yelped in surprise.

Kuroo whispered seductively in his ear, “Let’s take a long… nice bath, shall we?” Tsukishima was sure the “bath” they’re about to take was gonna leave Tsukishima all sore instead.

During Kuroo’s long stay, the division 1’s game he had mentioned was also Hinata’s first return game now with MSBY. What was more interesting was how the opening game would be a match between Hinata’s MSBY team and Kageyama’s adlers team, that Tsukishima was sure many of the people he knew would be watching, including himself.

Kuroo had also told him about the “All-Star” event he’s planning to organize with now world’s famous kodzuken and that he’d start recruiting people to join on that opening game day. He had even invited Tsukishima to join it if he did make it happen, Tsukishima agreed.

That day, he had even gone to the stadium together with Kuroo in his car, as early as Kuroo had to arrive. He thought that it was fine even if they were photographed together since it’s been two years since the Futakuchi fiasco, and although he’d gotten more popular since then, his fans weren’t as frenzy about his “love life with Futakuchi” now. Not like the both of them had shown overtly public display of affection either, since Tsukishima hated such thing.

He strolled around near the area while Kuroo busied himself with work. When Kuroo was still not done with work, he’d spent his time with his Karasuno group as he waited for the raven to finish.

As the time went on and Kuroo had to go back to Tokyo, although the physical distance hadn’t become easier, Tsukishima was slowly getting used to it.

Tsukishima didn’t have to worry about Kuroo backtracking on his words now that he had seen firsthand how even more passionate Kuroo was about his work now that the blonde felt slightly relieved.

It was only then that Tsukishima was able to slowly let himself go by expressing how much he missed his man, little by little. From his prolonged hug as they had to go their separate ways again, to the sudden “I-miss-you” call in the wee hours of the morning, and the more seductive text along with a thirst trap picture of himself to show how he’d been missing Kuroo’s “touches” (that very week Kuroo had gone home, the raven had “punished” Tsukishima for it by not letting go of him all day long).

The blonde had even let his sometimes impulsive nature get the better of himself, for when he hadn’t seen Kuroo for too long. Like he’d suddenly drive to Tokyo, to Kuroo’s Tokyo’s apartment, in the middle of the night even if he had practice in the afternoon of that very day. He’d open the door with the key Kuroo had given him and immediately went to hug Kuroo (who was snoring loudly and drooling all over the pillow) in his sleep.

Kuroo would scream in surprise when the morning came, not believing his eyes that the boyfriend who should’ve been in Sendai was magically in his arms. When Tsukishima told him about it and how he’d immediately go back, although Kuroo had expressed how happy he was at how affectionate Tsukishima had become, he still scolded the blonde in his behalf for it, saying that now he’d be too tired for his practice.

Sometimes, Tsukishima would drive himself back to Sendai (although Kuroo had persuaded the blonde to just skip his practice as he needed to rest from the long drive). Other times, Kuroo would actually skip work just to drive Tsukishima back (he himself would go back by the shinkansen).

Sometimes, Kuroo too would make an unannounced, surprise visit in the middle of the night, throwing pebbles right to the window of their apartment’s bedroom. Tsukishima would bedgrugingly opened the window at being woken up by the noise, only to find his stupid boyfriend a few feet away from it. And then Tsukishima would run to the door and hugged Kuroo tightly.

Around this time, Tsukishima had told Kuroo about his plan of pursuing his master degree in a more competitive university that was Tohoku (Kuroo had lamented how now that he had graduated, Tsukishima suddenly wanted to go to Tohoku as well). His reasoning being that since he’d be working in Sendai Museum (albeit part-time), he wanted to take this side of the work a bit more seriously. Kuroo had said that he supported Tsukishima’s decision all the way through. Tsukishima got accepted for his master degree in Tohoku as soon as he had graduated from his bachelor’s degree.

Some time later in Tsukishima’s 3^rd season of playing with Sendai Frogs, the Frogs had been so successful in these 3 years — first by suddenly shooting up to third place and emerging as the dark horse in Tsukishima’s debut year, to becoming back-to-back champion, placing first for two years in a row right after that (Tsukishima had even gotten The Best Middle Blocker award in the latest season).

Their latest season had also shown that there’s now a big gap between Sendai Frogs and the rest of the division 2 team, that Sendai Frogs had easily won their matches in a landslide, with minimal losses that people immediately assumed they’d end up becoming the champion again. It was also precisely because of this, that Sendai Frogs had received the good news of being promoted to division 1.

Kuroo had immediately called Tsukishima upon the news (he had also apparently been the one pushing the media to post the news everywhere that it was actually the trending topic of the sport news), while Tsukishima said that he’s worried of his management time — as he had both his master’s degree and his part time work in Sendai Museum to worry about. Kuroo had consoled Tsukishima about it, that he didn’t need to give up any of the things he wanted to do, saying that he should be fine and that both his workplace and Tohoku would be happy to make special arrangements for high-achieving person like the blonde, especially since he had been doing an excellent job in managing these three world of his. Only then did Tsukishima embrace the news of him becoming a division 1 player.

Before the season started, Kuroo had come to Sendai along with his work colleagues, saying that him and his team would specifically be in charge of doing the promotional work for Sendai Frogs’ first debut as division 1 team. From managing small events to get the Frogs’ name out to social media’s promotion, everything that Kuroo could think of to boost Sendai Frogs’ popularity, he had done it (of course, the people working with them also noticed later on that the two were in relationship, as professional as they were about the work).

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it was in fact, due to Kuroo’s diligent works that Sendai Frogs had a very successful debut with many new fans cheering for them. Tsukishima had also become immensely popular (since he was regarded as “the visual” of the team) around this time that the people had also known that he’s managing between his pro team, his career outside of volleyball and his master’s degree all at the same time that the fans immediately swooned at his hardworking attitude.

This hardworking persona (that Kuroo had purposely built for him in Sendai Frog’s promotions) had also cemented itself further as Tsukishima was immediately recognized as one of the top blockers for division 1, in Sendai Frogs’ debut season. What’s more, Sendai Frogs had even finished 5^th in their debut, further cementing itself at their title of “The Dark Horse”.

During the award ceremony, Sendai Frogs had gotten the award for the “Best Performance Team”, acknowledging at how well they’d shown themselves despite the season being their first in division 1. Tsukishima had also been fan-voted as “The Best Middle Blocker” — and although there were people who were angry about it, it was after all the fan voted version of the award.

Tsukishima had become so popular that for many years to come, in all of the fan-voted events, his name would always show up whether it be visual rankings, middle blockers’ rankings, or even best player rankings. Of course, his popularity wasn’t as huge as Atsumu’s, Ushiwaka’s, Kageyama’s, Bokuto’s or even Oikawa’s. But he was popular enough that the bleachers would be filled by his name during his games, and sometimes people would also recognize him and asked for his signature on the street.

It wasn’t just Tsukishima who had had a successful career. Kuroo too had been lowering the net whenever he went just as he dreamed himself to be, steadily climbing up the ladder, all the while making a name for himself from his success of the countless events he had organized (including Sendai Frogs’ debut) — from small events like boosting Ushijima’s popularity to the kids or Oikawa’s special program (requested by the fans because yes, he was that popular) to big collaborations that now Kuroo had even made Japan’s volleyball known all over the world. It was to the point that anyone who had had work with Kuroo, their promotion was guaranteed a successful one.

As the year went by, they had become better at managing themselves with the distance — it didn’t become easier, but they got used to it. Their relationship had even slowly made itself known to the world as Tsukishima’s popularity steadily rose — albeit accidentally.

They were in fact, being photographed way back during Hinata’s return game in 2018 and since then, there had been many more photos of them spotted together in public. This topic didn’t hinder Tsukishima’s booming rise in his debut as division 1 player, as the people were more focused on his hardworking persona that Kuroo had built for him rather than his personal relationship.

As Sendai Frogs was doing so well in division 1 and thanks to the fact that Japan Volleyball now had international fans all over the world (of course Tsukishima too was popular overseas), this “scandal” of him didn’t even hurt his popularity one bit, and instead, sparked people’s curiosity as there were many photos of Tsukishima hanging out together with the same person through the years. That the fans had even figured out who the other person was, and that he was apparently a JVA worker — which made them squealed even harder at the fact that the two were in the same line of working, and thus many were rooting for their relationship to be real. To the point that the fans had discussed online enthusiastically, even more when new paparazzi photograph of them was released (Kuroo was of course, overjoyed by this because now people were seeing it what it actually was).

Even as these photographs got even more intimate — sometimes they were holding hands, sometimes it’s Kuroo whispering things to him as they were spotted watching volleyball match together overseas, other times they were spotted going in in the same car just the of them, and many more — his Sendai Frogs’ management hadn’t prevented him from being spotted in public. That in fact, it was a good publicity for them as the fans had a positive reaction towards his supposedly relationship.

And so, both Kuroo and Tsukishima deliberately let themselves loose in public. The fans were going even wilder online as Kuroo’s and Tsukishima’s instagram handles were suddenly changed to include the same set of numbers that’s seemingly to be a date.

𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓶

[Picture of Karasuno’s number 11 jersey and Nekoma’s number 1 jersey uploaded]

[Picture of frogs and black cat plushie uploaded]

[Picture of hands intertwined and matching shoes in a park uploaded]

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0620kei_frogs Happy anniversary🐈‍⬛🖤 I love you 🖤🖤 @0620_tetsurou

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@0620_tetsurou love you too moonshine🌙🌙🖤🖤🖤

Posted in June 20, 2021

Year 2022

“I still have the occassional nightmare where I jump for a block but I only get like, two inches off the ground.”

“Isn’t that the reality for you now?”

“No, it is not. I still work out. I can jump like a normal person, thanks.”

“Every once in a while, I’ll dream about that last rally in our spring tourney game against Karasuno. It keeps going on and on forever, until I wake up exhausted.”

“What the fuck! That’s terrifying!”

“Yeah! The rally from hell!”

As Tsukishima went inside the izakaya bar Kuroo was supposedly in (he had called, but it was instead Yaku who answered as Kuroo apparently went to the bathroom), he could immediately distinguish Kuroo’s laughter in such a lively, crowded place.

He took a seat near Kuroo’s table and listened in to their conversation, sometimes even silently laughing with them as he relished in the memory od the first dumpster battle, not wanting to interrupt Kuroo’s moment with his friends. Even as both Kai and Yaku glanced to the side and noticed Tsukishima’s appearance, Tsukishima had merely put his forefinger on his lips as he silently asked them to let Kuroo be first.

It was only when their conversation had dwindled down and he saw Kuroo getting unmistakably drunker that he’d most likely had a hard time standing up, that Tsukishima finally stood up right to Kuroo’s side of the table.

He tapped the table in an “annoyed” manner, folding his hands in front of his chest as he clicked his tongue and said, “So what are you doing here, drinking your ass off instead of going on a date with me, JVA-san?”

“Kei?! Kei!! How?! When did you get here?!” Kuroo widened his eyes in surprise as he jumped up excitedly, peppering Tsukishima’s face with kisses as he swayed the both of them right to left in a tight hug, “How did you even know I was here?! To what I owe the pleasure to, having Japan’s most famous middle blocker right in my arms?!”

Kuroo didn’t stop making a scene despite the crowded place they were in, despite Tsukishima trying so hard to push Kuroo off of him as he saw that some people were starting to take pictures of them at his loud exclamation (even Yaku who had laughed while recording Kuroo’s embarrassing act, and Kai who only shook his head in amusement).

It was so embarrassing that Tsukishima was sure this was going to make a headline in the sport news the next day, that both Kai and Yaku had even ushered Tsukishima to take the embarrassing raven away. And so, Tsukishima guided him to the car and drove them back to Kuroo’s apartment. Kuroo just immediately dozed his way off once his back touched the bed, that Tsukishima had to change Kuroo’s clothes in this manner.

In the morning when they were having a breakfast together (Tsukishima’s cooking of course), Tsukishima had told the raven about how he most likely couldn’t join Kuroo’s all-star event now because the Frogs’ had been pressuring him to take this one modelling photoshoot from men’s clothing (he didn’t tell Kuroo that it was in fact, going to be a photoshoot of him in underwear. Kuroo just had to find out like everyone else, he supposed).

“So you really couldn’t join in that day, then?” Kuroo casually asked.

“I really wanted to, I’ve even promised you a few years ago, didn’t I?” Tsukishima pouted childishly the more that he had said it, “But I couldn’t. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, really.” Kuroo reassured his boyfriend with a warm smile, “I would’ve talked to you into accepting the modelling job too had you refused instead.”

“Not like I could refuse them in the first place even if I wanted to.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll do just great. The fans would love you even more.” Oh, of course. Tsukishima was sure that his fans would totally love seeing him in underwear, as much as he hated the whole situation itself.

“I’ll pick you up on that day instead, alright?” Tsukishima drank a portion of his miso soup, “Luckily, the photoshoot too would be taken in Tokyo.”

Kuroo gave him a genuine smile as he hooked the blonde’s legs with his under the table, “Sure. Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

Later that night, Kuroo said he needed to make a phone call to his old captain, Daichi to personally invite him to the all star event, as well as asking him Asahi’s contact information. Kuroo had even put the speaker on as he made the call.

“Yo, it’s been awhile, what’s up?” Tsukishima heard Daichi answered the phone.

“Yo yo yo! Sawamura-san! Collared any crooks lately?”

“Kuroo! Don’t tell me they’ve let you outta the clink already?”

“Uh, I wasn’t in the clink in the first place, thanks.” Kuroo was getting a bit annoyed that Tsukishima snorted, “That was totally Suga-chan, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah!!!”

“Are you sure they shouldn’t have gotten you cuffed instead, Suga-san?” Kuroo smirked at Tsukishima defending him.

“Huh… Tsukishima!!! It’s been awhile! I see you everywhere on the tv now!”

Tsukishima heard Daichi said as well, “Yeah. You’ve grown so much now, Tsukishima. I never would have thought you would want to be a pro player all those years ago.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, all thanks to me teaching him to blocks!” Tsukishima slapped Kuroo at his smug remarks.

“Are you sure you’re okay being in relationship with hooligans like him, Tsukishima? Don’t hesitate to tell Daichi if you need him to arrest Kuroo!”

Tsukishima laughed cheerfully before defending his boyfriend’s honor from Sugawara’s witty remarks, saying that he was okay. All was well, and he was truly happy.

August 14^th, 2022

Tsukishima had picked Kuroo up from the All-Star event his boyfriend had organized just like he intended to do. And now they were in a private, five star restaurant place that Kuroo had booked — because he insisted that the both of them needed to celebrate this very milestone they had reached, Kuroo with his All-Star project that he had planned for so long and Tsukishima with his modelling photoshoot.

And so here they were in a seat of two separated by the table between them, talking about nothing and everything at once as they ate. From the old memories of their high school’s rivalry, to their evolving relationship and then their successful career, Kuroo now being the Director of Promotion and Tsukishima’s Sendai Frogs team being regarded as the top 3 teams in the country since two years ago, only behind the Adlers and MSBY.

When Kuroo had excused himself to the bathroom, Tsukishima had taken a round, small object from his pocket and hid it under his palm on the table. Tsukishima tried to calm his nerves as he tapped his legs nervously, stopping just as Kuroo got back to his seat.

Awhile later, Kuroo’s phone rang, signalling that he had received a message. The raven ignored it at first, but then the phone constanly ping’ed at him that it was annoying him. Tsukishima suggested that it was okay for him to check his phone first.

And with Kuroo’s right hand scrolling through the messages on his phone, his left hand still on top the table, Tsukishima figured that this was his chance. Tsukishima masked his casuality as hard as he could, lightly playing with Kuroo’s fingers — something he had purposely made a habit of in the past six months just so Kuroo wouldn’t suspect him now that he’s finally doing it, with the hand that’s hiding the object under his palm. He slowly covered Kuroo’s left hand with his hand that’s inching closer, all the while sliding the round object to Kuroo’s ring finger until it fit perfectly to the base of it.

It was only then that Kuroo finally felt it, Tsukishima nonchalantly ate with his other hand as if he had done nothing at all. Kuroo pulled his hand away abruptly, and finally saw his ring finger that’s now adored in a silver, round object that perfectly fit. It was a ring.

Kuroo’s breath hitched as surprise and confusion were written all over his face, “Kei? What—”

“Tetsurou, do you want to marry me? I….” Tsukishima finally looked up right into Kuroo’s now teary eyes, “I know we’ve been talking about it casually these past few months but I… I truly want to get married with you. We’ve gone through so much together and I feel like it’s the necessary step for us now.”

Tsukishima continued nervously, “So… do you want to? It’s okay if you don’t though, I — umppffhhh…”

Kuroo had abruptly stood up, cupped Tsukishima’s cheeks as he kissed his boyfriend, now fiancé, vigorously, expressing his overwhelming joy through the kiss. Tsukishima could taste a salty taste on his tongue as he wiped Kuroo’s tears through the kiss.

When the raven pulled away in a breathlessness, he vocalized his answer, “God, I would be crazy if I didn’t want to marry you, whom I’ve loved for as long as I could remember.”

Tsukishima looked up from his seating position, eyes now teary, with Kuroo wiping the other’s eyes gently as he smiled, “Don’t cry.”

“It’s a happy tears.”

Kuroo chuckled softly before kissing the blonde again, gently this time. It was awhile later that Kuroo finally pulled away, sitting back to his own seat as he held Tsukishima’s hand, “God, you’ve beaten me into it too.”

“You were going to propose to me?”

“Yeah. I left the ring at home, similar to this one. But I was going back and forth with it as you were really too busy this year. I was waiting for the right time.” Kuroo smiled genuinely, “How come you got it together first before I did?”

“Because I love you.” Tsukishima merely said.

“I love you too.” Kuroo sighed in a fake glum with his smiling face, “Haaa…. I was actually about to surprise you with the news of me moving back to Sendai too tonight. But you got your moment instead.”

Tsukishima choked on his drink, “W-what? What did you say?!”

“You definitely heard what I said.” Tsukishima wanted so much to rip Kuroo’s smug, stupid grin off his face.

“What the hell are you even—”

“Ah ah, before you get angry with me….” Kuroo held both of Tsukishima’s hands, linking all their fingers together, “I’ve thought this through and planned it well. I said to them that I wanted to settle down and get married to you, so I asked them for the transfer.

“They agreed. Because I’ve achieved so much under my name in these 4 years. I’ve worked my ass off tirelessly for this very moment, to show them that I could achieve great things for them no matter where I go…. to show you. so I could have you in my arms again.

“JVA’s branches all over Japan are interconnected, so it’s not as if they couldn’t call me up if they needed me. I would still be in charge of big events and have some business trips here and there too, but I’ll have you again.”

Tsukishima couldn’t stop a tear or two that he had let out, at the news of being able to live with Kuroo again, after enduring the distance for so long. Kuroo helped him wipe the tears, putting Tsukishima’s other hand to his lips as he lightly kissed it. “When are you coming back?”

“Early next month… September 10^th.”

So, it’s a little less than a month. Tsukishima could do this, he was overjoyed. Kuroo had finally, fully come back to him again.

“I love you, so so much.”

“I love you too, Kei.”

Awhile later, Tsukishima said again. “You could just propose to me again at home.”

Because who cares about the traditional way of proposing when they’re so damn in love with each other?

“I was planning to, anyways.”

November 17^th, 2022

“Yamaguchi? What if he suddenly said no?” Tsukishima looked at his bestfriend through the mirror, “What if he suddenly woke up and changed his mind one day wanting to divorce me? What if he later hated—"

Yamaguchi could only sigh at his best friend’s nervousness, “Tsukki, we’ve had this talk for the 67^th time since last night. You know Kuroo loves you so much he’d pluck the stars in the sky for you.”

“No, he wouldn’t.” and it’s only the 69^th time actually, Tsukishima begrudgingly thought.

Yamaguchi had stayed with the blonde at his mother’s house last night, since he was “forcefully” being separated from the love of his life last night.

It happened when their two families officially met each other. They had actually met earlier this year, at Tsukishima’s graduation of his master’s degree in Tohoku University (since Tsukishima was so busy with other aspects in his life that he had to graduate late, a year later), their families had bonded instantly. But this official meeting was necessary, since the two were getting legally married now, and they needed to discuss the details such as the wedding preparations and choosing the auspicious date (coincidentally, the most auspicious date this year was in fact, on Kuroo’s birthday).

Akiteru had suddenly mentioned the fact that Kuroo and Tsukishima had lived together before and were living together again now that Kuroo moved back into Sendai. And so, the two families had the brilliant idea that they both had to follow the outdated, traditional custom of not seeing each other the whole 24 hours day before the wedding day, as to not jinx their marriage.

Tsukishima casually mentioned in rebuttal with the fact that Akiteru didn’t need to do this during his marriage (Tsukishima’s mother gently pointed out that it’s because Akiteru didn’t live with Saeko until marriage).

“It’s not like I haven’t consummated it with him before marriage, either.” Kuroo resentfully mumbled.

Tsukishima heard everyone’s breath in the room hitched at Kuroo’s words, he slapped his own forehead in embarrassment of his stupid fiancé.

“What the hell did you say?! I did not teach you to become such a thug!” Kuroo’s mother was continously slapping his child, as the father apologized profusedly at the ruckus.

“Mom?! It’s normal nowadays! Everyone does it, okay?!” Kuroo tried to dodge his mother’s hits as he then pointed a finger in Tsukishima’s direction, “And he was the one seducing me first! How was I supposed to refuse?!”

Tsukishima covered his face in embarrassment, wanting to dug a hole for himself at the memory. He was actually thankful that Kuroo’s mother was hitting his damn fiancé in his place.

“What?! Anata! Look at what your son has become!” Kuroo’s mother angrily turned to his husband and then hit Kuroo even harder, “It must have been your doing in the first place! Goodness, I did not bring you to life to become such a pervert!”

Kuroo’s father had joined in by pulling Kuroo’s ears that the raven hissed in pain. He briefly saw through the corner of his eyes that his mother had only laughed softly at the scene, while Akiteru looked so devastated by the fact that his innocent little brother had been defiled (he saved this problem for later).

Due to Kuroo’s stupid words, the two families had even proposed that they should be separated for a whole week. Tsukishima had to step in earnestly to salvage the situation. In the end, the families agreed that they would only be separated for one night, a whole 24 hours (maybe slightly even more) until they met at the altar of the wedding.

And so last night, Kuroo’s family had stayed in their house (they bought a bigger house since their previous apartment didn’t have enough garage for their respective cars). While Tsukishima himself stayed at his mother’s house. As the dread of the event was getting even more real and he was coming up the worst possible scenarios ever in his head, he had to call Yamaguchi to stay with him.

So here Yamaguchi was, comforting his best friend as said best friend put on the transparent veil over his white wedding suit, offering the exact same words he had said for the 73^rd (actually 75^th) time as the blonde repeated the exact same words.

“Do you want me to call Kuroo-san for you instead?” Yamaguchi sighed dejectedly. He continued on by saying that Kuroo was apparently downstairs greeting their guests, most of them being their close friends and colleagues from work.

“No, it’s fine. Let him be.” Tsukishima looked back to Yamaguchi, smiling as he said, “I don’t want him to be scolded by his family again.”

Before Yamaguchi could reply, the door was opened by Akiteru. “Kei, are you ready?”

Tsukishima took a deep breath, stilling his nerves despite all the weird, worst case scenarios his mind had filled him up with. “Yeah, I am.”

When the piano began playing, cueing the music to start, Tsukishima walked hand in hand with his brother, an arm linked to his brother’s arm as they slowly walked down the stairs. His brother was escorting him to be given away to Kuroo, who’s now waiting right down the stairs with his father.

As Tsukishima walked down step by step, his heart pounded loudly against his chest when he finally saw Kuroo again — who was in a black suit himself, after being separated for a whole 24 hours. He heard the raven’s breath hitched despite their distance.

He walked down slowly towards Kuroo, who was waiting to receive him once he reached the last step. Tsukishima faintly thought back to their journey. It was as if this was symbolic to how Kuroo had patiently waited for him to come around, for years even, until Tsukishima was ready to step into being in love with Kuroo — and now again, Kuroo was waiting for him patiently down the stairs, to complete his steps before opening a new chapter with the raven.

Once they were right in front of each other, Kuroo gave him such a happy grin, that Tsukishima was faintly reminded of the first time Kuroo had made his heart raced this loudly against his ears. He was then receiving the blonde from his brother, the two now walked hand in hand down the aisle.

The aisle was filled with the petals of flowers in red, as if blessing them both towards their marriage as they took each step closer to a new beginning.

As Tsukishima walked with Kuroo towards the altar, he now saw through the corner of his eyes all of the people who were attending their private wedding. From the two families’ colleagues, to Kuroo’s and Tsukishima’s friends, both from school and work.

Kuroo’s old nekoma team — Kenma, Lev and his sister Alisa, Inuoka, Fukunaga, Yamamoto and his sister, even Yaku and Kai, was sitting in the same rows of seat, with the exception being Hinata who’s sitting right beside Kenma.

He could see that his old Karasuno’s team had sat in the rows right behind them, from Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, his kouhai from his 2^nd and 3^rd year, or even his same age friends Kageyama, Yachi and Yamaguchi (who had sat down through the other side of the stairs). Even Ukai-san and Takeda-sensei had attended and sat with them.

Even Bokuto and Akaashi, and some people from the Adlers or MSBY had attended their wedding.

He faintly saw his Sendai Frogs team along with his coach and his managers, and then their families (including Saeko, Tanaka and Kiyoko) who had sat at the front rows.

He saw their happy faces before finally reaching the altar.

The wedding was held in a rather straightforward manner, with a wedding officiant as they exchanged their vows and exchanged their wedding rings.

Tsukishima could see Kuroo’s red eyes as the raven opened his veil, whispering, “I love you, Kei.”

“I love you, Tetsurou.”

They kissed, and the whole room cheered as Kuroo pulled Tsukishima closer by the waist and engulfing the blonde in an open-mouthed kiss.

From this moment on, there would be nothing separating the two of them anymore. The bright, blue sky had given them their blessings, and the people attending their wedding had become their witnesses of their profession of love.

From today onwards and many, many years to come, they would stay with each other for better or worse, in sickness and in health, to the old age, until not even death could do them apart.

Notes:

There's actually a glimpse of their married life in the first part of the series, at the very end of it so do check it out! It would be my pleasure if you read that as well as I've included many canon scenes in the first part of series that I'm sure you will enjoy! (hopefully)

fuuu... this ends up getting so long, when I initially only planned it to be around 15k at most. But it ended up getting longer... and longer.. and longer.... I'm just glad this didn't reach a 30k counts like last time.
I'm a rambler so do skip my ted talks if you're bored but as always, I have many things to say such as:
1) This first started as me wanting to see Tsukishima's reaction when Kuroo first started calling him Kei, I thought that Tsukishima would act just like this.... and then it turned into a whole arc instead. Except for the wedding scene and their first time (which I already had the idea of since I wrote the first part), this was how everything else happened.
2) I actually cried so much writing that offer letter scene. This scene is actually self-indulgent ha ha.
3) I know Futakuchi is not canonically in Sendai Frogs, but I need him for drama... and for justification for Sendai Frogs moving up to div.1. Also I just love him ok, I had to do it.
4) I actually fucked up Tsukishima's college by genuinely thinking that he went to Sendai University canonically and only realized in the middle of writing this. And that's how he magically got his master's degree (cuz I can't have him go in non prestigious school)
5) I really, really hate forcing them to be apart when I made Kuroo went to Tohoku precisely bcs I'm sick of them being long distance couple. Only to do it myself bcs it made more sense (and I find it more interesting) like this and it built up to Tsukishima's whole character arc T-T I hate myself for doing this but it's necessary, I guess.

And lastly, thank you to everyone who's reading this to the end, despite this being a very long oneshot. I hope you had fun with kurotsuki in this fic as much as I had writing this.

Please do leave a kudos, comment and bookmark if you enjoyed this! It would mean a lot to me :D

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