Chapter Text
Daichi quietly watches the clerk in front of him process his documents and he sees the two glaringly red lines through the holo-screen, a permanent mark on his personal file: ‘Unfit for command. Unfit for piloting’. As if he'd need the reminder again.
He rubs his eyes with the back of his hand again. The permanent night sky Daichi sees through the window is no indication of what time of the day it is and he looks at his phone to see that his currently useless device is still syncing to this new location.
“ Sorry for the delay, your file is now complete. I'm pleased to welcome you to Pluto Station University,” the clerk finally says after what might have been an eternity. She hands him an envelope with the school logo and places a separate sheet on top of it. “ Here's your orientation package and a map of the academy. I’ve circled your room location, you are more than welcome to head there now if you please.”
Daichi takes the whole package with a thank and a polite nod and doesn't waste any more time to make his way to his new living quarters.
Built during the height of Japan’s time at the forefront of space exploration, the Pluto Station -named after its proximity with the dwarf planet- had once been used as the last contact point for ships heading into the vast unknown beyond the solar system. As frontiers were broadened and the rise of the Alliance led to bigger relay points being built, it became used less and its state of the art installations were turned into an elite school many dreamt of getting in.
Daichi finds his room easily, despite how complex the map looks and opens the door to a small and bare room. The wall on the right is entirely covered with a built-in unit of two bunk beds with storage spaces on each end, while the left side of the room is occupied by a long desk with two chairs. It’s a cramped space -about half of what he had back on earth-, but it’s to be expected from a place where every square inches counts. His luggage surprisingly is already there, but he'll deal with that later. Half of the desk is already covered in papers and other items indicating his roommate has already occupied the space, but he doesn’t put too many thoughts into it.
After tossing the stack of papers his was still holding on his side of the desk, Daichi sits on the bottom bunk and lets himself flop back on the bed with a sigh. He doesn’t know what time of the day it is, and he honestly doesn’t care at all by this point. He’s tired to the bone and it’s so easy to just close his eyes and let go.
---
“Sa--u--ra”
“Hn?”
“Sa-wa-mu-ra~”
Daichi is startled awake by an unfamiliar voice and opens his eyes to find an unfamiliar face inches away from his own. He blinks a few times and stares back at the one eye that isn’t covered by the wild mass of black hair that surrounds the stranger’s face.
“Whaa-?” Daichi asks, his voice still hoarse from sleep. Whichever amount of hours he slept isn’t enough to deal with who, Daichi assumes, is his obnoxious looking roommate.
The other guy leans back and gives Daichi some space “You’re,um, kinda sleeping on my bed and I tried waking you earlier, but you didn’t move and you know what this can be your bed now, I prefer the top bunk anyway.”
Daichi doesn’t have the time to process what had just been said that he watches the other guy stands up and swaps the stickers with their name written on from the corner of the beds. He doesn’t really understand why; it’s not as if this was actually enforced, isn’t it?
“Kuroo Tetsurou, by the way. ” Daichi’s roommate introduces himself, offering his hand to Daichi to pull him up into a sitting position. He sees Kuroo better from his angle, and he can’t help but notice how tall Kuroo is. It annoys him a bit, though he’s not entirely sure why.
“Sawamura Daichi” Daichi replies, even though Kuroo seems to already know his name. Probably from the stickers on their bed. He runs his hands down his face and tries to blink away the lingering sleepiness without success.
“You okay?” Kuroo asks, his facial expression turning into a concerned look.
“Yeah, just shuttle lagged I guess” Daichi answers with a shrug and Kuroo gives a little understanding nod in return. He reached to grab his phone and quickly glances at it, only to groan in frustration at how it’s still displaying the syncing screen. How long was that supposed to take anyway? “What time is it?”
Kuroo’s smile is back on his face and he leans closer to Daichi,which makes Daichi tense at the sudden closeness. Before he has the time to ask what’s going on, Kuroo snatches Daichi’s phone right from his hand.
“An iPhone 448 S?” Kuroo snickers while he taps around the screen. “ I don’t even remember the last time I saw one.”
“It still works,” Daichi answers dryly, mouth drawn into a hard line.
“Annnd it is currently 10pm” Kuroo reads off the screen on Daichi’s phone with a smug look on his face that makes Daichi huff in annoyance while he grabs it back from Kuroo’s hands. Still, his phone is back to working properly and that’s one less thing on Daichi’s mind for now. “You missed dinner, but it was awful anyway. Seriously, I couldn’t even recognize half of the stuff that was on that plate.” Kuroo adds, his nose wrinkling in disgust.
Daichi has no intention of listening to Kuroo’s rant about proper nutrition and how the school ought to be feeding them better with the amount of money they spend to be there; 10pm is a perfectly reasonable time to go back to sleep and he has every intention of doing so.
“Look,” Daichi interjects with a sigh that must have come up louder than expected because it makes Kuroo stops in his rant. “I just really want to go back to sleep.”
Kuroo simply stares at him for a moment that seems a bit too long, as if he’s processing this simple request and Daichi almost gets impatient until a look of realization then of guilt goes on Kuroo’s face. He runs a hand through his already impossibly messy hair and looks at Daichi with an apologetic look.
“Oh yeah, sorry I guess,” Kuroo says with an apologetic smile, his hand now rubbing the back of his neck. “Want me to show you around where the bathrooms and showers are?”
Daichi shakes his head, his eyes already closing on his own as he leans against the side of the bed. The plastic-like material is hard, cold and uncomfortable, but he’s past the point of caring.
“No, tomorrow.”
---
Daichi blinks in confusion, his mind slowly escaping the grasp of sleep. He doesn’t remember his head being on a pillow, nor does he remember making it to under his blankets, yet there he is, comfortably tucked in bed.
More importantly, there’s something partially obscuring his vision and Daichi stares at it for a moment before realizing what it is. It’s a post-it note. Who the hell even brings post-it notes in space? He removes it from where it has been stuck to his forehead and turns it around to read, in a barely legible scribble:
“ Breakfast ends at 10am ;P
=> => <=
=> <= =>
-Kuroo ”
Daichi stares at the note for a moment, trying to decipher what this message means while also processing the fact that his roommate apparently is the kind of person who brings post-it notes in space.
Breakfast does sound amazing, however, and Daichi doesn’t even remember the last time he had an actual meal that wasn’t whatever reconstructed mess they had served on the transportation shuttle. Daichi looks at his phone screen and his eyes widen as he sees the time on the screen: “9:37am”.
Shit.
Daichi curses under his breath as he flings himself out of bed and quickly goes through his luggage - he’s gonna have to put it away later- to find clean clothes to change into. As he rushes out the door, Daichi comes to the conclusion that the arrows on the post-it notes are meant to be directions, which he assumes, will lead him to the cafeteria. It’s an odd, but considerate thing for his roommate to do and he makes a mental note to thank him later for it. As much as he’s dissatisfied with his current overall situation, he reminds himself that today is a new start and he should try to make the most out of it.
Following the directions, Daichi first heads right and stays alert for where the next turn is going to be.
10:07am
Daichi glances at his phone and sigh in defeat. Looks like he won’t be having breakfast today. He hopes the lunch menu is decent, but from what he remembers Kuroo saying about last night’s dinner, he doesn’t set his expectations too high.
The cafeteria hall is nearly a quarter of the size of the one at Daichi’s previous school, but not doubt it will be just as full once all the students will have arrived. For now, however, all he can see are sparse groups of students scattered around the room; some finishing their late breakfast while other appears to be simply chatting.
In the centre of the room is a particularly loud group of students and Daichi quickly spots amongst them the unmistakable unruly mess that is Kuroo Tetsurou’s hair. Daichi crosses the room and stops right in front of his new roommates, ignoring how everyone else at that table turns to look at him.
“You missed a turn” he points out harshly and sticks the post-it note on the exposed half of Kuroo’s forehead.
Kuroo looks confused for a second and picks the note from his forehead to look at it.
“Ah, you’re right,” Kuroo replies, half-lidded eyes and sheepish smile that tells Daichi he’s not sorry at all. “But you still made it, right?”
“And I missed breakfast,” Daichi says dryly, more irritated about that than the fact that Kuroo’s directions were wrong and he lost time figuring out the way all by himself.
Kuroo smiles only widen as he slides a tray full with this morning’s breakfast to the empty spot next to him. Daichi’s eyes widen in surprise for a second, but he keeps a skeptical gaze on Kuroo while he sits down at the table.
After a brief moment of internal deliberations, Daichi decides that he’s way too hungry to question what Kuroo’s intentions are and digs into it right away. Surprisingly, the food isn’t all cold like he first expected and he guesses that Kuroo went to get it at the last minute right before breakfast time was over. On any other day, Daichi would have questioned the clearly overburnt and dry edges on the omelet and the long gone cold bread, but after three days of eating what might just as well been mashed cardboard, he’ll take anything that’s a notch above.
“I went at the last minute so they kinda threw everything they had left on that plate,” Kuroo says with a shrug.
Daichi opens his mouth to thank Kuroo, but is instantly interrupted by a loud voice coming from next to him.
“Well, Tetsu-chan, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Daichi had been so focused on his breakfast that he hadn’t noticed the group of people Kuroo was currently sitting with, and he suddenly feel very out of place when he glances up to four pairs of eyes turning to look at him.
“Oh yeah, I suppose I should,” Kuroo says nonchalantly. “Well everyone, this Sawamura Daichi, my new roommate. Sawamura, this is Bokuto, Oikawa, and Iwaizumi, all third years like us.”
Daichi greets them all, but quickly goes still as he notices the way the others are sharing hesitant glances between each other. It’s gone as quick as it happened and he is left with an odd lingering feeling, as if he isn’t sure this just happened.
Whatever topic they discussed before Daichi joined them is dropped, and Oikawa turns to him. He leans closer, elbows on the table and chin resting in his hand, with an interested look on his face that makes Daichi feels like he’s been put under some sort of spotlight.
“So, Sawamura-kun. What’s your major?”
Ah, of course. “Engineering” Daichi answers immediately; he’s been through that classic conversation with new acquaintance at school throughout the years.
“Oh! Same as Iwa-Chan then!” Oikawa’s face lights up as he lightly elbows said Iwa-chan that’s sitting next to him, which earns him a glare from Iwaizumi. Daichi takes note of that; while he knows nothing about Iwaizumi yet, it’s always nice to have at least a familiar face in your classes and since he’s new here, he’s gonna need it.
“Hey, hey! Same as me!” Bokuto suddenly butts in loudly, leaning closer so he’s included back into the conversation.
“Yeah, and I really don’t know how you managed to make it to third year considering how bad you are at math, Bo” Kuroo teases and Bokuto sticks his tongue out at him.
“Akaashi helps him” Iwaizumi states matter-of-factly with a shrug.
“Speaking of Akaashi…” Oikawa trails off dramatically, looking expectedly at Bokuto. His tone is innocent enough, but the look on his face isn’t. “I haven’t seen him yet, where is he? ”
Bokuto deflates immediately with a dramatic whimper, Oikawa’s jab successfully hitting its mark. He slumps forward, arms stretched out in front of him, until his cheek is pressed on the table and it earns him a round of laughter from everyone else at the table and a puzzled look from Daichi who’s not quite sure what just happened.
“Don’t remind meeee-” whines Bokuto,turning his face further away until his voice is muffled by the table. “He had some family emergency to attend and he missed the express shuttle so he has to take the one that arrives in a week.”
Kuroo snickers and leans closer to poke Bokuto’s head through his spiky hair. “I’m surprised you are even still alive then”
“Hey,I’m not that dependent on him.” Bokuto protests, lifting his head high enough to glare back at Kuroo.
Kuroo leans back and lifts a skeptical eyebrow.“Are you sure?”
“You’re just jealous you don’t have anyone,” Bokuto huffs and drops back his head on the table.
Kuroo looks at his best friend with a shocked and hurt expression. “Bro, bro, I am so hurt right now,” he says, dramatically placing his hand on his chest and looking away. “ All this time,I thought we had something?”
The whole table erupts in laughter once again, this time with Daichi laughing too although he’s still not too sure he’s understanding what’s going on.
The conversation resumes after that, about some topic Daichi doesn’t know much about. As entertaining as they are, Daichi feels odd amongst these four friends that clearly have known each other for a long time. It makes him miss his friends back home, 7.5 billion kilometers away on earth. School hasn’t started yet and everyone is probably still enjoying their last days of spring vacation. He wonders if Suga is back from spending time in the countryside at his grandmother’s house and wishes he could have gone for a few days too; his best friend’s grandmother always made him feel like he was part of the family and he enjoyed playing with the dogs and help with the garden.
Kuroo leans closer with an inquiring look on his face. “What are you spacing out for?” He asks with a slight teasing edge to his voice.
Daichi looks up at Kuroo and frowns for a second, suddenly pulled away from his thoughts, before he shakes his head and turns back to look down at his nearly empty plate. “Nothing really. Guess I’m still not fully awake yet,” he simply dismisses.
Kuroo keeps his gaze on him for a second, eyes narrowing in suspicions before he just shrugs and returns to the conversation with the others where it was left off. Or so he seems to do, because a second later his faces lights up as if he’s suddenly remembering something and he glances back at Daichi for a split second.
“I just remembered Sawamura and I have stuff to do, so we’ll see you guys later” Kuroo announces to the other occupants of the table.
“Wha-” Daichi whips his head around to look at Kuroo with a bewildered look. He doesn’t remember making any plans, let alone with his roommate, but Kuroo’s already standing up and doesn’t give him the chance to protest further.
---
As it turns out, Kuroo drags Daichi on a tour of the school. Apparently, he promised him one the night before, although Daichi has no memory of it. It’s a nice break from Kuroo’s loud group of friends -especially Bokuto who must have been born with a volume knob stuck at 11 - and it’s a chance to actually make sense of the school’s configuration. What had seemed like a confusing maze to Daichi the day before turned out to be a lot simpler once he walked around through it. The whole place is made of giant circles, each floor with hallways that lead all the way around and rooms in the centre. On the floor they currently are, one side of the hallway is lined with windows that lead directly outside and offers anyone passing by a stunning view of the thousands of stars sparkling in the black void surrounding them.
“And if we take that door there it goes to the floor where the simulator is, but I think it’s closed right now,” Kuroo says as he continues with his explanation.
Daichi simply nods, half listening to what Kuroo is saying. He’s distracted by the view and something else that had been on his mind since morning. Something that’s been bothering him, but that Daichi can’t find a way to express yet, so he keeps quiet and lets Kuroo lead him to another part of the school they haven’t explored yet.
It takes them about another hour to reach the last floor, which is more or less an observation deck. Half of it is an open space with the ceiling and wall build of window panels, under which are couches and tables randomly placed across the floor. While the place is empty for now, Kuroo explains that it's nearly impossible to get a spot here during the day while classes are in session, but that it’s an awesome place to study at night, when it gets emptier. Daichi doesn’t have any trouble believing him. While the view wasn’t as incredible, communal student spaces at his previous school could get just as crowded.
“And this concludes our tour of the school facilities,” Kuroo says, mimicking a tour guide practiced speech, as he turns to face Daichi.
Daichi’s eyes narrow suspiciously and he keeps his gaze firm on Kuroo’s face while he takes a step closer. “Why are you doing this?” Daichi asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
He catches the surprised look that appears on Kuroo’s face for a split second, right before he quickly recovers and puts his signature lazy smirk back on, which only further confirms that there’s something really fishy with his new roommate.
“Doing what?” Kuroo asks nonchalantly. Whether he’s feigning innocence or genuinely doesn’t know, Daichi can’t tell.
“Tucking me in bed, giving me directions to the cafeteria, getting me breakfast, introducing me to your friends, this tour of the school-” Daichi lists off accusingly. This was what had been bothering him for the last few hours. It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate what Kuroo has done for him so far, it’s that the ease in which he has done all of this to someone he only met the day before doesn’t sit quite right with Daichi.
Kuroo eyebrows rise and he brushes off the accusation with a laugh. “What? Can’t I just be nice for being nice?” He deflects, but Daichi’s expression remains unchanged and Kuroo’s facade quickly crumble. He runs a hand through the back of his hair while looking away, embarrassed to have been called out like that.
“Alright… To be nice?” Kuroo offers with a shrug, returning his unsure gaze to Daichi. “Um, nobody ever transfers in here. Transfer out, yes, but not transfer in, so I dunno. Figured it would be hard for you to arrive here knowing nobody. ”
Kuroo’s genuine answer surprises Daichi and it’s believable enough for him to accept it. Tension leaves his body and it’s Daichi’s turn to be embarrassed; he feels guilty for having so openly questioned Kuroo’s good intentions. Kuroo’s eyes aren’t quite meeting Daichi’s anymore and Daichi knows that it’s his turn to apologize.
“Sorry,” Daichi offers honestly. “I shouldn’t have questioned you like that.”
It takes a short moment, but Kuroo’s eyes finally drift back to Daichi’s, his face already back to his usual laidback expression. “It’s okay” Kuroo shrugs, the barest hint of an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lip. “I’ll try to be less suspicious next time I want to be nice.”
Daichi just sighs in defeat and it’s enough to make Kuroo laugh this time.
---
Glaring at the blank space of the top bunk above him, Daichi wonders what kind of cruel tricks fate has been playing on him lately. All he wishes for is a good, decent night of sleep, but apparently sleeping more than 12 hours the night before must have messed up with his inner clock, because he simply can not fall asleep at the moment. It’s not like he has to be up early tomorrow morning, classes are only starting in a week, but Daichi has no intention of letting go of his usual schedule, despite how hard it’s been to in the past few days.
After what must have been the fifth time he’s counted down from 100 to 0 by slices of 3, Daichi sits up with a frustrated groan. He exhales sharply and turns around to fluff up his pillow once more before lying down back on it as if it would change anything. Turning on his side, he screws his eyes shut when he hears shuffling coming from the bed above him.
“ Psst , Sawamura” comes Kuroo’s voice, muffled by the bed separating them.
“ What do you want Kuroo? Daichi replies dryly, already irritated enough that he can’t sleep. He doesn’t need someone keeping him awake on top of it.
“Having trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah,” Daichi sighs in defeat. “I think I slept too much last night”
Kuroo snorts.” I dunno, you were passed out so hard. I think you needed it.”
“How come you can’t sleep”
“Ah, um, I’m missing a pillow?”
“You’re… missing a pillow?” Daichi asks incredulously.
“Yeah, I usually sleep with two pillows. Feels weird without. I kinda used your pillow before you arrived?”
Daichi decides to ignore the bit about Kuroo using his pillow, although he does frown slightly at it. “Sleeping with two pillows is bad for your neck anyway, it’s probably for the best.”
“Oh, I know. I don’t sleep on the two of them. I sleep between them,” Kuroo replies, as if it made perfect sense.
Daichi opens his mouth then closes it. Really, he doesn’t know what to add to that. He’s known Kuroo for a grand total of a day and an evening, and he’s already figured out that his roommate has a knack for not doing things normally.
The silence stretches out for a moment until Kuroo’s voice comes again from above.“It’s comfortable you should try it sometimes. Side effect includes ridiculously good looking bed hair so I’m warning you. ”
This time it’s Daichi’s turn to laugh; he presses his face in his pillow, muffling the sound but not completely.
The silence stretches out again after this, soon after Daichi stops laughing and he begins to wonder if Kuroo didn’t finally fall asleep.
“Hey, Sawamura”
“What is it this time, Kuroo,” Daichi replies exasperatedly.
“Do you have any siblings?”
Daichi frowns, more confused by the sudden question than annoyed by it. “No, I don’t. Do you?”
“Nope.”
The room goes silent again, and Daichi lets his eyes close once more when…
“Hey Sawamura, what’s your favourite food?”
Daichi keeps his eyes closed this time, and instead moves around a bit until he’s more comfortably nestled in his blanket.
“Shoyu ramen. Yours?”
“Grilled mackerel.”
Kuroo pauses once more, probably trying to come up with another question.
“Your favourite movie genre?”
“Action. You?”
“Scientifically Accurate Sci-fi”
Daichi rolls his eyes at that one. “ Are there even movies like that? I thought the point of sci-fi was that it made up new science stuff”
“I’ll have you know that you can speculate science without messing up every already established facts,” Kuroo huffs, and Daichi smiles at the genuine indignation in Kuroo’s voice.
Daichi loses track of how many questions Kuroo asks after that. He keeps answering; Kuroo’s voice becomes a constant noise in the background as his body progressively get heavier and he’s not even sure if Kuroo’s voice is real anymore.
Finally, there’s a silence long enough that leaves Daichi right on the edge of sleep when Kuroo interrupts once again.
“Hey, Sawamura?”
“Hm?”
“Good night”
“Goo’ nigh’ ” Daichi mumbles in reply, right before he falls asleep for real this time.