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“Hey, Tsukishima-kun!” Yachi said cheerfully when Kei answered his phone. “Do you have a minute?”
“I guess,” Kei said, flopping back on his couch and sighing, tired after a long shift of making customers coffee and tea and triple-extra-foam-caramel-drizzle-chocolate-crappucino whatevers (with whip). “What is it?”
“So, uh, you remember my cat, Luna?”
“I do.”
“She kind of ran away a few weeks ago.”
Kei hesitated. Comforting people was not exactly his forte. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, she came back!” Yachi said quickly. “It’s just that, well... now she’s going to have kittens.”
“Oh.” Then Kei paused, waiting for Yachi to continue explaining why he needed to know this. “...And?”
Yachi took a big breath before speaking very quickly. “My apartment only lets its tenants have one pet maximum so I can’t keep them and I’ve been so busy with school lately I don’t have the time to find them homes and I don’t want to take them to a shelter because what if they don’t get adopted and then they get put down and it’s all my fault?”
Kei sighed, glancing around his apartment that really didn’t have space for kittens and thinking about what a pain it would be to try and find them homes. “Yachi-san, I-”
“And I know you’re busy and you don’t really like cats that much but you’re the last person I have left to ask!” Yachi interrupted, still speaking so fast Kei wasn’t sure how she managed to not trip over her own words. “I would ask Shimizu-san but she’s still studying abroad and I already tried asking Hinata-kun but between classes and volleyball practice he doesn’t have time and it’s the same with Kageyama-kun and Yamaguchi-san was going to help me but then he found out his landlord doesn’t allow pets at all and I don’t know what I’m going to do and-”
Kei sighed. “Fine, I’ll-”
“-there’s only a few more weeks until the kittens are born and they’re gonna have nowhere to go and I can’t just put them on the street or they’ll get sick or hurt or they’ll die and-”
“Yachi-san,” Kei snapped, finally getting her to stop and take a breather. “I’ll take the cats.”
“Really?” she gasped, and Kei could hear her finally relax. “Thank you so much, Tsukishima-kun!”
“Just give me a heads up when I’m gonna have to take them in,” Kei told her.
“Absolutely,” she assured him. “And I’ll reimburse you for food or toys or anything else you need for them and-”
“And Yachi-san?”
“Yes?”
“Please get your cat spayed after this.”
~
You can’t afford a cat right now, Tetsurou thought to himself as he stared at the flyer beside him. He was waiting to cross the street, on his way home from a long, shitty day at work, and there was a bright pink flyer was neatly taped to the pole right at eye level, advertising a litter of kittens in need of a home.
Cats cost money. Food. Litter. Toys. Taking it to the vet. Those are things you do not have money for.
The lights changed and everyone around Tetsurou entered the crosswalk, but he stayed put, just staring at the flyer.
Maybe if you had stuck with cooking school and become a chef, you could afford a cat, he reminded himself. But you dropped out. So you can’t.
You cannot afford a cat, he told himself again as he got out his cell phone and made a note of the phone number on the flyer before running across the street.
~
Weeks passed, the kittens were born, and once they were old enough to leave their mother, they moved into Tsukishima’s living room.
Yachi, in her attempts to make this as small a burden on Tsukishima as possible, made him some fliers to put up around the neighborhood, looking for potential owners. He didn’t really like the idea of giving out his phone number to any random stranger passing by, but he was the one who’d agreed to finding homes for the damn kittens in the first place.
He calls them “damn kittens” in his head, but in the short time he’s had them, he’s already become extremely fond of almost all of them. (Almost. There’s this one fluffy black one that’s always causing mischief.)
Luckily, it didn’t take long after Kei had put up the fliers to start getting calls. Kei put a few up on his way to work on day, and by the time he was on his way home from work, he got his first call. He almost ignored it when he didn’t recognize the number until he remembered he’d been plastering his number on every streetlamp in the neighborhood.
“Hello?” Kei said, hoping that whoever this caller was would take little Kuro away.
“Hello! I’m calling about your flier? I’m interested in taking a look at the kittens.”
“Are you serious about adopting one?” Kei asked with a sigh as he let himself into his apartment building. “Not to be rude or anything, but I don’t really want to waste my time just to let a stranger play with some kittens.”
“No, I’m definitely serious!” the man on the phone insisted. “I, uh, probably shouldn’t be, but I am serious.”
“I have some time tomorrow afternoon,” Kei offered, pressing the button for the elevator with his free hand. “Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, tomorrow’s great!”
“Do you have something to write down my address with, or...?”
“Oh, give me a second...”
Kei stepped into the elevator, selecting the button for his floor and listening to the man on the phone scrambling for a pen and paper.
“Okay, got it, shoot.”
Kei told him his address. The man repeated it back to him to make sure he’d written it down right as Kei got out of the elevator and dug his keys out of his pocket.
“Okay, perfect!” the man said, sounding excited about it. Maybe someone with that kind of enthusiasm will take a liking to Kuro... Kei thought to himself.
“Oh, can I get a name?” Kei asked as he stepped inside his apartment, phone pressed between his ear and his shoulder as he slipped off his jacket.
“I’m thinking Fluffy, or maybe-”
“I meant your name,” Kei snapped, a little irritated with this stranger who had been so nice and cooperative and normal up until now.
“Teasing. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou.”
Kei snorted. “You’re kidding.” Maybe it’s a sign. Kuro for Kuroo.
“...No, that’s actually my name,” Kuroo said, sounding confused.
“Never mind,” Kei said, shaking his head. “I’m Tsukishima Kei.”
“Well, Tsukishima Kei-san, I will see you tomorrow,” Kuroo said pleasantly.
“Goodbye, Kuroo-san.” Kei hung up the phone and finally attended to the small mob of mewling kittens fenced in in a corner of his apartment.
“Hear that?” he asked them as he gave them some fresh water. “One of you gets a new home tomorrow.”
Most of them didn’t pay Kei any mind as they eagerly took a drink of water, but Kuro was still meowing as loud as his little kitten lungs would allow, rubbing his face against the bars of the fence until Kei picked him up and gave him some attention.
“Wouldn’t you like a new home?” Kei asked as he ran his fingers through Kuro’s ridiculously soft fur. “Get adopted by someone who almost has the same name as you?”
Kuro suddenly went from cute and cuddly to a little shit, chomping down on Kei’s hand hard enough to draw blood.
“Shit, damnit,” Kei hissed as he pulled his hand free from Kuro’s clutches. “I hope he takes you.”
Kuro was unbothered by Kei’s sentiment, and once he was set back down with his brothers and sisters, he just ran along and bothered them instead.
~
You shouldn’t be doing this, Tetsurou thought to himself as he knocked on Tsukishima’s door. You were saving up for an apartment closer to work, remember? Shorter commute means more sleep in the morning. Is getting a cat worth losing that?
Eh. Probably.
“Hey!” Tetsurou said cheerfully as the door swung open, ready to make a good impression on this guy. Then he froze a little, because the man answering the door was a lot cuter than he had anticipated. A lot cuter. Like, in the top ten of cutest guys Tetsurou had ever seen.
Oh, God, I don’t even know what to focus on. Everything is cute. The hair, the glasses, the eyes, the way his lips move when he talks-
Oh, shit, he just asked me a question.
“Sorry, what was that?”
Tsukishima just gave him a funny look (which was also very cute). “Would you like to come inside?” he repeated.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Tetsurou said with a laugh, trying to play off what would hopefully be his last blunder for the day. “Nice place you got here.”
Tsukishima shrugged. “It’s nothing special. It’s just close to work.”
“Oh, yeah?” Tetsurou said, grinning. We have something in common. He lives close to work, and I... was going to do that but am getting a kitten instead... He cleared his throat a little. “Where do you work?”
“I’m just a barista at the cafe down the road.”
“Oh, Karasuno?” Tetsurou asked with a grin, immediately recognizing the place he was talking about. “I love that place, I go there all the time. I’m surprised I’ve never seen you there.”
“I take weird shifts,” Tsukishima said simply, clearly not interested in making smalltalk. “Did you want to see the cats, or...?”
“Right,” Tetsurou said, shaking his head a little to get himself to focus on why he was here. He followed Tsukishima to the other end of his apartment, and as soon as the kittens were in view, Tetsurou felt like he couldn’t breathe, they were so cute.
Having a cute boy and a bunch of cute kittens in the same room should be illegal, Tetsurou thought to himself as he got down on his knees to get a closer look at the cats.
“Feel free to pet them, pick them up, whatever,” Tsukishima told him, nevertheless keeping a careful eye on Tetsurou as he interacted with them.
“They’re the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” Tetsurou said breathlessly as he picked one of them up, one with white fur and covered in black splotches. Ohhh, my God, its paws...
“I’ve been calling that one Cookie,” Tsukishima told him, leaning down to scratch Cookie under the chin (and standing really, really close as he did so). I should ask him about his cologne, it smells really good... “And that one over there is Cherry, and there’s Yuki, and Cinderella-”
“Cinderella?” Tetsurou interrupted with a grin. That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.
Tsukishima scowled. That is also adorable. Everything he does is adorable. I was not prepared for this. “Yeah, it’s gray, like cinders.”
“No need to be defensive, I think it’s cute,” Tetsurou said as he set down Cookie and picked up the last kitten. “Who’s this little guy?”
“Kuro.”
“Hm?”
“No, not ‘Kuroo’, it’s Kuro,” Tsukishima sighed. “Y’know, because of the fur.”
“You’ve got a beautiful name,” Tetsurou told the little, fluffy, black dream in his hands. It playfully bit his finger, and Tetsurou laughed.
“He seems to like you,” Tsukishima said, leaving Tetsurou by himself for a moment to step into his kitchen. “Kuro and Kuroo. You make a great pair.”
“Trying to get rid of him?” Tetsurou asked with a laugh, looking over his shoulder and watching Tsukishima’s shoulders tense at the accusation. Busted.
Oh, he’s so cute.
“Kuro just has a little more energy than the others,” Tsukishima said after a moment, his tone still calm but with just a slight, delicious twinge of irritation. “It’s a little much when you’re taking care of five of them at a time.”
Tetsurou just smiled and turned back to the kittens. “Well, I just might be willing to take-”
Tetsurou was interrupted by a sudden loud slurp, and looked up to see Tsukishima with a cup of instant noodles in his hands.
“Sorry,” he said after swallowing a mouthful of noodles. “You caught me in the middle of lunch.”
The sight of it was almost physically painful, someone so beautiful and deserving of so much better, standing and eating a cheap cup of instant noodles. God, he hadn’t even waited for them to soften properly before eating. It was a tragedy.
Tsukishima just blinked. “Do you want me to wait until you leave, or...?”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Tetsurou said quickly, setting Kuro back down with his siblings and rubbing the back of his neck. “I just... instant noodles?”
Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t feel like actually cooking.”
“I could cook for you,” Tetsurou offered.
“What?” Tsukishima made a face, which was justified because a crazy stranger was offering to cook for him because of some strange aversion to instant noodles, but it didn’t deter Tetsurou in the slightest. It was such a pretty face and it deserved to be eating better food.
“Sorry, I went to cooking school and got all snooty about the culinary arts and now the idea of eating cheap cup noodles give me physical pain,” Tetsurou said with a chuckle.
Tsukishima didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. “Oh, um. I’m sorry? I guess? I mean, I’m not actually sorry because, y’know... it’s just instant noodles.”
Tetsurou just grinned and looked away, going to scratch Cinderella under her chin. “I really could cook something for you, though. I promise, it’ll be better than what you’re eating now.”
“I don’t really have a lot to cook with...”
“I can use whatever’s on hand.”
“I mean, you just really don’t have to,” Tsukishima said, looking a little uncomfortable. Tetsurou took that as his cue to back off.
“Alright, if you say so,” Tetsurou said, picking up a stray toy and dragging it around for Yuki to chase.
Tsukishima went back to slurping his awful noodles.
Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything. Don’t-
“Kuroo-san, I can see you cringing.”
“I just have cat hair in my nose,” Tetsurou lied. Kind of. That was actually probably true, his nose was starting to get irritated.
“Here.”
Tetsurou looked up as Tsukishima handed him a box of tissues, and Tetsurou stopped breathing for a second. There was something about Tsukishima’s expression... It wasn’t particularly friendly or pleasant, but it was just... soft. Gentle. There was a weird stranger in his house who was supposed to be taking a kitten off his hands but instead wanted to cook him a meal because he has a strange personal vendetta against instant noodles, but that weird stranger had cat hair in his nose and was probably going to sneeze, so Tsukishima got him a box of tissues as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
He’s too cute, Tetsurou thought to himself as he accepted the box with a “thank you.” I don’t think I can handle this.
~
Kuroo was... interesting. Kei had never met anyone who went back and forth from charming to strange so much in such a short amount of time. He’d at least stopped cringing once Kei finished his lunch (Kei never would’ve figured it would end up being so embarrassing to eat instant noodles in front of someone), and now Kei was just watching how his face worked as he played with the kittens. It varied from huge grins to bubbling laughs to small, barely-there smirks, but the smile on his face never really went away.
His lips are kind of pretty in a smile...
“Do you want coffee or tea or anything?” Kei asked before he could get completely ridiculous and start memorizing the way his eyes light up whenever one of the kittens meowed at him. If he took in too many details, Kuroo would end up on his mind for days, and Kei would start daydreaming about him during long, boring hours at work, and before he knew it, he’d be in love with a fairytale.
“Coffee would be lovely,” Kuroo said, looking up at Kei with a new smile that was just for him.
Stop falling for the weird guy who hates instant noodles. “Milk or sugar?”
“Black’s fine.”
“Ugh, now it’s my turn to cringe,” Kei said with a scowl.
Kuroo just grinned at him again. “Not a fan of black coffee?”
“I’m not really a fan of coffee in general,” Kei admitted as he went to fetch a mug and put a kettle on. “Too bitter.”
“And yet you work in a coffee shop.”
Kei shrugged. “I didn’t start working there because of a passion for making people drinks. I just needed a source of income. Plus, we also make hot chocolate and it’s the best I’ve ever had.”
“I’ve never had Karasuno’s hot chocolate,” Kuroo said as he played with Yuki’s paws.
“You should try it sometime.”
Kuroo chuckled. “Maybe I’ll come try it when you’re working.”
Kei hesitated, because even though he was probably imagining things, there was just something about Kuroo’s tone of voice that sounded almost flirtatious, like he wanted to go see Kei again, wanted to talk more and get his number and maybe take him out for a date.
You are getting way ahead of yourself... Kei thought to himself, refusing to look at Kuroo while he waited for the kettle to boil so he could get his head out of the clouds. Kei had a nasty habit of doing this, meeting someone who seemed like they had potential, immediately putting them on a pedestal in his head, and then getting disappointed when they obviously failed to live up to his ridiculous expectations. He’d given up hope a while ago of ever actually finding someone, and every fleeting encounter he had with someone just became another fantasy to think about during long, tedious hours at work.
He finished making Kuroo a cup of coffee, handed it to him, and received another shimmering smile. Kei made a face as Kuroo took his first sip and actually seemed to enjoy the black, bitter death-in-a-mug he’d asked for.
“It’s perfect,” Kuroo said as Kei said down next to him.
“What do you think of the cats?” Kei asked, ignoring the peaceful look on Kuroo’s as he took a deep inhale of the cup of coffee in his hands.
“I want them all,” Kuroo sighed. “Seriously. Cinderella is so cuddly, but Yuki is so sweet, and Cookie is hilarious, and Kuro...” He chuckled and pet the kitten in question. “I don’t even know, there’s just something about him that I like.”
“Well, take as much time as you want,” Kei told him. Based on past experience, Kuroo still had about an hour or two of conversation to go before he started disappointing Kei. It’d be nice to have him leave before then, but if not, it would probably be good for Kei to get over him now.
“Thank...” Kuroo trailed off and lifted his head like he was listening to something. “Is it raining?”
Once Kuroo pointed it out, Kei could hear the steady tapping of rain against the windows. He stood up to have a proper look. “Yeah, it’s actually raining pretty hard,” he reported back, looking out at the skyline that was fuzzy and distorted with falling rain.
“Damn, I didn’t bring an umbrella,” Kuroo said, his face finally falling.
“You could always borrow one,” Kei offered.
“That’s alright,” Kuroo assured him. “It probably won’t last very long. I can just wait it out.”
Kuroo finished his cup of coffee and the rain still hadn’t let up. Kei made him a second cup, and by the time he’d finished that, it had started raining even harder, and heavy storm clouds were making the world outside Kei’s window look dark and gloomy.
“You want more coffee?” Kei asked, taking Kuroo’s mug from him and heading to the kitchen.
“I’m okay, thanks,” Kuroo told him with a sigh, leaning against Kei’s sofa and petting a sleepy Kuro who was curled up on his chest.
Kei didn’t know what to do now. Kuroo had already been here for ages, and he highly doubted Kuroo really needed anymore time to make a decision about the cats, but he didn’t want to ask Kuroo to leave, especially with the weather and all.
“Are you hungry?” Kei asked after a long stretch of silence between them.
“Yeah, a little,” Kuroo admitted.
“We could have something delivered,” Kei suggested.
“That offer for me to cook for you is still on the table.”
Kei’s first instinct was to say no, but... well, something home-cooked sounded kind of nice. He was an awful cook himself, so a majority of his meals were takeout or microwaveable. Plus, he wanted to see if Kuroo could cook as well as he claimed he could. Maybe he couldn’t and Kei could finally find a proper flaw in him.
Kuroo was probably going to be here for a while. He had nothing to lose.
“Sure.”
Kuroo immediately sat up a little, jostling Kuro and waking him up. “Really?”
“I’m curious to see if your cooking lives up to the hype.”
Kuroo immediately set Kuro back down with the rest of his litter and headed for the kitchen.
Kei followed him and stood by to watch him work, watching as he went through every cabinet to see what he was working with, answering questions about where pots and pans were and what ingredients he was and wasn’t allowed to use. His expression had become very focused as he turned on the stove, lined up whatever vegetables he’d found in Kei’s fridge on a cutting board, put a pot of water on to boil. It all looked very impressive.
“Where do you work?” Kei asked, imagining Kuroo in a professional kitchen and wearing an apron. It looked cute in his head.
“In an electronics store,” Kuroo answered as he started cracking eggs into a small mound of flour.
Kei hesitated, the cute image in his head disappearing. “I thought you said you were a chef.”
“I said I went to cooking school,” Kuroo explained, throwing a grin over his shoulder as he kneaded the dough that was probably going to become pasta. “But I dropped out.”
“How come?”
“Just didn’t feel right,” Kuroo said with a shrug. “You ever get that? Where you put yourself on this path because you were good at something but then you wake up one day and realize it’s not what you really want to do?”
Kei hesitated. “I can’t say that I have.”
“Ah.”
For a moment, Kei let it fall back into silence, just watching Kuroo work, but he like listening to Kuroo talk, so he continued on the conversation. “I never really had anything I wanted to do,” he went on. “I never had one thing I was good at that I could pursue. I mean, I guess I had potential for some things, but I never really acted on any of it.”
“Nah, someone like you?” Kuroo asked. “You had to be good at something.”
Kei just shrugged. “Not really. I was smart, and that was it.”
“Smart’s still something,” Kuroo told him, now rolling out his pasta dough. “Smart like book-smart or smart like clever?”
“Both, I guess,” Kei said, lacing his fingers together.
“There you go. You’re book-smart, you’re clever, and you make one hell of a cup of coffee,” Kuroo said with another smile. Is it possible to overdose on someone’s smile? “That’s three whole things.”
Kei just hummed in response before moving on from himself. “Are you glad you dropped out?”
“For the most part,” Kuroo said with a sigh. “I just kinda wish I’d ended up somewhere better than an electronics store.”
Kei smirked. “Get a lot of stupid customers?”
Kuroo turned and gave Kei an exasperated look. “So many people don’t know what Wi-Fi is.”
Kei just started laughing. Kuroo’s lips quirked into some new, shyer smile before he turned and went back to his cooking.
Maybe now would be a good time for him to start disappointing me, Kei thought, watching Kuroo and just feeling himself crushing harder and harder.
~
Please like it, please like it, please like it... Tetsurou thought desperately as Tsukishima took a bite of the pasta he’d cooked. He’d gone for this dish in particular because it was one of his specialties, and he was so desperate to impress Tsukki...
“Wow,” Tsukki said with raised eyebrows, digging around in his bowl a little.
Good wow or bad wow?!
“That’s delicious,” Tsukki said finally, and Tetsurou felt his stress wash away and immediately be replaced by a ridiculous giddiness at having received Tsukki’s approval.
“I’m glad you like it,” Tetsurou said, making himself sound calmer than he actually was as he tasted his own bowl. He noticed to his own disappointment that it wasn’t the best pasta he’d ever made, but Tsukki seemed to be really enjoying it, if how quickly he was eating was any indication. It made Tetsurou’s heart feel full, watching Tsukki enjoy his food so much, and he suddenly remembered why he’d ever started to like cooking in the first place. It had been a while since making anything had been so satisfying. Tetsurou wished he could have a thousand more opportunities to cook for him, just for more moments like these.
“I noticed you have a lot of strawberries in your fridge,” Tetsurou said casually after he’d finished about half of his bowl.
Tsukki was on his last few bites, and swallowed his food before speaking. “Yeah?”
“If you still have room for dessert, I could make you something with them,” Tetsurou offered. Please say yes, please say yes-
“You make dessert too?”
Tetsurou grinned. “Dessert is my speciality.”
“I wouldn’t say no...”
“Coming right up,” Tetsurou chuckled, going right back to the kitchen and mentally preparing himself to make the best makeshift strawberry shortcake he possibly could.
“Thank you,” Tsukishima said quickly. “For doing all this.”
“Believe me, Tsukki, it’s my pleasure,” Tetsurou assured him as he got the strawberries out of the fridge.
There was a pause before Tsukishima asked, “What did you call me?”
Tetsurou froze, only now realizing that he’s accidentally said his little nickname for him out loud. “Uh...” He cleared his throat. “I called you ‘Tsukki’. Sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine,” Tsukishima clarified. “You can call me that if you want to.”
Tetsurou’s heart felt like it was going to burst, God, this was just too much. Tsukki was just adorable, everything he did was adorable, he loved Tetsurou’s cooking, and he didn’t mind being given such a cutesy nickname. He kept forgetting that the only reason he was here was to adopt one of Tsukki’s kittens.
“Tsukki,” Tetsurou repeated.
“Mm?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, I just... It’s cute,” Tetsurou said with a shrug. “It suits you.”
Tetsurou couldn’t bring himself to look at Tsukki’s reaction to his attempt at flirting, but nothing was being thrown at his head, so at least that was a good sign.
~
Kei was going to die.
Kuroo was just too much. He was too much. Kei kept waiting for a catch, waiting for him to say something wrong, to do something off-putting, but there was just nothing. Everything else had already been overwhelming, with the pretty smiles and the easy conversation and the best pasta Kei had ever eaten (not to mention he may or may not have called Kei cute), but when he set down a plate with strawberry shortcake in front of Kei with a calm, cool “please enjoy,” Kei thought his heart was going to give out. He’d never fallen for someone this hard before.
And after tasting the shortcake, Kei was practically full-blown in love.
“How is it?” Kuroo asked, going to start washing dishes.
“Marry me,” Kei blurted out.
Kei felt like his heart stopped. Neither of them spoke, neither of them moved, neither of them even breathed until Kuroo finally let out a choked-back laugh. “What?”
“S-sorry, I just mean it’s good,” Kei quickly clarified. “I didn’t... Never mind.”
Oh, my God, that is literally the most embarrassing thing you have ever done.
Kuroo just laughed and turned back to the dishes. Kei stuffed his face with the rest of Kuroo’s shortcake. He didn’t really have the stomach for it anymore, but he had to do something just to keep himself occupied, he felt so awkward...
Stop losing your cool, Kei told himself. He’s just gonna start disappointing you soon enough anyway. Don’t bother.
“Once I finish washing these, I think I’ll take you up on that offer to borrow an umbrella,” Kuroo called over his shoulder, snapping Kei out of his own pity party. “I won’t take up anymore of your time.”
Kei felt himself sink a little. He wanted Kuroo to take up more of his time. He wanted to see Kuroo again. He wanted to make Kuroo more cups of coffee and he wanted to watch Kuroo cook more food. He also kind of definitely wanted to kiss Kuroo.
“Let me help you with that,” was all Kei said, standing up and joining Kuroo at the sink.
“I’ll wash, you dry?” Kuroo suggested, handing Kei a wet bowl. Kei grabbed a dishrag and started drying. He was so disappointed that these were his last moments with Kuroo, but then, it was also so nice to be standing so close to him, to feel their elbows bumping as they worked.
Kuroo was handing him the last of the dishes when a roaring crash of thunder suddenly filled the room, and the plate nearly slipped through Kuroo’s fingers as he jumped violently, letting out a shout of surprise.
“Are you okay?” Kei asked, taking the plate from Kuroo and quickly drying it.
“Just dandy,” Kuroo squeaked out, leaning over the sink as he caught his breath. Then there was another deafening boom and Kuroo again jumped so much, he was left shaking afterwards.
Ah. So he isn’t perfect.
“You’re afraid of thunder.”
~
Tetsurou had never felt so mortified in his life, and he just kept embarrassing himself again and again, with every crash of thunder sending him trembling.
Tsukki was letting him stay for the time being, which was nice, but he was also grinning about all of this, which was... less nice.
“I can’t believe you’re afraid of thunder,” he laughed as he closed all the curtains to at least block out the lightening.
“Shut-” There was another roar of thunder, strong enough to make Tsukishima’s dishes rattle, and Tetsurou pressed his hands over his ears, waiting for it to pass before finishing. “Sh-shut up.”
“I thought you were so cool and so suave,” Tsukki went on, joining Tetsurou on his couch.
Even as he trembled, Tetsurou grinned. “You thought I was cool?” he teased.
“Emphasis on ‘thought’,” Tsukki said with an equally sadistic grin.
Tetsurou pouted. “I don’t see why you’re enjoying this so much,” he grumbled.
“I finally found your flaw,” Tsukki sighed happily, which only made Tetsurou pout more. “This whole day, you have just been too good to be true, and I just kept waiting for you to disappointment me, and I finally found a flaw, and it’s not even bad!”
Tetsurou was about to get defensive, but he didn’t even know where to begin with that response. “Wait a second...” he said while he gathered his thoughts. “So even though I’m a cooking school dropout who can’t even be near someone eating instant noodles without making faces, somehow, the only flaw of mine you have gathered today is that I’m scared of thunder?”
Before Kei could respond, there was another crash of thunder and Tetsurou was holding his arms over his head. Tsukki started laughing again and Tetsurou jabbed an elbow at him.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at you,” Tsukki said, clearing his throat. “Really, I don’t. I get like this too sometimes, for things a lot less dramatic than thunder.”
Tetsurou snorted. “Yeah, and I bet I’d be a lot better at comforting you than you are at comforting me.”
“That’s definitely true.” Tsukki started fidgeting with his hands. “I’m sorry, I’m really not good at comforting people.”
Damn. In the end, he still manages to be cute.
Still, Tetsurou was wondering what Tsukki meant exactly about waiting for Tetsurou to have a flaw. Could it really be possible that Tsukki had taken a liking to Tetsurou just as much as he had to Tsukki? Letting Tetsurou call him “Tsukki” and the accidental marriage proposal... could those have been actual signs of reciprocation and not the flukes Tetsurou had written them off as?
Before Tetsurou could even start to muster up the courage to ask, there was another crash of thunder that made him start whimpering instead, curling up into a ball and burying his face in his arms.
This is the most embarrassing day of my life.
“Hold on,” Tsukki said before getting up and leaving the room.
Maybe he’s getting a camera so he can properly photograph my shame.
After a few minutes sitting by himself, Tetsurou jumped as someone was suddenly being slid onto his head. Headphones.
“Try these,” Tsukki told him, his voice extremely muffled once the headphones were covering Tetsurou’s ears. “They’re noise-canceling. Once you start playing music, you won’t hear a thing.”
Tetsurou didn’t recognize the sugary pop tune that Tsukki started playing for him once he’d rejoined him on the couch, but Tsukki was right. He couldn’t hear a thing. He could see lightening flash through the gap between Tsukki’s curtains, but he never heard the thunder.
Tetsurou smiled. He couldn’t tell how loud he was as murmured, “Thank you, Tsukki,” and he couldn’t tell if Tsukki said anything back as let his eyes drift closed, finally relaxing as the storm raged on outside.
~
Night had long fallen by the time the storm stopped. There was still a light drizzle outside, but Kuroo just borrowed an umbrella and made a promise to return it sometime.
“So, have you decided about the kittens?” Kei asked as he walked Kuroo to the door.
Kuroo hesitated. “Uh... I mean... I’m not one hundred percept sure yet. Maybe if I came by again, I could...”
Kei was going out on a huge limb here, and his heart was beating so quickly it felt like it would burst through his chest, but he just had to say it. “Kuroo-san, if you really just want to see me again, you could always just ask me out.”
Kuroo’s eyes went wide, and for about ten seconds in which Kei felt like he was going to throw up, he was afraid he’d completely misjudged everything until Kuroo finally gave him another smile.
“Would you like to go out with me sometime?”
Kei nodded. “I’d like that a lot.”
Kuroo started turning pink, which was a relief because it made Kei less embarrassed about his own reddening face. “In that case, I’ll take Kuro. I mean, not right now, I still have to buy a few things and kitten-proof my house a little. So, uh, I’ll call you. And for the date, too. I’ll call you twice. Or we can plan both things in the same call.”
Kei just grinned. “You are really not cool.”
“Your smile is breathtaking.”
Kei had never felt his face get so red. “Oh, my God, I’ve changed my mind, I’m canceling.”
“I’m sorry for complimenting you,” Kuroo said with a laugh. God, like he can even talk, with a smile like that... “Can I make it up to you somehow?”
“Cook for me again and I’ll let you take me on a date.”
“Deal,” Kuroo said, leaning in and pressing a swift kiss to Kei’s cheek before heading out the door. “See you, Tsukki.”
“Wait, you can’t just do that and leave!” Kei snapped as the door closed behind him. But Kuroo was gone, and Kei was left alone in his apartment with a meowing litter of kittens and a warm spot on his cheek.
“What did you guys think of him?” Kei asked, going to sit next to them and scratching behind Cookie’s ears. “He wasn’t disappointing at all, was he?”
They let out a squeaky chorus of meows back at him.
“Yeah. I liked him, too.”