Kuroko Tetsuya lazily cleans up his house in preparation for his arriving guests. All he does is straighten the bathroom and puts snacks down. He knows them pretty well so he doesn't bother going through the proper measures that a host should go through.
Childhood friends are such a hassle.
A light chime echoes through the house which alerts him that the first of his guests had arrived.
"Tetsu, thanks for having us over," Haruka Nanase thanks upon being greeted at the doorway.
"Not like I had any choice in the matter. Shouyou is very stubborn about getting his way."
"Indeed," Haruka agrees while hanging up his coat. Out of all his childhood friends, Haruka was the most similar to Kuroko personality wise so they always got along really well. Whenever they were alone, conversation was next to non-existent but they always knew what each other was thinking. "It's so cold out there." Kuroko pulls the sweater he's wearing over his small frame and nods in agreement.
"You can show yourself to the living room. I've still got to straighten up." As Haruka disappears from sight Kuroko shouts from the kitchen, "Snacks?"
"Mackerel please."
Kuroko just sighs and gets the mackerel out. He'd known ahead of time that his friend would ask for the same thing he usually does so he got it in advance.
"Wow, that apron looks really bad on you," Haruka comments stoically, walking by the kitchen.
"Hand me the strawberry athletic vitamin will you?"
"Never mind, you look fine," Haruka quickly corrects and observes the mackerel beginning to sizzle "When are the others getting here?"
"Within the next hour," Kuroko says as the light chime sounds again confirming his statement. "Speak of one of the devils. Go get it will you?" Haruka gets up wordlessly and approaches the door. Before he even gets the door fully open, Sawamura Eijun slams it open and strolls in.
"Haru! Nice to see you!" he grins and wraps an arm around his shoulders.
"Obnoxious as always Eijun."
"Don't be rude it's not becoming. Where's Ren and Tetsu?" he asks, surveying the near empty house.
Kuroko peeks his head out from the kitchen and shouts, "I'm here!"
"Come and greet me at the door," he says as he slips his jacket and snow covered shoes.
Kuroko sighs and leaves the kitchen. "It's nice to see you again. How have you been doi-"
"No stop!" he shouts, covering Kuroko's mid-sentence mouth with his near frost bitten hands "We can't talk about that stuff until everyone is here." Kuroko wrestles himself out of his over eager friend's grasp. "That goes for you too Haru."
Haruka anxiously looks around but doesn't acknowledge him, probably worrying about something.
"The mackerel isn't burning you know but I can get back in the kitchen if that's what you want," Kuroko says, guessing that's what his single-minded friend is thinking about. "Eijun, close the door, you'll let the cold in."
"Okay," he says but just as he's about to close the door, another figure barges through the half closed door but not before momentarily getting squished.
"Ren! You're here!" Eijun exclaims.
Mihashi Ren, the meekest of the group, stands caked in ice in the doorway. He was also the person who was closest to Eijun in their little group.
"Sorry I'm late Tetsu," he apologizes.
"Not at all you're just on time," he placates. "But you guys should really get out of the doorway just in case Sakamichi or Shouyou gets here."
"Right! The living room?" Mihashi asks.
"Yeah make yourself at home-" he tries to say before Eijun plops down on the floor and nestles himself under the heated table. He just shakes his head and flips the mackerel.
Shouyou, Sakamichi, Eijun, Ren, Haruka, and he had all been friends in their childhood due to their parent's close friendships despite their geographical locations. They're the only people who he calls by their first names (out of force of unbreakable habit) and they're also the few people whom he doesn't bother to use honorifics with.
They usually get together like this once a month on a Saturday. Because of all their participation in athletics clubs, it has to be meticulously organized by whoever was unlucky enough to be hosting that particular Saturday. And this time it just happened to be Kuroko.
"Tetsu?" Mihashi asks in kitchen doorway.
"Yeah Ren?"
"I'm glad we can do this!"
"Yeah it's nice," he replies, giving kind smile. The house is suddenly assaulted with a rapid fire of doorbell chimes. "That's probably Shouyou. Predictable as always."
"Take over for me? You know how he likes his fish."
"Okay!" Mihashi says strolling up to the sizzling pan and transferring ownership of Kuroko's apron. The persistent ringing grates on Kuroko's nerves so much he's sure it's Hinata and the door. He loudly stomps towards the door and swings it open.
"Tetsu!" Hinata exclaims and tackles him with a hug.
"Shouyou, you could've jut rang the doorbell once," Kuroko lightly scolds, anger dissipating into pleasant indifference. Hinata Shouyou was the person in their group he was closest to and it was strange that they had such a lasting connection since Kuroko usually avoided high-energy people.
"It was cold and I didn't want to wait for you," he grins, unhanding Kuroko "How's everyone else?"
The next instant they hear a loud crash and Eijun screaming, "No, Haru! We have to wait until everyone is together to talk about stuff, stop!"
"The same."
"Eijun!" Hinata excitedly calls.
"Shou! We're in here!" he answers before Hinata goes bounding off and disappearing from sight.
Those two were most alike personality-wise in their group. They both went along with each other's schemes and often are the butts of each other's jokes. Despite their similar natures and stupid friendship, they get into a moderate amount of fights. Their group doesn't fight often but those two butt heads frequently because of their outgoing personalities. If their visits so happen to fall on a day that they're having an argument, it usually falls upon whoever is hosting to resolve it.
They are, most assuredly, the highest maintenance in the group.
A winding of bicycle tires alert Kuroko of Onoda's upcoming presence.
"Tetsu, did Sakamichi bike all the way here?" Mihashi worriedly asks from the kitchen.
"Can you run upstairs, get one of my sweaters, and put on some tea?"
"S-sure thing!"
Onoda Sakamichi, his final childhood friend stands shivering on the other side of the front door.
"Did you seriously bike here from Chiba?" Kuroko blankly asks, ushering his cold friend inside.
"Yeah, I didn't think it would be that cold."
"Tea is boiling and Ren is getting warm clothes from upstairs," he examines Onoda's hand "Surprisingly it doesn't look like you got frost bite Sakamichi."
"Here you go." Mihashi hands him the clothes.
"Thank you, I'm going to go change."
"We have tea and we'll be in the living room."
"Thanks Tetsu."
"Try not to be so reckless," he briefly scolds. An audible thump and muffled yelling emits from the living room and he makes his way to the room to investigate. When he calmly strolls into the living room and sees Eijun and Hinata wrestling on the floor.
"It was mine first!"
"It was not!"
Several other insults were hurled at each other while Haru simply looks at them coolly. Kuroko gives them a look that's equally cool and separates them with his foot. "Cut it out idiots."
"What's going on?" Mihashi asks at the doorway with a look that says he's very disconcerted by these events. He's holding Haru's mackerel, wearing Kuroko's apron but he's focused on the two wrestling teens. "Guys, don't fight!" Out of everyone in the group, he hates it when they fight the most.
"We're not fighting!" they both say at the same time.
"Then stop acting like it and sit down," Haru interjects "You're arguing over a toy from ten years ago." He gratefully takes his mackerel but doesn't stop glaring at the two.
"It was my toy but Eijun took it."
"It wasn't even yours. You accidently took it from Ren but he was too nice to get it back. Sit down and act like the adults you aren't," Haru expertly says, diffusing the source of the argument.
They glare each other down for a moment and then stand down.
"Tetsu, was that Sakamichi at the door?" Hinata asks.
"Yeah," he responds as he sits next to him. Kuroko continues by saying, "He's changing upstairs".
"I'm here!" Onoda announces, hurriedly shuffling in the room.
"Sakamichi," Haru pleasantly says as he stands up and wraps him a hug and nuzzles his head in his hair. No one quite knows why, but ever since they were little, Haru always liked Onoda a lot and he was kind of like a comfort blanket to him.
"Haruka, nice to see you!" Onoda exclaims. Haru gives him one final tight squeeze before he moves back to his seat and makes room for him to sit next to him.
Now, with Kuroko sitting next to Hinata, Mihashi sitting next to Eijun, and Haru sitting next to Onoda, their little group is complete.
"Okay guys, you can talk now!" Eijun declares.
Silence stretches.
"Seriously guys, earlier all you wanted to do was talk and now you are all clammed up," he scolds "So no one feels like speaking up?" he looks around and no one volunteers "Okay, everybody, let's talk about our love lives! We haven't talked about it detail yet."
Everyone looks at him blankly.
"Come on guys!"
"If you want to talk about it so much, then you start," Kuroko shoots back.
"W-well okay," he hesitantly says, "It's not really all that interesting."
"We need a year and name!" Hinata demands.
Sawamura slightly cringes and blushes, "His name is Miyuki Kazuya and he's a second year. He's a catcher."
"Ooh, I second year! Only the best for you!" Hinata teases.
"Hardly. He's so infuriating," he says bitterly.
"E-Eijun?" Mihashi stammers "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, he's just emotionally distant and it's hard."
"How so?"
"Whenever I try to talk to him about serious stuff he just makes jokes and avoids the question."
"I'm sure he just needs to open up."
"Yeah. S-so what about you, Ren? Last I heard you were dating a clean-up hitter on your team. You still together?"
Mihashi visibly perks up at the subject of his boyfriend. "Yeah! He's a really talented athlete and a amazing baseball player and an amazing person and he's so nice!" he passionately brags.
"Sounds like you two really get along," Onoda gives a big smile.
He nods vigorously and says, "I love him a lot!"
"Is he cute?" Hinata bravely asks.
"Yeah, he has these freckles and his hair and I love everything about him!" Everyone can't contain their happiness at seeing Mihashi lovingly gush about his boyfriend; even Kuroko and Haru are smiling at the end of Mihashi's tangent.
"S-sorry, I should give someone else a turn. How about you, Shouyou?"
"Nothing to report!"
"Weren't you talking to me about a first year setter on your team and how perfect he was just last week? Kageyama was it?" Kuroko asks.
Hinata blushes. Bullseye,everyone thinks.
"He's an idiot," he pouts "He doesn't even notice me."
"That's not true!" Onoda objects "Have you tried telling him of your feelings?"
"N-no! I'd hate to tell him first! It's embarrassing. He's my rival, I'm not supposed to be in l-l-l-l-love with him," he stutters out. His intense blush gets more furious at the gazes of his friends and he finally shouts, "I don't like this! I want to take a nap. I got up early and traveled all the way down here."
"Tetsu? Since I biked all the way out here can I have pasta when we wake up?" Onoda questions
"Mackerel for me," Haru adds.
"Ooh, I want a burger!" Eijun demands.
"Miso soup for me?" Mihashi asks.
Overwhelmed by all these requests he rushes out an answer. "Yeah, I can cook all of that and take a nap."
"It'll be like when we were kids!"
"I'll go get blankets," Kuroko announces. As he makes his way to the closet upstairs, a smile persistently tugs at his face. This was ridiculous, talking about their crushes and taking naps on the floor. But it is a nice change of pace he admits. Being around people that you're this comfortable with always gives a certain peace of mind.
Kuroko still doesn't understand their communal bond. How is it that each of them so close to each and every person in the group? Eijun and Sakamichi's bond was no less strong than Eijun and Mihashi's or Kuroko and Hinata's. What holds them together so tightly? Was it their love for their respective sports? Was it their childhood friendship? What makes it so their group is so comfortable and close that no words are needed and they can keep up their friendship just by sleeping on the floor?
When Kuroko steps back into the living room, his friends are laid haphazardly across the floor. He glances at the clock that reads "12:23".
"It's only noon and you guys are already napping."
Hinata stirs from his light slumber and pats the space next to him for the spot that is apparently Kuroko's and closes his eyes again. Before he crawled to his spot, he carefully drapes blankets over his friends and gently raises their heads to dispense a pillow under it.
Finally, he lies down in the spot that was made for him, almost like it was always set in stone.
"Tetttsssuuu thanks for having us over and making us food," Hinata yawns as he goes out the door "Mihashi, we can take the same train."
"Yeah!"
"We can get pocky sticks on the way! My treat!"
"Eijun, let's get moving," Haru announces.
"Right! Sorry Haru, let me get my shoes on."
"Sakamichi, make sure to put a lot of layers on," Kuroko lectures as he puts a jacket over his frame.
"Thanks! I'll give them back when we next see each other and I'll make sure to wash it."
"No need. I'm used to you ruining my clothes," Kuroko says as Onoda walks out the door. "See you later!"
"Tetsu!" Eijun scolds as he jumps conversations "Don't say that! You have no tact!"
"You have less tact than me."
"I came to your house to have a good time but I'm honestly feeling attacked right now," he mutters going out the door with Haru in tow.
"Ren is organizing it next time," Kuroko reminds everyone. He puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Good luck."
Mihashi looks slightly disconcerted when he learns this and slowly nods.
"I'll text you later Tetsu 'kay?" Hinata promises.
Kuroko gives a medium sized, genuine smile as his last friends go out the door and says, "See you next month!"