Tsukishima snickered as soon as he saw Kageyama board the bus. He couldn't help but call out to their moody setter. "What's wrong, king? Worried you would forget your own name?" Yamaguchi giggled next to him and took out his phone for a picture.
Kageyama scowled at him immediately, his natural reaction to hearing the hated nickname. "What?"
He pointed at his shirt and Kageyama looked down, obviously having already forgotten that he had changed out of his jersey. Under his uniform jacket, the t-shirt stated "I AM KAGEYAMA" in bold English words.
Scowl still in place, he ignored Tsukishima's sniggers and walked past him, red-faced. Hinata could never leave well enough alone, though. "Yachi-san made them for us!" The redhead opened his jacket all the way to show everyone his t-shirt. It said "IF LOST PLEASE RETURN TO KAGEYAMA".
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi burst into full blown laughter, much to Hinata's confusion. Yachi peeked over top of her seat next to Kiyoko. "Is there something wrong?" She looked adorably worried. "I just thought that Hinata-kun is always getting lost whenever we go to matches or tournaments …"
Sugawara cut her off gently. "They're great, Yachi-chan. It was very thoughtful of you." He punctuated this with a deadly glare at Tsukshima and Yamaguchi, who quieted immediately. Hinata and Kageyama settled in toward the back of the bus and they started off toward another practice match with Nekoma.
Tsukishima nudged Yamaguchi. "Send me that photo you took of them." When he received it, he forwarded it to Kuroo with the message, "look at these idiots". This was his first mistake.
He received an immediate reply that only consisted of exclamation points. He assumed that meant Kuroo found it as amusing as he did. That was his second mistake.
Tsukishima was tackled as soon as he got off the bus. "Tsukkiiiiii!" Kuroo was hanging off his back like the world's most annoying monkey. "I want one!" He tried to fight the blush that was rising on his cheeks as both of their teams looked at them like they had lost their minds. Well, Nekoma's setter was just rolling his eyes, clearly used to Kuroo's terribly inappropriate behavior.
"No."
He could feel the pout against the back of his neck and promptly lost the battle with his blush, quickly turning pink. "But Tsukki! They're so cute!"
"God, you're annoying." He shrugged the other boy off him and went to join the team, ignoring everyone's curious glances. He longed for his headphones so he didn't have to hear Noya whispering loudly to Tanaka about the nature of his relationship with Nekoma's captain. It wasn't any of their business, even if Kuroo had decided to make it all sorts of public in the worst way.
The other boy had drifted back to his team as well, making sad puppy eyes at Tsukishima whenever their eyes met. He determinedly ignored him as well, listening strictly to Daichi and Coach Ukai, the only ones who apparently did not give a shit about what just happened.
The sad puppy eyes continued throughout the match, which Tsukishima uncharacteristically used as training against highly irritating opponents. It mostly consisted of looking at Kuroo's jersey instead of his face, hoping it would spontaneously burst into flames.
After their game was over, despite Hinata's whining, Tsukishima was the first one on the bus. He didn't want to stay any longer around the team and Kuroo, despite the fact that he got to see the other boy so infrequently. He shoved his headphones on and ignored Yamaguchi when he sat down next to him hesitantly.
His phone was buzzing distractingly in his pocket and he denied wanting to see the messages for as long as possible. After ten minutes, he gave in and swiped at the screen, seeing multiple texts filled with a ridiculous amount of emojis.
Kuroo: tsukki! my darling! i can't believe you ran away from me! ಥ_ಥ
Kuroo: we don't have to get couple t-shirts
Kuroo: but you would look so cute in one (´◉ ω ◉`)
Kuroo: tsukki please answer meeeeee~
He quickly typed out a reply and closed his eyes. Kuroo Tetsurou was going to be the death of him.
The following weekend Tsukishima took the train to Tokyo with a hastily wrapped bundle under his arm, wondering if he had gone insane. He had quietly asked Yachi about the shirts the next day in class, after first making sure no one else was around. He had sent Yamaguchi ahead for something or other, hoping it would distract him long enough. Yachi had agreed to his request readily enough and had mimed zipping her lips when he asked her to keep it a secret.
If this ever got back to Kageyama, he would never hear the end of it.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tsukishima got off the train and looked around for Kuroo, finally spotting the familiar messy head where he was standing by the station map. He moved in Kuroo's direction and waved slightly. The other boy's face broke into a happy smile, so unlike his usual smirk. "Tsukki! I was surprised by your text. Usually I have to drag you to Tokyo."
Feeling absurdly nervous, he didn't even bother with a greeting and just shoved the bundle at Kuroo's chest. "Here. For you."
"W-what's this? A present for me?" Kuroo's eyes gleamed. "You shouldn't have."
Tsukishima frowned. "Just open it."
"Okay, okay. A present from Tsukki~" He unwrapped the badly taped sides and stared down at the white t-shirts inside. "Kei? What is this?"
Tsukishima's mind went a little blank at the sound of his first name falling from Kuroo's lips. "You wanted them. Remember?"
"Of course I do, but I never expected …" He grinned and grabbed Tsukishima into a hug, squashing the wrapping paper and shirts between them awkwardly. "You're so cute, Tsukki. I knew you cared!"
He leaned into Kuroo for a moment before he pulled away. "Yeah, well. Don't get used to it."
Kuroo was busy unfolding the shirts and whined when he saw the writing on Tsukishima's. "I can't believe you put this on there! I take back all my compliments."
"I thought it fit." Tsukishima smoothed a hand over the letters, which said 'I AM TSUKKI. KEEP THE TRASH AWAY.'
this is based on fanart, i take no responsibility for that. also, kuroo is not trash, he is a beautiful baby who should be protected.