'You were a child, crawling on your knees toward it. Making momma so proud, but your voice is too loud-'
Kei shifted, pulling out his phone and skipping to the next song. It was a habit; he was too impatient to listen to a full song. An Arctic Monkeys song began to blare in Kei's ears and he put his phone back down. That would keep him satisfied for another 45 seconds.
The small music shop was mostly deserted except for the one or two people aimlessly walking through the CD aisles. It was a quiet job, most of the time Kei liked it that way. But the rest of the time… A sigh escaped the blonde's lips as his eyes skimmed over the room.
How boring.
"If you're so bored then try maybe interacting with the customers. It would help with sales."
Kei glanced up at his boss before rolling his eyes. It was unnerving at first how Keiji was always able to read his mind. At this point, though, Kei was just used to it.
Pulling off his headphones, Kei retorted back, "It's the opposite, really. If you're expecting me to commission, then our sales will just plummet down into the negatives."
It was Keiji's turn to roll his eyes.
"Listen, kid-"
"Don't call me 'kid', Akaashi. You're just a year older."
"Tsukishima-"
"What?"
Keiji frowned. "Okay, listen. If you hate your job so much then why are you still here? There's a bunch of desperate assholes who'll willingly take your place."
Heaving another sigh, Kei stood up from his seat and stretched his arms. Why was he sticking around? As stated earlier, the peace and quiet was nice. Kei didn't like too much human interaction anyway. He guessed it wasn't the best situation if he only ended up seeing three customers maximum a day. Sometimes it was less. Other than that and being a music lover himself, Kei didn't have much of a mandatory reason to stay.
"I need the money?" Kei furrowed his eyebrows. It sounded more like he was asking himself than anything.
"There are other jobs available," Keiji stated, giving his both employee and friend a small shrug. At least he considered Kei a friend. That was probably why he was putting such an effort in convincing the blonde into finding better work.
"It doesn't matter. I'm fine working here, and that's that." Kei narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't be complaining if I decide to still work for you. There aren't that many desperate idiots." He pulled his headphones back over his ears and leaned back against the counter.
Keiji was about to say more before he hesitated, then gave up altogether.
"I guess."
Golden brown eyes watched Keiji retreat back into his office. Kei noticed his boss' concern, but he really didn't want to fuss over something that wasn't necessary.
'There are other jobs available.'
Kei clicked his tongue.
This wasn't the first time Keiji tried to press Kei into looking for another job. It wasn't the first time he thought about it himself, either. A new job sounded nice, but the blonde couldn't bother to put in the effort. If Kei did decide to leave, he had no idea what else he wanted to do anyway. His job at the music shop was perfectly fine.
A small bell jingled as the door opened and a tall, attractive man stepped in with a relaxed but focused expression.
Kei's breath hitched in his throat when he made eye contact with sharp, cat-like pupils.
Yeah, his job was perfectly fine.
"Hey, do you sell children's CDs here?"
"Wh-wha-?"
Kei blinked, shaking his head. He was so surprised that he didn't catch what the guy asked for. When he caught his composure and looked up, it quickly slipped away as fast as he regained it. The handsome customer now stood on the other side of the counter, giving Kei a curious look.
"Children's CDs. You know… CDs with things like nursery rhymes and all that fun stuff?"
Raising a brow (he didn't look as sarcastic as he wanted to, his face was still a bright pink), Kei pointed over to the other side of the store.
The guy turned to glance over where Kei was gesturing before turning back and sending a cheeky grin. "Alright, thanks pal."
Kei let his eyes trail after him. He scowled before burying his face in his arms. That was ridiculous, Kei felt ridiculous. How could he let himself slip so easily like that? Especially in the likes of that guy. That sly grin flashed in his head.
Lifting his head, Kei frowned as his eyes landed on the back of whatever-his-name-is. He couldn't care less. The blonde skimmed over the man's appearance, taking in all the details. The first thing he noticed was his hair. It was black and looked like an utter mess. Kei's frown deepened, wondering if the guy even made an attempt to brush his hair. It looked like he just got out of bed.
The inspection of the nameless customer continued until Kei realized he was headed back his way, a couple of CDs in his hands. They made eye contact and Kei immediately looked away with a huff.
Maybe he did… kind of care about who he was.
"You don't really have a wide selection on this stuff, but I guess this will do," the guy said, giving a small grin. "I found what I was looking for but for everything else... I'm not really picky, so."
Kei gave the CDs placed in front of him a quizzical look, glancing up at the customer with the same expression.
"Well, this music shop's kind of obscure. We sell a lot of indie music, majority selected by the workers here."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, and none of us are really into 'Wheels on The Bus' and 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'."
The guy scowled. "Mary Had A Little Lamb is a classic and a damn good one at that. What's wrong with it?"
"Do I look like a four year old to you?" Kei will admit... he was thinking this guy was attractive as hell, but his music taste was literally childish.
The man rolled his eyes in response, pulling out his wallet. "Okay sourpuss… Just let me buy my CDs so I can head out and you won't have to be reminded of your dark childhood or whatever's got your panties in a twist." He placed down a 20 dollar bill and gave Kei an amused look.
Kei scoffed. "I'm more bothered by your immature taste in music rather than my 'dark childhood', you know. Here's your change, Mary." That made the other's expression widen into another mischievous grin.
"I'll have you know that these CDs are in high demand lately!" He waved them in Kei's face before heading to the door. "But thanks for humoring me, little lamb."
Kei blushed, giving the customer an incredulous look.
"Don't call me that! Do I look little to you?" The blonde crossed his arms, looking away. "The only demand for those right now is coming from you."
"Hey, Kuroo? What are you doing here?"
Kei snapped up, turning to look where the voice came from.
The mischievous customer apparently named 'Kuroo' looked up, the playful grin of his widening.
"Akaashi!" Kuroo walked up to Kei's boss, giving him a big slap on the back. "So this is the place you work at, huh?"
Keiji frowned, pushing away Kuroo's hand. "I've told you the name of this store several times. Didn't you read the sign before coming in?"
"I just saw the records in the window and decided to check it out."
"You're ridiculous…"
Kei watched from his spot behind the cash register. He was a little surprised that Keiji was familiar with the guy, but then again Keiji had several connections to a wide array of people.
"I've just been going through a shit ton of music places but for some reason nowhere but here had an album with 'Three Little Kittens' on its track list, okay?" Kuroo pouted. "How is it so hard to find? That nursery rhyme is golden!"
"You're the only grown man I'll ever hear that from," Keiji muttered, pushing Kuroo towards the door. "Look, it's almost closing time. You live pretty far from here so shoo. I don't want to hear about you fooling around outside so late all because of a family-friendly track list."
Kuroo chuckled, waving off Keiji. "Okay, okay." He paused before leaving, sending a smirk towards Kei.
"See you around, little lamb."
The entry bell jingled followed by the sound of the door closing shut. Keiji watched Kuroo board his motorcycle and drive away before giving his friend a questioning stare.
"Little lamb?" Keiji raised an eyebrow, holding back a small laugh. "Wow, Tsukishima. You took me seriously when I told you to interact with the customers, hm?"
Kei fumbled with the headphones around his neck, his face turning red. This was embarrassing. This day at work was embarrassing and it was because of that cheeky little fuck, Kuroo. Kei sputtered a bit, trying to regain his cool and composed attitude but it wasn't convincing Keiji.
"Sh-shut up, okay?!" Kei snapped finally. "I don't know what that guy's problem is! Out of all your stupid connections, he's the worst and most idiotic one of them all."
Keiji snorted, turning away from Kei when he was sent a sharp glare.
"You're not wrong, at least," Keiji said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Kuroo's been a friend of Bokuto and I. We've known each other since highschool, and really... he's always been like that."
Kei sighed, leaning on the counter.
"He seems like a handful, I don't know why you kept him around," Kei said. He moved out from behind the checkout area, walking past Keiji to go get his stuff.
Crossing his arms, Keiji followed slowly behind the blonde. "Well, yeah he is... but he's not that bad of a guy. He's kinda like Bokuto, just a more toned down version." Keiji wasn't going to deny Kei, but he wanted to defend his friend in some way or another. Kuroo really wasn't as bad as Kei was making him seem. Sure, he was a mischievous guy (a kind of guy Kei is definitely annoyed by), but he was pretty loyal and wasn't too bad for company.
Kei grabbed his bag from his locker, shutting it closed and again walking past Keiji just as he entered the room.
"I don't want to be associated with any sort of version of Bokuto. One is enough."
"Well, maybe he'll come around again and you guys can talk. Warm up to him a little," Keiji responded. He watched Kei open the door to head out.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Akaashi, but I'm not interested in idiots like him."
Kei was about to leave when he hesitated, remembering those piercing copper eyes and that playful grin that perhaps at some point made Kei's heart skip a beat.
"Tsukishi-?"
"What was his name again?"
"Huh?" Keiji's eyes widened in surprise before answering, "Oh, uh, Kuroo Tetsurou."
Kei nodded slowly before he gave a small wave and headed home. He tried to go over the words of the Three Little Kittens, remembering the tune but the lyrics were vague in his mind. Scoffing when he realized what he was doing, Kei shook it off and continued on his way.
Author's Note: Hello, hello.
I hope you guys like it so far. I'll probably be posting the second chapter today, as well. It'll get a little more into the plot then.
Leave me a review on what you guys think so far, and on what you guys think of Kuroo's "interesting music taste".
See you.