He was now in his third year at university. Which meant there was only one more year left as he had chosen a four-year college. Thinking about how he had to go job hunting soon made him sad. Then again, he had known that his life as a student would not last forever and some day he had to become a reliable member of society.
It was summer and volleyball season was still in full swing, making Kuroo have rather little time for other things. He had changed part time jobs as he needed to make a bit more money and the job behind the bar suited him more than being a tutor to a teenager, whose hormones were hindering her studies.
Kuroo had been a starting player for is university's volleyball team from the middle of his first year and was rather proud of that accomplishment. Now, he was the vice captain and enjoyed the time he could spend with his team. They were all very friendly and their coach had good connections with other schools, so they had a practice match with one school or another once a month.
One Sunday morning in July they were once more on their way to another school. They had been invited to play against the team of a university specializing in languages, whose campus was only four bus stops away from their university. Riding the public transport together with his teammates was fun, but also kind of bothersome, as the other passengers in the bus shot them annoyed glances. It was only a tiny bit inconvenient when one had around ten people with large gym bags board a small bus.
"You know, their team had some really good new recruits", said one of his teammates. "Apparently they were able to get one guy from Karasuno – you know, one of the seed teams from Miyagi Prefecture."
Kuroo grinned. Yeah, he knew Karasuno. It was nice to see that now they had again risen to be an important name in the world of volleyball.
"Kuroo-san, did you not say you've played Karasuno in your last year of high school?" One of his kouhai had asked and the black haired man nodded.
"Sure did." Still grinning widely. "They were an awesome team back then. Very refreshing to play against."
The kouhai's eyes lit up. "Well then we might have an interesting match today as well."
"I would not count on it, one player doesn't make a whole team. I mean, you would never say that this team here is to be compared to my old Nekoma, would you now? There are just too many people missing – though I'm pretty happy that Kenma joined me again." He grabbed his childhood friend and ruffled his hair.
"Please stop that, Kuroo." He was still the same unfazed small guy. "Do you know which of the Karasuno players is on that team?" He looked up to Kuroo who shook his head.
"I had not known they did have someone until just now. I suppose you do know which one it is."
"Yes. Hitoka told me back in spring who got accepted into which university." Kenma and Yachi's relationship was still going strong, though it had been a long distance affair for about four years now. They did see each other occasionally and modern technology helped them communicate, but it was still very impressive to Kuroo. Kenma and Yachi had discussed their plans for the future together and tried to include each other in their lives as often as possible. They had finally talked about their marks after having been in contact for two years and to no-one's surprise they had read each other's names. Since then, they had tried to figure out how this, as in their relationship and all, would work out for them. They had decided that both would stay in their home prefecture until they would have finished university and then Kenma would move to Miyagi and hopefully find work as an IT guy for some company.
Sometimes Kuroo wondered how long it would take the two to announce that they were getting married and wanted children. That thought let him smile every time it came to him. Kenma's kids would be so cute.
They wouldn't be all that tall, have dark brown hair and round faces with Yachi's eyes. They would be a little shy but friendly all the same. Unlike some other person who had grown up in Miyagi Prefecture, who was tall and blond and had golden eyes, which now stared at him in disbelieve. He had not changed much in the time Kuroo had not seen him, his hair was as short as ever, he was still wearing black rimmed glasses and the disbelieve was soon replaced by a resting bitch face.
"Tsukki! What a surprise!" Kuroo tried not to sound too fake. He was not ready for this. He did not want to pretend as if nothing had happened, but for the sake of a good practice match he was not allowed to let what had happened back then affect him.
"Kuroo-san." That was the entire greeting he got from Tsukishima as the first year was interrupted by a senpai who ordered him to help out with something while the guests assembled in a corner and put on their jerseys for the match.
Kuroo shot Kenma a glance, but the fake-blond just looked at the floor.
"Kuroo-san." Golden eyes looked at him as he shook the blond man's hand. "It was nice meeting you."
Kuroo's glance had flickered to the wrist a lot during the practice matches noting with satisfaction that the two kanji were still hidden from imploring eyes by a plaster. "It really was nice meeting you here – how about we hang out? I've got nothing to do, so mind showing me around campus?" What, wait, why? Was he a masochist? He was still angry with Tsukishima for treating him so badly. Why did he want to renew this grotesque friendship that had only brought him pain?
Tsukishima blinked, seemingly confused as to what he should answer. "Well… I guess… There is no reason to refuse. If you wait for me to clean up…"
"Sure thing. I'll be sitting outside." His team said their final greetings and then left the gym. While all his teammates made their way to the gate, he sat down under a tree waiting for the blond to come out as well.
This was weird, he thought. He wasn't usually driven by impulse, not like he had been right now. But something in his ear was tingling and he did not know why, but somehow that had made him ask Tsukishima to hang out. Maybe he should not carry his grudge that far. They both had grown up, so maybe it was about time to forget about the past and if their campuses were so close, they were bound to meet by chance again, so the only right thing to do was to patch things up.
It took about twenty minutes until the blond middle blocker came out of the gym, smelling of soap and looking a lot less sweaty than Kuroo felt. The afternoon heat had not helped him cool down one bit.
"I'm sorry for the wait."
Kuroo got up from where he was sitting and they started walking over the campus. It was a rather small university and there wasn't much to see, so they ended up going to the cafeteria.
"I'll pay for what you're having" Tsukishima said as he put his cafeteria card on the tray next to the cup of coffee he had let out of the coffee machine.
"Thanks." Kuroo put his cup and a small snack on the tray and followed his – friend to the cash register. They proceeded to take a seat at a table that only had two chairs around it. Tsukishima put the tray down and walked away to get some sugar as he had forgotten to take any when they had been at the register.
Kuroo sat down and took the cups from the tray, arranging them on the table. It was then when he noticed Tsukishima's cafeteria card. It looked very different from the one from his university, so he picked it up and looked at it. There was a photograph of Tsukishima in black and white on the right side and the name of the university on the left. Under the logo there was the date of issue of the card as well as the owners name and birthdate.
There was the name. Tsukishima Kei. 月島蛍. Tsukishima Hotaru.
Kuroo blinked and looked at his own wrist. 蛍. Then he looked at the card again. 蛍.
It was the same. There was no mistaking it.
"Mind giving me my card back?" He looked up into golden eyes, an impassive face.
He blinked again and gave the card back. "You write your name with 'hotaru'?" He asked confused, still not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Tsukishima nodded. "Speaking of which. How is she doing, your small Hotaru-chan?"
"No" Kuroo rudely interrupted him "wait a second. This" he pointed to his wrist "was the same as your name all along?"
Tsukishima shrugged. "So what?" He sat down in the chair, crossing his legs. "I've heard from Lev that his cousin Hotaru-chan had your name on her wrist too. Congratulations."
This was such a bizarre situation. A strange warmth spread through his chest the moment he recognized Tsukishima's name for what it was and the tingling in his ear stopped. Everything seemed so crystal clear, why did the other man insist on talking about someone else? "He probably didn't tell you, but we aren't together anymore. Despite the names matching we weren't meant for one another. Not really." He scanned the other man's face, trying to figure out what he was feeling. "I'd rather say that I met my Hotaru way before, but was robbed of my chance to be happy because someone decided to keep important information from me." Tsukishima raised an eyebrow but kept silent. There was something mocking in his eyes. "Have you never thought that we were meant to be?" Kuroo still did not get an answer. "I know you must have, because I just feel it right now. I feel that we are meant to be and that was why I never got over our fight four years ago. I have been thinking of you ever since, not knowing exactly why I was so hung up about you – but us being soul mates makes everything clear now." Kuroo's eyes sparkled while Tsukishima looked grim.
"Your delusions have not been cured, I see." He sipped on his coffee.
But Kuroo detected a faint hue of red on his cheeks. "Leave that brother of your senpai and be with me. You must feel it too – that we are meant for one another. There's probably another Kei or Hotaru for that guy out there too."
Tsukishima clicked his tongue. "And suddenly you are so confident."
"Ah come on, don't play the tsundere and admit that I have been on your mind ever since we met back then in high school." Kuroo had raised his voice unable to contain his anger. He was angry with himself for not noticing, but also angry with Tsukishima because he had obviously deceived him! But why, he wondered. However, now was not the time to contemplate such difficult questions, he had to make him his now or he would lose him again, that, he was sure of. So he stood up and walked over to Tsukishima's chair. "Let's discuss this somewhere less public. I'm sure you don't want the whole campus to know about..." He trailed off, not knowing if he could say 'us' yet. He offered Tsukishima a hand, but the blond stubbornly stayed seated.
"Drink your coffee first, if you please," He said slightly annoyed. "I paid for it, so please don't make my money go to waste."
"Only if you promise not to run away this time."
"I promise."
Dear tortoises and munchkin kittens
I know, this chapter was short - but it was just so perfect to end on this note. Look forward to the next chapter when Tsukki is finally taking the POV back. :D
Until next month then, Jia ne