Love is Not Extinct
Chapter 07: The Scheme
Kuroo scanned the club with calculating eyes, taking in the setting, as he adjusted the white band on his wrist. The people on the dance floor were lively, pulsing and swaying to the music, the base so strong you could feel it reverberating in your chest. He grinned. "This is going to be fun."
Kenma looked up at his friend, wishing he could feel the same way about this situation. He was not optimistic at all about how this night was going to turn out and he worried about his best friend. Kuroo was getting ahead of himself and he didn't care how much Kuroo denied it. The odds of things ending well were not odds Kenma liked. Resisting the urge to pull his sleeves down over his wrists, Kenma pushed up the sleeves of his hoodie to his elbows, making sure his purple wrist band was visible. He hoped this would at least keep people away.
"Come on Yaku!" Lev said excitedly, dragging his older, much shorter boyfriend along.
"Would you stop dragging me, you titan?" Yaku complained as he half heartedly tried to pull his hand away from the half-Russian.
"It's not my fault your short legs can't keep up."
Anticipating their short friend's response, Kuroo and Kenma sidestepped in opposite directions. Yaku yanked his hand from his boyfriend's grip and kicked the silver-haired man in the back of the knees, causing him to fall forward, landing on his hands and knees right where the two had been standing previously .
"Ow!" Lev whined. "Yaku…"
Yaku ignored him and walked past the fallen giant with his head held high. "I'm going to get a drink." he shouted back to them before diapering into the crowd.
Inuoka laughed as he joined them, putting one arm around Kenma's shoulders and his other around the much shorter Shibayama, who had also joined the group now. Kenma quietly ducked under his arm to get away from his grasp, but Shibayama didn't seem to mind. He just reached up and adjusted his taller friend's hand so that the man's yellow wrist band wasn't poking his cheek. His own blue band rested back against his wrist as he returned his arm to his side.
"You alright there, buddy?" Inuoka smiled down at Lev, both amused and genuinely concerned.
"Yeah," the half-Russian replied as he pushed himself up and got back onto his feet. "He just got so mad so fast, I wasn't prepared."
"Wasn't prepared?" Shibayama asked, surprised.
"Dude! He got mad because you called him short. He always reacts that way," Inuoka interjected. Lev looked down at his friend with his head tilted to the side, perplexed.
Kuroo started laughing so hard he had to hold onto his stomach as he almost doubled over. "You are just as clueless as ever Lev," he guffawed. "You two have been going out, how long now? And you still don't know not to call him short?"
"Almost two years." Lev answered the first question. "I know he gets upset about that, but I don't understand why. Him being short is what makes him so cute." His answer was so innocent and sincere that it caused Kuroo to laugh even harder. Even Inuoka started laughing once again.
"Does that mean my height makes me look cute too?" Shibayama asked in an indifferent tone with a small smile.
"Definitely!" Kuroo and Inuoka responded at the same time as Inuoka tightened his arm around Shibayama's shoulder. Shibayama simply smiled in return at their unnecessary enthusiasm. Unlike their friend, Shibayama wasn't overly sensitive about his height, or lack thereof.
"Alright!" Yamamoto said in his boisterous voice as he joined the rest of the group and placed his hands on his hips. "Time to scope out the ladies!"
Kuroo smiled at Yamamoto's goofy grin as he looked back out over the crowd, hoping to find a particular blond among the mob of dancers on the dance floor. The club wasn't too large but it was packed. Even with how tall Tsukishima was, Kuroo worried that he wouldn't be able to find him.
He thought about the picture Tsukishima's son had sent him and remembered that it looked like their group was in a booth. Perhaps that would be a good place to start. He was looking up and scanning the balcony when luck played into his favor in the form of a commotion on the dance floor.
"Whoo! Yeah! Go Yamaguchi!"
Kuroo looked back over at the crowd, to the man with spiked hair, who was latched onto another man's back and hollering over the crowd, drawing everyone's confused attention. He watched in amusement as, just as the spiky-haired man was about to yell out again, a certain blond walked up to the pair, put his palm over the man's face, and shoved him off his companion's back and into the crowd. The people around him, including the group that had caused the scene, erupted into laughter as his mysterious paleontologist made his way back to where he came from.
Kuroo made his way through the crowd in the direction that he saw Tsukishima go and, by habit, his group migrated with him into the sea of dancing bodies. They lost Yamamoto pretty fast as he found a group of encourageable and intoxicated girls, but the rest stuck with him until they made it across the room, to an open booth near the bar. Kenma happily slid in and pulled out his phone to play a game while Kuroo leaned against the table, watching the crowd where he could see Tsukishima dancing with a pretty woman in a red dress.
The blond had his hand on her waist and responded to her movements but Kuroo could tell he was only mildly interested. She was gorgeous, yes, and definitely enough to get a man turned on, but it seemed like Tsukishima didn't have any intentions of the night leading to anything more than some dancing.
That fact pleased Kuroo.
What pleased him even more was, as the couple turned so that the woman's back was facing Kuroo, he could clearly see Tsukishima's hand on her neck - the tips of his fingers playing with her hair, and on his wrist was an orange band. Though the colorful lighting made it hard to tell at times, after watching it for long enough he was sure that it was orange.
He is open to it. Kuroo smirked. Perfect. Now all he had to do was find a way to get the girl away from him.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Lev's face appeared in front of his own, drawing his attention back to the group. "Uh, Kuroo? Hello?"
"Yeah?" he said, looking back over to see Inuoka and Shibayama both sitting at the booth, now looking at the drink menu.
"Did you want to order a drink?" Shibayama repeated the question they had obviously asked earlier when Kuroo had not been paying attention. Kuroo smiled in return, ignoring his roommate's watchful gaze, knowing exactly what Kenma was thinking and that Kenma was seeing right through him.
"Yeah, order me something light. I don't really plan to get wasted tonight. I have to travel for a game, early tomorrow morning." Inuoka nodded, turning his attention back to the list, as he and Shibayama discussed drinks.
Some women to his left caught Kuroo's attention. He could hear them giggling and watching their group, and he knew that they were looking at Lev. The tall, silver-haired man caught most people's attention wherever he went. Not only because he was so tall, but he looked good and dressed flawlessly. But what else would you expect from someone who made a living out of modeling?
With a smirk, his eyes wandered back over to Tsukishima and his dance partner. "Hey Lev," he said without taking his eyes off the pair. "Do you want a front row ticket to the college volleyball regionals taking place next month?" He finally looked over to see the man's eyes light up and he knew that he had picked the right bribe. Lev would kill to get tickets to any of the game's their local college men's volleyball team played for one reason and one reason alone: Yaku. Yaku was the assistant coach of the team, and while he gave Lev tickets for all their local games, it was rare that Lev got a chance to make it to any of the away games, and especially not regionals.
"That would be amazing!" Lev grinned.
"I'll talk to Bokuto about it if you do me a favor."
"Yeah, anything," Lev responded, and Kuroo had to try not to laugh at how easy the guy was to manipulate. Leaning over, he whispered in the man's ear his plan and gestured to the couple he had been watching on the dance floor. Lev looked over at them curiously before turning that curious gaze to Kuroo, who just nodded. Shrugging, he went over to the bar and ordered a drink before walking into the crowd just as Yaku was returning with a nearly empty glass in his hand.
"Where is Lev going?" he asked, only mildly curious.
"I just sent him on an errand," Kuroo said smugly.
Yaku looked over, to see him making his way through the crowd towards a particular spot, but he couldn't tell where or why. "Did you send him to bring a drink to a girl?..." Yaku tried not to sound worried but it came through. He knew how popular his boyfriend was and, despite the man's devotion to Yaku, he still got insecure.
"Just to distract one," Kuroo replied honestly then reached out and grabbed Yaku's arm before he could move forward to stop Lev. "Relax, it will be fine."
"What do you mean it will be fine? You just sicced my boyfriend on a girl!"
"Getting nervous are we, Yaku?" Inuoka chuckled, earning a glare from their short companion. "You do know he is wearing a black band, just like you? Any girl is going to know he is taken."
"Still…" Yaku eyed Kuroo with a glare as he sat down at the booth. He knew Kuroo was up to something. What was he planning? It made Yaku nervous. But, as always, Kuroo was calm as he smirked to himself.
Tsukishima returned from shutting up Nishinoya to find the woman, who had told him her name was Misaki Hana, still waiting for him. She smiled when he returned. "They seem like an animated bunch." She put her hand on his arm as he stood in front of her again. He looked down at her hand curiously, then back to her. She seemed very interested in him and he wasn't sure what it was she found so fascinating.
He had originally assumed that she had shown interest in him to help out her friend who clearly wanted to get close to Yamaguchi. But it seemed that she had motives of her own. She was beautiful of course, and had a very attractive figure, so it's not like it was unpleasant for him to dance with and be close to her. But he didn't want her to get her hopes up either. He had no intention of starting anything, and he definitely was not taking a woman he had just met home, even just for the night.
"So, you said you work at Seijoh Museum? What is it you do there?" Misaki asked, stepping close to him again as they both started swaying in time with the music.
"It's really not all that interesting to most people," he said honestly, from experience. When most people heard he was a paleontologist they thought his job was very different than it really was. "I'm kind of like an on-call specialist. I spend most of my day doing research, reviewing data, and writing reports for the museum."
She smiled, sliding her hand up his arm and wrapping her arms around his neck. "But you seem passionate about what you do, so it can't be all that boring for you." Tsukishima's expression didn't change as he looked down at her, but he didn't pull away from her either.
"I never said that I find it boring."
"Well tha-uwah!" Her sentence was cut off by her scream and her jumping, as someone bumped into her from behind, resulting in a cold drink spilling down the back of her dress.
"Oh! I am so sorry!"
Tsukishima stepped back and looked over at the tall,silver-haired man that was standing next to Misaki, now trying to help dab dry the wet material with an already soaked napkin. He had to try his hardest not to smirk at the amusing situation in front of him.
"Oh gosh… Oh this is going to stain… Damn it." Misaki frowned before finally looking up at the man who had so rudely interrupted her conversation with Tsukishima, and likely ruined her dress. But when her eyes met his green eyes her anger quelled and she found herself flustered to find the right words. "I...I'm sure it was an accident. You don't have to worry," she said, though she still wore a slight frown. This was her favorite dress, gorgeous man or not, she was upset that it would be ruined.
"If we take care of it now we can prevent staining,'' the man offered, seeming truly apologetic. "I'm sure they have what we need in the kitchen. If you don't mind," he looked up at Tsukishima, who just waved his hand, letting him know that he and Misaki were not attached and he wasn't going to get all protective over her. "If they can't get it out I'll gladly reimburse you."
"Oh… I…" She glanced back at Tsukishima.
"Go ahead. I wouldn't want you to have your dress ruined. I think I need a break anyway," he said, before turning and walking away, towards the stairway that led to the balcony. He was sure that he wouldn't see her for the rest of the night. Which was fine. He had enjoyed his time, but he was just as content to sit with the rest of his friends who weren't dancing at the moment and have a drink.
He was halfway up the stairs when he bumped into someone who was making their way down. He turned to apologize but was met with a familiar grin. "Well, look who it is. So, Mr. Dino likes to party on the weekends?"
"Tch." Tsukishima clicked his tongue, annoyed. Of all people that he could have run into, why did it have to be this guy? "I am here with friends. Excuse me," he said, not bothering to try and make his voice sound polite. He really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"Hey wait." Kuroo reached up, grabbing onto his arm to stop him from going up any further. "You know I was just teasing. I am happy that I ran into you actually, let me buy you a drink?" He smiled. He didn't seem apologetic about the teasing but he did seem sincere.
Tsukishima didn't care.
"I'll pass." He turned to continue up to the balcony but Kuroo didn't let go.
"Please, come on. I'll stop with the teasing, okay? I really just want to get to know you. One drink, then if you still want me to leave you alone I promise I will."
Tsukishima pondered this. He could still say no, and then ignore him on his own. It's not like this guy could force him to spend time with him. He watched as Kuroo leaned one arm against the railing as he let go of Tsukishima. He was confident, no, confident wasn't strong enough. Cocky. This man was so cocky. He truly believed that if Tsukishima had one drink with him, he could win him over and make Tsukishima want to be his friend? Yet even with the stance and persona that he portrayed, there was something about him that was so truthful. It wasn't an act he was putting on and somehow Tsukishima could see that he was being honest about what he said, even if he was conniving.
He debated the pros and cons in his mind for a moment before he sighed. "Alright, one drink. But if you start to annoy me I will get up and leave."
"Got it." Kuroo smiled and started to head up the stairs next to Tsukishima.
The two of them found an empty table on the opposite side of the balcony that the rest of Tsukishima's friends were at and sat down, ordering their drinks. Once the waitress left, Kuroo looked over at Tsukishima and smiled. He was truly pleased that he had gotten this man to agree to a drink with him and was determined that he was going to leave a good impression on him this time, even though it really was fun to tease the blond.
"Do you like sports?" Kuroo asked as he leaned back in his chair and rested his arm on the railing that overlooked the dance floor. He watched Tsukishima as the blond leaned back in his chair as well, folding his arms. He was guarded and Kuroo could tell it was going to take some work to break him out of that shell.
"Not particularly," Tsukishima responded as he looked over the railing and down at the mob of dancers below. "I don't mind them but I don't really care about them either."
"I figured." Kuroo smirked. "You don't seem like the type to waste your energy getting worked up over something like that."
This caused the blonde to look back over at Kuroo with a one raised brow. "Oh, and you think you can read me so well, do you?" He scoffed but the corner of his lips twitched into a small, amused smile.
"Actually yes." Kuroo responded confidently as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and propping his head up onto one fist. "I am very good at reading people. For instance, I can tell that you like to look standoffish and indifferent because it's easier than expending the energy to show how much you really care. I can imagine that with those who you allow to get close to you, you are actually very dedicated to them and care very much about their feelings and opinions. Also, despite the way you try and deflect my teasing with annoyed retorts, you have a good sense of humor." The dark-haired journalist smirked confidently before adding, "Oh, and I guarantee that you played at least one sport in school and that you still enjoy it."
Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "How generic. Am I supposed to be impressed by that?"
Kuroo furrowed his brows, confused. He didn't understand the response. Generic? What did he mean by that? With the look of confusion that crossed Kuroo's face Tsukishima actually smirked, thoroughly amused.
"Your assessment, while right, was not really all that impressive and I don't think it was really all that difficult for you to come up with. First off, anyone who is standoffish or acts indifferent like I do obviously does so because they can't be bothered with the emotions and effort of being more energetic. That's just common sense, that's the reason we act the way we do, and honestly, for the most part, we don't try to hide that because that would also be a waste of energy.
"Second, like anyone else, I of course care deeply about those who I allow to get close to me. Just because I choose to only have a select few who I let in, doesn't mean that I care any less about them than other people who choose to have large friend groups. And yes, of course I have a good sense of humor, I am not an emotionless robot. But I don't know you and I don't find amusement in being mocked by someone who I just meet and who hasn't built a rapport with me, so really, the flaw in your system is the fact that you are too confident in your ability and looks, that you think you can skip a few steps in getting to know someone and get away with it.
"And lastly, your assessment that I played at least one sport in school only shows that you have good observation skills, at best. I'm tall with an athletic build, so it's not a far leap to assume that I would have been at the least recruited by a club in high school. Working with athletes yourself, you would honestly be an idiot not to recognize that I played a sport in school."
When he finished, Tsukishima watched Kuroo, expecting him to get defensive, possibly even flustered or annoyed at his blunt response. But to his surprise, the man just grinned and started laughing. Who was this guy?...
"Touche!" He laughed, leaning back in his chair and holding one arm around his stomach. His response left Tsukishima with nothing to say in return. This was not what he had expected at all and he didn't know what to think or how to respond when he had been so blatantly rude to the man, who was simply trying to have a conversation and get to know him.
The waitress came and dropped off their drinks before Kuroo finally calmed down enough to be able to take a sip without choking. Tsukishima just continued to watch the man, perplexed.
"Sorry." He looked back up at Tsukishima, still wearing that large grin. "That was just a good response. You are really smart - of course that one wasn't a surprise to me considering your job. Do you want to know my favorite part of that whole comeback though?"
Tsukishima sighed, defeated. Nothing affected this guy. "What?"
Kuroo leaned back over the table, resting his head on his hand again as his grin morphed into a mischievous smirk, his cat-like eyes staring intently into Tsukishima's. "You admitted that I am good looking."
"I what?" Tsukishima stammered before he could catch himself. He looked away from Kuroo, whose smirk was growing, and clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Tch. You would come to that conclusion. What I said is that you believe you are good looking and use it to your advantage. I never said that I found you attractive. You're an idiot."
Kuroo chuckled, knowing he had finally gotten to him. Now he could use that to open him up a bit more and find out more about him. "So, what sport did you play then?"
"Volleyball." Tsukishima answered without really thinking about it, just glad that he had changed the subject. He continued to look out at the crowd, watching for Hinata, which led him to being able to find the rest of his friends who were on the dance floor. Nishinoya and Azumane had disappeared but Sugawara, Tanaka and Kiyoko had joined them now.
"Volleyball huh? Nice." Kuroo smiled. "I played volleyball in high school but I dropped it once I got to college because I couldn't juggle more than one sport anymore. Did you play in junior high and high school?"
"Yeah." Tsukishima finally looked back at the man sitting across from him who had finally calmed down. He now had a simple, pleasant smile on his face as he slowly sipped his drink, his attention fully on Tsukishima and what he had to say. "I joined in junior high and played through college."
"You played in college, huh? Where did you go to college?"
"Sendai university."
"They have a good team. I think their volleyball team was ranked pretty high a few years ago, wasn't it?" Kuroo was curious if he had been part of the team that had helped Sendai university get to that high ranking. He didn't know how old Tsukishima was or how long ago he had graduated. He had a career but he still looked pretty young.
"I think they still hold that ranking in the league. They earned that ranking during my second year of college."
"Nice. Were you a starter?" Kuroo asked, pleased that he had finally got the conversation flowing and it seemed like Tsukishima was loosening up more.
"I was placed in the starting lineup during my second year." Tsukishima replied.
"You must have been pretty good then. With your height I'm sure you were a middle blocker. Were you ever captain on any of your teams?"
"No." Tsukishima glanced across the way, to where Yamaguchi was still sitting with the man who had asked him to dance earlier. It was rare for things like this to happen for his friend. Yamaguchi seemed happy talking to him, so Tsukishima was happy for him, but it also felt weird. Looking back at his table mate he continued. "Shouldn't you have been able to tell, with your legendary skills of reading people, that I'm not exactly captain material? My best friend played with me through school and he was captain during our third year of high school and senior year of college."
"He must be pretty talented then. Does he still play?"
"He coaches at the local high school."
"Mmm I see." Kuroo smiled, taking a sip of his drink and making a mental note that he would have to look into this best friend of Tsukishima's. Maybe Bokuto knew something about him. He was pretty sure that the team here was pretty well known, but he just didn't know enough about the high school sports teams anymore. "Do you still play often?"
"I play occasionally with some friends, but nothing serious." Tsukishima didn't really want to give out more information about the adult volleyball club. Considering how the past few days had gone, since meeting this man, he really didn't want him invading another part of his life.
Kuroo could tell that he was starting to close off to the subject, so he decided to switch topics, hoping to keep him interested. "Are you doing anything interesting at work currently?"
Tsukishima raised a curious brow. This man sure did have a lot of questions. Why was he so interested in getting to know him? "We are finishing up a rather large project of updating our mesozoic era wing, so most of what I have been doing for the last four months has been research and gathering data for that."
"Ah, the age of the dinosaurs." Kuroo smirked. "That does sound interesting. I know that paleontology consists of a lot of different fields but dinosaurs is what it's most well known for. What made you want to go into this line of work in the first place?"
Tsukishima's expression remained blank but he felt a little embarrassed. Not because he was so fascinated with dinosaurs and that was why he had gone into paleontology in the first place, but because of the way Kuroo made it sound made it seem like his reason for loving his work was so unoriginal. Maybe he was just another paleontologist who had been obsessed with dinosaurs his whole life, but nothing else had ever come close to matching that level of interest in his life, and working where he was now had been his dream for years, so he didn't have anything to be ashamed of. So why was he feeling self conscious?
"I got into it because I've always liked dinosaurs," he admitted.
"It's good that you love your job. You seem passionate about it." He tried to picture Tsukishima with his son and what he was like at home when he could relax and be completely himself. How did he talk to his son? What kind of things did they do together? It was easy for him to imagine Tsukishima with a young boy at the park playing volleyball or sitting together reading a book about dinosaurs as he shared facts about the different creatures they read about. He smiled to himself. He really would love to see that someday.
Tsukishima watched Kuroo curiously. He didn't understand what this man's goal was. He realized that the journalist truly just wanted to get to know him. This whole time they had been talking, all he had done was ask about Tsukishima, rarely had he even mentioned himself. This was causing Tsukishima to tread into a very dangerous territory: genuine interest. Taking a deep breath Tsukishima finished off the last of his drink and stood up.
Kuroo looked up at him, surprised and a little disappointed. "Leaving so soon huh?"
"I promised one drink, and I kept that promise. I came here with my friends after all, and I should spend at least a little time with them tonight." It was a lame excuse but it would have to do. Tsukishima found himself reluctant to be rude to Kuroo and not wanting to hurt his feelings.
This was a really strange night…
"Alright, that's fair enough." Kuro smiled softly before tilting his head back and downing the rest of his drink in one gulp, standing up as well. "Did the drink go well enough that you will at least allow me to text you? Maybe even go out for drinks in a couple weeks?"
"Yeah, sure. Just don't spam me. And don't text me in the middle of the night," he said as he turned and started to walk off. "I will block you," he warned.
"Understood!" Kuroo called after him before making his way in the opposite direction, back downstairs to find his group.
Tsukishima was about halfway back to his group, on the other end of the balcony, when he stopped walking, frozen in place by a realization. Had he just been asked out on a date? He shook his head. That couldn't be the case. Kuroo had been very honest about just wanting to get to know him. That's what you do when you want to become friends with someone, right? Tsukishima frowned. How would he know? He never approached people; it was usually others who approached him and tried to befriend him.
He tried to think back through the conversation. Were there any signs that there was more there? It was hard for him to determine. Tsukishima was smart but he didn't really pay attention to things like this, he had never really cared. Akiyama, Haruhisa's mother, was the only person he had ever really had a relationship with. And what they had could hardly have been called a relationship. He had dated other women but he was never serious with anyone. And though he was open because of his experience with a best friend who was gay, he had never had any interest in a man, and as far has he knew no man had ever had any interest in him.
He covered his face, taking a moment to compose himself. He decided that it didn't matter what Kuroo's intentions were. He was willing to talk with him and get to know him, but he had no intention of becoming best buddies, let alone dating him. He shook his head, dropping his hand and walking forward again.
"Nope," he muttered to himself as he neared the table his friends were at. He decided that he wasn't going to think about it anymore. He didn't have time for that kind of responsibility in his life. He had a busy career and a son that took up all his time. If it wasn't for the fact that Yamaguchi was basically family to both him and his son, he would probably rarely ever see him, other than weekend volleyball practice, just like the rest of his friends. So no matter what his intentions, Tsukishima didn't have time for Kuroo to take a big space in his life. He just didn't have the room for him.