Fate works in weird ways, electronics work in weirder ways.
Kuroo didn't know this but right as Yamaguchi bumped into him he sent a text. The text was sending when it hit the floor, so of course it didn't send when the battery fell out. But once Yamaguchi turned it on, it only took a few minutes for the phone to send the message.
Kuroo stood up quickly when he got the text. He felt both his pockets, too nervous to use his brain to know which pocket his phone was in, and pulled out his phone. His hand felt sweaty from being nervous, they were, and he dropped his phone.
Lucky for him, Yamaguchi, who was still bent down on the ground, caught it. Unlucky for him, his phone showed he got a text on the lock screen.
Yamaguchi saw what it said, he knew what it said, he wrote it.
He slowly stood up. "Tetsurou? That's you?"
Kuroo gulped, he wondered if there was a way out of this.
"The guy who sprayed me with the hose is the guy I've been texting for the past few months?" Yamaguchi looked down, he wondered if this was real. Then, "Wait… you knew who I was? Even though we were planning to meet. This is like breaking a promise. And you still sprayed water at me even though you knew it was me. Did you really not like me because of that prank? I thought we became friends." Yamaguchi hung his head.
"Tadashi," Kuroo didn't want him to think that. He didn't want the one he liked to think he hated him. He loved that prank, it's how they got to know more about each other. He grabbed Yamaguchi's hand, "Tadashi I…"
"Don't!" Yamaguchi whipped his arm back away from Kuroo's grasp. The hurt expression on Yamaguchi's face pained the older one. "Just… don't message me again."
He ran away back the way he came from.
Kuroo just sighed and brought his hand to his head. His hand cover half of his face, he felt like he would cry any second. But he couldn't do that, as a captain he couldn't show any sign of weakness, even when alone.
When he felt a little bit better he took a breath in then out and left to where Nekoma slept.
The worse part was when he realized Yamaguchi still had his phone. He knew now he had to see him again.
"What day is it?" He sighed. He couldn't think and couldn't remember what day Karasuno would leave.
"It's the third day of our training camp." Kuroo jumped and turned left then right. Seeing it was just Kenma he sighed and held a hand to his chest.
"You scared me." Kuroo admitted.
Kenma stared at his childhood friend's face, "Are you alright?"
Kuroo unconsciously gulped, he didn't expect to be found out so soon. "I'm fine." He walked past Kenma to his futon.
When he patted his pillow to make it become fluffy Kenma asked another question, "You sure?" He continued, for some reason he could tell something was wrong about his friend, he just didn't know what was causing his pain, "It doesn't look like you're fine."
"I said I'm fine!"
From Kenma's point of view all he could see was Kuroo's back tense up. He knew something was wrong but it seemed like Kuroo didn't want to talk about it. So he nodded and walked to his own futon.
Kuroo just laid down under his blanket and went to sleep.
The day ended and the next day began.
As usual they were all playing against each other, however Kuroo's mind wasn't on the game. He kept glancing over at Karasuno's match.
He hoped Yamaguchi brought his phone and would return it when they finished. However, it just wasn't happening. He wasn't grinning either during the match, only when he heard Bokuto did he grin in an evil manner. He saw Tsukishima, the one who caused Bokuto to yell, and… and Yamaguchi. He saw them look at each other and he saw Yamaguchi smile.
He wondered, will that smile ever be directed at me?
When the day ended and night came, Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo, Tsukishima, Lev, and Hinata all were at the third gym. Kuroo was still phoneless and depressed.
"Let's play 3-on-3." He simply said. He then chose the teams. He needed a win, even if it was unfair, his team was the one with the tallest players. He knew that would give him an advantage.
They played for a bit until one of the managers stopped them saying if they didn't hurry they would get no food.
Half hurried out of the gym while the other half, Kuroo, Akaashi, and Tsukishima, got their things and just simply walked out.
When Kuroo walked out he heard an awkward "um" come from near the entrance to the gym. He turned and saw Yamaguchi. His Tadashi.
"Hi Tadashi," He didn't know what else to say. He didn't know how to say anything else. How could he make things right? How could he tell him that his heart broke when the other told him to not message him again? How could he tell him that texting him was so much fun that he fell in love? How could he? He was hoping somehow he could do it.
Yamaguchi held out Kuroo's phone to him. "Sorry. I took it without thinking."
"It's alright, don't worry about it." Kuroo tried smiling as he grabbed his phone, he really did. But what was there on his face was a depressed, sadden expression.
Tsukishima walked out of the gym, he and Yamaguchi made eye contact then him and Kuroo. He raised a brow at the weird atmosphere between the two.
"Well I'll get going now," Yamaguchi bowed slightly to Kuroo and walked past him.
Kuroo grabbed his wrist for a second only to whisper into Yamaguchi's ear: "I'm not giving up." He let go and walked to get his dinner.
Yamaguchi stared at the back of Kuroo.
"You know," Tsukishima stared at Yamaguchi, he could tell something was going on but wasn't sure how to approach it. But since he already spoke he had to add something, "I said he's trouble but it's your choice to be with him or not and I'll still support you no matter what."
Yamaguchi stared back, "Tsukki!" He felt reassured by those words. "Thank you." He gave a gentle smile as he spoke.
"Shut up," Tsukishima seemed to have hurried past Yamaguchi, but Yamaguchi could tell he was really embarrassed and didn't want to be seen.