Chapter 22: Butterfly farm 2

After their trip to the exhibition, Kuroo and Akaashi strolled through a nearby park, walking side by side beneath the canopy of tall cherry trees and maples. The atmosphere between them had shifted; their conversation had relaxed, returning to its usual flow. Yet, something deeper was quietly taking shape: a connection woven with threads still thin and timid, but of a nature far different from anything they had known before.

They stopped and sat under a tree. Akaashi pulled out from his bag the tablecloth with light blue squares, the one he had the last time Kuroo saw him on campus. He grimaced remembering the details of this last encounter, but the memory had now lost its bitterness. They settled down and continued to talk peacefully.

"Kōtarō spent a week after that coughing up glitter. To this day, I still find some on my clothes..."

Kuroo laughed.

"Oh my god! What was he thinking?"

Akaashi shrugged.

"Who knows..."

"Well, I have to admit that it doesn't surprise me that much, but still…"

They laughed again.

"Hey, um, I don't know if I should ask but..."

"You can ask whatever you want."

"Oh, okay..."

Kuroo took a few seconds to formulate his question:

"How long have you known each other?"

"Oh... I've known Kōtarō since I was a child."

Kuroo blinked several times, genuinely surprised.

"Really?"

"Our families' territories adjoin, and being the only Yama-kitas around, they have always been close."

"Oh... so you're childhood friends."

"Yes and no... I must confess that I despised him as a child. It got worse when we both went through our presentation."

"Your presentation?"

Akaashi nodded.

"What does that mean?"

"It means entering into a cycle for the first time, which sort of reveals secondary sexes."

"Oh! Like a gender reveal party? But instead of 'it's a girl!' it's 'it's an alpha!'"

"Yes, sort of... although it is not a lot of fun, if we consider that gender reveal parties are fun. Which are not in my opinion, but still."

"Hmm... And why did it get worse?"

Akaashi rolled his eyes.

"I was the only alpha in my family and Kōtarō the only omega, so naturally our families kept trying to push us together."

A playful smile formed on Kuroo's lips:

"Well, I guess it worked, kind of."

"Yes..."

Akaashi gazed at the horizon, a tender smile playing on his lips.

"When did you change your mind?"

"When did I change my mind about what? "

"Him. When did you start dating?"

"Oh... when I went to high school."

Kuroo smiled. Contrary to what he thought, bringing up the subject wasn't embarrassing at all. The tenderness painted on Akaashi's features, although not addressed to him, seemed so sweet that it made his heart heavy with affection.

"And Kenma? How did you meet him?"

"We were in the same class in high school."

Kuroo seemed deeply surprised by the revelation.

"You were in the same class?"

Akaashi frowned, not quite sure where his astonishment was coming from.

"Yes."

"Wait, you're the same age as Kenma?"

"Yes."

"You're younger than me?"

Kuroo took a few seconds to recover from it.

"By a year, I presume. It is not that bad" Akaashi commented.

"No, I'm just surprised."

"Conventionally, that would be one of the first questions asked in a conversation."

"You didn't ask me either."

"True."

"And besides, I'm not sure I'm on the track here for the all 'following convention' gig."

Akaashi smiled.

"True."

"Anyway, so you were in the same class in high school?"

The brunet nodded.

"And when did you... uh, you two? Start... dating him?"

"The year after."

"Oh... and..."

Kuroo couldn't finish his sentence. Something had slammed violently into his back, knocking the breath out of him.

"Bro!" was yelled into his ears.

The "something" in question was none other than Kōtarō Bokuto.

"Bo! You almost killed me! "

"Nah, you're fine."

Bokuto embraced him, his legs wrapped around Kuroo's waist. He rubbed his cheek against his, chirping with excitement.

"I think your PDA sensei has arrived," remarked the brunet.

Akaashi nodded, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"What were you talking about?" asked Bokuto.

"You," Kuroo replied.

"Oh? I hope it was to say how great I am."

"No, Akaashi was telling me he couldn't stand you when you were kids."

The remark visibly saddened the young man.

"Yeah, I know," he leaned in to whisper in Kuroo's ear, "but I've made up for it since then."

Kuroo shivered and blushed.

"I will leave you guys then," Akaashi finally intervened.

Bokuto detached himself from Kuroo to drag himself over to the brunet.

"Yeah, hop hop, come on, it's my turn," he insisted, pushing him off the blanket.

Akaashi seemed amused and resisted as a challenge. He eventually chuckled and surrendered.

"Okay, okay!"

"Good."

As he was about to straighten up, Bokuto grabbed his arm to pull him back and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Love you!"

"Pff, love you too."

He finally managed to straighten up and gather his things. His gaze met Kuroo's, and they smiled at each other.

"Have fun."

He waved goodbye to Kuroo, who waved back. He watched him walk away until he disappeared completely behind the tree line. When he turned his gaze, Bokuto had sprawled out on the blanket and was staring at him with a knowing look, a mischievous smile playing on his lips:

"So?"

"So what?"

"Was it nice?"

Kuroo tried his best not to blush.

"Yes."

"Hm... Did you guys kissy-kiss?" Bokuto joked, making exaggerated smooching sounds.

Kuroo froze.

"Really?"

Kuroo nodded.

This seemed to delight the gossip-loving side of Bokuto. He let out a light, sparkling laugh.

"Well, I guess it went well then."

Kuroo looked away but eventually nodded.

"Can I have one too?"

"One what?"

He reiterated the smooching sounds.

"No!"

Bokuto's enthusiasm waned.

"Why not?"

"Well, not here."

"Oh come on!"

"No... and besides, we both remember what happened last time, we're already ahead of that."

Bokuto rolled his eyes.

"I didn't sign up for one miserable kiss forever!"

"You didn't sign up for anything."

He raised an eyebrow. Kuroo tried to suppress a smile.

"You just arrived and you're already after my virtue."

Bokuto's eyes rolled, and he let out a sigh.

"Your virtue, dramatic much ?"

Their eyes met, and they exchanged an amused smile.

"Well, if I have to behave like a gentleman," he stood up and retrieved a wicker basket he had left behind Kuroo, "lunch is served, my dear."

He took out a thermos and two bento boxes from his wicker bag. Placing one in front of Kuroo, he opened it to reveal its contents. Much to the brunet's surprise, inside was a rich assortment: fried chicken, salmon sashimi, onigiris, composed salad, and tamagoyaki.

"and voilà!" Bokuto announced proudly.

Kuroo couldn't help but let out a laugh: the onigiris had been shaped like little rabbits, the salad was accompanied by colorful vegetables cut in star and cloud shapes, and the tamagoyaki had been arranged in the shape of a heart.

His counterpart seemed less than pleased to hear him chuckle.

"Got a problem with my beautiful bento?"

"No, it's cute, it caught me off guard. Did you make it yourself?"

"Of course I did."

"I didn't know you had this talent," remarked the brunet.

A somewhat suggestive smile formed on his interlocutor's lips.

"Ah, I have a lot of hidden talent you have yet to discover"

Kuroo couldn't help but feel his cheeks starting to flush. Normally, he was the one playing this game, not the other way around! He eventually chuckled and looked away.

"Geez, you're ridiculous."

Bokuto's expression had regained its childish sparkle. Their eyes met again, and they laughed in unison. Bokuto pulled out a pair of chopsticks and handed them to him. Kuroo thanked him and, after a mutual "Itadakimasu," they began to eat.

The brunet took a first bite of the fried chicken and stopped before swallowing it. He let out a smile of pure bliss and took another bite without even finishing the first one:

"This is so good!" he commented before enthusiastically devouring a bite of rabbit-shaped onigiri. "Oh! This is good too!"

The compliment brought a smile to Bokuto's face.

"Thank you."

"For real, I love it! My little sisters always had cute bentos, and I had nothing! Some octopus-shaped sausages if I was lucky. But I never said anything, I wanted to be tough."

Bokuto laughed and took another bite.

"Your sisters, Kasumi and Natsume, right?"

Kuroo nodded.

"They sound cool."

"Oh, they're real monsters, but yeah, they're cool."

Bokuto let out a little laugh.

"It can't be worse than my older brothers, and my older sister too. When they team up, it's a nightmare."

Kuroo tilted his head.

"So, you have siblings then?"

"Oh yeah, I have two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger brother and sister."

Kuroo's eyes widened. He realized the extent of his inability to ask basic polite questions. How many times did it have to backfire on him for him to learn? He had had countless meaningless discussions during his English classes at school: "How old are you?" "Where are you from?" and the traditional "Do you have siblings?". Why did he never ask these kinds of questions in his native language?! He really needed to get on it...

"Woh, so five siblings?"

Bokuto nodded.

"What are their names?"

"My older brothers are Nobuyoshi and Nao. My older sister is Suki, my younger sister is Megumi, and my younger brother is Shin."

"Oh, okay... Fourth one then."

His counterpart nodded and took a bite of his onigiri.

Kuroo then remembered the discussion he had with Chris at his party. He had promised himself to ask the question more often since apparently, it was a question to ask. But he wasn't sure if it was appropriate in the real world.

"Um, this might be a weird question but..."

"Hmm?"

"How many parents do you have?"

Bokuto seemed surprised by the question.

"Oh, sorry, maybe it's not uh..."

"No, I just didn't expect that question, from you I mean."

Kuroo eyes rolled.

"Because I'm a clueless beta?"

Bokuto chuckled.

"Yeah, but apparently not that much."

It felt like déjà vu...

"Um, well, okay, I'm trying but..."

"I have four parents," Bokuto interrupted.

"Oh... okay!"

The young man smiled at him, his mouth still full of rice.

"Surprised?"

Kuroo took a few seconds to think. From Akaashi's story, he had gathered that they were Yama-kitas, just like Chris's mother. So it wasn't really surprising after a cognitive update on that kind of thing:

"No, not that much..."

Ah, would you look at that? He was almost proud of him.

"I guess they were not surprised then when you came home with two boyfriends," Kuroo commented.

"It's gonna be three pretty soon." he murmured before letting out a mischievous smile.

Kuroo nearly choked on his saliva. Seeing that Bokuto still hadn't dropped his smile and had approached him, probably ready to seize this opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a grand master of PDA, he pushed him back. Bokuto let himself fall dramatically. Kuroo laughed and threw his napkin at his face. His opponent protested and threw his napkin back. Their squabbles continued until one of them kicked the thermos, causing it to tip over and spill its contents onto the tablecloth. They both straightened up to catch it. After the surprise passed, they burst out laughing.

The rest of the picnic unfolded in a light atmosphere, discussing all sorts of anecdotes, peculiar memories, and the miseries their siblings had put them through.

"Shall we go? We'll be late otherwise!"

"Where to?"

"To the cinema."

Kuroo smiled.

"Picnic and a movie, wouldn't that be the perfect plan for a first date?"

"Thanks for noticing."

"What are we going to watch?"

"I have no idea. We'll see when we get there."

They busied themselves with packing up the picnic blanket and set off. They took the subway and stopped at Meguro station. While he expected them to go to a huge complex, like the ones in the city center with giant screens and gargantuan statues of Godzilla, Kuroo was surprised when Bokuto stopped in front of a small neighborhood cinema. The place was charming and cozy. In front of the narrow entrance, a few movie posters were plastered behind a glass window, accompanied below by the summary, simply printed on A4 sheets. Kuroo peeked inside, seeing a small counter, a few wooden tables set here and there, where some people were enjoying a coffee before their movie. Kuroo smiled, pleasantly surprised.

"Is this okay with you?" Bokuto asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, it's fine. I just didn't expect you to be a fan of independent cinema."

Bokuto smiled, relieved.

"We come here often. They have a lot of foreign movies that Keiji can't find elsewhere, and Kenma likes to come here because there aren't many people."

"That makes sense," Kuroo commented.

He smiled, glad that he had taken him to a place that was dear to them.

"And," Bokuto began, "they always have at least one quirky movie. Listen to this: 'An invasion of zombie sharks plunges the earth into terror. Who will save humanity from this apocalypse? An elite unit of bionic soldiers, part dogs, part dolphins, is formed to avert this crisis. Will they rise to the challenge? Can they save humanity from its doom?'." He mimicked an explosion noise to accentuate the drama.

Kuroo chuckled.

"It sounds wonderfully bad, I love it!"

Bokuto let out a smile, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Are you in?"

"Let's go!"

They giggled and rushed inside.

Once they paid for their tickets, Bokuto asked eagerly, "Oh! Do you want some popcorn?"

"Sure."

"Cool! Kenma and Keiji never let me have any!"

"Poor you. You're persecuted."

"I am, thank you for noticing!"

Once they had their popcorn in hand, they entered the theater. The place was empty, except for a teenager in cosplay and a middle-aged salaryman sitting at the back of the room.

"You weren't kidding, there's no one," remarked Kuroo.

"Especially at this hour."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

Kuroo turned his head. Bokuto's voice had become deeper, and he was looking at him with an intensity that boded nothing good. He accentuated it by wiggling his eyebrows, a tad provocatively. Kuroo blushed, not yet used to this kind of teasing.

"What are you up to now?" he asked.

Bokuto looked up innocently and replied, "Nothing, I don't see why you'd say that..."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Hmm?"

Bokutp quickly changed the subject:

"Shall we sit here? "

Kuroo nodded, and they went to sit in the middle of an empty row.

Their conversation quickly regained its absurd tone. They eventually burst out laughing loudly. The salaryman at the back of the room shushed them. They complied, but couldn't help snickering like kids. Kuroo discreetly turned his gaze to Bokuto, who was now trying to stuff as much popcorn as possible into his mouth. He smiled. He had been afraid. Afraid of not knowing how to interact with him anymore, afraid of not knowing what to say or do, and afraid of making the situation awkward. But that wasn't the case. He couldn't really say that nothing had changed, because that would be a lie. But the changes so far had only been beneficial. This simple thought warmed his heart and filled him with euphoria.

"Bro, I need to confess something."

"Hmm?"

Bokuto put on a comically guilty expression, dramatically emphasizing his declaration:

"I love commenting on movies... I know I shouldn't, but there you have it..."

Kuroo chuckled.

"Don't laugh. It's just the sad truth..."

"Bo, I need to confess something too..."

"Yes?"

"I also love commenting on movies."

Bokuto grabbed his hands and looked at him with tearful intensity.

"Really?"

Kuroo continued to play along, not holding back on the drama:

"Yes, it would be lying to say otherwise."

"Oh! Kuroo-san!" he replied, his voice trembling.

They burst into laughter and were once again reprimanded.

Nevertheless, they didn't stop and continued their absurdity in hushed voices, stifling idiotic laughter.

Soon the lights dimmed, and they fell silent. The silence lasted only a short while, and they warmed up by commenting on all the commercials. They regained their composure when the screen turned black again and the movie began. Their "seriousness" didn't last long either. In their defense, the content presented was ripe for mockery, and they didn't hold back. However, Kuroo eventually became more or less absorbed in the movie and fell silent at the first attack of zombie sharks.

After about half an hour, Bokuto stretched and rested his arm on Kuroo's shoulder. Kuroo chuckled discreetly. Bokuto questioned him with a glance.

"Very smooth." he murmured.

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, "I'm doing my best! Besides, you're taller than me, I'm not used to it."

"We're sitting down, I don't see what's so complicated about it."

Bokuto pouted and withdrew his arm. He sank into his seat, sulking. He brightened up when he heard Kuroo's laughter.

About ten minutes later, as the part-dog part-dolphin bionic soldiers were in the midst of military training, Kuroo saw Bokuto sinking into his seat, sliding until his head reached the middle of the backrest, redistributing his weight so that the seat began to tilt back.

"What are you doing?"

Bokuto mumbled an inaudible response.

"What?"

Same mumbling. Kuroo leaned in to try to hear him. Then, Bokuto grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him towards him. He stopped a few inches from his face. His attacker smirked, victorious. Kuroo also smiled. His assailant's features softened, and he did nothing, giving his victim a chance to escape. But it was too late. Kuroo closed his eyes, and he bridged the distance between them.

Kuroo felt his heart swell, growing larger and larger until it became gigantic, until it beat against his ribcage like a taut drum, sending bursts of blood so violently throughout his body that he immediately felt feverish. So violently that his head began to spin.

All the nerves in his body went haywire, his energy-overloaded neurons began to form electric arcs, until the entire system short-circuited at once, sending hundreds of lightning bolts crackling through his body.

He felt Bokuto's smile against his lips before he too succumbed to the kiss. They succumbed indeed very quickly, and what could have been a chaste kiss took a completely different turn after a few seconds. They separated for a fraction of a second to catch their breath and found each other again. Bokuto had run his hands through his hair, keeping him close, and Kuroo, in a rather uncertain balance, held onto the armrest of the seat and Bokuto's thigh. The brunet was shaken by a new electric shock when he heard him start to purr, at such a low frequency that the sound, almost inaudible, resonated in his chest. They split up abruptly when they heard a throat clearing near them. As they looked up, they realized that the salaryman, visibly annoyed, had brought a cinema employee with him. The employee himself didn't seem too phased by the situation, just looking at them with a bored expression. The individual next to him, seething with rage, pointed to the door. They hastily gathered their things, bowed to apologize, and left the theater. They didn't say anything until they were outside. They exchanged a look, somewhat embarrassed, and finally burst out laughing.

"Damn, I hope they don't ban you, especially if you're a regular."

"Eh, no, given how unphased was the employee, I think he's used to it."

"Okay but," Kuroo pointed at them in turn.

"With the astronomical number of LGBTQIA movies they show, I don't think that's really the issue here."

The brunet smirked.

"We're idiots, aren't we? And we'll never know how it ends."

"Well, we'll watch it online." he locked eyes with him, "I regret nothing, much better than zombie sharks."

"I agree."

They didn't break eye contact, foolishly excited.

"So, what are we doing now?" the brunet asked.

Bokuto flashed a smile.

"There's a thrift store nearby, we can have another contest for the ugliest outfit."

Kuroo laughed, "Seriously! And you won't end up buying the ugliest shit again? Like your duck's socks last time."

"Oh yeah… I gave them to Kenma."

"You gave him the socks?"

"Yeah, he loves them."

The brunet chuckled.

The set course for the thrift shop.

"I can't believe it... Now that I think about it, I think I've seen him wearing them before!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think so."

He laughed.

"Seriously, I don't know how you didn't figure it out earlier," Bokuto said.

"Figure out what?"

"That the three of us were connected."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

"How was I supposed to know?"

"I don't know, Kenma often picks us up, and he's always borrowing our clothes. I see Keiji on campus at least once a day."

"Maybe, but you guys were private about that kind of stuff, how would I know ?"

"Okay, maybe. But, you know, it's not something common, even more so among non-pack betas. We don't openly talk about it. And I wasn't that secretive, look how it turned out !"

"Hmm," the brunet conceded. "But what about you guys, how did you not connect the dots? I'm alone, there are three of you!"

Bokuto chuckled.

"I know, it's stupid. But Kenma calls you Jiji, I just call you 'my Bro,' and... and Akaashi didn't call you anything."

"Yeah, so I'm not the clueless one here! Plus, don't you guys have a better sense of smell than me? Or some VNO thing?"

"What's that got to do with it?"

"I don't know, recognizing my scent, something like that?"

Bokuto thought for a moment.

"I think I've smelled your scent on Kenma's sweater before... But I just thought I was crazy. And we're all on suppressors... And, dude, let's be clear about something, your scent his pretty messy!"

"How so?" Kuroo exclaimed, offended.

"Bro, no judgment, but you constantly smell like alphas. At first, I thought it was your boyfriend, but there are fifteen different scents!"

Kuroo blushed, he brought his T-shirt to his nose: he could only smell his own smell.

"I just thought you had a tumultuous life."

"They're my friends! It's not my fault if they stick to me! Or if I stick to them, whatever."

Bokuto smiled.

"I know, it's just disorienting at first."

"Sorry..."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault you got adopted by a pack of unmated alphas."

"What do you mean? They're all mated!"

Bokuto seemed genuinely surprised.

"Oh really? Well, it doesn't seem like it!"

Kuroo didn't know what to say, and before he could respond, Bokuto stopped them in front of a store.

"So, ready to bust out your ugliest outfit?"

"You're going down!"

They chuckled like kids and went inside.

They set the rules of the game: five minutes to find an outfit, then try it on. Unfortunately, the store employee quickly caught on to what they were doing and asked them to leave. Undeterred, they immediately changed stores. Rinse and repeat.

When they entered the fourth shop, they immediately made a disclaimer to avoid being thrown out. The person behind the counter, who seemed to have started playing their game before they arrived, gave them a big smile and invited them inside. The place was fantastic and filled with old-fashioned patterns, forgotten fashion artifacts, and stylistic oddities. They had a blast; with each try-on, they giggled like kids and took loads of photos. Gradually, Kuroo managed to find some interesting pieces: an old T-shirt from a long-forgotten rock band and a hakama, probably from a Kyodo outfit. He took them under his arm to try on discreetly and also grabbed a ruffled shirt and floral flare-legged pants. As he was trying on the first outfit sneakily (he didn't want to be disqualified for breaking the rules), he heard Bokuto complaining in the cabin next to his.

"Bo, you're okay?"

Silence.

"I'm stuck."

"Do you want some help?"

Silence. Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

"Bo?"

"Yes..."

Kuroo stepped out of the cabin.

"I'm coming in," he announced before joining Bokuto inside.

Much to his surprise, he found Bokuto struggling with a large, faded floral dress with big balloon sleeves and lace frills around the collar. Kuroo stopped, deeply surprised that a garment so hideous-looking dared to fit him somewhat nicely. He couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's disheartened expression.

"Don't laugh! I got the zipper stuck and I'm suffocating in it!" he eyed Kuroo "Hey! Your outfit actually looks good!"

"I was just trying it on to see! And you're the one to talk! How do you manage to wear something like that and make it look good!"

Bokuto looked deeply puzzled.

"How can it possibly look good on me!"

"I don't know, it accentuates your waist and shoulders, it's rather flattering."

"Pfft, come on, help me !"

He signaled him to turn around and set about trying to unblock the zipper, with no avail.

"Okay, I'm going to have to pull it up to pull it down again..."

"But I can't, I'll die!"

"Suck in your stomach and hold your breath!"

Bokuto complied. Kuroo managed to pull up the zipper; it got stuck again, and with a bit of force, it went up almost to the top. The sudden compression surprised Bokuto, who couldn't hold his breath anymore and tensed his muscles. The dress couldn't handle the strain and tore completely in the back.

The silence stretched between them.

"Shit..." they muttered in unison.

"Is it bad?" Bokuto asked.

He turned to the mirror before his accomplice could answer.

"Oh, damn yeah... What do we do?"

"... Take it off and put it back like nothing happened?"

"We can't do that! The cashier looks way too nice!"

"You're right...Someone that can pull off that yellow eyeshadow can only be a wonderful person."

"Yeah!"

Bokuto chuckled.

"I'm not sure I can give this to Kenma..."

"We'll just have to throw a costume party..."

"Hmm..."

"At least it's cheap."

"Thankfully!"

"And you can take it off now."

Bokuto nodded. They burst into laughter once again and separated to get dressed. He joined his accomplice at the cabin exit.

"I'm kind of embarrassed..."

"Don't be! Come on!"

"Are you taking your outfit too? It looked good on you."

"Hmm, I don't know..."

"Please, I'll buy it for you! Don't make me go to the cashier alone!"

Kuroo chuckled.

"Okay, but I'll pay for it then."

"Even better."

They headed towards the entrance, and the person behind the counter greeted them with a big smile as they approached. Kuroo was the first to go to the checkout, giving Bokuto a moment of respite. Once done, he finally had to place his dress on the counter.

"Oh! Very good choice!" they announced.

"Thank you," Bokuto replied, visibly embarrassed.

Kuroo had to restrain himself from bursting into laughter.

"Oh, I see the zipper is broken, that's too bad. I'll give you a discount in that case."

Before Bokuto could confess his crime, he found himself with his dress nicely wrapped in a small paper bag. They exited, and Kuroo finally burst into laughter.

"Stop! It's not funny!"

"I think we need to stop playing this game, it always ends badly..."

Bokuto sighed. He took out his phone and after a quick glance announced:

"Shit, I didn't realize the time. We need to get going."

"Why? Are we in a rush?"

"Not me, but you have a date," he said, wiggling his infernal eyebrows.

"Oh... yeah."

They walked up the street and stopped.

"Keiji's picking me up."

"You're leaving me all alone?!"

"Yep! But don't worry, you won't be alone for long."

"Oh..."

"Give me your phone."

Silence.

Bokuto raised an eyebrow, Kuroo did the same.

"Well ?"

"Well, I don't have a phone, you know that!"

"Oh damn, right... Well, wait, I'll give you mine."

He placed it in front of him to show him the unlock pattern and handed it over. Bokuto had marked a GPS location and started the navigation. It would only take him a few minutes to walk to this mysterious destination. Before he could even make any requests, Bokuto spoke again.

"He's here."

A car parked in front of them, and he recognized Akaashi at the wheel. He smiled at him and they greeted each other.

"Ah! Can you take my bag please?"

"Uh, okay..."

"See you later!"

Bokuto kissed him on the cheek and left immediately. He gave him one last "have fun!" and closed the passenger door. The car started again, and he found himself alone. He looked for a long moment in the direction the vehicle had taken and stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk. He took a deep breath, and set off, his heart starting to beat wildly again.

-end of the chapter-

Next chapter: Butterfly farm 3:

It was a small figurine of Kiki riding her broomstick, Jiji the black cat nestled in her bag. He picked up the figurine and spun it between his fingers.

"You still have that thing?!", he said as he heard Kenma returning to the room.

"Hm?"

Kuroo turned to show him what he had in his hands. Kenma smiled:

"Of course."

"Oh, you care about me!"

"Of course, idiot, otherwise you wouldn't be here."