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The doors to the infamous third gym had remained open all throughout their extra practice, however, Kei only realized how cold it’d been once his heart rate had steadied and the sound of volleyball’s smacking against their hands had seized.
As him and Akaashi gathered their things while the other two finished up tucking the net back into the storage room, the cool temperature caught up with Kei and he felt a familiar pressure build up in his nose as a shiver ran down his spine. He halted whatever he was doing.
He sneezed.
It wasn’t loud, but it was enough for the other three in the gym to hear him as the empty room carried the sound with ease. Akaashi muttered out a “bless you” as he picked up his towel. Kei sniffled as Kuroo and Bokuto finally met them at the door, ready to head out for the night.
Blinking a few times, Kei finally regained his composure as he sniffled one last time just for safe measurements. Before he knew it, something draped over his shoulders, and warmth began to slowly envelope him, shielding him from the cold.
He paused as he recognized the bright red jacket laying along his shoulders.
Everything clicked immediately after Kuroo had walked right past him, conversing with Bokuto as if nothing had happened.
This jacket couldn’t belong to anyone else.
Kei felt his heart begin to race again, as if he was in the middle of a match and his face flushed red. Akaashi stared at him with a smirk, but didn’t say anything. Tsukishima didn’t need a response anyways- He knew what that look meant.
Kei trailed behind the three of them as he slowly pushed his arms through the sleeves, a bit unsure if he’s allowed to do this or not. Kuroo didn’t even say anything… He just… Did it.
Why did he do it? It was obvious Kei was cold, but even so...
He shook his head, it was just a kind gesture. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment when he convinced himself of that option.
Eventually, they all made it to their separate classrooms where they were sleeping, but Kuroo was the first to bid goodnight, not even bothering to take his jacket back from Kei. They waved at him before continuing to make their way to their own assigned rooms.
It was silent for only a moment before Bokuto nudged Tsukishima on the shoulder, “Red suits you, Tsukki.” He snickered, poking at the jacket Kei was wearing.
With a groan, Kei hurriedly turned into his assigned classroom, only bidding Akaashi a good night.
As he slid the door open, he quickly realized he was the last one to enter the room, and all eyes were not on him, but rather on the jacket he wore. Hinata, of course, was the first one to speak up, “Hey! That’s a Nekoma jacket!”
A few snickers came from the 2nd years, but Tanaka and Noya were the loudest of them all, shouting teasing remarks, questioning Tsukishima as to who that belonged to. Luckily, Daichi was quick to shut them up, “Enough! I highly doubt the other teams wouldn’t be able to hear you.” He turned his attention to Kei, his expression alone shaking the blonde to his core. He knew Daichi was intimidating and could easily scare his teammates and opponents, but this particular look would scar Kei for a long time.
“Now,” He clasped his hands together, “Tsukishima, would you care to tell me who exactly that belongs to?” There was a smile on Daichi’s face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“...I’d rather not.” Kei pushed past him, and quickly slipped off the jacket, retreating to his assigned futon next to an awestruck Yamaguchi.
Nervously, he asked, “Ehh… Tsukki? Is that Kuro-”
Tsukishima held up his hand, a threatening glint in his eye, “Don’t say it.”
Yamaguchi only snickered, as he knew better and that Kei would likely tell him on a different occasion, once Kei himself had figured it out.
Once everyone went to bed, and the pestering questions had subsided for the night, Kei bit his lip as he sat up and cautiously slipped the jacket back on, exhaling a shaky breath once he did so. He fell asleep with ease.
The next morning at breakfast, Kei tuned out his team as he saw Kuroo pass by, Yaku and Kenma by his side. He slowly chewed on a clump of rice as he kept his gaze low, contemplating as to when exactly is the best time to give Kuroo his jacket back.
If he were to do it right now, all the teams would see their exchange and Kei would not be able to handle those many eyes on him. Unfortunately on the other hand if he were to do it during extra practice, it’s likely Bokuto and Akaashi would never allow Kei to forget what happened.
He grumbled, swallowing the rice and glaring at the remaining amount he had. Why did Kuroo decide to make things even more difficult for Kei? That bastard…
As he sat up from his seat to discard the remainder of his food, he caught a glimpse of Kuroo’s stupidly adorable grin as he laughed with his teammates.
Kei hates him.
All throughout the different practice matches, Tsukishima’s focus was elsewhere, yet he still managed to play and test out the different strategies the extra practice had taught him. They came close to winning a few times, and managed to win another handful, but the different drills they had to suffer were still the same and just as painful as the ones before.
He still questioned how he’d manage to give Kuroo his jacket back without it seeming too obvious. Although, he did question why this was such a big deal to him. Usually, he simply wouldn’t care, and maybe he would’ve given it back to Kuroo the night he received it, but something held him back, convincing Kei to keep his jacket just a bit longer.
Later that evening, Kei brought it with him, and thankfully he saw that Bokuto or Akaashi had brought one of their jackets as well. He took the opportunity, casually dropping Kuroo’s jacket next to the Fukurodani one, hoping no one noticed.
“Tsukki! You’re finally here.” Kuroo’s voice boomed throughout the gym, Tsukishima flinching at the sudden voice. He sighed, slipping on his knee pads as he heard Bokuto shout at him to “hurry it up!”
“I’m coming…” Kei grumbled.
Practice was the same as usual. Everyone acted the same, they joked around, they gave each other advice, and overall it had calmed Kei’s previous nerves which he was incredibly thankful for. As it was nearing the end of practice, Tsukishima took a moment to catch his breath.
“Hey, Tsukki.”
Kei turned around at the sound of his name, immediately recognizing the voice as none other than Kuroo. His heartbeat picked up again, but this time he chose to ignore it, “What is it?”
Right before Kuroo could continue, the gym doors opened with a loud swoosh that gained everyone’s attention immediately. When Kei looked over, a migraine already began to poke at his head as soon as he saw the ungodly bright orange hair outshine everything else in the gym. Hinata stood at the door, eyes glancing between the three upperclassmen, eyes widening when he spotted Tsukishima next to Kuroo.
“Did you invite him, Tsukishima?” Akaashi was suddenly at his side, Bokuto not too far away. Kei huffed, stepping forward to approach the intruder, “No, actually, I didn’t.” Once he was close enough, he shouted at Hinata in a hushed whisper, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Hinata ignored his question, as he realized Kuroo was the only Nekoma member in the gym at the moment. It appeared as if a lightbulb went off above Hinata’s head in this exact moment, “Wait Tsukishima, doesn’t this mean that jacket was-”
“I’m gonna go to bed early.” Kei cleared his throat, quickly moving to gather his things, not daring to look at anyone in the process. Unfortunately for him, the gym remained silent, the only audible sounds being the occasional cricket outside and the squeak of Kei’s shoes against the hardwood flooring. The thought of all the eyes focused on him made him cringe.
Before leaving, he stopped himself, however, his gaze remained locked on the floor, “Thank you for practicing with me.”
And with that, Tsukishima returned to the rooms, him being the first and only one in there.
Kei made the wise decision of skipping practice the next day, hoping no one would ask him what happened when he talked to Hinata and why he decided to leave earlier than usual. On the bright side, Hinata was too busy speaking with Kenma about practice last night, so it appears he simply forgot about his exchange with Tsukishima, or never read too much into it in the first place.
That’s one less person he had to deal with today.
After three torturous hours of playing against powerhouse teams, their coaches finally called a break. Kei could practically feel the tension lift off of everyone’s shoulders, as they were all exhausted- even Bokuto and Hinata were starting to run out of energy. It’d been a particularly brutal day filled with non-stop practice matches.
Today, the managers were handing out watermelon and almost immediately, everyone had begun settling into their separate groups of friends and savoring every minute this break had to offer. The general area was a bit too crowded for Kei’s liking, so he opted for a more secluded scene. Once he disposed of the watermelon rind and dismissed his teammates, Tsukishima snuck off to the top of a hill he’s grown to despise due to the constant penalties his team had to suffer.
Lucky for him, the tree atop the hill offered more than enough shade for Kei to spend his time alone. He settled down on the fluffy grass, tucking his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to finally unwind. He let out a long sigh as he felt the breeze finally cool him down and slowly begin to play with his hair. This sensation had always been calming to Tsukishima.
Soon enough, he managed to tune out all of the shouting and laughter coming from over the hill, and he was fully able to relax, recharging after an already grueling day. He hadn’t been particularly social today, or any day really, but these past few sleepless nights consisting of nothing but over analyzing and panicking all because of a stupid jacket had drained Kei completely; Not to mention all the practicing and improvments they’ve been doing.
He groaned as he suddenly recalled the other night when he simply walked out on practice. Sure, he didn’t see anyone’s reaction, but that’s probably the worst part… He wasn’t sure how they reacted to Kei’s silent outburst. Were they laughing? Were they disappointed? Did he make them upset?
Another shiver shocked him, causing his entire body to jolt as he pinpointed the whole cause of this disaster he was somehow in.
Kuroo’s damn jacket.
Kei couldn’t deny that he loved the feeling of Kuroo’s jacket around him, but there’s no way in hell he’d ever admit it.
He huffed, ashamed in himself for acting like a typical hopeless romantic that fell in love with the tall, dark, and handsome dork all too suddenly.
With his head buried in his folded arms, Kei barely registered the soft grass muffling oncoming footsteps that were slowly becoming louder.
Briefly lifting his head up, his eyes widened for a split second when he spotted Kuroo- Speak of the devil- who was simply standing next to Kei, gaze focused on the view in front of them. Neither of them spoke, instead, just listening to the wind rustling the leaves and ringing in their ears.
Kei quickly came to the conclusion that Kuroo wasn’t planning on leaving right away, so the blonde simply closed his eyes again, deciding to shut out Kuroo next and wait for the latter to initiate whatever he came here for. However, he suddenly felt the familiar feeling of a jacket being draped over his shoulders once again.
Kei bit his lip when Kuroo took a little extra time to adjust it.
He went against saying his thanks, as he figured Kuroo would leave and move on just like last time.
However, he didn’t hear someone walking away, instead, he heard the grass rustle beside him, and his right arm became much warmer as Kuroo sat down on the empty spot next to him.
Kei felt his heart pound and skip a beat or two- He wasn’t keeping count.
And once again, neither of them spoke of it. Instead, all Kuroo did was rest his chin on his palm and stare out onto the open field. To say the least, Kei was a bit frustrated.
“...Won’t you get cold, Kuroo-san?” Kei didn’t mean for it to come out as a mere whisper.
“I’m more worried about you, Tsukki.” Kuroo muttered, but at least he faced Tsukishima this time.
“And why is that?”
It took Kuroo a moment to respond, “I dunno. Do I need a reason to be worried?”
Kei grumbled, “Yes, Kuroo-san, I believe you do.”
Kuroo hummed, a small smile resting easily on his lips. Kei glared at him, “Don’t you think it’s a bit cruel to leave me confused and frankly a bit frustrated over this?”
The raven’s smile fell, “Ah, well, that wasn’t my intention…” He took a breath, “Just- You know, wanted to make sure you wouldn’t get sick or anything.”
Kei huffed, “Oh, so you do have a reason?”
Kuroo pouted, clearly a bit flustered, “I mean- I guess so? I dunno…” His voice became a bit muffled as he began quietly making excuses to himself, Kei almost laughed at this.
Kei hummed, “So, you purposefully sought me out, jacket in hand, just in case I was cold? Is that it?”
Kuroo didn’t respond. It was likely he was too busy trying to contain the blush creeping onto the tips of his ears.
The blonde took a moment to observe Kuroo, simply staring at the boy next to him. He soon came to a conclusion, “You’re not as brave as I thought you were…” This caught Kuroo off guard, as he let out a loud “huh?”, his cheeks flushing to a deep rosy colour.
Kei spoke calmly, as if he was bored, “I’m sure most see you as some expert in flirting and being in relationships, but that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.” Kei played with the hem of Kuroo’s jacket, not bothering to fight off the small, yet cocky grin that mocked Kuroo without any shame or remorse.
Kuroo scoffed, “Oh, and you think you’re much better?”
“No, I’m not at all.” Kei admitted, finally returning the gesture and facing Kuroo, “It’s just surprising for you, Kuroo-san.” He chuckled, “It’s alright though.”
Kuroo perked up, “Wait, what?”
Kei frowned, “Don’t make me repeat myself… I just said it’s fine,” He hid his face in his arms again, “...I didn’t mind taking your jacket at all.”
Kuroo, who was suddenly amused all too quickly, but was glad that both were comfortable, had decided to tease only a bit, “Sorry Tsukki, what did you say?” There was a wide grin on Kuroo’s face as he leaned over a bit closer despite not being far away in the first place.
Kei groaned, trying to push him away, “You heard me, you idiot!”
Kuroo’s hearty laugh mixed with Kei’s struggle comfortably filled the area around them. Eventually, Tsukishima was able to grab Kuroo’s wrist; His eyes had been focused on them this entire time. With a grin, he looked up to rub it in Kuroo’s face, only to be met with Kuroo’s vibrant amber eyes that were now a mere inch or two away from his.
Both of them flushed, but neither of them let go of each other.
They snapped out of it when they heard a shout coming from down the hill, “Ten more minutes everyone! Finish up what you’re doing.”
Frantically, they separated, both facing away with dopey smiles on their faces and a blush coating their cheeks. Kei attempted to hide his face with one hand, hoping it’d be enough, however, his attempt was fruitless when he felt a single pinky lacing with his.
His head whipped around so quickly, he felt a painful sting in his neck, but his attention was drawn elsewhere once he saw Kuroo with his head in his hand, an obvious shade of red nipping at his ears.
The sight calmed Kei.
He really is a hopeless dork, isn’t he?
Taking a short breath, Kei intertwined their fingers, taking note of how Kuroo nearly jumped at the action, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, his previous amusement came back and he lifted his head up, grinning at Tsukishima.
“Tsukki… You can’t do this to me, you’re too much.”
Kei shrugged as he readjusted the Nekoma jacket on his shoulders, laying his head on Kuroo’s shoulder with ease right after. He felt warm. “You’re the one who started it.”
Kuroo’s dopey grin was uncontrollable, so he finally relaxed and gave in. He squeezed Tsukishima’s hand gently, rubbing his thumb over Kei’s knuckles, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”