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It was hard to believe it was the night before the last day of the training camp. His last training camp. That day, warm-up, their sets against the rest of the teams and practice in the third gymnasium with Bokuto, Akaashi and Tsukishima had gone smoothly, like usual. But somehow that day he felt different. Maybe because he had just realized that it was the last time for him to make it to the nationals with the rest of his team. And their last opportunity to make it to the nationals with Karasuno, and finally have the cats vs crows he had been hearing about since he was in first year.
Kuroo got out of the bathroom where Nekoma was having a shower with a towel on his shoulders, wearing a black shirt, a hoodie and sweatpants. Not like he cared if any of the girls saw him. They were probably used to all that by now. "Only one day left, huh..." he said to himself, looking at the sky, the stars and the moon through the closed window. It was strange; after that week Nekoma, Fukurodani, Ubugawa and Shinzen were going to aim for the nationals. And just two of them were going to make it. Karasuno had it hard too. Everyone were going to be so concentrated in training, practicing and extremely aware of every little thing that might be related to their performance on the court. Some of them might be stressed even. And in nights like that, when the air was fresh, everything was already calm and the night was inviting him to stop for a moment and breathe... Those nights were his favorites.
He leaned over the window, looking for a way to open it. "How do they open this...?" he mumbled, while looking for an easier way to do it. And when he made it, he rested his arms on the frame of it, looking at the moon. That night, there was a crescent moon. The natural sattelite was showing himself just a bit, and the rest was mixing with the dark blue sky. It reminded him of someone. Of course it would. He had been paying special attention to that someone that week. Drawing a little smile on his face, he kept staring at the moon.
"Tsukki..."
"What"
He turned around and saw the tall glasses blond guy he was just thinking about with a bottle of water on his hand. Kuroo looked at his phone's watch; it was still Nekoma's turn to use the bathroom so Karasuno had to wait until the last one of the cats left.
"If you don't want anything..."
"Ah, wait, look at this"
"What"
"The sky"
Kuroo turned back once again, and before the younger middle blocker could leave, he spoke calmly.
"The moon reminds me of you today"
"Huh?"
"The moon"
"What about it"
"Look at it"
Still reluctant, Tsukishima walked up to the window an leande over its frame, watching the sky as Kuroo had suggested. There were quite less stars than the ones he could see in Miyagi, but somehow it was okay. Sattelites, stars and that dark and infinite space, only lit by the moonshine. And there it was, the crescent moon.
"I don't see anything special, you know..."
"You are like a crescent moon"
"What are you..."
"You are young, inmature, and you've just started training seriously. Volleyball isn't just a club anymore, an those guys are not only your clubmates anymore. You are just starting to enjoy all this as it should have been since a lot of time ago" Kuroo kept staring at the moon while he talked. Again, he was starting to feel a bit nostalgic. "Really, you are like the moon because, as time passes, you'll start growing too... And by that I don't mean getting older or gaining height. You'll become a great middle blocker, and when that happens, you won't notice how you've transformed from a crescent moon to a full moon. And you'll fly far away from this starting point because apart from being a moon you are also a crow". Just after saying this, Kuroo turned to look at him, right in the eyes. "And a pretty cool one, by the way".
Tsukishima remained silent while he was talking, a bit surprised by Kuroo's speech. First it was Yamaguchi's scolding, and now this guy's thought about him and the moon. «Things sure have become strange», he thought.
"You sound like an old man", he mumbled, leaving the window.
"Hahaha, maybe..." Kuroo laughed a bit, and he turned around, still resting his arms and his body on the frame of the window. "But it's true, though"
Kai and Kenma came out of the bathroom, and Kuroo stood up to join them on the way towards their room.
"You should go tell your teammates it's their turn to use the bathroom"
Tsukishima heard his suggestion and headed to the crow's room in complete silence. And the black haired guy smiled, going the other way.
☆ t h e n e x t d a y ☆
"If you don't come back in an hour, you won't have lunch so come back before the BBQ is ready!" shouted Ubugawa's manager so everyone could hear her, and she received a powerful "Yes!" as a response.
It was the end of the training camp. But for most of them it didn't seem like a week has passed.
Kuroo stood up looking at the results of the training camp. Karasuno and Fukurodani just had their last set, and as expected Karasuno lost. But even if they had lost most of the games they had played that time, he was happy with the results that the crows had had in their games. Not in terms of points, though. It was obvious that they had improved a lot that week; they stayed late after everyone had left to their rooms, and kept practicing the new techniques they were learning since the last training camp. Just like Bokuto, Akaashi and him were used to do since they attended their first Training Camp along with Ubugawa and Shinzen. And that week, they had helped two of Karasuno's guys to evolve... and definitively Tsukishima, that tall glasses guy, had the most interesting change he had seen that week. Somehow it was hard to believe that he was really declining to train with him, Bokuto and Akaashi. It was not like if they were going to tease him (even though they ended up doing it a lot while practicing because Tsukishima's reactions were funny and interesting, at least to him). And when the blond himself came to them, he was really pleased. He didn't know why, though. He was just pleased.
Kuroo looked around, seeing that their teammates had already left to their room. "I should get going..."
He picked up his bottle of water and his hand towel, and started walking towards the dormitories, a catlike smile on his face. Maybe, just maybe, they were going to see that blond again at the Nationals this time. Maybe the Battle of the Trash Heap Coach Nekomata has told them long ago was going to happen finally.
He sighed, somehow nostalgic. It had been a long time since he had so much fun in a training camp.
In their room, almost everyone were chatting and getting their changes of clothes ready so they could go have a shower. And when everyone were ready, they left to the nearer bathroom. They had to share it with Ubugawa guys but fortunately that was one of the bigger bathrooms of the building so there was no problem with it.
By the time they finished, they went to the room to properly order their stuff before going to the BBQ, but Inuoka wasn't there. Where did he go? «He mentioned that he wanted to take a walk around... no, i don't think so. But what if he...». Even if they didn't want to think about it, there was that possibility: he got lost.
"Can someone call him? The BBQ is going to be ready soon"
"Let me try" said Yaku, holding up his phone.
"If you are the one calling, he won't answer, Yaku" said Kai with a funny look.
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because you are probably going to scold him" answered Lev, looking down at him with a smile.
"I'M NOT-"
"I'M SORRY FOR BEING LATE!" they all turned around to see Inuoka running towards them, almost out of breath.
"What the hell happened to you? We thought you got lost in the woods" said Taketora, laughing a bit.
"I went to look around now that we had free time but went a bit further than I thought. Did you know they have a pool too? It's enormous!"
"I told you..." murmured Yaku.
"Ah! You see, you were going to scold him!"
"I WAS NOT!"
"Alright, alright, enough already! We are pretty late. If we don't hurry we're going to eat stones and grass, so let's go" Kuroo said, and everyone followed him towards the place where the BBQ was going to be held.
It was a huge success. Everyone were having fun at the BBQ, celebrating the end of the camp. Everyone were talking with everyone, and it was obvious that all of them were having a good time. Kuroo was with Kenma, talking with one of Ubugawa's guys when Kenma suddenly reminded something.
"Oi, Kuroo..."
"Hmm?"
"Didn't you had to call your mom now...?"
"Geh" He had totally forgotten. "Damn... yes" He looked for his phone inside his red jacket, but then he remembered that he had left it in the room. "Wait, I'll be back in a minute. Tell Bokuto not to touch my pork buns"
"Too late, I guess" mumbled Kenma, while looking at Bokuto's hand sneaking silently and then running away with two of Kuroo's buns.
"THEY ARE MINE, BOKUTO" he shouted to Fukurodani's captain.
"IF YOU DON'T EAT THEM, I WILL~" Bokuto said happily, going back to where Akaashi was waiting for him.
He sighed, and then he headed over Nekoma's room. He had totally forgot to call his mother as she had asked him in a message earlier that morning. «And Kenma didn't remind me of it until now... I'm going to be scolded» he sighed, smiling a bit. Even if he was about to turn eighteen in a couple of months, his mom kept being a worry wart, not listening to him or his father. Really, sometimes it was exhausting. But surprisingly that time he didn't receive any type of scold. In fact, his mom was trying to tell him about some research she had done in some Universities about sports scholarships. Maybe he could win a couple of them. "After all, you are the captain of Nekoma High School's Volleyball Club, one of the strongest teams in Tokyo. I'll do my best by my side, so you do it too, Tetsu", she told him. And he was grateful of her, once again.
After the call ended, he connected it to a charger and left the room, finding Tsukishima leaning on the wall next to Nekoma's open door. Silently, Kuroo stared at him for a while. Was it just his idea... or Tsukishima looked a bit troubled?
"Karasuno's is the other way, Glasses-kun" when the blond heard that nickname, he turned around to look at him, and sighed.
"Will you ever stop calling me that?"
"Oh, do you prefer 'Tsukki'?"
"I don't know which one is worse" Kei crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring at him.
"Hahaha" the older laughed, and then looked at his kouhai again "So, do you need something?"
"Actually..."
Tsukishima looked like he wanted to say something, but at the same time he did not want to do it. He played a bit with his hands, as usual, and then looked at him.
"... you" he said in a very low voice, a slight tone of pink on his cheeks.
"Huh?"
"I won't repeat it"
"No, wait, I'm not teasing you, I really didn't hear what you said"
"Good for you"
"C'mon, Tsukishima. Repeat it"
"Goddammit, no"
"Just once!"
"It was just a 'thank you', okay?!" and Kuroo kept silent in his position, looking at him without saying a word for a couple of seconds.
"... Huh?" Tsukishima sighed again a bit angry, trying to calm himself down and while playing with his fingers, he repeated.
"... Thank you... for your help this week..."
"Wait, it's just... You're really thanking me"
"Well, yeah... I'm not that ungrateful. I recognize when I should say thanks..."
"Wow..." Kuroo looked at him amazed. That was way better than any other thing that could have happened until then. But... "Ah, but just a 'thank you' isn't enough" he stood up right and looked at him by the corner of the eye.
"And what else do you want?" Tsukishima stared at him, angrily. Here it comes, the end of his short patience.
"... Close your eyes"
"What for?"
"Just do it"
Tsukishima looked at him a bit reluctant about his weird petition, his arms still crossed in front of his chest. And after a moment, he closed his eyes. Kuroo just stared at him, at his black framed glasses, imagining how he might look without them, at his blond and curly hair, wondering how easy or how hard to handle it might be, and at his face, like if he was trying to notice every single detail of it and save it in his memory so he could never forget it. He just walked up to be in front of Tsukishima and leaned over him until he slightly kissed the younger boy. The blond opened his eyes as soon as he felt the other's lips touching his. Kuroo was looking at him, right in the eye, and the blond felt goosebumps running down his spine. That look in his eyes... it was the exact same look he had when he was playing volleyball. When he was trying to catch a powerful spike. When he was doing what he liked and he faced a new challenge... When did he learnt all that? Unconsciously, he closed his eyes again, and Kuroo leaned on him even more, until his breathing and the blond's got mixed in a-little-bit-more-passionate kiss. But when he felt that it was enough, he abruptly stopped, his classic cat-like smile on his lips, and then he whispered, his words touching Tsukishima's lips "This will do".
Kuroo let Tsukishima go, and started walking to the place where everyone were. And the blond kept frozen in his place, covering his mouth with one of his hands while looking at Kuroo from the back.
"What on earth... did just happen..." Tsukki mumbled, while he waited for his red face to come back to normal.
"What on earth... did I just do..." Kuroo whispered to himself while walking and brushing his messed up bedhair.
And in that moment, it started.