Chapter Text
“Tsukki!?” Kotarou stands up with a jolt, and the wolf looks at him and tilts its head, as if trying to understand what Kotarou is saying. It shifts its ears a little, and then tilts its head to the other side.
“Woof?”
“OH NO- AKAASHI, I BROKE HIM!” Kotarou turns to Keiji abruptly, teary eyed and ready to throw himself at the shocked second year. The wolf…no… Kei is sitting in a pile of clothes, and looks fairly bewildered.
“No- no you didn’t break him. You just…” Keiji tries to come up with a decent reply, but is too caught up in just staring at the blonde, fluffy creature to even finish the sentence.
“You just turned him into a fucking wolf- no biggie!” Tetsuro flails with his hands sarcastically, and then gestures them at Kei. “Look at him! How did you even do that!?” he shouts.
“I DON’T KNOW!” Kotarou shouts back, flailing his hands and pacing around forth and back. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god- ” he pauses, and then falls to his knees. “OH MY GOD!”
Keiji stands up grabs Kotarou’s face, slapping him twice. “Pull yourself together, Bokuto-san! You didn’t break him, so please. Stop. Yelling!”
“Akaashi….” Kotarou sobs, wide eyed.
“Don’t worry about it; it’s completely normal for werewolves to turn into wolves when their instincts take over,” he sooths, trying to hide his own concern. His lips curls up into a faint and affectionate smile while he swipes his thumb over Kotarou’s cheekbones, smearing the tears that have welled up at the corners of his eyes. Kotarou sniffs, fighting back the tears. Staring into Keiji’s eyes makes him feel better, and he calms down after a few moments. When that time comes, he slowly realizes that Akaashi-fucking-Keiji is holding his face and that Akaashi-fucking-Keiji is caressing his cheeks. A blush spreads on his face so fast it looks like steam is going to come out from the top of his head.
“Hello? Are you guys flirting?” Tetsuro waves his hands in front of Kotarou’s eyes, snapping him out of Keiji’s spell. “In case you didn’t notice, Tsukishima still looks like a dog.”
“Wolf” Keiji corrects.
“Wolf- whatever. He’s not human, and he told us he can’t turn back if he became one!”
“D-do you think he’ll stay like that forever?” Kotarou whispers.
Keiji groans, and proceeds to let go of Kotarou’s face. “He’s not going to be like that forever. Use your brains, idiots. He’ll probably turn back once the full-moon is over.”
“Woof” Kei barks idly.
“See” Keiji pets Kei’s head nervously, and smiles wryly. Actually, he was about to ask Kei about how aggressive or relaxed he is as a wolf, but then those two idiots came along and interrupted him. It could be dangerous to even be near him if he was the aggressive type. Not that he gave off any aggressive vibes at the moment, but he didn’t really like the thought of staying this close to his underclassman when he was in his full form. “I’m sure he’ll be a nice wolfy and listen to us before that happens,” he musters.
“But what are we going to do with him before that happens?” Tetsuro squats down and examines Kei’s face without getting much of a protest from the younger. The wolf even presses its face against Tetsuro’s palms while wagging its tail slightly. His glasses slip up a notch, and Tetsuro stops petting him to get them off. Kei certainly wouldn’t want his glasses to be broken or possibly get lost, so Tetsuro tucks them into his short’s pocket. As he does so, the wolf scoots closer and pushes its snout back under his hand. Unable to keep a blush from appearing, Tetsuro looks up at Keiji. “It’s not like he’s going to listen all the time. He’s a wolf right? They’re less domestic than dogs, even more stubborn too.” He muses. “Even if he’s rather compliable right now, we should try to figure out how to keep him in one place.”
“Yeah! There’s cars around, Akaashi! What if he runs away and gets hit by one!?” Kotarou stands up, and his loudness makes the few birds around them take off.
“Or if he meets something scary- like another werewolf!” Tetsuro adds. He hugs around Kei in a protective manner, as if just mentioning the possibility will make another werewolf jump out of the bushes and assault them. Kei huffs, tilting his head a little to look up at Keiji.
“Maybe locking you inside one of the classrooms can be a solution?” Keiji directs his question to Kei. He doesn’t expect the wolf to speak, that would be stupid, but Kei suddenly stands up and almost knocks Tetsuro over in the proses. He lets out a half huff and half growl, looking away in the opposite direction with his snout held high. It seems that even in wolf form, Kei speaks his mind.
“I take that as a no?” Keiji guesses, feeling a hint of relief wash over him when Kei doesn’t do anything else to show his disliking to the suggestion. Kei scoffs, his tail flopping down once as he sits down again.
“Does your teammates know about this condition of yours?” Keiji questions. His eyebrow quirks up slightly as he studies Kei’s body language. The wolf murmurs, adamantly keeping his gaze elsewhere than in Keiji’s direction. It’s not like they don’t know, Kei just doesn’t want them to know how he looks. He’d rather that they didn’t even get a chance to see him. He couldn’t explain that now though, and on the other hand, the grass really looked fresh and ready to be rolled in…
“So they don’t, huh…” Keiji rubs his own neck, trying to figure out a solution that won’t offend Kei. He finds it odd that his teammates doesn’t know about it, but then again, Kei is a master at keeping things hidden. He figures that Kei might have struggled to keep it secret, so just barging in and telling everyone in the gym that this big fluffy wolf is actually Kei and that they shouldn’t mess too much with him would be rude. Keiji closes his eyes and furrows his eyebrows, getting a frustrated expression. Tetsuro can see the thoughts on his face and wants to soothe him, but doesn’t. He’s too busy trying to figure something out too, and rubs his imaginary goatee-beard for extra competence.
“Oh! I have an idea!” Kotarou bursts out. He hauls Tetsuro up and barely gives the other a second to gather his balance before he runs off with him.
“Oi-oi- Bokuto?! Where are we going?” Tetsuro stutters.
“Bokuto-san?” Keiji watches them confused, and tilts his head, just like Kei.
“We’ll be back in a few! Just make sure he stays there! ” Kotarou yells, running over the big grass field that leads back to the gyms.
Keiji clicks his tongue. “What the hell is he up to now?”
Kei makes a sound that comes off as a calm murmur with a hint of a growl in it, and Keiji snorts at how much it sounds like someone saying, “I don’t know”.
They stay like that for a few moments, staring after the long gone idiots. It’s not before Keiji looks back at Kei that he realizes that Kei is in fact sitting on top of his own clothes. Not that he’ll be needing those at the moment anyway.
“Well… I’ll pick up your clothes if you don’t mind…” he looks down at the pile of clothes that Kei is sitting in, and he shushes the wolf to the side. “This must truly be annoying… Losing your clothes whenever this sort of accident happens. I am sorry for Bokuto-san’s incompetence. He should have thought further before doing those things.”
He crouches down, warily, and picks up the dark blue t-shirt and the black shorts, folding them neatly over his own arm. As the softness of the fabric of Kei’s t-shirt strikes him, the fact that folding Kei’s clothes isn’t as disgusting as folding the clothes that Kotarou has thrown away on the floor (before he goes to take a shower after practice) also strikes him. Kei’s clothes actually smell very good, in a way. They don’t smell of perfume or cologne or anything, but there is a hint of fabric softener and, weirdly enough, grass. Does Kei choose his own fabric softener, or is it his mom that picks it out? Secondly, what on earth would make Kei, an obvious indoors-type, smell like grass? He’d definitely like to know, because this scent is just…so calming? Keiji shakes his head when he catches himself slowing down just to smell the clothes even more, and picks up Kei’s socks. As he does so, something hooks his interest. He squints down at the object of interest, and then he smirks. He picks it up, and his gaze flickers over to the uninterested Kei that is sitting with his back to him, trying to keep himself from taking a dive at the grass and rolling around like an idiot.
His gaze flickers back, and he holds the pair of boxers in front of himself, amused. The boxers are mainly black, but has fresh-pink cartoony strawberries printed on them which is..., well, in Keiji’s mind, adorable. He wonders if all of Kei’s underwear has this kind of print. He also wonders if those smell the same as the rest of his clothes…
Just as he’s about to do something he could probably end up in jail for, Kei snaps his head around, staring at the boxers. Keiji can see the realization crawl over him.
Keiji tenses, knowing he’s been caught.
“They’re very cute.”
Kei lets out a drawled out noise, as if begging Keiji to put them away. Surprisingly, that’s all he does. No tantrum or anything. Keiji folds them over his arm, coughs awkwardly, and picks up Kei’s shoes. He stands up, amused by Kei’s obvious embarrassed behavior.
“Does all of your underwear have cute prints?” talk about digging your own grave, Keiji thinks.
Kei snarls a little, but stops before it sounds threatening. He does however; continue the sound with some non-threatening murmuring. Keiji sighs contently, smiling warmly. If Kei hasn’t lashed out and attacked by now, then it’s certain that he won’t do so later, though, it is safer to be on the safe side.
“Alright, I won’t tease.” Maybe later, he ads in his mind.
He gets a low bark and a huff in return.
“Well… whatever those two idiots are doing, I better tell Bokuto-san to bring a bag to put these clothes in…” After all, carrying a set of clothes would look suspicious too, especially when the clothes and shoes were larger than your own. He eyes the shoes, fixedly staring at them for a while just to figure out just how much larger they were than his own. Only out of curiosity of course, not because he secretly believes in certain theories… that would be stupid.
He picks up his phone, types in a message to the contact “weirdo Bokuto-san” and presses ‘send’. He puts his phone back, and sits back down next to Kei. Most likely, Kotarou won’t see the message. He always leaves his phone in the weirdest places, and somewhere close to his body is not one of them. Well, he could always hope.
The wolf follows in suit and lies down; resting his head on top of his paws, contently waiting for whatever Keiji is going to do next. He gives Keiji a long stare, and it takes no time before the other notices. The dark-haired teen leans against the tree’s trunk, and tries to ignore it. He knows that in canine language, a long stare could be either an aggressive, silent challenge, or an act to establishing dominance. It would be dangerous to stare back if it hadn’t been for the fact that this isn’t exactly any wild wolf. He’s fairly (extremely) sure Kei’s behavior isn’t all instincts. There’s lots of Kei left in this wolf, surprisingly much actually, and considering all the responses he has gotten from his underclassman already, that stare could actually be an invitation. He just doesn’t know what to do with it.
Slowly, he puts his hand onto Kei’s head, swiping his thumb over the ears nervously. To Keiji’s relief, the wolf leans its head into the touch, and starts wagging its tail happily.
“You know…you’re kind of cute,” he says, blushing slightly.
Kei only barks shortly as a response, probably too busy focusing on the ear-rub to listen to what Keiji has to say.
“Oi- Bokuto! Where are we going? I’m going to lose my shoes here if you don’t slow down!”
“We’re going to find a dog-leash!”
Tetsuro halts, planting his feet into the ground.
“A what!?”
“A dog-leash!” Kotarou repeats. He tries to pull Tetsuro along, not looking back at the other. He’s dead set on getting a dog-leash.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, bro, in what world would Tsukishima want to wear a dog-leash! It would be borderline sexual harassment if we made him wear that.”
“But wouldn’t it look more suspicious if we had a freely walking dog following us all day?” Kotarou explains, giving up on puling, and looking back at Tetsuro.
“Yes, but… come on, it’s Tsukishima… we can’t make him wear that. He’d kill us,” he emphasizes.
“No he won’t. Because he’s a dog, and he won’t know that it’s something to kill for.”
“Bro, you saw how quick he was to react to stuff. I am sure he’s still Kei on the inside, and also, if you succeed with the leash, exactly who is going to walk him?”
“I am!” Kotarou announces, proudly.
“One, you don’t even own a dog. Two, you’d probably loose him after three minutes. Three! it’s going to look suspicious!” Tetsuro face palms again, groaning.
“Oh…. Yeah that’s true.” Kotarou looks down, grumbling. He closes his eyes, furrows his eyebrows and scrunches his nose up, thinking heavily. “Ughhhh.”
“Don’t break your brain now, Bokuto.” Tetsuro pats his shoulder. “I’m actually a little supportive of your idea… it just has a few risky holes in it.”
“But what else are we going to do? Locking him up would be so mean!” Kotarou whines. “Can’t we just tell people that we found a stray dog and that the owner is going to pick it up like… tomorrow, and that we’ll watch over it for the day? There’s a lot of dogs that run away from home that have a number on their collar” Kotarou looks at Tetsuro with big puppy-eyes, pleadingly.
Tetsuro’s eyebrows rise up, and he gapes. “Bro that’s actually a pretty good cover…”
Kotarou gasps with excitement. “Ahah! I know right! That was actually my idea too bro! I’m starting to get smart!”
Tetsuro squints. “Too bad you fucked up and turned Tsukki into a wolf though…”
“AGAIN!? Come on! That was like, fifteen minutes ago!”
“Are you saying that you should be praised for not doing anything stupid for fifteen minutes?”
“Yes!” Kotarou bursts. Tetsuro sighs and shakes his head.
“Ok, but! How do we get a dog-leash? It’s not like there’s a pet shop anywhere around here… we’d have to drive for that.” Tetsuro rubs his imaginary goatee-beard again. Kotarou joins the pondering, and then he suddenly lights up.
“Let’s just ask around then! Someone has to have something we can use!” he grabs Tetsuro’s hand again, pulling him towards the gym.
“What- No! We can’t do that. Who the hell has a dog-leash just lying around at a training-camp!?”
“Someone might be!” Kotarou argues. “Well who is going to ask for it?” Tetsuro protests. He’s fairly sure that just asking for a dog-leash would sound suspicious, and In addition, if people realized that the wolf was Kei, then it would look so weird and he’d probably be framed for child-molesting. It would be much safer to just do all of this in secret!
“You are! I’m too embarrassed… what if they find out and think I’m a weirdo or some shit” Kotarou exclaims, and pulls Tetsuro’s stubborn ass into the first gym, examining the several split-up teams practicing individually. They’re all minding their own business, too busy to even notice Kotarou hauling Tetsuro inside.
“What!? You’re not going to make me do it! I’m not going to just ask if anyone has a dog-leash lying around, it’s too embarrassing.”
«It’s only embarrassing because you know it’s really Tsukki we’re talking about! Think about Tsukki, bro! Think how much easier his life will be if you just do it!” Kotarou encourages.
“I am not going to be framed as a pervert! You do it!” Tetsuro yells, blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears. As his words chime through the gym, he realizes his last words were a little loud, and maybe not just a little. He can see people staring, and Kotarou is completely obvious to it because he has his back against them. The gym goes silent from their arguing, and then Shouyou, rather excitedly, runs up to them. Tetsuro curses internally. This is great; really, all he needed was the entire gym to see him loose his cool.
“Do what?” the orange haired boy jumps up and down, already excited for no reason. “Yeah! What is it, captain!?” Haiba joins in.
“Wah!” Kotarou twists around, startled because of Shouyou’s and Haiba’s voices. He steps back- or rather, he tries.
He only planned on taking one step, but his heel bumps into Tetsuro’s, and gets stuck there. He feels his balance fail him, twists around yet another time and crashes face-first onto the taller captain’s chest. He can see Tetsuro’s eyes widen, his pupils turning cat-like. In a weak-willed attempt at keeping himself up, he grabs Tetsuro’s shirt, rips him down with him, and screams as they fall down on the floor. They land with a heavy thud, and Tetsuro grits his teeth.
“E-ehh….” both Kotarou and Tetsuro go silent while recovering from the fall, and then reality comes back to both of them.
The two underclassmen bore holes with their intense, energetic stares, and loom over the two captains excitedly. Cursing internally, Tetsuro pushes Kotarou off. This is too embarrassing, literally everyone can see them! He has to cover this quickly, with some kind of plan.
“Bro, you’re not mad right?” he hears Kotarou ask with a hint of nervousness. As he does so, an idea strikes his mind.
“No, no… of course not! Does anyone here have a dog-leash? I want to strangle Bokuto!” Tetsuro forces out. He knows when to make good of a bad situation, and thanks to Kotarou, he now has the perfect opportunity! He then plays a fake sadistic grin- one that easily could show murderous intents.
Kotarou jolts next to him, and sits up straight. “Kuroo!?”
Tetsuro staggers onto his feet, ignoring Kotarou’s shocked exclamation. He needs Kotarou to play along, so really, letting Kotarou know nothing and not even glancing at him would be best. Even if it’s cruel, that energy-bomb of an ace has a poor act, and can’t be let in on his current plan.
“Dog-leash!?” Shouyou yelps. His body trembles, and then he scurries away, yelling something about murder and call the police in a worried tone. Haiba looks after him, but stays, holding his volleyball close. He looks nervous, and Tetsuro guesses it’s because Morisuke looks over to see what all the ruckus’ about. He must think that they’ve gone mad…
Waiting for a reply, Tetsuro guesses no one that heard him actually has one and he sighs while rubbing his neck.
“Well, well, I’s not like I expect you to have one-”
“I HAVE A CAT-LEASH IF YOU WANT” Haiba blurts, scaring the shit out of his captain.
Tetsuro clutches the fabric of his shirt, breathing. “Damn it, Lev, don’t yell like that!”
“It’s in my bag if you want it?” Haiba continues, ignoring his captain’s comment. Tetsuro groans, and then ponders.
“Why the hell do you have a cat-leash?”
“…Because cats”
Haiba doesn’t bother with explaining further, but Tetsuro doesn’t even want an explanation. His plan is working, that’s all that matters! Furthermore, he’s had it up to his head with surprises for today, and he hasn’t even had his lunch yet! Who knows what else Haiba has in his bag!?
“Fine. Give it to me.” He commands.
“So that means I’m allowed to run away from Yaku?”
Tetsuro sees Morisuke approach rapidly from the corners of his eyes.
“…yes. Run while you still can.”
Haiba tenses at the comment, and then runs away as fast as he can. Tetsuro can hear Morisuke yell after him, and then he hears Shouyou yell something about mass murder. Great...
“Kuroo… I don’t want to die” Kotarou pipes up, he’s still on the floor, glossy eyed from Tetsuro’s threat. Oh no...
“Bro, no way I’ll kill you. I love you” putting his hand over his heart, Tetsuro reaches his other hand for Kotarou to grab. Kotarou hesitates a little, unsure if his best bro is kidding or not. Albeit unsure, he still grabs it lightly, looking up at him.
“I’m so sorry. This was just part of my plan to get a leash, bro… I love you so much!”
They share a moment of silence. Tetsuro’s heart pounds in his chest. He had no idea Kotarou would tear up so easily. He swallows dryly, anticipating Kotarou’s reply. Then Kotarou blushes, and Tetsuro feels like he’s been visited by the holy spirit of broship
“I love you too, bro” Kotarou whispers. He wants to be hugged, and feels stupid for falling for such a plan. He lets himself be pulled up and spares no time in embracing Tetsuro lovingly.
“Bro” Tetsuro repeats gently.
“CAPTAIIINNN!!!!” Haiba interrupts. The two jump away from each other’s arms, blushing.
A pink, sparkly, diamond decorated leash flies behind Haiba as he runs. Morisuke is leaping after him, barring teeth, but it looks like a romantic scene because of the way the leash sparkles. Tetsuro’s eyes zoom in on it. It’s pink. He stares. IT’S PINK!?
“It’s pink?” Kotarou questions, and whistles a long, dropping tone.
Haiba reaches them, but doesn’t stop. He runs right past like a white gust and throws the leash at the two. It hits Tetsuro right in the face, but Haiba is gone before he can complain. A strawberry blonde tornado runs past them in the same second, and both Kotarou and Tetsuro stand still.
As the leash slides over Tetsuro’s face and down on the floor, Kotarou pats his back with enormous strength. “It’s a good thing that not all teammates are as bad as yours,” he laughs.
“Guh- at least my teammates are good for something. We got that damn dog-leash now” he picks it up, and looks back at the grinning bastard that’s still blushing cutely.
“cat-leash” the other corrects. He tugs at it. “Do you think it will fit?”
“Who knows….I’ve walked dogs before though, so if it doesn’t fit him I’ll probably notice before you or Akaashi” Tetsuro scoffs, swinging his hair back graciously.
“Yeah right. My ASS” the shorter captain makes sure to add extra bite in the last word, and snatches the leash away from Tetsuro. “It’s so fucking pink though… your team is messed up”
“You know what- don’t even get me started…” stealing the leash back, Tetsuro starts walking back to the two underclassmen. “Hoohohoh?!” Kotarou hoots as he skips behind him, exited.
“But my greatest worry is how we get Tsukki to wear it…“ He doubts Kei will even like the concept of the leash, none the less the leash in itself.
“We snuggle him, and then we attack!” Kotarou schemes, gesturing some weird grabby movements with his hands.
“Where do all those brain cells come from? Did you borrow them from Akaashi?”
“No…”
As Kotarou goes silent, Tetsuro starts humming. He squints, and then sniggers.
“About Akaashi…” He drawls, glancing over at the other knowingly. Kotarou yelps and blushes instantly. He’s way too obvious for his own good.
“I- It’s nothing!” Kotarou yells.
Humming louder and more slyly, Tetsuro keeps looking at him. “You want me to believe that, or is it just wishful thinking?”
Kotarou counters immediately. “You asshole!”
“If I was Akaashi’s asshole, would you love me more then?” Tetsuro sniggers even more. Kotarou gasps sharply, and fakes a hurt tone. “You monster… don’t you ever compare your ugly self to Akaashi’s beautiful asshole” he continues loudly, clenching his fist over his chest and closing his eyes.
Tetsuro blinks. “Wait what?”
“What?” Kotarou replies a little too fast.
“…. You’ve seen it?”
The wind rustles slowly and warmly over the grass field, as Kotarou gradually turns redder.
“T-there was this night after practice and we were kind of sweaty and we’d been locked inside the club room as a joke and w-we might have fucked and he was so fucking beautiful you have no idea, Kuroo!” the sentence leaves Kotarou’s mouth in a single breath, and he gasps for air as he finishes.
“WHAT!?” now it’s Tetsuro’s time to get embarrassed. “You’ve actually fucked!?”
“Only once!” Kotarou admits, blushing darker.
“Only once!?” Tetsuro repeats. “Bro that means you’re an item, a couple, bros for life”
“I don’t know!” Kotarou rubs his neck, looking away shyly. He’s blushing so cutely that Tetsuro’s heart throbs. He doesn’t know why, he’s overjoyed for the two, but also… sad? He kind of wanted to actually try dating at least one of them, for quite some time now, and now it turns out they’re together. He looks away, clutching the leash tighter. He nearly gets gloomy for a second, but then he lights up. He still has his lovely underclassman, Kei. If he’d have to choose, he’d choose the blonde over the two others, although only marginally. It’s only because the youngest is also now the most likely to end up saying yes if he asks him out on a date. Damn those two for hooking up! If he really could, he’d settle with dating all of them. That’d be the best! Nevertheless, you can’t be greedy when it comes to love, apparently.
“Man… Sign me up for next time you two go at it.” Even if it’s meant as a joke, there’s a hint of truth to his words. A wish, if he could put it differently. Not that Kotarou would ever notice.
“Ah… sure… but I don’t know if there will be a next time. He’s so pretty. I don’t have a chance, Kuroo,” Kotarou puts his fingers together and fidgets. His eyes are fixed at his feet, and he looks like a shy child. Silence lingers for a second, but before Kotarou knows it, Tetsuro’s hand is patting his back in a soothing manner. He can’t let his own jealousy stop Kotarou’s happiness, he just can’t.
“Bro… I have seen you two… you have the biggest chance!”
“You think so?” Kotarou looks at him intently.
“Yeah.”
The answer should have made Kotarou feel happier, but he keeps fidgeting as he smiles falsely.
The two reach the tree Keiji and Kei are supposed to be under, and they stop talking. They both gasp sharply, and Tetsuro nearly drops the leash.
“W-what’s this?” Tetsuro whispers, shocked.
“Unbelievable…”
While closing and opening his mouth, Kotarou figures he can’t tear his eyes away from this sight.
They both stare for who knows how long, transfixed and unable to move. It is only after several seconds have passed that Kotarou breaks the silence.
“I…I think Tsukki actually has the biggest chance.”
Tetsuro is finally able to shift his gaze elsewhere, and it lingers on Kotarou as he thinks thoughtfully and silently for a while.
“M-maybe Tsukki stole Akaashi’s heart,” he jokes.
The source of their shock is lying snuggled under the tree. Sleeping. Keiji and Kei are both sleeping snuggled together so lovingly and peacefully, it’s just too adorable! Those two had found the tone unusually quick, so it’s no real shock that they could get intimate so easily… but this... Tetsuro can’t help but to smile adoringly as he sees how Keiji’s hand is resting over Kei’s body, cradling him protecting. If he hadn’t known better, this would just be an ordinary ‘boy loves his dog’ scene, but no. it’s actually Kei and Keiji snuggling while sleeping. Tetsuro had always wanted to know if Keiji liked snuggling, and he really wanted to know if Kei liked being held, and now he had proof!
“You see?” Kotarou gestures to the two, blushing because of how cute it looks. “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to make him hug me like that!? I don’t have a chance…”
“Maybe your sweaty and warm body isn’t so attractive to snuggle after practice, Bokuto,” Tetsuro suggest. He takes out his phone and snaps a picture of the two, saving it to his phone and then setting it as his starter background.
“I’m not-“
“You are.”
“Well it’s sexy-“
“It’s not.”
Kei’s ears twitch as they talk and Keiji’s hand move up to pet him. The wolf inches closer, and huffs contently at the comfort. Keiji’s lips curl up into a gentle, faint smile. They both have their cheeks mushed together, and he rubs his cheek against Kei’s because it’s even fluffier and warmer than a pillow. The two had fallen asleep only minutes after the others left, thanks to Kei being sleepy from his morning stress, and Keiji just generally being used to taking a quick nap in the afternoon. The fact that Kei was so soft and pillow-like had also been a leading cause for the second year.
“Damn they’re cute,” the two captains exclaim at the same time, sighing longingly. Tetsuro is downright harvesting the sight, at least the way he snaps a whole bunch of new photos indicate that. They’re all going into an album of his called ‘Cuties I’d like to fuck’. There’s already a few photos there, mostly of Kotarou and Keiji, but also one of Kei from yesterday. He had secretly snapped it while Kei was eating an ice cream, and the heat had melted the frozen treat, making some of it drip onto Kei’s lips in an erotic way. The image had been in his mind all night.
Kotarou looks bothered however, and Tetsuro can’t help but notice.
“What’s the matter?” he puts his phone back in his pocket, focusing on his friend.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while now… Do you like Tsukki, or is it Akaashi you’re after?” Kotarou asks shyly.
“Wah…” Tetsuro freezes. Where did that come from!?
There is a silence between them, shared with a few glances and awkward fidgeting from Kotarou’s side.
“I mean the way you look at Tsukishima is so lustful… and sometimes you look at Akaashi in the same way too,” he continues.
Tetsuro slowly regains his composure, but still feels as if his heart will pop out of his chest. How did that owl even notice!? Kotarou is supposed to be the slowest of them all when it comes to realizing stuff… how!? Did he accidentally see the title of his photo album just now!?
Tetsuro’s mind churns as he tries to come up with a quick answer. Maybe it’s safe to tell? It certainly isn’t like Kotarou to start hating people for being honest, but then again, wouldn’t it be risky?
“I might.”
“Might what!? Which one do you like?” Kotarou demands. He leans forwards, staring intensely as he studies every movement and shift of expression Tetsuro has.
“D-don’t make me choose, dude!” while pushing the other away slightly, Tetsuro’s cheeks warm up.
“S-so you can’t choose either, right!?” Kotarou suddenly bursts, grabbing hold of Tetsuro’s shirt.
“Wait, either?” Tetsuro grabs the owlish captain by his shoulders. This was what had been bothering Kotarou from the start, wasn’t it!?
“But I thought you only had eyes for Akaashi!?”
“Yeah, I mean no- I mean at first I only had eyes for Akaashi, but then you came along and I felt just the same warm, fluttery feeling welling up inside me… and then when I first saw Tsukishima a few days ago I felt that same feeling again!” Kotarou admits.
Tetsuro gasps. Kotarou had a crush on him? Wait… he had always had a crush on him!?
“I always felt so greedy for liking you when I already had Akaashi. I felt like I was disappointing him… N-now that I like both you and Tsukishima I feel even worse for not being able to stop my heart from going crazy whenever I see you all! I’m the worst, but if you have the same feelings too, then maybe I’m not so bad after all!”
“You’ve been crushing on me since the first day we met?”
“I… I tried to keep it hidden, but whenever you touch me or hold me… when you jokingly say you love me…” Kotarou blushes darkly, his eyes shining with sincerity. “I couldn’t hide it anymore, Kuroo… not when it looks like my three crushes will be getting together without me!”
“Kotarou… I’m so sorry.” Tetsuro embraces Kotarou, cradling him close and putting his hand in his hair. He can feel Kotarou’s shoulders tremble, and his heart throbs. He can’t believe he’s been making Kotarou suffer, making him think he’s been lying, when really, all the times he’s said he loves him have been true!
“You idiot. I love you just the same way I love those two! I always loved you!”
“Tetsuro,” Kotarou’s shocked voice fades out as Tetsuro’s words etch into his mind.
Then this could work… somehow. In some way, this could really work. He could really love more than just one person, and it would work-
“What is it with you two and yelling?” Murmuring lowly, Keiji peeks up at them. He hugs Kei closer, and ruffles his fur while observing Tetsuro as he jolts and lets go of Kotarou. He has no idea why the two were yelling, but it was seriously annoying. Kei was so soft- its was a shame he can’t sleep on him any longer.
“Oh- Akaashi” Kotarou drawls. He clears his throat. “N-nothing”
“We just like to yell” Tetsuro lies. He can practically feel Kotarou’s embarrassment radiating from him, and he knows he’s the same.
“Is that so?” Keiji rubs his eyes, looking over at Kotarou bemused.
“Ah- also!” Tetsuro whips out the beauty that is the pink leash, and dangles it in front of Keiji, cracking a wicked smile. He puffs his chest out.
“Bokuto found a solution to our problem.”
Keiji blinks twice before his eyes widen, taking in the sight of the diamond-decorated cat-leash. He sits up with a jolt, startling Kei and waking him up.
“What is that?” Keiji asks. Kei stands up suddenly, but due to Keiji’s quick reflexes, he isn’t able to run off somewhere. Keiji tugs the wolf down and makes him sit, although when he does that, the wolf catches sight of the leash and freezes.
“If we act as if he was an astray dog in desperate need of help then no one will suspect anything, right?” Kotarou explains. He grins while wiggling his eyebrows, having already forgotten about being embarrassed, yet again.
“And it’s only natural for dogs to wear lashes,” Tetsuro ads.
The stare Keiji gives them is closer to annoyance than acceptance. A pink leash? That wasn’t the worst part. The grins of those two idiots was the worst part. There was something going on between them, and he didn’t like it. The way he had woken up to them hugging, talking about something and then hiding it from him. He had known them for two years, and knew when to suspect danger.
“If you can get it on him…” Ok... maybe he wanted to know where this was going. Most likely, the danger he was suspecting wasn’t going to be on him anyway... Probably.
Kei snaps his head in Keiji’s direction, staring at him in betrayal.
The two captains grin devilishly, looming over him like two thieves who have found gold. Kei’s ears fall back flatly as he tries to back up, but Keiji is holding him still.
This is going to be bad.