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Kuroo was on top of him and he hated it.
It wasn’t the first time this had happened, not by far, and normally it was a rather agreeable situation, an adequate way to relief some stress, Tsukishima thought. Even if he didn’t always have the best way of showing what he wanted, this was the first time he’d truly hated it. Hated the messy hair his hands tangled in, hated those strong shoulders and arms pinning him to the bed, hated the feeling of utter bliss so within reach.
He couldn’t enjoy it.
Well, he did, but he didn’t, not really, which was horrible. He wanted to savour it, take what he could, squirm in pleasure and think nothing of it. And he’d decided he wasn’t going to be bothered by them. He wasn’t.
But he was. The fading hickeys on Kuroo’s neck laughed at him, and despite the fact he didn’t care, it made him hate this whole ordeal, normally a lot greater than it really should be with this ass of a guy.
In the end he does come, because the bastard is just that great (they are just that great), but well, he should be, shouldn’t he, with how much he sleeps around.
There is no cuddling or snuggling for anybody. Kuroo whines about it, but Tsukishima will hear nothing of it. He gets up and goes to the bathroom to clean up, ignoring the over-dramatic pleas coming from the bed.
He’d indulged the older man a few times before, and clearly that had been a horrible horrible mistake. He didn’t want to cuddle, he didn’t want to be held, he didn’t want to be softly caressed and warm against that body. That body was sullied, ruined.
He didn’t care about the hickeys. He didn’t. They weren’t even like that. He didn’t want to be like that either. It bothered him that it bothered him. He looked in the bathroom mirror and glared at himself as well as he could with his glasses still on Kuroo’s bedside table, forgotten in his hurry to escape the cuddle prison guard.
Why did Kuroo even like that? Cuddling was stupid and pointless. Before sex, sure, it could work as foreplay, and despite his go-get attitude, he did like himself some of that. But afterwards it was just two tired sticky bodies stinking of sex, pulled close together for no reason whatsoever. They had swapped enough bodily fluids during the act, did they really need to merge completely by the end?
His naked reflection, vague and annoyed, stared back at him, clearly in complete agreement. Then he noticed the red marks around his collarbone. He bend over the sink to get closer to the mirror and well. Well well well. Seems he now sported similar markings as his bed partner.
How fucking dare he.
Kuroo lay on his back on the bed, arms behind his head and one leg pulled up. He hadn’t bothered to put anything on yet. And Tsukishima most certainly did not blush. The other wasn’t even hard (he better not, they just finished for fuck’s sake), but the comfort with which he lay there, completely exposed, following the blond with a lazy yet still burning gaze (how did the bastard even manage that), riled him up.
He grabbed his glasses and glared at the room-owner, who only smirked as reply, now in high definition. It wasn’t the reaction that made the young one regret his action, but rather the painful clarity with which he could now see the marks on the other’s neck; the ones he was sure he’d not put there.
There was only silence as Tsukishima gathered his things and left, not even offering a curt word of goodbye.
Kuroo sighed once alone, eyeing the ceiling, feeling it pressing down on him. He wondered vaguely what had crawled up Tsukki’s ass (besides his dick) that’d made him so pissy, but didn’t spend too much energy on the thought. He’d learned a good while ago that there was no point in trying to figure the former middle blocker out. Tsukishima didn’t want to be figured out. Tsukishima would bite, hard, when Kuroo would try to get too close.
Biting, huhmm… Maybe that’d be something interesting to look into for next time.
——-«-»—-«-»—-«-»——-
Next time made Kuroo wait for it.
And wait for it.
And wait for it.
Three weeks had passed by the time Kuroo got the strange idea that maybe Tsukki was avoiding him. Not the usual I-don’t-care-what-you’re-doing-so-what-if-we-don’t-hear-from-each-other-or-hook-up-for-a-week kind of avoiding, but an actual full-conscious, work-requiring, block-your-number kind of avoiding.
Bokuto sniggered when he let him in, then asked what was wrong when Kuroo’s irked face didn’t relax.
“I can’t contact Tsukki.”
“Auwww, is your little boyfriend ignoring you?” The other teased.
“Dude, he’s taller than both of us what the fuck are you even saying. Hey, lend me your phone.”
No permission was given (or required, really), before the phone was snatched away and at Kuroo’s ear. Bokuto pouted and glared in his friend’s direction, but got only a stuck out tongue as reaction.
The owlboy only barely managed to resist the temptation to lean over and bite the provoking muscle. Tetsu was on the phone, after all. It’d be rude to cut his conversation short like that.
“Did you block my number?” Is the first line that came out of Kuroo’s throat, and Bokuto rose an eyebrow. He couldn’t hear the other side of the line, it just sounded like a bunch of quacking from where he was, mostly leaning on Tetsu now, sprawled half over the couch, half over his best buddy.
“I wouldn’t do it if you hadn’t blocked m- Tsukki!!” A growl, and then the phone flopped back onto Bokuto’s lap. “The lil’ shit hung up on me.” The former Nekoma captain said, incredulous.
“What was that you said about his height—”
“Oh, suck it, Kou.” It sounded dejected, and Bokuto didn’t like the tone at all. But he knew just what to do to cheer his mate up.
“Gladly,” he smirked, and slid off the couch in front of the other.
——-«-»—-«-»—-«-»——-
“You look…” Yamaguchi considered his words carefully as his best friend’s eyes met his, and they were more closed than open, really. “… a little tense, lately.” The blond one’s eyes didn’t narrow further, so he assumed it hadn’t been a totally wrong thing to ask. “Is something up, Tsukki?”
“No.”
“How have classes been?”
“Fine.”
Alright, so not that. “You still going back for the break? I was wondering, maybe we should try to get the old team back together for a night or so…?”
“Yeah, sure, why not.” Tsukki shrugged, but seemed a lot less interested in the idea than he should- Yamaguchi knew that, despite all his mumbling and grumbling about the uselessness of their volleyball days, it’d been some of the best years of his life too.
So another miss. “Is the manager of your part-time still being annoying?”
“I think it’s just how she’s born.”
Well, that sounded the same as last he’d asked, so not that either. “How’ve Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san been? I haven’t seen them in a while.”
“Hmpf.”
Bingo.
“Did anything happen with Kuroo-san?”
“No.” A head was turned and a frown grew deeper. Indubitably a lie.
“Did you have a fight?”
“No, how can we have a fight, it’s not like we’re together or anything, besides, he’s screwing half the campus population, he’d probably not even have the time for that.”
Yamaguchi frowned at the sudden avalanche of nonsense his best friend sprouted. “I’m sure he’s not-”
“Shut up Yamaguchi.”
Some things never changed, and while other things did, Yamaguchi decided to back off. For now. Tsukki could figure that out by himself… probably.
——-«-»—-«-»—-«-»——-
It was a normal cloudy Tuesday afternoon on campus: students walking in small groups between classes, wind playing with the leaves and ruining the piles they’d been blown into, more caffeine than really necessary circulating, a lot of complaints, full libraries, students running and yelling as they sprinted over the grass- no wait, that wasn’t right.
And yet it was.
Many a head turned to stare perplexed at the absurdity of the unfolding situation. Kuroo Tetsurou, a tall messy haired volleyball player, charming, bright and popular, was sprinting full speed across the campus, yelling something at the top of his lungs.
“TSUKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!”
Tsukishima had heard the sound and first thought it a mistake- before he turned to see the approaching one-person stampede and wanted to disappear off the face of the earth- or campus, at least. And not only because everybody was staring as the older one stormed in his direction, but also because he really didn’t want to talk with him ok was blocking out his number and Bokuto-san’s not clear enough a hint for this fucking moron?!
He tried to think rationally, to consider what was the best course of action, but the approaching student, screaming his name for everybody to hear, kind of beat all the rational out of him, and he acted on instinct. It’ll surprise nobody that that was to turn on his heel and sprint the fuck in the opposite direction.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!!!” he heard behind him, and, encouraged, he hastened his step, putting all his energy into getting away from the raging bull (cat?) trying to get him.
Once upon a time he would’ve stood a chance. Once upon a time he might’ve stood on equal grounds with the older male. But that time was not this one. He hadn’t really done any sports since joining university and Kuroo was still a class A volleyball player. No matter his resolve, he stood no chance.
“GOTCHA!” He heard as a strong weight threw itself against him and he tumbled down onto the grass. The bastard had just actually tackled him in the middle of campus! Tsukishima buried his face in the ground for a moment, fighting the blush because he knew, he could feel all the eyes on them, all the badly hidden giggles and snorts of contempt. He thought he even heard a lecturer wondering what was going on in the distance.
“Get the fuck off me, you asshole!” He kicked and struggled to get out of the other’s grip, without much effect. He’d never compared to Kuroo in strength, not really (and it might’ve thrilled him, under completely different circumstances, but this definitely wasn’t one of them).
“Not- until you- talk to me!” Kuroo wrestled and managed to turn the blond around, now straddling his stomach and keeping his arms pinned to the ground. It was a familiar position, and Tsukishima lost the battle against his blush, noticing the background noise increasing in volume.
“Get off, you’re hurting me,” he ground out between teeth, struggled a little, then finally turned his gaze upwards to meet the other’s eyes. He’s surprised to find Kuroo’s gaze absolutely stoic and serious, despite the somewhat heavy breathing due to exertion. Clearly he’d really gone all out. It didn’t help Tsukishima’s sense of déjà vu and embarrassment.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” He’s asked, iron grip keeping his wrists in the grass, messy bedhair floating above him.
“Maybe because you’re an embarrassing piece of trash- just get OFF me already!!”
Panic nearly grabbed a hold of Tsukishima as he met the other’s impassive expression. “You always forget I really don’t care that much about reputation, Tsukki.”
“Well maybe you should!”
Kuroo shrugged, and dropped the topic, but was still on top of him, in the middle of a beautiful patch of green grass, littered with brown leaves, in the middle- of-goddamn- campus!
“Tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”
Tsukki groaned and buckled his hips, trying to get the other off so he could hide in a corner and die of embarrassment already. The one on top of him only grinned, and mumbled, “Kinky.”, which, unsurprisingly, made the blond’s flush, a little softened, pick right back up.
“Go be kinky with somebody else, ok, I’m not interested in our local manslut.”
That one hurt, Tsukki could see it in the cringes forming around Kuroo’s eyes, but he really didn’t care. It was true, after all, he told himself as he looked away in spite.
“What the hell is your problem, Tsukki?!” The answer was a little ragged, and his hands were pushed harder into the humid ground.
“You are! Get off me and leave me alone!”
“No. That is the most bullshit I’ve ever heard out of your mouth Tsukki, and we both know you sprout a lot of crap, so be straight with me and tell me what the fuck this is all about?” Despite the anger clear in his voice, Kuroo sounded calm, but also strangely authoritative. It was a tone Tsukki had heard on the court many a few times, but never directed at him. He purposely ignored the tingle in his stomach. He wasn’t compelled to answer, but more and more people were walking past, watching them, spreading the gossip and he really really wanted to get out of here. Putting up one last struggle, he gave in.
“I don’t want to sleep with you anymore, ok?” He growled, low so nobody else would hear him.
Kuroo frowned. “Oh. Alright, I… I guess. And why does that mean you have to ignore my very existence? Fuck’s sake, Tsukki, even if you don’t want to fuck, can’t we at least be friends and get along?”
“Not when you’re prancing around with a neck full of hickeys all the time! I don’t want anything to do with that, ok?!”
He met the other’s eyes and was shocked into silence by the burning stare. “You don’t want to be around me because I have hickeys.” spoke the bedhair’s level voice. He got no reply, Tsukki only glared off into the distance to his left.
“You don’t want to be around me because I have hickeys that YOU didn’t put there.”
Tsukishima’s blush came back with a fury at the implications. But yeah, of course, wasn’t it only normal?! Of course he’d get mad under the circumstances!
He didn’t speak a word and kept his eyes turned away.
“You don’t want to have sex with me, because I’m having sex with somebody else.”
Tsukki growled, low in his throat, still avoiding eye-contact. He really didn’t need to hear it spelled out like that!
Kuroo sighed. “And who was the one who so persistently insisted that this was an open thing, something without any meaning besides the contact of two bodies seeking release? And yes those were your own damn words.”
The blond silenced at this, still glaring pointlessly in the distance. Those might have been his words, but so what, wasn’t it only natural to not be screwing a million people at the same time?
“Tsukki, you have absolutely no reason at all to be avoiding me. I have done absolutely nothing wrong.”
“Tch.”
“And I think you know that.”
“Well- maybe- but-!!”
“But what, Tsukki?”
There was so much tension in the air, every breath burned, his throat was dry with all the words spoken and unspoken and in need to be said. Tsukishima didn’t dare to meet the other’s eye, or open his mouth, until he heard a sigh.
Kuroo let go of his wrists and rubbed his neck, staring off into the distance. “Listen, Tsukki, we don’t need to become a thing if you don’t want to, but we can. All I’m saying here is that I’m not gonna have you avoid me and act like I’m some kind of bad guy, some sort of ‘manslut’, just coz-”
“Sorry.” Comes the softly mumbled reply. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Huhm.” But the other spoke no further, sense the young man he was still straddling was ready to say his part.
“I just… I think… I might… maybe… ughhh… I’ve fallen for you.” He grit it out, fast, in the hope it’d hurt less.
“Ha,” grinned the one on top of him. “That’s because I tackled you.”
With a outraged glare Tsukishima finally turned to meet the other’s eyes. “You know what I-”
“And that’d because I’m right behind you.” A smile so soft and tender replaced the cocky grin it make Tsukishima so possibly ever redder than before, as the meaning of the words seeped in.
Kuroo kisses him.
And they are still on a green patch, littered with leaves, in the middle of campus, but he kisses back.