Haikyuu x Reader

Kuroo Tetsurou - Everywhere

*Warning: Major Character Death*

It's in the sound of the door clicking shut at 5:37 every afternoon. It's in the sound of the kettle singing brightly in the morning, signaling the coming warmth and comfort of a fresh cup of tea. Clinking spoons against bowls and the smell of fresh brewed coffee ready to be poured into mugs and carried to work. Everything carries him with it. Kuroo Tetsurou turned your tiny little one bedroom apartment from just a place to come home to at the end of the night into a home that smelled like pine and green apples, where both sides of the bed were warm and legs were tangled in moments of lazy intimacy with blankets cast over laps and heads met shoulders in tender silence.

He was home in the feeling of the sun raining in through the blinds every morning, warming your skin and pushing your face further into Kuroo's chest, pulling the duvet further over your body, not ready for the abrasive ringing of his alarm that would come in only a matter of minutes. He would snooze it the first time, slamming his head against the bedside table until he found his phone to hit that magic button to shut that damn thing up. In ten minutes, those amber eyes would ease open, catching the rays of the morning sun in a way that would make them glow brighter than any star in the night sky. He would breath deep, his back arching off the mattress ever so slightly as he would stretch out his long body for the first time in hours. The hand that was laid securely on your waist for most of the night would drift up to rub the sleep from his eyes before raking through his hair with a disgruntled groan. It was the start to every morning and neither of you could ask for a better beginning together. Elbows would bump and laughter would echo through the tiny bathroom as the two of you brush your teeth, taking turns to spit in the single sink. He would help you fix the back of your hair and you would stand on your toes to better reach his lips where a gentle kiss would be placed for the first time that day.

The smell of coffee wafting through the apartment would pull you from the bathroom as you neared the end of your morning routine, two tubes of lipstick in your hands. "As stunning as always," Kuroo says, a gentle smile on his face as he leans down to give you a second kiss before dividing the coffee between two travel tall travel mugs, whole milk and two spoons worth of sugar added into his mug while you prepare your own.

You stop him before he can open a new kitchen cabinet to grab two bowls. "Baby Doll or Corset?" You hold up the two tubes of lipstick, one in each hand to give him a clear view of both colors.

Kuroo takes both tubes from you, examining the colors closer and then looking back at you, taking in your outfit, the color of your eyes, the pretty sparkles that you added onto your eyelids that you would complain about taking off later. He did this every morning. He would look at the colors and then look at you, going back to the tubes of lipstick only seconds later. But his answer was always the same.

"Baby Doll for my baby doll."

And Kuroo would laugh a warm steady laugh as you would meet the eyes of your reflection in the microwave and part your lips to swipe the applicator with that sweet Baby Doll pink across them. It was domestic bliss at its finest, the life that Kuroo had always dreamed of, the life that you had graciously given him without a second thought. Even with all of the ups and downs, the long nights spent in a tight stubborn silence because both of you refused to admit that you were wrong, you were still his favorite version of home to come back to at the end of the day. He took comfort in how tightly your arms would settle around his waist as he trudged through the door after work, not even having time to set his briefcase down before you were beaming up at him happily, asking him how his day was, waiting for him to lean down for a kiss that you would accept wholeheartedly.

It's 11:17 when he finally settles into bed next to you, hair still damp from a shower, ready to be ruffled under the brutal assault of a pillow in his slumber. You would always start on your separate sides, but by 11:20, the space between you would be reduced to nothing and his hand would find the dip in your waist, drawing small circles against your skin as your nose filled with the comforting scent of pine and green apples.

But that scent had long begun to fade and the warmth from the right side of the bed was gone after the first night without him. There was no obnoxious alarm to pull you both from your slumber in the morning and there was freshly brewed coffee in your travel mug when you finished your make-up. The Valentine's Day roses had wilted into a sad brown clump of dead buds on the dresser, but you just couldn't bring yourself to throw them away, letting the smell of death puncture the air, but it's not like you could bring yourself to care anyway.

You took it better than you ever thought you would. The first day after it all happened, his phone still sang its song and you got out of bed at 6:30 after snoozing it only once, just like you would every other morning. The sheets and the pillows still smelled like him and his toothbrush was still in the cup right next to yours. If anyone would ask you about those first few days, you would say that you swear he had been there the entire time. You can so vividly remember seeing him in the mirror next to you in the morning and you distinctly remember the smell of fresh coffee as you applied your final bit of make-up. Your boss had been so surprised to see you waltz into the office that first day, your normal cheery smile on those pretty Baby Doll colored lips, but had said that they were happy to see you holding up so well.

The last rose wilted on day three and it was on that day that you waited patiently for the click of the door that would signal Tetsurou's return from the office. 5:37 came and went and there was no sound of the door. It was 6:37 before you dialed his cell phone to ask if he was okay, but the automated voice of a woman on the other end just told you to leave a message after the tone. His phone died on the second day. He hadn't been there to put it on the charger the night before and the battery finally gave out.

You had never realized how cold a queen sized bed was when there was no one to share it with.

It had been eight days since you stood next to his grandmother, silent tears rolling down your face as you held your sides in some desperate attempt at comfort. A piece of granite stood strongly in the grass at the head of a large hole in the ground. It had been etched with a name that you didn't think you'd be seeing on a headstone for many more years, but the beautiful script was too real.

Kuroo Tetsurou

Loving grandson, son, and fiance

November 17, 1994 - February 15, 2021

You hadn't left his side of the bed in days, scared that if you moved the last faint whiff of his scent would finally disappear. The pillows that would style his hair each night were now stained with a mix of mascara and tears from long hours of crying until you didn't have any tears left to give.

Kuroo Tetsurou should have been everywhere. But he wasn't. Kuroo wasn't there to kiss you goodbye and he wasn't there to pull the blanket up over your body on those evenings where you would fall asleep whilst watching reruns of whatever sitcom was on that day. No, Kuroo wasn't there. His stuff was. His dead phone was on the bedside table. His favorite coffee cup still sat in the sink unwashed. His briefcase sat next to the door, collecting a thin layer of dust on the leather. His shoes still sat next to yours, making them seem so small in comparison.

Kuroo Tetsurou's stuff was everywhere and it was suffocating you with the constant reminder that he had died alongside those roses, leaving you alone in your tiny little one bedroom apartment.