The Promised Land [Kuroken Fanfiction]

6

The screen shone brightly inside the dark room, with the big words on the screen indicating the date, "17th June, 2012" Kuroo sighed heavily and he fell from the bed with a loud thud. He took off his VR headset and groaned loudly, walking out of his room to prepare for the day.

He washed his face and brushed his teeth, he saw how noticeable his eye bags were but he didn't care, his messy bed head was tangled and so he combed it despite it wasn't making much difference.

With a heavy sigh, he put on his suit, fixed his tie and got out of his apartment to go to work. The loud traffic noises bothered him a lot and he rubbed his temples, he desperately wanted to go home right now but he has skipped a day at work already, it would be irrational to skip another.

He has been working as an editor in newspaper for a while, it provided him a stable income and he was able to save enough money to buy himself an apartment, he glanced at his phone to check the time, his mind still a bit hazy, upon seeing the date of today, he trembled and sighed again.

27th February, 2020

With a slight groan, he crossed the road carefully, checking his left and right to ensure that no cars were passing by, then he arrived at his office after a few minutes. He was grateful that his office was near his home so that he didn't have to spend more money on taking the public transport.

He greeted a few of his colleagues and began his day at work, surprisingly, time passed by before he even realised that it was time to go home, so he packed his bags and left the office.

He has been living around here for 2 years already, and ever since then, he has a habit of visiting Yaku's cafe after work, after all, he does enjoy seeing his friend.

So he opened the door of the cafe, and a soft chime rang, with a voice calling out, "Welcome! Feel free to take a seat-" Yaku paused as he turned around with a smile, he grinned and approached Kuroo, "Usual thing?" He asked, pulling out a chair for his closest customer and friend, Kuroo nodded his head wearily and sat on the chair lazily.

Within a few moments, a hot steamy slice of apple pie was placed in front of Kuroo, with a cup of black coffee and Yaku quickly sat on the chair next to him. With a smile, he asked, "How was your day?"

"Normal. Nothing special, just the same old thing," He took a bite of the pie and gave a grimace of pain, "not that I dislike it." he added, to avoid the constant mothering from Yaku. But the latter merely rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "I know you skipped a day of work recently, your colleagues told me when they came by."

Kuroo's face was scrunched up, he chewed the bite of pie in agony and ran through his own hair with his other hand, letting out a soft groan, "So? What's your point?" He looked across the windows, gazing at the sombre and starless night sky, the moon covered with clouds and traffic lights blinking.

Yaku, who noticed the eyebags under Kuroo's eyes immediately frowned, he rubbed his temples and sighed, "Are you using that thing again?" He said bitterly, "I've told you many times already, you have to stop-"

"Using it to end my lingering thoughts of Kenma, yes I know that, but... I just can't live like this without him..." His voice trembled, he took another bite of the pie and sniffed, "Everything around me is reminding me of him, how can I move on?" He laid wearily on the comfy chair and let out another heavy sigh, covering his eyes with his hand as Yaku noticed a stream of tears rolling down his cheeks and dripped down his chin, landing on his suit, "We could have been living the happiest life together, we were so in love, so in love that he was so caught up in the moment..."

"You still have me." Yaku said suddenly, interrupting Kuroo's train of thought, he removed his hand and gazed at Yaku's hazelnut eyes, eyes still brimmed with tears and he let out a chuckle, "You're right, I still have you..." He finished his apple pie and took a sip of his black coffee, "Tell me about Kai, I haven't seen him for a while," He said, wiping his tears away, Yaku let out a forced chuckle, placing his head on his palms, "You haven't seen him because you haven't been coming to our reunions ever since... you know-"