𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 | 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 ! 𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐨 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 |

4: love sick

 

Monday, back at school, Kuroo was eating lunch with Kenma and the rest of the volleyball team. They were talking about something that he wasn't paying attention. His mind was preoccupied with watching you from across the cafeteria, as you idly laughed and chatted with your two closest friends at a table in the corner.

Clenching his fists so tightly that his nails dug into the flesh of his palms, Kuro gritted his jaw. Why is she talking to those girls? She should be talking to me. ME!

"-roo, Kuroo?"

Kuroo blinked, returning to reality at the sound of Lev's voice. "Yah?"

"You seem really distracted, what's up?"

"Mm... nothing," he dismissed the silver-haired boy.

"You keep looking over there," Yaku gestured to your end of the cafeteria.

"Ooh, does Kuroo have a crush on someone?!" Lev squealed.

"What? Shut up!" Kuroo punched Lev's shoulder.

"Oh, he totally does," Kai sing-songed.

"Who is it? Is she hot?" Yamamoto asked.

"Hey, I don't like—"

"Kuroo, your face is red all over, don't even bother denying it," Kenma said flatly without even looking up from his screen — he had his laptop out on the table and was playing some RPG game.

"Aww~ well, you caught me," Kuroo chuckled deeply.

"Who is she?"

"Her name's y/n, she's super cute... we only spoke once though," Kuroo said, conveniently leaving out the fact that he'd followed you for hours over the weekend. Minor details.

"You should totally make your move," Lev prompted, "any girl would be an idiot to turn you down."

"Jeez, Lev, his ego's already big enough, don't go flattering him," said Yaku.

True enough, Kuroo didn't need much more convincing. She wouldn't reject me. No way. She'll be mine before I know it. "Yeah, I'll probably ask her out soon."

The whole table hooted noisily in approval. Except for Kenma. The smaller boy stood up abruptly, his chair squeaking on the floor as he pushed it back. He slammed his laptop shut with brute force and grabbed it roughly. "I don't feel well. I'm going to the nurse's office," he said bluntly.

Normally, Kuroo would have offered to walk Kenma to the nurse's office, but today he barely noticed the sudden change in his friend's normally placid mood.

"Yikes, what's up with him," Lev stage-whispered after Kenma had walked away.

Kuroo rolled his eyes jokingly. "Man period. Anyway, who cares? The real question is, how should I ask y/n out?"

-

All through the next few weeks, Kuroo had been watching you. He purposely changed the route he walked through to go to class just to walk past your locker. One eye always on you at lunch time. Taking the same bus home as you and following you all the way back to your house, making sure you got inside safely. And the entire time, his camera had been shuttering away, collecting a candid view of your lifestyle.

He'd learnt so many things about you just from following you around.

One: you hung out with your two friends after school at the local cafe to study twice a week. He didn't like it. You shouldn't be hanging out with anyone but him.

Two: you had a bully. Her name was Naoka Ueno, a second year in your class. He often saw her picking on you for the most meagre things, like a rumpled uniform or an out-of-date bag. She'd constantly make snide remarks at you when passing your locker. Recently, Kuroo had heard a rumour floating around the girls of Nekoma that someone had written on the girl's bathroom mirror, 'F/n L/n is a fat slut'.

He could guess exactly who the culprit was. It made his blood boil until he couldn't see straight. No one would get away with bullying you. He swore on his life that he would make Naoka pay.

Kuroo felt the familiar rage well up inside him now, sizzling just from thinking about you getting bullied.

He breathed out slowly to calm himself. All in good time, Tetsurou. Everyone will get what they deserve. He sung to himself quietly as he pressed a thumbtack into the wall, pinning up yet another photo of you. It hadn't taken long for him to accumulate a whole gallery of you. All you. The walls were filled with printed pictures, overlapping each other like a mad scientists idea board.

In a low, deep voice, he hummed the lyrics to a song he'd heard somewhere — he couldn't remember where, but the lyrics had stuck in his head.

Such innocent words to a Christmas song, turned sinister to anyone who knew the real meaning that Kuroo injected behind them:

I want you to know,

That I'm n̴̹̰̍͛̃̈̒͐͒̚ė̵̪͕̪̓̂́͊́̎͋͛̕v̷̨͔̻̭͇̬͙͗͛͛e̸̦͕͐́r̸͙̙̜̀͒͋̈́̀͝ ̵̝̱͛̋̄͘͝͠l̵̯̙̮̥̖̠͔̩̦̘̍e̶͇̜̭̒̈́̈́͝a̷̢͕̘͓̳̯̰͓͓͈͆͑͑v̴͇̗̘̝̺̬̫̳͎͂̉̿͒̏i̵̢̢̛̹̗̫̹̥̝̫̝̾͑ņ̴̞̩̔̒̋̋̄̈́̽g̷̛̭͇̻̽͑͛͆̓̏̀ͅ

Cause I'm Mister Snow,

Till ḑ̸̛͎͚̔̚e̶̤͉͚̦̭̍̊̾̒̏̈́a̴̡̼̻͆́͗̌̋̚̚̚͝͝ͅt̶̟̳͙̞͎̳͛͆̈́͌͝h̵̡͈̅ͅͅ we'll be freezing...

Yea y̵̛̲͍̐̽̓̃̉̈͑̚ơ̷͉̭̟͓̞̻̱̝̾̓̓̓͒ú̴̧̺̻̪̟̻̻̹͍̀͋̐̂̒̇̀̀͠ are my home, my home for all seasons

So come on, let's go...

Let's go below zero, and h̷͓̻̼̘̍̉̂̈́̈ͅï̸͎̝̬̟͚͖̣͜d̶͍̲̲̰̍͒̄̏̔͆ͅė̶̡͕̬̞̼̔ from the sun

I love you f̶̡̖͙͍̌͂ơ̶̥͕̯̐̓̍̄͒̉̚̚r̷̲͔͎̳̙̣̺̈̀̓̀̇̓͠͝e̴͕͒̀̏́̎̀̆͛͆͘v̸̛̹̬̈́̉͜e̷̙̖̖̍̎̃r̶̘̙͊̃

where we'll have some fun...

Kuroo finished tacking the final photo into the wall and stepped back to admire his work. Y/n would be so flattered by everything that I'm doing for her... she'll realise soon enough that she needs me, and I need her.