𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲

Chapter 12

Date: 21nd December
Place: Nekoma High cafeteria
Time: 12:36 PM

Kuroo sat in front of Kageyama, watching him as he stuffed his mouth with cookies. For a few minutes, it was funny. But now, it seemed horrifying. "Why is this guy eating like this?", he twitched his eyes. Then as if that wasn't enough, Kageyama picked up his milk pack and drank it all in one go. And he choked on 'em. "Is this guy even a human?"

"Ayo man, you okay?", Kuroo asked him, watching him desperately trying to catch his breath. he passed him a glass of water.

"Y-yes... defi-... nitely... I'm fine"

"I mean, it doesn't look like you're fine. When was the last time you had any food?", Kuroo was really concerned. "Isn't he getting enough food at home?"

Kageyama wiped his mouth and thought for a few seconds. "Why is he thinking?", Kuroo's mind was all over the place.

"Uhm, last night. Why did you ask?"

"Buddy, seriously? Is everything okay? Are you not well?", Kuroo bent over the bench to reach Kageyama and dramatically placed his hand on Kageyama's forehead, checking his temperature. "Should I call the nurse room?? Your temperature is rising"

"Pfft- what are you talking about Kuroo-san?", Kageyama waved his hand in the air.

"WHY ARE YOU EATING LIKE THAT?", Kuroo widened his eyes and thumped on the table lightly.

"Tomorrow is my birthday", Kageyama said

"Happy early birthday..!! Now tell me why were you eating like that?"

"KUROO-SAN, TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY..!!"

"YEAH, AND I ALREADY WISHED YOU AN EARLY BIRTHDAY..!! WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH MY QUESTION??!!"

Kageyama buried his face in his palms, "who made you our team captain?", his words were muffled. He raised his face and looked straight at Kuroo who still didn't have even a single clue of what was going on. "Tomorrow is my birthday and-"

"Why are you repeating lines??"

"LET ME COMPLETE YOU DUMB GROWN-UP PERSON..!!", Kageyama lost his mind and yelled. Kuroo shrunk into his chair and gestured to Kageyama to continue. "-And I'll get my diary. Which is scary... and cookies are my new-found coping mechanism"

"Oh," Kuroo said half embarrassed. "Uhm yeah, cookies do make a great coping mechanism. But not if you're gonna choke on them and die... slow down". He gave him another glass of water.

"So, you're worried about your diary huh... yeah makes sense... should've guessed", Kuroo said.

"Whoever made you our team captain, clearly didn't do their job properly", Kageyama mocked him. In response, Kuroo threw a spoon at him which hit right on his head. "TAKE THAT", Kuroo laughed hysterically.

"Shut up Kuroo-san, you don't know anything," Kageyama said rubbing his forehead, "my anxiety is eating me alive..!!"

The lunch break was almost over. Kuroo assured Kageyama that they'd discuss this once the school was over. Since they lived near to each other, they always walked back home together. So they had a lot of time to talk about everything that has been going on in their lives.

Previously, they used to talk about volleyball mostly... and sometimes how stupid Lev was. But now, all they talked about was Kuroo's diary. It was sometimes annoying to Kageyama. More sad than annoying actually... he desperately wanted to have his diary, and talk to his soulmate. He didn't think his birthday eve would be so very full of stress.

The second half of Kageyama's day went in staring out of the window and counting how many airplanes have flown past. 28. "That's a lot of flying~", he thought to himself as he let off a big sight.

"KAGEYA-", just when the teacher was about to yell at him for not paying attention, the last school bell rang. "Nevermind. But you're the last person I'd expect to get distracted during a class..!!", they yelled anyway. "Okay everyone, I need your assignments done by the-", their words faded away as Kageyama's mind got clouded with thoughts again.

Once the teacher signaled the class to dismiss, he swung his bag on his shoulder and swiftly ran out of the class, throwing a few "sorries" at everyone he pushed in the process. Kuroo was already standing at the school gate waiting for him, that was their usual meeting spot.

"Woah Woah, you got a dog chasing you?"

"I got time chasing me", Kageyama replied with a straight face. He didn't like it much when Kuroo made bad jokes, but sometimes those were a relief.

"Damn man, you're good with words"

They started walking slowly towards their home. "You should've listened to me and attended that counseling session I told you about", Kuroo said. Every year, they had a seminar planned in their school for people who were about to get their diary. It was to help them with their "diary anxiety", as they liked to call it.

"I know I should've... but I didn't. So tell me what's next?"

"Why exactly are you worried?"

"How are you so dumb Kuroo-san?", Kageyama squinched his eyes. "Well, I'm worried because of the fact that my soulmate may not be my crush"

"Or he may be, right?", Kuroo said, "did Hinata get any messages yet?"

To be honest, Hinata wasn't talking much to Kageyama these days. So he didn't know if Hinata had gotten any messages yet or not. He just shook his head a no.

"That's a great start..!!"

"He'll call me to wish me tonight, I'll him then", Kageyama said, eyes fixed on the road.

"Don't worry dude, everything will be fine... and it isn't like we can change anything by worrying. Chill up, man..!!", Kuroo gave a hard pat on Kageyama's back which made him stumble a bit.

Kageyama made an annoying face and said, "you don't get to say that..!! You already have a soulmate, so shut up". Kuroo just laughed in response.

The rest of their walk was filled with Kuroo explaining to Kageyama how pastries made a better coping mechanism than cookies, and Kageyama denying.

They finally parted their ways at a fork and Kageyama went to him home. He greeted his mother and sister, and went straight to his room, and flopped on the bed. "I don't want to do it, and do it at the same time... aaggrrhhh", he covered his face with his hands.

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[Word Count - 1015]

A/N - oh, how I wish we could see this friendship on the screen...!! I somehow think that they'd be a fun pair to watch... anyway, I'll be uploading the next chapter right away because the two are connected and I don't want y'all to wait till tomorrow. 

fun fact: I totally forgot to write about Kageyama's birthday, and I wrote these two chapters (this and the next one) on spot. aahahaha, I'm dumb.