level up | kuroo tetsurou

12 | otome

"Mimori-chan," Kuroo called her name. "What are you doing here?" he asked, then glanced at Yuko staring.

"I was hoping we could talk, Tetsu," she answered with a mellow tone. Very feminine, Yuko thought.

"Sorry but-" Kuroo turned her down and looked at Yuko once again, but got interrupted.

"It's okay," Yuko reassured him. "We can eat out next time. It doesn't have to be tonight."

"Thank you," the girl named Mimori spoke and lowered her head momentarily.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she nodded, forcing out a smile.

"Fine," Kuroo sighed, not liking the seemingly uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Let's head outside, you know, somewhere else more private," Mimori suggested and carded her hair with her fingers.

"Sorry about this, Yuko-chan," Kuroo apologized and scratched the back of his head.

"It's okay." Yuko smiled.

"Take care on your way home," he added.

Yuko nodded and watched the two walk away. She stared at the door as they left and shortly after, she headed to the women's toilet. There was no one else inside, thankfully, and Yuko looked at herself on the mirror, all dressed up for nothing.

"So they're a thing," she muttered, "Or something.

She sighed as she zipped open her bag to grab her hair brush. She brushed away all the curled ends of her hair that she spent an hour on and put her hair up on a ponytail. She put on a mask and took a deep breath before heading out.

Meanwhile, as for Kuroo, he wasn't enjoying a second of it. He was standing at the back of the gym, alone with Mimori.

"Mimori, we're over." He reminded, "What do you want?"

"Don't you like me anymore, Tetsu?" she asked with a pleading face.

"So this is what this is about?"

"Just answer the question," she demanded, her brows furrowing.

It was a question Kuroo couldn't answer. He averted his gaze from her and looked towards the ground. He couldn't mouth a lie, but there was something he was sure of.

"You ghosted me."

"I needed time for myself, Tetsu," she defended. "You started talking about the future and-"

"It was overwhelming, okay?" she clarified.

"I was serious about you. Then you left me like that and you just appear again like this," Kuroo remarked before walking away.

"Wait, Tetsu!" she grapsed his wrists.

"It's because of that girl, isn't it? That famous streamer? Why DiA?"

"Yuko has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone."

"You like her?" she tightened her hold, much to Kuroo's annoyance.

"So what?" he turned around and flung his hand away from her, freeing himself from her grip.

- - - - - - - - -

Yuko arrived at her house half an hour later. Her energy was drained with the appearance of that woman and she just wanted to play on her own.

"I'm home," she announced as she entered the house. The familiar smell of fried chicken reached her senses and Yua's loud greeting broke her sad train of thoughts.

"Yuyu-nee, welcome home!" the younger spoke and rushed to Yuko.

"Ryo-nii's making fried chicken!" she happily informed her sister.

"It's your favorite, right, Yua-chan?" Yuko spoke, faking her enthusiasm.

"Yes!" she nodded.

"I'll just head to my room, Yua-chan. Call me if dinner's ready, okay?"

"Okay!"

Yuko dragged herself upstairs with the little energy she had left. Upon entering, she quickly changed and threw herself in the soft cushions of her bed. "Finally," Yuko mumbled with a dead tone.

Her phone screen lit up, due to a notification, Yuko thought. Guessing that it might be from Kuroo, Yuko turned it off and placed it away. She sat up from her bed and stretched, now deciding what to do to take him mind off her mind.

She made her way to her computer and with an idea on her head, she chose to play otome games. A date with 2D men.

"Nightshade," she murmured as she clicked on the game icon.

"What route am I taking again?" she tried to remember and chose among the game files.

"Ah right, Kuroyuki."

"Kuro..." she muttered, "Kuroyuki."

She frowned before clicking on the save file, the name was a little too familiar. Not even just the name, even the character's bangs reminded her of him.

Meanwhile, for Kuroo, he wasn't having the best day either. He walked home with Kenma, the total opposite of what he planned. He was supposed to be eating with Yuko, conversing about her likes and dislikes, and maybe even plan another date.

"Can you believe that? She leaves me, then I date another girl, then she just shows up like that. Now Yuko's not replying back," Kuroo vented while Kenma played a game on his console.

"Uhuh," Kenma nodded, focused on his game.

"Yuko's probably mad," Kuroo worried.

"Do you want to see her?" Kenma finally responded properly.

"Yes, of course I do," Kuroo answered and nodded.

"DiA might be streaming," Kenma suggested.