level up | kuroo tetsurou

16 | tsundere

Yuko prepared to go out with Kuroo and left the planning to him. As he waited for her, he sat on the living room, where Yua returned to with a pudding and spoon on her hand.

"Ondori-nii, do you want to watch TV?" Yua asked and grabbed the remote control from the coffee table.

"Sure, what shows do you watch?" Kuroo answered as the little girl sat right next to him.

"I like the cartoon channel," Yua gladly shared, "And the one with fashion shows and all that," she added and pressed on the power button.

"Oh? You like fashion, Yua-chan?" Kuroo asked, now staring at the changing television channels.

"Yes! Yuyu-nee makes me clothes," she revealed. "I want to model, Ondori-nii."

"Yuko makes clothes?"

"It's Yuyu-nee's secret hobby!"

"A secret hobby, uhuh," Kuroo chuckled.

"Oh no! It's a secret!" Yua exclaimed as she realized her mistake.

"It's okay, I won't tell," Kuroo reassured with a smile. "What kind of clothes does Yuko make?" he added out of curiosity.

"It's also a secret!" Yua refused to answer.

"How about I buy you more pudding?" Kuroo attempted on bribing the little girl.

"Why do you want to know, Ondori-nii? Do you like Yuyu-nee?"

"That's a secret too, Yua-chan," Kuroo said with a mischievious look on his face. "Well, your Yuyu-nee's my friend. I like her."

"I mean, like like her, Ondori-nii," Yua clarified.

"Oh, that one's a secret," Kuroo now refused to answer.

"No fair! Tell me, Ondori-nii!"

"Tetsu-kun, I'm ready," Yuko's voice interrupted the two. "And tell you what, Yua-chan?"

"Ondori-nii said he likes Yuyu-nee as a friend," Yua revealed, totally out of context.

"Ah, as friends," Yuko repeated. "We're friends, alright," she confirmed with a nod.

"I meant, I mean," Kuroo tried to correct her, but it wasn't exactly a good situation to confess. Not in front of a kid.

"We're going now, Yua-chan," Yuko said and gripped on the strap of her handbag.

"Ryo-nii, we're going now," Yuko informed.

"But I just made breakfast?" Ryo spoke from the kitchen.

"Bye bye," Yuko disregarded what he said. "That means more share for Yua," she added.

"Seriously?" Ryo asked but the sound of the door closing was all he heard next.

As the two got out of the house, Yuko was just silent and waited for Kuroo to say something. She was dying to know what really happened last night, even having doubts if he was playing around.

"Do you mind pancakes for breakfast?" Kuroo asked.

"I don't mind."

"Well, what's bugging you, kitten?" Kuroo continued.

"Not telling," Yuko answered. A "nothing" would have been a flat out lie, something has been bothering her after all.

"You said it was fine for us to cancel the dinner though," Kuroo pointed out much to her annoyance.

"Yes but-"

"So that's what's been bothering you."

Yuko let out a sigh, not liking his suave and casual attitude at this point. "Are you playing with me, Kuroo?" she confronted him and stopped walking.

"Playing?" Kuroo repeated in a soft mumble and looked at Yuko.

"Are you?"

"I'm not playing with you, Yuko-chan," he clarified. "If this is about Minami-"

"Yes, it's about her," Yuko confirmed with a nod.

"Minami's my ex-girlfriend. She ghosted me five months ago and even stopped going to school."

"Was it the first time you saw her again?"

"Yes, that's why I got surprised," he answered her seriously.

"Then," Yuko spoke in a bashful tone, "Aren't you getting back together?" she asked and averted her gaze somewhere else.

Kuroo observed her quick change of expression and answered again, "I'm not going back to her, kitten." He stepped closer to her and held her hand, "Now if everything's all clear, let's go continue our breakfast date, shall we?" he added with his suave smile.

"F-fine," Yuko shyly answered with her cheeks gradually getting dipped in a light shade of red.

Yuko snapped out of her tsundere mode and finally reverted back to her old self. She let Kuroo lead the way and choose where to eat.

"Sorry for acting that way," she apologized.

"The tsundere act?" Kuroo chuckled and glanced at his blushing date. Yuko nodded, unable to make eye contact.

"It's alright, it was cute."

"It wasn't an act though," Yuko corrected. "When I'm mad, I tend to," she added, "you know."

"It's okay, really," Kuroo reassured her as he tightened his hold on hers.

"We're here, Yuko-chan," Kuroo pointed out and stopped walking in front of a restaurant. "They serve the best fluffy pancakes here."

"Where are we going after?" Yuko asked as she stared at the glass window of the restaurant.

"Wanna come over to my house? No one's home."