level up | kuroo tetsurou

angst

random angst and sadness
because I'm feeling very blue

sorry if it's not as good as
the other chapters. this idea
just popped in my head

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

DECEMBER 10
8

:46PM

It's almost your winter break and while everyone in your household is busying themselves with the holiday preparations, you were in an empty playground swing, waiting for Kuroo.

It was unusually windy tonight and you feel the breeze on your fingers wrapped around the swing chain. Anytime now, he'd arrive, you thought, despite how he's already forty-five minutes tardy.

Being late to your dates wasn't so new by now. Kuroo loved volleyball, he loved his strength, power and skill. You knew all too well that he loved it, he loved it more than you. And that was supposed to be fine.

"Y/N-chan," you finally heard a masculine voice from afar.

"Tetsu?" you called him back as you looked back.

"It's me, Lev, sorry, sorry," he said in a playful tone, though something sounded off today.

"Don't be sorry," you mumbled, but you couldn't hide the disappointment on your face. You weren't classmates with Kuroo and you both belonged to different clubs. Naturally, you hoped he'd at least make time.

"Is training already over?" you asked him.

"Yes. Rui-chan told us to go home," he answered.

"Oh. Rui?"

"The new manager, Y/N-chan."

"Oh. But Kuroo-san's still training," he added, easing your suspicions that he stood you up.

"I think I'll just go to him," you said, grabbing your bag.

"Wait, are you sure, Y/N-chan?"

You don't give him an answer. You just wanted to see him.

"W-Well, see ya around, Y/N-chan!" he said as you hurried to go back to Nekoma.

"Oh, Kuroo-san," Lev sighs, observing you disappear from a distance.

The park wasn't too far from school. With just a two-minute walk, it doesn't take long before you reach the volleyball gym. Back in Nekoma, you see the skies dimming and not a single student was around. Just you and the volleyball gym.

The gym door was unlocked and gently, you slid it open.

"KUROO-SAN," you heard a sweet-sounding feminine voice before you got to open the door fully. From there, you could only have a peek.

"Yeah? Rui?" And finally, his voice followed. You slid the door a little more the the left to get a better view.

"Tetsu?" you mumbled at the strange sight. He was sitting on a bench next to a shorter girl with short brown hair, she was probably the manager Lev was talking about.

Not telling you about the new girl was one thing, but from this point on, everything felt, well, wrong. You've never seen Kuroo let another girl be that close to him, or at least after you got together. He always knew how to make distance. Or so you thought.

"Here, water," the girl offered, then handed him a water bottle. This is part of what managers do, you knew that.

"Thanks, Rui," he said with a subtle smile. He grabbed it from her to drink.

"You worked hard enough today. Don't you think it's time to go home? I mean, to the dorms," she asked before he finished.

"I think another round of serving will do," he said.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Captain."

"I won't. Don't worry for me, Rui."

"How can I not? You train day and night. Even Kenma-san went home," she contradicted.

"I just wanna do better."

"You're already good enough, Kuroo-san," she said, then looked up to face him.

"Am I?" he asked, moving his head closer. You didn't like how this was going.

"Yeah, mhmm, you are," she answered.

Kuroo went silent, quietly looking at her from that close. Seconds pass, without either of them talking, and you just stood there, frozen.

Moments later, the girl doesn't even bulge and if your eyes weren't deceiving you, she already had her eyes closed.

The silence was defeaning. You could feel the tension from where you stood and you worried where this was all going to lead to.

Kuroo lifted her chin slowly, just like the way he does to you, and he tilted his head. He examined it first, like he was having second thoughts. He was tempted.

"I'm sorry, Rui," he mumbled, but instead of letting go of her chin, his hand gently cupped her cheek.

"Ah, right," she muttered, nodding.

"I'm sorry, Rui," he repeated, then he tucked her hair behind her ear, "You know about Y/N."

"It's okay, I know," she said, placing her hand on his as he caressed her cheek again.

"But I'll always be here, okay?" she added, "If you-"

"I love you, Rui."

"And I know that too, Kuroo-san."

"I just can't leave her. I can't break her heart."