Sands of Time [Kuroo Tetsuro X FemOC]

Blind Date

The food arrived half an hour later, much to everyone's surprise. Kiyoko helped Jade carry the boxes into the meeting room where she passed them all out. "Jade, there's an extra here."

"That's mine actually," Jade shook her head quickly before taking the bento box. She called out a final reminder to the others to wash their hands when they were finished as she left them to their food. She picked at her own food slowly, more in tune to what was going on in her book than the food before her and also ignoring her sister's phone calls. The latter was not a difficult task and took next to no effort. Jade didn't answer any phone calls on her mobile when she was on the clock and her sister knew that. Nyra was also smart enough to know not to call the library phone when Jade was this late into a closing shift.

"So you didn't have a date tonight." Kuroo was kind enough to wait for Jade to finish her chapter before speaking. He only just bit back the grimace on his face when she sighed and placed her bookmark.

"I did, actually." She glanced up through her lashes before poking at a sushi roll.

"You did. Past tense," he nodded slowly, picking at his own food. Of course she did. She's an attractive person, he thought before clearing his throat. "Did he cancel on you?"

"I canceled on him actually."

Kuroo's brows furrowed with worry. "Was it because I was an ass earlier?" He wondered, his voice hushed with embarrassment. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye and instead focused on the box of food in his hands.

"Well, I'm glad you admitted it but no, you had nothing to do with it." Jade explained. She saw the way his eyes brightened at her words when he finally looked at her and smiled gently. "It's going to be pretty late when I get out of here anyway, plus I've never met this Satori guy. I know nothing about him and, according to a recent text from my sister, he was going to pick me up. Call me paranoid, but-"

"If it makes you that uncomfortable he should respect that." Kuroo gave Jade a barely there smile before straightening. Her heart lurched at the sight. "Well, you're dressed up too nice to go home right away tonight, you should go do something fun."

Fun? Fun for Jade was listening to the rain as it fell. It was listening to her favorite music too much. Fun was falling asleep with a book in her bed. Fun was walking through the park with her earbuds in and no music playing. Fun was watching the sunlight peak through the leaves of trees. It came from watching young readers get excited over a new book only to come back a week later with words falling too quickly from their mouths and feverishly scanning the shelves for something, anything, to feed their newfound addiction.

"You know, I just started this book -" she tapped it with the butt of her chopsticks for emphasis "-and I'd really like to see where it goes. Plus, my cats are expecting treats when I get home."

Kuroo laughed. It always surprised her how goofy it was when it filled the emptiness of whatever space he was occupying. Whether it was a clearing two children had talked in or on the banks of a stream while she did the washing or a city library, the sound was like honey to her ears. "Did you really just use your cats as an excuse not to go out?"

"Don't laugh at me you rooster headed giant!" But Jade was laughing too. How could she not, when that laugh had been the source of her happiness for millennia? "They get cuddles every night after work. Would you like to see pictures of them?"

Jade didn't know it, but cats were by and far Kuroo's favorite animal. There was no way he was ever going to decline an opportunity to see these cats that he'd only ever heard about a handful of times. He needed to see them. "May I?" He asked. He managed to restrain himself enough to not snatch her phone away when she presented it to him with instructions to keep swiping. "How old are they?"