The Man Who Ran Off With The Moon - [ Tsukkiyama Art Thief AU! ]

Breaking In

Tsukishima watched the clock run out, immediately sprinting out the door to catch the soonest possible train back to Denchofu.
He had not possessed an ounce of focus all day.

Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi.

It was against policy to check your phone during work. Tsukishima powered his back up, sickly surprised when there were no text updates from Kuroo. But... that's probably a good thing? No news is good news?
Tsukishima's hands fluttered nervously, fidgeting and folding, as he fixed his gaze on the view outside the train. Tokyo moved by in a blur, but it still felt much too slow for him.

I should just call Kuroo... see if everything is alright.

He rang him up as a trail of commuters filed in and out of the train, only to receive Kuroo's goofy voicemail. On the other end of the line, a pre recorded Kuroo cheerfully exclaimed, "Hi! You've reached the Kuroo-Kozume household", only to be intercepted by a series of muffled noises and Kenma yelling in the background, "You sound stupid, you're recording for your cellphone, not an operating service."
"Ok, how about, Hi! You've reached Kuroo, one half of the amazing Kuroo-Kozume household-"
"You sound stupid and you're still recording."
"Oh, how do I redo-"

A beep cut him short. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and declined to leave a voicemail. He was fidgeting enough to earn a rude look from the old woman sitting across from him. Tsukishima glared back at the old lady.

He was doing everything in his power to keep his feet from running at top speed back to the house. When he arrived, Tsukishima noticed the front gate had been opened. The house looked the same as always, spotless exterior and gravel path, but the front door was as wide open as the gate. Denchofu was quiet by nature, but a unique silence hung heavy in the air.

He slowly entered the house.

"Kuroo?"

He did a double take. The mess, the strewn about papers and shuffled cabinets, had been unnaturally amplified. Chairs were tipped over, the rug had been pulled back, drawers had been pulled from the walls and emptied. Tsukishima stepped lightly through the maze of silverware, broken cups, and books. He heard a roaring in his ears and realized it was his own pulse, his own blood rushing violently through his body. His feet carried him up the stairs. Wires leaked out of Kenma's gaming room. Tsukishima glanced sharply around the corner of the door frame to find that the expensive monitors had been taken.
"Kuroo? Yamaguchi?"

He went to Kuroo's bedroom and immediately saw a tattooed arm splayed on the ground from behind the bed.

"Kuroo!"

The dark haired man lay on the ground, a spilled cup of coffee inches from his hand. A nasty bruise was forming on his forehead. Tsukishima jumped on top of him, gripping Kuroo's shoulders, putting a hand to his neck to check for a pulse.
Kuroo groaned at the touch, fluttering his eyes open, registering Tsukishima's presence.

"Ooof.. Sorry, Glasses. I'm married."

Tsukishima realized how on top of Kuroo he was and immediately jumped off, dropping the other man. Kuroo thunked on to the ground, "Fuck. Ouch."

"Where's Yamaguchi?"

Kuroo sat up, rubbing his forehead. His eyes grew wide, "There- there was a man here. There was a man in dark clothes, I didn't see his face, and then everything went fuzzy. Jesus, my head hurts."

"Yeah, I think you got knocked out. Where's Yamaguchi?"
Kuroo gave him a look, irritatedly cupping his hand against his bruise. "What time is it?"

"About 5:30."

He stared off into space, recollecting himself. Tsukishima was about to snap at his friend to "think faster! You're fine!", but Kuroo finally answered.

"It was at like 4:45 he said he was going to nap.. that's one of the last things I remember. So this.."

Just happened. People were just here. In the house. That meant Yamaguchi could be-

Tsukishima ran down the stairs and out the backdoor, Kuroo woozily following. He sprinted up the stairs to the garage apartment, only to discover it was locked. Tsukishima aggressively shook the doorknob as he fumbled for the ring of keys in his pocket, pulling, pulling- Why won't this fucking open!? Not the right key, not the right key, not-

The mechanism clicked and the door opened. Yamaguchi blinked sleepily at Tsukishima, "Sorry, I locked the door, force of habit-"

"Oh, thank god." Tsukishima grabbed Yamaguchi into hug, overwhelmed with relief, but quickly realized his actions and pushed the green haired man away from him. Yamaguchi's eyes widened.

"Wh-what's going on?"

"You tell me." Kuroo muttered from the foot of the stairs, gazing up at them, leaning on the railing for support.
Yamaguchi stared at the bruise on Kuroo's forehead, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men.

"The house is ransacked. Kuroo got knocked out. Some stuff's missing."

"Wait, hold on, what's missing?", Kuroo protested. Tsukishima turned, already not looking forward to his reaction. "Kenma's gaming stuff. Probably some other things."

"FUCK."

"Was it just a simple robbery, or-", Yamaguchi started, only to be cut off. Kuroo started up the stairs, punctuating his words with his steps.

"Tch. Sorry. No, it wasn't a simple robbery.
I hate talking about money, but we've got one of the best security systems you can buy. This was not some stupid little robbery."

Kuroo took a breath. His eyes gleamed dangerously.

"This, Yamaguchi, this is some more WEIRD shit to add to the list of all the weird fucking shit that's been happening since you showed up with your weird life threatening injuries
and the weird stuff in your pockets
and your weird secrets- and, AND your weird fucking pancakes that were technically not weird because they were delicious- but, BUT, YEAH. I just wanted to say I'm tired of this shit!"

Kuroo jabbed a finger at Tsukishima, who instinctively stepped back, the stair railing digging into his back. He had never seen Kuroo express genuine anger before. It was a bit frightening.

"Tsukishima isn't going to pry because he's terrified that he's gonna do or say the wrong thing and you're going to run off again, but those rules do not apply to me."

"Hey!" Tsukishima began to protest, but Kuroo silenced him with a look.

"My head fucking hurts, my house is a mess, my husband is gonna lose his mind when he learns his computers are gone, and I'm soooo done letting you walk all over Kei.
You've been missing for eight fucking years."

Kuroo grabbed Tsukishima, pushing him in front of Yamaguchi.

"I may not know you well, but I know that you have caused so much pain to the people that were close to you.
You. Owe. Him. An. Explanation."

Yamaguchi stared up at Tsukishima. His face was calm, unshaken by the tirade Kuroo had just unleashed, but a question floated in his eyes. Tsukishima looked away. He knew Kuroo was right, but he didn't want to force an answer out of Yamaguchi. Everything felt so fragile.

"Did you hear me? I said-"

Yamaguchi heaved a soft, small sigh, cutting Kuroo off. Tsukishima looked back at him.

"Okay. I'll tell you what's going on."