Haikyuu x Reader

Kuroo Tetsurou - Nine Years Time

*Royalty/Victorian AU*

"I won't be long, I promise. A year at the most and then," he raised your hand up towards his lips, placing a lingering kiss against the skin of your knuckles before continuing, "we can finally get married, just like we've always wanted."

The war had been waging for far too long, but with the kingdom's final move on the horizons, it was only a matter of time before this would all be settled and an air of peace would once again fall over your home. You should've been happy, ecstatic even, that everything would go back to how it used to be before this entire conflict started, but the young man in front of you, that you had been so captivated by from the first time that you met, was about to leave to stand with his military. After all, some member of the royal family had to be present to negotiate the peace treaty and with his father becoming too old and frail to make the journey, it only made sense that the prince should take his place.

But, the goodbyes and the warm feeling of Tetsurou's hand engulfing yours nearly brought tears to your eyes. He was still going away to war and that title of "prince" just added a bigger target to his back. And even if it was only going to be for a year, those days would seem like an eternity as you waited for his letters and counted the weeks to his return.

"You'll wait for me?" Tetsurou asked, raising his hand to lay it gently against your cheek.

"I'll wait as long as I must to be with you, my prince."

But, that first year had ended with a letter announcing that things had not gone to plan. They would be staging a siege to cut off the supply lines of the enemy, but there was no telling how long they would be there, waiting for a surrender.

Hopefully they will see that their efforts are futile and I will be able to return to you quickly. I miss you more with every passing day and I want nothing more to have you in my arms once again.

Take care, my love, and I will see you soon.

K. Tetsurou

By the end of the second year, the letters had slowed. Monthly letters now came at a snail's pace of one every few months. And by the third year, they had stopped all together. No matter how many letters that you penned to your prince so far away, there was never anything in return. It was only after the fourth year that you stopped trying to reach him, giving up and letting the worst possible outcome consume you.

It was really the only logical outcome that your brain could come up with. If he was still alive, he would've written to you. He wouldn't have just ignored all of your letters. He would've gotten in touch with you somehow. The loss of the kingdom's prince, your first and only love, was the only explanation. And it tore you to pieces. He was meant to come back to you, officially make you his. Tetsurou was supposed to meet you in town when he rode back in with the rest of the troops and give you the kiss that you had been waiting so long for. But, there was none of that and there never would be any of that, because he was gone and he wasn't coming back.

The fifth year without him was the worst. You found yourself struggling to carry out your day to day tasks, unable to see the purpose in carrying on if he wasn't able to be there to give you tender kisses on your temple at the end of the day and hold you tightly within his arms. There would be days when you would see something that was so distinctly Tetsurou that you would quickly turn around and hastily walk in the opposite direction so that no one could see the way your eyes glistened with tears that wished to fall. You would lie awake and read his final letter to you over and over again, skimming your fingers across his name as if that would be enough to bring him back to you. You would anxiously wait for the mail every single day in the off chance that maybe, just maybe, this would be the day in which a letter would come announcing his return. But there was never anything apart from the occasional invitation to a ball or a letter from a friend that only brought sorrow to your heart when you realized that it wasn't the letter that you were hoping for.