When Kei woke up, it was to the sound of the front door closing and voices calling out a welcome greeting, which Kuroo replied to. It wasn't that loud, but he still groaned quietly at the noise, glancing up and meeting the other's loving gaze. The older visibly brightened when their eyes met, unable to keep the smile from his lips. "Sorry if I woke you, sweets. Did you sleep well?"

Tsukishima nodded, mumbling a quiet 'yeah' and sending him a small smile in return. He had to admit that it was nice to wake and still be curled close to his boyfriend, the older teen idly stroking his hair as he quietly watched the end of the movie. After a nap, he didn't feel as bad as he did before, and though he didn't particularly feel like doing much either, it was peaceful.

"That's great, I'm glad. My moms are home now, by the way," Tetsurou replied, tenderly cupping the blond's cheek and kissing his temple. "Lunch will probably be in about half an hour, we don't have to get up until then. We can just stay here for a little longer, just the two of us."

Kei nodded, leaning into the warmth of the older teen's hand. "That sounds nice," he murmured, moving one of his hands to be resting on top of the raven's one on his cheek and reluctantly pulling away so he was sitting up. He gave Kuroo a smile for a moment, guiding their hands to be resting in between them and lacing their fingers.

"Yeah, it should be good. They're much better at cooking than I am." Kuroo hummed softly, brushing his thumb over the back of the blond's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He gently lifted up the younger teen's hand, pressing a feather-soft kiss to his knuckles. "Hey, Kei? About what happened earlier..." he began, hesitating slightly, "I just want to let you know that I know it's going to be hard for a while. Things like this don't just disappear, you don't just magically wake up and find all your problems have vanished, and I understand that you'll need time and might not want to bother us or something. But you won't have to deal with it alone from here on in. You're never a burden or an annoyance, and you won't have to face these battles on your own. Even if the best thing for you is to just stay with me and rest, or if talking isn't what's going to help, I want to support you. No matter how long it takes for things to start looking up, I'll be here for you, we all will be."

The blond's eyes softened as he looked up from kissing his hand, hazel eyes meeting honey-brown. The amount of love evident on Tetsurou's expression, care slipping in through each word, it made a warmth spread through his chest. Before he could stop himself, Tsukishima let go of his hand, pulling the dark haired male into a tight hug once again. "I'll try my best to remember that, but don't be afraid to remind me. You and I both know I've done some stupid things, that I tend not to do the logical thing when I'm stressed. And you, Tet-kun, please remember that I love you," he whispered, smiling once more when he felt Kuroo immediately relax and hug him back. Kei was glad that his boyfriend felt comfortable with his sudden affection, and it was a reliefknowing that he could show the other that he cared about him just as much.

"I will, firefly. I love you too," Kuroo murmured, nuzzling into Kei's hair. "And, uh, I really like it when you call me that. Nobody's called me that before, so it's a special nickname because it's from you, and it's cute."

The blond pulled away slightly so he could look up at Tetsurou, laughing quietly when he saw the deep blush on his cheeks. "You're cute," he replied quickly, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. He found it adorable how flustered Kuroo seemed to get when it came to things like this, he'd never really imagined that the other would be that way, and couldn't help but blurt it out. It took Tsukishima a moment to realise what he'd said, his ears turning a shade of bright pink to match the other's blush when he did so.

It was Tetsurou's turn to laugh at that, the older teen shrugging slightly and winking at him. "Why, thank you. I must say, you're cute too, Kei-Kei. Especially when you're asleep and curled up to me, I just feel like holding you close forever."

"Lies, you're obviously the cuter one. When you have a blush like that, it's not possible for you to not be cute, Tetsurou," Kei said, chuckling softly when he heard the quiet, whining 'nooo' from the other. He playfully rolled his eyes, humming in thought before continuing to speak. "But if you're going to insist... I suppose there are worse things to be called, especially coming from you. It's an exception I make for you and you only, so don't overuse it."

The way that a Kuroo lit up was immediate, a wide grin spreading across his face and his eyes twinkling. Maybe it was a small thing, but seeing that simply agreeing to letting his boyfriend give him a compliment brought such joy to the raven was really sweet. "Okay, cutie," Kuroo replied, leaning in and pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose.

Kei scrunched up his nose slightly because of it, but a small smile remained on his lips. "Yeah, yeah, I get it," he mumbled, hoping the blush on his cheeks wasn't too dark. "And Tetsurou? About what you said earlier, I, uh, I don't mind it when you hold me close. Maybe not for forever, but, I'd enjoy it every now and then." As their eyes met once more, he couldn't help but feel lucky even despite everything that had happened. Life could and would be difficult, but he supposed that he could get through it if they were together.

x-X-x

As soon as the two of them left the room and headed to the kitchen for lunch, Kei was worried, but hoped that meeting Tetsurou's mothers wouldn't turn out to be as daunting as he'd convinced himself it would be. He couldn't help but feel nervous, not wanting to mess things up or make a bad impression on Kuroo's parents, the people that could be his future mothers in law. Especially since he'd already messed up with his own parents, he didn't want them to see him as a disappointment as well.

Looking up at Kuroo—who had his arm lightly wrapped around his waist—he noticed that a blush was already turning his cheeks a shade of soft pink. The two women heard their footsteps and looked over from the stove where a curry was cooking, and any surprise was only momentary, before they brightened up. Neither of them looked like Tetsurou, but the way that they both grinned mischievously as they saw the new couple reminded Kei so much of his boyfriend. It made him think of how he would smile like that whenever he played volleyball and completely blocked out one of their spikers, that sense of pride and genuine happiness and satisfaction.

"Who's this, Tetsu? Is he the one you've been crushing on~" the brown haired woman asked teasingly, leaving the other female and making her way towards Kei and Tetsurou. She wasn't short, at about an average height, but in comparison to the two teens she was significantly shorter and the blond had to look down to meet her gaze.

The dark haired male blushed even darker but nodded, looking lovingly at Kei and then back to his mother. "Yeah, he is. This is my boyfriend, Kei," he explained, running a hand through his mess of hair hair and twirling a few of the longer strands with his fingers. Tsukishima felt like his heart was going to leap right out his chest when he heard those words; being introduced as Tetsurou's boyfriend made it all begin to really sink in. "Kei, this is my mom, Ichika."

He met eyes with Ichika, nodding and giving her a nervous smile as her eyes flickered towards the bruise on his cheek. Her expression softened into a caring one, and for a moment Tsukishima worried how he would be able to explain what had happened, but she simply gave him a kind, concerned smile and didn't pry. "I'm Kuroo Ichika, just Ichika is fine, and that's my wife Akari. It's lovely to meet you.

Kei couldn't seem to figure out how to speak, even though he knew it wasn't really that hard. He'd already been introduced, and they both seemed like kind women, but he just felt so overwhelmed by everything. Yet, glancing over at his boyfriend and seeing how flustered he was made it a little easier. He wasn't alone in this, nor was he the only one nervous. Taking a deep breath, he moved the other's hand from his hair, taking it into his own and squeezing it. "Your hair is already messy enough as it is, you don't need to make it worse," he whispered, taking another deep breath and relaxing slightly when he heard the quiet snort that Tetsurou let out after hearing his words, and felt the other give his hand a gentle squeeze. "Like Tetsurou said, my name is Kei. It's nice to meet you, Ichika-san," he replied, briefly giving her a small smile in return and shuffling a little closer to Kuroo. "You too, Akari-san. Sorry for the intrusion, now and the other day... but thank you for having me."

From where she was cooking, the other woman looked over, shaking her head at his words. "Nonsense, there's no need to apologise or to thank us. Tetsurou's told us all about you, and you seem like a wonderful person. You're more than welcome to come over whenever you want, it's not an issue. And please, there's no need for honourifics either," Akari said, moving to get out some bowls and start serving up the rice. "Is curry okay for lunch? There's plenty of food in the pantry, so if you'd prefer something else don't be afraid to speak up."

The blond nodded at her words, not quite sure how to respond. He wasn't used to being treated like this by adults, the only other people to have done so being the Akaashi's. It was strange for them to be so genuinely caring when they didn't really know each other, but it was nice nonetheless. "Thank you for the kind offer, Akari-san, I mean, Akari. I appreciate that you're all being so welcoming to me. And yes, curry is alright for lunch, I don't have a problem. It smells delicious, so thank you for making it."

Ichika laughed softly at his response to her wife, shaking her head and placing her hand on Kei's shoulder. "You're very sweet, dear. Please try to relax a little though, we're not trying to be intimidating, just think of this like home. Nobody's going to be judging you for anything, and if you ever need anything feel free to ask. If you want help with homework, or if you need to stay the night, whatever it is just let us know," she said gently, pulling away and gesturing for him to follow. "Come now, you can sit down and get yourself comfortable. And before you say anything about trying to help, don't you worry about that for today. Akari is almost finished cooking, and Tetsu can help set the table for us."

"Uh, thank you, Ichika. I think I'm just going to head to the bathroom before everything is set up." When she nodded in response, he turned to give his boyfriend a quick hug, unable to keep the smile off his face as he leaned in to whisper in Kuroo's ear as he did so. "Don't you go dropping the cups like you dropped the ball at practice the other day, okay?"

Tetsurou gasped dramatically and then snickered, pulling him in closer and kissing his cheek. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, my dearest Kei. Besides, that was one time, and I've never dropped a cup before. Plates and bowls, yes, but never a cup," he said proudly, grinning at him as he pulled away. The smile remained on Kei's face as he saw it, and despite still being a little unsure about everything, something told him that it was going to be alright as long as Tetsurou was with him. "The bathroom is through the door next to my room, okay? And if you need anyting—toilet paper, air freshener, anything—just give me a shout."

"Yeah, I will. Thank you, Tet-kun," Tsukishima replied, waving a little and heading off in the direction of the bathroom. Just seeing his boyfriend happy, seeing that genuine smile and hearing him laugh in response to something Kei had said, it all made him feel happy as well. Surprisingly, despite how awkward he'd felt he'd been, he also felt like things might go better once he returned to the room with them, and wasn't as nervous as he'd been before.

x-X-x

As much as he wanted to be there for Kei, Lev knew that at the moment the blond needed some time with Kuroo, and didn't want to be bothering them at all. Lev had helped him plenty of times in the past, and he was sure he would be able to help more in the future, and right now what was most important was that Tsukishima was being taken care of.

And so, after heading out from the apartment block, Lev and Yaku had walked along in silence and made their way to the park nearby. This had been the way these 'friend dates' had started off the other times, with awkward silence and aimless walking. It wasn't until one of them spoke up that conversation would start, but when it did, things tended to be a bit smoother. Well, mostly smoother, considering the enormous crush that the half-Russian was harbouring on his upperclassman that meant there were occasions where he struggled to make out coherent sentences. "So, where did you want to go, Yaku-san?" he asked, looking over at Yaku with a bright smile.

At his question, Yaku shrugged, and for a moment their eyes locked. As a result of their height difference — roughly thirty centimetres — it wasn't often that they actually looked each other in the eyes, especially when they were walking together (be it during school hours, or these meet ups that Lev remained confused about). The silver haired male loved whenever they did make eye contact, however, specifically since he got to admire the colour of Yaku's eyes. Most would say that brown was a boring eye colour, and to anyone else, the other's eyes might not be that special. It wasn't like in the movies or books, where the brown was described as having flecks of gold or something magical, or where in a certain type of lighting they appeared to be a much warmer shade. It wasn't anything like that; they were just a normal shade of brown, one that Lev had come to adore in all of their simplicity.

Unfortunately, Yaku didn't seem to share his sentimentality (or if he did, refrained from demonstrating that fact), and was rather quick to look away after a few moments, his strides quickening somewhat. Lev tilted his head in confusion, not having to struggle much to keep up the pace, but before he had a chance to say anything the shorter male spoke up. "I know a place," he said hastily, glancing up at the silver haired male once more and chuckling softly as he saw the expression. "I'll lead the way, so wipe that dumbstruck look off your face and follow me."

Lev nodded slowly, unable to keep the blush from surfacing to his cheeks when he heard the laugh from the other male. Whenever Yaku laughed or smiled, which didn't seem to occur very often when he was around, he couldn't help but feel like it was the most beautiful thing. His was a smile that Lev adored, one that always seemed full of such genuine joy and warmth whenever it made its way onto Yaku's face, and he really hoped that in the future, he could be the person to make him smile like that each and every day. For now, he'd suffice with holding back from verbally confessing his (rather obvious) feelings, and just spend time with Yaku.

It was nice, getting to spend time with him, even if he doubted he had a chance. It wasn't as if Lev was the easiest person to hang out with, and he knew that; he was too boisterous, didn't really hide how he felt, and was different from a lot of people. As well as that, aside from some members of the team and Tsukishima, nobody had really made an effort to create a friendship with him—a fact that pretty much spoke for itself when it came to his likability. He was more than happy with the people he'd surrounded himself with, though, and he wouldn't change who his friends were for the world. Despite being confused about whether this was a friend hang out or a date, this time that the two of them could share together—no matter the reason Yaku had for accepting his invitations—he would treasure it for as long as it could last.

Their walk ended up continuing on in silence for a little longer, and Lev couldn't help but continue to think about the times he had seen Yaku smile or heard his laugh, the picture of that expression clear in his mind. Usually by this point he was blabbering on about whatever random topic came to mind, the shorter male listening along, but he couldn't exactly come out and ramble on about his smile to his face. Those were topics he usually ended up gushing about to Kei as they both contemplated how they both ended up head over heels for their seniors.

Unfortunately, the time for thinking about Yaku's smile was over, as he felt said male give his leg a light kick and tug on his arm. "Oi, I told you to wipe that look off your face, not make it look even more dumb," he snapped, though there was no real malice in his tone, or even real annoyance; it was teasing, if anything at all.

As Lev looked over at Yaku, he saw there was a small smile on his lips, a playful glint in his eyes, and with a blush he realised that the other male probably just wanted his attention. It wasn't as if it was the first time Yaku had opened up to him, the older male had slowly become more talkative and almost teasing around him as time went on and they spoke more. Granted, he had been acting like an idiot the majority of those times (an idiot in love, but an idiot nonetheless), yet whenever it happened it caused his heart to beat faster than it normally did. "You're not going to talk about your weekend so far? I'm surprised, usually you're a lot more talkative, Lev."

"M-Maybe I wanted to listen to you talk about your weekend first, Yaku-san... I'm always talking, but I like listening when it comes to you. You have a nice voice," he blurted out in response, his heart skipping a beat as he realised that after tugging on his arm, Yaku's hand had not left, and was still wrapped lightly around his wrist. Even despite the fact that there were many times where he'd become flustered around him, this had to be the most obvious, by far. He couldn't see it, but he knew the blush on his cheeks was likely very dark, and he could barely hear his words over the sound of his own heart beat.

There was a few seconds of sweet relief when Yaku stopped walking, but that feeling was momentary as the other soon looked down as well. For a moment Lev was afraid he'd messed up, but the brown haired male's hand was still on his wrist, keeping him close by, and it wasn't long before he found himself being tugged along at a fast pace in the same direction as he'd been led before. He couldn't get the image of Yaku smiling up at him out of his mind, that playful and dare he say, caring, look in the other's eyes still making his heart flutter.

Preoccupied with these thoughts, and because the shorter didn't let him get a glimpse of it, he didn't notice that there was a deep blush on Yaku's cheeks, as well as a smile that didn't seem to want to go away.