When Kei woke once more, it was to an alarm going off on the other side of the room. He found himself still held close in Tetsurou's arms, but not for long as the older male groaned and made his way out of the bed to turn off the alarm. Sitting up and looking at the clock, Kei noted the time — five forty five — before looking back over at his boyfriend. By the time he did so, the raven had already walked back over, slipping into the bed and wrapping his arms tightly around him.

The blond didn't hesitate to hug back, burying his head in the crook of Tetsurou's neck and nuzzling him gently. "Morning, Tetsu," Kei murmured, yawning quietly and lightly messing with the other's hair with one of his hands. It felt soft to the touch, and feeling how Kuroo leaned into the touch made him feel warm on the inside. He was trying his best to push away the thoughts of what was to come, and just enjoy the present moments.

"Kei," Tetsurou mumbled. His breath was shaky as he exhaled, still clinging on to the taller and pressing feather-soft kisses into his hair. "Are you feeling alright? You really scared me there yesterday."

Taking a deep breath, Kei pulled away, his eyes finding Tetsurou's as he nodded slowly. "I think so... I should be alright today, now that I've let most of it all out. Just, thank you for being there, for being here. I know you care, but it's reassuring knowing that you came when I needed you," he whispered, moving his hand to hold the raven's and intertwining their fingers. "You came, even when it wasn't easy."

In return, Kuroo gently squeezed his hand, his other one moving to cup Kei's cheek. "Of course, firefly. I love you, and as your boyfriend I'm more than happy to look after you." There was a momentary silence, in which their lips met for a brief moment, before Kuroo sighed and bit his lip. "I was really scared, to be honest with you. You were there, but you weren't, and nothing I did seemed to help. I didn't know what to do, I thought I was going to lose you and-"

"Tetsurou, it's okay. I don't quite know what happened, if I'm honest. At first, I was angry and frustrated, which turned into feeling upset, and then I just felt numb until that numbness morphed into fear and I just, I just broke down. I don't really remember much after that. But the reality is, it's over now, and I'm going to be alright. Even if I have to move back with them, we'll be alright. It might just be hard for a little while, okay?"

Kuroo seemed hesitant, but nodded, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "Okay, Kei. We should probably talk about this more later, but I need to know his one thing. Promise me you'll talk to me, that you'll tell me if things are going badly or you're finding it hard? Even if it's hard for me to take, I want to be there for you, even when it's not easy. I know you're strong, and you've looked after yourself for a long time, but we're stronger together," he whispered, lightly nuzzling his nose over the place where he'd kissed Kei's cheek. "I love you, dearest."

For a while, there was silence, but words didn't need to be exchanged right away. The younger male leaned in, catching Tetsurou's lips in a gentle kiss, eyes sharing countless feelings in mere moments. It seemed like forever that they shared that simple intimacy, but when they pulled away both knew it really wasn't that long at all. Kei gave him a small smile, lightly ruffling Kuroo's hair as he spoke. "I promise I'll tell you if something happens, my angel. I love you too."

Maybe it wasn't much, but those few words had clearly helped. The blond watched as his boyfriend calmed, a genuine and warm smile making its way onto his face as he once again brought their lips together, bringing him into that warm embrace. "Thank you, Kei," he murmured between soft and slow kisses, eventually just resting their foreheads against one another.

The time to have breakfast and get ready for morning training was far too soon, the knock on the bedroom door by one of Kuroo's mothers startling the both of them. Even as they got up, Tetsurou wearing a bright smile, Kei worried that his boyfriend was far too kind for his own good. Tsukishima was still afraid, and even despite the promise he'd made, whether he could keep it was a different story.

Lev came in not long after, tacking Kei into a hug, and those thoughts were easily buried deep down (like so many others over there years), but that pit of guilt had already begun to open. He was all too good at making bad, irrational decisions, and more than anything, Kei was scared of hurting the one person who was caring enough to love him even when he was carrying the burden of countless issues.

x-X-x

Breakfast was nice, as was the usual walk together to school. Although only for a little bit, Kuroo had taken his hand, lacing their fingers and lightly swinging their arms. Kei was somewhat taken aback by the gesture at first, before his expression softened and he walked just that little bit closer to the older teen, not making any attempt to take his hand back. He was on edge, and there was no other way to describe it. Not only was there the weight of the letter on the back of his mind, the thought of facing the team after having ruined the practice game with his own issues was daunting. More than that, despite the bruise on his cheek having been covered up by makeup (courtesy of Lev's gentle magic), that didn't erase the knowledge from his mind that it was there.

Coming to school gave him a strange sense of confidence, though. At least there, he could work on being strong again. He couldn't allow himself to let down his guard around everyone like he had done so many times over the past few days, especially when he would have to face his parents eventually. Kuroo had said he'd get in contact with the Akaashi's, and had sent them a message already, but that didn't guarantee that they would be able to keep Kei away from his parents. Neither Lev nor Kuroo wanted him to be so far away, but they also knew there probably wasn't anything they could do to change the situation.

The Tsukishima's had legal custody over Kei, and since they hadn't done anything illegal, there was nothing they could use to try and stop what was going to happen. Mulling over it only made things worse; considering they had disowned Kei and claimed he wasn't their son, it made no sense why they would want him to return to their house, or put up the facade that they still cared — particularly Kei's father, who hated him the most. And so, the blond did his best to push those things to the back of his mind, instead enjoying the time that he had with Lev and Kuroo and the rest of the team throughout the week.

If there was anything he'd learnt, Kuroo Tetsurou could always get sweeter. Well, anyone in the Kuroo family, really. After Tetsurou explained the full situation to them (with Kei's consent), they had let him and sometimes Lev stay over every night that week, making him meals and treating him as part of the family. The blond didn't take long to figure out that they'd probably be this welcoming even if he hadn't been in this situation, but that they were so understanding was a welcome change.

The Akaashi's also kept in touch, but there wasn't a chance to meet up with them during the week. As expected, there wasn't anything that they could do to prevent Kei from being moved to the Tsukishima's household, not at the moment at least. The way they'd phrased that made Kei a little wary of them — as if they were working on something behind the scenes that they didn't want any of the teens to know about. Still, the kindness they'd shown the blond was enough cause for him to push that feeling aside until there was reason enough for his suspicions to be aroused.

Keiji and Bokuto had taken to texting Kei as well, asking him how his day was going and talking about things in general like books, movies and tv shows the blond liked. It was a friendship that seemed to blossom rather quickly, and often they all video chatted on the walk home, Lev getting to know them a bit better as well.

The week seemed to pass much quicker than Kei would have liked. Than any of them would have liked, really, but that wasn't the point. Throughout the school work, volleyball practice and packing (including stashing away his few most important belongings in an empty drawer in Tetsurou's room so his parents couldn't destroy them), the days went by in a blur.

Most memorable were the nights he'd spend curled up next to Kuroo, who would run his hands through Kei's hair and whisper how much he loved him, exchanging tender kisses as much as they could afford to. It was difficult to be open about their relationship at school, and if the team knew—by the small smiles they exchanged over the net in three on three matches and the way they sat just a little bit too close at lunch and too many inaudible words were exchanged—nobody made a big deal of it. (Excluding Yaku, of course, who Kuroo had told proudly when they got to the club room one morning and nobody else was there. He'd kicked Kuroo on the back of the leg—well practiced because of Lev—and was annoyed that the raven had gotten a second boyfriend before he had, but there was a lack of true malice or annoyance in his tone. After breaking up, they had still remained close friends with each other, and the libero was glad to see Tetsurou so happy, knowing they had both found people that they liked now.)

Even so, there was something peaceful about being a part of Nekoma. Training wasn't easy work, but Kuroo made sure he wasn't pushing himself too hard and wouldn't get sick again after what happened the previous week. Yaku did some work on receives with him and Lev, and despite the fact that they all had an end goal to work towards, practice was fun. It was more fun than it had ever seemed to be before, and Kei's appreciation for it didn't go unnoticed with even Taketora commenting on how he seemed more relaxed and less cold than usual.

Even for Saturday practice, Kei was unusually excited, out of bed as soon as the alarm went off and walking a little bit faster than usual on the way to the gym after they had breakfast. His excitement wasn't obvious like Lev's or Taketora's, but it was there, and Kei didn't protest too much when Tetsurou had said he was cute and gave him a kiss on their walk to the gym. Saturday was a good day, even despite the reservations about the next day that the blond buried deep inside until it was late and he was trying to sleep.

x-X-x

Waking up in Tetsurou's arms on Sunday morning hurt more than Kei wanted to admit. After spending so much time in his presence, every chance he had, going away would be hard. On a futon on the floor, Lev was fast asleep, limbs sprawled out in some strange manner that he wasn't going to question. Like usual, he was awake before Kuroo was, the light from outside dull and a bluish shade of grey. It was probably early, and as he carefully slipped out of his boyfriend's embrace, the numbers on the clock beside to bed confirmed his suspicions.

Even as he left the room, closing the door behind him, Tetsurou and Lev were both still fast asleep. They were peaceful that way, in a home where they belonged. Kei knew he belonged there too, but his life had never been one to let him keep his happiness, and he knew he couldn't leave if he had to see the looks on Tetsurou and Lev's faces. It might not be a permanent goodbye—he might end up seeing them the next day at morning practice—but on the occasion that it was, he didn't know how he could possibly force himself to leave when his parents came to pick him up. He'd just want to stay in Tetsurou's arms, and watching them both from the window of the car as they drove off didn't seem very appealing.

Taking his phone from where it was on charge in the kitchen, he sent a message to his 'parents' asking to be picked up early. More specifically his father, who Kei knew woke up in the early hours of the morning in order to start working. It was stupid, and exactly what he'd been worried about doing. He knew it would hurt them both to leave like this, but he was scared and didn't want them to have to see him crying once again. His stuff was already packed and in boxes in what had been his apartment, and could be collected by workers later on in the day.

The message in response was short—stating that someone would be there in half an hour to collect him. With a sigh, Kei turned his phone on silent, slipping it in his pocket and returning to the bedroom to slip under the covers again. In his sleep, Kuroo shifted to cling to him, as he'd made a habit of in the past few days. Tetsurou was quite cuddly, and even if he was fast asleep by the time the blond made his way over from doing homework and into bed, somehow he always ended up cuddled up to him in a matter of seconds. It was endearing, and it was another thing that made Kuroo feel like home to him.

He didn't want to leave, it was the last thing he wanted to do. And it was an irrational choice, like usual, but Kei was scared, like usual, and leaving before either of them woke seemed like the only way.

As he got up the second time, Kei didn't fail to notice the way that the other's breath shifted slightly. His breath caught in his throat as he turned to face Tetsurou, the male looking up at him sleepily. "Kei-Kei, do you need to go to the bathroom?" he mumbled, whining softly as he attempted and failed to reach out to pull Kei back into bed. "I need more cuddles with my firefly, it's so cold without you."

"Mhm, I just need to go to the bathroom, my Angel," Kei lied gently, sighing softly and sitting back down on the edge of the bed. "I know that you don't want me to go, I'm just as cold without you by my side too. But I'll be right back before you know it, Tet-kun."

It was only a small lie, he was sure he'd be back to see Tetsurou soon enough; but that didn't stop the guilt from rising up and clawing at his chest painfully. Even in the darkness, the world around him still seemed to blur as his vision filled with tears he'd refuse to shed. If his voice sounded strained, in his grogginess Tetsurou probably hadn't realised, and only nodded in agreement.

"M'kay, I'll go back to sleep. But only if you give me a kiss," the raven said softly, reaching up to cup Kei's cheek and smiling softly at him.

Kei's heart clenched painfully, and with a nod, he leaned in to press a kiss to Tetsurou's lips. It was long, much longer than the older teen probably expected, but if this was their last kiss for a long time, he wanted to make it count.

It was a kiss that left his lips tingling, the softness of Kuroo's lips against his own still engraved in his memory. As Tetsurou's hand fell down from his cheek and he yawned, Kei lightly ruffled his hair once more, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "I love you, Tetsurou, don't you ever forget that. Sweet dreams."

There wasn't a response, and as the male's breathing had evened out, Kei figured that Kuroo had fallen asleep. Perhaps if he'd stayed a moment, he would have heard that steady breathing shift into broken down sobs. Perhaps if he'd kissed him for a little longer, Kei would have felt the hot tears that had begun to fall down Tetsurou's face and known he wasn't the only one who knew what was going on.

In the early hours of the morning, Kei silently slipped out the house. He was calm, refraining from breaking down with the knowledge that his father would be in complete control when he stepped out of the car. In contrast, Tetsurou was a storm, unleashing his hurt in loud sobs and streams of tears like he'd never experienced before.