When Tsukishima made his way outside that Monday morning, having returned from Miyagi late on Sunday night, he wasn't expecting to find both Kuroo and Lev outside of his house.

He wasn't expecting to be tackled into a hug by Lev either, but that was beside the point.

Usually he had to wait a minute on Lev, and the third year (along with Kenma) would make his way down the elevator to their floor just at the right time to catch them both. Seeing the pair already there when he exited was unusual, but it did make his heart swell a little with joy. The surprise was a pleasant one, especially after the conversation he'd had with Tadashi and Akiteru on Saturday.

"Tsukki! I missed you!" Lev said with a grin, pulling away and lightly hitting the blond on the head. "Now, don't ever do that again. It's cool that you get to see your brother and stuff, but you gotta tell me in advance before I freak out."

"He did more than freak out, I had Lev banging on my door like a lunatic saying that you were missing and weren't responding to any of his texts, and he thought you might respond to mine," Kuroo said, yawning and running a hand through his hair. "I tried telling him you could look after yourself and your phone was probably on silent, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He freaked out just as much when you finally did respond, you should have seen his face. It wasn't as funny as when he was running away from Kenma, though."

"Oh, that's right! I had to deal with Kenma, because he stays up late playing games and then sleeps in, and I woke him up. I never would have guessed, but he's scary as hell sometimes, believe me," the half Russian added, shuddering at the thought before returning to grinning, starting to lead them in the direction of the stairwell. "He's waiting down the bottom for us, so we should probably get there before he gets annoyed."

Kei chuckled a little at the story and nodded, Kuroo staying back a bit and walking beside. The older teen was standing rather close, only a couple of centimetres between their shoulders, but his close presence wasn't unwelcome. When Tsukishima glanced over at him, it made him happy to find Kuroo was giving him a gentle smile. "It's good to see you're alright, Lev said you got back rather late last night. I know you can look after yourself, but I get worried if you're out and about when it's dark," he told Kei softly, his tone just as caring as the expression he wore.

The blond shrugged, somehow managing to stop his blush but not preventing his ears from turning a shade of pink. "Sorry for worrying you, I just got back from the train late and needed to have dinner still. I'll probably be going there most weekends, so unless I say otherwise expect that I'll be there," he explained, moving one of his hands to be holding onto his bag strap. "But my Friday nights are free, as is every other night but Saturday night, really. I don't go anywhere, and I always go home from school with either you or Lev, so there's no need to worry, okay?"

"I know, I just don't want anything to happen to you. The area is generally safe, but there's been a couple of incidents in alleyways in the past year. If you ever need to go out for whatever reason, like if your Kaa-san needs you to buy something to make dinner, I'd be happy to walk with you. You're fun to hang out with, anyways."

Kei's breath hitched a little at his words, his ears beginning to burn and a light pink dusting his cheeks. Of course, it wouldn't ever be his mother or father asking him to buy something, but it wasn't like Kuroo knew. It would be a while before he was ready to admit to anyone that he lived alone, but he still felt a little guilty that he couldn't tell them. His heart still began to beat a little faster even despite that, because of the sheer thoughtfulness of the other male. He knew that Kuroo was nice, but now he was being extremely sweet and offering to walk with him to the store.

Kei was struggling to fully comprehend the situation, and he found himself unable to come up with an answer aside from looking away and wordlessly nodding. Was it normal to offer to walk someone to the store like that? He didn't know, maybe it was just a Kuroo thing. A part of him hoped that it was just a special thing that he'd offered to Kei, but that was unlikely. He didn't even know if the other liked guys, and if this was just how he treated his close friends.

It was just a shame, because if he'd continued to look, perhaps he might have noticed Kuroo's tan skin turn a shade of red as well.

x-X-x

Following that incident, things went back to normal. Well, as normal as things could possibly be when they hadn't known each other for very long.

The next event that was worth noting was two weeks later on Friday afternoon when they were practicing. Having been back to Karasuno to practice with them twice now, Kei had found himself struggling to block against some of Tanaka's spikes, and so had done the only logical thing, asking Taketora if he could work on blocks while he spiked. The two were very similar in personality, and though their styles were slightly different when it came to spiking, it was good practice.

It was also very exhausting to keep up for a long time, since Taketora had lots of energy and Kei really had to think about timing his jump to block his spikes. The guy was their team's ace for a reason, after all. He was improving, but it was kind of hard to get feedback when Kuroo was on Lev duty so that Yaku could spend some time with Shibayama talking through libero stuff.

Lev, though full of energy, was less hyperactive when it came to their captain than with Yaku. Kuroo pushed him, and Lev tended to be more intimidated by him then he was with any of Yaku's threats, for obvious reasons.

For Kei, he'd spent most of his time learning to block on his own, since on previous teams the coaches had wanted to focus more on people that needed to improve, rather than someone that was at a decent level already. He understood that way of thinking, since in a younger team it was better that everyone had developed solid skills, but over the past few weeks he'd found himself being able to learn a lot from both Kuroo and the coach.

The experience with Taketora was good, but at the same time he found himself wanting someone to be able to tell him how he was doing and what he could be doing better or worse. He just wasn't willing to interrupt Lev's training, because he knew that at the end of the day, his friend loved knowing he was getting better and was getting closer to his dream of becoming ace.

Even so, as they took a break to have a drink and pick up the spiked volleyballs, Kei did find it kind of nice. Taketora was a handful, but he hadn't hesitated to agree to the practice when Tsukishima had asked. They hadn't really talked before, or interacted much at all, but he treated Kei just like anyone else on the team.

He finally believed he was beginning to fit in, and he couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Enjoying yourself, I see?"

Kei hummed softly as he put down his water bottle, glancing to Kuroo who had walked over. From the corner of his eye, he could see Lev was lying on the floor in a pile of sweat, causing his smile to grow a little wider. "Yeah, I am. It's good to practice blocking Taketora, even if he is, well, Taketora."

The dark haired male chuckled softly and nodded. "I was surprised to see you asked him, but it's good experience. One thing I want you to try though, is to position you hands like this." Kuroo first held up his arms to demonstrate the angle, which Kei tried his best to mimic. He didn't have it quite right, obviously, and the next thing he knew he felt a pair of warm hands on his, gently guiding them to be positioned correctly. "There, more like this, okay? Shutting him down feels good, I get it, but sometimes the best thing to do is create an opportunity for someone else to pick up the ball. This is usually how I have my hands when I do it."

Kuroo's voice was soft; there was no reason for him to be loud when they were so close together. Kei could feel his breath, warm against his skin, and found himself unable to look away from the other's eyes. "I'll try," he whispered, hoping his voice didn't seem too breathless and dumbstruck, or that his cheeks weren't too dark a shade of red. "I doubt I'll be able to get it straight away, so you'll have to hang around a bit and tell me how I go."

"I'm all yours for the rest of training, Tsukki, so you can take as long as you need." Kuroo smiled and pulled away, and perhaps it was Kei's imagination, but he could have sworn his hands lingered a little longer than normal. He thought that he saw the captain's cheeks turn a bit red as well, but that was definitely his imagination because Kei wasn't blush-worthy. Whatever was the case, he considered himself lucky that he was actually able to register what Kuroo had said.

x-X-x

Through the rest of the training, thanks to Kuroo's careful guidance, Kei was actually able to make some sort of progress. How he was able to focus on volleyball and not his crush he didn't know, because when Kuroo promised to be his for the rest of practice he really meant it. He blocked beside Tsukishima, close like they would be in the game, and after each block he would provide some feedback. Sometimes it was just an approving nod, and sometimes he took the time to give him some advice. For most of the plays he would let Kei decide the timing, apart from a few that he would get Tsukishima to move in sync with him.

Still, he was pretty worn out by the end, his legs aching from the constant jumping and arms sore from both the blocking and holding them up. He'd never been more thankful when it was time to cool down, pack up and head home.

Kei practically had to drag Lev off the gym floor and to the club room to get changed, the silver haired teen even more exhausted that he was. Kai had taken over working on his receives after the break, and the only reason Lev actually had the motivation to continue was because of something Yaku said to him.

As usual, Tsukishima didn't waste any time getting changed before waiting outside. He was pretty much always the first one done, never taking his time to stick around and chat like everyone else did when they changed. Not only was he insecure about how he looked, he also struggled to be around that many sweaty, half naked guys in the one room (especially when one of those sweaty, half naked guys was Kuroo). Kei wasn't out to the team yet, and he didn't know if he would come out to them anytime soon, and he didn't want to come out in the middle of everyone changing.

What it did mean was that he always spent a good ten to fifteen minutes waiting for Lev or Kuroo to finish up and be ready to walk home with them, because they all had things to talk about and conversations to finish.

Tonight, he was just waiting on the silver haired male, as they had planned to watch movies together. It had taken Kei a couple of weeks to build up the courage to ask Lev, and less than a second for the offer to be accepted. At seeing the state Lev was in though, and how he immediately perked up when Yaku began to talk to him when practice was over, Kei figured he'd be in for a longer wait than usual.

He sighed softly, sitting down beside the door and pulling out his phone. The evening air was nice; not too cool nor too warm, and the sky was a light purple, sun having just set not too long ago. The moon was full and bright in the sky, and in all honesty it was a beautiful evening. Tsukishima wasn't taking any of it in, though, his thoughts filled with memories from their training and time spent with Tetsurou.

He blushed a little at the thought of Kuroo's first name, wondering for a moment what it would be like to call him that, and then trying to pinpoint when he'd started referring to him as 'Tetsurou' in his mind.

Going onto Instagram, he took a photo of the night sky, and after making 'fly me to the moon' play in the background he added it to his story. The only people that currently followed his social media were Tadashi, Akiteru, Lev and Hinata, and he didn't use it for much other than documenting important memories. This, he felt, seemed to be one of them. The training had been an eventful one, after all, at least in terms of precious memories.

Right now, he felt blissful and at peace, and though the club room was full of chatter he couldn't make out any of it. He felt childish for feeling this way, but he knew he liked Tetsurou, and remembering all of their interactions and conversations made him happy. He was just like all the other people his age, falling in love, and right now he didn't want to stop. He wanted to be able to look into his archives even when the story disappeared, and remember what it felt like to have the sweet warmth of love welling up inside, and to know that when he went home he had a friend to watch movies with.

Whether he would stay awake for those movies, he didn't know, because he was feeling rather tired. Maybe that was why he felt so mushy on the inside, not that he was bothered to figure out the reason. He put away his phone, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. A soft blush was on his cheeks, accompanied by a small smile, and for the first time in a long time he felt truly happy to be in Tokyo. He was looking forward to going home to Miyagi tomorrow, but he was also looking forward to going back to school on Monday and playing volleyball with the team.

Caught up in his thoughts, Kei didn't immediately notice when the club room door opened, but heard footsteps and voices and figured that most of the first and second years were walking out and heading off. He only realised that someone else had come out when there was the gentle thud of a bag dropping on the ground, and Kuroo sat down beside him. Kei yawned, opening his eyes and glancing over, his heart skipping a beat when he saw who it was.

"You did really well today, Tsukki," Tetsurou said softly, giving him a warm smile and chuckling lightly as the blond hummed in thanks. Kei yawned again as Kuroo continued to speak, rubbing his eyes yet continuing to look over at the other. "I think Lev's going to be a while, he seems pretty into whatever conversation he's having with Yakkun. If you're tired, you can rest your head. I don't mind, I don't have anywhere to be or anything."

Kei's eyes widened slightly, the blush on his cheeks growing a shade or two darker. He felt the corner of his lips turn upwards, and after looking into his eyes for a moment he nodded, shuffled a little closer before resting his head on Kuroo's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured, closing his eyes and letting himself relax. Tsukishima couldn't stop himself from accepting, not when Kuroo had looked at him the way he did. He didn't understand why Kuroo was so kind to him, why he'd seen such tenderness in those hazel eyes, but right now he didn't want to think about why. Right now he was tired, and just wanted to enjoy this moment in peace.

It was a strange sensation, that even when he should have been nervous and jittery, when his heart should have been racing at a million miles an hour, he was calm and content being close to Kuroo. After a bit of silence, he found himself coming up with more and more things that he wanted to ask or say, wanting to hear Kuroo's voice. But also, there was one thing in particular that as he thought about, he knew he had to say it even if it was a little scary to. If Tetsurou was being so caring with him, he wanted to show in his own way that he cared as well.

"You were right, you know," Kei finally whispered, opening his eyes and looking up at the stars. The night was clear, and the sky was gradually growing darker, allowing them to shine a bit brighter. Even through the haze of Tokyo, there were a few that were still visible, and Kei was always glad to see them.

"Hm? How so?"

Even without turning his head, Kei could feel Kuroo looking at him, and he bit his lip lightly. Maybe it was too soon, but he really felt like he wanted to thank Kuroo, even if he was scared to open up. "Back on that day when I said all of those things to you, when we went behind the gym, you said that you thought I looked lonely. You were right when you said that, because I was lonely. I still am, a lot of the time. But, these past three weeks, you've also been one of the few people to actually put in an effort to spend time with me. I've never really had lots of friends before, and being in Tokyo means I'm away from my brother and my best friend, the two people that I'm closest with. None of my friends from volleyball teams or classes have stuck around apart from Tadashi, and until two weeks before school started I was meant to go to a different high school with him. And then my parents moved to Tokyo for work, I was transferred to Nekoma, and at first I had nobody. But you, and Lev as well, have come to my life and been nothing but kind to me, being there even when there are so many other people you could be spending time with. And that's special for me, because when I get to be with you, all of a sudden Tokyo isn't so lonely anymore."

Kei lifted his head from Tetsurou's shoulder, looking away and shuffling over a bit. He was afraid of what he might find if he looked up, afraid of being laughed at even if he knew that Kuroo wasn't that kind of person. He'd said so much, and though he'd wanted to show him he cared, he was afraid that he'd practically confessed that he liked him with that last sentence. What if he was figured out, and Kuroo hated him? What if he'd ruined everything?

Just as he was about to get up and run, he felt a hand on his, and soon after another on his cheek. As he hesitantly opened his eyes, he saw that kind smile on Kuroo's face, and all of those fears disappeared. "I'm glad that I was able to help you, then," Tetsurou whispered, bringing Kei into a hug. It was warm and comforting, and there was a beautiful tenderness in the way the dark haired male held Kei close. "I'm glad you trust me enough to admit that, because I want to be there to help you, Tsukki. I don't want you to be lonely, so if you ever feel that way just let me know and I'll do everything I can to help it go away. You're important to me, even if we only met three weeks ago. It doesn't matter to me if we'd known each other for three weeks, or three years, so don't think you'd be a bother."

After finishing speaking, Kuroo pulled away, giving him another warm smile and squeezing his hand gently before letting go of that too. Kei returned the smile with one of his own, letting out a soft sigh of relief in knowing that he hadn't messed up, and something good had come out of the whole situation. "Kuroo-"

Just as he was about to speak, any words he might have had were stopped as the door swung open. Taketora exited, followed by Kai, Kenma, Lev and Yaku, the libero closing and locking the door to the club room. Kei jumped a little in surprise, hastily grabbing his bag and standing up, his heart racing.

Lev looked rather happy about something, and Yaku was obviously trying to hold back a smile, the libero's gaze flittering between Lev and the floor. Everyone else seemed oblivious to what had happened between Kei and Tetsurou, the intimacy they had just shared. Still, he desperately wished that it could have lasted longer, that they could have continued their conversation.

Lev and him had made plans though, and he'd already told Kuroo that morning that the two were going back together and he could walk with a Kenma, so there was no changing that now. When the silver haired teen saw Kei, he beamed and grabbed his hand, jumping about excitedly, and Kei knew that it was just as important for him to spend time with Lev as it was Kuroo. "Tsukki! You ready for an epic night of movies? I've got all the Studio Ghibli movies so we can watch one of those, or something else, I don't mind!"

"Uh, Howl's Moving Castle, if that's okay," he replied quietly after a moment, biting his lip and glancing back to Kuroo who had also stood up. He was still hesitant to go ahead, especially when they wouldn't get to see each other until Monday. Tetsurou seemed to want to say something as well, but smiled at him and nodded, waving a bit and walking over to Kenma instead. Kei's heart clenched somewhat, but he began to walk ahead with Lev anyway.

At seeing Kei's expression, Lev frowned and poked his cheek with his free hand, the other still holding Tsukishima's. "Hey, what happened? You look sad," he asked, concern in his voice.

Kei shrugged, walking faster and waiting until they were far enough ahead that the others wouldn't hear before he spoke up again. "I'm just a little tired, Lev, and I was having a moment with Kuroo and now I'm a bit overwhelmed, that's all. Are you sure it's okay for me to come over? Your parents won't mind or anything?"

Lev nodded in understanding at the first part, before seeming to react a little to the last question. His smile faltered a little, and he shook his head, a more serious expression on his face. "Of course, it's perfectly fine for you to come over. I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I didn't know how to bring it up in conversation. My father passed away not long after I was born, my sister moved out, and my mother is on a business trip so she's almost never home," he explained, chuckling sheepishly (though it sounded more sad than anything) and looking away. "So I'm actually really glad that we can hang out since nights get lonely. Sorry if I seemed a little too excited to accept when you asked, but I've never had a movie night with anyone before."

"Oh." Kei frowned, stopping and looking around the area to figure out where they were. "Come on, then." Instead of going straight, he took a left, pulling Lev in the direction of a nearby convenience store.

The half Russian looked confused, unsure how to take the response, or lack thereof, and the fact that the blond was suddenly dragging him along. "Wait, Tsukki! Where are we going?"

Not looking back at him, Kei began to speak, his words quiet but loud enough for Lev to hear. All previous thoughts surrounding what happened with Kuroo were buried deep inside for the moment, since this took precedence. "Okay, so, as it turns out, my parents are never home either. Technically they don't even live in the apartment with me, and I'm only there because I didn't want to live in a big house all alone and they did kind of force me to Tokyo against my will. It's a long story, and also kind of depressing, and we planned to do this movie night so that's what we'll do. Besides, I'm tired and now isn't the time for a serious conversation about deep family stuff. We can do that another day, okay? I know it's important, but I think it would be best for us both to just enjoy tonight before I head off tomorrow. Right now, we're going to get snacks and stuff, we'll order a pizza, and I'm showing you what it's like to have a proper movie night with your best friend."

Lev's eyes widened in surprise, and he frowned a bit as Kei continued to talk. He thought for a moment at hearing the suggestion of talking later, and when he heard what the blond wanted to do he soon broke out into a small smile, taking longer steps to keep up with Tsukishima. "I think I agree. But we better have that conversation on Sunday when you get back or Monday night, since I think it'd be good for both of us. Still, are we really doing all of this? You'd do all of that for me?"

"Uh, duh. Lev, you idiot, did you not hear me? You're one of two people I consider my best friends." Kei turned around and gave him a smile, tugging lightly on his arm and pulling him along faster. "Now, come on, it's starting to get a little chilly and I want to get this stuff and get home. And don't think I didn't notice the looks Yaku was giving you as you left the club room, or how happy you were. Spill."

Lev smiled and nodded, clearly having cheered up a bit more again at the thought of his crush. "Okay! So, I don't know if it would be considered a date or just a thing between friends, but we're going to see a movie tomorrow! As we were getting changed and talking, Yaku-chan mentioned how he wanted to go see this horror movie and nobody else was interested..."

Kei raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the movies that he'd remembered were out at the moment. "So you agreed? Do you even know what movie it is you're going to see, Lev?"

"Nope! Everyone said it's super scary, but I actually really like horror movies since I go out and watch them with my sister Alisa. I think she said she saw one with her friends last weekend and it was really good, so it's probably that one."

"Ah, okay, as long as you're sure about it, then I'm happy for you." He smiled and let go of Lev's hand, slowing down as they made their way into the store. "Just be yourself and don't call him short, small, or any variant of that, and I'm sure you'll be fine. Yaku seems like the type of guy to like someone genuine, so whether it's a date or not I think he'd appreciate you not trying too hard to impress him with flowers or some other overly romantic gesture. If it goes well at the movies, you could offer him lunch or ice cream or something, just see how it plays out. Besides, no matter what, if he doesn't like you for who you are, then he's not worth it."

Lev nodded and walked with him to the isle with the chocolate and lollies, humming softly as they stopped walking. "Thanks, Tsukki, I appreciate the advice! Now, what snacks should we get?"

"I think these ones would be good..."

Kei pointed some out, looking back at Lev and smiling as well. They were both really looking forward to this, and rightly so. They had a wonderful night ahead of them, and it was only one of many nights that the duo would spend together. The deep conversation could wait, but deep inside they were both happier, having found someone who understood and could help ease some of the sadness that came with living alone.