His Warrior Queen: A Haikyuu!! Novel (Tsukishima x OC)

Chapter 88: Eye of the Storm

"Are you sure, Kuroo?  I don't mind paying for..." Nakano began.

"Don't even think twice about it, girlie.  My aunt already slipped me 10,000 yen, so I'm going to use it on my friends.  And probably my cousin," Kuroo grimaced a little, but followed it up with a good-natured laugh.

"So besides being perpetually late and never wanting to pick up a check, why does your cousin bother you so much?  Not that those two aren't enough, but knowing you, there's got to be more to it than that," Kei asked with a smirk. 

Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck, still chuckling.  "I mean, he's not that bad I guess...he just...well...he's four years older than I am, and I guess he wants me to think he's this cool guy, like I should look up to him, you know?  The kind of stuff he does...it worked when I was like five and he was nine...but now, it's just sort of annoying."

Kei did his best to stifle his desire to display his irritation through his facial expression and body language.  It sounded like he was going to have to spend the evening with some self-important jackass who was going to try to convince them all of his superiority, and few things in life sounded worse to Kei than that.  He gave Nakano's hand a squeeze.  Kuroo is my bro, my friend, and my senpai, he reminded himself, I will be polite for his sake, and so I don't embarrass my beautiful girlfriend.  He softly clicked his tongue at himself.  Listen to me, he thought, I haven't even met the guy yet, and I'm already trying to come up with a mantra to help me get through the evening.  This is going to be a long night.

Nakano smiled at Kuroo.  "We've all got someone in the family like that, Kuroo.  For me, it's my Uncle Mitsuo.  He's only eight years older than I am, but the fact that he's my uncle makes him think that somehow I will treat the every utterance from his mouth as pearls of wisdom from heaven and the guiding principle for my life.  Needless to say, I irritate the heck out of him by patently ignoring him most of the time."

Kei chuckled.  "Why have I not gotten to meet this uncle yet?  He sounds fascinating."

Nakano smacked her blonde boyfriend playfully on the arm.  "Because he lives in Takamatsu now, gorgeous.  And fortunately, he doesn't visit very often."  Nakano turned her attention back to Kuroo.  "But enough about my uncle...how about we talk about my sister while we wait for your cousin to put in an appearance.  Kei tells me that..."

"Tetsuro!"  The voice was deep and somewhat rumbly, a booming, thrumming sound that seemed to roll in from multiple directions.  Nakano swore softly under her breath at having been interrupted just as she was hoping to get some details out of her bed-headed friend.  

Tsukishima glanced around, located the source of the sound, and looked the approaching man up and down.  He was almost Kuroo's height, but not quite, putting him a couple of inches shorter than Tsukishima himself.  However, where Tsukki and Kuroo were both thin and wiry, this fellow was broad.  Broader than the Boku-bro.  His chest was straining against the confines of the dark green coat he wore - clearly, this guy worked out constantly, or was involved in some kind of sport requiring massive upper body strength.  He hadn't neglected his legs however, which seemed equally crammed into the jeans he was wearing.  His hair was black and unruly, a disheveled looking mess that still somehow worked well with the cocky look on his face.  His eyes seemed as dark as his hair - almost black themselves - and they sparkled as he pulled his cousin in for the hug.  Tsukishima once again had to work to stop himself from chortling aloud as he caught the look on Kuroo's face over the broad man's shoulder.  The cat captain already looked like he'd had enough and was ready to call it a night.

"Well, little cousin, you look like high school is treating you well!  Can't believe you're already set to graduate this year...where does the time go?  Your dad must be so very proud of you.  I know I am."  The tone of the man's voice was one that would make more sense for him to be using if his younger cousin was eight instead of eighteen, and continued to seemingly echo from all quarters of the landscape.  Nakano and Tsukki exchanged a wry grin as Kuroo's cousin released him from the hug but proceeded to hold him by the shoulders and look him up and down.  "My goodness, so grown up already.  Guess pretty soon I'll have to take you on some college campus tours, show you the ropes of dealing with your college years, huh, Tetsuro?"  The smug superiority in the man's voice was already making Tsukishima begin to feel irritated, and it wasn't even directed at him yet.  Kei was suddenly profoundly grateful that although his brother was the same age, he wasn't this kind of a jerk.