Labels || Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Chapter Thirty-Two: Don't Cry

"(F/n)?"

Kai approached her during their break in a practice match, talking a water bottle and towel she offered him.

"Fellow associate." She grinned, passing a water bottle off to an excited Inouka, who decided to eavesdrop on the two third years conversation. "What do you need?"

He let out an amused huff at Inouka, running the towel along his face before slinging it around his neck. "I was just wondering what you were going to do after high school. College at all?"

"Of course." She broke into a more genuine smile. "I wanna start my own business."

"Ohoho?" Kuroo ducked around Kai, reaching out to hug her, but Kai quickly got hold of the collar of the captains shirt before he could. "My little manager is gonna become a business woman?" Kuroo continued as if he wasn't being carried by the scruff of his shirt like a cat.

"Please tell me you're setting up a bakery. Your baking is the bomb!" Inouka exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air (and nearly dropping his water bottle). "It'd be so cool to go to your new bakery, too!"

"Yeah!" Lev butted in, his green eyes bright. "Everyone deserves some of (L/n)-chan's cupcakes. They're the best!"

"I go against your statement. Her pumpkin pie she brought us for hallowe'en was the greatest." Yaku countered confidently, gratefully taking a water bottle she offered to him.

Yamamoto quickly joined in when he heard the topic. "No! Her raspberry bars were brilliant! Her lemon bars, too!"

"I disagree." Kuroo happily joined in with the debate, as it was one of his two favourite topics to talk about nowadays. One being (F/n), and the other being her baking. "Brownies all the way."

"We're no longer friends, Kuroo." Kenma mumbled as (F/n) passed him a towel, both of them looking slightly amused with the team. Kuroo gave Kenma a hurt look, but the setter continued. "Her apple pie is the greatest. But I don't think that she was even thinking of being a baker."

The team quieted down, and they blinked in slight surprise.

"What?" Inouka piped, lowering his water bottle a little.

She scratched the back of her head. "I was thinking about designing prosthetic legs. And painting them. You know, so kids like them." A slightly embarrassed flush made its way to her cheeks. "Baking would be a nice backup plan, but... I want to make people happy and confident with their disability. I never really got that."

(F/n) wove her fingers together, somewhat nervously, looking down at her feet. You see, (F/n) never really spoke about her personal life or what she wanted to do. She never spoke that much about her feelings. She was too busy caring for her brothers and her team, which had so kindly adopted her way back almost in the beginning of the year.

She was hear to help them, not to give them her own problems. She never got the chance to express herself to the boys through any other way but words. And she never did.

"Do you know which college you're going to?" Yaku asked after taking a swig from his water bottle, his sharp eyes lighting with curiosity, along with everyone else's.

"I'm..." Her voice faltered, but she pulled in a deep breath, not meeting Kuroo's eye. "I'm going to Kyoto. I've got more opportunities there than here."

Everyone could swear that they heard Kuroo's heart shatter into a million pieces. She was going away.

*****

As (F/n) walked down the sidewalk that lead to her house, she felt a hand catch the sleeve of her jacket. She turned back and saw Kuroo, his head down to the pavement, resulting in her being unable to see his face.

"Tetsurou? Need help with some homework?" She blinked at him in confusion, and the pinch he had on her jacket tightened. She frowned slightly. "Tetsu–?"

"I realize I'm being selfish." He burst out, cutting her off. He didn't move, and neither did she. He kept a firm grip on the fabric of her jacket. "But..."

Her (e/c) eyes widened, a few strands of her hair wisping over her face from the cool, late fall breeze. She saw something that suspiciously looked like a tear drop fall from his lowered face, illuminated by one of the street lights.

"Please," His voice cracked, and he tugged her sleeve a bit. His fingers were white. "I can't do this alone."

She was quiet for a moment, then slowly pulled him into a soft hug. It was warm, and comforting in the crisp, dry air. She felt Kuroo bury his head into her shoulder, his hands grasping on her back as if for dear life.

This wasn't like Kuroo at all. He was charming and charismatic. He knew how to make people smile and helped old ladies across the street. The ends of his red pens were always chewed on while his blue pens were fine, and his black pens were always the clicky ones.

Kuroo's erasers were put into nubs within weeks. He was brilliant in chemistry and never got a question wrong. He knew how to deal with kids and managed to hold the weight of a team on his shoulders as if it were feathers.

Kuroo was strong. He texted her goodnight, always seemed her out in the mornings before practice, walked her home as often as he could, and cared about her mental and physical stability.

Kuroo never cried. He'd never cried in front of her.

(F/n) pressed her face into his chest, her gloved hands digging into the fabric of his own jacket.

"Don't cry." She murmured. "Please don't cry. I love you."

I blame this on the angst fanart I look at.