"Thanks for checking up on me, I just had a headache this morning, I'll get to work tomorrow." Kuroo said nonchalantly, he leaned against the wall and opened the door for Yaku, who claimed that he should head back to work.
Yaku gave him a reassuring smile, patting his shoulder, "You better. Your colleagues come to my cafe very often, so I know." He said sheepishly with a wink, he then took out his phone and sent some message to Kuroo through messenger.
"If you're interested, feel free to come to the reunion on Sunday, the team... they miss you a lot." He said, he then waved at Kuroo, "We- I miss you."
Kuroo locked the door after bidding farewell to Yaku, he grabbed his phone from his coffee table and read the message that Yaku sent carefully.
"Nekoma High Students Reunion! @6:00~10:00! March 1st Sunday! Golden Night!" He let out a small chuckle, smiling at it, he was sure that this reunion was organised by Yamamoto, the excessive use of exclamation marks was awkwardly stupid, and he had been organising reunions each year after he graduated.
Kuroo and Kenma used to go there every year as well, after all, the happiest times spent at school were probably with the team, but after his passing, he simply lost every motivation to go there.
2 years... Kuroo thought, he sighed heavily and went to his bedroom to check his closet, picking some decent clothing, "Perhaps it will be nice to see them again..." He mumbled to himself, grabbing a white shirt and a red checkered jacket with a pair of ripped jeans.
"I like seeing you happy."
~
The crowd chanted happily in different groups, fluorescent lights shone brightly, Kuroo wasn't expecting the reunion to be this chaotic and bizzare, last time he came to the reunions, they were simply in restaurants, but now? A karaoke bar.
He saw a few of his former kouhai singing and dancing together, he saw a few of his senpai ordering food for the night, then he found his crowd.
There stood Lev, his silvery white hair soft and brushed tidiedly, he was wearing a black hoodie and he looked rather humble compared to the pictures Kuroo saw on posters when he walked by shops.
He walked towards with his usual devilish smile, "Lev!" He said happily, he swung his arm around his kouhai's neck and ruffled his hand through his silver hair, "How are you?"
Lev giggled in a silly manner like he always had back in high school, "Great! I have received good feedback from people for my modelling career, how about you?"
Kuroo nodded his head and noticed Yaku approaching them, "I'm... doing fine." He said nonchalantly, he waved at Yaku and let go of Lev, "YAKKUN~!" He said enthusiastically, maybe because he hasn't met his friends for so long, he suddenly missed them so much.
Seeing their familiar faces again warmed his heart and he smiled at Yaku brightly, "You came!" Yaku said happily, "The others are late, we can order food first."
He gave Lev a nod and latched onto Kuroo's arm, leading him towards the menu, which was stuck on the wall near some tables. Kuroo noticed the awkward tension between Yaku and Lev, so he sat on a coach and rested his cheek on one of his palms.
"What even happened between you and Lev?" He asked, his eyes following Yaku who sat down opposite to him. Yaku cleared his throat, crossing his arms, "None of your business."
"Hey, you have helped me a lot, so please do tell me." Kuroo pushed further, but Yaku simply groaned, "Shut up," He pondered for a while and sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I just don't reciprocate his feelings, that's it. He confessed to me and I couldn't feel the same way. Lev is like an annoying little brother to me, I couldn't see him that way." Yaku said regretfully, suddenly, Kai passed by, with his usual understanding smile that he wore, he gazed at Kuroo with surprise.
"Kuroo? Y-you're here? Wait." He stood there staring at Kuroo with confusion and looked at Yaku, who was smiling at him, he then licked his lips and cleared his throat, "I'm so glad that you're here, it's been a while."
Kuroo stood up and hugged Kai, "Yea... I miss you a lot, how have you been?" He asked, he pulled away from the hug, and Kai gave him a bright smile, "Amazing, I just went to Korea a week ago..."
He began sharing his experience happily and Kuroo was so glad that he could catch up with his friends after all these years, suddenly, Kai handed Kuroo his phone, "Give me your contact, and your social media username, it has been so long." he said in his reassuring tone.
Kuroo nodded his head, and so they exchanged contacts. Kai patted his shoulders, squeezing them tightly, "I'm really happy that you're here."
The fluorescent lights shone brighter, bright, dazzling colours of red, blue and green everywhere, the students chanted lyrics out manically, some were already drunk, and some were continuously eating.
Kuroo, Kai and Yaku approached the dance floor, they swayed their body freely and however they want, it has been so long ever since that Kuroo felt so relieved, and this wasn't any forged happiness he was experiencing, they pushed all their worries away, feelings they might held for each other, or regrets that they had in the past, they all pushed it to the back of their mind.
"I like seeing you happy."
And I'm happy now Kenma.
He swayed his body and glanced at Yaku, his heart skipped a beat and Yaku returned a smile to him.
7 billion people in this world and I wonder if we can actually be together.
He then saw Lev, who was leaning against a wall, gazing at Yaku ever so lovingly, he was so... so in love. He almost looked at Kuroo from a few years ago, the Kuroo who would smile just at the thought of Kenma, and right now, he saw that Kuroo within Lev.
7 billion people in this world and I wonder if we're actually meant to be.
Yaku smiled brightly under the fluorescent lights, his hazel eyes reflecting the rays of the lights and it made Kuroo flustered.
Lev glanced at Kuroo, he clenched his chest tightly and sighed, he gazed at his former teammates and smiled.
7 billion people in this world and I wonder if I can be the one who makes you happy.
"KUROO SAN!" Yamamoto cried, attempting to give his senpai a hug in which Kuroo has dodged it with a smirk, he snickered and rubbed Yamamoto's head, "Hey."
"YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE!" Yamamoto said excitedly, he pranced around Kuroo with the brightest smile and his eyes were brimmed with tears, "WE'RE ALL SO HAPPY..." He said droopily, Fukunaga passed by with a smile, waving at them.
They had a few conversations together, exchanged contacts and social media, Kuroo hasn't been on any platforms for quite some time already as he found it disturbing, but maybe following his teammates' accounts could let him know more about what's going on in their lives.
"Where is Inuoka?" Kuroo asked Yamamoto and Fukunaga, he got off the dance floor and leaned against a wall, shoving his hands inside his pockets, Yamamoto tilted his head a little, "He said he couldn't attend today's reunion, probably got a date or something." He then took out his phone and showed Kuroo Inuoka's instagram account, "You should follow him," he then proceeded to show the rest of the teammates' accounts so that Kuroo could get more involved into their lives.
"We've missed you a lot, when that happened, you completely lost yourself, we lost all contact with you except for Yaku... We've tried to ask him for your new contact but he said we need to 'respect your privacy'."He let out a loud burst of laughter and squeezed Kuroo's shoulder, "But we're glad that you finally pulled yourself out of it."
"We're happy for you." Fukunaga said sheepishly, his back a little bent and his held a thumbs up, he gave Kuroo a smile. Kuroo... really missed them, the last time he held conversations with his teammates was at Kenma's funeral, since then, he had never had the initiative to meet them.
I'm happy now Kenma.
He turned to Yaku, who was dancing with Kai now, he gazed at him affectionately, then he glanced at Lev who was staring at him, they blinked at each other with surprise and confusion, then Lev gave him a nod, he then smiled and he appeared to be mouthing something, something similar to "I give up." Kuroo blinked at him blankly, he bit his lips and clenched his fist tightly, but he returned a reassuring nod to Lev.
7 billion people, and I'd rather be friends with you all instead.
~
Kuroo placed a batch of flowers on the grave, he kneeled with a content smile, his obsidian eyes filled with hope and bliss, "Happy 26th Birthday Kenma." He placed a black kitten keychain with a red ribbon tied around its neck and he turned to his former teammates, who were greeting him with a smile.
The crimson sky was covered with a blanket of clouds, with shades of orange and pink, the warm glow fell onto their faces affectionately and a soft breeze of wind blew against their cheeks, living in serenity, the team gave Kuroo a reassuring grin, in which Kuroo has returned with a beatific smile.
I'm happy now Kenma.
16th October, 2021