As Taiji opened the door to her house, Kuroo could feel the emptiness without her brothers running around.
The two made their way in and flopped on the couch. Taiji dropped her bag on the table and made a bee-line for her room.
"I need a shower," Taiji called just before she entered her room, "There's a bathroom next to the kitchen if you need it."
Without another word, Kuroo heard a door open and close from above. His phone suddenly buzzed, which made him jump a little.
Messages from: Kuroo's Support Team
Loud Akari
[10:23 p.m]: Has anyone heard from her?
Yukoo
[10:23 p.m]: Not yet.
Yakult
[10:23 p.m]: Nothing here.
Nekoma' Brain
[10:24 p.m]: She's with Kuroo.
Loud Akari
[10:24 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Me
[10:24 p.m]: Stop with that face.
Long Legs Lev
|[10:25 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Yukoo
[10:25 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Yakult
[10:26 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Mohawk Ace
[10:26 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Me
[10:27 p.m]: STOPP
Yukoo
[10:27 p.m]: Okay okay, Is Tai okay?
Me
[10:27 p.m]: She's in the shower now.
Nekoma's Brain
[10:28 p.m]: Wasn't the last train 30 minutes ago?
Me
[10:29 p.m]: I'm staying with her for the night.
Yukoo
[10:29 p.m]: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Me
[10:30 p.m]: Goodbye
Kuroo sighed and put his phone away, just as Taiji walked in with a towel around her neck.
"20000 texts from Akari, Lev, and Inuoka combined." Taiji laughed as she plopped onto the couch opposite of Kuroo, "And calls from Yuko, Harumi, and Kenma, I should return those."
Kuroo could see Taiji was forcing her smile. Taking the phone from her hand, he pulled the female captain into a hug.
"You don't have to pretend to be okay," Kuroo could feel Taiji stiffen up, "It's okay to not be fine."
The female captain slowly brought her hand around Kuroo and melted into the hug. No words were needed for them to understand each other as they stayed there for a few more moments.
Taiji pressed a kiss onto Kuroo's cheek just before pulling away from the hug. "I'm really glad that it's Saturday tomorrow."
"Same here." Kuroo laughed, "So what do you wanna do now?"
"Maybe a movie? I don't think I'll be able to sleep anytime soon." Taiji suggested, "You can pick from the case over there."
"Maybe an action movie?" Kuroo flipped through the CDs, "There's a lot of romance and cartoons here."
Taiji laughed, "Those are Takashi and Taro's CDs."
"I never took Takashi-kun for the romantic type." He smiled at Taiji.
"He's a hopeless romantic."
~~~
The two picked out a movie and snuggled under a blanket. Snacks laid out in the coffee table in front of them, the only source of light was the TV.
For an hour the two captains sat in silence as the movie played, laughing at funny parts and cheering like idiots as the hero and villain fought.
Kuroo saw Taiji in the dim light, her expression relaxed as her head rested on his chest. Their heartbeat fell in sync as their eyes met. The smell of lemongrass lingered as they stayed close to each other.
Taiji could feel herself start to sweat, Kuroo's eyes felt different as they studied her features. He looked more, mature, unlike all the times she watched him fool around. But for the first time, she noticed how his eyes melted when Kuroo looked at her.
Tearing her eyes away first, the female captain got up and made her way to her room, with Kuroo hovering behind her, "I'm going to bed, you should too."
"Right."
As the two slowly retreated to their respective beds, their mind wondering if they messed up, or missed a chance.
Kuroo found himself blankly staring at the ceiling, his mind clouding with thoughts that prevented him from falling asleep. Taiji tossed and turned, unsure why she felt uneasy.
A soft knock from the paper wall behind him drove Kuroo out of his thoughts, "Are you asleep yet?"
"Nope," He quietly sat up against the wall, " Can't sleep either?"
A quiet chuckle followed his question, "Yea..."
Silence followed after a few seconds as Kuroo could feel the wall press against him, indicating that Taiji was leaning against the wall too. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before they spoke again.
"Why'd you start volleyball?" Taiji asked, she wasn't sure what else to talk about.
"I fell in love with the sport when I first watched it on TV." Kuroo smiled, remembering the past, "Volleyball helped me become who I am today."
A moment of silence passed, "That's really nice."
"What about you?"
"Me?"
Kuroo smiled again, "Why did you start volleyball."
"My dad loved volleyball, and he wanted us to follow his footsteps." He swore he could feel Taiji smiling, "Takashi joined the track team instead, so my dad encouraged me to go for volleyball."
"Your dad sounds really awesome."
A moment of silence passed, "Yea.."
Feeling the change of atmosphere, Kuroo got up from the bed and made his way to Taiji's room.
As he opened the door, he saw her figure huddled against the wall. Her knees brought up to her chest and her head resting on them. The smell of lemongrass was stronger in her room.
Not wasting another moment, Kuroo pulled the female captain into a tight hug. The bedhead didn't know why she was so upset about her father, but he didn't need to know if she didn't want to talk about it.
Minutes passed as the two stayed in that position, still no conversation.
"Can we stay like this, just for tonight?" Taiji's voice was small.
"Of course."
Taiji snuggled herself into the crook of Kuroo's neck as the latter draped his arms around her waist. Their legs tangled together as they fell asleep.
~~~
When Taiji woke up, the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't sleeping alone, which caused her to panic a little. She slowly looked up and realized that it was Kuroo, that allowed her to let out a breath of relief.
Remembering what happened the night before, she let out another breath of relief.
'Thank god we didn't do anything that we weren't supposed to do.' she sighed to herself, a little ashamed that she even thought about it.
As Taiji studied Kuroo's features, her hand subconsciously brushed his odd-looking hair. Her heart beating just a little bit faster.
Slowly slipping away from Kuroo's embrace, Taiji made her way to the kitchen, where she came face to face with her mother, who was smirking.
"Good morning," Her mother smiled, "I see that you had a good night's sleep."
Taiji blushed, "Mom! It's nothing like that."
"Cuddling and falling asleep together? Or did you two do something else?"
"MOM!" Taiji covered her face.
"Okay okay, I'll stop." Taiji's mother laughed, "I did take a few pictures for the photo album!"
Taiji pinched the bridge of the nose and shook her head, "How's Takashi doing?"
"He'll be home in a few days." She assured.
Kuroo wandered into the kitchen and noticed the two already there. "Good morning."
Kuroo unconsciously made his way to Taiji's side and wrapped his arm around her waist, "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, thanks for staying yesterday night." She smiled.
The male captain leaned down and kissed her forehead. Taiji's mother squealed at their exchange.
She snapped another photo with her phone and laughed, "You guys behave like a married couple!"
Taiji groaned again, "Mom!"
(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤