How (Not) to Make Up


Ai could feel Kuroo behind her the whole way home. Neither of them said a word and she slipped into her apartment before he was even at the steps. She sat on the couch and told her mother about her date while her mother began preparing the Yakisoba in the kitchen. In return, her mother told her about the new intern that had spilled coffee on her boss on his first day. They laughed, they ate dinner and had a glass of wine before unwinding with a little bit of game shows.

They took their baths and said goodnight.

Ai ignored Kuroo for two more days. She was eating lunch in her classroom when Kenma showed up at the door. He was peeking in from the side of the door. Ai excused herself from her friends and headed out into the hallway.

"Um," Kenma shifted uncomfortably. This was very out of character, Ai was concerned something bad had happened. "When are you and Kuroo going to stop fighting?"

Ai let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "We aren't fighting, we just aren't talking."

"That pie," Kenma said rather abruptly, "when we ate that pie together, it was nice." Ai frowned.

"If you guys don't talk, then how will you make up? Kuroo is very upset."

"Kenma, I haven't known Kuroo for that long, but I don't appreciate people criticizing my decisions."

"Why don't you just tell Kuroo that yourself?" Kenma asked.

Ai opened her mouth but the bell rang.

Ai was glad Kuroo and Kenma had practice. She could walk home alone and clear her head. What was she supposed to do? If Kenma was that troubled by all of this, maybe she should do something about it.

She did laundry when she went home and finished her homework between loads. She hung her clothes out to dry on the veranda, thoughts still stewed in her mind. She paused to take a breath, leaning her body against the railing. Everything was so heavy and she felt like she could no longer support herself. She looked out at the sprawling suburbs around her and pondered her place in the universe. How everything connected, how fate brought people together and also broke people apart. Everything was trivial in the long run, but so important in the moment.

She didn't hear the door next to her slide open. She was stuck inside her own head. Sunset approached, and she watched the sky change colors.

Someone cleared their throat and she snapped out of it. She could have turned and ran, it would have been easy to slip back into her apartment, but her feet had taken root and she was going to stay there.

"Ai-chan," Kuroo rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Ai asked, "I'm the one who yelled at you."

"I knew you were upset and I pushed it." Kuroo sighed.

Ai sighed, "I'm sorry for flying off the handle." She crossed her arms. "I shouldn't have ignored you. I just didn't know how to make up."

"Ai-chan, I'm not your father, but I am gonna look out for you, promise." Kuroo said seriously.

"Lame." Ai snorted.

"You're so mean, Ai-chan!" Kuroo whined.

"Goodnight Kuroo." Ai cooed, entering her apartment and sliding her door closed, she added a sincere "Thank you."

"Dig in everyone!" Ai's mother said. She was grinning ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat.

"Homemade pie!" Kuroo cried.

"It's so rare that Ai brings friends home." Ai's mother put a hand to her cheek. Her mother was dressed like she was going out, a pair of polished black pumps waiting at the door to match her white and black polka dot dress. Her hair was just like Ai's and pulled up neatly into a ponytail. When her head moved, it was possible to see tiny threads of silver in her hair.

"Mother!" Ai whined as she doled out slices of pie.

"Fine, fine, I'll go." She sighed grabbing her purse. "Have fun," her mother kissed her forehead.

"You two," she pointed to Kuroo and then to Ai, "don't drink all of my beer tonight."

Kuroo shoved his cheeks full of pie so he didn't have to respond. Kenma seemed to not be listening, maybe he was enamored with the pie.

"I'm leaving now." Her mother called.

"Be safe!" The door shut. Ai sighed with relief.

"You and your mom are so cute." Kuroo cooed as Ai glared at him. She stabbed her pie. "And she can bake, it's perfect!" Kuroo gestured.

Ai rolled her green eyes at his comment. "I made the pie." Ai admitted.

"Oooh you can bake?" Kuroo grinned.

Ai rolled her eyes as always. "Anyone can, it's just chemistry and science." She shrugged.

"Oooh I like that sentiment."

"How do you like the pie, Kenma?" Ai smiled, diverging from science before Kuroo got too far into his own head.

He nodded his head. "It's nice that we could do this again."

"Kenma, are you being sentimental?" Ai teased, ruffling his hair. Kenma did not appreciate that. "I'm glad we could do this again too." She said it sincerely, with a hint of bitterness.

"Are you gonna come back to practice? The guys have been asking where you went." Kuroo finished his pie crust and took a sip of water.

Ai finished chewing before answering. "I don't know if that's even a question, you practically drag me out of my house every morning."

She pulled her hair out of her ponytail and let it lie down her back. "God, my hair hurts."

"Hair is dead, you can't feel it." Kuroo remarked.

"Like my scalp and roots," she rubbed her head "I should really stop putting it up so much."

"It looks better down, anyways." Kuroo collected the plates and took them to the sink where he began washing them. Ai sat there, not knowing how to respond. Kenma shot her a glance, she didn't know what meaning was behind it.

She ran her hand through her smooth black hair, it nearly reached her butt now, she was thinking about cutting it because it was too troublesome to care for. Do guys prefer long hair? Did Ai care of guys preferred long hair? She didn't know. Ai had never had strong feelings about her hair before then.

"Now!" Kuroo announced, snapping her out of her thoughts. He held up two dvd cases proudly. "Who's ready for double feature movie night?"

One look at the cheesy horror movie covers and groaned. Ai knew she was in for a long night.

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