9-10-2040

mirai's death marks a sad day for the kuroo-oikawa household.

kuroo cries, although he won't admit it. the cat was a symbol to them; a symbol of happiness, and oikawa has to console him for a few minutes. kazuhiko, naturally, is upset as well; he's known her for his entire life.

they bury her in the back yard — which is pretty damn illegal cause they live in an apartment complex, but still, it's for the gesture. kazuhiko made them do it.

when they return upstairs, he decides to go back down to play volleyball with some kids down the street. oikawa sits next to kuroo.

"hey, tetsu."

"hmm?" he asks, looking up at him, sleeves of his button up rolled up to his elbows.

"i was thinking, shouldn't we get our own place? like, a house."

kuroo looks up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"i thought we weren't gonna expand?"

"i know, but..." he sighs softly, "i feel like kazu's growing out of this place. and i want him to be able to play outside; it's dangerous next to the roads here. i love this place. a whole lot. but i feel like we decided to get this not thinking of kids, so..."

"i understand what you mean. i've been toying with the idea as well. but now that mirai's gone, i don't want to throw that onto him as well. he's still a little boy."

"not yet," oikawa says, "but in the future. i'd like that. i think we need it."

"i agree. we'll look into it, okay?"

"thank you, tetsurou."

21-5-2041

oikawa looks at kuroo and he grins that happy fucking grin, and kuroo knows he's positively fucked.

"tooru, this place is far away from his school."

"i'll drive him. he can go to a middle school around here. it's even closer to the terushima's!"

"i need the car for work," kuroo reasons, "and being away from the city centre..."

oikawa's face falls, and he sighs softly. "yeah. i understand," he mumbles, "sorry, i got way too excited, i should've thought rationally."

"tooru," kuroo sighs, "i'm sorry, but we can't afford a car and this place."

"yeah. i understand," he smiles, "i didn't take that into account."

"but that doesn't mean we have to stop looking around," he says, and oikawa's eyes light up, "we can just look for something smaller or something closer to work, okay? then either i won't need the car or we can afford a small one, and let you have this one for kazuhiko."

"are you sure?" oikawa asks, "i don't want to push you into this."

"i'm gonna miss our apartment, of course, it's got a lot of sentimental stuff behind it, but now that mirai's gone and kazuhiko's going to school i think you need a project of your own."

oikawa wraps his arms around his neck, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek, "thank you tetsu."

9-6-2042

"kazu-chan, did you get your alien plushy?" oikawa asks his son, a big, cardboard box sitting in his arms.

"got it!" he grins, running through the hallway, "i'll go sit in the car!"

"good idea, you have your nintendo?"

"yep!"

"oh thank god," oikawa sighs as kazuhiko runs off.

he looks around the empty living room. it looks exactly like it did twenty-five years ago, before they moved in. he sighs softly, biting his lip as he looks at where the couch had been previously, recounting all of the times he and kuroo had cuddled on it, and how life changed so drastically when kazuhiko started jumping in between them whenever he felt like it.

"don't tell me you're getting cold feet," a voice chuckles behind him, and he spins around on his heels, coming face to face with kuroo.

"no. just... thinking."

"i'm gonna miss this place," he sighs, wrapping his arms around the smaller, "so, so much."

"me too," oikawa smiles sadly, "remember when we brought kazu home? how much time we spent decorating the shit out of that baby room?"

"definitely," kuroo chuckles, "but i took pictures. we'll print them out and stick them in a book, a nice memory. sound good?"

"sounds perfect," oikawa replies, "i'm not nearly as sad as i am absolutely fucking amped, so let's go do this. before i change my mind."

10-6-2042

"kazuhiko loves the garden," kuroo smiles as the two watch their son play around on the swings.

"and i," oikawa adds, "love the tatami design. you were right. getting a traditional house was a great idea. it's so peaceful and beautiful."

"i'm glad we did this," kuroo says, "i'm glad, even though i miss our little apartment." he chuckles softly. "remember when we first moved in? it was one of the first places outside of your house that you'd ever been to."

"remember when you were still a student? and i'd force you to take me out for starbucks?"

"yeah. that was nice."

"i remember when you proposed," oikawa says quietly, "you looked so pained to see me like that. i still feel horrible."

"what?" kuroo asks, looking at his husband, "don't feel badly, that's an order. you couldn't do anything about that incident. and besides, you lived we got married. that's what matters."

"i'm just glad all of the heart stuff is in the past," oikawa sighs, "thank you. you make everything better."

"it's only because of you," kuroo replies, hugging him from behind, "i wonder what would've happened if i hadn't thrown my ball through your window."

"don't even. i don't want to think about that," oikawa shudders, "all i know is that you're a blessing from heaven. i mean, without you, i'd be a boring old bed-resting guy. forty-three with nothing done in life. now, i'm here with a husband and a child and a fixed heart."

"isn't he the best?"

"he's the absolute best. along with you."

"it's all for you. and for him. it's all for this happy family."

"i love this happy family."