"Rise and shine, we've got another day of memories to make!" Suga cheered, faring much better that morning than the previous, flinging open the bedroom doors as he yelled and startled awake the occupants. "Let's go, people! Up and at 'em!"

"I miss the extreme morning hater he used to be back in high school." Daichi grumbled, following the procession into the living room. "This is just not it."

"Try rooming with two morning people." Kenma glared across the room to where Suga had joined Akaashi and Kuroo in preparing caffeine for the others. "I knew Kuro lived to torment me but Akaashi was an unexpected betrayal."

Quiet fell over the common rooms while the majority of the friends struggled to wake up. Kenma had pulled out his Switch, wordlessly tilting the screen so that Hinata could watch him play. Oikawa and Atsumu were using each other as pillows, losing the battle in maintaining wakefulness. Bokuto never sat down with the rest. Despite having been awake before Suga he wasn't tired and instead was flitting about the cabin gathering objects to bring outside. Nobody could be bothered to figure out what he was taking or what he was doing, chalking it up to Bokuto being Bokuto.

They all gathered in the kitchen to form a procession to the cups of coffee and tea the trio had prepared for everyone, mumbling gratitudes before slinking off to the massive table. Kuroo smirked at everyone from his seat between Akaashi and Bokuto. Suga caught the look on Kuroo's face and groaned, mumbling a curse under his breath. "Don't mention it, you guys. I wouldn't do this for you if I didn't love you all a latte."

"Dude, you keep those jokes up and you're going to be getting divorced before you get married." Bokuto snickered, oblivious to the various stares of shock, suspicion, and betrayal. "That would be tragic."

"Don't break my heart like that, Bo." Kuroo whined while he hid his face in his hands, the hurt in his voice fake but the annoyance in his gaze real.

Bokuto was unfazed, shrugging at the antics of Kuroo. "I'm just saying."

"Bokuto-san, that was a bit mean."

Kuroo peaked through his hands to smile at Akaashi. "Thank y - "

"You know how fragile Kuroo-san's ego is. What if he doesn't recover in time for today's games, hm? That would be the real tragedy here." Akaashi ignored the offended spluttering of the man next to him, choosing to start a conversation with Suga instead. "You and Bokuto-san got everything ready, right?"

"Yeah, more or less." Suga hummed, smiling eerily at Oikawa when he questioned what they were talking about. "You'll find out soon enough and you'll love it. Trust me."

Daichi grumbled about how nonreassuring that was coming from Suga, grunting when he got kicked in the shin for his comment. The rest of breakfast passed by uneventfully and soon enough the gang found themselves once more gathered in the common room with Bokuto and Suga standing before their friends with matching grins.

Osamu was the one to voice the question on everyone's mind, asking what they had planned and why they were being so weird about it. Suna mumbled that the second part was a dumb question given who he was asking, earning a shoe thrown at his head by Suga.

"If you are all done being little shits - "

"Look who's talking."

"- ignoring you, Daichi, so that we can get on with today's festivities." Suga cleared his throat, gesturing to Bokuto. "The floor is yours."

"Thank you, my good sir." Bokuto gave an exaggerated bow, proceeding with his explanation once he straightened back up. "So, Suga, Akaashi, and I got to thinking about what to do on this trip when we first started planning it and we came up with a frankly genius idea, if I do say so myself, which I do."

"Get on with it, Bo. The suspense is killing us." Kuroo jeered, slapping the shoe aimed at his head away.

"Kuroo-san regretfully has a point, Bokuto-san. I am afraid we are going to lose Hinata and Atsumu's attention very soon if you don't speed this up." Akaashi sighed, glancing at his phone when it started vibrating in his hand. He stood from the couch and excused himself from the room, reassuring Suga that they could continue without him and that he would rejoin once the call was over.

"So! As I was saying before the beautiful bastard interrupted me, the three of us came up with a little game we can play!" Bokuto cheered. "It is simple enough that the rules won't be confusing."

"Yet intense enough to hopefully spark vicious competition." Suga chuckled. "It is basically a scavenger hunt but with a twist."

The duo continued their explanation of the game they made, taking turns describing the rules. It essentially came down to an interpretative scavenger hunt where all the teams are given a list of the items they must find that are hidden in and around the cabin. Once they locate the item they must use the location it was found in to interpret the next item they must find, except the second item will be a common item easily found in the town right down the road from their cabin. Once all the teams have returned to the cabin they have to argue and explain their reasoning for the items they picked up in town and the team with the best justification wins.

Oikawa snickered, giving his hair a dramatic toss. "What I'm hearing is this is just an excuse to cause chaos in the group and the person with the best bullshitting ability wins?" He smirked, tilting his chin up so he was looking down his nose at everyone else. "So, what will my prize be?"

"This is a team event, Oikawa. And we might as well stick with our room assignments. Taking that information into account it is pretty clear who is going to win." Kenma shrugged, slipping his Switch into his hoodie pocket.

"I'm still going to win."

"You are rooming with Bokuto and Hinata, Shittykawa."

"Iwa-chan! You're taking Kenma's side?!"

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean!?"

"He is rooming with Akaashi and Kuroo. You know, two of the best manipulators in the group." Iwaizumi sighed, ignoring Bokuto and Hinata's offended shrieking. "And he isn't too bad at it himself, either."

Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms with a pout. He turned his glare to his temporary roommates. "We need to beat Kenma, Akaashi, and Tetsu-chan no matter what."

"Since when was I Tetsu-chan to you?" Kuroo chuckled, tossing Suga's shoe back to him.

"Since I decided I am going to steal you from Akaashi and Kenma."

Akaashi sighed, having returned to the room during Oikawa's meltdown. "Why are you stealing Kuroo-san from us?"

Kenma shifted on the couch so Akaashi could sit back down, nodding at his roommate. "Oikawa is just throwing one of his little hissy fits and setting unrealistic goals. Everyone knows Kuro is loyal to a fault and won't be swayed, even by a self proclaimed pretty boy."

"You know what? I'm going to steal him even harder now." The brunet ignored Kuroo's interjection that he should have a say himself, choosing instead to stick his hand out to Kenma. "Whoever beats the other team gets to have Tetsu-chan."

Kenma rolled his eyes. "You act as if I want to keep Kuro."

"If our team wins, they keep me. If your team wins, you trade me with shrimpy." Kuroo paused, glancing at Kenma, eyes widening in realization. "Wait - "

"The winning team chooses whether they want to trade a roommate and they get to pick who to trade. Fair?" Akaashi stuck his hand out to shake with Oikawa. Before Oikawa could pull his hand back Akaashi tugged him closer, keeping his poker face on. "I will be winning and I will be making your rooming situation a living hell, Oikawa-san."

"While I'm sure we would all appreciate seeing two beauties such as yourselves make out, the hate filled sexual tension is getting a bit much, don't you think?" Kuroo pulled the two apart with a sigh. "Let's all take a step back and remember why we are doing this."

"We are playing for fun!" Hinata cheered.

"No, we are playing to embarrass the fuck out of Oika'a, duh." Kuroo snickered, turning to Bokuto and Suga. "Alright, what are the items we are looking for and is there a time limit?"

Suga handed one person from each room a list of the items, explaining that all members of the teams should be back at the cabin by sundown with their secured objects. After giving everyone a minute to read over the lists Suga started a countdown, the signal for the start of their competition being Bokuto playing an airhorn sound from his phone. Those in on the Kuroo Boyfriend Investigation gave each other discrete nods, all agreeing to find a time to meet up during the hunt in order to discuss next steps.

As soon as the signal was given everyone scattered, scrambling to find their objects the fastest in order to regroup and maximize their time coming up with their reasons for their chosen finds. They paid no mind when they heard Bokuto hollering in the distance or when that was followed by a violent shushing from Kuroo, chalking it up to the duo being their usual selves.

Well, that is what they would've done before they decided to be nosy and unearth the secrets of Kuroo's dating life.

Presently they chose that as the signal to temporarily abandon their scavenger hunt and meet on the beach for a quick meeting. Almost the entire investigating crew was present, only missing Daichi, Atsumu, and Akaashi.

"His first official meetup and he ain't even here." Osamu shook his head in disappointment. "Whatever, let's make this quick."

"It is only a couple hours after we chose a new suspect so there isn't much to go on yet as far as evidence. The only real evidence we even have is Bokuto calling Kuroo a beautiful bastard this morning." Iwaizumi gently kicked some sand up. "Even then that isn't much."

"Well, he did dedicate a love song to Kuroo during karaoke..." Hinata mumbled.

"Maybe Kuroo asked Bokuto to take it down a couple of notches? He is supposedly a very private person when it comes to his love life so maybe he felt uncomfortable with Bokuto's public declaration of love?" Suna shrugged, going to elaborate more on his theory when all their attention was drawn to Atsumu sprinting towards them with excitement in his eyes.

"Holy shit, ya aren't gonna believe this!" Atsumu panted, taking a moment to catch his breath. "Ya all heard the commotion they caused earlier, yeah?"

"I'm pretty sure everyone in the town heard it too."

"Right, well, I know what happened! Kuroo proposed to Bokuto!" Atsumu gasped out.

"What?" Kenma hissed, his glare turning murderous. "How do you know?"

Atsumu relayed what he had witnessed to the group. He had been looking through the bushes next to the fire pit for one of his items when he saw Kuroo and Bokuto a couple yards into the wooded area around the cabin, looking incredibly shady. Atsumu couldn't hear what they were saying but he saw how nervous Kuroo looked and how excited Bokuto was, practically vibrating out of his skin. He saw how Kuroo got down on one knee and how Bokuto covered his mouth, listening to Kuroo speak before letting out the holler everyone heard. Not wanting to keep the information to himself for even a second, Atsumu had left the scene to find the others and relay the events to them.

Kenma shook his head, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "That idiot." He mumbled before speaking louder. "Did you hear a proposal from Kuro or see a ring?"

Atsumu pursed his lips. "No, but what else could it have been?"

"While this does add weight to Bokuto being the mystery boyfriend - substantial weight at that - we can't take this as concrete evidence until one of them announces their supposed engagement."

Hinata spluttered. "What?! Why!?"

"Kenma is right, actually. It would be idiotic of us to take this at face value and hurt our investigation if we call it off now. We need to see this through to the very end, no matter the outcome." Iwaizumi hummed. "Now that we have an alleged engagement however, that makes things a bit easier. All we have to do now is trick one of them into spilling the beans."

"So we have to put pressure on Bokuto to let it out." Everyone in the circle nodded to Suna's decree.

"Iwaizumi, why are you so set on keeping the investigation going?" Hinata questioned the other guy as the group split up.

Iwaizumi shrugged. "It's entertaining. Plus, if we figure this out then I can hold it over Oikawa's head that I knew something before he did." He chuckled, patting Hinata's back ."See you back at the cabin. Good luck."

Hinata returned the well wishes before darting off in a different direction in search of his team's items. He ended up running into Oikawa before he could find any of the items, greeting the brunet cheerfully. Oikawa hummed, his jaw set in determination. "Shoyo, we need to win this. Losing is not an option."

"We've got this!"

"It is up to us, Shoyo. Apparently Bo hurt his hand during his search. Kuroo-chan is taking him into town early to get it looked at because he was there when he got hurt. So we are down a member but so is our enemy." Hinata gasped, remembering the fresh conversation the investigators had about a proposal, trying to nonchalantly ask for more information to get an indirect confirmation. Oikawa shook his head at Hinata's questions. "I don't know more than that, only what Daichi texted me. But we need to focus on winning this. I can't wait to see the frustration on Kenma and Akaashi's faces when they lose."

Fighting back the urge to pout from not getting more intel, Hinata nodded. "Okay, let's do this!" He high fived his teammate before running off to continue searching, completely missing Oikawa's smirk and the side eye he gave to a shrub.

"Oh, you so owe me for this."

"We'll discuss payments once this is all over, Oikawa. Besides, don't you have a game to win?"

Oikawa smiled at the shrub before heading off to continue his search, leaving his companion to do the same.

The games continued on and as the sun rose higher in the sky more teams moved on to the town portion of the search, running about to find justifiable items in order to secure their victories. They ignored the strange looks the locals gave them when they ran into each other and started fights, opting to put the competition above their public image. They would only be in town for another week and half so why does it matter what the locals think of them anyways?

Panic began to set in as the sun started to lower in the sky along with their ability to justify and defend their choices. Frantic rushing about caused some to miss the answers they sought as they ran by Kuroo exiting a shop hand in hand with one of their friends, none of them registering the sight in their haste to complete the competition.

With minutes to spare before the sun completely set all the teams settled into the common room, proudly presenting their items. Kenma glared at Kuroo as he sipped on a cherry slushie. "You were almost late."

"Sorry, Kenma, we got hungry. We got you one too, but Akaashi drank it."

"Dude, what about me?! You injure my hand and then don't even get me a consolation slushie."

"Akaashi drank yours too." Kuroo stuck his purple tongue out at Bokuto, yelping when he pinched the offending appendage. "Dude! Et o!"

"Give me a sip then." Bokuto smirked, pinching Kuroo's tongue harder.

Kuroo glared before slapping the hand away. Before Bokuto could retaliate he grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in, locking their lips together for the briefest of moments before shoving him away. "There you go, you big baby."

Bokuto chuckled, licking his lips. "You know you love me."

"Now I get why people question my sanity because I really do love you." Kuroo sighed, rubbing his temples while being completely oblivious to the astonished stares of his friends. "Moving on, let's argue over who should win."

Clearing his throat while giving the other investigators a pointed look that screamed 'keep quiet, we'll dissect that later' Daichi started the arguments, defending the items he, Suga, and Iwaizumi found valiantly. He was interrupted halfway through by Atsumu declaring he had weak reasoning before the blond delved into his own team's finds, defending the objects he, his brother, and Suna found.

"Ha! You said Daichi's reasons were weak, take a look in the mirror." Oikawa smiled smugly, stealing the spotlight to secure his victory with his iron tight arguments.

Throughout the other three teams arguing the final team had stayed silent up until Suga dragged them into it, citing their quietness as eerie and suspicious. Akaashi simply shrugged, finishing his blue raspberry slushie before tossing the cup in the trash. "We don't need to argue in order to win."

"And why is that?" Oikawa huffed, glaring at the other.

"We win by default." Kenma didn't pull his eyes away from his Switch, gesturing with his feet at the bag in Kuroo's lap. "Kuro and Akaashi bought everyone dinner and drinks."

"H-how does that mean you win? That doesn't make sense!"

"'Course it does! We took the items we found - strangely enough all personal belongings of you guys - and interpreted that as us needing to find an object that shows our appreciation for our friendships. And what better way to show gratitude than to feed those you love?" Kuroo opened the bag during his miniature speech and began passing out the take out containers. "So we will gracefully accept victory, thank you."

"Does food count as an object, though?" Hinata whined when Kuroo tugged the food out of his reach. "Wait, no! I'm sorry! Food counts!"

Kuroo smiled, handing Hinata the food while ignoring the glare from Kenma. His statement sparked a new debate among the friends which they dove deeply into as they devoured the food Akaashi, Kenma, and Kuroo bought for them. Soon enough - as with most of their interactions - they forgot what they were originally arguing about as the conversations spiraled and spun out into different topics.

It was Suna who asked Bokuto what happened to his hand, having miraculously just noticed the thick bandages adorning his hand. Bokuto glared at Kuroo, flicking a carrot at him. "This one happened."

"I apologized for that, Bo!" Kuroo whined, stuffing the carrot into his mouth.

"Doesn't change the fact you sprained my fingers!" Bokuto pouted. Osamu questioned him on how exactly Kuroo sprained his fingers, stunned when a blush rose up on Bokuto's cheeks and he avoided eye contact ."Doesn't matter, l-let's talk about something else!"

Adding that tidbit to the list of discussion topics the friends let it slide, slipping back into their earlier conversations with ease.

Much like the previous nights the friends bid each other good night and retired to their rooms, the investigators waiting before sneaking out to discuss their findings. When only Kenma emerged from his shared room, Hinata questioned where Akaashi was, the blond explaining his roommate had a disagreement with dinner and wasn't feeling up to the meeting.

Daichi nodded, opening the floor to the group so they could recap the day's events. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the group was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bokuto was the secret boyfriend.

"They flirt constantly, Bokuto dedicated a love song to him, they are super touchy feely, they kissed in front of us, and Kuroo even proposed! They are together." Hinata huffed.

"It would explain the way Bo reacted to the bandages. He is hiding the ring 'cause they aren't ready to tell us." Atsumu hummed.

Iwaizumi shook his head. "Although I do believe Bokuto is the front runner, I'm not entirely sold."

"Me neither." Daichi cleared his throat. "I wouldn't put it past Kuroo to somehow find out about this little quest and purposely plant hints to lead us astray. That man thrives off toying with others and creating chaos."

"Exactly, and if that's the case, if Kuroo actually knows about this search then he probably won't ever admit to who he is dating." Iwaizumi nodded. "But if he doesn't know about it I also wouldn't put it past him to use Bokuto as a practice run for a real proposal."

"If Kuroo did just use Bokuto as a practice proposal we still need to focus on cracking him and getting Bokuto to admit the truth, one way or the other. He should be our focus for the time being."

In the midst of everyone agreeing to focus on Bokuto, Kenma couldn't help but speak up. "Was it ever even confirmed that Kuro was proposing, whether practice or not?"

Hearing Kenma's logical words, the group wavered slightly in their thinking that Bokuto was the true boyfriend, until Suna reminded them about the kiss and renewed their drive to uncover the truth.

"Well, let's call it a night. We will keep an eye on the two of them until proven wrong or right. And then we will take it from there." Daichi stood with a stretch of his arms and a yawn. "Good night."

Unfortunately for those on the investigative team could not come to a conclusion one way or the other over the course of the next handful of days and panic began to set in as they reached the one week mark of their vacation. Knowing they were running out of time, they began to get a bit reckless and desperate, resorting to questioning Bokuto directly.

They had to still be careful in doing so, so they waited until Oikawa, Suga, and Kuroo went out to restock their kitchen and toiletries. Surprisingly, Kenma and Akaashi skipped out on the interrogation, Kenma claiming he needed Akaashi's help with an errand in town. Those remaining to question Bokuto held it together until they saw the car the trio took pull out of the driveway.

Then they pounced.

Poor Bokuto was not prepared to be cornered in his room and dragged into the common room right after his shower to be questioned about his relationship with Kuroo. He blinked owlishly at his friends as they stared at him in silence, waiting for another to ask the burning question.

"Uh, guys? Is everything okay?" Bokuto chuckled, wringing the towel in his hand nervously.

"Be incredibly honest with us, Bokuto. What is your relationship with Kuroo?" Daichi asked from his spot, straddling a backwards chair, chin resting on the backrest.

"He is one of my best friends." Bokuto blinked, head tilting to the side. "What else would he be to me?"

"Your boyfriend."

"Your fiance."

Bokuto burst out laughing. "Oh, no! We aren't dating and definitely not engaged, I am not his type." He wiped the amused tears from his eyes. "However much I wish I was, he likes them pretty and I am too rugged for that."

"Bokuto, I hate to break it to you, but you are not rugged." Daichi sighed. "Being jacked doesn't equate to ruggedness."

The man pouted, crossing his arms over his chest before remembering the question. "Why did you think I was dating Kuroo?" Atsumu recited their reasoning, everyone watching as Bokuto nodded in understanding. "I get that, but I'm not in a relationship with Kuroo. We are just friends."

"But the kiss?"

"That? A running gag with us." Bokuto shrugged. "And that proposal Tsumu saw was just a practice run for the real thing. We stupidly put the ring on my finger and it got stuck, that's also why I was wearing those bandages, so his boyfriend wouldn't see and realize what he was planning."

Everyone froze, eyes bugging out of their head. "Kuroo is planning on proposing yet won't tell us who he is dating?!"

Scratching his head, Bokuto paused too. "Wait, you guys don't know who Kuroo is dating?"

"Obviously not!" Osamu slapped his forehead.

"Why else would we be asking if it was you?!" Suna groaned.

"I thought you guys just wanted to make sure he wasn't cheating! Which he would never do, by the way."

"Bokuto, I love you, I really do...but you are so slow on the uptake sometimes." Iwaizumi grumbled.

"So does that mean you know who Kuroo is dating too?" Hinata was bouncing in his seat. "Can you tell us?"

Bokuto shrugged, opening his mouth to end the entire investigation with the truth.

Or, he would've done that if Kenma and Akaashi hadn't returned at that exact moment. Akaashi smiled in amusement at what was obviously happening, chuckling to himself before retiring to his room and leaving Kenma behind. The blond glared at Bokuto, getting a squeak in return. "I know you weren't about to out Kuro and his boyfriend when you know full well they want to keep it a secret just a bit longer, right, Bokuto?"

"I-I would never!" Bokuto hopped up from his chair, giving a hasty excuse before rushing out of the room.

Kenma turned his gaze to the rest of the group, glare morphing into a smug smile. "Cheating isn't cool. If you can't ask me or Akaashi then you can't ask Bokuto either. Good luck."

With that he left the room as well, the others staring in frustration and annoyance at his retreating back. It was Suna who offered up the idea, most of the other's quickly agreeing with his proposal. After all, given all they have learned about Kuroo and his mysterious boyfriend during their search it added up.

"What if...what if Kenma is the boyfriend?"