"Hey, why did you call him Firefly?"

"That's his name,"

"Tsukishima isn't his name?!"

"... that's his surname, Bo,"

"...oh. So he's Tsukishima Firefly?"

"No. Firefly is just his name's meaning from the kanji. His name is Kei,"

"...can't it also be read as Hotaru as well then?"

"Yeah,"

"...shame~,"

Yamaguchi knew something was up with Kei, and even a blind man could see the reason behind it. Kei had never been one to text often and he wasn't really active on his social media page, but there had been a significant spike in his action since the Tokyo camp. Kei had been open about it when Yamaguchi asked, not seeing any reason in lying about facts his friend already knew. Kei was on a group with the other three, their group name appropriately being 'The Animal Kingdom'. Or, that was what it was at the moment. Bokuto and Kuroo had a fight about it every so often and changed the name to whatever popped in their heads.

Previous names included 'the plants are retaliating', 'Ball Squad' and 'Bo stop saying cereal is a fucking soup!!!'.

Kei was more proactive in practice even, so the team saw nothing bad from how Kei reacted. Yamaguchi noticed a slight irritation in his movements at time, a lingering when he finished writing a sentence and the contemplative look he shot out of the window during the boring classes. When Yamaguchi sat himself in front of Kei, a week before the qualifying rounds for Miyagi's national representative, Kei already knew what the conversation would be about. Sparing them both the time and effort of going at it in a roundabout way, Yamaguchi not giving up and Kei shutting down all of his insinuations, Kei just started out with what they both already knew at the begging.

"I miss them," he admitted, eyes fixed on the breezy weather outside the glass enclosure. "I really miss them. Why? I didn't even miss my brother this much when he moved out,"

"Because you-,"

"Don't say it," Kei gave him a pointed look.

"Like them?" he said it anyway. Kei turned his head, not wanting to make eye contact. Eye contact was always revealing and intrusive.

"They're... together. That's that," Kei nodded, a hint of sadness behind his cold eyes. "They're perfect together,"

"That doesn't mean you should shut down your feelings,"

"I haven't known them for long. It probably doesn't go that deep anyway. This is just one of those silly teenage crushes. It'll fade away pretty quickly,"

"And if it doesn't?" Kei considered the questioned, releasing a sigh from his nostrils as he leaned his elbows onto the desk, hands running through his hair. He held the stress behind his neck, thinking. Thinking.

"I don't know," he eventually whispered, Yamaguchi looking at him with sad eyes. "Is it wrong of me to wish these feelings away? I feel like life would be a whole lot simpler then,"

"Is a simple life ever worth living?" Kei just shook his head.

"It would be a whole lot easier,"

Later that week – Friday - Kei returned home from the gruesome afternoon practice to the sight of his brother.

He had been hanging out at their house quite a lot during the year, that 'protective older brother' atmosphere pushing him to check up on Kei's high school year experienced.

Kei was annoyed, but appreciative.

"You know, your expression is different this time around," Akiteru mentioned, shooting a ball into their home basketball hoop. Kei didn't respond, analysing his brother from his position on the porch. "You had a training camp, right? Was it rough?"

"N-not really," but he couldn't get anything past his brother.

"That's definitely an 'it was rough face'," Kei thought for a moment.

"...so, you're still playing volleyball?"

"Yeah. I'm on a team,"

"And you play in tournaments?"

"I do," he bounced the ball, catching it swiftly. "Why am I still playing, after what happened in high school? That's what you really want to ask me, didn't it?" obviously Akiteru would be able to read him. "I'm playing because it was like that in high school. To this day, even just thinking about it gets me so frustrated. I can't think of it as a good life lesson when I had strung you along such a disgraceful path. I can't do anything about it now. In high school, I wasn't able to experience the incredible feelings of playing on a court.

But I already knew what made the sport fun. About that great feeling when your spike goes through and the pride that comes from the cheering. I want to be somewhere where I can give it my all until I'm satisfied,"

Bokuto immediately flooded his mind, Kei surprised at how similar Akiteru's words were.

"...I see," and even if he wanted to, he couldn't help the small smile that overcame him.

"So," Kei looked up at the change of topic. "Mom's been telling me that you've been acting different since your camp. Always on your phone, sometimes really quiet,"

"Do you two always gossip behind my back?"

"Want to tell me what's it all about it? Is it... should I be worried?" he took a seat next to Kei, turning the tone of the conversation to a serious one.

"It's really nothing to worry over," Kei insisted, but Akiteru wasn't having it.

"'Cmon, I don't want to have to ask Yamaguchi," Kei released a breath through his nostrils.

"It's not what you think,"

"What do you think I think it is?"

"You know what I mean," Kei rubbed at his face, hiding behind his fingers. "It's... the opposite, actually,"

"Oh?" Akiteru sounded, amused curiosity seeping into his voice.

"Yeah. I've been doing well. I..." Akiteru wouldn't let this go. No matter how vague or how much Kei could beat around the bush - Akiteru would bake a cake and he would fold. That's how this dynamic worked. "Have a crush?" he sounded unsure just talking about.

"Oh?"

"Don't give me that look,"

"Oh?"

"Akiteru, really?"

"Is it Yamaguchi?"

"What? No,"

"What really? Someone else besides Yamaguchi could get into that thick skull of yours?"

"I'm leaving," Kei stood up, walking into the house with a quick pace.

"What? No, Kei, tell me more! I need to hear the story!"

"I'll tell it at your funeral,"

"Kei, no~,"

Kei woke up on the first day of the tournament not from his alarm, but to a video call. He begrudgingly pulled his phone to him and accepted the call, three familiar faces popping up on his screen. What was unusual was that instead of three feedbacks, there was only one. They were all in the same room.

"Tsukki! Morning! Hey, did you sleep without a shirt?" Kei groaned at Bokuto's loudness.

"It's like forty degrees here. Calm down," Kei wiped the sleep out of his eyes. "What time is it even?"

"Five AM," Akaashi's voice flowed through.

"What? Why are you calling so early?"

"It's spring high! It's your tournament time, baby!"

"Shouldn't you all get ready for your own tournament?" Kei sat up in his bed, looking at them with awake eyes. They weren't dressed to tackle the day yet either, Akaashi wearing a plain white tee and the other shirtless. Why was he the one being called out on his half-nakedness then?

"Both Nekoma and Fukurōdani were in the top four in the preliminaries so we're exempt and only need to play at the representative playoffs in October," Kuroo shrugged.

"Lucky you. Also, we were exempt from our first match so my first match is only in the afternoon. I could have had a beautiful couple more hours of sleep,"

"Hah! Sleep. Don't know her. Who's she?" Kei rolled his eyes. "Do you feel ready?"

"Does it matter how I feel? It'll all show in the performance, won't it?" he shrugged his shoulders, rolling out of bed. He figured that he was awake now, so might as well get up. He positioned the phone to only show his face as he headed through his house.

"Ooh house tour, house tour!" Bokuto cheered.

"You need to win the entire tournament to get to Nationals. I damn well hope you are feeling confident about all this. I want a battle at the trash heap," Kuroo informed.

"I know, I know. I just can't do that without my morning coffee," he answered, getting to the kitchen and after confirming the wat contents, switched on the kettle. "Coffee will bring me to victory,"

"And your mad, mad skillz!"

"Coffee sounds good though. You two want?" Akaashi asked the two on his side.

"I'd take some," Kuroo answered him.

"How about a milkshake?"

"Kōtarō, no,"

"... tea?"

"Sure," Akaashi stepped off-screen to head to the kitchen. They were seated in the living room, laptop on the coffee table. Kei could see Akaashi head behind the couch and into the adjoined kitchen.

"So whose house is that?" Kei questioned, positioning his phone on the counter to free his hands for the coffee preparation.

"It's mine," Bokuto answered. "It's kind of in the middle of Nekoma and Fukurōdani geographically,"

"We watched a movie last night. Wanted to stream it, but you didn't seem to be online?" Kuroo questioned.

"Oh, yeah. My brother is visiting so we caught up," he responded, pulling out a mug and making his coffee.

"Is that a dinosaur mug?" Kuroo questioned, moving closer to the laptop to see.

"Awww you have a brother~," Bokuto cooed. "I have two siblings!"

"I remember seeing pictures of them. How old are they?"

"They're ten now. They're adorable~," Bokuto smiled brightly. "I love my sisters,"

"I once saw my brother put chicken in a bowl of ice-cream and ate it in the heart of winter," Kei recalled.

"But what type of ice cream?"

"Does that matter?"

"Of course! Vanilla is so bland it wouldn't change the taste," Bokuto answered, folding his arms with confidence.

"...bro,"

"What?"

"That was uncalled for,"

"Huh?"

"Vanilla is amazing," Kuroo sounded offended.

"Dude! Only complex flavours deserve to exist in this world!" Bokuto defended himself.

"Kōtarō once placed chilli cheese chips in his blueberry milkshake," Akaashi's voice called from off-screen.

"Bo, we need an intervention!" Kuroo took hold of the owl's shoulders, shaking him vigorously.

"It works! Try it!"

"Never!" Kei finished making his coffee, heading over to sit on the couch. He folded his knees up to his chest as he sat, resting his mug against his knee between sips.

"What's your favourite flavour, Tsukki?" Bokuto questioned him.

"Strawberry,"

"Very nice. I like white chocolate," Kuroo spoke. "What's with your dinosaur thing though?" he asked, eyes spotting the mug again.

"...I like dinosaurs,"

"...That's so cute," Kei rolled his eyes. "Bo here loves musicals,"

"And opera! Dude, they put so much spirit into their voices! So much passion!" the owl added.

"Tetsurō, come help me carry the cups," Kuroo stood up and walked off screen at Akaashi's call.

"You know what Tetsurō loves? Greek," Kei gave Bokuto a questioning look. "He knows this insane alien language that I just don't get,"

"It's called biological classifications!" Kuroo added as he came back with Akaashi, handing over Bokuto's tea to him. "And you would know that too if you actually studied for once,"

"I don't take biology!"

"And thank god for that,"

"Hey!"

"You like biology, Kuroo?" Kei questioned.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going into medicine after graduation," Kei hummed in interest, not expecting something so sophisticated.

"Aren't those entrance exams supposed to be near impossible? Yet you're still playing?" Kei wondered.

"Yeah, well, I study whenever I have free time. I even studied at the training camp. If I'm not able to get in the first time, then I'll probably try out the V-league for a year and aim for the next year. Either way, I don't want to compromise medicine," he explained taking a sip of his coffee. "But I still want to play volleyball, even if it's just in the community,"

"That's quite ambitious though," Kei commented.

"Yeah, but Tetsurō is a genius! He's like top of his year!"

"I'm not the top," Kuroo sent a look over.

"Top five, right?" Akaashi asked confirmation.

"...yeah,"

"Whoa," Kei smiled. "I did not expect that,"

"Why? Do I look dumb?"

"Nah. I'm just used to having the volleyball monsters being on the... less intelligent side," he admitted.

"Are you talking about those two who had to do makeup classes?" Kuroo chuckled.

"Yeah,"

"They're like Bo. There's only one thing on their mind and nothing else,"

"Huh, what did you say? Omelettes on rice?" Bokuto peeked up.

"Is your stomach doing the thinking again?"

"I'm always starving for you, you should know this," Kuroo huffed and ran his hand over his face.

"I'll make us breakfast now,"

"What? Is Kuroo the house wife in the relationship?" Kei smirked.

"Yes! Completely! Dude, Kuroo makes the best food like he should be chef. My personal chef. So good~," Kuroo chuckled at Bokuto's words.

"I like cooking, that's all,"

"That's an understatement," Akaashi added. "So is that coffee going to bring you to victory?"

"Oh yes," Kei took a long chug of his caffeine. "Yes it will,"

The four continued to talk for the rest of the morning, only stopping when Kuroo had finished making breakfast for the three and they needed to start getting ready for their Saturday practice. Kei only made himself something to eat after the call was over, already missing their voices. It was too silent now, his ears ringing.

"Well," Kei looked up from his meal prep, Akiteru entering the kitchen. "That conversation you were on... you sounded smitten,"

"Shut up,"

Karasuno took hold of Spring Interhigh with their sharpened fangs and tore them whole. As soon as they stared with a service ace against Ohgiminami High, they felt confident. Not cocky, but they trusted their skills. The match went easily enough, the game ending with huge point gaps. Kakugawa High had a player over two metres so it was slightly more challenging but at the end of the day, Hinata won in the battle of height. Karasuno walked away from the preliminary qualifiers without having dropped a single set.

Kei returned home that night to Akiteru's questioning of the day and a request to join his community practice at times. Kei wondered about this for only a brief moment, Akiteru's smile encouraging him along to agree. Kei wanted to see his brother play volleyball again.

Bokuto hard torn Kei apart, wanting every little detail of the matches. Kuroo and Akaashi were still staying at his place, calmly listening to the conversation the owl and the crow had. Kei didn't sound too enthusiastic about the matches, only telling of the slow giant they went up against. Kei was much more interested in what was happening behind Bokuto than what they were speaking about.

Akaashi and Kuroo were braiding Bokuto's sisters' hair. Akaashi seemed to be pretty good at it and was trying to teach Kuroo how to.

"Where did you learn to braid, Akaashi?" he eventually talked over Bokuto's volleyball craze.

"In middle school at one of the training camps, I didn't have anyone to really hang around with after practice so I once got roped in with the female managers and they taught me," Akaashi answered, his fingers skilfully busy with the dark hair of the girl.

"Mister Akaashi is really skilled! Much better than our bother!" the bubbly energetic girl spoke, shining her pearly whites.

They really were siblings.

"Riku, I try," Bokuto's hair deflated. "Why don't you just cut your hair short? I can do your hair like mine every day,"

"No!" the sister Kuroo was at, a pout on her lips. "You look like you have horns," Bokuto just sunk into the floor.

"I want to look like a princess, but in black leather!" Riku commented.

"I want to look like a dominatrix, but with pink fur!" her sister added.

"Risa, no,"

All three Bokuto siblings were constantly high off chaotic energy. What did their mother feed them?

A few days later, the news came that Karasuno would join in a few practice matches and training in the Kanto region until the October playoffs. Kei swore he could hear Bokuto's cheering all the way from Miyagi when the news came, never mind the earful he got when they were on a video chat.

As soon as Kei stepped out of the bus the first weekend, he had been crushed beneath the weight of the owl that pounced on him.

"Tsukki!! You're here!"

"We literally spoke last night, Bokuto,"

"I know but it's not the same," Karasuno was watching the interaction with huge eyes, hearing for the first time that Kei had direct contact with Fukurōdani's ace. It was also curious how Kei had accepted his new role as Bokuto's seat so easily, not pushing away the owl that was still sitting on top of him.

On the inside, Kei was dying, he had been slaughtered. KO.

Bokuto's hair tickled at his neck, sending goosebumps down his spine. He wanted to stay in the position however long he could but Kuroo had been the one to step in and pull the owl up.

"You know better to attack the Slenderman, Bo. You don't have all the pages on you,"

"You know, the pages thing never made sense to me. What's that all about? How's that going to stop a mystical creature with salad fingers for hands from snatching me up?" Kuroo just chuckled, holding his hand out for Kei to take. The cat's eyes held a tender emotion as he looked down at the crow, his lips tugging up into a secretive smile. Kei returned a small smile, not hesitating in accepting the hand and allowing himself to be pulled up.

He wasn't over them.

He still wasn't over them.

Akaashi slipped through the conversing crowd – straight into Kei's arms. This time, Kei didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the smaller man and hold him tightly. Bokuto and Kuroo didn't keep to themselves and wrapped their arms around the other two as well. Kei could feel his heart speeding up when Kuroo's chest met his back.

Yamaguchi was with Hinata – who had joined up with Kenma – while he looked on at the four with delight. Kenma noticed the look and took out his phone, taking a picture of the four hugging.

"Gathering more evidence, Kenma?"

"At this point, I don't even know if we can call it evidence. This is just something to shove in Kuroo's face later to get him to shut up," Hinata looked at him with question.

"Why is that?"

"Because I think Kuroo knows in his heart, but he doesn't want to admit it,"

"What are you guys talking about?" Yamaguchi spoke up, the dual-haired and ginger looking over.

"Hmm..." Kenma was suddenly unsure if he should say anything. Yamaguchi was really close to Kei, so he didn't know where his words might end up.

"Hey Yamaguchi, how does Tsukishima feel about them?" Hinata asked anyway, tilting his head to the side. Kenma gave his friend a pointed look, hoping that he wouldn't spill his guts.

"Uhm..." Yamaguchi nervously scratched at his neck. "I don't think that's something I should answer. It's Tsukki's feelings, after all, not mine," Kenma agreed with Yamaguchi's reasoning. He also had no right to tell Hinata last time. It wasn't his secret to tell.

"So there are feelings though?" Hinata nit-picked Yamaguchi's words, the poor pinch-server tensing up in shock. "Then what's stopping them from getting together?" he looked between Kenma and Yamaguchi, neither really having an answer but both parties suddenly understanding.

There were feelings on both sides, whatever those feelings were. Or at least, for Kei and Kuroo they were certain. Kenma wasn't on that level with either Bokuto or Akaashi to know how they felt.

"I've never seen Tsukki so happy," Yamaguchi admitted.

"That's his happy face?"

"...Tsukki isn't really expressive,"

"You can say that again,"

"Hinata, boke!" the three turned to see Kageyama head over, intention in his eyes. "We need to get started!"

"It's literally been like ten minutes. Calm down, Kageyama,"

"We need to get the success rate up of the new quick up!"

"I know, I know! I'm coming!" and Hinata ran off, leaving Kenma behind with Yamaguchi.

"I'm glad those two are talking again," Yamaguchi admitted, looking on as the freak duo ran inside the gym.

"Yeah, me too..." but Kenma didn't sound too convincing.

After the day's practice, which largely included Kei analysing every move Kuroo made as he blocked, Bokuto charged into the Karasuno room after dinner.

"Tsukki~! Hey, will you come re-dye my hair?" from his position against the wall – phone in hand - Kei looked up at the owl in question. All other eyes in the room looked to the loud owl as well.

His owl tips had begun to look darker recently, Kei noticed.

"...You brought dye?" Kei rose a brow in question

"And bleach!" Bokuto added happily, his hands onto his hips and his chest puffed out. Kei regarded Bokuto for a long moment before nodding, standing up from his position.

"Sure, let's do it," he headed over. Bokuto threw his hands into the air, his excited atmosphere rolling off in waves.

"YESSS let's do it!" he took Kei by the arm as soon as he was by the door and pulled him down the hall. Kei was focussing on Bokuto's fingers throughout their walk, thinking how strong his natural grip was. They headed into the empty bathhouse-styled room, Akaashi and Kuroo already there. They were sitting on the rim of the empty bath shoulder-to-shoulder, Kuroo playing music from his phone. They were chatting about piercings, Kuroo mentioning how he debated getting a tongue piercing.

"Hey, hey! Tetsurō, I don't think that's a decision you should be making on your own!" Bokuto screeched, grabbing a plastic bag off the floor where all the equipment was inside.

"And why is that?" Kuroo questioned.

"That tongue of yours is our free real estate, bro," Kei scoffed at Bokuto's words, trying to hide his amusement. Kuroo gave him a pointed look.

"Free? Free? Bro, I'm worth like a billionaire bucks over here," he said in an offended tone, stretching his arms out to the side for dramatic effect.

"You definitely are," Akaashi said in a sly but serious tone. Bokuto began stacking the products on the floor, humming as he placed them in order of use.

"Do you know how to do this?" he questioned, only then considering if Kei even knew what he was doing.

"Not really, but that's what instructions and you guys are for, right?"

"True that," Bokuto pulled a chair into the room while Kei was reading the boxes, getting the products ready and pulling on the gloves.

"Do you want a piercing, Firefly?" Akaashi questioned, sitting cross-legged on the rim now while scrolling through social media. Kei was standing behind the seated Bokuto, messaging at his head with his fingers. Bokuto hummed in pleasure as Kei's skilled hands worked his scalp.

"I'd be okay with some earrings," he admitted, reaching over to pick up the brush and dip it into the bleach.

"In the lobes?"

"Yeah," Kei began to apply the bleach to Bokuto's tips. He was happy to work on Bokuto's hair; he just wished he didn't have to wear gloves. He would love to feel the owl's hair: was it as soft as feathers or was it rough from years of bleach and dye?

"I don't know if I'll ever want a piercing," Akaashi commented.

"I want an iguana,"

"Bo, that's not what we're talking about,"

"Yeah, but I still want an iguana,"

"As if you'd be able to take care of a pet," Bokuto's jaw fell.

"HEY!"

"You'd probably accidentally think it's a ball and throw it at the wall," Kei added, Bokuto nearly whipping around his head to retort before remembering the quality of his hair was in Kei's capable hands.

Akaashi began to share some memes he found online, all the while Kuroo was editing Bokuto's face into a meme and revealing it later. Even Bokuto found it amusing. Kei finished up with the bleaching and now they were just waiting before dyeing.

"Dudes. This is my song," Kuroo suddenly spoke, quickly standing up and turning the volume up before placing his phone down. Akaashi jumped at the quick action. "When marimba rhythms start to play; dance with me, make me sway," Kuroo sung along, forcing Akaashi onto his feet and leading him into a dance. He took his hands and they moved together, not quite to the time of the beat. "Like the lazy ocean hugs the shore; hold me close, sway me more,"

"TSUKKI!" Kei could barely react before Bokuto had wrapped his arms around his waist. Kei could feel his feet leave the ground as he was swung around.

"Gah!" Kei squeaked, completely surprised that someone was able to pick him up.

"Flashing lights of devotion; circling in slow motion; I kissed the lips of a potion; and now I'm out in the open,"

"Dance with me!" Bokuto put Kei down, quickly intertwining their fingers and forcing him to dance. Kei's movements were awkward, his entire neck red as he became flush with a blush and his heart pounding.

But this was fun.

So much fun.

Kei couldn't stop himself from laughing even if he wanted to, a childhood enjoyment rising up as he and Bokuto spun around like the inexperienced dancers they were. Their dance was fun and full of cheer, like young lovers at a colour festival.

Half way through the song, Kei could feel a hand slowly snake its way around onto his chest. Then he got pulled away in one swift and skilled move, ending up chest-to-chest with Kuroo. He sucked in his lips as he became flush, Kuroo staring at him with a seductive smirk.

He was swung along, Kuroo leading him by a hand on the small on his back all the while keeping eye contact. Kei's lips were slightly parted, his mind blank as his entire vision was filled with Kuroo's gorgeous sight and his lips that were still voicing the lyrics. To be honest, Kei had no idea if music was even being played anymore. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.

He looked over Kuroo's shoulder at the other two, sucking in a breath when he saw Akaashi's head tilted back, Bokuto's lips connect to his neck as he pulled Akaashi upwards into his body. Akaashi's butterfly lashes fluttered gently, his sight moving to make direct eye contact with Kei's own wide eyes.

Kei's heart skipped a beat.

Akaashi looked at him with such... intrigued eyes. What did Kei look like to him; what did he see? Did he see his boyfriend holding another man with such loving intentions? Did he see betrayal? Did he see how flustered Kei was? Did he see how much Kei loved being in Kuroo's arms?

"Take a seat, the show is beginning; all the devils are singin'; climbin' up-," and then the song abruptly ended as a timer of Kuroo's phone went off. Immediately, the dancing was over. Bokuto pulled away from Akaashi, nearly letting the younger male fall.

"Incubation is over! Tsukki, let's dye my hair!" Kei had to take a shakily breathe as he moved away from Kuroo, immediately embarrassed when he realised his fingers had been digging into the captain's shirt.

"U-uhm, yeah. Let's do it," and Bokuto pulled him back to the job, the atmosphere shifting as if their dancing hadn't been...weird at all. Kei could feel the eyes of Kuroo and Akaashi shift to him every so often, and Kei couldn't get the courage to look up at them.

Dancing wasn't weird, right?

Maybe he was just making it weird in his mind.

"We should dance more often," Kei's eyes went wide. He looked upwards, golden-brown immediately meeting gunmetal-blue. Kei twitched, his fingers fiddling with strands of Bokuto's hair in nervousness. "All of us," and the angel smiled at him, and he felt blessed.

Just before Karasuno left the next day, Bokuto cornered him unexpectedly.

"Hey Tsukki, who's your type?" he spoke quickly, Kei caught completely off guard.

"You," he accidentally let slip, eyes immediately going wide at his mistake. Bokuto, however, scrunched up his face and his hair deflated. He dramatically turned around, his fist clenched up in frustration.

"That damn Nishinoya!!" and stomped off, leaving Kei even more confused.

Oh wait.

Nishinoya's name was Yū.

Kei snickered at Bokuto's stupidity. He loved it.

The weekend of September the 22nd, the second last weekend of their joint training, the four had cake. It was the weekend between Bokuto and Kei's birthdays- Bokuto's the 20th and Kei's the 27th. They joined their loves together and had a strawberry and blueberry layered cake – Kuroo being the one to have baked it. He had his father bring it over to the training that evening as Nekoma was the hosting school for this weekend. Bokuto was nearly crying when he saw Kuroo's hard work, and Kei could say the same about the flavour. They hadn't been exaggerating about his cooking skill.

Since they were athletes, Kuroo didn't load it up on extra sugar and let the sweetness of the berries do its thing. It also wasn't a huge cake, so they could finish it themselves without having to wonder about who they would share with. There were a lot of people on campus at the moment.

Kuroo forced Yaku to take a picture of the four while they were still in their ridiculous celebratory mood, icing covering some of their faces from having smeared it onto each other.

They had gotten quite childish.

Their last joint practice was the weekend before their respective regions qualifier, at the beginning of October.

"Lately, I've been thinking..." Kenma spoke with Hinata on the last day, the two helping with the final clean-up of the gym.

"About what?" Hinata responded.

"You're interesting, so I think I might want to have a match with you and your team for real. The sort of match where it's instant game over if you lose," Hinata had never seen Kenma so serious, and his words had his heart skip a beat.

"Let's do it," he smiled with confidence. "A game where there's no second chance," Kenma nodded, looking forward to the day he defeated the boss that was Hinata Shōyō.

"Hey hey, Tsukki!!" Bokuto ran up to Kei, swinging his arm around his shoulder. Kei's breath was forced from his lungs. "You've definitely need to go beat Ushiwaka!!"

"...why me?" Kei stumbled out.

"Because right now, I have an overwhelming victory over you so if you get an overwhelming victory over Ushiwaka, then I'll have an overwhelming victory over him!" he said proudly, chest puffed out.

"That's not how it really works..."

"And that'll make me the strongest!" he gleamed brightly, still salty over the fact that he was only a top five ace.

"Easier said than done..."

"But you can do it," Kei looked up, curious as to why Bokuto had this much confidence in him. "I know you can, so promise me something?" Kei looked at the owl with interest and nodded.

Bokuto took his hand into both of his own, Kei's eyebrows immediately shooting up at the contact. He was forced to look into Bokuto's golden eyes, the emotion swirling inside nearly choking him.

"Promise me you'll try to have fun?" Kei's lips parted, the two of them breathing the same atmosphere because of the close proximity. Kei swallowed and nodded, trying to match the determination in the air.

"I'll...try," Bokuto smiled at that.

"And that's all I ask for," he took hold of Kei's head and brought him down to the same level, their noses making contact. He rubbed their noses together with a silly laugh to accompany, his laughter sounding like a melody to Kei. He pulled away, peering up at the flustered Kei. "No wonder Keiji did that, this is so so cute! I love eskimo kisses! I should do it more often. Anyway, see you after we both win!" and then just left, skipping off to where his team was.

Kei brought his hand up, fingers touching at nose.

What was even happening...

After gathering his bag from the room Karasuno stayed in, he walked with Kuroo to the busses.

"Since Tokyo is huge and we're hosting this year, there's going to be three representatives. Fukurōdani is basically assured with Kōtarō there, and I'm not going to fail so we'll all be there," Kuroo smirked. "I look forward to devour that pretty ass of yours on a National stage," he spoke in a seductive tone, shooting devilish eyes towards him.

Did he just... flirt with Kei?

"Unfortunately the only thing that will be crushed will be your lungs when we walk all over you. But don't worry," he stopped their movements, walking in front of Kuroo. He placed his hand on his chest tenderly. "I'll give you CPR," he said cheekily, turning around and walking on. Kuroo didn't move, Kei coming to a halt when he realised this. He looked back at the cat who now carried a contemplative look.

Did Kei flirt back?

"You're not going to say anything?" but Kuroo could only stare at him with a blank look.

"...I don't know, I never thought I'd get this far," and scrunched up his face. "I mean, fuck me if I'm wrong but you-,"

"You're wrong," and walked off, leaving a slacked jaw Kuroo behind with a surprised look.

"Hey, wait!"

"You're wrong!" Kei called back with emphasis, picking up speed as he ran away from the situation he had just caused.

God, where did all that confidence just come from? Why did I say that? I want to crawl up and be reborn as a cucumber.

Kei and Akaashi's goodbye wasn't nearly as bad but consisted of the angel burying himself in Kei's chest, arms wrapped around tightly. Kei bent down to hold him just as tightly. Akaashi was big on hugs, and Kei learnt that he didn't want to go without those hugs.

"I'm going to tell you what's going to happen now," Kei looked down at the male in his arms and nodded for him to continue. "We're all going to win at the qualifiers now and become representative schools of our prefectures. That will force the coaches to continue hosting these training weekends and we will all be here, every time. Hopefully, one of those weekends will be close to Kuroo's birthday and we can celebrate. Then in the winter holidays in December, you need to come to Tokyo or we'll come to Miyagi, if you have the space. Then we'll all go to Nationals... and Fukurōdani will win," Kei snorted.

"Fukurōdani will win?"

"Yeah," Akaashi tugged at Kei's shirt in cheekiness. Kei shook his head at the playful manner.

"That's a big dream,"

"It's an achievable one," Kei rolled his eyes and leaned down, giving Akaashi an eskimo kiss of his own. The setter blushed at the action, sucking in his lips. Afterwards, Kei stepped away.

"What was that for?" Akaashi asked, not able to look him in the eye.

"Just returning the favour," and then he left. Onto the Karasuno bus and back to Miyagi.

Akaashi approached his two boyfriends after that, a serious contemplative look on his face. Kuroo was busy telling Bokuto of Kei's actions but became quiet as Akaashi approached. He had a look that meant an important conversation was coming.

"Guess I was wrong," he said, the two looking up at him with question. "It is possible for all three of us to fall in love again," and Bokuto's tops flared up, his eyes bulging at the statement. Kuroo's hands went to cover his mouth, his wide eyes staring up at Akaashi.

"Does that mean..." Bokuto began, Akaashi nodding towards him with a flustered look on his face.

"Yeah,"

"Oh my god," Kuroo whispered into his palm, not quite believing that it was Akaashi who would finally put it all into words.

"But then..." Bokuto looked between the two. "Do you think he likes us back?" Akaashi sighed.

"I think he does," the three heads spun to the newcomer, Kenma standing awkwardly while fiddling with his jacket. "His friend implied that he also caught feelings," and the three forgot how to breathe, their minds suddenly open to this whole new possibility.

Was it reciprocated?

"I know this is a bad time but Kuroo, I need to talk to you. It's important," Kenma cast his eyes to the side, a sad look in them. Kuroo shot a look towards his lovers who gave him understanding nods. He quickly headed off with Kenma to a private location.

"Kenma, what's up? What's wrong?" he took hold of Kenma's arms, rubbing up and down gently to comfort him. Kenma could only stare at his feet.

"It's Shōyō," Kuroo cringed. "He trusts me, Kuroo. He trusts me to tell me everything. We talk every day and I share my life with him as well. He told me his biggest secret,"

"But that's a good thing, isn't it? He's allowing you even more into his life. He's trusting you with his secrets," Kuroo spoke, trying to read his childhood friend.

"Yeah, but he told me..." he looked up at Kuroo, so much sadness and confusion and hurt swirling in him that Kuroo became overwhelmed from seeing him like this.

"Kenma..."

"He told me he likes Kageyama,"