Thread by @IDtsuKei

What if #krtsk #kurotsuki where when tsukki is a college student who works part time at a cafe inside the sendai airport. His worst(read: favorite) customer is a messy haired business man who flies more than any sane person should named Kuroo.

Tsukki absolutely refused to get a job on campus. He would not deal with strictly college students all day, he already had to deal with them for classes and half the members of the frogs are college aged. So he gets a gig at a smaller coffee stand in the sendai airport, where he

Can work the weird late hour shifts. It’s not terribly busy, and the hours work with his classes and practices.

And there is this one regular. Some business man from Tokyo who flies in and out of sendai what feels like weekly, who’s hair is a mess, and who pokes and prods at

Tsukki. Tsukki knows his order by heart but he always pretends to forget. Kuroo can’t be much older than him, but he’s out of school and whatever corporation he works for sends him all over the place. He becomes intimately familiar with the boarding gates closest to Tsukki’s job.

He starts all of their encounters off with a ‘how’s my favorite blondie?’ To which Tsukki always replies with a scowled ‘that’s not my name, Kuroo-san. You must tell your boss that the traveling is getting to your already abysmal memory.’

At first, Tsukki figured he called him

Blondie because he could never remember his name, sure he had a ‘favorite’ barista at half of the airports in the country, but once when they were making small talk while Tsukki made his drink, Kuroo recalled a fact about Tsukki that he had mentioned weeks ago. Still, his crush

On the man wouldn’t go anywhere. He was a corporate worker, moving at the whims of his ceo, and Tsukki was a college student who could barely work the stupid outdated espresso machine. And he had his own career to think about, both the Frogs and hopefully something at a local

Museum.

So, he let Kuroo flirt with him, and on good days he would flirt back, but he didn’t try to push the next step.

Then Mother Nature must have decided she had had enough. It was storming outside, thunder, lightening, the whole works. Tsukki was alone at work, his fellow

Coworker had left an hour ago to try and beat the storm home, and it was closing time. He had already seen Kuroo off, watching as the black haired man had wandered off in search of his gate for boarding. He had finished cleaning the machines, dishes done, and after explaining to

A steadfast customer that no, they /were/ closed, and no, he would not turn the machines back on just for a simple cup of coffee for them, he was finally free. He flipped the last set of lights, locking up as he left the front of the kiosk. He pulled his phone out of his pocket,

Frowning at the notifications. Shit. His train was delayed because of the weather. He didn’t want to spend the money on a taxi, but he also didn’t want to spend all night camped at the airport. He pulled up a rideshare app and the outlook was bleak. He was so engrossed in his

Inability to get a ride out of this place that he crashes directly into someone. His phone goes flying, as does the strangers, but he’s saved from a nasty knock to the ground by the stranger. He looks up to see a startled Kuroo staring down at him, half holding Tsukki in a bow as

He stopped the blonde from falling. Both of their faces turn bright red at the same time, and they awkwardly stammer as they spring back from the other. Tsukki tries to ignore how warm and solid Kuroo’s grip had been on his arms.

‘That ah, that desperate to see me again?’ He

Jokes, suddenly forgetting how to converse with people. This was the first time they had seen each other without the cafe counters between them, and it shouldn’t be affecting Tsukki as much. Kuroo smiles though, like he didn’t catch how awkward Tsukki had become.

‘Wouldn’t you

Know it, I was actually headed back that way,’ he says, grinning. Tsukki chooses to ignore him in favor of grabbing his phone, wincing at the crack on the screen. Kuroo’s face blanches and he starts to stammer an apology but Tsukki waves him off.

‘It was my fault too, for

Looking at it while walking. And sorry, cafe’s closed. No coffee for you.’

Kuroo whistles, putting his hands in his back pockets. He thankfully doesn’t comment about Tsukki’s wandering gaze. ‘Bummer. Weather indefinitely delayed my flight, I was coming to bug you.’

‘Well you

Succeeded there. I guess the storms pretty bad, I can’t get a single ride to come get me.’

‘Oh ho ho? We can be stranded together!’ Kuroo’s smile is blinding, but it falters when Tsukki hesitates. ‘Oh. Or not. I get it you know, if you’re only nice to me cause you’re working. I

Can totally wait alone.’ His worries echo around them, causing Tsukki to feel bad. He isn’t only nice to Kuroo because of the fact that he’s working.

‘No. I don’t get paid enough to put on a nice act for customers.’ The grin is coming back, softer this time but just as bright.

‘We can sit in D13 if you don’t mind me working on an essay while we talk,’ he tilts his head back towards the gate near his job. ‘Do you happen to know of anywhere that sells food that’s still open here?’

Kuroo frowns, thinking. ‘I think most places are closed but hold on,’

He says, riffling through his bag. He pulls out a bento from one of the stores that Kuroo must have bought for the flight. ‘Aha! You can have this, I can buy another one later.’

‘Are you sure? I don’t know when the next place will open up,’ he hesitates but Kuroo insists.

Tsukki relents, but he does tell Kuroo that he’s sending a picture of him to his friends so the food better not be messed with. Kuroo swears it’s fine and even poses for a picture for Tsukki to text to Yamaguchi. They find the gate deserted and situate themselves near the

Charging port.

Tsukki’s concerns over their banter not translating well now that they were in a new situation are wiped away. Kuroo is still just as charming, and genuine, and kind, and Tsukki completely ignores his essay in favor of continuing the conversation. He can’t

Remember the last time he willingly talked as much as he is now. Kuroo listens too, his full attention on Tsukki with every word. Minutes turn to hours and slowly the rain outside begins to stop. Kuroo’s phone buzzes with a new estimated departure time and gate, and Tsukki jumps

At the time. He goes to pull up his broken phone to call a cab but the thing has died, even with a new battery. Eventually their time together draws to an end. Kuroo, for his part, looks nervous as they packed their bags.

‘Can I uh. Would you want to trade numbers?’ He blurts

Out. Tsukki startles, almost dropping his phone. ‘You don’t have to of course,’ he tries to backtrack but Tsukki shakes his head.

‘No. You can have my number.’ He tells Kuroo his number as he makes a new contact, and makes him promise to text him when he’s safe in whatever city

He’s headed to. Tsukki can’t create a contact since his phone is dead, but he swears to do so once he’s back home. Kuroo nods, asking if he can find a ride since he doesn’t have his phone. Tsukki mentally curses because no, no he can’t. Kuroo offers to call a ride but Tsukki is

Wary about letting him see his home address, so Kuroo hands him the phone. He orders a car, and swipes up to close the app when he sees a strange sight. On Kuroo’s home page, he sees a Starbucks app. He clicks it, and is taken aback. Kuroo orders from Starbucks once a day, except

For what appears to be days he’s in sendai. Days he goes to Tsukki’s cafe.

‘Are you a Starbucks junkie?’ He accuses, knowing that there’s a Starbucks just three minutes from his own place. Kuroo looks guilty, nodding. ‘Then why do you come to our shitty place here, huh?’

‘For the barista, of course.’

End!