— #krtsk • royalty, sweets, party planning.

This is the first time he’s seen the crown prince frown at a piece of strawberry shortcake.

“Is he trying to buy my affection with this?” Kei goes back to his book. “Should I be simpering because of a plate of sweets?” Kuroo is loathe to do this, but he has to, placing samples of wedding invitations beside the tea and the cake. “Your betrothed wants to know if you would prefer this or the lemon cakes. He also asks you to kindly pick a design to be sent to the guests next week.”

— roommates, #krtsk.

He’s at a party, but he can’t help his mind from wondering about Kei, how he found him alone in their room, crouched over schoolwork and giving one word answers to Tetsu while he changed.

He’d been like that for a days after Tetsu said he’s dating Alisa. Or maybe Tetsu’s just looking at this with a skewed perspective, that part of him he thought he already stabbed to death; rearing it’s ugly, bloody head, telling him Kei might be jealous.

Kei is not jealous. He might be in one of those moods. Yes, moody Kei is more probable.

tw // suicidal thoughts

He abdicates the throne six years after inheriting the crown.

His new omega seethed when she learned what Tetsurou has done.

They have been pressuring him to produce an heir, the same parliament that worked with the crown to bind him to Kei. It’s a miracle he escapes his guards, driving for hours until he reaches a sleepy seaside town where no one seems to know him. He rents a homestay, small and inconspicuous, managed by an old man.

He finally hears real quiet for the first time in his twenty-nine years on Earth.

Here’s the thing: no one believed him. He was fresh out of university, armed with basic baking skills and a business degree, he really can’t blame them. But Kei knew he could do it, so he did.

He bought the small stall near the market district and turned it into a pastry shop. Mooncake was Kei’s first baby. He handled everything; the finances, the recipes and cooking, and only hired help when needed. His team is small, just him and Yachi and Tadashi. But they made it work like it was a ten man team instead. He’s proud of it.

Hajime doesn’t acknowledge him, fixated at the carnations at his feet, slowly pelted by the cold, light rain that morning.

He’s battered and bruised, was only able to get out the hospital that week after the accident, but he stands proud in front of an empty grave. “Kei hates chrysanthemums,” Hajime snaps as Tetsurou stands beside him, arm outstretched to place a bouquet on the gravestone. “Reminds him of your fucking family.”

“He used to paint them a lot for me.”

The symbol of the royal family. ‘My family,’ he used to say with a blush.

tw // major character death

They stopped the search after three weeks.

They declared him dead five days later.

They took his belongings after the official announcement. And for the first time, Tetsurou sees the paintings Kei had worked on. Violent and chaotic, crimson across the canvass, so unlike his earlier works as a child. Kei liked his palette with soft, warm colors. Gold like his honey gaze, white like his skin, rosy like his cheeks.

They took it all away, and he was left with nothing.

Just like Kei wanted.

Their realization comes ironically after the four of them finally reunite.

Sure, Keiji checks up on Koutaro to make sure he’s alive and filing paperwork for his taxes, and Tetsurou still sends memes to annoy Kei when he’s not running around doing errand for JVA. It’s not overt, perhaps insignificant enough that a couple hours of catching up can’t cure, but it’s there; embedded in the way the jibes land on the wrong places, the exhausted replies, and the general sense of being there out of some pathetic attempt to hold on to nostalgia.

Furudate loves going in full circle with their stories, and it’s very apparent with Kuroo, a former Nekoma player with ‘connect’ as a motto.

That he ends up working for the JVA and doing this self-project to reconnect the monster generation is just a callback to that. In subtext too, Kuroo can be a placeholder character for Furudate. This guy who loves volleyball and wants everyone else to love it too, works hard to show off how cool this sport? It’s not much different from how Furudate as a mangaka influenced readers to care about volleyball.

tw // major character death

It all happened in a blink of an eye.

A twist, a car careening towards the sea, the retinue tailing screeching to a halt, transfixed as the Bentley carrying the husband of the crown prince plunged into a void of fifteen feet. Two bodies recovered.

Two bodies still missing.

The search had been extensive: expert divers working nonstop, boats and helicopters patrolling coasts and islands, the parliament giving updates, the royal family remaining optimistic.

Tetsurou has always thought Tooru is at his most beautiful after sex; neck mottled with bites, lips red from kissing, hair deliciously rumpled.

They were insatiable, spending weeks together without a care in the world. Tooru, unbound from duty, and Tetsurou, left by his omega. Kei was still angry; he wasn’t informed of his week-long departure for an art residency. Tetsurou wouldn’t be surprised if it was a ruse to actually meet another alpha.

As if he cares. Like Kei said, he can open his legs to anyone and Tetsurou would never give a damn.

He picks up his scent even before he sees his omega.

Kei is flushed, happily talking to the servants at the patio. It’s a rare sight. His scent hangs in the air, inviting and heady. Kei is not careless like this. He’d never allow Tetsurou to catch him unhibited. He came home after a week of spending his rut with his lover. Tetsurou would always be away for more than that. His omega must’ve thought he’d be away longer if he’s letting his guard down.

But it’s not only Tetsurou that is aware of their scents.

He lives with a ghost.

He never sees him fully, only fleeting glimpses. They share no bed nor dinners. What he gets is an abundance of silence. Even when his omega is in heat, he smells no strawberries and rum.

They live in the same house, but Tetsurou knows he’s alone. Kei minds his own business. Every morning he paints in one of the gardens. Come afternoon, he goes out and share tea with the Prime Minister’s son. Late evening, he’d curl up in the duvet, softly talking to his best friend. Tetsurou only knows this because of the servants.

His eyes are empty when he utters ‘I do.’

The event had been intimate— almost, considering half of the parliamentary was there, including the prime minister and members of the royal family, it wasn’t anything they were both not used to. His omega had feigned happiness for their audience, always that faux politeness they learned as children, but when their eyes met, Tetsurou is treated to cold, impassive, honey gaze.

He tries to remember the last time he saw Kei looked happy.

His memories give him nothing.

— honey, there is no right way, #bakt. TW: nsfw 🔞

It starts when Tetsu and Bokuto came to blows. Kei felt stupid at that moment, because after four months of living with them, he thought he would've sensed if something was wrong.

He was being too cocky, apparently. Keiji seems privy to the reason the two punched each other. Kei's the only lost soul, blissfully unaware of the festering anger between people who are almost brothers. He came home from university that afternoon to find clenched fists and snarls.

He feels helpless.

Me: I want something sweet and fluffy.

Also me: Picture this. Kei and Tetsu being fast friends after meeting in uni, it's an unlikely meeting since Kuroo is studying economics and Kei is a music major, but a lot can happen in a dorm party with booze and starving students. Kei falls hard despite his personal promise to steer away from feelings. It's hard not to. Tetsu is simply magnetic. He's charming and funny, he plays and pokes Kei’s weaknesses and insecurities, using it against him to make a point and destroy’s Kei self-deprecation.

Okay #krtsk au where you can see 'future memories' of you and your soulmate, but you can block it if you don't accept fate and your soulmate will know because the connection will feel incomplete.

Once it's severed though, the one blocking will receive a rush of these memories. Tetsu has never believed in the idea of soulmates. He wants to be able to freely choose the one he loves, so when he is assaulted by a future memory of him and someone with golden eyes behind wire rim glasses, he immediately blocks him out.