The Path; Plants and Magic, and Kuroo Tetsurou
Summary:
A story where Daishou Suguru finds his place in the magic world through the two people he admires the most.
Notes: sfw, magic au, kuroshou, mika and daishou don’t end up together but a peaceful part ways, kuroo loves daishou daishou loves kuroo 🤗 forever pining and following and avoiding eachother like the boy failures they are
@kingoftehcourt on twt - sydsopher on blsky <3
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Daishou awoke to the soft light of dawn filtering through the window. He immediately became aware of the warmth of Kuroo’s body next to him. Daishou, with the wizard who used to be his best friend, with the wizard who shared years full of heated rivalry with him. They were inseparable as children. Now, he finally was able to act how he felt around Kuroo Tetsurou again. In the quiet of the morning, in this embrace, Daishou admired Kuroo’s gentle and relaxed features. When awake, he never failed to make Daishou roll his eyes. He thought about his soft unruly hair, his smug and confident grin, and those amber eyes that could stare into your soul enough to make you forget your train of thought. Daishou, wrapped up in that web, thought of how this is where he wanted to be, and how much love he had for the talented and witty man he was entangled with.
Kuroo and Daishou always had a hint of a rivalry. It grew as they aged. Daishou always thought it was more present to him, but Kuroo had Daishou on his mind more than he let on.
It was the first month of the new year. Daishou was to begin his new job at the Wizardry Council.
Kuroo and Daishou grew up as neighbors before inheriting their powers and skill. Weekly, they would run around each other's yard waving around sticks with ambitions of working or being a part of the Wizard Council. As they grew up, Kuroo knew what this meant for him, and he studied to work for their promotion department. He wanted to inspire the youth- lead them well in their growth with magic. He held the sentiment that magic shouldn’t be hard to learn for anyone, and everyone should hold joy in their craft.
Daishou, on the other hand, drew a blank. He spent his first few years in college perfecting his general craft. He never truly had a defined path like Kuroo did. He loved to see his childhood friend flourish with confidence and skill. But, as the days went on, it grew to annoy him even more. Respect and love were shadowed in a veil of annoyance and anger.
Lost with no path, Daishou met Mika. He was eating his lunch outside the school’s greenhouse. Mika was a student at the time, dedicated to intertwining magic and nature. After college, she wanted to travel the world and detail plants and what they did in one comprehensive book. Daishou loved her passion, and how soft she was with it. It refreshed him, and her dream became his. Side by side, they completed schooling with a mastery in nature magic. Young Daishou would not have thought of this path for himself, but being beside Mika, his mind told him this is where he wanted to be…
Surely though, his attitude towards another up-and-coming wizard told a different story. Daishou never realized how much he complained and ranted about Kuroo. To him, it was a perfectly normal sane amount. Mika would tell you his name was brought up at least twice a day.
One day on their travels, Mika and Daishou were set to map out the magical properties of the local flora in a small mountain town. Here, Daishou really thought this was the only place he hadn’t heard Kuroo’s name muttered once. He felt at peace. But internally, there was anger. Even in this small area where he had gotten away, his own mind betrayed him, and brought up the cat.
As if on cue, Daishou heard that overconfident voice. This is too much of a coincidence to be true. You may think I’m lying, but Kuroo was there with his arms crossed talking to a cafe owner, the same one that took his coffee order that morning. She seemed like she was drinking every word Kuroo said to her. She was laughing and blushing. She never took her eyes off the wizard as her kitchen sang to her incantations and brewed him a coffee.
Why is he here? The middle of nowhere. What possibly could draw city boy promoter Tetsurou to the most natural town Daishou has seen yet?
Daishou was silently fuming. Mika came to tap him on the shoulder as she was ready for their expedition of the day. Kuroo sipped his coffee. Daishou silently, with his irritated aura, grabbed Mika’s hand. Mika instantly figured out what was pissing her boyfriend off so thoroughly. Kuroo Tetsurou had made his presence in their lives known once again. She felt it was an odd coincidence. Three days earlier, Daishou was oddly quiet about his nuisance of an ex best friend.
Kuroo and three others from the Wizard Council were here to develop a campaign promoting magic and nature. It would make sense for him to come here. Actually, he got the idea from Mika herself. Kuroo follows her social media and blog. To hype up her trip, she let her followers know the geography and facts of her next exploration. She made elegant and pretty graphics, and Kuroo immediately knew this was the place to be. Also, a chance, a miniscule chance to irritate someone he missed dearly, was a bonus to him. He was betting on finding Daishou here- a B-plot to his promoting journey.
Kuroo caught the eye of his B-plot, and told his companions he would be back in a moment, even teasing that he may have found the plant expert he was looking for. Kuroo rehearsed the plant facts he was researching for this campaign in his head as he approached the couple.
“Suguru? Mika? There is no way I found you all the way out here!”
Daishou scoffed, as Mika bit into Kuroo’s surprised greeting.
Daishou stayed silent as his girlfriend and Kuroo began to converse about the surrounding area and the abundance of plant magic found there. Mika was enraptured by his knowledge as he spoke on which plants enhanced which spells, and common thoughts on plant reactions that aren’t quite true. He yapped and yapped, and the more he did, the more Daishou wanted him to shut up. In-fact, the spell to make a roses’ color change to tell the weather was something he taught Kuroo. He read it in a book when he first fell for Mika and was trying to impress her. Kuroo actually stated this fact purposely. He wanted to see if a certain snake was paying attention.
His heart skipped a beat when he knew he was.
After their encounter, and a wink Kuroo threw their way, Mika immediately faced Daishou. She felt his irritation from a mile away. Also, the mood flowers right next to them were a dark gray and maroon. He gave away his feelings through his body language more than the plants did, though.
Mika broke the silence, saying, “Kuroo hasn’t changed, but the way you speak about him all the time, I thought he was going to be an asshole.”
Daishou rebutted sourly that maybe he should change, and his annoying charisma shouldn’t allow him to get as far as it has.
Daishou didn’t know that Mika was at her wits end hearing Daishou’s bitterness towards Kuroo. She could write a whole separate novel on her boyfriend's love turned to hatred of the man. It seemed after college, as Kuroo was scouted by the council and became more successful, Daishou always had something negative and smart to say about it. It never ended.
Mika grabbed Daishou’s hand, and he could pick up something in the air that made this time different.
She told him, “Maybe instead of hurling insults, and being jealous and full of salt, you should become who you’re yearning to be so badly. It’s clear to everyone but you that Kuroo inspires you. He probably has your whole life. All you’re doing is being angry and upset about it.”
Her calm expression started to crack, and a tear fell from her eye. In the last of her mellow tone she questioned, “Do you even want to travel with me? Or are you here merely because you are scared to be pit against him if you tried?”
In that moment, Daishou felt like he was swallowing every insult he ever directed one-sidedly at Kuroo. He loved traveling with Mika. However, Kuroo and the Wizard Council never stopped calling his name with a resonating voice of what could have been. This circled back to his early college thinking- what the fuck would he even do there? Now, with his travels and mastery in plant magic, he maybe had more direction than he thought.
Daishou looked at Mika, and grabbed her hand. Daishou’s expression was so soft at that moment. No anger or bitterness at all. The mood flowers behind them were now a nice pink and lilac.
“Mika… you’re right. But I want you to know, I treasured every trip with you. I think you even sparked a love for plant magic that I didn’t even know I would have.” The love extended more than just plant magic, Mika could tell.
He looked over to Kuroo hopping on a bike with his colleagues.
He continued.
“Kuroo… Is someone I care about, I cannot and never really been able to define my feelings for him. I also see him living in a path that I have wanted to take, since we were kids. But somehow he has always had more detailed plans than me. And it made me bitter.”
He wiped her tears, and Mika responded, “Then ask him.” It was as if this would have been the answer all along. With Daishou’s hard swallow in response she knew he felt this was the answer too.
Daishou caught up with Kuroo on his bike. He used a weather spell he remembered to propel himself a little faster.
Daishou confidently stated to Kuroo, “I could help you, on this campaign. I’m up there in my research on plant magic like Mika. I traveled with her every step of the way. So-”
Kuroo took his eyes off the road, and looked at Daishou. Only to be brought back to the present when the wind current changed, helping him dodge a rock in the road that would have caused him to crash.
Daishou rolled his eyes. “That is, if you don’t die first by not looking where you are going.”
Kuroo spoke up. “We’d love to have your advice on this.”
----- Skip
Daishou remained lying next to Kuroo. He reached out to touch Kuroo, absentmindedly tracing a pattern. Today is his first day at the Wizard Council. They recognized his outstanding job consulting on the Nature Magic Awareness Campaign with Kuroo. Daishou was set up to speak on and advocate for the continuing promotions for the next few months.
Through his time there, he credited Mika heavily, and the Council set out to fund her planned book on the subject.
He was so nervous. His anxieties weren’t at the levels when he departed from Mika that day though. Kuroo took place at his side, and was there every step of the way. Kuroo knew the moment he heard Daishou’s bike on that path, that he wanted Suguru by his side. If Daishou didn’t volunteer for the project, he might have stepped down from the Council to follow Daishou and his plant magic.
Daishou didn’t realize that Kuroo was also awake now. “You’ll do great today. You have your note cards prepared, possibly memorized at this point. There is this confidence in you, Daishou, I can’t explain it. I thought it was me rubbing off on you, but it feels solely your own.”
Daishou didn’t think this was true, and didn’t feel it himself. But Kuroo wouldn’t lie to Daishou about something like that. He felt Daishou was in his element, confident, and happy. Daishou smiled. A small smile that is hard to get out of him, unless you are Mika Yamaka or Kuroo Tetsurou.
Everything was fine. No bitterness. Daishou found his path to the Wizard Council, two impactful souls leading him here.
Kuroo and Daishou got up from the bed, untangling themselves from each other. Kuroo helped Daishou with his tie as they got ready for their day. On their way out the door, Kuroo planted a kiss on Daishou’s nose, then mouth, and smiled. Those amber eyes, the one’s Daishou once hated and insulted for months on end. Now couldn’t see a future where he didn’t see them every day as he woke up.