✿ “gone” - if kuroo and kenma drifted apart after high school ✿
pairing: kuroo x kenma if you squint, more platonic if anything tho
warnings: character death mention, angst
a/n: hi this is my first time writing for haikyuu!! so please don’t be too hard on me if it sucks ;-; well enjoy this sad mess :p
Kuroo bit his lip as his eyes trailed regretfully around the lush green campus fields. The same glistening fields where he and Kozume would plop down and study and talk for hours in the beaming sunshine. It had been almost a year since graduation, and this was the first time he’d come back to visit his alma mater. He’d been… busy to say the least. A tidal wave of memories washed over him.
His eyes trailed over Kozume’s face as the other boy sighed dejectedly, toying with the ends of his multi-colored hair in his hands. Kozume finally met his gaze.
“I’m thinking of cutting it.”
Kuroo scrunched his face up in concern.
“It’s always in the way is why,” Kozume replied, returning to his essay which sat strewn in his lap.
Kuroo examined him now, taking note of the way his straight locks framed his tired face. It was nice. He smiled to himself.
“I wish you would stop looking at me in that creepy way.”
Kuroo noticed the way Kozume tensed as he said this, scrunching the pile of papers together in his hands. Kuroo smirked to himself.
He sighed, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter now. The last time he’d seen Kozume was in the common room the evening before graduation. Kozume hadn’t attended his graduation. His eyes had scanned the crowd for Kozume’s familiar, cat-like eyes and tired expression and had been met with a blank, gaping hole where his friend should be. The seat was empty. Later, he’d found out from Lev that Kozume had stayed home sick that day. Kuroo hadn’t really been in touch with the team at all since. He now found it shocking that the last time he’d seen Lev’s overenthusiastic smile, or Kozume’s lazy expression, or Yamamoto’s wild look was more than 10 months ago. He groaned. They probably thought he was the worst ex-captain in the world. Maybe he was.
He approached the school’s volleyball gym slowly, greeted warmly by the sound of pounding balls and screeching sneakers. He slung the sagging plastic bag filled with boxes of convenience store sushi higher on his shoulder. Through a crack in the door he could see a flurry of activity, red streaks and volleyballs running by. He pushed the door open reluctantly. Practice was in full swing. Perhaps it had been rude of him to barge in at a time like this. Perhaps he should leave–
A volleyball dropped to the floor.
Kuroo was greeted by Lev’s warm smile.
“Hey, everybody, look it’s Kuroo-san!”
As his highschool team advanced, he found himself fighting off a wave of sadness.
“You finally remembered your old teammates, huh, Captain?” Inuoka quipped, slinging an arm around his former schoolmate.
“Yup, and I come bearing gifts,” he lifted his bag of goodies for the team to see.
“Wow, Kuroo-san! You’re the best!” Lev beamed.
Kuroo quietly scanned the gym, hoping to see Kenma slumped in a corner somewhere, eyes glued to his game. Instead he was met with a blank space. A blank space yet again. Yamamoto stumbled over to their group, a volleyball in one hand.
“Eh? What’s this? Think you can waltz back in these doors after months and pretend like you own the place?” Yamamoto inquired, cocking his head threateningly.
“Yeah, I was hoping to do just that.”
The old team reunited sat in silence for a beat.
“Hey, where are you guys hidin’ Kozume? I got his favorite set just for the little guy.” He pulled a plastic set of tuna rolls and soy sauce packets out of his bag, smirking expectantly.
The faces of his team suddenly fell. Lev, being directly in front of Kuroo, averted his eyes. Regret sunk into you harder than it ever had before.
“Oh, no… don’t tell me he quit volleyball club?”
“H-He didn’t quit the club, Kuroo-san,” Yaku whispered.
“Alright, then where’s he at? Skipping out on practice? Unlike him.”
Then he noticed the fat tears rolling down Lev’s face. A shadowy veil cast over his over his thoughts.
“Kuroo-san,” Lev whimpered out in between sobs, “Kenma’s… he’s…”
Suddenly the whole team was holding back tears. Kuroo cocked his head.
“He’s what now? Is he sick?” Kuroo asked with a concerned face.
“He’s gone!” Lev choked out, swiping a hand over his nose.
No… no. Kozume’s not… he’s not… Kuroo thought back to all the memories he’d shared with his blond friend. Huddles with the team during practice games, staying up late in the common room cramming for tests you both knew you’d fail, the team hanging out at Inuoka’s place and playing games on his Wii. The way he smiled when Lev hit his first real spike. The way his eyes looked when he was concentrated on a new game. The way his long golden locks fell in front of his face. So perfect. Is it possible that he was… gone?
We thought we’d be friends forever,
And we had so much fun together,
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