Digging Into Your Heart
Day 6 of @bokurooweek
Kids AU
AO3 Link
A/N: Omg I know this is super late but this fic kind of exploded and now it’s over 7500 words and it’s only the first of I don’t know how many chapters. It got a bit out of hand.
“Welcome! You boys are looking for a child no younger than 3 correct? I remember speaking with you on the phone a few days ago. Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san was it?”
Kuroo smiled pleasantly at the elderly man in front of him, reaching out to shake the man’s hand and nodding his head slowly, tilting his head in a vibrating Bokuto’s direction.
“Yeah, I don’t think we’d be able to handle a baby. Maybe something to think about for the future though huh?”
The old man chuckled, humming in agreement.
“Yes, I’d have to agree. You boys look like you’d be amazing fathers to one of our kids! And based on the paperwork you turned in to us, they’ll be well off too. Always makes us happy here when we know our children are going to have a good life.”
Bokuto beamed at the old man, reaching out and taking Kuroo’s hand in his excitement.
“We’re super happy about this too! We’ve been thinking it over for so long and now we’re actually adopting a kid it’s great! We’ve waited months for all that paperwork to go through so we could finally come here! I can’t wait to teach our kid about volleyball and other cool things like riding a bike and making the perfect strawberry cake and--”
The old man cut Bokuto off with a hearty laugh.
“You’re very enthusiastic young man! I like seeing that in parents!”
Bokuto grinned widely, squeezing Kuroo’s hand and bowing his head at the old man in thanks, excitement building up.
The caretaker clapped his hands together, smiling warmly at them.
“Alright, follow me then. We actually don’t have any kids younger than 4 with us. As you can see, I’m an old man and we don’t have very many helpers here. I can’t quite keep up with a baby's needs. When we do get babies they tend to be adopted very soon, luckily. My back would be in worse shape if that wasn’t the case!”
Kuroo and Bokuto beamed at each other, following the older man out to the yard where just over a dozen kids, aged between 4 and 13, were running around playing.
“You’re both free to interact with the children, they’re all--well, most of them are very happy to play with anyone that comes by.”
The two grinned at the man’s words, exchanging looks and wandering off to go play with some of the kids, deciding to separate from each other so they could get to all of them. The kids were probably lacking in play with adults who could keep up with them, their excitement at the two’s appearance easily letting Bokuto and Kuroo know that they were right in their assumption.
They played for roughly an hour, a handful of kids sticking to Kuroo and Bokuto respectively. They were all sad to go, Kuroo and and Bokuto included, when it was time for them to head back inside the building for lunch.
The two watched the kids run inside, smiling warmly at the group and both of their eyes lingering on the 6 year old with an orange mop of hair.
Shouyo.
That little guy had managed to worm his way into Kuroo and Bokuto’s hearts within the first ten minutes of meeting him.
Bokuto turned to Kuroo, eyes wide and hopeful.
“Ah, I assume that our little Shouyo caught your attention?”
Kuroo turned to the old man, brushing off his sudden appearance and grinning at him.
“That obvious huh?”
The man nodded, chuckling quietly as he stood beside the couple.
“Yes, you both seemed a bit more focused on him through the last half hour. I’m quite amazed you could keep up with his energy!”
Here his smile shrunk a bit, a weary sigh coming past his lips, immediately catching the couple's attention.
“Shouyo is...an energetic child, as you can tell. He’s been here since he was about 6 months old. He was a loud and abrupt crier. Plenty of people have come to see him, all getting thrown off by his energy. Seemed like he was too much for most people.”
Bokuto straightened up, a determined gleam in his eyes when he turned towards Kuroo. He didn’t even have to say anything. Kuroo knew.
“Well then.”
Kuroo turned to the old man, smiling down at him.
“Guess we’ve just made up our minds.”
--------------------
“Hey Kou, why don’t you go and tell Hinata the news? I really need to use the toilet.”
Bokuto beamed, immediately running off to find Hinata, not needing to be told twice.
Kuroo only huffed, turning around and practically having a heart attack when he saw the old man standing right there, just a few inches away from him.
“Come Kuroo-san, I’ll show you to the restroom.”
“Jesus, did you used to be a ninja before you decided to run an orphanage? You’re literally silent.”
The man just chuckled, not bothering to offer Kuroo an answer--which was answer enough--and lead him to the bathrooms.
Kuroo rushed his way inside, quickly doing his business and cleaning up. He may have been fast, but despite that, the old man was nowhere to be seen once Kuroo had stepped out.
Dumbfounded, Kuroo wandered back the way he’d come, or, well, the way he thought he came. He hadn’t exactly paid attention to where he was going earlier. This place was ridiculously big okay? Well, the place did serve as a school for the kids, plus a home and a playground. It was a pretty decent place, well loved by the old man who ran it. It made sense for the place to be about as large as a small school.
Kuroo could admit that he was lost.
Sighing, he just decided to start poking his head inside of rooms, hoping to find someone who would help direct him towards the cafeteria. The cafeteria was big damn it! How the hell couldn’t Kuroo find it?!
It took a couple minutes, but Kuroo finally found a room that seemed to be occupied. He could hear a radio playing, faintly recognizing the soft 90’s music.
Kuroo poked his head inside the room, darting his eyes around until they landed on a blonde kid.
Huh, Kuroo hadn’t seen this one outside earlier.
Opening the door wider, Kuroo stepped inside, the door sounding loud
“Hey there kid, uh, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
The kid--somewhere between 10 to 14 years old-- turned around, adjusting his glasses over his eyes as he frowned at Kuroo.
“That was a question.”
Ohohoho. Sassy. Kuroo already liked him.
Grinning, Kuroo shook his head, walking up to the kid.
“Another question then. I’m a bit lost and I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the cafeteria--”
“--That’s on the complete other side of the building. You’re more than just a little lost. Sir.”
Kuroo raised an eyebrow, noting how the kid had added in the sir as purely an after thought.
“Well, now I’m less lost! I now know that the cafeteria is way over there and not over here where this blonde ray of sass is listening to some 90’s music.”
The kid only scowled, turning away from Kuroo and mumbling some sort of come back under his breath.
Kuroo counted it as his win.
“If you wouldn’t mind kid, why don’t you walk me to the cafeteria? Shouldn’t you be eating anyways? Everyone else is. It’s lunchtime y’know.”
The kid stayed quiet for a minute, Kuroo waiting patiently until he reluctantly got up from his seat, turning off the radio and stepping his way out of the room, Kuroo happily tagging along next to him.
“So kid! My names Kuroo, what about you?”
Kid stayed quiet, seemingly ignoring Kuroo’s advances at conversation.
“Aw come on. Okay! How about I come up with a nickname for you then? I know absolutely nothing about you, but you do wear glasses so, glasses-kun it shall be. For now. Until you tell me your actual name.”
Glasses-kun grimaced, picking up his pace and avoiding every one of Kuroo’s attempts to talk to him.
They reached the cafeteria far too soon for Kuroo’s tastes, Tsukishima immediately running off to get food for himself, abandoning Kuroo.
“Aw, glasses-kun! That hurts! You didn’t even tell me your name!”
Kuroo huffed, staring after the kid.
A screech was torn out of him less than five seconds later, a poke to his shoulder making him whip around and come face to face with the smiling old man once more.
“Jesus!”
“Hello Kuroo-san. Trying to befriend Kei I see.”
Kuroo clutched at his heart, doubling over and just breathing for a few seconds before replying.
“Yeah, after you abandoned me in your maze of an orphanage I got lost. I managed to get--Kei was it?-- to lead me back here. Wouldn’t say a word to me unless he was sassing me though.”
“Yes, Kei is very...closed off. He’s 11, been here for close to 8 years. That boys had a rough life. He doesn’t open up to many people anymore.”
Kuroo raised an eyebrow tilting his head at the man.
“Anymore?”
“Ah, well, you see, Kei lost his parents when he was a little over 3 years old. He has an older brother who should be about 14 right now. He also has an aunt and uncle. They took his brother in, but they couldn’t take Kei, so he was left here with me. Kei’s been adopted a few times, but they usually bring him back within two months of having him. He’s been adopted about 5 times. Hasn’t let anyone try to adopt him since the last time he was returned to us. My Kei is a good kid, I never quite understood why they always brought him back.”
Kuroo stared at the old man in shock. 5 times? Kei was adopted 5 times and brought back every time? He didn’t seem like a bad kid! Furrowing his eyebrows, Kuroo opened his mouth to say something, but it was at that moment Bokuto had run down a corner, a teary eyed Hinata clutched in his arms.
“Tetsu!”
Kuroo’s mouth clicked shut, raising an eyebrow at Bokuto and walking up to him, reaching up to ruffle Hinata’s messy hair.
“Hey little guy, what’s up with the tears?”
Shouyo’s bottom lip wobbled, looking up at Bokuto before turning back to Kuroo uncertainly.
“Are you...are you really gonna adopt me? No one’s ever...wanted to…”
Bokuto bounced Shouyo in his arms, getting the kids attention before beaming at him.
“‘Course we want to adopt you! You’re a great kid and Tetsurou and I both agree on that. We want to give you a home and, well, we want to be your parents. If you’re okay with that.”
Shouyo stared up at Bokuto wide eyes, turning to Kuroo only to receive a quick nod of agreement from him. His eyes started watering again, bouncing his head up and down when he couldn’t force out a yes.
Bokuto and Kuroo both let out relieved little sighs, squishing Shouyo in a hug between them and setting him back down on the floor.
Shouyo’s tears were all but gone now, replaced by a blinding smile aimed up in their direction.
“So...so when do I get to go...home with you guys? Now? Right now?”
Kuroo snorted, crouching down so that he was level with Hinata.
“Soon squirt. Unfortunately we still need to sign some more paperwork and we’ll need to wait about three days before we can take you home. That’s not so bad though, think you can wait three days bud?”
Shouyo’s nose crunched up, tilting his head as he contemplated that.
“...Will you visit me?”
Kuroo grinned, nodding his head.
“‘Course! Every day until we get to finally take you home, okay?”
Shouyo beamed, nodding his head enthusiastically.
“Okay!”
They chatted with Shouyo for a bit longer, shooing him off eventually to go eat his lunch since Bokuto had snatched him away before he could finish.
Kuroo turned to the waiting old man, grinning at him.
“We’ll visit even after we take Shou home with us. We don’t want him losing any friends he has here, so we’ll try dropping by once a week; more if we can. If you don’t mind anyways?”
The man only smiled, shaking his head gently.
“Nonsense, you’re welcome back here any time. I’m sure the kids will appreciate someone to play with them regularly. You’d be helping out this old man.”
Kuroo smiled, taking a quick look at what time it was and nudging Bokuto.
“Kou, we should get going.”
They both bowed at the old man, grabbing the documents they needed to fill out from him and popping by Shouyo to say their goodbyes.
On their way out, Kuroo spotted Kei, grinning as he walked over and placed a hand on the kid’s head.
“Hey there Kei.”
Kei swatted Kuroo’s hand away from his head, scowling up at him. Kuroo only smiled back.
“I gotta go now kid but it was nice meeting someone as sassy as you. I’ll be back tomorrow, maybe I’ll bring down some of my favorite music for you to listen to. That radio looked kinda old. Doesn’t look like it has much of a frequency range.”
Kei blinked up at Kuroo, brows furrowed as he turned back to his half eaten food, muttering a quiet ‘It doesn’t’.
Kuroo felt a little swell of victory settle in his chest. He got something other than a rude comment out of Kei! He ruffled Kei’s hair a bit, laughing at the noise of complaint he got in return before walking off, waving at the kid.
Bokuto raised an eyebrow at Kuroo, looking at Kei as he tried to pat down his ruffled hair. Kuroo said nothing, just motioning for Bokuto to follow him out.
--------------------
“Bokuto-san! Kuroo-san!”
The moment Kuroo and Bokuto walked into the orphanage, they were attacked by a waiting Shouyo.
Bokuto immediately picked up the 6 year old, grinning happily at him.
“Hey hey hey Shouyo! How ya doin?”
Shouyo beamed at Bokuto, going into a tirade about his antics with his friend Kageyama, thoroughly capturing Bokuto’s attention. Kuroo snorted, wandering off after ruffling Shouyo’s hair to go find the old man.
This time he actually bothered with keeping track of where he was going.
It took him a while, but he eventually found the man in one of the rooms, searching for something.
”Hey there old man! Need any help with anything?”
“Oh, Kuroo-san! Welcome back. I’m just trying to look for Kei, I haven’t seen him all day. He didn’t show up for breakfast this morning and it’s almost lunch time.”
Kuroo frowned, humming thoughtfully.
“I’ll help you look then. I’ll bring him to you if I find him!”
The man smiled thankfully, wandering off to continue his search while Kuroo went to start his. He decided to head towards the back of the building where he had first met the kid. He had a feeling Kei was back with that radio.
Kuroo wandered his way over, backtracking on a few turns while he tried to figure out how to get back to that hallway again. He eventually found it, his hunch turning out to be right when he heard the 90’s music playing.
He immediately stepped inside of the room, walking over to Kei and setting a hand on his head, startling the kid so he finally noticed his presence.
Kei yelped, ducking out from the hand on his head and whipping around to look at Kuroo, an adorable glare immediately being aimed at him.
Aw.
“Hey Kei! The old man’s lookin for you y’know. It’s not good to skip meals.”
Kei only grumbled, turning to stare at the radio again.
Kuroo took the silence in stride, looking around for an extra chair. He didn’t spot one, so he just shrugged and plopped himself down next to where Kei was sitting.
“So Kei-kun. What kinda music do you like?”
Kei stayed quiet.
“I’m assuming you like 90’s music well enough since you listen to it all the time on the radio. Any specific kind?
Again, Kuroo was met with silence. Well, he could talk enough for two.
“I like a bit of everything myself. I’ll listen to just about any song. Give it all a chance. Can’t say I don’t like a genre because what if I happen to find at least one song from that genre that I do like? Then I’d be a liar. Can’t have that! I’m not a fan of lying. Oh yeah! I brought my Ipod with me, I told you last time I was here that I’d bring some of my favorite music with me so you can listen to a bit more variety than what this old thing shoots out. I even edited it until it was kid friendly! Can’t have none of those songs in here for you to click on.”
Kuroo reached into his pocket, pulling out his ipod and some ear-phones. He turned to look at Kei, grinning when he found the kid looking at him now. His expression was neutral, but Kuroo could tell that was just an act based on the excited gleam in his eyes.
“Here Kei, why don’t you go through it? Listen to whatever catches your interest.”
Kuroo held out the Ipod and ear-phones, Kei only hesitating for all of 8 seconds before snatching the device from his hand. Kuroo showed Kei how to use the Ipod, sitting back and watching as Kei slowly scrolled through every band he had in there. After he was done, he went directly back to the very first artist. Kei stared at the ear-phones, hesitating once more, but he turned to Kuroo in the end and held them out, asking how they were used without actually talking.
Smiling, Kuroo grabbed onto the ear-phones, carefully pressed the correct pieces into each of Kei’s ears and then...watched them fall out. He raised an eyebrow but tried again, getting the same result along with the addition of Kei raising an eyebrow at him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
Kuroo huffed.
“Sorry kid, guess they don’t fit you. You’re gonna have to hold them to your ears.”
Kei nodded, pressing one to his right ear and then surprising Kuroo by offering him the left one.
Kuroo could cry.
He gladly accepted the ear piece, stuffing it into his own ear and shrugging when Kei wrinkled his nose at him at the fact that it didn’t fall right back out like it had with him.
Kei looked away, grumbling under his breath and pressing play on the Ipod. They both sat there, listening to the soft rock music that was playing through the ear-phones, a smile slowly building up on Kei’s face.
Kuroo had modified the music on his Ipod until all he had in it was softer music. Nothing too loud, nothing too rough spoken. It was all mostly upbeat. There were some sad tones in there, but nothing too bad.
They spent a good half hour in silence, letting the music fill their thoughts. But, it was about about time Kuroo took Kei back to the old man. He’s already lingered here for too long.
Clearing his throat, Kuroo tugged the earpiece out, turning to Kei with an apologetic smile.
“Alright Kei, I should probably take you to the old man now. He’s probably still looking for you, even though I found you practically 50 minutes ago.”
Kei bit his lip, reluctantly pressing play on the device and holding it out for Kuroo to take back. Kuroo just shook his head, motioning for Kei to keep it.
“Nah, you can stick with it for a while. Keep listening to the music while we go find the old man yeah?”
Kei nodded, pressing the ear bud to his ear again and pressing play, standing up and letting Kuroo lead him out and back towards the front of the building.
They met up with the old man about half way back to the front, tension immediately leaving the man when he saw Kei next to Kuroo.
Kuroo instantly felt bad. He bowed in apology once they stopped in front of him.
“Sorry old man, I got a bit held up talking to Kei.”
The man merely smiled, shaking his head gently and sighing.
“Nonsense. It’s quite alright. I know Kei is alright on his own, but I can’t help but worry when one of my kids doesn’t show up for a meal.”
Here he gave Kei a pointed look, the boy twitching under the stare and reluctantly pulling the ear bud away from his ear, bowing his head guiltily.
“Sorry Jiji.”
Jiji smiled, patting Kei on the head which he took as the okay to press the ear bud back against his ear.
Kuroo grinned, reaching out to pat Kei’s head as well, feeling a certain warmth when Kei didn’t duck away from his hand this time.
“You can keep the Ipod for now Kei. I’m going to go look for Koutarou and Shouyo. You can give it back later yeah?”
Kei looked up at Kuroo, nodding slowly before heading off towards the cafeteria to wait for lunch to start.
Jiji hummed as he stared after Kei, turning to Kuroo with a thankful smile.
“Thank you, Kuroo-san. I haven’t seen my boy that content in a while. He’s taken to you very quickly!”
“Ah, it’s nothing old man. He just...looked like he needed a pick-me-up. I found him listening to the radio first time I saw him. I found him in the exact same place today actually. He likes music I guess. Figured I’d give him something where he could listen to some variety other than the same old songs on that radio. He seemed to like the music on my Ipod well enough.”
“Oh, I see. So that’s where he always runs off to. Thank you Kuroo-san, for telling me. I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I can’t find Kei. And I’m sure he appreciates that you’re letting him use that music contraption.”
Kuroo snorted, following after the man when he started walking back towards the front of the building. He wondered if Bokuto got around to handing in all that paperwork they took home with them yesterday.
He was about to ask, but then he saw Bokuto making a beeline towards him, Shouyo running along beside him. It was an adorable sight.
“Hey Kou, Shou. What’s up?”
Bokuto opened his mouth to answer, but Shouyo beat him to it.
“Bokuto-san says that I can go and eat lunch with you guys! Well--he said that we needta ask Jiji first but--Jiji can I go?! Please?! Can I can I can I can I?”
Jiji raised an eyebrow, lifting a hand up and scratching at his chin exaggeratedly.
“Out? For lunch? Shouyo my boy! Are you saying that our food here doesn’t taste good?”
Shouyo startled, immediately shaking his head from side to side, looking panicked at the thought that he had offended Jiji.
“No Jiji! I love the food here! But I wanna stay with Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san for longer and Bokuto-san said that they already have a car seat for me so it’s safe for me to go and I--”
Jiji lifted a hand up to stop Shouyo’s rant, laughing heartily.
“Shouyo! It’s alright son, you can go with them. When you come back you can tell me all about your lunch with your Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san alright?”
Kuroo laughed, reaching down and picking Shouyo up, settling him against his side and grinning
“Hear that Shou? The old man said you can come with us! You can even pick where we go eat okay? Any place you wanna go?”
“I want meat buns!”
Kuroo blinked, raising an eyebrow at Shouyo’s reply.
“Meat buns? So...you want to go to a convenience store?”
Shouyo nodded, eyes practically sparkling.
“Yeah! I want four meat buns!”
“Four?!”
Kuroo threw his head back and laughed, putting Shouyo back down on his own two feet.
“Well then little man! Guess we’ll just have to go and get you your 4 meat buns then. C’mon, we’ll walk it. Gives us more time together yeah?”
Shouyo let out a noise that sounded something like a dying crow, his little body shaking with excitement.
Kuroo snorted, watching as both Bokuto and Shouyo let out eerily similar war cries, following after them when they started to race out of the building, Bokuto staying just a smidge behind Hinata the whole time.
--------------------
“There ya go Shou, 4 meat buns, just like you asked.”
Shouyo looked down at the 4 steaming meat buns placed in front of him, eyes shining.
“They’re beautiful!”
Kuroo laughed, plopping down on the bench right in front of Hinata.
The convenience store wasn’t exactly a sit-and-eat kinda place, so they walked to a close by park. This way they could sit and relax while they ate their meat buns and afterwards they could all play together.
But, just because they were going to play after they ate, didn’t mean they couldn’t play while they ate.
Kuroo grinned, grabbing one of his own meat buns and waving it around to get Shouyo and Bokuto’s attention.
“How about we have a race huh? See who can finish their meat bun first.”
Shouyo won.
--------------------
Kuroo wheezed, falling down on the grass floor beside an exhausted Shouyo.
“Ugh, Kou, no more!”
Bokuto laughed, flopping down on the other side of Shouyo.
“You guys lack stamina! Don’t worry Shou I’m gonna help you build all that energy up into an every-lasting force! You’re gonna be the greatest at everything!”
Shouyo let out an exhausted war cry, lifting an arm up only to have it flop back down by his head.
Kuroo laughed, turning to look at Shouyo.
“You did a good job keeping up with this monster Shou. You’re exhasuted, so it’s probably about time we take you back.”
Shouyo let out a little grumble, not fully capable of complaining or getting himself off the floor.
Kuroo got back onto his feet with a grunt, lips twitching up into a smile as he looked down at Bokuto and Shouyo. Shouyo had a content smile on his face, Bokuto reaching out to ruffle his orange hair with a warm look in his eyes.
Getting his phone out, Kuroo opened up the camera app, snapping a quick picture of the two of them.
“Okay Kou, come on. Up we go.”
Kuroo reached down and picked Shouyo up, settling the exhausted kid on his hip.
Bokuto bounced back up onto his feet, pressing a quick kiss to Kuroo’s cheek and leading the way back to the orphanage.
Kuroo sighed, a pleasant warmth settling in his chest as he walked next to Bokuto, Shouyo settled in his arms. Yeah, he was going to love this being a part of his everyday life.
--------------------
“Hey old man, we’re back. Can you tell me where Shouyo’s room is? We kinda tuckered him out.”
Jiji laughed, looking surprised to find Shouyo asleep in Kuroo’s arms.
“Amazing! You managed to tire him out. I’ve never seen him fall asleep in the middle of the day before. If you turn right down this hall, his room will be the 4th door on the right. His bed is the one on the left.”
“Looks like we could do way better than just keep up with his energy huh? Then again, he’s probably gonna stop dropping for naps a year or two down the road. Just means we gotta keep ourselves fit! Good motivator for us. Kou, I’ll be right back. Tell the old man ‘bout our plans for tomorrow yeah?”
Bokuto saluted Kuroo when he started to walk off, grinning as he turned to Jiji.
“Hey hey hey Jiji! So we need permission to take Shou out again tomorrow!”
--------------------
Kuroo grunted, nudging Shouyo’s door open with his foot and carefully stepping inside, settling him down on his bed.
Kuroo pulled a thin blanket over Shouyo, turning to leave the room, but a little hand clutched onto his shirt before he moved too far away. Kuroo turned back around, smiling gently at a squinty eyed Shouyo and sitting down on the corner of the bed.
“Hey Shou, thought you were still fast asleep. What’s up?”
Shouyo reluctantly released Kuroo’s shirt, bunching up his pillow with his fist instead.
“Um…”
Kuroo hummed inquisitively, waiting patiently for Shouyo to talk.
It took a few minutes for Shouyo to gather his thoughts, eventually building up the confidence to voice them.
“Um, are you guys...sure that you want to adopt me? Cuz everyone always says that I’m...too hyper. And that they can’t handle me. And...and I don’t mean to be but...but it’s hard not to be and--”
Kuroo raised a hand up to get Shouyo’s attention, his eyebrows furrowed and lips tugged down in a scowl. People actually told Shou these things? What the hell was wrong with them?
“Shou, that’s not a bad thing. It’s never going to be a bad thing. It’s great that you’re enthusiastic, it’s great that you have so much energy. I love that about you. Kou and I love that about you, okay? We want to adopt you, we want you to be a part of our lives. Never think that the way you are is bad. You’re perfect as you are alright?”
Kuroo smiled, reaching out to ruffle Shouyo’s hair affectionately.
Shouyo laughed, a bright smile being aimed at Kuroo and the doubt that had earlier clouded his eyes immediately vanishing with Kuroo’s reassurances.
“Thanks Kuroo-san! I want...um, can I call...can I call you and Bokuto-san...dad?”
Kuroo’s eyes widened, Shouyo’s widening in response and apologies beginning to stutter out of him. Kuroo reached out and covered Shouyo’s mouth, laughing and looking down to grin at him.
“Don’t worry Shou! Yeah...you can.”
Kuroo’s grin softened into a smile, warmth building up inside him and showing in his eyes.
“You can call us dad. Though you might need to think about an alternate dad name. If you call us both dad it’ll get a lil confusing.”
Shouyo hummed, scrunching up his nose as he thought about it, eyes widening when he got an idea.
“Oh! I know! Bokuto-san was telling me about how you guys played volleyball in high school! And he said that you went to a school called Nekoma and he went to Fukuro...Fukurowani? Your school was about cats and his was about owls!”
Kuroo grinned, nodding his head.
“Yup! Nekoma and Fukurowani indeed.”
“Then how about I call you cat dad and I call Bokuto-san owl dad!”
“Sure Shou! I like those names! You can call us whatever you’re comfortable with.”
They shared a smile, Kuroo laughing quietly when Shouyo broke into a yawn.
“Alright Shou, you should go to sleep. We’ll see you tomorrow yeah? We have a surprise for you.”
Shouyo grinned at Kuroo, squirming on his bed excitedly.
“Really?! So cool! I can’t wait for tomorrow now! Thank you Ku--cat dad!”
Kuroo smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to Shouyo’s forehead.
“‘Course Shou. Now you go ahead and sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shouyo nodded, closing his eyes and letting his exhaustion from the day finally lull him to sleep.
Kuroo smiled, leaving the room and sliding the door shut, taking a few steps away before reaching up to clutch at his chest, a happy noise slipping out of him.
Holy shit. Shouyo was just too damn cute! Kuroo wasn’t sure if he’d survive long with Shouyo around. His heart couldn’t take it! There should be a limit to how cute one kid could be.
Kuroo made it about halfway back to the front of the building when a tentative voice called out to him.
“Kuroo-san.”
Kuroo paused, turning his head and spotting an uncomfortable looking Kei, his Ipod and ear-phones held out in his hands.
“You’re leaving now aren’t you? Here.”
Kuroo smiled, reaching out and taking the device from Kei. The battery was already dead. Seemed Kei had gotten a decent use out of it while Kuroo was gone.
“Thanks Kei! Sorry it wasn’t fully charged. I used it this morning when I went running. I’ll charge it tonight so you can use it again tomorrow yeah? If you want to use it again anyways.”
Kei looked up excitedly at the prospect, nodding his head firmly at Kuroo and pursing his lips. Kei bowed at Kuroo, turning and walking away quickly, probably back to the radio.
Kuroo snorted, calling out a goodbye and turning to walk the rest of the way down the hall, spotting Bokuto staring at him from the end of it.
“Hey Kou, what’d the old man say about tomorrow?”
Bokuto grinned, reaching out and wrapping his arms around Kuroo’s waist.
“He said we can take Shou! He also says that he wants us to take pics of Shou cuz he wants to see how excited he gets when we take him to pick out all the stuff for his room.”
“Easy enough. Well, maybe we should take the camera we have at home. I don’t think our phones will be able to take pictures of Shou without him coming out like a blurry orange beam of light.”
Bokuto laughed, releasing Kuroo and taking him by the hand, dragging him out of the building.
“Yeah! If the camera doesn’t work out either we can always just take a video. That’d be neat!”
Kuroo grinned, squeezing Bokuto’s hand.
“Yeah, it would be. Now ‘cmon, let’s go home.”
--------------------
“Akaaashhhiiiii! We’re home!”
Bokuto practically threw the door open, tossing his shoes off and bounding off to search for Akaashi, Kuroo following but making a beeline for the kitchen instead.
Akaashi was shit at cooking, so he never bothered to make anything, waiting instead for either Kuroo or Bokuto to make something. It was either they cook something, or he was ordering pizza every night.
Looking up from his book, Akaashi stared as Bokuto ran towards him, hopping onto the couch beside him and practically radiating his excitement.
“Akaashi!”
Akaashi sighed, closing his book and focusing his attention onto Bokuto instead. Bokuto would whine unless he had Akaashi’s full attention.
“Yes Bokuto-san?”
“Hey hey hey Akaashi! You should go with us when we go and see Shouyo! He’s gonna live here with us and he should get to know you too! Since you live here with us too! He’s a great kid Akaashi and he has so much energy I almost got tired myself when I was playing with him today at the park!”
Akaashi raised an eyebrow. Bokuto almost got tired? Well, that gave Akaashi an idea for how much energy the kid must have.
“That’s nice Bokuto-san. And I suppose I can go with you tomorrow. You’re taking him shopping aren’t you?”
Bokuto nodded excitedly.
“Yeah! Jiji gave us permission to take him and everything! Oh! You can video tape for us! The old man wanted us to take pictures but Shouyo moves around a lot so Kuroo and I decided that maybe we should just take a video instead. That’d be cool right? I’d like to have that as a video that we could see again like years into the future!”
Akaashi hummed, nodding his head, twitching when he heard Kuroo call out to him.
“Hey Akaashi! Did you go shopping like I asked you to? I don’t see the chicken I asked you to get!”
Akaashi winced. Shit. He forgot.
“……….”
“Did you forget?!”
--------------------
“Hey Shouyo! Are you ready for your surprise?”
Shouyo bounced up to Kuroo and Bokuto, wide smile plastered onto his face.
“Yeah! Where is it?! WHat is it?!”
Shouyo stopped bouncing when he saw someone standing just behind Bokuto and Kuroo, tilting his head and pointing in confusion.
“Is he my surprise? I don’t think a person can be a present cat dad.”
Bokuto squawked beside Kuroo, lifting a hand up to clutch at his chest.
“DAD?! That’s not fair! Shou what about me?!”
Shouyo smiled, pointing at Bokuto.
“You’re owl dad!”
Bokuto wheezed, turning to to Kuroo with tears in his eyes. Shouyo called him owl dad.
Kuroo laughed, patting Bokuto’s shoulder.
“No Shou, Akaashi isn’t your present. But we do want you to meet him. He lives with us at our house so you’re gonna live with him too. He’s going to be your uncle! Uncle Akaashi!”
Akaashi stepped around a still teary eyed Bokuto, crouching down to stand in front of Shouyo and smiling gently at him, holding a hand out for him to shake.
“Hello Shouyo, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m looking forward to living with you. Your dad’s here never stop talking about you back at home.”
Shouyo beamed, taking Akaashi’s hand and shaking it.
“Hi uncle Akaashi! So can you tell me what my surprise is?!”
Akaashi chuckled, shaking his head as he stood back up.
“Nope. You’re gonna have to see what it is when we get there. Trust me, you’ll like it.”
Shouyo gasped, his eyes sparkling.
“We’re going somewhere?! Where?! Oh--wait, you said I havta wait. Okay! I can wait! I’m SUPER excited now though! Can we go?! Now?! Can we?!”
Kuroo laughed, ruffling Shouyo’s hair and nodding his head.
“‘Course Shou! How ‘bout you go with owl dad and uncle Akaashi to the car so they can put you into your car seat. I need to do one thing real quick and then I’ll go join you alright?”
Shouyo nodded, excitedly taking the hand Bokuto held out to him and talking animatedly to Akaashi, shooting out question after question that Akaashi was more than happy to answer.
Kuroo smiled after them, turning to walk towards the back of the building, but he didn’t actually need to when he spotted the person he was looking for with his head poking out of a door. Kuroo smiled, waving at Kei and motioning for him to come closer.
Kei reluctantly slipped out of the room he was hiding in, walking over to Kuroo and looking up at him.
“Hey there Kei, how ya doin?”
Kei merely shrugged, continuing to look up at Kuroo expectantly.
Kuroo snorted, slipping a gym sack off his shoulder and opening it up, bending down to show it to Kei
“Here ya go Kei, the Ipod is in here--fully charged this time--along with the charger since I’ll be gone till late at night. Just in case it runs out of battery. I also bought these at the store yesterday!”
Kuroo rummaged around in the bag for a bit, pulling out some headphones. He smiled, holding them out to Kei.
“Here! You can adjust them until they fit you right. Since the ear-phones didn’t fit in your ears I bought these for you instead. I was tempted to get some cartoony ones but I didn’t know what you liked so I went the safe route and bought some plain black ones.”
Kei reached out, hesitating just before grabbing them and looking at Kuroo instead.
“...Are you...sure?”
Kuroo raised an eyebrow.
“‘Course! Take ‘em. I bought them for you!”
Kei grabbed the headphones, holding them in his hands and furrowing his eyebrows, also accepting the bag that Kuroo held out for him.
“...Thank you Kuroo-san.”
Kuroo smiled, standing back up and patting Kei’s head.
“No problem Kei. You enjoy yourself okay? I’ll be back in a couple hours. Be prepared for me to ask you what some of your favorite bands are!”
Kuroo waved at Kei, receiving a tiny one in return before Kei disappeared down the hall, probably heading towards his room.
Chuckling, Kuroo made his way back out of the orphanage and to his car where his...his family was waiting.
God, Kuroo was probably never going to get tired of calling them that.
--------------------
“I GET TO PICK OUT THE STUFF FOR MY ROOM?!”
Shouyo looked like he was going to explode, his hands balled up into fists close to his chest and his entire body practically shaking with excess energy.
Kuroo and Bokuto both released a synchronized ‘Yup!’, Akaashi nodding his head beside them, fiddling with the camera in his hands.
Kuroo and Bokuto had more or less created a list of the stuff Shouyo needed in his room. They squatted next to him, going over the list with him while Shouyo’s eyes shined brighter and brighter with every item they went over.
“So Shou...ya ready? We’re heading off to war Shou. Also. Be sure to stick with us okay? IKEA is a maze where it is very easy to get lost. Hold either my or Akaashi’s hand okay? Not Koutarou’s. He gets lost every time we come here.”
“Hey! You said it yourself! IKEA is a maze! It’s like the walls move Tetsu!”
Kuroo rolled his eyes, patting his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“I know Kou. It doesn’t change the fact that you get lost for, like, over an hour before Akaashi and I manage to find you again. Since you always refuse to ask any of the staff.”
“Phones don’t get good reception so they always end up calling you guys over the speakers! It’s embarrassing Tetsu!”
Kuroo laughed, taking Shouyo by the hand and leading him to the beds.
“Sure Kou. Now c’mon Shouyo! Time to pick out your bed!”
--------------------
In the end, Bokuto did get lost, and the IKEA staff did end up calling his name over the speakers.
Shouyo couldn’t stop giggling at Bokuto’s embarrassed face, Kuroo not bothering to hold back his loud cackling.
Akaashi only sighed in exasperation, patting Bokuto’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry Bokuto-san. Maybe next time we come to IKEA you won’t get lost. Kuroo-san or I will hold your hand. Like we do for Shouyo.”
Bokuto stared at Akaashi with shining eyes, wrapping his best friend up in a hug.
“Akaasshhiiiii!”
Kuroo wiped the tears out of his eyes, reaching down to pat Shouyo’s head.
“Alright, we got everything you needed for your room plus a few extra things you wanted. I think we’re ready to go to check-out and pay an insane amount of money, carry everything into the trailer we rented and then go get some dinner. And then we need to drop you back off at the orphanage.”
Shouyo pouted, tugging on Kuroo’s hand.
“When do I get to go home with you?”
Kuroo grinned, crouching down to Shouyo’s height.
“We’ll pick you up and cart you home sometime in the afternoon tomorrow. Soon Shou. Real soon you can come home with us, okay? Just be patient for a little longer.”
Shouyo smiled, nodding his head and reaching out to hug Kuroo.
“Okay, I can wait till tomorrow. I’m hungry now though. Can we go eat?”
Kuroo laughed, standing up with Shouyo in his arms.
“‘Course! Let’s go pay for your stuff. Koutarou! Leave Akaashi alone already, we’re leaving. Don’t get lost again y’hear?”
Bokuto stuck his tongue out at Kuroo, getting a laugh out of Shouyo and making Akaashi roll his eyes.
--------------------
By the time they pulled back into the orphanages small parking lot, Shouyo was fast asleep on Akaashi’s shoulder.
Kuroo smiled into the rear view mirror, parking and getting out of the car, going around to the side of the car where Shouyo’s car seat was and unbuckling him. Shouyo roused only long enough to slip his arms around Kuroo’s shoulders before quickly passing out again.
“Alright, I’ll go put him to bed and come back out. I’ll be right back.”
Akaashi hummed from the back, scrolling through his phone while Bokuto let out a cheerful ‘okay!’.
Kuroo huffed, making his way to the building where Jiji waved him inside with a small smile. He nodded at the old man and walked through the halls, stopping at Shouyo’s room and nudging the door open with his foot again before slipping inside.
It was pretty late; the orphanage was quiet. All the kids were no doubt sent to bed at least an hour earlier. Kuroo grunted, setting Shouyo down in his bed and covering him up. Shouyo didn’t even stir.
Kuroo smiled, bending down to press a kiss to Shouyo’s forehead and turning to leave, but the kid on the other bed in the room caught his attention.
It was Kei.
Kuroo perked up, blinking when he saw the kid was fast asleep, glasses still over his eyes and the headphones he gave to him this afternoon still pressed to his ears. He walked over, carefully slipping Kei’s glasses off his nose and placing them on the little table that was right by his bed. He moved on to the headphones on Kei’s head, slipping them off of Kei’s ears and trying to follow the string to where the Ipod was.
Huffing gently, Kuroo carefully moved Kei a bit to grab the Ipod that was digging into his side. That definitely didn’t look comfortable. He let out a tiny noise of success when he managed to get the Ipod, turning it off and settling it and the headphones onto the table next to Kei’s glasses. Kuroo looked down at Kei when the kid shifted, his nose wrinkling at all the movement.
Kuroo smiled, reaching down to gently ruffle Kei’s hair, watching as his expression relaxed, settling into a peaceful sleep
“Mnngh...Dad…”
Kuroo froze, eyes widening as he looked down at Kei. He carefully pulled his hand back, chewing on his bottom lip. Shit. This was...
He needed to talk to Bokuto.
Kuroo sighed, reaching out and adjusting Kei’s blanket, passing his hand through Kei’s hair one more time before he made his way out of the room and back to the car.
He slipped into the driver’s seat, starting the car up and clearing his throat, getting Bokuto’s attention.
“Hey Koutarou? I need to talk to you when we get home.”