The Cat and the Crow

“Did we really need to leave that early?” Tsuki groused from beside him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. They had just disembarked from the bullet train, and waited on their friends.

Kuroo smiled. Grumpy Tsuki was too adorable. Yet, he had to stay alert. Bokuto and Akaashi had just joined them, and as usual, Bokuto was wide awake and ready for anything.

“Well, we did agree to an itinerary, of sorts, and in order to do everything that we wanted to do, we had to get here as early as possible.”

Kei gave him the side-eye. “Still too early.”

“Come on, guys! We gotta find something to eat for breakfast!” Bokuto called out, a little louder than he should have. Kuroo and Akaashi simultaneously snapped into action, both of them covering the mouths of their respective boyfriends.

“Keep it down, Bokuto. It’s still too early to be that loud,” Akaashi reminded him.

“Oh, yeah. Right,” Bokuto said in a rather subdued voice. But then, “sorry!”

“Really? After I just told you to hush?” Akaashi scolded. He looked back at Kuroo, who waved them on.

“You’ve known him long enough to know he runs on all cylinders at all times,” Kuroo said gently. “Yes, he even slept some. I witnessed the phenomenon.” Tsuki’s glare snapped to him. “Don’t look at me with that tone of voice. You were nearly out cold before we even started the movie last night. I practically had to carry you to bed.” He gently removed his hand. “Come on. We do need to eat something, and then head over to Nijo Castle.”

“The Voice of Reason speaketh,” Tsuki grumbled.

“Early Bird Edition,” Kuroo corrected, earning a chuckle from Tsuki. “Someone has to keep you from taking too many casualties before 9am.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Crisis averted, the four of them passed through the station, and out to find a cab. This early in the morning, it wasn’t hard. They piled into the van, lucked out again with an especially cheerful driver, who knew exactly where to take them for good, inexpensive, breakfast fare. Seeing an opportunity, Kuroo waited until everyone had already gone ahead into the restaurant the driver stopped at.

“Are you available for hire?” he asked before getting out. “Would your company allow you to drive us around all day?”

The driver shrugged. “I’m an independent driver, so it doesn’t really matter,” she told him. “I like you guys, so I’ll get you where you want to go.” She named a price. It was a little steep, but Kuroo knew it was worth it to have their own transportation.

“Half now, half at the end of the day. Deal?” He reached out to shake hands.

“Deal.” She smiled and shook his hand. Kuroo paid her the agreed upon half amount. “See you boys after breakfast.”

“Thank you very much,” he said as he caught up to his friends.

[Time Spent With You]

By unspoken agreement between Kuroo and Akaashi, they decided to split up for a while at each attraction they went to. It was while they were at Nijo Castle that Kuroo discovered yet another fascinating side to Tsuki; He was a history nut. And his interest seemed to focus on the Sengoku period, and late Tokugawa Shogunate era. Kuroo had to admit that, while he liked history well enough himself, Tsuki went way beyond, even going so far as to derail the mini tour they were on by discussing facts with the tour guide.

At one point, he’d had to step in and stop Tsuki, who’d become a little more animated once the Shinsengumi was mentioned. He snuck up behind his love, put his hands on Tsuki’s waist, and leaned in to kiss the nape of his neck.

“Hey. Slow your roll, Turbo. Let the poor lady do her job.”

Tsuki flushed and blinked rapidly a few times, as if coming out of an academic trance. “I’m sorry,” he apologized with a bow.

“Oh, I don’t mind. It’s rare that I get this much interaction from my tour group,” she replied with a smile.

“Still, I shouldn’t have gotten carried away,” Tsuki said, rising and turning to look at Kuroo. “Why didn’t you stop me before?”

Kuroo took Tsuki's hand and led him a little bit away from the group, and the tour guide regained the attention of those left by continuing the tour.

“I loved watching you get carried away. I didn’t know you were a history nut,” he said quietly. “It was fascinating, to be honest.”

Tsuki blushed again and shrugged. “I’m sorry. I just really like history.”

“Why are you even apologizing? It’s something you’re passionate about, and I got to see a new side of you.”

“Yeah, well…”

“Maybe you could tell me everything you know about it tomorrow,” he teased gently. “I’m sure we could find some documentaries to watch…”

“Kuroo?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

They both broke into laughter, and fell into each other’s arms. Which is how Bokuto and Akaashi found them several minutes later. They rejoined and finished the tour together, found their driver, and left for their next stop.

[Whirlwind Tour]

They were all surprised at lunch when their driver took them to a little place in Gion district, and were treated to free food. They thanked both their driver and the cook (who happened to be a relation of the driver), and enjoyed enough food to keep them full for hours.

From there, they took a quick tour through Nishi Honganji Temple, which made Tsuki happy. Kuroo just watched him soak up all the history, both ask and answer questions, and gaze in awe at the prettily decorated rooms. He also snapped a few pictures, sharing them on his social media accounts.

Once they had finished the tour, they loaded up into the van and headed for yet another temple. But what was special about the Tenryu-ji was that the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest was practically next door, which Kuroo had wanted to see. Well, maybe the second thing he’d wanted to see. The first was their final stop before leaving to go home this evening.

As they walked along the path, Kuroo squeezed Tsuki’s hand and looked at him. His golden brown eyes were taking in the tall bamboo stalks, and they were calm, peaceful.

“Are you enjoying the trip?” he asked quietly.

“Very much,” Tsuki replied. “Thank you.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Kuroo said, flushed with pleasure. “Didn’t realize how much until we actually got here,” he winked and then leaned in for a quick kiss. “There’s one last place I want you to see, but it’ll have to wait a few more hours.”

“Oh? I’m guessing it’s a surprise, and you’re not going to tell me?”

“Do you want me to tell you?”

Tsuki thought about it for a minute. “Maybe one hint. I’ve loved all of your surprises, so far, though.”

“Okay. One hint.” Kuroo walked in silence, letting the moment build up a bit. “Torii gates. Lots of them.”

Tsuki snorted. “I mean, they're practically everywhere around here!”

“A hint is a hint. That’s the one you get.”

“Rude.”

Kuroo’s laughter echoed through the forest. “Is it though? Is it really?”

“Hmph.” Tsuki pouted a moment before he was laughing, too.

When Bokuto and Akaashi caught up to them, they decided not to go on to the Okochi-Sanso Villa, as was suggested, but just walk back the way they came. They took their time, walking and talking and just spending time as a group. When they were done, they found their driver and she suggested one more place before their final destination.

[Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine]

“This is beautiful,” Tsuki said as they stood at the end of the torii gate path, looking down at Kyoto.

“Definitely,” Kuroo agreed. “I’m glad we thought of coming here.”

“Well, you guys thought of it. I fell asleep.”

“Well then, consider it part of your birthday surprise,” Kuroo whispered in his ear.

“I’d like to come back,” Kei said. “Maybe do a tour of all the shrines and temples.”

“And the pagodas, too!” Bokuto added.

“We’ll have to make it for next year. We’ve really got to start concentrating on practicing for Nationals,” Akaashi reminded them.

“True enough,” Kuroo agreed. “Luckily, the last practice camp is next weekend at Shinzen. We can practice more, then.”

“Sure! And then we could all go out and…”

“Not this time, Bokuto,” Kuroo interrupted. “Tsuki and I have a goal to achieve at Nationals this year. This is the only chance we’ll have, and we’ve got to make it happen.”

“Oh, yeah! The Trashcan Showdown. You told us about that. We want to see that game, too. We’ll help you practice.” Bokuto decided. Akaashi nodded his agreement.

They all fell silent, taking in the view for a little while longer. Then, Kuroo checked the time on his phone. “We gotta get going, guys. I’d rather not miss our train home.”

A lot of good-natured grumbling followed, but they all turned and headed back down the mountain. Not to miss an opportunity, they asked one of the shrine attendants to take a group photo of them in front of the huge gate at the entrance, and Kuroo handed over his phone. Once that was done, they started to leave, but Tsuki stopped them.

“Wait for me? I have to go take care of something real fast.”

“Are you okay?” Kuroo asked, concerned.

“Yeah, fine. Just give me a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay. Try to hurry.”

“I will!” and Tsuki took off toward the main hall.

Roughly 15 minutes later, Tsuki returned holding a small cloth bag. “Okay. We can go now.”

They only had to walk about 5 minutes to the station, so they also grabbed a snack for the trip home. Once they boarded the train, they had plenty of choices for where to sit, and they found the perfect spot, which allowed them room to stretch out, if needed.

Once the train started moving, they made themselves comfortable, and settled in for the trip home.