the familiar scent of exhaust fumes and street food hung in the air as tetsuro walked you home. it was, as he might put it, a perfectly cromulent tuesday evening. his usual easygoing stride was punctuated by a thoughtful tilt of his head, a sure sign that one of his infamous, utterly bizarre hypotheticals was brewing.

"hey," he hummed, his gaze drifting upwards as if contemplating the dense canopy of leaves overhead. "would you still love me if i was, like... a worm? a really long one, maybe? like, earthworm long, not tapeworm long, that's gross." he seemed genuinely invested in your answer, his brow furrowed in concentration.

before you could even formulate a response to this invertebrate inquiry, his mind had already veered down another peculiar path. he snapped his fingers, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "or! what if i had a mullet? but not like a cool, retro mullet. like a bad mullet. unironically rocking the business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back in all its questionable glory. would you still?"

he didn't even pause for breath before launching his next absurdity. "oh, oh, and this one's important, especially with practice coming up. what if i got completely roasted on twitter for a really bad volleyball take? like, the kind of take that makes even bokuto facepalm. would you still... you know... love me?"

you couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of your lips. seriously, this guy. his mind was a constant, chaotic playground of the absurd. it was exasperating, endearing, and undeniably... tetsuro.