Chapter Text
Yamamoto felt like any minute now, he would probably be throwing up that bagel he had scarfed down on the train ride to work. Today was a big deal for him. He would be spending his workday with Ennoshita! They would take care of the tigers together, and Yamamoto will give him a tour of the zoo, and…they would get to talk. It was practically a date, but one of those friendship dates, like in the movies… then again those movies usually end with the friends doing…non-platonic dates… and if Yamamoto continued down this thought train, he would psyche himself out and probably give himself anxiety over it. Slapping his cheeks to bring him back to earth, he took a few deep breaths and probably scored some weird looks from strangers sitting by him. Whatever, he can do this. He will conquer this day with Ennoshita!
After placing his bag into his locker, Yamamoto made his way to the employee break room where the Sunday meetings were always held. Once inside the break room, he took a look around. “Yamamoto…you’re early.” Kuroo noted. Tora’s former captain was reclining back in his chair, the two front legs dangling in the air.
“I hope you fall.” Sawamura teased, poking Kuroo’s cheek as he walked passed to greet Yamamoto, “Since you’re here, do you want to help me get the breakfast of the day? Kuroo’s useless.”
“I’m not useless! I’m resting!” Kuroo countered as Sawamura began leading Yamamoto back out the break room.
“Sure, I’ll help you Sawamura-san!!”
Ennoshita had walked to work with his roommates, Akaashi and Kenma, camera in hand taking test shots of the scenery they passed. “Tonight is movie night at Yaku-san’s apartment. Are you going to go?” Akaashi questioned, thumbing through his phone.
“I’m not going.” Kenma informed, nose buried into his game.
“Why not?”
“Too many noisy people.”
“All those noisy people are your friends.” Ennoshita pointed out.
“Unfortunately.”
“Well, what about you Chika-san?” Ennoshita tried not to laugh at Akaashi’s attempt to call him by his nickname. At least he was trying.
“I don’t see why not? So, I guess I will go. I will need directions though.”
“Well, Bokuto-san always gives me a ride, I’m sure there’s room for you too.”
“Thanks.” The group of three entered the break room.
“Hey…more early kids.” Kuroo greeted.
“Morning Kuroo-san.” Akaashi greeted, taking a seat at a table in the corner. Kenma quickly took over a couch, folding his feet under himself.
“Just put them down anywhere.” Daichi instructed Yamamoto as they reentered the room, “Oh…hey guys.”
“Good morning, Sawamura-san.” ”Hi Daichi.” Akaashi and Ennoshita greeted, Kenma just nodding in acknowledgment.
Kuroo abruptly stood from his seat, walking over to relieve Daichi of fruit platters, “I’ll help you there, babe.”
“Don’t call me that, you lazy asshole.”
“Ooh, trouble in paradise?” Oikawa questioned as he and Iwaizumi entered, hand in hand.
“Asshole is a term of endearment, right, Haj?” Daichi teased, waiting for Kuroo to set down the fruit before wrapping his arms around him. Kuroo did the same, letting his head rest atop of Daichi’s.
“I agree.” Iwaizumi smirked.
“So mean…” Oikawa turned his attention away from his boyfriend and to Yamamoto, “So what do you have in your hands, Tiger Prince?”
“Croissants and strudels.” Yamamoto answered, placing them down next to the fruits before making his way over to Ennoshita. “Morning…”
“Morning, Tiger Prince?”
“You know…Oikawa-san’s nicknames…” Yamamoto choked out, turning as red as the strawberry filling in some of the strudels. “A-are you excited for the tour?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You know, I read your blog post last night…good job. It was quite exciting to read.”
“Thank you.” It was Ennoshita’s turn to blush a bit, and Yamamoto looked over at the pastries he just set down.
“Do you want one?”
“Uh…sure.” Yamamoto grabbed a plate and some tongs, using them to transfer an apple strudel on a plate, handing it over to Ennoshita before grabbing another plate to serve himself something.
“Apple is better than the strawberry… the strawberry one is too sweet, and I remember you said you don’t like overly sweet things.”
“I told you that back in high school…and you remembered it?”
“Yeah…I remember a lot of things about you… oh god, is that weird?”
“No, no…that’s…nice.” Ennoshita smiled and Yamamoto could hear his brain combusting.
To prevent embarrassment, Ennoshita and Yamamoto went to claim a seat on the couch as they waited for the meeting. Yamamoto sat next to Kenma, sharing (more like giving) his apple strudel, while Ennoshita sat across from them. After a few chats about Kenma’s game, how good the pastries were, and the plans for the zoo tour, everyone piled into the break room and the meeting started.
Ennoshita got a warm welcome from the owners, management and some of the vets, then the rest of the meeting was pretty standard and rather boring. After enduring that meeting, everyone was dismissed to their exhibits.
*~*
Ennoshita followed Yamamoto, Kuroo and Kyoutani to the animal nursery. When they got there, Kuroo instructed Ennoshita to have a seat off to the side, and how he was free to take as many photos or videos as he wanted. Kyoutani went over to a countertop, setting up equipment while Yamamoto placed on some heavy duty gloves and Kuroo went to get the first cub. “Tell me a bit more about these cubs.” Ennoshita requested as Yamamoto came over to take a seat near him.
“Well… they were transferred here from a zoo in Seoul. Usually, we give vaccinations at 8 weeks, but since they were transferred, they required more tests first, so we’re giving it to them now at nine weeks.” Yamamoto explained, opening up his arms as Kuroo handed him Zoro. “This is Zoro, he’s super playful, yet still loves his sleep and really likes milk.”
“Ready Kyoutani?” Kuroo asked and Kyoutani gave him a curt nod, walking over with the supplies. “So… what we do first, is check the heartbeat, take their temperature, and then commence the vaccinations.” Kuroo put on some gloves, and instructed Kyoutani to do the same. Yamamoto held Zoro still and watched as Kuroo placed a stethoscope against his belly and his sides, he passed it to Kyoutani, teaching him what to look for and what he should be hearing. Ennoshita snapped away with photos. They then took a thermometer and placed it in Zoro’s bum to take his temperature. Zoro hissed, not really fond of the intrusion. Kuroo noted the temperature and put it away. “Okay, Tora…”
“I hate this part.” Yamamoto frowned, changing his grip on the tiger cub. He now had to firmly grasp the cub behind his ears, pulling at the fur on his neck. Zoro continued his hissing, baring his teeth as Kuroo helped Kyoutani inject the vaccination and microchip.
“We insert it at the base of the neck, just like a domestic cat.” Kuroo said taking a little handheld machine, and putting it over the spot he just injected to activate the microchip. “And all done. I’ll go get Boa, and Kyoutani will do her vaccination by himself.” Kuroo got up to retrieve the final cub while Yamamoto went over to a pen, placing Zoro into it. Ennoshita walked over to see what was going on.
“This is similar to the stuff we have our older cubs lie in when they’re not on exhibit. This will sound gross, but it’s hay and dirt that they’ve urinated in with a bit of feces. We rub the cubs in it after vaccinations so that they smell like cat again, and not latex gloves.” Yamamoto explained, doing so to Zoro, “It also helps them calm down and relax again. As expected, no one likes being stuck with needles and probed with thermometers or stethoscopes. Plus, when Boa is done and placed with him, it’ll help him recognize her as a fellow cat and not one of us.”
“You said you hated the part where you had to hold him by the neck, why?”
“Well… I know it doesn’t hurt him, but I still hate watching him act like that, you know? I hate when they feel threatened to the point where they need to hiss. It’s worth it, because the vaccination will help them stay healthy, but it’s still hard to watch since I work so closely with them all the time. I have to give Kuroo-san some respect for doing this ALL the time, and now I have to give Kyoutani his props for entering the veterinary field, I could never do some of the things they do…”
“I think you’re a great zoo parent, Tora…”
“You really think so?”
“Correction, I know you’re a great zoo parent.” That made Yamamoto smile.
“Come on, we have to finish up with Boa’s vaccination.”
*~*
“So is there a certain area you want to explore first?” Yamamoto asked once they left the nursery. After finishing up with the vaccinations, they were able to watch one of the baby orangutans get in some exercise on a jungle gym before Kuroo kicked them out.
“Surprise me.”
“Hmm… how about the safari? Kai-san drives the truck, and I’m sure he won’t mind driving for us.”
“That sounds fun.” Ennoshita agreed as Yamamoto led the way.
When they got to the safari area, they noticed Yaku climbing into the Safari Jeep with Kai. “Hey, what’s going on?” Yamamoto asked.
“It’s one of our cheetah’s birthdays, so we’re giving her a cake.” Yaku informed as Kai started up the jeep. “If you’re coming, then hurry up.”
The two climbed into the backseat, enjoying the ride and looking at all the other animals before pulling over to where a cheetah rested with one of her zookeepers. They climbed out, Yaku and Kai holding a tray with a three layer frozen cake made from meat treats, blood and water. “What an interesting cake.” Ennoshita commented, taking photos at the cheetah licked away at the treat. “Do you do this for all the birthdays?”
“Pretty much. We try to reward them on their birthdays and during holidays.” Yamamoto explained.
After the safari, they continued exploring the zoo, making their way to the bird and butterfly exhibit, where Bokuto and Akaashi were feeding sweet nectar to some of the birds. Ennoshita also got to wear a cap, where the color of it attracted all the butterflies, and Yamamoto took a photo for him.
“Everyone seems to really enjoy their job.” Ennoshita pointed out as he looked through all the photos he took during the tour. No wonder Akaashi had a huge following on Instagram, he got some great shots of the animals. “I think my favorite is the monkey showing his bum to Oikawa. The look of disgust and outrage on his face is priceless.”
“That happens a lot actually.” Yamamoto teased, leading Ennoshita to the souvenir shop, where Kenma was hiding out and waiting. “Kenma! What are you up to?”
“Waiting for Akaashi to finish so I can go home.”
“What do you do on Sundays?” Ennoshita asked, “Since you don’t have animals to feed.”
“It’s supposed to be the time where he takes inventory and restocks the souvenirs…but of course, Kuroo and Kai restock and Sawamura-san does the inventory. So Kenma just plays games until Akaashi is done helping Bokuto-san.” Yamamoto explained.
“That’s very nice of them to always help you out.”
“Yeah.” Was all Kenma said, head lowering a bit as a sign that he was done conversing with them.
“Ennoshita, come look at this.” Yamamoto called out from a corner of the shop. Ennoshita made his way over, looking at all the tiger plushies. “Here…you can have this one.” Yamamoto handed a small tiger over to Ennoshita, “Your very own Tora to keep on your desk or something.” Ennoshita smiled, his eyebrow raising slightly. Yamamoto noticed even Kenma looked up from his game, judging him. “TORA AS IN THE TIGER. NOT AS IN ME TORA.” Yamamoto quickly covered up.
“Thanks. I’ll put it by my computer. He’ll help motivate me.”
“Are you going to Yaku-san’s tonight?” Yamamoto asked, cheeks flushing as per usual whenever he was around and made a fool of himself in front of his crush.
“Yes, I’ll be catching a ride with Keiji.”
“Great! I’ll see you there!”
“You’re going?”
“Yeah, I had missed the past few times due to exams and projects, but now I’m free! We… uh—we can sit together during the movie… only if you want to.”
“I’d like that.”
*~*
Later that evening, Yamamoto face-timed Kenma, freaking out over his outfit choice. “This doesn’t seem too dressy right? I mean, it’s just a movie night, so I don’t want to feel out of place.”
“Just wear a normal t-shirt, Tora.” Kenma complained.
“But I’m sitting next to Ennoshita! All my normal t-shirts have embarrassing sayings on them because they’re all presents from Tanaka and Noya!”
“Keiji wears shirts with weird sayings all the time.”
“But Ennoshita doesn’t wear weird shirts!”
“Who cares…”
“I care, Kenma! I have it so bad for him.” Yamamoto pouted, collapsing onto his bed. “Tell me that I’m being stupid.”
“You’re being stupid.”
“You’re not supposed to actually tell me that! You’re supposed to be like ‘No, you’re not stupid, Tora’!”
“No, you’re not stupid, Tora.” Kenma snickered.
“Now you’re just mocking me…” Yamamoto couldn’t help but laugh though, “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“I should go just to watch you embarrass yourself in front of the guy you’re in love with, but I care about you too much to laugh at your misery so openly.”
“Thanks… I appreciate it. Wait?! I’m not in love with Ennoshita!”
“Anyone with eyes can see that you are, and it’s fine, Chika probably loves you back.”
“Probably? What do you know, Kenma?”
“I know that I’m hungry. I’m going to go now, Tora.”
“No! Tell me the secrets, Kenma!!”
“You’re embarrassing.” Kenma complained before ending the call. Yamamoto groaned to himself, his self-loathing being cut short by a knock on his dorm room door.
He answered it, “Oh, hi, Kuroo-san.”
“You ready to go?”
“Just let me get my shoes.” Yamamoto stated, quickly putting on some sneakers before following the way to Kuroo’s Nissan.
“Why do you look so bummed? Cheer up! It’s movie night! Guardians of the Galaxy is the movie of choice.”
“I’m not bummed, I’m nervous.”
“Is this about your crush on Ennoshita?”
“Don’t bring it up.” Yamamoto pouted, slumping down in his seat as Kuroo started the car.
“You can talk to me about it!”
“I’d rather talk to Sawamura-san.”
“Tora, I’m cat dad! Daichi is crow STEP-dad! You talk to dad before you talk to STEP-dad.”
“You’re really insistent on making that dad and step-dad thing stick.”
“Of course, I take pride in parenting my litter of grumpy cats.”
“I don’t know how to tell Ennoshita that I want to take him out on a date… Kenma thinks I’m in love with him, and I kind of feel that too, but I can’t just admit it. What if it scares him off or something?”
“You don’t have to tell him you love him, you’re right about that, but just tell him that you like him and want to take him out to dinner. Start simple.”
“The whole point of me telling you all this is because it’s easier said than done.”
“All you need is a little push. Don’t worry, I’ll help give you that push.”
“What are you going to do??”
“I said, don’t worry.” Kuroo smirked, and Yamamoto’s stomach did uneasy flips. What did he just sign up for?
*~*
The gathering was in full swing, everyone enjoying wings and beer, while Yaku began to make a bunch of popcorn for the movie in Kai’s popcorn maker. “This may take a while since there’s so many of us… why not play a game to pass the time?” Kai suggested.
“Shall we play Old Maid?” Bokuto questioned, earning a bunch of protests.
“No, because you find a way to cheat.” Yahaba complained.
“I don’t cheat, I’m just great at the game! Right, Akaashi?”
“Whatever you say, Bokuto-san.”
“Remember when we played Spin the Bottle a few weeks ago?” Kuroo asked, “Why not play Seven Minutes in Heaven? We can use Yaku’s coat closet.” Yamamoto almost choked on his soda.
“You and Oikawa didn’t even want to play Spin the Bottle because you didn’t want anyone else kissing your boyfriends! Now you’re trying to lock them in a closet with someone else?” Yaku countered.
“It sounds like fun though!” Suga exclaimed.
“Coming from the playboy of the group.” Daichi teased as Suga grabbed an empty bottle of popcorn kernels and spun it.
“I’m experiencing déjà vu… this happened the same way last time.” Asahi shivered. The top of the bottle landed on Oikawa and Suga laughed, getting up to grab his hand.
“Don’t rough him up too much, Suga.” Iwaizumi called out before the closet door closed.
“So this is what goes on at Yaku’s place?” Ennoshita asked Yamamoto who nodded.
“Yeah…”
“Seems like fun.”
“You all better not ruin anything in my coat closet, or you’ll have a price to pay.” Yaku complained, moving one bowl of popcorn aside and pouring more kernels into the machine.
“Relax, some harmless smooches won’t cause any damage to your winter apparel.”
“Yeah, Yakkun, it’ll be okay.” Kai smiled.
“Oh?! He can use Yakkun without getting chewed out, but I can’t?!” Kuroo protested.
“Kai’s cute when he says it, you’re just being a nuisance when you use it.”
“That’s blatant favoritism and I’m calling you out on it.”
“Daichi, I’m sorry that you’re stuck with him as your boyfriend.”
“What?! He loves me, right Dai?”
“Seven minutes is up.” Daichi announced, ignoring both Yaku and Kuroo.
“Daichi!” Kuroo scolded. Suga and Oikawa exited the closet, both laughing into their palms.
“Who’s next?”
“Me! I’ll go!” Yahaba volunteered, spinning the bottle and watching it land on Ennoshita, “Oh…come on then Chika.” Yahaba grabbed a hold of Ennoshita’s hand, pulling him towards the closet, ignoring the grimace on Kyoutani’s face and the pout on Yamamoto’s.
“How cute! A sulking cat, and a mad dog.” Oikawa teased, “See what I did there… mad dog, since his nickname is mad-”
“We get it.” Kyoutani growled out, making Oikawa shut up.
Inside the closet, Ennoshita was asking Yahaba for advice. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to get him in the here and you two can talk about it!” Yahaba pointed out.
“I guess you’re right. He probably won’t have enough courage to do something about it unless its initiated.”
“Do you even have enough courage to initiate it?”
“No…”
“Why not? What are you afraid of? From my understanding, you two got along really well…if all the stories you told me back in high school are anything to go by.”
“Its one thing to get along with someone as friends, what if we don’t click the same way as boyfriends?”
“He’ll still be your friend. Look, Chikara, I had similar doubts before dating Ken, and you know how long I pathetically pined. I’m sure Sawamura-san, Oikawa-san, and Akaashi had similar doubts too…but they all still went for it, and look how happy they are. You should see the way Yamamoto looks at you! If any relationship would work out, it’d be your relationship with him.”
“Thanks, Shigeru.”
“No problem!” There was a knock on the door and Kyoutani’s muffled ‘time’s up!’. The two ex-captains shared a quick hug before exiting the closet, Yahaba going over to ruffle his boyfriend’s hair as Ennoshita took his seat next to Yamamoto.
“How was it?” Yamamoto asked politely.
“It was fine. How was it out here?”
“We had to listen to one of Oikawa’s alien theories.”
“I’m kind of glad I missed that.”
“Yeah, lucky you.”
After Yahaba, Asahi volunteered to get his turn over with. The bottle ended up on Bokuto, who laughed wildly. “Come on Jesus!”
“Bokuto! Don’t hurt him! He’s fragile!” Suga called out once the door was closed.
“Don’t listen to Suga, do whatever you want! He won’t break!” Daichi called out after, making a few of the younger kids laugh.
Asahi came back unharmed, but his eyes were a bit wide and his hair a little messy. “What happened?” Suga asked eagerly.
“Nothing.”
“I just played with his hair, and we exchanged hair care secrets.” Bokuto hooted, taking his seat next to Kuroo again. “I now know the secret to long beautiful hair.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking about growing yours out…” Kuroo groaned.
“I am! Asahi really rocks the man-bun, and I want to give it a try!”
“Akaashi, please stop him.”
“I don’t think I can.”
When it was Daichi’s turn to spin, Kuroo watched the bottle intently, his mouth dropping when it landed on Iwaizumi. “If so much as a hair is out of place by time’s up, I will not hesitate to throttle you, Iwa-chan.”
“I’d like to see you even try.” Iwaizumi laughed, heading to the closet with Daichi.
“It looks like your plan backfired on you, Tet-chan.”
“Shut up, Shittykawa. My plan is going just fine, this is a minor setback.”
“Hey! That insulting name is reserved for Iwa-chan, and Iwa-chan only!”
“Why are you even sulking? They’re not going to do anything.” Yaku pointed out, throwing un-popped kernels at Kuroo to see if they’d get lost in his hair.
“I’m not sulking!”
“Don’t you trust, Sawamura?”
“Of course I do but I was supposed to be the one in the closet with him.”
“In the-”
“Shut up, Oikawa!”
“Rude.”
“Alright, time’s up! Out of the closet now!” Kuroo shouted.
Daichi and Iwaizumi exited the closet, both with ruffled clothing. Kuroo pulled Daichi close to him, checking him over. “Why are you so ruffled?”
“We were wrestling.”
“Wrestling!? Everyone knows that’s code for something else!” Oikawa accused.
“No… we were arm wrestling. We had to lie down to get a good balance for surface to wrestle on.” Iwaizumi explained. “I won, as usual.”
“Only because time was up, and I was caught off guard!”
“Whatever, who should go next?”
“Yamamoto… your turn.”
Yamamoto felt like he was sweating buckets as he reached over to spin the bottle. He watched it spin and spin slowing down eventually. Kuroo suddenly pushed Bokuto, causing him to tumble forward and hit the bottle. The bottle began to spin out of control once again, knocking against Ennoshita until it stopped. “Looks like you landed on Ennoshita!” Kuroo called out. “I’m surprised that worked…” The comment earned a hit in the arm from Daichi as Yamamoto and Ennoshita got up and headed towards the coat closet. “Have fun!”
The two took a seat on the floor. Yamamoto pulling his knees into his chest. “So…”
“I had fun today…on the tour I mean.” Ennoshita began.
“That’s great! I had fun giving the tour.”
“I’ll need a tour of the campus too…do you mind being my guide?”
“S-sure…” Yamamoto agreed, hiding his head into his arms atop his knees. “You sure Akaashi won’t be better at it?”
“Probably... but I asked you.”
“Oh…”
“Tora… are you okay?”
“I’m fine…it’s just…this is nice.”
“What?”
“Just sitting here with you… its nice…”
“Oh…” Ennoshita felt his cheeks warm.
“Ennoshita—”
“Call me Chikara.”
“C-Chikara…”
“I… I started working on my next blog post, and I want to do it on you and how you take care of the tigers.” Ennoshita began, “I need to more know though, you know? Have more content. So we should set up a time or something when we can just talk about stuff.”
“Like lunch? What about tomorrow?”
“It’s a date.”
“W-what kind of questions are you going to ask?”
“Why you like tigers, what your other interests are…stuff like that.”
“I like tigers because I always have liked them… they’re my spirit animal. I even died my hair to kind of resemble one. My other interests are volleyball obviously, gardening, and you.”
“What?”
“I didn’t mean to say that last part out loud!”
“It’s fine… I’m interested in you too.”
“Really? But… I’m me…”
“And I like that. I like you.” Once the words left Ennoshita’s mouth, he couldn’t help but cover his face with his hands. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Yamamoto’s hands came up, removing Ennoshita’s from his face. Ennoshita watched carefully as Yamamoto leaned a bit closer, their foreheads resting against each other.
“Uh…hi…” Yamamoto let out after a few seconds of silence.
“Hi…”
“This is kind of awkward.”
“Yeah…”
“I was going to kiss you, but I chickened out… I’m not very good at this.”
“Thanks for being honest.”
“No problem…”
“I’m going to kiss you now…”
“Okay.” Yamamoto closed his eyes, waiting… his heart just about to leap out of his chest.
He could feel Ennoshita’s lips closing in, warmth radiating from them, before the door opened, “Sorry love birds, time is up… and I finally landed on Daichi.” Kuroo interrupted.
“You have such great timing…Kuroo-san.” Yamamoto complained.
“Hey, we gave you eight minutes instead of seven!” Ennoshita chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before getting up and leaving the closet. Kuroo smirked down at his kohai.
“Was that your first kiss, Tiger Prince?”
“Kuroo-san, please!”
“But Tora…that was so cute! You’re all grown up!”