Chapter Text
Tsukishima and Kuroo seemed to know each other very well, just from looking at the familiarity of their actions. It made the divide of their worlds much more apparent. Tobio knew nothing much of Tsukishima, and the same can be said to Tsukishima of him. Tobio felt a pain in his chest, as if his heart was wet laundry being wringed off excess water. Maybe he really did just play into Tsukishima’s game. How is he to get out?
Kuroo slung his arm around Tsukishima’s shoulder a little after Tsukishima greeted Tobio, to which Tsukishima wriggled out off with practiced ease and a disgusted face Kuroo had laughed at. “I didn’t know you and Tsukki here were acquainted, Tobio-kun.” The brunet said as Tsukishima washed his shoulders like Kuroo had left bacteria on his skin. “He’s never mentioned you.”
Ah. Well, of course. Tobio was a secret. A person Tsukishima thought to have been fun to toy around with. A person not worthy to even be spoken of.
“I do not see why he would.” Tobio said in a clipped tone, forced smile on his face. He can feel Tsukishima’s gaze drilling a hole into him but the hurt in his heart has started spreading, looking for a way out, and his mouth had been the first vessel to try and rid of it, “I am nothing special to him.”
“Well, I’m not saying you have to be super special, but I’m sure you’re at least friends? Tsukki doesn’t have many of those, other than Yamaguchi. I’d say me, but he’d deny that. So I thought—”
“I have met Yamaguchi-san.” Tobio bristled a little at the nickname. Do all of Tsukishima’s friends call him that? Who was Kuroo to him? Why do they seem so close? Who are his other friends, if he had more? “Tsukishima-san and I know of each other because I manage an okiya. Nothing more.”
He can feel the heat of Tsukishima’s stare on his cheek, but Tobio doesn’t turn his head— doesn’t have the courage to look at Tsukishima in fear he might see how far gone Tobio really is.
“Oh!” Kuroo’s eyes light up in recognition, “Geishas, yes? I was at one gathering just a few days ago. With Tsukki! My first time actually to be hosted by geisha. Can’t say the same about Tsukishima here, though. Ever since he’s come home, he’s always been in teahouses.” Kuroo grinned, “He seems to really like the geishas.”
“Oh, I believe so.” Tobio said, casting a glance at Tsukishima, remembering the scene from the ochaya again. “Why, Tsukishima-san. You have been silent this whole time.”
“He’s a shy one.” Kuroo said in a whisper, but was loud enough to be heard by all three of them there. Tsukishima clicked his tongue and splashed Kuroo with a bit of water.
“Stop speaking for me. Stop talking. You’re pissing me off.”
“Lieutenant!” Kuroo gasped dramatically, a hand to his heart as if offended, “If I didn’t talk then who would? You didn’t seem to want to speak, and it would be such in poor taste to let Tobio sit here without a decent conversation.”
“Then leave so I can talk to him. You think I can with you speaking over me?” Tsukishima sniped, a glare sent Kuroo’s way. Kuroo raised an eyebrow at the hostility, but was overall unfazed, dismissing him with a flick of his hand.
“I was talking to Tobio-kun first, you know. We we’re talking about playing—”
“Kuro.” Kenma had been so quiet Tobio did not notice him coming up to them. The water did not even seem to ripple, and the fog was almost undisturbed. What was more surprising was that Hinata was just as quiet next to him, grin alight like suns. Kenma gave everyone a small nod of acknowledgement. Kuroo immediately turned to him and ruffled his hair. “Want to go to the sauna with us?”
“I’d love to!” Kuroo grinned, looking back at Tsukishima and Tobio, “How about you two?”
“Let Kageyama soak in here! His body needs it. Don’t you dare cut your vacation short, Yamayama-kun. I know you won’t be out of the okiya in the next ten years again.” Hinata said with a huff, already getting up from the bath. “Jerk— Tsukishima-san, you should come with us.”
“I think…” He glanced at Tobio, making his way over next to him, “I will stay and keep Kageyama company. We’ll head to the sauna as well later. I think it would be full now if we go, with all the other customers there, and all.”
Kenma nodded, looking around and seeing the bath almost empty save for a few loitering bodies on the far end. “The sauna is a hit since it is new. Tsukishima-kun might be right. We can’t all fit there.”
Hinata was pushing at Kenma’s back now, eyes searching Tobio’s as if asking if he would be alright alone with him. Tobio gave him the slightest of nods and that was all it took for Hinata to leave the subject alone. “Then what are we waiting for? Kuroo-san, let’s go!”
Kuroo leaves with a small salute at Tsukishima, then a smile and ‘We’ll continue next time’ for Tobio, to which Tobio swore he heard Tsukishima mumble a ‘There won’t be any next times for you’. He nodded and bowed at Kuroo’s departure and just as how the fog was thick, so was the tension now that him and Tsukishima were alone.
Silence wrapped around them both. Tsukishima was next to him, almost touching shoulders, but Tobio felt the gap between them, like a piece of paper torn in half and then put side by side. Tobio swallowed and adjusted the towel on his head, already thinking of running after Hinata and the others.
“You and Kuroo seem to know each other.” Tsukishima finally spoke, taking Kuroo’s spot in front of Tobio. “Are you two friends?”
Tobio looked at him and was greeted with a blank look. “Not at all. I have only met him here today.”
“Oh?” was Tsukishima’s response, dripping with something Tobio cannot place. It was palpable, like if he licked at the air he would know. “You two seemed really familiar with each other.” Tsukishima started walking towards him then, and Tobio can only describe him as cold in that moment, “Was I interrupting? Maybe I should have left you two alone instead. That handsy bastard would have probably had you on your knees right now. That seemed to be your goal right? Baiting him in by keeping yourself pressed to the wall like this.” Tsukishima slammed both his arms on either side of Tobio’s body, hand curled around the bath edge, looking down at him even if they were almost the same height.
Tobio couldn’t fight the blush that spread across his face, opening his mouth to redeem himself but was too focused on their proximity, “I was not—”
It seemed the blond was not done, “Kuroo-san was right. I’ve never talked to him about you, and I had no plans to talk to anyone about you at all.”
Tobio stared at him, unblinking. That stung. He thinks about how a geisha feels when they fall for patrons, about the numerous accounts of hearts turned to stone to avoid conflict, to avoid banishment. He thinks about the times Kiyoko had showed the slightest interest in the Baron, Tanaka-san. Just as how geisha do not sell their bodies, they also do not get the luxury to love. He thinks about Saeko who had been lucky enough to marry someone who loved her just as much as she did them, and although that meant retiring as a geisha, what a life she must be living now knowing that she had done it out of love.
“I don’t talk to others about you, not because you aren’t special, but because they could take you from me. I can’t stand that.”
That voice brought him back, and it was only then he realized he had been staring at Tsukishima’s face in a daze. “Tsukishima, what—”
“Kageyama.” Tsukishima’s eyes were so golden, so clear, “Can’t you see? I want you to myself.”
“You have me.” Kageyama said without hesitation, raising a hand to Tsukishima’s shoulder, squeezing, reassuring, like it wasn’t him doubting Tsukishima’s affections, “I thought I have made my intentions clear when we kissed.”
“Then, with Kuroo…” Tsukishima pointed lamely at the direction to where the sauna was, and then at Tobio, “…No?”
Kageyama squeezes his shoulder again, the hurt that was burning his insides now gone and setting him aflame with some other emotion he cannot place.
“Well…” Kageyama had thought Kuroo and Tsukishima shared the same eye color, but now, actually looking back at the blond’s golden eyes, he thinks nothing will compare. Kuroo’s grin was now more sly than pretty, next to Tsukishima’s smile. “Hinata tried to set us up as means to... make me forget about you.”
“He knows of me?”
“I have talked about you to him, yes. He does not like you very much.”
“And why is that?”
“He thinks…” Tobio drummed his fingers against Tsukishima’s skin, “You would just come and go, like any other patron.”
“Patron? But I’m not asking for your service.” Tsukishima craned his head and kissed the hand on his shoulder, which Tobio pulled away as if scorched by Tsukishima’s lips, “I’m asking for you.”
Kageyama stared at him blankly. Is he willing to once again play into this cat and mouse chase? Maybe they were not supposed to be anything more than a fleeting romance, were nothing more but kisses exchanged in secret and touches only imagined and yearned- never gotten. Maybe they should not cross any more lines, unless they want to anger Fate.
“Kageyama, I’m serious about you.” Tsukishima crossed his arms across his chest, “What you saw at the teahouse that time, well— I can’t deny what you saw—but it was nothing more than us being playful.”
“Then why aren’t you that playful with me?” It tumbled out before Kageyama could stop it, so did the blush of embarrassment spreading across his face. Tsukishima’s laugh rang in his ears, fueling his humiliation.
“I don’t want to be just playful with you, is why. Must I repeat myself?” Tsukishima flashed him a smile, teasing but also soft, “I am serious about you.”
A splash of water had them turning their heads to the source. They were so enwrapped in each other’s presence that they did not realize the bath starting to fill with bodies again.
“Do you want to head to the sauna?” Tuskishima asked, unfolding the towel on his head and draping it around his neck instead.
“Actually, I—” Tobio fiddled with his fingers, felt how they’ve shriveled up just a bit for staying in the water, “I think we should be heading home.”
Tsukishima lifted himself up from the bath, standing in all his naked glory, “’We’?”
“Hinata and I.”
“Oh.” He turned to Tobio, then looked away before the brunet was fully out, “You two live together?”
“Mhm.” Tobio unfolded the towel on his head and covered his privates as they headed back to the changing room. “In the okiya.” He added, to clarify.
Tsukishima hummed but said nothing else, eyes forward and never straying. Tobio did the same, but was more than tempted to roam his eyes over skin now that the fog was getting thinner. Their shoulders touched once they were at the entrance of the room, and they both flinched away from each other like magnets of the same pole.
“Sorry!” Tobio blurted, turning away from Tsukishima and using the time to wipe himself off, heading inside and going straight to his locker to get dressed after. He felt absolutely embarrassed acting like a damn maiden. They were men! This was normal in a bathing house. What has gotten into him, acting shy for showing skin?
Tsukishima entered right after him, movements stiff as he headed to his locker. “Kageyama, I— you’re very distracting.”
“I’m dressing as fast as I can!” Tobio sputtered, tying the koshihimo with skilled fingers. He has tied one too many obis and sashes and so this was second nature, but he is not one to deny the mild panic building in his veins with each second passing. He turned to Tsukishima then, after making sure he is set to go, smoothing out his yukata, to find the blond still topless, trousers hanging haphazardly low on his hips since the zipper was only halfway up, probably in his hurry to get into a shirt that he was rummaging for in his locker. Tobio’s neck hurt at the speed he looked away. “I’ll wait outside!”
Tsukishima pushed the noren away from his face as he exited the establishment, Tobio waiting patiently for him. He smiled and put on his baker boy hat to stop the wind from messing up his hair, “Are you going to wait for, uh… Hinata, was it?”
“Yes, Hinata.” Tobio shook his head, dusting his yukata where it met the wall he was leaning against, “I told the lady by the booth to tell him I went ahead.” He cleared his throat, eyes locking onto the blond’s, “And you? Were you with anyone when you came here?”
“Kuroo. And some of the members of our army base.” Tsukishima told him, “They’re big boys. I don’t think I have to say goodbye.” He chuckled, starting to walk, the gravel crunching under his shoes each step. Tobio followed behind him, matching his companion’s speed.
“Sorry. About…” Tsukishima chuckled slightly, “In the changing room. I swear I’m not some virgin who has never seen a naked man before.” His steps faltered slightly, effectively making Tobio stop as well, “If I made it awkward for you…”
“You did not.” Tobio has seen his fair share of naked men, in onsen and sento alike, but never in any other aspect. Unlike Tsukishima, he was untouched. He decided not to dwell on the fact Tsukishima admitted to being the opposite. “It’s not like I was not in a hurry to cover up as well.” he continued walking ahead, knowing Tsukishima would fall into step.
“Thank God you were.” Tsukishima said with a laugh in his tone, a light flush at the top of his cheeks, “I was— I was fighting really hard not to get my hands on you. That's why I acted... like that.”
Tobio will admit, as he committed the image of this flustered Tsukishima into memory, that the swell in his heart at the thought of being wanted just as much as he yearns for the man beside him felt like a paper lantern filled with hot air; any second now and he will start to drift afloat.
“I want to see you, all of you, but not in that kind of scenario. I don’t want this to be just physical, Kageyama.” There was heavy conviction in his words, like he wanted to get the message across so badly that this was serious, “I’m not after you for that. I want to get to know you, and be with you, if you let me.”
Is Tobio floating yet? He has to be, because he does not feel the ground underneath his feet, nor the effects of gravity on his body.
“You are… quite bold, aren’t you, Tsukishima-san?” Kageyama lets himself smile. Walking side by side like they were, it was almost like they have known each other for years; Comfortable, relaxed. He nudged at the taller’s shoulder as he adds, “Or should I say lieutenant?”
“Ah, Kuroo, the bastard.” Tsukishima chuckled, maneuvering Tobio away from the busy side of the streets and ushering them both closer to the sides, “Well, it’s not like I’m hiding it.”
“Are you a first?”
“Second lieutenant. Yamaguchi is first.”
“Yamaguchi-san was also in the sento?”
“He was. Along with our major and our privates. They were in the sauna most likely, which is why you never got to see them.” Tsukishima said, “I will introduce you to them, sometime.”
Tobio almost tripped on his own feet. Did he hear that correctly? “You want me to meet your friends?”
“I wouldn’t call them friends,” Tsukishima said with an eye roll, and Tobio is reminded of Kuroo saying how the blond would deny any claims of friendship, “But, yes. Of course.” He stopped walking, facing the brunet, “The only reason I didn’t want to talk about you to any of them is that I feared they would get to you first. Do you know how much dread I felt when I saw you and Kuroo talking? I’m not one to be jealous but…”
“I know.” Tobio said, “I know how that feels. The dread. When I saw you at the ochaya, I think I… felt exactly that.”
“Kageyama, I promise you, it is only you I have my eyes on.” Tsukishima tilted his head, wearing a bemused expression as his eyes scanned Tobio’s face, “Is it only me, for you?”
It was then Tobio realized he has not said so, has not said just how much Tsukishima had plagued his mind the moment their eyes met, has not said that it’s Tsukishima he thinks of when he wakes and who he carries thoughts of to bed in hopes it would bring about dreams of the blond, has not said it was Tsukishima's face he sees next to him when he thinks about the future ahead.
Tobio took Tsukishima’s hand, much to the taller’s confusion and shock, and pulled him into the mess that is the narrow spaces between buildings and houses. Tobio knew this area enough to know where shortcuts were, where people do not pass, where they could be alone. Finding a good spot, Tobio pressed himself back against one wall, pulling Tsukishima in with a fist around the front of his vest, head tilted up to meet Tsukishima’s mouth for a searing kiss.
Tsukishima responded in kind, cupping Tobio’s face with one hand, and pressing him back further against the wall by the hip with the other. The hunger was palpable, in the kiss, in the way Tobio’s body moved against his. It did not take long for their tongues to find each other, small noises coming up from Tobio’s throat as Tsukishima pressed a leg in between his thighs.
“Tsukishima…” His fingers dug into the fabric of Tsukishima’s dress shirt, “Tsukishima.”
“I know. God. I know. But not here.” Tsukishima bit gently at Tobio’s bottom lip, “Guess that answers my question.” He pulled away from their kiss, their faces still close.
“Mm.” Tobio looked at Tsukishima’s lips, dazed, “Just you for me.”
“Like it’s just you for me, too.” Tsukishima smiled, kissing Kageyama’s cheek, finally pulling away completely. The last few rays of sunlight danced over their bodies as the sun sets, and in that moment Tsukishima does not know what else can compare to the perfection that is Kageyama Tobio, “I want to take you home with me.”
Tobio chuckled, “Bold, as always, Tsukishima-san.” He stood up straighter as Tsukishima adjusted his cap back in place, “Maybe some other time. For now, I have to get home to my okiya.”
Tsukishima stepped aside and let Tobio lead them back to the main street, his fingers intertwined with the blond’s. They let go of each other once they’re in plain sight, each with a knowing smile on their lips. They walked to the bridge where the rickshaws were, talking about anything and everything in that small window of time they had before they go their separate ways once again.
“Kageyama.” They stop at the foot of the bridge, just as the lampposts start to alight, “Would it be too much to ask for another day like this?”
“Like?”
“A day for us alone.” Tsukishima said, “I am absolutely tired of chance encounters. I want to know you more without having to think about our time being cut short by someone or another.”
“You mean you want… a date?”
“Why, yes.” Tsukishima chuckled, pocketing his hands to hide the fact he was nervous, “I want to show you what you’re missing out on, being cooped in that okiya.”
Tobio snorted, punching him lightly on the chest, “I do not think I’m missing much.” He said, but he caved at the thought of a whole day with the person his heart beat rapidly for, “Same day, next week? I am only free on weekends, you see.”
“Can I have both days?” They start walking again, heading towards the rickshaw-puller waving to catch their attention.
“Don’t push it.” Tobio smiled, feeling undeniably comfortable with this person who was, honestly, still mostly an enigma. Tobio thinks that will change from now on. “Sunday.”
“Sunday.” Tsukishima repeated, as if to seal the deal, standing by the side as Tobio boarded the rickshaw, “I’ll see you then.”
The rickshaw moved south after they say their goodbyes, and Tobio looked ahead, looked forward to next Sunday, to their start.
The start of all their Sundays together.
