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Tsukishima slowly fluttered his eyes open, awakened by the feeling of water dribbling down the nape of his neck to his bare back. The sounds of his annoyed and tired groans were muffled in his pillow.
He sat himself up, squinting his eyes, focusing them on the high ceiling in his room. "Is it raining in July?? Has the summer rain come already??" He couldn't tell through his blurry vision, but was too exhausted to reach for his glasses. After moments of silence, he quickly convinced himself that he was just imagining the water running down his back. Tsukishima let his body slump back onto the comfy mattress, under the serene feeling of his white bed sheets.
"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!!" Tsukishima grumbled as he was roused from his sleep by the faint sounds of a puppy whimpering. He rubbed the temples of his forehead before looking around with narrow and sharp eyes. The only sounds that filled his ears were the whistles of the cool midnight breeze. Just as he was about to plop back to bed, Tsukishima felt a sudden and tight squeeze at his waist, and the heavy feeling of a body pushing against him.
Tsukishima sighed. Yamaguchi was having trouble sleeping.
He turned over to catch a glimpse of his restless sweetheart, who came over to spend the night at his house. Just several minutes before they tucked themselves in together under the safety of Tsukishima's sheets, They both were awake with the crickets who chirped every night outside his house, and they were up all night watching cheesy romance doramas that Tsukishima couldn't stand but Yamaguchi adored, and kissing at every romantic scene.
"Look Tsukki~ She's my favorite in this drama!!"
"Really. Well, I hate the character with dark colored hair."
"Tsukki, all of them have dark hair."
"Exactly. They all suck. Turn this stuff off."
"Never~" Yamaguchi teased Tsukishima by booping his nose and giving it a kiss.
Tsukishima didn't expect to be peering over Yamaguchi, who seemed so happy just a few minutes back, now stirring in his sleep anxiously. Tears trailed down from his long and luscious lashes, staining the bed sheets. Tsukishima gently stroked Yamaguchi's cheeks, which were sticky from his crying and patted them to wake him up.
"Yamaguchi." He tried again. "Honey pie." "Baby." "Darling."
The attempts failed. He still rustled in his sleep, Yamaguchi's heartbeat started to fall unsteady and rapid.
Tsukishima's heart raced, worried that Yamaguchi would get an anxiety attack in his sleep. Desperately, he grabbed at his shoulders and shook him awake.
Yamaguchi immediately jolted up, and fell weak into Tsukki's arms, crying even harder.
Unsure of what to do in this shaky and insecure moment, all Tsukishima felt like he could do was to run his fingers along Yamaguchi's emerald green locks of hair and give him an angel's kiss on the forehead while he sobbed.
"Yamaguchi?"
He whimpered softly, sounding like a panicky puppy in response. Tsukishima cupped his face in his hands and wiped away the fresh tears that were beading up in his eyes.
"Let's go." Tsukishima whispered softly. He stood up off of the bed and grabbed a baby blue blanket that was laying lazily on the mattress, and rolled it up under his arms. He motioned for Yamaguchi to come closer. Yamaguchi looked at him with confused and tear stricken eyes. He made his way over cautiously and hesitantly. When Yamaguchi was close enough, he lifted him up and onto his back with a steady hand. Yamaguchi wrapped his arms around his Tsukishima's broad shoulders and his legs around Tsukishima's hips.
"Where are we g-going Tsukki?" His voice was quiet and shaky.
Tsukishima looked back at a nervous Yamaguchi. He buried his head into the comfort of Tsukishima's warm, pale skin. He gave him a calm and reassuring smile before speaking.
"Where else would we going on a night where all the stars are awake?"
As if his smooth words were a spell, Yamaguchi's head immediately perked up, a smile wide on his face that was brighter than any star in the sky. "Oh Tsukki~!!" He sighed dreamily, putting his head back down.
The sounds of the crickets chirping into the night and Yamaguchi's soft and slow breathing in his ears made his sensitive ears redden while he walked. He made his way through winding paths of trees with cherry blossom petals that tickled his nose while they flew in the cool mid-summer breeze. He always thought the trip to their secret hideout was almost as relaxing as watching the stars when they got there, because whenever Tsukishima walked through the area, he always remembered old and sweet memories. Each time they both went to their private star watching place, he'd have more things to reminisce about since the two always made more memories every time. He saw the only plum blossom tree in forest, where Yamaguchi and him shared their first kiss under it. He remembered that Yamaguchi kissed him first, or at least tried to. Before Yamaguchi could plant his lips onto his mouth, he hit his forehead against Tsukishima's glasses. He tried his hardest to conceal his giggles and took off his glasses, giving him a kiss back. Just thinking about that memory still made Tsukishima laugh.
He looked back at Yamaguchi, who still clung on to him like a child would with a teddy bear, just to make sure he was alright.
"Tsukki, what's so funny?" Yamaguchi smiled.
"Hmm... nothing." He turned his head away from Yamaguchi's confused and pouty gaze to the view of the trees in front of him, bouncing Yamaguchi lightly like a baby on his back.
Each and every time Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked through the familiar path, aside from the falling of petals and leaves during seasons, the forest remained unchanged. The trees still kept the boy's secrets and memories safe, the crickets sang the same old song, and the nature always felt ethereal. They made the secluded area theirs, and only theirs.
The forest itself was peaceful and beautiful enough, but just a little walk more, using the direction of the stars in the sky only those two could understand, they'd finally arrive to see the real magic, the beauty in full bloom. An open-air field, where pretty plants and boys in love alike felt free. It was the only place where the air was pure and crisp, free of grey and gloomy crowds of people.
The long and tall grass waved hello to the boys every time, in tune to the breeze in the sky. Tsukishima crouched down to let Yamaguchi safely release his grasp and step on the grass. As soon as Yamaguchi was sprawled out on a soft bed of grass, Tsukishima kicked back on the grass, right next to his darling. He reached out for the huge and fluffy blanket he brought along on the stargazing trip, and wrapped it around the both of them with care, as if he was tying a bow on top of a gift. Now that they were snuggled together in the warm embrace of the blanket, they both let out a relieved sigh, happy to be in their most favourite place in the world.
The blades of grass around Yamaguchi gently tickled his nose. He ignored this fuzzy feeling and let out a heavier sigh.
"I... had a really bad dream."
"I could tell."
"I dreamt I was the worst team captain ever in the preliminary game against Nekoma!! I messed up every time I hit the ball and my serves totally sucked.. Every time I messed up I could hear people in the crowd booing me, and everyone in Nekoma were laughing at me, especially captain Lev.." Tears silently rolled down his face to his collarbones as he spoke.
"A-and... Kageyama, Hinata, and all the other boys got annoyed with me too. They yelled mean things at me, and even said that they regretted choosing me as captain. Some of them kicked at me and pushed me around the court... I got slapped in the face... and everyone on the other side of the court... on the benches.. Coach Ukai .. and Yachi too! They all pointed and sneered at me whenever something embarrassing happened to me..." He pulled some blades of grass from their roots and anxiously twirled them in his fingers.
"W-when the g-game was over... we obviously lost both sets to Nekoma.. we scored zero points. Everyone's morale and motivation was gone. Almost everyone in the team wanted to quit volleyball then and there. Nobody would even look me in the face, they were too ashamed to have such a terrible captain like me. Other teams walked by us and talked about me... t-they all whispered lots and lots of bad things among themselves like how gross and ugly I was to how I was horrible at serving." Yamaguchi's composure was slowly starting to deteriorate.
"Then, y-you pulled me aside. I-I... YOU DIDN'T LIKE ME ANYMORE!" He cried harder and struggled to speak between his sobs. "Y-you said that y-ou.. d-din't w-w-an't to d-date a b-bad captain and.. and t-that you were emb-b-b-barrassed to be seen with me... Y-you were so disappointed in m-me... You didn't look at me either... Y-you said d-dating me was a waste of your t-t-time!!"
Embarrassed, Yamaguchi covered his steamy face that overflowed his hot tears with the sleeve of his silk pajama top. Tsukishima tugged at the silk material and lowered his arm away from his face. He rolled himself over and brought his body slightly higher up so Yamaguchi's tear-filled eyes could meet with Tsukki's big and beautiful amber eyes, which were full of concern and worry for his darling.
"Do you seriously think that your dream could actually become real?" Tsukishima said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, maybe not all of it..." Yamaguchi averted his chocolate brown, almond shape eyes away from Tsukishima's in shame.
"I've never doubted your abilities, not even for a second. That's why I'm not worried about you. You're capable as a captain and I don't see that changing at the preliminary game against Nekoma later today."
Yamaguchi gazed back into Tsukishima's eyes, the emotion in his eyes calmed from an anxious, raging ocean to a serene sea just by hearing Tsukishima's soft whispers of words reassure him. His rosy lips curled into a smile. His smile spread wider when he shifted his attention to the pitch black sky, which was decorated with millions of twinkling stars, and a full moon watching over the boys in their safe, little space.
"No other place where I've ever seen the nighttime sky could ever beat this. Here, I feel like the moon and the stars are saying hello to me, and only me, like I'm special." Yamaguchi sighed, but this time with a blissful face. Yamaguchi's eyes suddenly widened, realizing he forgot something.
"Tsukki, did you bring the big book full of stars?" He asked with a worried tone in his voice. He sat himself up and looked around him, wondering where the "book" was. The "book" was a makeshift book, a thick and wide, pastel pink notebook plastered with glue-on glitter stars and Tsukishima's intricate sketches of constellations on the cover. Tsukishima surprised him with the book the second time they visited this starry hollow of theirs, which happened to be on Yamaguchi's birthday. He vividly remembered how red Tsukishima's cheeks turned when he showed Yamaguchi the notebook, stuttering about how he wanted to memorize all the constellations and star patterns he could so he could trace them on Yamaguchi's freckles. Ever since then, Tsukishima would bring the bulky book with him, and flip through all its pages, searching for constellations in the sky that could be drawn on Yamaguchi's face or body. It flattered him every time. Even thought the book seemed messy with its various sketches, inconsistent uses of different size and color writing tools, and some torn and wet pages, the thought and love Tsukishima put into the notebook was much stronger than the flimsy thread that held the book together. Yamaguchi was still amazed at how pages full of star doodles, tally marks, and hearts could make him feel like a huge galaxy, full of beauty and light.
Yamaguchi's heart sank when he saw no sight of the notebook that Tsukishima put his sweet effort and time in, the notebook that made Yamaguchi finally love his freckles after years of teasing and bullying.
"I don't need the book anymore, I know all the constellations in it by heart."
"WHAT?! NO WAY!!!! TSUKKI, THAT'S AMAZING!! YOU'RE SO SMART!!!" Yamaguchi's eyes immediately widened in shock. He jolted up, his body tingling with excitement. He shook Tsukki's shoulders excitedly, a radiant smile beaming on Yamaguchi's face. He couldn't believe how Tsukishima could tell him that so calmly, as if he were describing a boring day.
Tsukishima flashed a proud smirk, a small and light blush spread on his face. "Try me."
Thrilled, Yamaguchi bounced up and down in his seat on the soft grass, swaying Tsukishima's body along with his. "Woaahhh~ Hey Tsukki!!! Find my star sign for me on my cheeks!" Yamaguchi giggled, his eyes creasing into crescents and his button nose crinkling from a smile too big and happy for a face.
Tsukishima slowly lowered him down back onto the stalks of grass and brushed the long and silky locks of hair from Yamaguchi's blissful face. From above, he looked like an angel resting on a cloud while he was laying down in the grass that nestled him comfortably, almost hiding Yamaguchi.
He took one glimpse at the sky before turning back to Yamaguchi in an instant. "Scorpius..." He whispered smoothly and sweetly near his ears, Tsukishima's words sounded like honey being poured onto fluffy pancakes. Upon hearing the whispers, Yamaguchi's ears reddened and chills went down his spine, his breathing grew heavy.
"Found it." He smirked an even sweeter smile and took out a thin paintbrush and a tiny capsule of rose quartz colored paint, Yamaguchi's favorite color. He carefully dipped the paintbrush in the paint, and connected the dots on Yamaguchi's freckles to create the image of Scorpius across his cheeks with a steady hand and wispy brushing. Yamaguchi instinctively lifted up his hand to his mouth to try and conceal his giggles. He couldn't help but still feel ticklish and tingly whenever Tsukishima painted on his skin.
"Try not to laugh, I don't want to mess it up."
"I'll try! ..... HAHAHAHA!!" Yamaguchi immediately broke his promise and burst into a fit of giggles, his laughs sounding as sweet as sugar.
"H-Hey!" Yamaguchi's adorable laughs were contagious, and Tsukishima couldn't help but throw his head back and laugh a precious and innocent laugh, while holding his arms against his belly.
Tsukishima gazed upon the sky before looking back at his honey pie. Yamaguchi smiled back at him with chubby cheeks. "Can you find more on me?"
"On your body?" Tsukki leaned in closer to him, tugging at Yamaguchi's shirt collar with one hand and gently holding his cheek with another.
Yamaguchi shook his head excitedly. The paint on his cheeks looked as if it were glowing against the moonlight.
Carefully, Tsukishima unbuttoned Yamaguchi's silky pajamas starting from the button between the lacy scalloped shirt collar. He unbuttoned his shirt swiftly his long and slender fingers. Yamaguchi's blush grew redder and spread more on his face with each button coming undone. Tsukishima was so close to him he could hear his deep and soft breaths, and the fast beating of Yamaguchi's heart. Soon, his long shirt sleeved slipped off his bare, fawn-colored arms and onto the grass. Yamaguchi always found it a bit embarrassing to be as vulnerable as he was now, half-naked in front of darling. He let out a sheepish laugh.
"Ah... um... be gentle with me please."
Tsukishima smirked. "I know. " He lightly swirled the paintbrush into the dainty container of paint and held the brush over Yamaguchi's body, drops of paint already dripping onto his torso. Tsukishima took one long glance at the starry sky and began to connect the small freckles that were on his soft and slightly cherub-like tummy. His giggling grew even louder and his smile even bigger. He couldn't hide his smile by covering it with his arm this time.
Tsukishima grinned sweetly. "Haha... I know you're ticklish, but try to stay still, please?" He lifted Yamaguchi's chin with a simple touch of his finger and drew his head closer to Yamaguchi's, giving him a butterfly kiss full on his lips.
Yamaguchi nodded obediently, and relaxed his body that was tense from flinching.
When Tsukishima was finishing tracing a constellation on Yamaguchi's tummy, he steadied his body and pushed himself forward to paint on the area around his upper torso and collarbones.
"What did you paint on me Tsukki?" He asked with a curious and enthusiastic twinkle in his smile.
"I painted a constellation called Pegasus."
"Oh that's so cool Tsukki~ you're so smart."
"Not really, I'm just decent at memorizing. I'm not even sure if I got it right."
*slap* Yamaguchi playfully slapped at Tsukishima's rosy face, which had prominent dimples on each cheek.
"H-hey! What was that for?"
"Stupid Tsukki!! Don't put yourself down! You're very smart!!"
Tsukishima couldn't help but giggle. His pale face turned to messy shades of red and pink. "Haha... okay, okay."
He slid his fingers along Yamaguchi's collar bones and the curves of his shoulders gently. He tilted his head forward to look at the sky above him, then twirled the paintbrush between his fingers, smirking happily to himself. He painted a constellation that resembled a dolphin just below his collarbones, and made gentle paint strokes to draw a constellation called Cassiopeia that wrapped around his lower neck. He blew on the wet paint softly to let it dry faster. His warm breath on his neck tickled Yamaguchi.
'I love you." He whispered sweetly in his ears after calming down from his giggling fit.
"I love you too." Tsukishima replied, with the same sweetness in his calm voice. He leaned in closer to nibble at Yamaguchi's cheeks and give him lots of butterfly kisses when Yamaguchi stopped him. He grabbed at Tsukishima's cheeks, squishing them together with his hand.
"Huh?!!"
"Wait.. Tsukki!" His eyes grew wide and shiny, a surprised look on his face.
"You have little freckles on your cheeks too!"
"...Really." He put his palm on his face inquisitively.
" Yeah! The sun loves you so much, it gave you lots of little kisses on your cheeks! Your sun-kissed freckles are sooo cute~"
"I-I've never... noticed."
"Hmm.. they're kinda small, but if you look reeaallly closely..." His voice trailed off and grew quiet, and they soon found themselves kissing under the bright and pale moonlight. Yamaguchi took Tsukishima's glasses off his face and held them delicately in his hands, setting them aside gently. He stared lovingly into his round and glittering eyes, easily visible with his glasses out of the way. Both their bodies sunk low into the safe concealment of the long and tall grass stalks. They shared another intimate moment together, under the protection of the stars. Yamaguchi's light and bubbly kisses on Tsukishima's tiny freckles were stopped by his shivering.
"Tsukki?"
"It's fine.. I'm just cold.. don't stop." He breathed heavily.
"Oh Tsukki... didn't you bring a sweater?" Yamaguchi looked at up him, who simply rolled up and out of bed shirtless, only wearing his black uniform pants, which hung low below his waist and were unbuttoned and unzipped. He could see the elastic band from his underwear hugging the curves of Tsukishima's hips.
"No."
Yamaguchi sighed, shaking his head. "You don't take care of yourself enough Tsukki. Tsk tsk tsk~ Here. Take the blanket, you need it more than I do." Yamaguchi wrapped the fuzzy blanket around him, barely able to cover Tsukishima's broad shoulders and the fair amount of muscle on his arms. He wasn't considered one of the hottest boys on the team for nothing. Tsukishima pulled the blanket around him tighter and snuggled himself in its warmth. The blanket smelled like the both of them, vanilla and cinammon alike.
"Do you feel better?" Yamaguchi asked, with worry in his eyes.
"Mhm."
"I'm glad." Yamaguchi's face lightened up, and he started to feel a small spell of sleepiness come upon him. He nestled his head on Tsukishima's flat and toned tummy and embraced him, freckled arms around his thin waist.
"H-hey." His face was strawberry red with embarrassment. "My stomach isn't a pillow.."
Yamaguchi responded with a tighter squeeze. Tsukishima surrendered to the adorable boy with a heavy sigh and adjusted the blanket so it'd cover him too. They both gazed up at the huge galaxy of stars in a comfortable and peaceful silence. Neither of them wanted this intimate night together to end.
After a lull for what seemed like an eternity, Tsukishima opened his mouth to speak. "Do you feel better now?"
"Yes Tsukki! If you believe in me, then I'll always feel good."
"Are you still nervous for the game?"
"A little bit.. Lev is so tall he intimidates me... he's such a good captain..."
"He's a dork. Whenever he bumps into a chair or desk, he actually says sorry to it. What's so scary about that?"
"Hahaha! Tsukki, you're so mean!" He planted a light kiss on his belly, and curled up even closer to a blushing, red-faced Tsukishima.
A few moments later, Tsukishima started to hear light snores. He lowered his gaze and watched his sweetheart slowly snooze away. Yamaguchi's eyes started to flutter shut and his nose twitched a tiny bit. He patted his chubby cheeks softly. Yamaguchi felt the light pats on his cheeks, but he struggled to fight his sleepiness and keep his eyes open.
"If you want to sleep, we have to go back home, okay?" Tsukishima lazily ruffled Yamaguchi's long locks of hair that grew to be just right above his shoulders. He didn't notice that he was styling Yamaguchi's hair into a small, messy half-bun.
"N-no..." Yamaguchi mumbled, shaking his head. "I.. want to stay for just a little longer."
"Fine. Just a few minutes, okay?"
Yamaguchi replied with a sleepy nod, and slowly set his head back down on Tsukishima's belly. Yamaguchi instantly dozed off into a slumber with a short, yet sweet dream. This time, he had a dream that he helped Karasuno win the match against Nekoma. Cheers would erupt from the whole stadium, shouting his name will pride and joy. All his teammates would tackle him with hugs and hair rustling. However, the best part of his delightful dream was after everyone cleared the court, and only him and Tsukki were there. He would hold him by the waist, give Yamaguchi lots of bright and happy kisses, and tell him about how proud he was of him and how much he loved him. How he was in love with serves, his positivity, his smile, his freckles, in love with every little thing about Yamaguchi.
While he slept like an angel beside his lovely boyfriend, Yamaguchi didn't realize that his dream would become reality in just a matter of hours. He had no idea about the victory he'd bring Karasuno that day yet.