Chapter Text
Eyes flutter
Opening to the world
Closing to the darkness
Open. Close
The first thing Yamaguchi remembers is light.
His mother smiles down at the tiny baby in her arms, small and dark-haired, sweat causing her own dark hair to stick to her forehead as the midwife begins to pack up. The ordeal had been long and terribly painful but it seemed worth it as she stared lovingly at her little boy's preciously speckled face. She smiles up at her husband who had just come in.
"He has your freckles."
Yamaguchi's father beams as his wife hands him the little bundle that is their son. His hands brush against his son's chubby cheeks dusted with the dots he had on his own face. Wide brownish green eyes flutter open and Yamaguchi gurgles softly.
"He has your eyes."
His father stated staring fondly at his wife who leans back, weary from the recent birth. Her own eyes watch her husband cradle their son, one hand reaching out to pull at the sheet that covered the window to expose the bright day happening outside of the dim room. He watches as Yamaguchi's eyes grow impossibly wider, eyes looking even greener as light bathes his pale, freckled cheeks.
The first thing Yamaguchi remembers is the brightness of the light. How it lit up his father's smile and his mother's face whenever it came. How warm it was. But nothing could compare to the warmth of his heart as the light came shining through, illuminating his vision to see the people he loved.
**********
The first thing Tsukishima sees is darkness.
He was born on a moonless night thus his mother declared he was her moon.
Kei. Her little firefly, she would call him. Her light in that moonless night. Maybe it was the paleness of his hair or the honeyed shade of his eyes, but as far as he knew, this was how she was inspired to name him such.
Nevertheless, he had his own light.
Akiteru had only been a wide-eyed 6 year old when he was born but his parents swore that the brothers were attached to hip. Akiteru adored Kei.
Kei looked up to his older brother who was kind, good-natured and friendly, admired by everyone.
Life was good. The Tsukishima family was a reputable one, respected as one of the wealthier families in Amemaru. Akiteru had a promising future, easily getting a prominent position, employed by the Baron of Amemaru and gaining the status of Lord.
“Akiteru-nii is so cool.”
10-year-old Kei would say to himself as he watched his brother with wide eyes. Clad in the royal blue that showed his status in the Baron’s household, Akiteru looked very cool to him. As he walked with his brother around the small town, he observed how all the townspeople made an effort to greet them, obviously trying to gain favor. He watched how his father beamed with pride and his mother took every opportunity to talk about Akiteru.
One day. Kei told himself.
I’ll work as hard as Akiteru-nii and be as cool as him.
**********
Thump.
Tadashi was pushed to the ground by the bigger boys. He knew he was small for a 10-year-old, scrawny with his messy dark hair and face full of freckles.
“What’s that dirt on your face, huh? Oh wait, I forgot all those spots are permanent. Good luck making friends with a spotty face.”
Tears burned in Tadashi’s eyes but he promised Mama and Papa that he wouldn’t get into fights. His lips trembled as the bullies laughed at him mockingly.
“Look. He’s crying. How lame. Grow up, cry-baby. Or how about we beat the tears out of you?”
Tadashi had no chance to respond and was grabbed roughly by the collar, the bigger boy raising his fist. He struggled but the boy held him firm. Seeing no point, Tadashi shut his eyes tight and braced for the impact.
It never came.
Instead, he heard an indignant yelp and the hand holding his collar letting go, dropping his feet flat on the ground. Brownish-green eyes flutter open to see a boy impossibly smaller than himself with a bright orange head of hair and fiery golden eyes.
“Leave him alone!”
The boy yelled loudly to his bully who lay on the ground with fearful eyes, clutching to his head. His two other companions stood frozen, not quite sure what to make of what just happened. Before they could react, the orange haired boy grabbed Tadashi’s hand and started running. The freckled boy let himself follow the smaller boy who ran like he had wings on his feet. Soon, they reached a clearing, Tadashi puffing and panting in contrast to the orange haired boy who barely broke a sweat.
“Good, we lost them.”
The orange haired boy said, smiling brightly, almost blindingly at the dumbstruck freckled boy.
“My name is Hinata Shoyou! What’s yours?”
“Uh...Tadashi…Yamaguchi Tadashi..”
The freckled boy stuttered a bit overwhelmed by this bouncing ball of energy who thought it would make it better to grab his hand and start shaking it enthusiastically.
“Nice to meet you Tadashi! Or would you rather I call you Yamaguchi? Mama said that it’s okay to call people by their given names if they allow you so-“
“T-Tadashi is fine.”
Tadashi said stopping Hinata midway through his energetic tirade. He swore that this boy’s smile could outshine the sun by the way his whole face lit up as he bounced.
“You can call me Shoyou then! To make it fair for both of us, you know?”
Tadashi smiled at his new friend.
“Okay then, Shoyou.”
************
“Akiteru-nii! You’re back!”
The older Tsukishima looked at his younger brother who held such admiration in his eyes, smiling softly to hide his frustration.
The Tsukishima family had recently moved to the larger town of Karasuno, one of the towns located extremely near the capital, close proximity to the King’s castle. Kei and Akiteru’s father who happened to be a wealthy merchant moved the family in hopes of selling his goods to richer clientele. Upon their settlement in a smaller but fairly comfortable house a close distance from the market, Akiteru immediately sought out work in the King’s castle with the recommendations of the Amemaru Baron in hand.
“Did you get the job Akiteru-nii? Did the King see how cool you were?”
The 11-year-old asked his 17-year-old brother, eyes bright and hopeful and confident that his brother got the job.
He spoke animatedly to his brother saying that he hasn’t seen the King yet but he had a job and he’d have to go back to the castle tomorrow to find out. Satisfied, Kei went back to his room probably going to study so he could be as cool as Akiteru-nii in his words.
Misty brown eyes watched his brother run towards his room before pausing and looking back with the bright eager eyes that made his heart clench in guilt.
"Akiteru-nii will help me study tonight, right?"
"Right."
Akiteru responds covering himself up with a reassuring smile directed towards his brother. His brilliant little brother that would probably end up surpassing him in skill and repute
As soon as the door shut, Akiteru met his parents’ knowing eyes and smiled sadly.
His mother is quick to console him giving him the same reassuring smile that he gave Kei.
"Keep working and maybe they'll promote you to a higher position."
She says reaching up to squeeze his shoulder, the sleeve of her finely made dress brushing against the dust-covered material of his own shirt. His father says nothing, his own brown eyes crinkle behind the spectacles he and Kei both had due to less than perfect eyesight. He looked at the older man, silently asking for his thoughts on the matter.
"Keep in mind Akiteru."
His father said in a measured tone, the tone he used when talking to particularly finicky clientele.
"That you were a big fish in a small pond back in Amemaru."
His father pauses deliberately, hands reaching to ruffle blond hair as he offered his eldest son a smile that was not quite reassuring nor disappointing, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Karasuno is not a small pond."
*************
"You're free to go, Tadashi."
His father says, dismissing him after another long morning of teaching his son his craft and trade. His son showed promise in the trade of healing and medicine, being able to identify medicinal plants in a mere glance. He could very well take on his father's job as a herbalist and make a better living. His son had very sharp eyes and that was exactly how a herbalist made his living. One needed the best eyesight to identify the subtleties between each medicinal plant, how to examine how exactly a person felt in order to prescribe the correct draught or herb. For now, however, his son was still a child, still in his early teens, so he let Yamaguchi play a little.
He watched his son run off, fondness in his eyes. A resigned sigh left his lips as he took the weapons hidden under the floorboards of the shack, stuffed it into his healer's bag and headed for the town. A rebellion was upon the village.
14-year-old Yamaguchi threw on his cloak and went to the door.
"Mama! I'm off to visit Shoyou."
His mother smiled at him giving the usual reminders to be home before dark and greet Shoyou's mother if she happened to be there.
Yamaguchi as always reassured her he would do as she reminds him.
He took off towards the forest, eyes taking in the lush green carpet of grass under his feet, stopping occasionally to collect a few plants that he knew would be useful to his father. It was a beautiful afternoon and after a morning hunched over in a dark room blending herbs into draught after draught, his eyes devoured the blueness of the sky with white fluffy clouds scattered across it. As the trees became lesser and lesser, he emerges to the other side of town where Shoyou lived, his house a humble little cottage littered with vibrantly colored flowers.
"Dashi-nii!"
Shoyou's sister, little Natsu greeted him, her cheeks smudged with dirt as she tended to the flowers, her small hands carefully watering them. Her hair, the same bright orange as Shoyou's was fixed with a cord away from her face and she gave him the same bright as the sun smile Shoyou was bound to give. Shoyou's mother peeked out from the cottage window and smiled as well when she saw it was the sweet freckled boy who her son talked so highly of.
"Ah Tadashi-kun, Shoyou will be here shortly, he's finishing up with the letters today."
Shoyou was the apprentice of the village messenger, a bright cheerful face who went around carrying packages and letters delivering them to the designated receiver. Soon enough, Shoyou came running up the pathway calling out to Yamaguchi.
"Tadashi!!!"
Yamaguchi smiled at the shorter boy. Shoyou's energy was very effective and soon both boys went off to the woods. Yamaguchi pointing out each type of flower and plant, telling Hinata what medicine it could be used for and Hinata regaling him with tales of his daily messages.
"There's a lot of talk of an uprising in the village."
Hinata stated, a half-frown on his face as they ventured deeper into the woods.
"They're angry at the King for raising taxes and sending soldiers to rule over us."
The soldiers. They were everywhere these days. Yamaguchi saw them in the market hovering and sometimes bullying the merchants. He saw them harassing some of the village boys for carrying weapons. He saw them around the largest house in the village where the Lord of the village lived. People were angry at the King. He heard his parents talking off how high taxes were becoming and how people who needed treatment but had no means to pay would show up in the healer's huts.
"You don't think there will be an uprising."
Yamaguchi said softly. Hinata's face stayed serious.
"I don't know Tadashi. People are angry."
That night Yamaguchi came home to his frantic mother who quickly pulled him into their house and shut the door quickly, the lock his father had put a few months ago bolting shut. The look in her eyes was unsettling enough as she embraced him. The house was eerily quiet. Then Yamaguchi's blood froze as she answered the question lingering on his lips.
"Your father disappeared Tadashi. He went to join the uprising."