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Every mother tells their child the stories of soulmates. The tattoos they gain as they grow, what they symbolise, and all the classic wives’ tales that come along with them. The two different colours were ingrained in kids’ brains from an early age. Silver for a platonic soulmate and gold for a romantic one.

Yamaguchi wasn’t brought up any differently. He knew the tales of those who didn’t have tattoos, or those who only had one instead of the usual four. Unlike most kids his age, when he got his first mark at the age of 5 he didn’t seem too fazed by it. A simple hum in acknowledgement at the two interlinking gold bands that sat upon his right wrist above his pulse was enough.

His mother on the other hand, was ecstatic. She was overjoyed with the fact that his soulmate would be romantic, and she was also interested in the fact that the symbol was two wedding bands. It was common knowledge that the soulmate tattoos represent the time throughout a relationship in chronological order. The first being at age 5 and how the two would meet. This was almost always matching in every couple. The rest came every 5 years with some indication towards major events. For some it was the first date, for others a proposal. It varied between couples.

Before long he had gained his second sign. On the nape of his neck there was a small golden lightning bolt with black clouds around it. It wasn’t something that Yamaguchi noticed at first. He had looked all over his body on his tenth birthday, thinking that he was a case with only one tattoo. It wasn’t until he came downstairs to tell his mother the “awful news” that she pointed it out to him, instantly lifting his spirits.

With his age came a piqued interest in soulmates. By the time his 15th birthday came, he had gained new friends through high school. A small but fiery boy called Hinata had eagerly bounced up to him on the first day, seeing as neither of them new anyone else, and insisted that they become friends. The two of them stuck together from that day on despite how different they may seem. Yamaguchi was much quieter and reserved in comparison to his much brighter and louder counterpart. They had arranged a sleepover for Hinata’s 15th birthday so that they could stay up and watch for his next tattoo and were planning on doing the same for Yamaguchi’s.

At roughly 11:30pm, the boys finished their movie and prepared for next work to appear on Yamaguchi’s body. Since he wasn’t conscious for the previous two marks, he didn’t know what to expect. According to Hinata it was “So weird! It tingles a little like, fwaah! And there it is!”, but that wasn’t incredibly helpful.

The seconds and minutes ticked by agonisingly slow, each second feeling closer to a year. As the time finally neared midnight, Yamaguchi rolled up his sleeves and pyjama legs.

11:58……

11:59……

They stared at the clock until it struck twelve, both their eyes then snapping back to the taller boy’s body. He began to feel a faint sensation, almost like pins-and-needles, but he couldn’t pinpoint where he was feeling it.

The small tingle seemed to grow into an almost pleasant burning sensation and narrowed down into the middle of his chest. He took a deep breath before lifting up the front of his shirt, looking into Hinata’s eyes before at his chest.

Both of them seemed to have the exact same reaction. Silence, then just pure noise and happiness. Hopefully they hadn’t woke the neighbours. Right there on Yamaguchi’s sternum stood a gold and black shrine entrance no bigger than the palm of his hand. It was surreal how something so small and seemingly ambiguous at this point in time could cause so much joy in two 15 year-olds. After they’d calmed down from the excitement, they began to discuss what it could mean in his relationship. A first date perhaps? Or something bigger like a wedding? The only way to find out was to wait and see what the future held for him and whoever his soulmate was.

-

The rest of high school passed with no major mishaps. He and Hinata managed to get into the same university, Karasuno Sports College, with volleyball scholarships, meaning that their final tattoos would also be revealed with each other.

On their university team there was an odd mix of people to put it lightly. The captain was 3rd year Bokuto Koutarou, a loud, bright-eyed and almost owl-like man with spiked silver and black hair. The vice-captain was much different. 3rd year Sugawara Koushi was somewhat more reserved, but just as bright-eyed and loving as the captain. He also has silver hair, but it was much tamer and round in comparison. The two of them had already met their soulmates and had all four marks, both of whom were attending the same university under volleyball scholarships too. Sugawara had a small, gold volleyball net running down the side of his left thumb and hand, matching his counterpart, Sawamura Daichi (his team’s captain) who had his on his right.

Bokuto, on the other hand, had a platonic soulmate rather than romantic. A detailed, silver volleyball adorned the back of his right calf, matching Kuroo Tetsurou, Daichi’s friend and vice-captain at the university. The two couples had met at the summer inter-school training camp for Tokyo. According to the two of them, “You just know” when you’ve met your soulmate. There’s no flashing lights or big signs, but it’s instinctive and almost overwhelming.

The rest of their team were students from a variety of different schools and backgrounds. Nishinoya Yuu, a 2nd year fierce and bubbly libero who seemed attached to Hinata from the get-go. The Miya twins, Atsumu and Osamu, 2nd years with a knack for pretty much every position possible on the court. 3rd year Hanamaki Takahiro, a wing-spiker who seemed intent on corrupting all the new first years that came into the team. Aone Takanobu, an extremely quiet 2nd year middle blocker, seemed intimidating with his height at first, but after a quick introduction it was revealed that he’s actually just a huge softie. Terushima Yuuji, a hot-headed 2nd year, greeted all the newbies with a smirk, making his “bad boy” vibe even stronger. Until he was put in his place by Sugawara, of course.

The new first years that had joined alongside Yamaguchi and Hinata seemed just as nervous and excited as the two of them. Kindaichi Yuutarou, nicknamed “Turnip-Head” by Hanamaki, was a middle blocker, clearly more nervous than excited as he stuttered over his introduction. Inuoka Sou, also a middle blocker, seemed to take to Hinata and his positive energy instantly, the two of them bouncing up and down as if they’ve been best friends for years. Goshiki Tsutomu, who began his introduction by shouting that he wished to become the greatest wing-spiker the university has ever seen, earning a low whistle from Bokuto. And finally, there was Koganegawa Kanji. Yamaguchi had to stifle a laugh when he first saw the tall 1st year since all he could think of was the yellow Angry Bird from the game.

After general introductions, everyone decided to get a little more personal and show off their soulmate tattoos. Only the captain and vice-captain had met theirs, everyone else still waiting for the fateful day. Once Hinata got his turn he pulled down his collar to reveal an open book with the golden pages spilling out and down his collar bone. Something caught Bokuto’s attention as Hinata’s collarbone was presented to the group.

“Wait… My man, Kuroo, has a friend a year below us who I’m super sure has that exact same mark.” He explained. “Their name’s Kozume Kenma. About this tall,” He gestured vaguely around his shoulder height, “and has a really bad dye job that they somehow pull off. But yeah, I’m sure that theirs is matching that one.”

“Well we’ll find out soon enough. The next training camp for Tokyo is being hosted right here, and their school is definitely coming.” Sugawara said. Hinata was visibly shaking with excitement at the possibility of meeting his soulmate, hitting Yamaguchi’s arm repeatedly, causing it to go numb.

“C’mon Tadashi! Show everyone yours!” the small wing-spiker prompted. Yamaguchi twisted his wrist out to the group and showed them to two simple gold bands that intertwined over his pulse. Most of them cooed and sighed at how romantic his first mark seemed.

After finishing the show-and-tell session, the students returned to their dorms and crashed, ready for the full force of classes and seminars to start the next morning.

-

Two weeks later the Tokyo training camp took place. They were excused from lessons Friday to set up and the following week was golden week, so no lessons were to be held anyway. The schools that were coming over would be sharing rooms with the hosts. Yamaguchi and Hinata, being roommates already, couldn’t be happier that more volleyball fanatics would be staying with them. They’d already gotten futons ready in the living room so that they could have some privacy.

By 4o’clock all the universities had arrived and were greeting old friends and new rivals. Hinata was clutching Yamaguchi’s shirt, causing the taller to worry.

“Shouyou? Are you alright?” The small boy looked up at his friend, quivering with nerves. He shook his head gently and Yamaguchi attempted to pry Hinata’s hands off his shirt. “What’s up?”

“I’m scared to meet my soulmate…” He whispered. He looked down at the ground and mumbled something else, none of which the other heard.

“Speak up, Shou, I can’t hear you.”

“I said, what if they don’t like me or expected a girl rather than me?” Yamaguchi sighed softly and lifted Hinata’s face to look him in the eyes.

“You wouldn’t be their soulmate if you weren’t a perfect match for each other. Besides who doesn’t like you. You’re amazing!” Just as Yamaguchi finished his pep-talk, Sugawara came up to them and told them to greet the teams with everyone.

As they caught up with the rest of their team, Yamaguchi scanned the crowd for any possibilities of Hinata’s other half. Unfortunately, most players were at least his height or taller, so finding someone at shoulder height was near-impossible.

Karasuno bowed and greeted the visitors as a whole before dispersing to give tours of the school. Yamaguchi was paired with Sugawara, leading around his soulmates school, Nekoma University. Yamaguchi learned that Daichi was one of the best defensive players in the country (courtesy of Kuroo) to which he denied all knowledge.

Part way into the tour a shout from the back caught the leaders’ attention.

“Man down! Kenma’s lost.”

“I’ll go look for them.” Kuroo volunteered but Yamaguchi held him back.

“No, it’s fine! You might get lost too so I’ll find them,” he explained. Kuroo seemed content at that so let the first year look for their teammate.

That’s Hinata’s soulmate, He thought to himself. The only details he had to go on were “short” and “bad dye job”. Hopefully they shouldn’t be too hard to find, unless they’re very lost.

After a short walk retracing their steps, he saw a person with bleached blonde hair and long roots sat on a bench under a blossom tree. They were playing some video game on a hand-held device, clearly giving it their full attention. When Yamaguchi sat down next to them, no reaction was given. He waited until they had finished their attempt at clearing the level before clearing his throat.

The sudden noise frightened the person next to him, evident when they leapt about a foot in the air. They regained their breath and calmed down before looking up at Yamaguchi.

“Uh, hi. You’re Kozume Kenma, right?” The other gave a small nod in response. “Do you wanna catch back up with the group? Kuroo asked me to come fetch you when he noticed you missing.” Another nod. Yamaguchi stood and began to walk the way he came. “Alright then, Kozume, this way.”

“Kenma.” The small voice behind him made Yamaguchi turn around and look back at them.

“Hm?”

“Call me Kenma, I don’t like formalities.” They explained. Yamaguchi smiled back at them and turned back to lead the way.

“Okay then, Kenma.”

Once they’d caught up with the team again, Kuroo pulled the shorter into a head-lock and reprimanded him for making them worry. He also thanked Yamaguchi briefly but went straight back to ruffling Kenma’s hair.

The tour finished with no other problems and the teams met back at the starting point once again. The only team that hadn’t arrived yet was Hinata’s. He was paired with Hanamaki guiding Seijoh Imperial College. They came into view about 2 minutes later, coming over the hill past the tennis courts. Hanamaki was quite good friends with two of the other players in that team. Their captain and vice-captain were also soulmate, matching locker tattoos behind their ears. While those three seemed to be getting along, Hinata had found someone to bicker with and appeared to be getting angrier by the second as the taller black-haired boy also shouted and argued back.

Seijoh’s vice-captain, Iwaizumi, sensed the rising annoyance coming from the two first years and slapped the taller one on the back of his head. After what looked like a quick apology to his senior, the boy returned to glaring furiously at the back of Hinata’s head as they walked towards everyone.

Once everyone was back, Bokuto announced that all the guest schools would be heading to their main hall for a welcoming assembly, giving the hosts time to set up their rooms ready for the week.

Before Yamaguchi headed up with Hinata, Sugawara pulled him aside.

“Just a quick heads-up, Kozume Kenma is rooming with you two, don’t let Hinata make too much of a fool of himself.” Yamaguchi nodded in reply. “Oh, and you also have one of their first years, Shibayama Yuki. Have fun.” He winked and walked away back to the other captains.

Yamaguchi ran to catch up with Hinata and wandered over to the dorms with the rest of their team. They reached their room on the 5th floor and began setting up for the night. Sine the living room wasn’t huge, they had to move their couch and chair, pushing it up against the wall so they could fit the futons in the middle.

Unsure of how long the assembly would last, Hinata went into his bedroom to study for his classes. They wouldn’t have much more time that week to do so, and he’d rather not cram at the last minute. Yamaguchi went into their small open kitchen and started to prepare snacks for their guests. He put out selections of crisps and dips with a few healthier options like carrot sticks on their small coffee table.

About 10 minutes later, a small knock was heard on their door. Yamaguchi paused the movie he had just begun to watch and opened the door. He smiled warmly when he saw Kenma and their teammate, Shibayama. The first year must be a libero, or a special case like Hinata. He couldn’t have been over 160 centimetres, only coming up to Yamaguchi’s shoulder.

“Hey, I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi! Welcome to the dorms. Come in and make yourself at home.”

Kenma and Shibayama slowly entered and took in their home for the next week.

“Is it just you here or do you share with someone else?” The smaller asked quietly.

“I have a roommate, I think he’s studying but if you wanna go meet him, his room is the one on the left.” Yamaguchi pointed to the door covered in stickers next to their bathroom. The two shorter players ambled over to it and gently knocked. No reply was heard so Yamaguchi just opened the door for them.

Inside, Hinata was slumped over his desk, books open and sheets falling onto the floor. He heard a small gasp next to him and saw Kenma reach to touch his collar. In that moment Hinata woke up and rubbed at his eyes before stopping. He sat as still as a statue with a hand over his collarbone before turning his chair gradually to face the three intruders.

His eyes met Yamaguchi’s first before looking into Kenma’s. Both of their eyes got wider as they continued to look at each other. Shibayama shot Yamaguchi a quizzical look.

“We’ll give you two a little bit of privacy.” Yamaguchi said and led the small Nekoma boy out of the room, shutting the door gently as he did so. “Are they…?” Shibayama began.

“Soulmates? Yeah.”

His eyes seemed to light up at the confirmation. Yamaguchi smiled at his cuteness and went back to watching his movie. Shibayama began to unpack a few things and then joined him on the couch.

“What are you watching?”

“It’s ‘Kung Fu Yoga’.” He inwardly cringed as he said the name. It was a super cheesy film, but he was only watching it for his favourite idol, Zhang Yixing. Not that he’d ever admit that.

Shibayama gave a little hum and got comfy next to him. The two of them demolished the snacks almost instantly, making Yamaguchi stop staring at Yixing and travel to the kitchen.

After they finished the movie, Yamaguchi remembered that they left Kenma in Hinata’s room. He gingerly knocked on his door and waited for it to open. Hinata opened it slowly and put a finger to his lips when he saw Yamaguchi.

Kenma had fallen asleep on Hinata’s bed, curled up tightly with their hair spread across the pillow.

Hinata stepped outside and closed his door carefully.

“What happened?” Yamaguchi asked quietly.

“Well… At first, we didn’t do anything. Kenma just stood where you left him, looking at me and tucking hair behind their ear. Then I tried to start a conversation, but it didn’t go so well. I was still in shock so I just stuttered a bit and gave up after about two words. But then Kenma laughed and holy shit, Tadashi. They’re so cute? Like unrealistically adorable.” When Hinata used big words, he meant it. “They began talking about us two being, y’know, soulmates, and we ended up talking like we’ve known each other our entire lives. It was just so perfect, I was worried all for nothing. Like I might be in love. Maybe. Probably.”

Yamaguchi laughed at Hinata’s excitement.

“Wait, did you know that we were going to be their roommates?”

Yamaguchi shook his head, “Not until we were about to leave and set up.”

“Ah okay.”

Yamaguchi then remembered the other person in the room. Shibayama was casually scrolling through their Netflix account, looking for something else to watch.

“Oh Hinata, this is our other roommate, Shibayama Yuki.” Shibayama turned around and smiled brightly at the other first years and waved.

“Hey! I’m Hinata Shouyou. Nice to meet you.”

Behind them, Hinata’s bedroom door opened and Kenma stumbled out sleepily. They rested their chin lightly on Hinata’s shoulder. Yamaguchi smiled at the interaction and wandered back into the living room to sit down.

Shibayama had chosen Sherlock and was intensely staring at the screen, trying to read the subtitles as quickly as the actors were speaking. Yamaguchi had already watched all four seasons of the show, so decided to scroll through twitter for a while. Nothing much was happening in the world. A new rookie idol comeback, more idol selfies and few random trending tags that meant nothing. Hinata sat down on the small armchair next to their window, Kenma perching on his lap. The teen decided to rest pretty much their entire body against Hinata, and despite them being taller, Hinata didn’t seem to mind. Well that’s what the constant warm expression on his face said to Yamaguchi.

After the first episode of Sherlock had finished, the youngest Nekoma player began to yawn and decided to get changed into his pyjamas. Yamaguchi looked at the time. 8:47pm. Kenma had fallen asleep on Hinata’s shoulder, snoring lightly as the shorter ran his fingers gently through their hair.

Kenma woke up a few minutes later and got changed into their own pyjamas, joining Shibayama in the futons. Hinata picked Strong Woman Do Bongsoon as background noise as the two guests fell asleep on the floor. After two episodes the Karasuno boys decided to turn off the TV and head to bed themselves.

-

Saturday and Sunday were free days, so they could all go out of school and do whatever they pleased. Yamaguchi and Hinata treated their room guests to a trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum on Sunday after staying inside all Saturday and watching Ghibli movies.

The rest of the week was spent purely playing volleyball. Each team used the opportunity to see the other teams’ weaknesses and strengths. The first years practiced well into the night, occasionally joined by the second and third years.

Other teams were amazed by Hinata’s immense abilities at first, but slowly got warmed up to his minus-tempo insanity. Kuroo and first year Inuoka made it especially their goal to block Hinata’s attacks.

By the end of the week, many new attacks had been created and practiced by every team and it was time to say goodbye. Hinata and Kenma exchanged every single form of social media they owned and every way it was possible to contact each other. It took Yamaguchi 10 minutes to convince Hinata to let them go, the shorter not wanting to let go now that he’d found his soulmate.

They walked the Nekoma players down to the buses ready for departure and joined the rest of their team. Everyone waved energetically as the other teams left, wishing them a safe trip home.

-

October finally rolled around, classes and volleyball being the only things occupying the first years’ lives. Hinata and Kenma were still talking for hours every night and meeting up on weekends, but Kenma’s 20th birthday was just around the corner. Hinata now had two extra things on his mind. A) What to get them & B) What was their final soulmate mark going to be?

The first one was answered much more easily than the second, after an extreme shopping session one weekend. Hinata finally decided on a baby blue fluffy sweater and some ridiculous cat socks. Through one of their Skype calls, Hinata saw that Kenma had a small black and white cat living in their dorm. Their university allowed one pet per dorm room, but inspections were held monthly to make sure none were being neglected.

On the 16th, Hinata met with Kenma at a small café in the middle of town. He handed over the gifts as soon as they sat down, not wanting to wait any longer for their reaction. The socks were opened first, making Kenma laugh at their ridiculous colours and design. The rainbow stripes were hideous in the best way possible, and the small cat faces all over them were adorable. The sweater came next, and Kenma instantly started hugging the fluffiness for warmth when it was out of the wrapping. After their drinks came, Kenma remembered his side of the day. They rolled up the right sleeve of their shirt and jacket to reveal a small gold diamond. Hinata took their right hand into his left and ran his thumb over the new mark.

After a walk around the nearest park, the two parted ways and Hinata returned home to the dorms. His face was clearly flushed pink, but he opted to blame it on the weather growing colder and not his blatant love for Kenma.

Yamaguchi asked how it went when he arrived. The pink resting on his cheeks hadn’t calmed yet, so the taller took that as a good response.

“It was a diamond…”

Yamaguchi looked at him quizzically before realising he was talking about Kenma’s final tattoo. He then hugged Hinata tightly, feeling the smaller’s arms around his own body.

-

The next year brought many new challenges for the boys. The third years left the team, meaning a whole new set of players moved up and they were their seniors. It felt great, but also terrifying. It was odd to not have Sugawara’s mother-like aura around them and Bokuto’s loud shouts at every move. All the third years came along to matched and even came as helpers to some practices when they had chance. The two Miya twins, Atsumu and Osamu, were promoted to captain and vice, respectively.

School work and exams were piled on them more than the previous year, too. Most of their free time being taken up by studying.

Before long, Hinata’s birthday came around, time flying by quickly with their busy schedules. With this year being his 20th, Kenma was planning on coming over, but only Yamaguchi knew. The two of them seemed to get along surprisingly well, despite not talking all that much and when they did it was mainly just Kenma wanting dirt on Hinata.

At 5pm, a small knock on the door was heard. Yamaguchi “conveniently” had his headphones on, but no music was playing. Hinata stood to answer the door, being stunned into silence when he saw who was on the other side. Kenma stood there with a small smile on their face, holding a bag with spare clothes and essentials for the night.

When Hinata regained his ability to function, he bombarded his soulmate with questions.

“Why are you here?”
“How did you get here?”
“How are you?”
“Did Tadashi know?”
“Why am I so lucky?”

Kenma only smiled fondly as they watched their small soulmate ramble at a mile a minute. He finally calmed down and hugged the taller tightly. The third year greeted Yamaguchi over Hinata’s shoulder, noticing him looking lovingly at the two of them.

After unpacking their stuff into Hinata’s room, Kenma came back into living room to see Hinata berating his taller roommate with questions…

“How did you keep this from me?”
“How did you arrange this?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Yamaguchi tried to answer, but was always cut off by another question. Hinata noticed his soulmate standing in the doorway and stopped immediately. The shorter went and grabbed their hand, dragging them over to the couch.

Once Kenma was sat down, Hinata essentially threw himself onto them. Kenma only smiled and reached for the TV remote before beginning to card their fingers through the shorter’s hair while browsing Netflix for dramas, ultimately settling on Good Morning Call.

Hours later and many episodes of the drama later, it began to near midnight. All three huddled close together, watching the small clock on Yamaguchi’s phone as the second hand grew closer to the top. Hinata swallowed nervously as the time dragged on, seconds feeling like hours. Finally, midnight struck, and all eyes were on him. At first, he couldn’t feel anything, panicking that he had nothing. But then it came. The slight burn and tingle on his arm, narrowing down towards his wrist. He stared down at his wrist and noticed a gold simple band beginning to form. The other two followed his gaze and gasped as they saw it.

Once the band was completed, Kenma pulled him in for a tight hug while Yamaguchi ruffled his hair lovingly. Still in awe of the new tattoo, Hinata let himself be pulled along with it. When he finally came to, he stared into Kenma’s eyes before crashing his lips onto theirs. In shock, Kenma took a minute before responding to the kiss. Yamaguchi gave the two some privacy by getting a drink in the kitchen. He came out to them sat in each other’s arms and wished them goodnight before heading into his room. He heard a faint mumble as he left, guessing that it was one of them replying.

-

Not long after, Yamaguchi was in the same spot as Hinata. His 20th birthday was just around the corner, filling him with excited nerves. He didn’t have someone like Hinata did, meaning it was just the two of them waiting around for midnight. Hinata allowed Yamaguchi to watch The Notebook even though he hates it “because it’s gonna be your birthday and I’m not a horrible person.”

Two hours and 50 tissues later, the boys sat on the couch with a bag of popcorn, anxiously eating the seconds away. As the clock struck midnight, iKon’s “BDay” blasted through their apartment, prompting the two to scour Yamaguchi’s body for signs.

As he moved to roll a pant-leg up, Yamaguchi noticed the feeling appear in his left hand. He held it up to look and saw a pink flower outlined in gold begin to take shape. It finished forming and Yamaguchi shoved his hand in Hinata’s face. The smaller grabbed it and ran his fingers over the gold lines.
“Holy shit that’s beautiful…” Hinata whispered, “What flower is it?”

Yamaguchi took another look at his hand and scrunched his eyebrows up in thought.

“I’m not sure… I’ll look it up.”

He grabbed his phone and typed “large pink flower” into the browser. Holding his hand up next to the images, he scrolled until he found one resembling his tattoo.

“A… Hydrangea. I think.” Yamaguchi answered.

“What does it mean? All flowers have meanings, right?”

“I don’t know, I’m not a florist!”

“Well look it up then!”

Yamaguchi re-opened the browser and asked what the flower meant.

“Uh… According to Tan Junyong, whoever the hell he is, it means ‘you are the beat of my heart’”

“Aww, that’s cute,” Hinata replied.

“Shut up, nerd.”

-

Their final year hit the two of them like a tonne of bricks. Deadlines, matches, exams and everything else came piling on top of them.

Yamaguchi was appointed captain of the team by Atsumu, and Inuoka was given the vice spot by Osamu. A new set of first years were thrown into the mix too, giving the elders even more responsibilities to ensure the teamwork was up to scratch and the team in general were in top condition constantly.

A few weeks into the first semester, the two received a rather formal looking letter addressed to both of them. Hinata came into Yamaguchi’s room one morning while he was studying, waving the letter in his face and saying that he “has to come read it with him!” They sat on the couch as Hinata gently opened the envelope, not wanting to damage the beautiful golden design over it. He pulled out the cream card from inside and saw two gold bands on the front.

“Is this a…?” Yamaguchi began.

“Shhhh lets open it.” Interrupted Hinata.

Inside the card was lace details, fancy cursive writing and an invitation to the wedding of Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi.

“Thought so.”

“Oh my god… They’re getting married… We need suits! And gifts! When is it?”

Yamaguchi scanned the card for the date.

“26th June… so in just over a month at… Palace Tokyo. There’s a list of what they’d want as gifts on the back.” He flipped the card over and started reading off the list, “Volleyball championship tickets, A break, money, us to come to the wedding, and to get Kuroo and Bokuto out of their apartment. We’ll give them some money. Oh, there’s also a note for you that says Kenma is invited!”

Hinata perked up a little more at that, and ran to find his phone to call them. Yamaguchi decided to send Sugawara and Daichi a congratulations message and let the know that they’d definitely be coming.

Once Hinata was finished with the phone call, he grabbed his jacket and threw Yamaguchi’s at him.

“What are you doing?” Yamaguchi asked.

“We’re going suit shopping, Tadashi. We need to look great for the wedding and I want to be somewhat matching with Kenma. So, we’re going. Like, now.”

Yamaguchi put his hands up for surrender before putting on his own jackets and following Hinata out the door.

“Do we even have enough money for new suits?” Yamaguchi asked as they walked down the stairs.

“Yeah I called my mum as well as Kenma and she gave me some money for us. Both of us.”

“Nice. I’ll pay you back at some point.”

“Don’t worry about it, think of it as a very-late-or-early birthday present.”

They got outside and looked for directions to the nearest suit shop. They found one a couple of blocks away and got there within a few minutes. They walked into the shop and were greeted by a kind but shy looking shop assistant.

“H-Hello, welcome to Austin Red. I’m Yachi, please ask me if you need any assistance.”

“Thank you.” The two boys said together and began browsing the suits.

Hinata began mumbling to himself about colours and what Kenma would be wearing while Yamaguchi settled on a simple black suit with silk lapels. Yachi lead him over to the fitting rooms with a few sample sizes to find out which would fit better. She hung up the jackets and trousers on the hangers and laid the shirt out on the bench as Yamaguchi shrugged his coat off.

“Call for me once you have the first set on.” She said as she left and closed the curtain behind herself.

He changed out of his clothes an into the first set, moving around to get a feel of it before calling Yachi in. She walked in with a tray of tie selections and asked which colour he’d like. He chose a bright orange colour, the college team colour for Sugawara. Yachi took the tie out of its holder and handed it over to him. He tied it around the collar and straightened the jacket in the mirror, looking for Yachi’s approval. She came over to him after setting the ties down and began checking lengths and areas where the jacket seemed baggy.

“How does it feel?” she asked.

“It’s a little baggy, but not too much.”

“Okay, try the end one on next, it’s a little but smaller. How about the trousers?”

“They feel fine.” He replied

“Alright. Try on the jacket, then we’ll see which is better.”

He nodded and exchanged the current jacket for the smaller one at the end. It felt better as soon as he put it on, hugging in all the right places. This must have shown on his face since Yachi smiled when she looked at him.

“Better?”

“Much better.”

“Is this the one you want then?”

“Yeah, I’ll take it.”

“Lovely.” She smiled sweetly at him and turned to pick up the ties before leaving the fitting room.

Yamaguchi changed back into his normal clothes and put the suit back on its hangers. As he left, Hinata came out of the fitting room a few down from him with his suit. His was a black suit too but had silver lapels and trimmings along with a gold tie.

“Done?” Yamaguchi asked when Hinata walked over to him. He nodded in response as they walked over to the cash register.

“Are you paying together?” Yachi asked as she put the amount in.

Hinata nodded as he handed over his card to her. She put it into the machine and twisted it round to face Hinata. After paying they both thanked her before leaving with their new suits.

“At least that’s sorted now.” Hinata said as they walked back to their apartment.

“Yeah, roll on the big day now then!”

-

On June 26th, the two of them headed over to the Palace Tokyo to meet with Sugawara. Suits in hand, they walked into his huge dressing room and immediately ran over to hug him.

“Oh my god it’s finally happening! We’re so happy!”

“Sugaaa! Congratulations!”

Sugawara just laughed until they stood up again.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry until the actual ceremony but you two are making that very hard right now…” He said while fanning his face with his hand.
The two younger boys chuckled at Sugawara. Behind them, the door flew open, Bokuto and Nishinoya running through it and crashing into the youngers. “Noya! Bokuto!” Suga shouted. “Be careful of the guests, please. It’s a wedding day, not a day to plan a funeral.”

“Sorry Koushi!” Bokuto apologised.

“Alright, we need to get into our suits, then it’ll be time to go… Daichi’s already in there finishing the arrangements and guests are arriving soon so, let’s go!” Sugawara ushered them into the changing areas at the end of the room.

Once everyone was dressed, they all adjusted their hair to be as neat as possible. Nishinoya still had his spiked to perfection, while Bokuto decided to calm it down slightly and slick his unruly hair back.

A knock on their door from Kuroo let them know that everyone was ready. Yamaguchi, Hinata and Nishinoya quickly went and sat down on the from row while Bokuto stayed behind as the best man, Hinata quickly scanning the crowd for Kenma and smiling when he found them. Kuroo came up behind them, giving Daichi and the officiant a nod to get ready.

The officiant asked the guests to stand up as the music started playing. The first chords of Sea by BTS, Daichi’s favourite group, echoed through the hall, making heads turn to the doors at the back. They slowly opened to reveal Sugawara holding a bouquet of red tulips and peonies, followed by Bokuto holding a small red velvet box.

When the two reached the altar, Bokuto stepped off to the side and left Sugawara next to Daichi. The officiant began by telling everyone to sit and then read out the usual wedding speech about being together forever. Nobody objected to the marriage, which Sugawara let out a huge sigh of relief at. They turned to each other at the officiant’s command and began reciting their vows. Bokuto brought the rings over, two simple gold bands, and they slipped them onto each other’s fingers.
A sniffle to his right made Yamaguchi turn and find Hinata dabbing his eyes with a small tissue.

“I’m not crying.” He insisted, but Yamaguchi knew his soft side. Especially for animals and his best friends.

He turned back to see Daichi pull Sugawara towards him as they were pronounced husbands. The whole hall rose to applaud and throw confetti over their heads as
they kissed. Sugawara laughed as they broke apart and smiled at their guests. The newlyweds walked back down the aisle with huge grins plastered on their faces as the last of the confetti was used.

The guests followed the couple into the dining hall being used for their main hall, bouquets of tulips and peonies matching Sugawara’s adorned each table. The white chairs were decorated with red and orange ribbons, a compromise for both teams’ colours. The couple and best men sat at the head table, their closest friends and family on the nearest tables, then other friends and co-workers on the next set. Around the flowers sat trays of food and toasting glasses full of apple and orange juice. The couple had decided to leave out drinking, not wanting anyone to forget their night.

Yamaguchi took his seat, in between Hinata and Nishinoya. As everyone else finished entering, Sugawara stood to chime his glass.

“Okay! I’m so happy that everyone could be here today! Thank you so much, this means the world to me. I’d like to give a special thanks to our best men, Bo and Kuroo. Bo’s been my best friend since what feels like forever and I couldn’t have gotten through everything without you. Kuroo, you’re an absolute pain in the ass, but we love you. And Daichi… Where to begin. I never thought that my soulmate would be someone so messy, honestly please pick your socks up when you take them off! But in all seriousness, I love you to Pluto and back and I couldn’t imagine spending my life with anyone other than you.” He smiled down at his other half. “Oh no please don’t cry! You’ll make me cry…” He sniffled and choked on his last words, pulling Daichi up into a hug.

Muffled ‘I love you’s were whispered into each other’s shoulders as the crowd smiled lovingly at them. They pulled apart and sat back down, grabbing a couple of tissues each to gently pat away the dampness in their eyes.

“Go ahead and eat, everyone! It’s all there for a reason.” Daichi announced through a smile, still dabbing his eyes a little. Nishinoya and Hinata dove right in, not wasting anytime in getting their favourites piled high on their plate. Yamaguchi and Kenma stayed back while the more energetic pair rampaged. Once they’d collected enough to feed a large family, Yamaguchi took his own portion.

The meal wasn’t silent, jokes being passed around between tables and the two best men deciding to throw food at each other. Daichi intervened when Bokuto picked up a whole tray and began to aim it at his soulmate’s head.

The catering staff cleared away the trays and plates, guiding everyone into the main room of the night. A dancefloor at one end and a selection of couches at the other allowed people to both relax and have fun all night. The bar at the edge between the sections was labelled as alcohol-free, true to the couple’s earlier promise.
As Hinata dragged a reluctant Kenma out to the dancefloor, Yamaguchi opted to sit down on the comfy area. He was soon joined by Kageyama, who he hadn’t seen for a few months since their latest inter-school tournament.

“Tobio! How have you been?” He greeted as the black-haired boy sat down.

“I’m alright, how about you, Tadashi?” He smiled in return.

“Pretty good actually. The team’s coming along nicely now as I suppose yours is too.”

“Yep! You better watch out at the next games. You won’t be expecting what we’ve got hidden up our sleeves.” Kageyama wiggled his eyebrows. Their friendly banter
continued until Hinata appeared in front of them, Kenma throwing himself onto the nearest couch available. The two third years’ rivalry had ever so slightly lessened over the years, but tension was still high.

“Tobio.”

“Shouyou.”

Their greetings were always clipped and curt, but their arguments were lengthy and tiring. The conversation ended there for the night, neither wanting to ruin the fun of the ceremony. Kageyama stood and walked to the bar, leaving the heat for another time. Hinata sat in his place as Kenma came and rested on his lap, complaining that their soulmate is “too energetic… how do you store it all in that tiny body? It’s unreal.”

A few minutes later Daichi comes up to them followed by someone Yamaguchi can’t quite see. He seemed tall and broad shouldered, and short blonde hair was seen above Daichi’s own head.

“How’ve you guys been recently? How’s captaincy treating you? We haven’t seen you in ages!” Daichi asked, ruffling Hinata’s hair.

“Pretty good. It’s tough but we’re okay with it. Some real talented players have come through this year.”

“Good, I hope you give Kageyama a run for his money. Kid’s too confident sometimes. Anyway, I wanted to introduce you guys to someone. This is Tsukishima Kei, he’s the same age as you.” The tall boy stepped out from behind Daichi, his light brown eyes scanning over Hinata before going to Yamaguchi. As they locked eyes, a spark sent its way down Yamaguchi’s spine, freezing him in place. The rest of Daichi words were drowned out by his heart thumping in his ears. Out of the corner of his eye he could vaguely see Hinata and Daichi looking at the two of them with identical confused expressions.

Eventually his hearing came back but their eyes never left each other, he didn’t know what was happening, but as his brain worked overtime trying to think of a reason for this to happen, he grazed the idea of this lanky boy being his soulmate. His friends seemed to come to that conclusion too as Daichi shouted to Sugawara and
Hinata started slapping Kenma’s thigh excitedly.

Sugawara’s face coming up too close to comfort with his own snapped Yamaguchi out of his trance. He blinked rapidly as Sugawara shook his shoulders.

“Tadashi? You in there?”

He nodded wearily in response. The silver haired man stood up out of his way as Daichi stopped checking on Yamaguchi’s supposed soulmate.

“We ought to give you guys some privacy, yeah?” Daichi asked as he grabbed Hinata and Kenma, dragging them away from the two.
Yamaguchi watched the four disappear to the other end of the room and looked back to the tall boy in front of him. He let out a big sigh as he stood up from the couch and extended his hand out in front of him.

“Hi. I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi.” He smiled, hoping his voice didn’t sound too wobbly and awkward.

“Tsukishima Kei.” Tsukishima took Yamaguchi’s hand and shook it firmly, the ghost of a smile drifting across his lips as he felt the spark at the contact.

Yamaguchi stifled a laugh and looked down at the floor briefly.

“Never thought I’d meet my soulmate at a wedding… I never even though that that’s what my first tattoo meant.”

“Neither did I, but I think we just made Daichi and Sugawara’s night even better. If that’s possible?”

Over Tsukishima’s shoulder, Yamaguchi could see Hinata giving him two thumbs up, Nishinoya behind him bouncing around. He giggled before looking back up at Tsukishima.

“So, Tsukki, how do you know Daichi and Suga?” Tsukishima visibly cringed at the new nickname.

“Daichi and I used to go to the same high school, met through volleyball. We went to different colleges though.” He explained. Yamaguchi nodded along. “How about you then?”

“Sugawara and I were in the same college team in his final year.” Yamaguchi countered. Tsukishima nodded along and the two continued the small talk for a while.

Over in the corner Daichi and Sugawara smiled and linked hands at the sight of the two boys. They hadn’t planned for this to happen, but the night had become much better for all the guests.

-

Their final school year finally drew to a close, and their graduation was in full bloom. Yamaguchi passed down is captaincy to their setter, Takeda Kenta, while Inuoka Gave the vice spot to Nakamoto Yuta, a wing-spiker with strangely frizzy hair.

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima talked constantly and met up whenever the unrelenting school load gave them chance. At Yamaguchi’s graduation he scans the crowd in search of his tall soulmate. Despite him being ridiculously tall, Tsukishima couldn’t be seen in the crowd. After the whole ceremony was over and Yamaguchi met up with his mum again, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his middle. By the way his mum was smiling he gathered it was Tsukishima and not a stranger.
Yamaguchi turned around in his hold and hugged him back, not caring about the camera clicks he could hear from his mother.

“Congratulations, you’re a free man!” Tsukishima said a they broke apart. His own graduation wasn’t for a couple of days so Yamaguchi was the first to be free of the hell-hole that is University.

“Yeah, but now I’ve gotta find a place to live. No more rooming with Hinata.” His shoulders slumped a little as he said it but Tsukishima ruffled his hair to make him feel better.

“Well to make life easier we could always get a place together. Two people paying bills is better than one.”

Yamaguchi flung himself at the taller again, nodding into his shoulder. Tsukishima only laughed and squeezed him back, smiling at Yamaguchi’s mum still behind them.

-

Tsukishima’s own graduation was smaller than Yamaguchi’s. His University itself was smaller and more academic than Yamaguchi’s larger sport based one. Tsukishima’s brother, Akiteru, sat at the front of the hall with Yamaguchi, in clear view of the stage.

After the speeches, Yamaguchi echoedTsukishima’s own words back to him.

“You’re a free man now!” He smiled playfully and smiled widely. Akiteru attempted to hide his proud tears and failed miserably, giving his younger brother a firm handshake in congratulations.

The three walked back to the Tsukishima house together. The brothers only lived a few blocks away from the University, not needing a dorm room. Yamaguchi
sneakily slipped his hand into Tsukishima’s own, swinging it lightly as they walked.

The couple sat on Tsukishima’s bed for the rest of the day, talking about nonsense thy somehow hadn’t talked about before. At some point they breached the topic of apartments and started looking at different property websites. Neither had jobs yet, so they had to find that first. Yamaguchi settled on sending his resume out to different sports facilities or cafes, while Tsukishima opted for libraries and retail.

Once they finally found a selection of decent apartments near them, they booked viewings for the few they liked most. One 2-bedroom 5th floor flat roughly a mile away from where they were now, another 2-bedroom apartment on the 7th floor of a separate complex, 3 miles south, or one single bedroomed 3rd floor flat literally across the road from one of Tsukishima’s wanted jobs. Yamaguchi’s mum and Akiteru had agreed to support them at first with initial moving and some rent before their jobs pay enough for it themselves.

The next day the two went to view their first choice. The woman leading them around introduced herself as Shimizu Kiyoko, shy but extremely pretty. Each bedroom was a decent size, enough for a double bed and a few extras. The kitchen was oddly shaped but large, A large living room was also next to the kitchen, along with a very blue bathroom.

They thanked Shimizu as they left, already loving it. A few days later they went to view the next. The bedrooms were less spacious than the previous than the first but each had an en suite to make up for lost space. The kitchen was more open, too, but that subsequently made the living room smaller.

The final place with a spacious single room and two single beds that reminded them of the tiny college beds they’d been on for the past 3 years. The kitchen was a decent size, but the living room was much smaller than expected, leaving the bathroom to be the largest room.

After the viewing the couple went back to Yamaguchi’s home for dinner and to discuss the different options they had. Yamaguchi’s mum sat down with them as they went through different rent options and the best decision for them.

In the end they went for the first option, 2 rooms, nice sized rooms and a warm vibe. After showing his mum and Akiteru around the place, both agreed that it was a suitable place with decent rent.

The next day, Yamaguchi got a response from a small café a block away from their new apartment. His resume had been accepted and they would “love to have him as a part of their team”.

After all the paper work and boring parts had been filled out, the pair were set to move in with the first payment. Shimizu met up with them again at the apartment and handed them the keys. The thanked her as she walked away smiling, happy for the two of them, thinking back to when she met her own soulmate in the small suit and dress shop and how lucky they all are.

The moving van was booked to bring their belongings over in about an hour, giving them some time to figure out where they would put everything. They’d both bought new bedding and furniture to make it comfier. The fireplace in the room allowed space above it for a TV, and lots more room around it for the new set of couches.

They drew up a rough plan of where they’d move everything to, hoping that the movers would be able to get everything up the 5 floors.
It took a very long time, but by the evening everything was in place and ready for their first night. Not quite at the point in their relationship for sharing a bed, they said their ‘goodnights’ before heading into their rooms. The change of scenery was unfamiliar but not unwelcomed to either.

-

As the weeks of living together turned into months, Yamaguchi began to creep into Tsukishima’s bed when he occasionally couldn’t sleep.
Tonight was no different.

Well, slightly different. Yamaguchi was not able to sleep, and he didn’t think he ever would. Outside, a storm thrashed the city and the rain hit the windows with an intense force. He’d never been a fan of storms, no significant reason behind the hatred, just hating the loudness and intensity they came down with.
He snuck into Tsukishima’s room, not wanting to disturb him too much, and peeled back the covers. As he did, one of Tsukishima’s eyes cracked open and a loud flash of lighting with accompanying thunder shook the room. Instinctively, Yamaguchi leapt under the covers and into Tsukishima’s chest. The taller wrapped a protective arm around him and kissed the crown of his head.

Yamaguchi didn’t stop quivering through the intermittent flashes and rumbles, burying himself tighter with every round. Once the storm had passed, Tsukishima tapped his head as a signal. Yamaguchi lifted his head slowly and looked up with puffy eyes. Tsukishima’s heart seemed to melt at the sight and he pulled the other close once again.

“You okay, ‘Dashi?” Tsukishima mumbled into his hair. A nod into his collar gave him his response. “Y’know I love you right…”

Yamaguchi looked up again, sniffling, and puffy eyed still. A new set of tears seemed to spring from his eyes at that, causing another wave of protectiveness to wash over Tsukishima. He heard a muffled string of words come from his soulmate, but he didn’t understand a word of it.

“Speak up, Tadashi. I can’t hear you.” A small huff came from Yamaguchi before he raised his head to speak.

“I said, I love you too…”

Yet again, Tsukishima pulled him into his chest, resting there until they fell asleep, tracing each other’s hand tattoos with their fingers, feeling the tingle pulsing from the tattoos on their necks.

-

After that night, Yamaguchi found himself seeking Tsukishima’s warmth at night more often than before. Almost every night (save for when he was too stressed or tired to move) he’s creep in just before they went to sleep, his soulmate always welcoming him with, literally, open arms.
Their jobs became a steady routine. Tsukishima working in a local record store from 9 ‘til 4, and Yamaguchi at the café 11 ‘til 6 unless the evening shift also needed covering until 9. They managed to get by with what little cooking skills they have between them, relying on take-out or restaurants when Gordon Ramsey’s recipes become too much.

Yamaguchi stood in the kitchen one evening, Jonghyun’s final album on repeat, Mary Berry book covered in flour to his right and a batch of black, crumbling cookies on his left. Tsukishima came and wrapped his arms around Yamaguchi’s waist, humming to Take The Dive.

“What are you doing?” He rested his chin on Yamaguchi’s shoulder and looked over at the mess next to them. “Besides nearly burning the kitchen down.”
Yamaguchi pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well I was trying to be nice and make cookies for us… But that didn’t go well.”

“The thought was there, that’s all that matters. How about we just order a pizza and forget about touching the oven ever again.” Yamaguchi nodded and leant up to place a small kiss on Tsukishima’s cheek. The taller smiled and tried to hide the small blush appearing on his face but was stopped by Yamaguchi’s hands on either side of his face. He kissed Yamaguchi’s forehead lightly before the other pulled away giggling.

Yamaguchi sneakily grabbed a handful of flour from the mess on the side before rubbing it all over Tsukishima’s face. His glasses made a shield for his eyes, but his mouth was completely unprotected, making him cough up flour for the next ten minutes.

Most of the flour had been cleaned off the counter and Tsukishima’s face by the time their pizza arrived, only a few stubborn specks dotted in his eyebrows.
The burnt cookie incident mostly forgotten, the two fell asleep on the couch, reruns of Friends on in the background.

-

Yamaguchi’s café job slowly became the death of him. There was nothing incredibly spectacular that made his job entertaining, other than the occasional odd customer. And so was Tsukishima’s record shop.

So, they decided to try out different fields. Yamaguchi going for sports coaching again and Tsukishima opting for museum openings. He studied art history at university, so this was a combination of both his passions.

However, he didn’t manage to get just a simple museum tour worker. At the point they decided to job-search, an opening at the Studio Ghibli Museum opened. Tsukishima didn’t tell Yamaguchi, he just silently waited for an acceptance letter if one were to arrive. And it did. Yamaguchi collected the post one morning, surprised to see a letter addressed to his soulmate from his favourite place on Earth.

“Kei? Why do you have a Ghibli letter?” Tsukishima shot up from his position on the couch and snatched the paper from his hand, turning around before opening it.
In small lettering in the top paragraph he read “we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at The Studio Ghibli Museum, Tokyo, as Head of Tours.”
The taller let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding before turning back to a confused Yamaguchi.

“I, uh, applied for a job at the Ghibli museum…” Yamaguchi’s eyebrows rose to his hairline and his eyes blew wide, mouth agape, “And I kinda… got it?”
Yamaguchi flung himself at Tsukishima, showing his soulmate with little kisses over his cheeks before the taller pushed him away.

“Kei! That’s amazing!” Tsukishima blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s not that big a deal, ‘Dashi…”

A few days later Yamaguchi also got an acceptance letter. A local gym needed a second coach for their junior multi-sport team and deemed Yamaguchi “perfect for this role”.

Both their jobs began a week after their letters came through and they were both equally excited to start them. These new jobs meant matching shift patterns, as they were both always on 9 ‘til 5. This occasionally resulted in a short-lived competition to see who would get home faster. Nearly every time it would be Yamaguchi. The gym was only a 10-minute walk (5 if he ran) while Tsukishima’s was a 25-minute train journey.

But Tsukishima also got discounts in the store. Yamaguchi liked to abuse said discounts a little too much. Something cute but utterly useless? He had to have it and if he didn’t, he’d pout until he did. Yamaguchi’s pouts are impossible to resist.

Yamaguchi’s junior volleyball team seemed to like him plenty. The first coach was an older man, probably in his late thirties, called Ukai Keishin. He looked as though he’d rather be anywhere than there at 9am every day. But once he got into the rhythm of the sport he became fun.

A couple of days into his position Yamaguchi met the team’s manager. He didn’t expect Shimizu, the woman who showed him his current apartment, to stroll through the gym doors, clipboard in hand, and announce the details of a friendly tournament to the kids.

He also realised that one of his favourite kids (not that he should have favourites) was Oikawa’s nephew. The other seemed just as surprised to see him as it was the other way around. Takeru was at nearly every day’s practice, meaning that Yamaguchi saw Oikawa nearly every day. It was nice to see him after university, only ever fleeting encounters at the wedding and social media updates.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi, he learnt, had eloped themselves but didn’t want it to be public. It was Iwaizumi’s idea to be so small, knowing fully well that Oikawa would have flown them to Hollywood and invited the whole of Japan if it was up to him.

Yamaguchi left a dinner invitation open to the two of them, letting them know that they’re always welcome in their home.

-

Many more months passed in the same apartment. They passed their year anniversary of both meeting (also being Daichi and Sugawara’s wedding anniversary) and their year of living together.

One day Tsukishima suggested a trip out to a shrine for New Year’s Day. Yamaguchi agreed, eager to get out of the house after being cooped up for the whole holiday season.

They wrapped up in big coats and warm hats, ready for the harsh winter of the new year. They caught a train down to the Meiji Jingu shrine and felt the strong winds as soon as they stepped out. It seemed that quite a few others had the same idea as them. Come to a shrine and start a fresh page for the year.

Yamaguchi wandered off slightly to look at another part of the shrine while Tsukishima stayed back to talk with another couple, two young girls from a nearby university called Sana and Momo.

He returned slightly after and clung onto Tsukishima’s back. He laughed at the weight now hanging off his back and gently set Yamaguchi down on the floor.
Tsukishima gave a small nod to the two girls who gave another back. The two of them had their phones out in front of them, Sana doing a twitter livestream while Momo just recorded.

Tsukishima turned around to Yamaguchi with his hands stuffed into the giant pockets of his coat. A small crowd had formed thanks to the girls recording and them calling out slightly for attention.

Tsukishima slowly took his hands out his pockets and put them behind his back, hoping that Yamaguchi didn’t see the black velvet box he pulled out.

“Kei?”

Slowly going on to one knee, eliciting a small gasp from the crowd and sly smiles from the girls, Tsukishima let the box come into view. Yamaguchi slapped his hands over his mouth, covering what would be completely agape. Tsukishima slowly opened the lid of the box and revealed a smooth silver band with small engravings. Yamaguchi couldn’t read them from where he was, and neither could the ever-growing crowd around them.

“Yamaguchi Tadashi…” He could already feel the tears begin to well up behind his eyes. “Would you do me the absolute honour,” Now they’re spilling over, streaming
down his face, “of allowing me to be your husband. Will you allow me to take yo-“

Yamaguchi didn’t let Tsukishima finish before he collapsed on top of him, nodding and mumbling all the versions of “yes” he could possibly think of. Tsukishima’s eyes also seemed to overflow with happy tears and he smiled and stood the two of them up. The crowd around them applauded the two now-fiancés, and Sana showed him all the comments from the livestream. Apparently her 2000 followers loved it, evident by the stream of hearts and congratulations messages in the chat.

Momo sent Tsukishima the video she’d recorded and demanded an invitation for the two of them. Yamaguchi laughed and promised they’d get one once they figured it all out.

The euphoria didn’t die down until they reached home, finally relaxing onto the couch and groaning about the ache in their legs after the walking.

“You didn’t get on your knees though, did you?” Tsukishima whined.

“Yeah but you did it because you love me~” Yamaguchi responded. Well he wasn’t wrong. Yamaguchi held up the sliver band, reading off the engravings once more
'Maybe it’s the way of the universe'. His favourite song was now permanently etched into a part of him.

“Have you asked my mum about any of this?” Yamaguchi looked over at his soulmate as he stretched above his head. Tsukishima nodded.

“Yeah I have. She was so happy. We talked about it over tea and she nearly spilt it all over herself when I asked her.” He smiled happily at the memory of it. “She wants you to be happy, ‘Dashi. She’d do anything for you.”

Yamaguchi smiled fondly back at him.

Yamaguchi pulled his laptop out from under the coffee table and opened Skype. He clicked Hinata’s icon and then the video call button. As if he was waiting for the call (he was – Tsukishima called him about the proposal) Hinata answered after only 3 rings. Kenma was also sat with him on their bed, their cat Tolbi also lounging with them.

“Shouyou!”

“Tadashi!”

“Guess what Shou…” Yamaguchi hunched closer as Tsukishima gave a brief wave from behind him. He brought up his left hand and wriggled his fingers to the camera, making the shiny ring catch the light.

“Woah! That’s amazing! Congrats you two.” Both called from their end.

“What does it say around it?” Kenma asked. They were currently scratching Tolbi’s belly as the calico cat pawed for attention.
“It says Maybe it’s the way of the universe. Like in-“

“Like in Serendipity? Knew it!” Shouyou exclaimed.

Yamaguchi just laughed, clueless to how much Hinata already knew.

After their talk to the two of them, Daichi and Sugawara (should they still call him that? Oh well) called. They recounted the story again and Suga asked for the video. The call ended quicker than Hinata and Kenma’s, the older two having to go to Daichi’s parents.

The soulmates fell asleep in the same bed that night, with Yamaguchi’s left hand tracing the tingling shrine outline on Tsukishima’s chest.

-

Within 2 months everything they could possibly need was booked. Yamaguchi’s mum and Akiteru paid for the venue between them, saying it was the least they could do for such a big day.

Invitations were sent out promptly afterwards, not forgetting Sana and Momo. The date was set for June 17th, just before Daichi and Suga’s anniversary.

-

The day came upon them at great speed. All their invitations came back with “yes” replies, some names on the list that one or the other didn’t recognise.

Hinata, Suga, Nishinoya and his mother were his main party, Hinata being his best man and his mum walking him down the aisle.
Tsukishima’s entourage consisted of Daichi, Kenma and his brother, the only people he was still really in close contact with after all this time.
“Alright, we gotta get into our suits, then it’ll be time to go… guests are arriving soon so, let’s hurry!” Sugawara ushered them into the changing areas at the end of the room while their stylists for the day began adjusting the already-dressed Yamaguchi’s hair.

Once everyone was dressed, they all adjusted their hair to be as neat as possible. Nishinoya still had his spiked to perfection as per usual and Suga simply combed the unruly patches and sprayed it in place.

A knock on their door from Daichi let them know that everyone was ready. Sugawara, Nishinoya quickly went to the hall and sat down on the from row while Hinata stayed behind as the best man.

The officiant asked the guests to stand up as the music started playing. The first chords of Beautiful by Crush, the OST from Goblin, the pair’s favourite show, echoed through the hall, making heads turn to the doors at the back. They slowly opened to reveal Yamaguchi holding a bouquet of yellow lilies and pink hydrangeas, a seemingly odd combination to those who haven’t noticed the golden flowing over their hands. His mother stood to his right, her hand wrapped around his arm and trying to contain her proud tears. Hinata followed closely behind with a deep blue box in his hands.

When the two reached the altar, Hinata stepped off to the side and left Yamaguchi next to Tsukishima at the front. Their matching ties of gold matching the flickers on their bodies. The officiant began by telling everyone to sit and then read out the usual wedding speech about being together forever. Nobody objected to the marriage, not that they expected anyone to. Tsukishima let out a sarcastic “dammit”, making people laugh and making himself get hit by Yamaguchi to his left. They turned to each other at the officiant’s command and began reciting their vows. Hinata and Kenma brought the rings over, two simple silver bands with a date etched onto the inside, and they slipped them onto each other’s fingers.

A sniffle to his left made Yamaguchi turn and find Hinata dabbing his eyes with a small tissue.

“I’m not crying.” He insisted, the whole scene felt nostalgic.

He turned back towards Tsukishima as they were pronounced husbands, the taller pulling him into a deep kiss. The whole hall rose to applaud and throw confetti over their heads as they kissed. Sugawara was the first to run over and start a large hug between all their close friends. The newlyweds walked back down the aisle with huge grins plastered on their faces as the last of the confetti was used.

The meal was simple, steak or pasta, but was incredible. Yamaguchi’s mother had done a lot of research into catering services within Tokyo and had made and excellent choice in selecting this one.

Hinata rose at the top table to start a speech by clinking his fork against the glass.

“First of all, can we get another round of congratulations to the happy couple! I’m so happy that everyone could be here today for my best friend of 8 years and second-best friend of 2. Thank you so much, this honour of being your best man means the whole world to me. ‘Dashi’s been my best friend since what feels like forever and I couldn’t have gotten through everything without him. Meeting my soulmate? That was him. Late nights when neither of us could sleep. He was there in a heartbeat. And Tsukishima… I’ve known you properly since two summers ago, and I know you’ll treat him right. But if you don’t, I do know where you live~! But in all seriousness, I love you both to the edge of the galaxy and back and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend today than as you best man.” He smiled down at his best friend, eyes going wide. “Please don’t cry! Now I’ll cry, again…” He sniffled and choked on his last words, pulling Tadashi up into a hug.

Everyone cleared back into the main hall as the service began to tidy up the mess from the meal.

Their first dance is sentimental and sweet, Crystal Snow by BTS guiding them slowly around the floor, bright grins permanently fixed to their faces. Groups of friends slowly form around the room as Tsukishima introduces Yamaguchi to his college friends and vice versa. As they’re about to leave one group after a conversation, Yamaguchi’s friend from high school volleyball, Adachi Yuto, who went to Daichi’s college popped up beside him in an almost bone-crushing hug.

“Yuto!”

“Tadashi! Damn I haven’t seen you in ages! Are you still growing?” Yamaguchi laughed.

“Nope, you’re still taller than me!”

Tsukishima looked on at the two fondly and then back at his friends. One boy, Kang Hyunggu, an exchange student from South Korea who still lives over in Japan, seemed to be staring at the other boy. Behind Yuto’s ear there was a small calendar page with June written across the top. He remembers Hyunggu’s own tattoo behind his ear, a date on a calendar with no months, but the 17th day. Tsukishima’s hand flew to his mouth in realisation, grabbing the attention on the chattering boys. They instantly stopped and looked around the circle of friends. Yuto’s eyes seemed magnetically attracted to Hyunggu’s, when they met they wouldn’t part.

Yamaguchi slowly grasped the situation, smiling at Tsukishima because of the irony. Two years ago, that was them, meeting in a dim wedding hall with the couple introducing them, stealing the show.

Sugawara and Daichi confronted them about it later, talking about the “roles being reversed”. They laughed it off, happy that on their big day, some others also managed to find their happiness.

After most of the guests had dissipated, leaving only the newly-weds and their tight-knit friend group, they sat under the stars in the grand orchard outside. The bright moon illuminated their faces and reflected off their rings.

Tsukishima pulled Yamaguchi towards him, still loving the way his husband - he can actually say that now – fit against him. Yamaguchi looked up towards the taller man and leant up to place a small kiss to his jaw.

Tsukishima gave in, capturing Yamaguchi’s lips in his own and manoeuvring them to make it comfier for both. They carried on kissing for what felt like hours, until they heard the distinctive shutter of a camera and saw the blinding flash of light to accompany it. The broke apart and looked up see the remaining guests, Suga, Daichi, Hinata, a very sleepy Kenma, Kageyama, Nishinoya, Bokuto and Kuroo. Sugawara had his phone out, happily taking pictures of the couple.

Yamaguchi smiled at his friends as Seventeen's Pretty U filled the air and looked back at Tsukishima, looked into his eyes and saw the billions of stars reflecting in the hazel, and realised there’s no place he’d rather be than here.