Chapter Text
Tsukishima Kei was never late, it simply didn't match his character. He was prompt, efficient, and considerate. He had never been late to school a single day of his life. He was either early or he didn’t show up (for if he did, he likely wouldn’t be able to handle the sheer embarrassment). Tsukishima Kei, late?! Those words didn't belong in a sentence together, unless that sentence was Tsukishima Kei has never been and will never be late.
Some things in life were just like that; set in stone.
Kei prided himself in his deliberation. He thought through every action and planned his days out in advance to ensure he did was he was supposed to do. Every action of his was deliberate,conscious; even his mistakes were deliberate. He was purposeful and measured and that was just how things were.
Tsukishima Kei was never late - however, he was about to be. He cursed as he nearly slipped down his apartment blocks steps ( stupid second floor student accommodation ) before sprinting across the parking lot to the other side of campus.
There were many reasons that Tsukishima Kei was where he was right now and absolutely none of them were his fault, naturally. These reasons involved shots, Oikawa Tooru, and Oikawa Tooru’s shots, which, were definitely more like actual fucking bullets to the head than alcoholic shots. Or rather, they were both; little capfuls of I wish this was literal acid, it would probably hurt less that went straight his chest. Kei was unsure how he still lived to see the next morning but he was thankful to every God he could name for this second chance at life.
But still, Kei was purposeful and deliberate, and that extended to all his fuckups, naturally.
However, today was the day that Tsukishima Kei was definitely late. He was also definitely hungover. Any second chance at life he’d thought he had would be lost if he didn’t hand in this damn final in on time.
It was the final essay paper for his semester one Political Economy class. It was a class he quite enjoyed. This final had been announced weeks ago and he had completed it in advance because he was Tsukishima Kei, naturally . However, as a consequence of forces outside of his control, the professor had set the deadline on the last week of the semester. More specifically, the Saturday after the last school week of the semester. This was still fine, manageable for Kei, however , his professor also required them to hand it in personally, before 9am on the Saturday to his lecture hall.
This was the same Saturday morning that came after Friday night, a night which was the last day of the semester, and consequently a night which, as aforementioned, involved Oikawa Tooru and a loaded semi-automatic. That is a paraphrased recount, but Kei stands by it.
Consequently, Kei was late, something which as established, Kei never was. It made sense, sort of . After all, nothing lasts forever, not empires, galaxies, or even Tsukishima Kei’s carefully assembled reputation (that maybe only he himself actually cared about).
He was upset, and he was damn well justified; his pride was on the line, and his claims to the name Tsukishima Kei. He held onto this sense of entitled-fury as he continued his solo march across campus.
He squinted his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun. The birds were also unnaturally loud, their irregular babel more akin to a vehemous squawking. Birds usually never sang around here, what the hell? It was almost like Mother Nature herself had decided to personally manifest on his university campus in order to make his life hell. He swore he could a sneer within the shadows of the leaf litter.
He was definitely hungover, but maybe he was also still drunk. He checked the clock on his phone.
8:48am.
“Shit.” He cursed under his breath, increasing his pace as he near-ran across campus.
This is fine. If this were a comic, this singular moment in Kei's life would likely be illustrated as that photoset of that dog sipping a cup of tea in a burning room, caption text: Kei was fine. Everything was fine. This is fine. This was planned, deliberate.
He tore up the steps of the commerce building, rushing inside the hallway to his professor’s hall near the end.
He looked down at his phone again.
8:54am.
“Fuck.”
He opened the door to the lecture hall only to find it empty. He glanced around the room, not seeing anyone else and approached the lecture stand at the front of the room. A loud voice broke the silence, starling Kei.
“Another submission?” Kei turned around the find the source of the voice, zoning in on a movement of black at the back of the hall.
He stepped away from the stand to get a better look. “Pardon?”
“You must be in the professor’s political economy freshmen class, right?” The figure stood up. Kei could make out a tall boy with dark hair standing at one of the desks at the back. “I’m one of the professor’s third-year TAs. Your submissions are here, come up.”
Kei observed the boy from his distance. He seemed to be another student, judging from the lack of the university’s signature neon fucking orange visitor’s badge or lanyard on his dark grey shirt. He was also wearing black skinny jeans, from which, Kei deduced meant the boy wasn't that much older than himself either. He decided to believe the strange TA, who didn't seem to be familiar with the concept of introducing oneself like a normal individual, as opposed to hiding and shouting (and starling tired hungover first-years) across a hall.
Kei quickly walked across the room, hurrying up the stairs to get to the desk, to stand across from the boy. Up this close Kei could see his features clearly; strong jaw and sharp almost feline like eyes. There was something slightly unnerving about the way his lips tilted up at the corners into a slight smirk and monstrous bed head. He was tall ( and handsome ), but he also sported a gravity defying bird’s nest for hair and that led Kei to question his lifestyle choices.
“I think you’re the last one. You’re late.” Bird’s nest said, taking the paper from Kei’s hands and looking it over before sitting back down in the chair. He tossed it to the side on top of a pile of papers, presumably of his other classmates’ submissions. Kei seethed at hearing those words said out loud, ‘ you’re late ’. It's like, he knew he was late, but hearing other people say it felt like admitting some sort of defeat.
Perhaps it was because of the boy’s deep voice, or the fact that he was still incredibly attractive despite the hazardous bramble bush atop his head that had Kei flustered. He regained his voice after a moment.
“I’M NOT LATE.” He blurted out, much to his own embarrassment. “With all due respect... Mr... uh... sir ... I do still have five minutes until the deadline.”
Bird’s nest grinned at that. “Five minutes till the deadline ?”
“Yes, there was a deadline set for exactly 9am today.” Kei clenched out, trying to channel his signature monotone. Bird’s nest still grinned.
“ And? ” Bird’s nest said, drawing out the words slightly. Kei narrowed his eyes; he was well acquainted with the familiar nuances of mockery in the tone.
“And , a deadline is the end of a time period in which an assignment can be handed in which, for this paper is 9am, and it is not yet 9am, so I'm not late.” He would not let the very excessive and very attractive boy win. Indeed, for the sake of his pride and his moral duty to honour the laws of physics which the bird's nest recklessly defied, he would not let the bird’s nest man win.
“And you think that’s the best time to hand in an assignment? Gosh, kids these days! You know, back when I was a first year I’d never even dream of handing in an assignment late-”
“I wasn’t late.”
“-and here you kids are just walking all over everything this fine establishment of tertiary education stands on. Have you no shame, no consideration for law and order. Why the sheer audacity! To be late. Pah.”
Kei gave him a moment to finish, eyes still narrowed. “I’m not late.”
Bird’s nest stared at him for a moment before smiling softly and lifting feet back off the desk. “Well, I dunno, kiddo. It is past 9am.”
Bird’s nest was right, which made Kei upset. He seethed internally. He didn't like unfairly attractive people who talked way too much about stupid things and wasted his time. It was definitely in his top 3 pet peeves.
“I was on time, however, you, independently, with no third party influence on my part, decided to spend an extra five minutes on a much too long and much too boring monologue on being late, which once again, I was not.”
“Wow,” bird’s nest said with feigned indigence and generally unnecessary theatrics. “is that how you speak to your hard working TAs? Do you speak this rudely to your professors too? Why-”
“Are you marking these papers for the professor?” Kei asked, cutting bird’s nest in the middle of his monologue. He looked slightly puzzled in response as if this was the first time he’d ever had an audience member interrupt the play.
“No, I’m just collecting in th-“
“Okay then, thank you very much! Good day.” Kei said mock cheerily before running down the stairs to the exit of the hall.
He heard a shouted ‘It was nice to meet you too!’ before the door shut loudly behind him.
He continued his not-quite-seething-anymore , more like below-fuming-somewhat-simmering disposition as he walked out of the faculty building. He was still upset and he was still justified. Kei felt a vibration in his pocket and took out his phone to find an incoming call.
“It's 9am, how are you even awake after last night?” Kei groaned into the phone, continuing walking out of the commerce faculty building. “No, change that to why are you even awake after last night. I for one, wholeheartedly wish I were not.”
“Sorry, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi chuckled through the phone. “But some of us actually listen to the thousands of warnings given to us about Oikawa’s... concoctions .”
“You know that's a sore topic.” Kei grumbled.
“And you know it’s your own fault.” Kei remained silent in response. He was still upset and he would forever insist it was still justified. “Anyways, did you manage to hand your paper in on time?”
“I think so.”
“You think ?”
Kei sighed. “I had a run in with an annoying TA. It's a long story I’ll tell you later when I don't feel like death personified.” He heard Yamaguchi’s chuckle through the phone’s speaker and smiled softly.
“Okay Hades , I’m at the café with everyone else. Come get something to eat.”
“Ok, I’ll see you soon.” Kei said before disconnecting and putting his phone away.
Kei trudged back across the lawns to the small student café. It was during this walk that the reality of having not eaten anything in ten hours, and having only slept for maybe five, began to catch up to him. He felt drained, and still very upset, more so now with himself than the entire world (although still very upset at the entire world, as always).
If it weren't already evident, Kei was purposeful and deliberate. It was how he’d trained himself to be in order to tackle his life; balance academics with his extracurriculars, friends and family. He’d developed this tight regime over his own life to better handle it and avoid casualties. Consequently, he appreciated when the same discipline was shown from others. It was basic human decency to be on time, basic human decency to not unfairly waste people's time ( and to not be so unfairly attractive) . And what had just unfolded for Kei was a contradiction to this very truth that he had held dear all his life. It was a minor, infinitesimal upset in the long run but for Kei this was upsetting, physically and mentally; a contradiction that unbalanced.
Kei didn't like such contradictions.
He entered the café and walked over to a table near the back where he could see Yamaguchi waving him over from. His eyes narrowed in on the patch of bright, pumpkin coloured hair seated across from Yamaguchi, animatedly eating a stack of pancakes.
“You,” he shouted, pointing at the aforementioned vegetable and slamming his backpack down onto the table much to the surprise of everyone seated. “ You , are the reason I almost failed university.”
Hinata looked up at him, puzzled for a few moments before bursting into laughter. “Oh, you must mean last night? That was incredible! I’m so glad I convinced you to come.”
“I was almost late to hand in my final. Do you even understand what that means?”
“You said almost, right? So you’re fine.” Hinata returned with a wide grin before promptly turning back to his plate.
“I swear to god I will fight you-”
“Shh, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi cut him off, tugging at his arm gently to pull him down to a seat. “Just eat your pancakes. It's too early in the morning for dramatics.”
“It is never too early for dramatics.” Kei argued (mumbled), letting himself be pulled down. He focused his attention on the plate of food in front of him, leaving his battle with the pumpkin to be resumed another time.
Kageyama smiled at the exchange, however, as per his disposition, the smile looked more like a scowl. “So, as I was saying, Oikawa has another party tonight-”
Kei felt chills at the mere sound of that name.
“No.” Kei said immediately. “No, I’m not going.”
“This is just a small gathering at his place! And it's just with people from Miyagi and some other friends of his.” Yamaguchi said, to be met with a glare from Kei. “It's just a small celebration! We already know everyone there, it's not a big deal.”
“Yeah,” Kageyama said nodding in agreement, although it was muffled by his large mouthful of food. “Nothing wild and crazy like last night. Oh my god, speaking of last night. Tsukishima, do you remember how you-”
He could feel his stomach churning as more memories from last night at Oikawa’s resurfaced. He did not need this so soon, end of semester one celebrations be damned; Tsukishima Kei still had his pride (although, only fragments).
“No.” He repeated firmly. Tsukishima Kei would not fall prey to the clutches of peer pressure. He would prevail.
“But Tsukish-” Hinata began.
“No, no, no and that's final. I absolutely refuse to go and there's absolutely nothing you can say to make me.”
“I can’t believe you made me.” Kei guffawed, still in disbelief as he stared at the drink in his hand. They were all sitting together on a small sofa set in the corner of a large living room full of people, music loud and fast.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Kageyama shouted back, squinting at Kei as if that would help him hear better over the racing music.
“I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL.” Kei yelled earning confused looks from nearby people.
Hinata stood up from the sofa and stumbled closer towards Kei. “Shh.” he hushed, covering Kei’s mouth with his hand, and then giggling . “Talk less, drink more.”
“Why do we keep letting him do this? He has absolutely no tolerance for alcohol.” Kageyama sighed, arms folded with his signature look of fond disgust. It seemed like an oxymoron but somehow there was always some fondness in every look Kageyama gave towards Hinata, even the usual ones of disgust and despair.
“You’re no better, Kageyama.” Yamaguchi chimed in. “The two of you can barely stay sober on apple juice let alone vodka.”
Kageyama blushed furiously at that. “I swear to god Yamaguchi that was one time if you keep bringing it up-”
“Wait- Tsukki, are you seriously wearing your headphones right now?” Yamaguchi said turning towards Kei, eyes bright with laughter and a slight blush on his cheeks from drinking. “We’re at a party. ”
“Your point?”
“There’s already music.”
“Well, maybe I want to listen to my own music.” Yamaguchi continued to stare at him, unimpressed. “Listen, I will not let the events of last night repeat themselves.” Kei said firmly, putting his headphones over his ears and sitting back into the recline of the sofa.
“Oh my god, last night!” Hinata laughed loudly, startling Kei. “When you and Oikawa took all those shots and then got onto the tables an-”
“ENOUGH.” Kei cut him off quickly. “I will not be swayed.” He added, with a pointed look at Yamaguchi.
“What does that even mean you literally just drunk like at least two bottle-” Kageyama began.
“I WILL NOT BE SWAYED.” Kei repeated loudly, walking away from a laughing Yamaguchi and an unimpressed Kageyama, who had already turned back to tend to the still giggling Hinata.
He continued walking away from the group until he felt someone collide hard into his chest. He took a step back, shook his head slightly to regain his composure and looked up at the imposing obstacle. His eyes widened as he found himself met with a familiar set of sharp eyes and wild black hair. Bird’s nest.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention-”
“You.” Kei sputtered in shock, mouth left agape. Bird’s nest seemed surprised too at first before he broke out into a grin.
“Me.” He replied cheerily, the sides of his mouth tugged up in what seemed to be an ever-present smirk. There was a moment of silence and Tsukishima continued to stare in disbelief and bird’s nest matched his stare with his grin. “Wait, are you wearing headphones at a party? There’s something almost criminal about that.”
“Well, maybe, I want to listen to my own music.” Kei mumbled indignantly.
Bird’s nest smiled. “A noble effort, truly, which I do applaud but perhaps it would be helpful to plug your headphones in first.”
Kei once again found himself in a very unpleasant situation, for reasons that were not his fault, naturally . Except they were entirely his fault and nothing today was going in his favour and he was maybe already a little bit drunk.
He took his headphones off and took a small step backwards, away from the Very Uncomfortable situation he had gotten himself into. It must be criminal to be that attractive , in this very moment, when the last thing Kei needs is ‘ that attractive’ .
“Pardon?” Bird’s nest said.
Kei felt his blood freeze.
“I said that out loud, didn't I.”
“You did.” Bird’s nest said somewhat sympathetically. Kei didn't know what was more annoying; his face with the everpresent smirk or his face now showing a gentle smile. Both made his heart beat uncomfortably fast, although that was probably the alcohol speaking (although Kei didn't think it actually was). The man reached across to grab Kei’s arms to steady him, taking the headphones out of his hands. “Here, let me help you, you look a little pale. Are you okay?”
Kei felt somewhat attacked. He had not asked for this very annoying (very annoyingly attractive) man to be so close to him and say words to him, words which were hard to understand both because of the volume of the music, and his thumping heart struggling to pump oxygen around his body as its neglectant owner struggled to take a breath.
Kei was still upset; he’d lost his pride today, and he didn't have anything else to give the avenging bird man who stood across from him.
Kei decided this was enough. He’d woken up this morning with the simple intention of ending the semester by handing in an essay, and then meeting his friends, and then going promptly back to bed. He hadn't planned for any of this. Albeit all that had actually happened was a TA had teased him a little and then held his arm, but that was all enough to make Kei feel very overwhelmed.
Tsukishima Kei was still like any other mundane human, with a programmed fight or flight response.
He turned away quickly from bird’s nest, snatching his hand out of his grip and ran back over to the sofa set. “Yamaguchi, we’re leaving.” Kei hissed, grabbing Yamaguchi’s arms and pulling him up off from his seat and towards the door.
“What? Why?” Yamaguchi asked startled, which Kei promptly ignored as he powered through the guests, yanking Yamaguchi across the room.
And with that Tsukishima Kei exited the establishment, leaving behind his half finished drink, another fragment of his pride and probably some of his dignity too.
After a few steps he felt Yamaguchi pull roughly back on his arm, stopping Kei in his tracks. He turned around to find an exasperated and concerned Yamagucci. It seemed like an oxymoron, just like Kageyama’s fond disgust, but somehow when it came to Kei, Yamaguchi balanced exasperation with deep concern like a pro.
“What happened, Tsukki?”
Kei looked back at the small building that was now a few metres away, closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at Yamaguchi.
“I was swayed.”