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Tsukishima eased down onto his futon, biting back a groan that would be equal parts pain and pleasure at finally being able to properly sit down. It had been a long day that seemed to bleed into three equally long days as more aches and pains settled into his body, making him feel far older than his 18 years. It’s their last Tokyo training camp though so all the third years are going even harder than usual, which is saying something considering the third years consist of the energizer bunnies in the human forms of Hinata and Inuoka, amongst others.
After three years Tsukishima has simply accepted he’s never going to be able to be at the level those monsters train and play at. He actually accepted that when he was in his first year, but it took him until his last year to be okay with that. He was a monster in his own right and he had proven himself a valuable asset to the team repeatedly. He went on the morning runs followed by morning practices and punishments, then evening practices and after that extra practices. He was there and he was present, learning and evolving not at the speed of certain volleyball idiots but at his own speed.
Tsukishima went to grab his ipod when his fingers twitched, still taped up from repeated jamming. Fukurodani’s new ace had all the power of Bokuto and the strange will to break through Tsukishima’s blocks. He wasn’t doing it vindictively, Tsukishima knew this though he accused the other teen of it several times just to rile him up. But he was still just a first year and Tsukishima had time and experience over him. Plus during their second year, Karasuno had started doing joint training camps with the top five teams back in Miyagi. Tsukishima had practiced with and against Datekou more times than he could count and even though he’d never admit it out loud, he had a great teacher in the form of an annoying cat by the name of Kuroo Tetsurou who took a starting position on his university team his first year.
Kageyama collapsed onto the futon next to Tsukishima’s with the usual grace he exuded when off the court, which meant absolutely none. He pulled out a notebook and started to make chicken scratch notes in it. The volleyball genius did not need notes when it came to the game, but he had grown not only as a player but a person. He started to take notes so he could show them to Yamaguchi, who was better at telling the other players what they were doing wrong in a far nicer tone than Kageyama.
“Hey King,” Tsukishima called quietly so as not to pull attention to them. Kageyama frowned as he looked over at Tsukishima, though the frown wasn’t anything new. Tsukishima had learned over the years Kageyama’s many different frowns and this one was just his usual one when his attention was pulled away from volleyball. Tsukishima held out his tapped hands just to be difficult and Kageyama stared down at them before putting his pen in his notebook and setting it aside.
Tsukishima could pinpoint when the relationship he shared with Kageyama shifted into something quite different, but he rather not. He still was unwilling to admit that he had any kind of positive relationship with Kageyama, even though Yamaguchi constantly teased him otherwise. That was another thing that had changed over the years, Yamaguchi’s confidence and the fact that he no longer wilted away from a mean stare from Tsukishima.
Kageyama’s frown deepened as he took Tsukishima’s left hand in between his own. The tape was wet from when Tsukishima had showered, making it more difficult to remove. There were several scars marking his fingers and several of them were rather crooked. His mother worried that he would have arthritis before he even hit his twenties and he was sure she wasn’t too far off with her estimation.
Despite Kageyama’s rough attitude, his fingers were careful against Tsukishima’s own. Tsukishima’s fingers were far paler, long and thin when in direct comparison to Kageyama’s. Kageyma had grown not just a person but physically too. He wasn’t as tall as Tsukishima or Yamaguchi, who had both gained height over the past three years, but he had an athletic build that was more common in high school sitcoms than actual high schoolers. He was already being scouted at their games, promised to several of the best universities with the top rated volleyball tames.
Tsukishima wondered if Oikawa Tooru felt Kageyama breathing down his neck, if his concentration was shot from waiting to see if he’d be benched once more for the monster who had ended his high school career early. Tsukishima hadn’t grown much as a person, he was still as vindictive and mean as ever but one thing had changed about that. He never used that against Kageyama any longer, hadn’t in years actually. Sometimes when he butted heads with Hinata he still bite out harsh words that had both Yamaguchi and Kageyama frowning at him, but even that was few and far in between. Plus Hinata always bounced back, sometimes even sent his serves into Tsukishima’s back. He had developed enough control that it was getting ridiculous how easily he could slam one into Tsukishima when he was being an asshole.
Kageyama dropped the discarded tape into a pile between them, the pads of his fingers gently massaging Tsukishima’s fingers and hands. Tsukishima pressed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes, a mix of emotions curling inside him at the clear tenderness Kageyama was showing him.
Sometimes Tsukishima felt as if it would have been much easier if they could have continued on with the relationship they had first developed. But when the third years left and then the second, it meant they had to become closer in order to continue winning. Kageyama took Tsukishima’s snarled suggestions to heart and he made the adjustments with little complaint and Tsukishima found it continually harder to find fault in the other teen.
Kageyama was still an idiot, his grades were only marginally better their third year than in their first and that was mostly due to Yachi being a saint with never ending patience. He was still a monster on the court who expected everyone to practice and play at his level, not understanding that some of them were just mere peasants. He still got into daily arguments with Hinata and scared his teammates at several times.
Tsukishima prided himself on being above most of his teammates antics, he was far too univolved and mature to play into their tricks or pranks. But the soft feeling boiling up inside of him was a little too much to handle and he was just 18 after all. So he couldn’t be held responsible when he grabbed the pillow off his futon with his free hand, cringing only slightly as his fingers twinged in protest at the movement, and smacked Kageyama in the side of the head with it.
Apparently the commotion was caught by the entire room as it went deathly silent. For a whole two seconds.
“Pillow fight!” The team captain and Idiot Number One, Hinata shouted as he did a rolling summersalt that managed to grab several pillows.
Pure chaos reigned after that and Tsukishima soon lost his glasses with the first hit. Thankfully his reputation hadn’t eroded too much over the years so he leaned against the wall and no one dared attack him as he watched the blurry fingers hit each other with blurry white shapes.
“What the hell is going on in here!” Ukai bellowed and everyone scrambled into the nearest bed, not even caring if it was their own. “Apparently I’m going too easy on you all, so you’ll be completing punishments whether you win or lose tomorrow and if you lose, you have to do the punishments twice.” The team groaned as a unit and Tsukishima rubbed his tired eyes. “Now get to sleep!” The lights were turned off and the door slammed shut.
Tsukishima knew Ukai wasn’t truly angry and he would most likely only make them do one or two extra punishments at the most but it was better not to push him any further.
Glasses were put onto Tsukishima’s face and he could make the clear figure of Kageyama in front of him. The other teen had probably spent the entire pillow fight searching for Tsukishima’s glasses and protecting them against breaking.
Tsukishima leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Kageyama’s lips, ignoring the burning in his own cheeks as he crawled under his futons blankets and took his glasses off once more. Kageyama settled down next to him and even without his glasses Tsukishima knew the wide-eyed look Kageyama was giving him, always gave him when Tsukishima initiated physical contact.
“Goodnight Kei.” Kageyama said quietly, voice almost a buzzing baritone now that made something warm burst through Tsukishima’s chest that he refused to acknowledge anytime soon.
“Goodnight King.” Tsukishima said in an even quieter voice. Tsukishima pretended he couldn’t make out the whites of Kageyama’s teeth as he smiled over at Tsukishima.