Chapter Text
Yamaguchi decides to confess to Tsukishima in their second year of junior high. It’s probably the only reckless thing that Yamaguchi Tadashi has done in his short life, but he’s completely enamored with the tall blonde that had become his accidental savior. He thought about it a lot, since his crush developed over the school year, and he wanted to stay in Tsukki’s shadow for as long as he was allowed. He thinks Tsukki is so cool, and that he’s really beautiful. From everything that he’s over heard from the girl in his class he thought that meant it was a good idea to confess. He wasn’t sure if it was okay for him to like a boy but he was sure about his feelings and Tsukki was still his friend. He wouldn't make fun of him or tell other people… at least he hopes so.
He borrows some paper from his mom’s craft supplies, a pale blue paper because he thought it was cool and Tsukki would like it. He’d made a mess of himself with glitter and glue but the letter looked pretty good with gold glitter on the sides of his dark blue confession. He folded up the letter and put it in a white envelope, closing it with a moon sticker he’d found in the house a couple of weeks ago. He addresses the envelope carefully. He placed the letter in Tsukki’s shoe locker at lunch time before meeting up with his friend at their usual spot.
He’d asked Tsukki to meet him after school out behind the athletic fields, it seemed like a good enough place. Yamaguchi doesn’t put his name on the letter wanting to be cool enough to at least show up and tell Tsukki his feelings in person. He’s nervous all day, sick to his stomach, but near the end of the school day he finds himself feeling excited. Tsukki was cold to everyone except Yamaguchi, he never let anyone be his friend, he barely talked to anyone else, that had to mean maybe he would accept Yamaguchi’s feelings too, right?
Yamaguchi runs down to meet Tsukki after class before it occurs to him that he has to be waiting for him to confess. But then it occurs to him that Tsukki might worry if he doesn’t see him in their usual place. He whips around the corner still panicking about what to do when he sees the letter in Tsukki’s hand, the eyes behind his glasses scanning the page quickly. He yelps quietly hiding before peeking around the corner once more. With his brow furrowed Tsukki folds the letter back up and replaces it in the envelope and throws it in the trash. Yamaguchi turns around pressing his back to the wall trying to make sense of what he’d just seen.
“Are you ready to go?” He startles looking up at Tsukishima who’s waiting for him to join him and walk home the way they usually do.
He doesn’t know what else to do except nod, so he does and falls into step beside his friend the image of his letter falling into the trash on repeat in his head.
“You look sick,” Tsukki says, not looking at him as they take the familiar route home.
“Haven’t been feeling well,” Yamaguchi said but it sounds very far away.
“ Tch , you need to sleep more.”
“Sorry Tsukki,” he muttered. They walked the rest of the way in silence until they meet the street Tsukki takes to go home. He said goodbye like every other day, but it felt different.
Yamaguchi walks past the street his house is on and goes towards the park nearby. It’s a beautiful day warm but not too hot since summer isn’t yet in full swing. The sky is blue, the grass is green, the water of the park lake blissfully still. Yamaguchi plants himself under a big tree and stares at the water until his vision starts to blur with tears.
He sits with his back against the tree trunk crying quietly at first, mind blank as the pain of what just happened actually sinks in with him. Eventually his mind kicks back online and he thoughts are a flurry of regrets and sobs start to wrack his body. He’s devastated, he feels stupid for hoping that anything good could come of his actions, for thinking Tsukki would accept his feelings. He pulls his knees up to his face and sobs without abandon, just an insignificant figure in the shade of a park tree with a broken heart.
Oikawa is late. He was supposed to meet Iwaizumi at the park with some other friends about an hour ago but there were some girls waiting to confess and he couldn’t resist stopping for milk bread on the way. Iwa-chan is already upset , Oikawa thinks as he enters the park, no use in rushing now . He pauses mid stride noticing someone hunched at the base of a large tree not far from the path. The person is so out of place in the park on a day like today that Oikawa is drawn to him immediately. He walks closer, seeing that the figure is in a school uniform he doesn’t recognize.
“Are you alright?” Oikawa asks, leaning forward, head tilted to the side curiously. The boy gasps, sniffling loudly as he jerks his head up. Oikawa’s eyes widen as he takes in the tear-streaked face in front of him. A normal person might’ve first noticed the boy’s puffy eyes or the tears and snot, or even just the distress etched into every feature of the boys face but at the moment all Oikawa Tooru can see is freckles. They splay out across the boys cheeks trailing around his eyes and the edges of his face, maybe there are even more to be seen when his face wasn’t flushed from crying.
The boy is quick to turn his face away and Oikawa frowns, finding himself wishing he could have looked longer. He shakes his head a little bit, taking off his backpack and pulling out a pack of tissues.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Oikawa says offering a tissue to the boy. The green haired boy peeks over and drops his knees a little bit reaching a shaking hand for the tissue.
“T-thank you,” The boy mutters. Oikawa shoots him his best smile. Oikawa’s phone buzzes in hand with a message from Iwaizumi saying he’s leaving soon if Oikawa doesn’t hurry his ass up.
“Here,” Oikawa offers up his package of milk bread which the boy accepts confusedly. “I’ve got to run, but I hope that whatever’s making you sad gets better soon. Bye-bye Freckles-chan!” He leaves quickly partly because the boy left him feeling a little off kilter–in a good way– and also because he’s really late now. Behind him, under the tree sits a confused boy with a package of milk bread in his lap, and he’s no longer crying.
Yamaguchi thinks about the bread boy all week. Things with Tsukki are the same as they’ve ever been on the outside but the rejections still a fresh wound whether Tsukki is aware of it or not. He tries not to think about how beautiful Tsukki is anymore or what it would be like to date him. Those things were dangerous to think in the first place. Only now when he pivots his mind away from Tsukki they go straight to the kind stranger with his fluffy brown hair and brilliant smile. It’s not a crush really, Yamaguchi doesn’t know the slightest thing about the boy after all. He wonders if the boy would have done what he did for anyone, or if he could have known just how much it meant to Yamaguchi in that moment to have someone actually see him and care about him even a little bit. It takes a few days to realize that he really wants to see the bread boy again.
He doesn’t frequently go to the park but he finds himself thinking that maybe he should. He doesn’t know anything else about the guy after all, not a name or even a hint at what school since he wasn’t in uniform. A loud bark shakes Yamaguchi from his thoughts. He looks down his Australian Shepard, Taro. She looks at him intently with her gray eyes and Yamaguchi laughs.
“Want to go to the park?” He asks, pulling down her leash. She jumps around him excitedly, her spotted ears flopping everywhere. He doesn’t really take her to the park because she’s still being trained, usually her walks are just through the neighborhood where there are less distractions. “We’re looking for someone,” He tells her squishing her face, “Charming bread boy with great hair, let me know if you see him.” She jumps some more as if she understands and he smiles as he slips on his shoes.
They don’t see him, but Taro does much better with the park than Yamaguchi expected. He takes her back whenever she starts getting antsy now and she comes home happy and tired. His mother comments on how nice it is to not have her running underfoot so much when she gets home from work. He doesn’t forget about the bread boy, but walking Taro becomes the main reason for going to the park over summer break.
Of course that’s when it happens.
The walk starts off like any other, the park is a bit busier that normal since it’s a weekend but Taro’s been a lot better with distractions lately staying at Yamaguchi’s side instead of pulling the leash. He’s gotten much more relaxed with monitoring her. He gets a text and he pulls out his phone to read it. Tsukki is cancelling plans with him because his brother invited him to some college campus visit. Yamaguchi sighs, thinking about his response. He’s not mad of course, in fact he’s glad that Tsukki is going to spend some time with Akiteru, but he feels like Tsukki brushes him off too easily sometimes and that makes him think about the letter and it brings his mood down really quickly. He’s about to type his reply when suddenly Taro barks and takes off running, ripping the leash out of his hands.
He curses, taking off after her but he’s just a little bit too far behind her since he was distracted. He calls her name but she doesn’t let up even for a second, running with everything she’s got. Of course she gets loose on one of the busiest days the park has seen. He loses sight of her eventually and his heart sinks. He tries not to panic, still calling out her name clearly. He wonders if she would eventually be able to find her way home if he couldn’t find her. Just when he thinks that this searching is pointless, he turns around and spots Taro. She’s happily being petted by someone sitting in the grass.
“Taro!!” He calls with relief running towards her and then the person petting looks up and Yamaguchi stops dead in his tracks.
“Freckles-chan!” The boy calls happily, smiling easily at Yamaguchi.
“B-bread boy?” He stammers, looking uncertainly at his dog with awe.
She seemed to be smirking back at him.