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Chapter Text

Yaku was normally one to appreciate a still silence. After all, his position as the Nekoma libero and essentially the team mom always left him looking for some peace to think for himself. If he were in a different situation, that would be exactly what he’d be doing right now.

However, here he was at his desk after school, the late afternoon sunlight from the window giving the room a glow that made him feel sleepy and warm. His feet were tucked under his seat and his fingers twirled a pencil distractedly as he chewed at his bottom lip.

“Yaku-san?”

The sudden voice in the break of silence almost made the short third-year jump. In his surprise, his pencil flipped out of his fingers and rolled to the other side if the desk onto a sheet of papers that were not his own. Yaku’s eyes flickered upward to see a tall boy with silver hair whose long legs were extended so that his feet were on either side of Yaku’s seat. The other boy’s Caribbean green eyes looked at him with a mysterious intesity that made Yaku’s heart hammer against his chest. Yaku gulped as he heard a single thought ring through his head:

Haiba Lev is going to be the end of me.

Luckily for Yaku, he was rather adept at keeping himself looking composed. So he tore his eyes away from the other’s, being extra careful not to let their hands brush against each other as he retrieved his pencil.

“Yeah?” he answered, letting his eyes flicker right back up to Lev.

“Can you help me with this problem?” Lev asked, pouting as he handed Yaku his paper. “I thought I did the steps right, but I keep getting it wrong.”

“Hmm, alright, hand it over,” Yaku said.

Technically, at this time after school, they should have been in volleyball practice. However, their exams were coming up and their supervisor suggested that they give an hour before practice to study. Lev had begged Yaku to help him with his math class for days before the senior finally gave in, thinking to himself that it wouldn’t be that bad.

However, as Yaku explained Lev’s mistakes to him, he began to note how close their heads were leaning to each other and how the pads of Lev’s fingers brushed the back of his hand ever so slightly. Lev’s ankles were hooked around the front legs of Yaku’s chair, pulling him closer to the desk—closer to Lev.

This time Yaku couldn’t stop a slight pink hue from tinting his cheeks and the tips of his ears. However, he soldiered on and frowned at Lev, whose lips are now pressed in a terrible attempt to hide a smile.

“Lev, what do you think you’re doing?” Yaku asked evenly, raising an eyebrow.

Lev’s head jerked up and his face turned red at being called out.

“I-I, um,” Lev stammered, scratching the back of his neck. “I just, uh, couldn’t see the paper.” Lev paused fot a minute and then nodded, falsely convincing himself that, yes, Yaku would definitely buy that. “I wanted to get a better look,” Lev said, his eyes darting back and forth between the paper and Yaku.

Oh…

Yaku suddenly felt a bit foolish for being so nervous a little while ago. Granted, Yaku hardly got chances to interact with Lev one-on-one, but it wasn’t hard to read the first-year like an open book. Regardless of how child-like Lev was at hiding his crush, Yaku couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter just a bit.

Yaku felt emboldened and rose to his feet, pushing his chair back as he leaned in. He cursed his short legs for making this moment a lot less cool for him, but he started this so he’s going to finish it regardless.
Yaku brought his face closer to Lev’s so that their noses were barely an inch apart. He watched Lev’s eyes widen and—wait, is he holding his breath?

Yaku almost feels bad for the boy for a split second, his maternal instincts chastising him for finding amusement in Lev’s nervousness, but he figures that this is one of those perfect opportunities that he was never going to get again. Maybe it was the lazy afternoon light warming his cheeks ot maybe it was the beating of his own heart influencing his horrible,high school boy emotions, but Yaku smirked, his eyes half-hooded. “How’s this?” he said.

Yaku immediately feels foolish as the words fall out of his lips, but he never became a libero by giving up, so he held his gaze.

Lev gulped and finally regained his breath (and Yaku is thankful—he thought the poor kid was going to pass out). “I-I dunno,” he managed to stammer. “Maybe I should get a little closer.”

Fireworks went off in Yaku’s head and he was both embarrassed and charmed that Lev played along with his cheesy move. However, before he could get over his triumph, he noticed that Lev actually was moving forward. Yaku eyes widened and his lips part slightly. Lev closed his eyes and Yaku could feel the middle blocker’s breath on his lips.

Despite his internal glee and the fact that, yes, he would very much have liked to kiss Haiba Lev, Yaku was suddenly aware of everything at once. For instance, they were still im school. They were *supposed* to be studying, but all they had managed to do is confirm their own mutual feelings through awkward flirting. “W-wait, Lev—” he said.

The classroom door slid open loudly and unceremoniously and Yaku yelped, pushing away Lev hard enough to make the confused boy fall off his chair.

Yaku knew he was bright red when he turned to face Kuroo, who was standing in the doorway with a cat-like smirk on his face.

Kuroo gave a low whistle, his eyes dar ting back-and-forth between Yaku and Lev, who was clamoring to his feet, his ears a tomato red shade.

“Well, I see you two are studying hard,” he said cooly, “but practice is starting, so…”

The two flustered boys shoved their stuff back into their bags, both avoiding eye contact. It took every muscle in his body to stop Yaku from slapping the shit-eating grin from the captain off his face as they follow him out.

However,as they walked down the hallway, devoid of the students who had either gone home or were busy with club activities, Yaku felt Lev’s hand accidentally brush against his. It took him a whole nother minute to take Lev’s height into account and realize that it probably wasn’t an accident at all.

Yaku’s assumption was confirmed when he peeked up at the first-year, whose face was still red and his fingers curled and uncurled tentatively into his palm. He smiled and lifted his hand just a bit, brushing the pads of his fingers against Lev’s clammy palm before letting their digits intertwine like they belonged together.

“You know,” Yaku said, just quietly enough for Lev to hear, “if you need anymore help with that math, I could always give you a hand.”

Yaku’s heart soared as he feels Lev tighten his grip on his hand. Lev’ s smile was wide and his eyes lit up like an excited child. He nodded so enthusiastically that Yaku had to stop himself from bursting out in laughter.

“It’s a date then!”

Chapter Text

Haiba Lev doesn’t like to admit it, but he was kind of clingy.

Not too much (he’d insist to himself)—just a little! Just to the point where he made sure to ask his boyfriend how he was doing everyday and went to great lengths to try not be late when they Skyped together (he had been late once in his second year and Yaku had chewed his ear off about punctuality). Sure, maybe he had Yaku as his cellphone background and, sure, he whined sometimes whenever Yaku had to cancel a date, and also, Lev had possibly followed his boyfriend to college, but he wasn’t that bad.

(In short, Lev was very clingy, and he was also very lucky that Yaku liked him enough not to mind.)
Honestly, it was no easy feat either. After all, Yaku was very smart—universities had all but begged him to come to their schools. It was a mystery to anyone why Yaku had picked the university near the countryside over all of the prestigious schools that wanted him. Regardless, Lev, who was neither the sharpest nor the most tactful, had worked his ass off to at least be recognized by Yaku’s school. He almost wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for the fact that he had gotten good enough at volleyball to be scouted by Yaku’s university.

Nevertheless, Lev had gotten in and had excitedly boasted about it for the rest of the school year. His teammates on the Nekoma team teased him about how his attachment Yaku was going to chase their senior away. Even Yaku had rolled his eyes when Lev had enthused about how they’d get to see eachother basically everyday (only to offer to help him move into his freshman dorm right after with a proud grin plastered on his face).

As it turned out, the two of them did end up seeing eachother more than they had expected. In fact, they were together almost everyday, every morning, and every night (and it wasn’t even completely Lev’s fault, to be honest—Yaku called him most of the time with the excuse that if he didn’t keep an eye on Lev, the younger would get into more trouble than Yaku wanted to deal with (and even if that were true, everyone knew Yaku would bear with Lev anyway because he was Lev and, for Yaku, that made him worth the hassle)). The only reason they were ever apart was because technically Lev still lived in the dorms and neither of them was brave enough to actually pop the question.

So really, after all of this, it was no real surprise how cuddly Lev was in bed. Even on hot nights when the couple was sweating through their clothes and all Yaku wanted to do was to be as far away from Lev’s excessive amount of body heat as possible, they would often find themselves wrapped in a coccoon of blankets and pillows, their bodies intertwined and Lev’s nose in Yaku’s short locks, the younger of the two snoring away so contentedly that he was practically purring.

(Yaku always scolded Lev when they woke up and Lev always hung his head like a child caught in the act even though they both were well aware that Yaku was just as guilty of burying his face in Lev’s chest and wrapping his legs around the lanky thing that he called his boyfriend.)

This particular morning was not an exception of any sort. When Lev had woken up, a soft blanket pulled over his head and the smell of Yaku’s lingering shampoo from last night filling his nostrils, he intentionally ignored the incessant prodding at his chest and muffled calls of his names. Lev pulled Yaku closer to his body, and buried his nose in Yaku’s short, honey hair, a smile curling on his lips when the smaller man let out a muffled cry of protest.

“Five more minutes, Yaku-san,” Lev whined as Yaku pushed himself away. He opened one heavy eyelid to see Yaku giving him a stern glare, his face flushing from either the heat from last night or their proximity (even though the two had been dating for over three years now, Lev liked to think that he still made Yaku flustered even though it was really the other way around).

“Lev, do you know what time it is?” Yaku asked.

“Time for you to get a watch,” Lev said drowsily, smiling as Yaku smacked him with a pillow for his awful pun. Lev hooked his arm around Yaku’s slender waist as the other tried to get up. “Yaku-saaan,” he whined again as his boyfriend pried himself away.

“Lev, it’s ten in the morning,” Yaku continued his voice growing stern.

Lev groaned as the bed begins to rock and he loses his grip on Yaku. The blankets shuffle and Lev buried his face into the pillow. “So?”

Yaku only sighed in response and ruffled some more fabric as he changed, leaving Lev to pout into the pillow by himself.

Yaku never let him sleep in! (Lev complained inwardly as he tried to drown out the sounds of Yaku’s loud bathroom sink). Even on weekends Yaku would nag Lev to get up. He didn’t know why Yaku couldn’t just give in and take a morning nap with him like he did some weekends.

Lev’s eyes shot open and he lifted his head up sharply, staring at the wall in horror.
Then again, Lev thought, this probably means it’s not a weekend.

Lev threw his covers off of him, yelling as he tripped out of bed and fumbled with his phone. He hadn’t realized that he had turned off his alarm in his sleep again! This was already the second time he had slept through practice—oh man, the captain was going to kill him.

Lev untangled his long limbs from the sheets and stumbled around the room for his clothes, cursing himself for throwing them around the night before.

“Where’s my sweater?” Lev called into the hallway as he hopped into his jeans. There was no answer aside from the scent of breakfast drifting into the room. Lev pouted—upperclassmen always had such lax schedules. “Yaku-san…” he whined loudly.

“It’s in here!” Yaku finally replied as Lev pulled his shirt over his head and staggered into the kitchen. He beamed at the sight of Yaku holding out his sweater and a piece of toast to him. “Hurry up, you’re gonna be late.”

“Thank you,” Lev purred as he took his belongings and leaned in for a kiss. Yaku frowned and pushed him away.

“Gross—not with your morning breath,” he said, sighing when Lev pouted. He stood on his toes to reach up and give Lev a quick peck on the cheek. “C’mon, Lev, you’re already late—do you have your bag?”

“I, um—” Lev hung his head in shame. “I forgot it in my dorm.”

Yaku frowned, “Why would you do that? You know you’re always late when you stay over.”

Lev scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I’ll remember it next time for sure!” he declared as he pulled his sweater over his head.

Yaku looked to the side and Lev saw his lips move for just a second before his head got lost in his hood.

Lev pulled his hood down and tilted his head at the sudden tomato red that filled the shorter man’s cheeks.

“Wait, what?”

The tips of Yaku’s ears flushed and he turned aqay, leaving Lev confused.

“N-nothing—it’s nothing!” Yaku stuttered, turning away. “Get going already, you’re late!”

Lev frowned, his brows furrowing together as a childish curiosity poking at him. “Not until you tell me,” he replied stubbornly.

“No, it’s really nothing,” Yaku repeated only turning redder with each second. “We don’t have—Lev!”

Yaku’s eyes widened as the taller boy plopped on to the ground in front of him and wrapped his arms and legs around Yaku so he couldn’t move.

Lev’s lips were pushed into a pout again. “But Yaku-san,” he whined, “I want to know!”

“Look, Lev, it’s not—”

“I’m not leaving until you tell me!”

“It’s your volleyball practice at stake—why would that matter to me?”

“I’m not gonna move!” Lev said insistently, only holding onto Yaku tighter.

Yaku sighed and buried his face in his hands—even then Lev could tell he was blushing furiously as he mumbles into his palms.

“What?” Lev asked again.

“I said,” Yaku said a bit more clearly, his eyes cast to the side, “maybe you should just… I mean, if you’re going to forget things at home, you might as well forget them with me.”

Lev’s jaw dropped and his heart nearly beat out of his chest. He watched, speechless, as Yaku began to fidget where he stood, his blush overtaking his face and his lips quivering.

“I-I mean, just rhetorically speaking—if you don’t want to… It doesn’t really—”

Lev leapt right back to his feet, eagerly taking Yaku’s small hands into his own. “I wanna do it!” he said firmly, nodding enthusiastically. “I want to live with you, Yaku-san.”

There was a moment of silence before Yaku glanced back up at Lev, his eyes a bit hesitant. “I still won’t clean up after you, y’know,” Yaku warned, “and I’ll get mad if you make a mess.”

“I won’t, I promise!”

Yaku looked away again for a moment. “And I can get really cranky I the mornings.”

“I know,” Lev said, thinking back to all the mornings they had woke up together. He ran a thumb across Yaku’s fingers and pulled him closer. “That’s okay! I can handle anything!”

“Are you sure?” Yaku asked again. “We might argue a lot.”

“I’ll apologize immediately,” Lev insisted.

Yaku bit his lip, but Lev could see a pleased smile fighting its way to his face.

“We basically live together already anyway,” Lev continued, “let’s do it for real!”

Yaku let out a sigh and looked at Lev, giving into a wide smile. “Okay,” he said, “let’s do it for real.”

Lev let out a loud whoop and grabbed hold of Yaku’s waist, picking up the shorter man and spinning him around as Yaku yelped in protest.

“Lev!” he called. “We don’t have time for this!”

“Oh shit,” Lev swore, dropping his boyfriend, who gave the other a pointed look as he landed a bit awkwardly on his feet.

“Wait, one more thing,” Yaku called just as Lev was about to run out the door.

Lev felt a hand pull at his collar and a pair of thin lips glide against his own. The taste of Yaku’s peppermint toothpaste stung his tongue and the smell of breakfast that had clung to Yaku’s clthes filled his nostrils. Just as Lev was about to kiss back, Yaku pushed him away, leaving the younger in a daze.

“Okay, you can go now,” Yaku said as he straightened Lev’s collar.

Lev paused, staring at Yaku’s lips and distractedly licking his own.

“So,” Lev began, “are you sure I can’t just skip—”

“Lev!”

“I’m kidding—I’m going!”

(A few months and heavy boxes, the couple had begun the new school year once again. Lev had tried his best to keep the apartment clean on his own, but Yaku helped him anyway. Yaku made sure Lev woke up in time for practice everyday and, sure, sometimes they argued and Lev found himself sleeping on a lumpy couch that they bought online on some nughts, but he always made sure to make it up to Yaku in the form of flowers and kisses and chores finished early. When the night came, Lev would cling to Yaku once again and revel in the comfort of knowing that, despite everything and the words that Yaku was too embarrassed to say out loud and Lev said too often, they both knew what the other meant, and that made Lev feel at home).

Chapter Text

The words were always at the tip of his tongue and Yaku Morisuke knew it.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

He wanted to say it—Yaku wanted to say it so badly. He wanted the words to roll off of his tongue and past his lips whenever he woke up next to Lev or whenever their lips brushed and Lev left for his classes. He had wanted to say it when Lev had saved up to buy them tickets to a popular hot spring in celebration of Yaku’s graduation and when it was their five-year anniversary. He had wanted to say it when Lev ran in the pouring rain all the way to the school where Yaku was a teacher because Yaku had forgotten his lunch (a thing that he rarely did and promised never to do again when he saw Lev panting heavily at the school gates, his clothes completely soaked through as he tried to keep Yaku’s food dry, both of them knowing that Lev would be very sick when he woke up the next morning). He wanted to say it when he made Lev breakfast and when they binge watched terrible movies together on Saturday nights and whenever they pressed their lips together (because Yaku really did love Lev every moment he thought of him—which was a lot).

However, unfortunately for Yaku, he had not stopped being a bit of a perfectionist for the past five years. After all, he couldn’t even get Lev to say his own name—and he had promised himself that that would come first. However, despite all of his hints and prodding and outright *telling* Lev to say his name, results were negligible.

”I dunno, I like ‘Yaku-san’ better.”
”Are you sure,Yaku-san? I mean, a short name is much more fitting of your short stature.”
”I love you, Yaku-san!”

“I love you” came easy to Lev. He was like a child who found fondness in simplicities—he loved Yaku, but he also loved every cat that found its way onto their balcony and he loved the coffee shop around the corner for making the best expressos and he loved Kenma for reminding him to preorder a new game that had come out. So, really, Yaku felt that he was right to be a bit frustrated that Lev could hardly say his own boyfriend’s name.

Not that there was anything wrong with an excessive amount of fondness or anything. Yaku had always known that Lev had a lot of love to give and his eagerness to show affection so openly was always one of the things Yaku liked about Lev, but was it really that hard to say the given name of his boyfriend of five years?

(As Yaku asked himself this, a nagging voice in the back of his head asked him the same thing about “I love you” and Yaku immediately felt a wave of guilt.)

On one particular day, as Yaku returned from work with a stack of ungraded papers in his arm as he fished his apartment keys out of his pocket, his particular situation haunted him again.\

Yaku bit his lip, his hand resting on the chilled metal of the door knob. He sighed, leaning forward until his forehead knocked lightly against the door.

Yaku had messed up last night—something he liked to think that he rarely did. He was normally a very tactful person, but apparently, when Lev had excitedly told him last night that he was having dinner with an Olympic volleyball scout to finalize his position on the team after graduation, Yaku’s tact evaded him.
The moment had called for it—Lev had told him the news with such enthusiasm that he had picked up the shorter man in a spinning hug that Yaku would have normally protested to. Yaku’s chest was bursting with pride and the moment was almost picture perfect. He wanted to tell Lev about how proud he was of him, about how he knew he could do it, and about how he knew all of this because Yaku loved Lev more than either of them could imagine.

However, as Yaku opened his mouth, the words ready on his lips and his heart bursting, he felt doubt. Yaku usually did not feel doubt—not in himself and usually not in Lev, but there it was—as clear as day in the way Yaku had faltered and Lev had told him “I did it, Yaku-san! I really did it!”

Before he knew it, Yaku found himself patting Lev’s shoulder with a small smile that he would give to students that did okay on an exam.

“Good job, Lev.”

Yaku had immediately wanted to slam his head on the nearest hard surface when it had occurred to him that he had just congratulated his boyfriend like he was an employee. His heart sank even more when he caught sight of Lev’s smile faltering and the stars in his Caribbean green eyes dulling.

“Thanks,” Lev had replied, turning away and avoiding Yaku’s eyes as he asked if they could have pizza for dinner with a fake cheer in his voice.

Although the night had already long since passed and the morning went on like normal, guilt clawed at Yaku and bothered him all throughout the day.

Yaku sighed as he finally pushed the door open. The windows had been shut and the only light in the room came through the cracks in the blinds. The apartment was unusually still and it made Yaku wonder if Lev had already left for his dinner.

“I’m home,” Yaku muttered bitterly as he tossed his bag on the couch.

“Morisuke…”

Yaku froze as Lev’s voice drifted through the air.

“Lev?” Yaku called out feebly.

“Morisuke… san?”

A chill ran up Yaku’s spine as Lev’s voice rang again. As much as Yaku wanted Lev to say his name, he had to admit that this was a little too creepy for his tastes—in fact, if anything, it made Yaku rather worried. He walked further into his apartment and saw light flooding the hallway from the bedroom in the back.

“Lev?” Yaku repeated. “Lev, are you alright—”

“Morisuke-kun… No, that’d be weird.”

Yaku froze at the rather odd sight of Lev standing in front of the full length mirror that they had hung on the wall, glaring at his own reflection with such intensity and concentration that he didn’t notice Yaku in the doorway. Lev was fumbling with his tie and his clothes were such a mess that Yaku wanted to laugh.

However, what stopped him from breaking into fits of giggles was the way Lev said his name.

“Morisuke… Morisuke,” Lev tried again, frowning. “Mori-chan?” A smile curved on Lev’s lips and he laughed. “No, he’d yell at me for sure,” he said to himself. “Morisuke-san? Senpai? Well, he’s not really—”

“Lev?” Yaku tried again, smiling as Lev jumped back like a frightened cat, his eyes wide as he stared at Yaku.

“Mori—Yaku-san!” Lev corrected himself, his cheeks turning a bright red. “I was just—I, uh,” he gulped. “How… long were you standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you clearly don’t know how to tie a tie,” Yaku teased as he walked up to Lev, who was still staring at him as if Yaku would attack him at any moment. Yaku only pouted as he craned his neck to look at Lev. “Bend over a bit—I can’t reach you like this.”

Lev obeyed blindly and lowered himself a bit so that Yaku could reach him, his long arms locked to his sides. Yaku reached up and gently smoothed Lev’s uneven shirt collar, his fingers slowly straightening the tie before he proceeded to tie it. An unsteady silence sat between them as Yaku finished knotting the tie, tightening it so that it looked okay, and smoothing out Lev’s shirt at the chest. Yaku looked up at Lev, whose eyes were filled with questions he looked too unsure to ask.

“‘Morisuke-san’ is fine, you know,” Yaku finally said.

Lev’s look began to soften a bit, but as Yaku rested his hand on Lev’s chest, he could still feel his boyfriend’s heart hammer madly.

“Are you sure?” Lev asked. “Are you sure it doesn’t sound too weird? You won’t make fun of me right?”

“Of course I won’t,” Yaku replied, smiling wider as he felt Lev’s heartbeat settle. “And I…” he paused. “I like the way you say my name.”

Yaku blushed a bit as he said it, but his embarrassment washed away when Lev’s smile returned full force. He reached up to grip Yaku’s hands into his own, pressing their foreheads together. The tips of their noses brushed and Lev looked at Yaku with such intensity that the latter was lost for words.

“Morisuke-san,” Lev began confidently, “I really love you.”

Yaku’s heart hammered in his chest and he curled his fingers around Lev’s. “Yeah, I know,” Yaku said. “I-I—” Yaku gulped, taking a deep breath through his nose. “I love you, too,” he said, feeling lighter as a weight was lifted from his chest. He gripped Lev’s fingers and smiled wider. “I love you a lot.”

If eyes could literally be stars, that would be the only way to explain how Lev’s looked as Yaku smiled up at him. He enveloped Yaku in his arms, lifting him as they embraced. Yaku’s chest felt so warm that he couldn’t even bring himself to scold Lev as his toes barely grazed the floor.

“I love you, Morisuke-san!” Lev repeated.

“I know, I know!”

“I really love you!”

“I already heard you the first time!”

“You should say it back,” Lev insisted, putting Yaku down. “Just to be sure.”

“Lev, I don’t want to say it back if you’re planning on going to your dinner meeting dressed like that,” Yaku laughed, shaking his head. “Here, let me help.”

When Lev’s disaster of a fancy dinner outfit was finally fixed and the two had calmed down a bit, Lev turned to leave. He placed his hand on the handle of the door and looked back. “Morisuke-san,” he said again.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I know,” Yaku beamed. “I love you, too.”

Chapter Text

The couch in the living room was discolored and uncomfortable. It had stains on it from who knows where and who knows when. It was worn and torn and smelled like a mixture of food, liquids, and mysterious substances that neither Yaku nor Lev wanted to imagine. The seats were lumpy and uneven from all of the times Lev had stuffed chip bags and napkins between the cushions despite all of the times Yaku had scolded him for it. Lev also complained every time they sat on it and Yaku draped sheets over it and all but drowned it in air freshener whenever they had guests.

It was also where Yaku had been sleeping for the past three weeks.

It wasn’t out of a real necessity or anything, mind you. As a matter of fact, three days after Lev had left with his team for a volleyball tour around Japan, Yaku had decided that sleeping on the couch was much easier than sleeping on a bed that suddenly felt very empty in a room that was too quite and much too big for his liking.

Yaku also wondered when it was in the past seven years he had become so accustomed to Lev’s presences that he would rather sleep on a putrid Craigslist couch with his phone close to him than on a bed without Lev.

It had been a long while since Lev and Yaku had spent this long without each other, and to say that Yaku missed Lev was sort of an understatement. Sure, Yaku had taken it well the first few days, figuring it was probably easier to get work done without Lev constantly causing trouble and making a mess, but once summer break rolled around and Yaku found himself sprawled on the couch, his back aching every morning, it occurred to him that he wouldn’t have lasted a day if it weren’t for the fact that Lev called him every night.

However, Yaku had made it to the end of three weeks somehow, on his birthday no less, passing his boredom by drowning himself in more work and holding more Skype calls with Lev than he ever had before they moved in together. Lev had told him that he’d be coming home in a few days, according to his schedule. Of course, Yaku was a bit disappointed that Lev couldn’t make it home for his birthday, but Yaku was never one to complain selfishly—it wasn’t like it was anything Lev could help.

“Morisuke-san, you saw my game right?” Lev asked excitedly over the phone.

Yaku was sitting on the couch, not having moved much from that spot since he had woken up, his phone sitting between his shoulder and his ear. “I just watched it right now,” Yaku replied.

“Aren’t I cool?” Lev asked. “I’m so cool!”

“Yes, you were very cool,” Yaku said, a smile curling on his lips as he watched Lev hop up and down on the court, celebrating his team’s victory. Lev had a wide smile on his face and it occurs to Yaku that it had been quite a while since he had last seen it in person. “You’re still a child,” he muttered into the phone.

“Hey, I’m a fully grown adult now!” Lev argued. Yaku can practically feel his pout as he spoke. “Besides, at least I’m not as short as a child,” Lev teased.

“Don’t come back home.”

“Ah—I was kidding, Morisuke-san! Sorry sorry!” Lev pleaded as Yaku stifled his laughter. There was a pause before Lev broke the silence with a cough. “Are you sure you’re okay that I’m not at home today?” he asked carefully.

“Lev, are you worrying for me?” Yaku scoffed.

“You’re not mad, right?”

“I’m not…” Yaku paused, sighing. “It’s not like it’s your fault or anything Lev, so don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure you don’t miss me?”

“Of course I miss you, idiot,” Yaku replied. “Who else is going to grab the high stuff off of the shelves for me?”

“Is that all you need me for?” Lev asked. “You’re so mean, Morisuke-san.”

“I’m kidding,” Yaku laughed and sighed. “I mean, I guess as long as you’ll be here next year... I can let it slide.”

“I’ll give you a really big present when I get back!” Lev promised ernestly. “Like the biggest cake in the world!”

“Well, what’s the point if it isn’t a surprise?” Yaku teased, pulling his knees up to his chest. “I guess you never could keep a secret anyways.”

“That’s unfair, Morisuke-san,” Lev whined. “I can keep a secret!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

“Okay!” Lev said, his voice suddenly so loud that Yaku almost jumped in surprise. “Open the door!”

Yaku paused for a minute, his mind blank. “Wait, what?”

“You know, the front door? Of our apartment?” Lev continued. For a minute Yaku can almost hear Lev bouncing up and down in excitement—wait, the apartment’s awfully shaky right now for that to just be Yaku’s imagination...

Yaku leapt to his feet, dropping his phone on the couch as he took long strides towards the door. He could hear Lev yapping on the phone on the other side and he felt his heart clench. He threw the door open to be greeted by what was probably the biggest teddy bear he had ever seen in his entire life and a pair of long gangly legs that could only be identified as Haiba Lev’s.

Lev’s head peaked out from behind the bear, a huge smile on his face and his eyes bright. “Happy birthday, Morisuke-san!” he said. “Did you know this bear is as big as you?”

Yaku stared open-mouthed at the sight in front of him. Lev was still in his volleyball uniform and his suitcase was standing off to the side, slightly open and battered as if he had run over here from his flight.

“I-I—“ Yaku stammered. “I thought you weren’t coming back until later?”

Lev scratched the back of his neck. “Well, um, I begged the coach to let me come home on an earlier flight because… I told him it was my mom’s birthday…”

Yaku scoffed. “What, am I your mom now?”

“H-hey, at least I got home on time!” Lev said. “Also, you should let me in because it’s really hot out here!”

“Alright, alright, hurry up,” Yaku said, stepping aside to let Lev in before he could let too much of the cool air out of the apartment. Lev sighed in relief as he finally handed Yaku the bear and Yaku almost fell as the weight of it almost crushed him, but it was really fluffy, Yaku had to give him that.

“This smells like sweat,” Yaku concluded as he tried to get a better hold of it. “It smells like your sweat.”

“I kind of… ran here from the airport,” Lev explained, smiling sheepishly as Yaku peered at him over the bear’s head.

Yaku hummed in contemplation—maybe now he wouldn’t have to worry about the bed being too big.

“Have you been eating well?” Yaku asked him

“Yes.”

“Showering? Sleeping? Not wasting the night playing video games?”

“Morisuke-san, you think too little of me.”

“I know, I know,” Yaku said, sighing. He let the bear fall to the floor and he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Lev’s waist and revelling in the warmth his body emitted and the scent of sweat that he would have normally told Lev to wash off immediately. Lev wrapped his arms around Yaku and suddenly the apartment was smaller and life was a little brighter again and Yaku decided that this was the perfect way to spend his birthday.

“Morisuke-san?”

“Hm?”

“I missed you a lot.”

“I missed you, too.”

Chapter Text

“Kenma-san,” Lev said dreamily one day as he leaned on the counter, his eyes wide. “Kenma-san, who’s that?”

Kenma looked up from the game he’s hiding under the countertop and followed Lev’s doe-eyed gaze past the bright red table tops and tacky checkered tile-floor to the other end of the diner, where he saw a short young man with light brown hair peering through the menu. Kenma quirked an eyebrow at him before looking up at Lev, who looked rather silly as he gaped awkwardly at the stranger. There is a moment of pause as Kenma just stared at Lev, contemplating whether or not it was worth his time to indulge Lev. After all, ever since the new employee appeared a few weeks ago, he had been way too enthusiastic and troublemaking for Kenma’s tastes. Maybe telling him would rope Kenma into something horrible and unnecessary.

“That is Yaku Morisuke,” a voice behind them intruded upon Kenma’s thoughts suddenly, making Lev jump in surprise as Kenma quickly shoved his game further under the counter. They both turn around to see Kuroo, dressed in his apron and leaning out of the kitchen window, grinning his signature cat-like grin. ”College student, regular, kind of a serious guy,” Kuroo continued. Kenma gived him a glare and Kuroo only shrugs in return.

 “Really?” Lev said, his eyes wide and practically sparkling as he looked back at Yaku. It’s miraculous that the customer didn’t even notice him. Lev hopped enthusaistically towards the window, almost knocking Kenma over in the process. “Hey, Kuroo-san, can I--?”

“Absolutely not,” Kuroo said, his lips curling into a crown. “You’re working, newbie—flirt on your own time.”

Lev pouted and Kenma rolled his eyes at Lev’s ability to totally forget about the fact that Kuroo was his boss—he figures Lev is just lucky that Kuroo was too lazy to scold him. “But Kuroo-san, can’t I at least take his order? Or—“

“Lev, the last time you took someone’s order, you fucked up so royally that I had to give them a free meal,” Kuroo said sternly. “I don’t need you scaring away one of our only good regulars with your shitty flirting.”

Lev turned a bright red and his eyes fall to the floor. “I-I’m not—“

“Oh, yeah,” Inuoka popped in suddenly, tucking a tray he had just used to serve coffee under his arm. “Remember that one time you scared that pretty customer away because you kept staring at them?”

“Point proven—you can’t even get to the flirting stage,” Kuroo said, reaching over to smack the side of Lev’s head. “Get back to work—Kenma will handle him.”

Kenma’s eyes widened in shock and Kuroo gave him a smirk. “What, you think I can’t see you playing Animal Crossing under the countertop?” Kuroo said in a way that made Kenma immediately want to smack the shit-eating grin from Kuroo’s face. However, he figured it wasn’t worth it and just grabbed the notepad from the counter before walking over to Yaku.

As soon as Kenma reached Yaku, the short young man looked up and gave Kenma a smile. “Hey, Kenma—slow day?”

Kenma sighed, stuffing the notepad into his apron pocket and sticking his hands into his pant pockets. “Yeah, I guess so,” he answered, “but I like it that way.”

Yaku laughed, “Of course you do.”

Out of all of the regular customers that Kenma had encountered in the diner, he found that Yaku was the only one he could stomach having a conversation with. He had a rather motherly sort of air to him that Kenma found comfort in and was well-versed enough in video games to talk to Kenma about his interests.

“So, who’s the new guy?” Yaku asked, peering around Kenma to point at Lev, who was frowning as he cleaned off the countertop.

“Oh, him?” Kenma replies lazily. “That’s Lev—we hired him a few weeks ago,” Kenma sighed. “Honestly, he’s kind of a pain and he’s too loud, but he plays a lot of video games, too… So I guess he’s alright.”

Yaku hummed thoughtfully, his eyes darting between Kenma and the countertop. “So, er,” Yaku stammered, his cheeks turning a light pink, “is he… single? Or—“

“So a strawberry shortcake for you?” Kenma interrupted quickly, pulling out his notepad. It wasn’t really in his nature to be rude to Yaku, but like hell if he was going to get involved—that was Kuroo’s job.

Yaku laughed sheepishly and folded his menu. “Yeah, you know me, Kenma.”

Kenma automatically felt a pang of guilt, which was weird for him because he never really ever got close enough to people to feel guilty about the way he interacted with them. However, Yaku was what Kenma would consider a friend and he was always a rather comforting presences to Kenma whenever he showed up in the diner. So Kenma sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

“Yeah, he’s single,” he answered, feeling a bit of relief as Yaku suddenly lit up. “I’ll get that cake for you in a bit.”

“Thanks, Kenma!”

When Kenma walked back over to the counter, Lev had jumped on him like a lion on a gazelle.

“Kenma-san!” he had begun before Kenma could even give Kuroo the order. “Kenma-san, are you friends with him? Did he ask about me? Did he—“

“Hey, Lev!” Kuroo snapped. “What the hell did I just tell you about flirting on your own time?”

“B-but—“ Lev cast Kenma a hopeful glance, but Kenma just shrugged in response, leaving Lev to pout as he walked towards the other end of the counter.

There was a moment of silence between Kenma and Kuroo before the black-haired man whistled. “So…” he began.

“I thought you told him not to flirt on the job,” Kenma said, giving Kuroo a pointed look.

“Hey, what can I say—I’m curious,” Kuroo replied with a shrug. “C’mon, Kenma—spill.”

“He just asked if Lev was single,” Kenma said before handing Kuroo the order.

“Ohoho—“

“Please don’t get me involved,” Kenma sighed.

“Who said anything about getting you involved?” Kuroo hummed, a mischevious glint in his eye as he retreated into the kitchen. “Maybe... ‘interfering’ or—“

“Are you going to get that order or not?” Kenma said, a bit miffed.

“Aw, don’t be mad at me, Kenma—I’m just lending a hand to a friend,” Kuroo said as he handed Kenma the cake. “Besides, if we leave him alone he’s just gonna stare at Yaku like some sort of kicked puppy all day,” he whispered, jerking his head towards Lev who was, in fact, staring at Yaku like a kicked puppy.

Kenma rolled his eyes, but took the cake and placed it on a tray. Kuroo smirked, “That’s the spirit.”

This was much more work than Kenma would have expected or wanted to deal with today—Kuroo definitely owed him big time.

“Hey, Lev,” Kenma called lazily. Lev’s head lifted and he hopped over to Kenma, who handed him the tray. “Could you bring this over to Yaku?”

Lev’s eyes widened. “Really? Can I really?”

“I mean, I guess…”

Lev’s fist shot into the air and Kenma automatically felt embarrassed as the customers near them began to stare. “Thanks, Kenma-san!” he said as he took the tray. “I promise I won’t let you down!”

Kenma sighed in relief as Lev finally bounded away towards Yaku, practically skipping across the tile to get to him.

Well, how bad could it be?

It was bad—it was so. Bad.

In the span of ten minutes, Kenma had figured that, even though he had just given Haiba Lev an opportunity to hit on a regular customer, that Lev couldn’t mess up that badly. However, Kenma also found that he had proven him wrong, as Lev proceeded to firstly, stammer hopelessly and terribly and stare blankly at Yaku before giving him his cake, drop said cake onto Yaku’s lap, and then spill his drink all over the floor.

This wasn’t worth it, Kenma decided as he bitterly took the mop out to clean the floor, watching Lev stand dejectedly at the cash register. This didn’t even take into account that Yaku probably wouldn’t be coming back and they’d be losing a regular and Kenma was losing the one customer he was okay with. Kuroo so owed him big time.

Kenma sighed, leaning on the mop as he watched Yaku walk up to the cash register, coughing several times to get Lev’s attention.

Lev’s head jerked up in surprise, his face flushed red as he stuttered the total to Yaku and fumbled with the cash. Honestly, Kenma felt pretty embarrassed just watching them from here.

“I, er—“ Lev began, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry for spilling, well, everything on you.”

Yaku looked at him with wide eyes as he took his copy of the receipt. Then he turned a slight pink as he reached over to take a pen and wrote something down on it, sliding it back to Lev.

“Um, maybe you can… make it up to me then?” Yaku said, his voice so quiet that Kenma almost couldn’t hear it. Kenma’s eyes widened as he watched Yaku exit the diner, giving him a quick wave, and Lev’s jaw dropped as he stared at the receipt in shock. Lev is silent before he lets out the loudest whoop Kenma had ever heard, garnering the attention of everyone in the diner and effectively giving Kenma a headache.

They all owed him big time.

Chapter Text

Yaku had gotten a phone call in the middle of a school day while he was at work. It had been a generally cloudless day and Yaku was almost late because he had taken a moment to revel in the sun’s warmth on his way to the high school. Lev was at home, as it was the off-season and he had gotten a break from volleyball training, and had begged Yaku to have a movie marathon with him when he got home, and Yaku had finally agreed to set aside his grading for another time. They were both really looking forward to it—Lev had even decided that he would go out and replenish their dwindling snack supply just for this night.

However, as Yaku darted out of his classroom and begged a teacher to watch over his class for him, darting towards the train station, his heart pounding and mind racing, it occurred to him that this would have to wait.

The train ride from the school to the hospital seemed unbearably long to Yaku and as soon as the doors opened, Yaku pushed forward, openly cursing his small build for preventing him from getting through the crowds faster. When he entered the though the hospital doors, his clothes disheveled and himself a sweating, panting mess, he was barely able to talk to the receptionist.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. “I’m sorry—what was that?” she asked gently as Yaku heaved himself up.

“H-haiba Lev,” he manages to stammer out. “They said he was in an accident and—” Yaku felt a lump in his throat and his heart hammered as he stared, completely at the receptionist, who was now looking at him with pity. “Please, please tell me he’s okay.”

“Could I get your name first, sir?” the receptionist asked as she began typing on her keyboard.

“Yaku Morisuke,” he replied quickly. “Lev’s mother was the one who called me—she’s in Tokyo right now and is on her way. I’m his—” Yaku paused for a second, eyeing the receptionist’s expectant look. “I’m his roommate,” Lev substituted, hoping to God that the receptionist didn’t see through his pause. However, she just nodded and clicked a few things. Yaku tapped his foot and could still hear his own heart beat ringing in his ears.

 “He’s in the emergency room right now,” she finally said after eternity. “We can’t let you in while the doctors are operating,” she explained. Yaku’s eyes widened as his world seemed to crumble and crash around him. He was sure his heart had stopped and his mind went blank.

“The doctor will be out in two hours or so, though,” she reassured him quickly. “Perhaps you’d like to take a seat in the waiting area? Maybe have a drink of water?” she offered, eyeing Yaku’s sweaty, panting form.

Yaku only nodded numbly before walking absent mindedly to an open chair.

Lev had never really liked hospitals, Yaku remembered. If he was in a hospital he might be injured, and if he was injured, then he couldn’t be the ace, Lev had told him when they were still Nekoma high school students. It had been almost eight years since then, Yaku realized with a pang. It felt much too short for Yaku’s liking.

Yet, in these two measly hours out of eight years, time seemed to crawl by. Yaku anxiously looked back and forth at the receptionist’s desk and felt his mind wandering, wondering, and dwelling on thoughts he never wanted to think. He began to wonder—how lost would he be without Lev’s cheerful smiles, or his constant whining for attention. What if Yaku could never come home to Lev’s open arms again. He thought about how empty the bed was whenever Lev was gone and how much he hated it.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest and he felt himself pushed to the verge of tears as he silently begged for information—any tiny detail—on Lev.

Lev’s mother, a caring and open-minded woman who Yaku had immediately recognized as the only person who could’ve possibly raised Haiba Lev, spoke to Yaku over the phone after the first hour, divulging the facts to him and setting the poor young man’s heart at ease. Yaku felt incredibly guilty that she was the one to comfort him and not the other way around.

“If I’ve learned anything about Lev after raising him, it’s that he always bounces back,” she reassured him.

“As long as the people he loves are around him, supporting him, I know he’ll be okay.”
Yaku held onto those words after they had ended their call and the doctor finally walked in with a rather neutral expression.

“Uh… Yaku-kun?” he called. Yaku all but sprang to his feet and the doctor looked back down at his chart. “You’re the roommate, right?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me,” he replied. “Is Lev—?”

“Haiba-san is alive, I assure you,” the doctor replied. “We almost thought we wouldn’t make it in time, but he pulled through.”

Relief filled Yaku like air in a balloon. His heart was beating again as he took a deep breath.

Lev is okay, he thought. Lev is okay—I can still see him. It’ll be okay.

“But,” the doctor continued, making Yaku’s heart stop all over again, “he may not wake up for the span of several days and we had to proceed with an amputation if we were going to keep him alive.”

Yaku felt his mouth go dry. “I—” he began, “I thought you said he was alright!”

“I’m sorry, Yaku-kun, he’s alive, but we had to take measures to keep him that way.”

Tears began to sting Yaku’s eyes as Lev’s voice rang through his head.

”Yaku-san, I’m going to be Nekoma’s ace!”

“B-but he plays volleyball,” Yaku stammered, his voice cracking with every syllable that escaped his lips.

The doctor frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, but he will most likely have to make a permanent retirement.”

Lev’s mother finally arrived at the hospital an hour later and was the one to insist to the hospital staff that Yaku be given clearance to see Lev.

(“Morisuke-kun is practically family, after all,” she said, giving Yaku a knowing look.)

When they had arrived at Lev’s hospital bed, Yaku’s nose wrinkled at the smell of chemicals that filled the room. The monotonous and steady beeping of the heart meter echoed and Yaku felt his own heart stop.
Lev was lying in a rather peaceful looking slumber that Yaku had recognized from all the times Lev had taken naps on the couch. However, a mask covered Lev’s nose and mouth and bandages covered his head. Scars covered his face and arms and, as Yaku’s eyes slowly wandered down, he noticed that Lev’s left leg ended right above where his knee was supposed to be.

”Well, you’re the ace now,” Yaku had said when Lev was in his third year. “Now what?”

Lev shot Yaku a brilliant smile. “I’m going to become the best ace in Japan!” he said as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Yaku spent most of the next week at the hospital after school. He sat for hours on end at Lev’s bedside, sometimes in the company of Lev’s mother, who, although worried for her son, was a bit too old to withstand taking the train back and forth every day.

Lev’s volleyball coach visited once or twice, offering his condolences and shaking his head. He spoke of how good of a player Lev was and how the team would miss him. His words felt like poison to Yaku’s ears and he scorned the way the coach spoke of Lev as if he were dead. After five days, Yaku reads in a volleyball magazine that Lev’s team had added a new member.

Since the operation, Lev’s mask was removed and he occasionally mumbled in his sleep. Yaku had grown used to the smell of medicine and the heartbeat monitor had become a sort of comfort to Yaku, letting him know that, yes, Lev’s alive and they had so much more time together, once Lev woke up.
However, when Lev wakes up, Yaku was at work and had to rush back onto the train and to the hospital as soon as the day ends. It’s sort of a familiar process to Yaku, but instead of total and utter read, now he felt great relief.

When Yaku arrived at the hospital, Lev was with his mother. He smiled and whined about the hospital food as if nothing had happened. He is surrounded by the gifts and get-well cards that people have sent him, including cards from their old high school friends in Nekoma and even some from Karasuno and Fukurodani. Lev automatically lit up when he saw Yaku walk through the doorway.

(“Morisuke-san, have you gotten shorter since I last saw you?” he asked, making Yaku torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to kick him.)

Lev’s mother left the room to talk to talk to the doctors and closed the door behind them. It took Yaku a moment to realize that it had been a long while since they had been alone together.
Yaku sat on the side of Lev’s bed and took Lev’s hand in his. His heart swells when Lev’s hand clutches back and Lev himself gives him a smile.

However, as Yaku looked into Lev’s eyes, he found that the youthful glint that made those Caribbean greens unique to his lover had dulled out.

“Lev,” Yaku began slowly, intertwining their fingers together. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Lev replied. He smiled wide again and Yaku suddenly felt his heart clench in his chest. “You know,” Lev began, “the doctor said I’m getting a prosthetic leg!”

Yaku felt his own smile falter. “Really?”

Lev pouted, “Oh c’mon, Morisuke-san, be more excited for me,” he said.”I’m basically going to be a cyborg—isn’t that cool?” Lev’s voice cracked a bit and his hand gripped Yaku’s a bit tighter. “I can probably jump higher, too—that’ll show Shouyou!” Lev lowered his head and silver hair fell over his face. “A-and maybe they’ll let me be the ace again.”

“Lev…” Yaku whispered so quietly that he could barely hear himself.

“Morisuke-san,” Lev said, his voice finally breaking. Yaku felt his heart drop as tears began to fall off of Lev’s face and stain the blankets that cover his lap. “W-what am I going to do now?”

Yaku felt a lump in his throat. “What do you mean?”

Lev looked at him, his eyes brimmed with tears and his nose sniffling. “I-I can’t do anything else,” Lev cried. “I only went to college for volleyball—I was going to be the best!”

Yaku leaned forward, forcing his own tears back. “You are the best, Lev,” he insisted. “You were always the best.”

“B-but I can’t play anymore,” Lev said, wiping his face with his other hand. “I just wanted to play volleyball!”

“I’m sorry, Lev,” Yaku said. “But—”

“I’m not worth anything anymore!”

Yaku bit his lip, letting go of Lev’s hand to cup the taller man’s face. “Lev, don’t you dare say that about yourself.”

“But I mess up everything else I do!”

“And you messed up at volleyball, too, remember?” Yaku continued, pressing his forehead to Lev’s. “You were so bad at volleyball—you could barely play!”

Lev sniffled and Yaku used a thumb to wipe a tear from Lev’s cheek.

“But you rose to the top and played professionally!” he continued. “You’ve still got a whole life ahead of you—think of everything else you could learn! You can be the ‘ace’ of anything you want, Lev,” Yaku insisted.

Lev lip quivered and he lowered his head so that it rested on Yaku’s shoulder. Yaku moved his hand and rubbed circles into Lev’s scalp as he cried.

“Morisuke-san?”

“Hm?”

“When we get home, can we have that movie marathon like you promised?”

“Of course.”

“I promise I won’t fall asleep in the middle of it!”

“I’ll make sure to keep you awake.”

“B-but if I do,” Lev continued. “I can use you as a pillow, right?”

Yaku sighed, but smiled nonetheless. “Just this once,” he relented.

Lev let out a quiet laugh. “You’re so nice to me today, Morisuke-san.”

“Of course, I have to make sure you don’t whine and get in trouble, after all,” Yaku said.

There was a moment of silence and Lev’s hiccupped sobs began to turn into even breathing. His body was so comfortingly warm to Yaku that he couldn’t help but to place a gentle kiss on the side of Lev’s head.

“I’ve missed you, Lev,” Yaku began.

There was no reply, not even a teasing comment, and Yaku raised an eyebrow. “Lev?” he repeated.
Lev’s breathing began to grow a bit louder until they became heavy snores.

Yaku laughed, rolling his eyes. “Incredible—you’re asleep again,” Yaku said, mostly to himself. “You’ve already been doing that for a straight week, you know.”

Yaku sighed, Lev’s weight was a bit too much for Yaku to put him back on his bed without worrying about hurting him. Additionally, Lev’s arms had snaked around his waist when Yaku wasn’t paying attention. This was sure to raise some eyebrows when someone opened the door, Yaku was sure, but he only let it be. After all, Lev was with him, and he was going to be okay, Yaku knew it. And really, that was all that mattered for now.

Chapter Text

After ten years, Yaku had come to learn that there’s a lot of things that Lev did that were really out of the blue or confusing or downright strange. For example, Lev had once brought a cat he had found into the apartment and hid it from Yaku like a child whose parents didn’t allow pets, despite the fact that he was actually slightly alergic to cats. He had also once tried to blend celery, tomatoes, bread, and milk together in some strange attempt to make a smoothie and ended up with a terrible stomach ache. There was also the time when, after Yaku and Lev had moved back to Tokyo, Lev went out onto their patio on a particularly hot day and wasted half a dozen eggs whilst trying to fry them on the hot stone. And don’t even get Yaku started on all the leg puns Lev had made with his prosthetic.

So, as Yaku stared up at Lev, who looked sheepishly at him with a tiny plastic red ring around his left ring finger, it took all he could to not sigh in exasperation.

Yaku took Lev’s hand in his and sighed as he took a closer look at Lev’s finger, which was now swelling rather badly. “Lev, why did it occur to you that this was a good idea?” Yaku asked, his finger tracing the ring. Yaku had long grown used to the fact that Lev’s fingers were actually a lot bigger than his own, but it was times like this when Yaku becomes aware of how Lev’s hand dwarfed his own.

“I just wanted to see if it would—AH!” Lev yelped as Yaku gave the ring a tiny tug. “Don’t do that—it hurts!”

“I can see that,” Yaku said, squinting. “Did you break skin trying to take this off?”

Lev only pouted and Yaku clicked his tongue in reply. “Where did you even get this?” Yaku asked, he began trying to twist the ring.

Lev winced. “I, uh, I bought it,” he said, scratching his head with his free hand.

“’Bought it’?” Yaku repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Why would you do that?”

Yaku watched as Lev began to blush bright red and look away. He mumbled something that Yaku couldn’t quite understand. “What?”

“I wanted to give it to you,” Lev said. “Because, um, I can’t really get a real wedding ring, but I wanted to…” Lev began to trail off and Yaku’s eyes widened.

A large part of Yaku wanted to kiss Lev at that very moment. After all, it was a very sweet gesture that made Yaku’s heart swell and his lips curve into a smile. However, a small nagging and disappointing reminder in the back of his mind ate at him.

“Lev, you know we can’t get married,” Yaku said with a frown, as he continued to twist the ring off, feeling a terrible pang as the words fell from his lips.

Yaku felt Lev’s hand go a bit slack as he lowered his head. “I-I know,” Lev stammered quietly. “I just wanted to do it anyway.”

Yaku sighed. “Here—let’s put your hand in some cold water,” he said—this thing really was stubborn.

Yaku led Lev over to the kitchen sink, letting the cold water run over their hands as Yaku continued to wiggle the ring off, now with a bit more ease.

“Morisuke-san?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you marry me?” Lev asked, locking eyes with Yaku. “Y’know, if we could?”

Yaku laughed, “Don’t people normally get on their knees when they ask that?”

“If I get on my knees I’ll be as tall as you and I think you’d get mad at me,” Lev answered simply.

“Fair enough,” Yaku said with a shrug. “Oh, hold on—I think I got it,” Yaku said as the ring slid off of Lev’s finger.

Lev let out a loud sigh in relief, wiggling his fingers under the water before massaging his swollen ring finger. “Thanks, Morisuke-san.”

“Make sure to get a band-aid on that,” Yaku said as he dried his hands on his shirt.

“Got it,” Lev said in a sing-song voice before turning to run off.

“Oh, Lev?” Yaku called out. Lev’s head whirled around and he almost stumbled as he tried to stop himself in his own steps. “When the chance ever comes up,” Yaku began feeling himself become a bit flustered, “I-I’d be so glad to marry you.”

Lev’s eyes lit up and he rushed forward, taking Yaku’s hand in his own. “Really?” he asked with a youthful excitement that makes Yaku feel a wave of nostaliga.

“Of course I would,” Yaku said, smiling. However, as his eyes fell to Lev’s fingers, his lips curve into a frown. “But really, Lev, you better get a band-aid on that—I think it’s bleeding.”

Lev looked down at his fingers. “Oh, yeah, I’m on it!” he said. He pressed a quick kiss to Yaku’s cheek before running off to find the first-aid kit and Yaku only smiled after him, still holding the red ring in his hand.

It’s not too flashy or anything—barely cheaply ornate enough to be called a children’s toy and a little too big to fit on a child’s finger. Yaku tossed the ring from hand to hand before he slipped it onto his left ring finger.

Yaku smiled to himself and let a dreamy sigh escape his lips. It’d be nice to wear a real ring one day, to be properly proposed to—hell, maybe he’d be the one to propose next time, just to be fair. But still, it was a perfect fit.