Work Text:
It’s 5:15pm on a Friday evening. The apartment is cold and dark, but not for long. There’s the sound of keys at the front door and suddenly the light at the entrance illuminates everything. Yamaguchi Tadashi quietly takes off his outdoor shoes and mumbles an “I’m home,” though he knows he’s the first one home. He puts on his green slippers, the orange, blue, and yellow ones left at the entrance.
He goes into one of the spare bedrooms, which had been repurposed to be his and Kei’s office. The other spare bedroom is Kageyama’s and Hinata’s office, though it’s basically where they keep their volleyball gear, watch volleyball videos, and play video games. He quickly places his work bag at the desk and heads into the bedroom.
Their bedroom is the master of the apartment. When they first decided to move in together, they had to custom order a mattress. Yamaguchi remembered them all going to a mattress store and nearly giving the store clerk a heart attack when they asked if they had a bed that all four of them could fit on. They had never heard of a “Super Caesar” before, but Yamaguchi was grateful they found it. He remembered Shoyou pouting when Yamaguchi brought up the idea of two queen beds and switching off who slept with who at night.
“I want to sleep with all of you, though,” he had said. Yamaguchi smiles at the memory. They were all tired of switching houses and having to figure out who was sleeping where, so he was glad when they had found one bed they could all share.
He changes out of his brown suit, white dress shirt, and green tie Tsukki picked out for him this morning (“It brings out your eyes, Tadashi” he had said. Every time he looked in the mirror or was complimented on his tie, he couldn’t help the blush that dusted his cheeks).
He puts on a casual red shirt and some loose, black sweatpants that said KARASUNO down the side and headed into the kitchen, pulling on an apron as he moved to the fridge. He looked at the schedule and noticed it’s pizza night. Next to it are cute little bird versions of them all, likely drawn by Tobio before he and Shoyou headed to practice that afternoon. He smiles and draws a little heart next to each of the drawings.
He pulls out the dough and homemade tomato sauce he and Shoyou had made last weekend. Yamaguchi pulls out their fancy cheese and the sausage he got pre-cooked. He divides the dough in two and quickly rolls and throws it, carefully remembering the instructions in his head from when he worked at that pizza shop close to their University. Once the pizzas were ready and on their pizza pans, he waited for the oven to heat up (since he forgot to do that). As the oven beeps and Tadashi is putting the pizzas in the oven, keys jingle in the door. As soon as he slams the oven door shut he runs to the door to greet his boyfriend.
As he skids to a halt, yelling a “WELCOME HOME TSUKKI,” Kei stares at him with a wobbly smile and says, “I’m home, Tadashi.”
Tadashi smiles widely and jumps, knowing that Kei will catch him. He does, with an exaggerated “ooph” and Tadashi kisses him, stopping whatever sarcastic comment he was about to say in its tracks.
“How was practice?” Tadashi asks once they break apart, Tsukki still holding him.
“Fine.”
“Did you block a lot of spikes?”
“…mm,” Tsukki affirms, looking away abruptly and blushing slightly.
“That’s great Tsukki!” Yamaguchi says, kissing him once more, before climbing down and heading back to the kitchen to set the timer up for the pizza.
“And how was school today?” He asks, pushing the buttons on the oven.
“Fine. We went through the Precambrian fossils that do exist and what they tell us about early evolution. I thought it was interesting.”
“That’s awesome!”
“Also my advisor wants me to apply to a winter program where we’d travel to Peru to help with an active excavation.”
Yamaguchi pauses and turns to his boyfriend. “Do you want to do it?”
Tsukki pauses and refuses to meet Tadashi’s eyes. “… kind of. But I won’t if you tell me-“
“You should do it! Tsukki that’s AMAZING. You’re amazing. I mean, talk to Shoyou and Tobio first, but I’ll support you! How long would it be?”
“It would be the entire winter term.”
“Wow… that’s almost three months.”
“Yeah,” Kei mumbles, shifting his feet and clenching the strap of his backpack.
Tadashi thinks about not having Tsukki around for three months and his smile shrinks a bit.
“I won’t do it if you’re going to make that face.” Tadashi’s face snaps up to meet Tsukki’s carefully guarded expression.
“What face?”
“That face that tells me you’d be sad.” Tsukki was watching him intently and leaning on the kitchen counter next to Tadashi.
Tadashi’s face hardens into a determined look and stares back at him. “I’ll miss you, of course I will. But I know you’ll come back. You always do. We’ve known each other our whole lives, so three months is nothing. Do what makes you happy.”
“You make me happy,” Tsukki says softly.
Tadashi melts, lifting his hand to caress his cheek. “I know. You make me happy, too. But this program will also make you happy, so you should do it. I won’t force you either way, but we should talk with Shoyou and Tobio when they get back.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Huh?”
Kei wraps his arms around Tadashi and pulls him in closer, resting his chin on Tadashi’s head. “Let’s wait until tomorrow to talk about this. I just want to have a nice Friday night with my boyfriends, alright?”
Tadashi raises his head, forcing Kei to look at him and smiles. He reaches his arms up between them and pulls Kei down by his neck for a short kiss. “Alright. Now go take a shower. You’re stinky.”
“I don’t stink.”
“Well my nose says otherwise. Shower and then we’ll eat.”
“Are Shoyou and Tobio supposed to be home soon?”
Yamaguchi looks at the clock. It’s almost 6:20. “They’re supposed to be home in about 10 minutes, but let’s be honest they probably won’t be home until 7.”
Tsukki snorts and moves towards their bedroom. Tadashi wolf whistles when he turns around and Kei gives him a scathing look, the blush on his face being the only thing giving away his embarrassment.
Tadashi smiles as he cleans his hands, grabs some plates and glasses of water, and setting up the table. Tsukki came back about 15 minutes later wearing his grey sweatpants, slippers and a black and orange hoodie. He was still drying his hair, but came and wraps his arms around Tadashi as he sets the last of the utensils down.
“Tsukki I need to check on the pizza.”
“Ok.”
“… I can’t do that with you holding me.”
Tsukki pouts but lets go of Tadashi. Tadashi opens the oven and pulls the pizzas out slightly. The cheese was sizzling and completely melted and the dough is golden brown on the crust. Tadashi took a spatula to make sure it’s cooked underneath and it is, so he takes the pizza out and lays it on top of the stove. As soon as he lets go, Tsukki wraps his arms around him again.
“You’re so cuddly today, Kei.”
“You got up early today. I couldn’t cuddle you in the morning.”
“Ah, sorry Tsukki! My kids have a big exam coming up, so I told them if they come in early I would help them with questions that might come up on the exam.”
“Might?”
“Ok, you know those questions will be on the exam. I didn’t go through all of them. Just a few.”
“I know. You care a lot, so your kids will do just fine. It’s why you’re a good teacher.” Tadashi gasps, but Kei cuts in before he can say any snarky remark, “I’m not saying it again so you better have heard me the first time.”
Tadashi goes on his tiptoes and kisses his blushing cheek. “Thank you, Kei,” he says tenderly. He turns his gaze back to the pizzas, his cheeks warm. “I’ll bring the pizza over. Can you put some trivets on the table?”
Tsukki does so, Tadashi right behind him. They sat next to each other at the table.
“The pizza smells really good. It reminds me of you in your uniform when you worked at that pizza place,” Tsukki says as he grabs a slice.
“Yeah, I mean this dough recipe is the same as Seirinkan’s, so that’s probably why you’re remembering that time.”
“Ah, I didn’t know you got that recipe.”
“Yeah I-“
“PIZZA!” Hinata’s scream bounces off the walls out before the door does.
“HINATA WHAT THE FUCK I TOLD YOU DON’T SLAM THE DOOR”
“TOBIO THERE’S PIZZAAAAA”
“THAT’S NO EXCUSE”
The arguments continue, but Tsukishima and Yamaguchi continue eating. This is pretty much an everyday occurrence for them. As soon as Hinata has his slippers on, he slides into their dining area and kisses Tsukishima and Yamaguchi on their cheeks before attempting to grab a slice. Before he could do so, however, Tadashi grabbed his wrist.
“Shoyou, you need to take a shower first.”
“Yeah we don’t want your nasty sweat all over our meal,” Tsukki remarks as he takes another bite of his pizza.
“TSUKISHIMA! RUDE!!”
“Also, can you calm down,” Tsukki says, covering his ears. Hinata takes in a deep breath but before anything comes out of his mouth, Tadashi stands up and kisses him lightly. He exhales like a balloon finally being released.
“Ok, I’ll go clean up. But don’t eat it all!” Hinata says as he runs out out of the room.
“Then shower fast,” Tsukishima says, smirking at Hinata.
“We won’t eat it all.” Tadashi corrects, giving him a look.
Hinata rushes towards the bedroom. Tadashi waits for Kageyama, but it seems he had already gone upstairs. He frowns. It’s unusual for him not to even stick his head in and say hello.
After 15 minutes, Hinata bounded back in wearing shorts and his orange and red sweatshirt. He sits down and immediately grabs two pieces.
“Is Tobio ok? He didn’t come to say hello,” Tadashi says, passing Hinata the plate with the pizzas on it.
“Hmm. He seemed fine at practice but he was quiet on the walk home, so I’m not sure.”
“You didn’t say anything stupid, did you?” Tsukishima says, standing and bringing his and Tadashi’s plates to the sink.
“No! If anything you probably did, Meanyshima.”
“Hmm if anything you’re the one being mean. You kissed Tadashi but not me.”
“Wah! No fair! Tadashi kissed me!”
“Hmm guess it’s only fair, then,” Kei said just before he kisses Shoyou on the lips. He backs away after a moment and Shoyou jumps up to kiss him once more.
“Ha! I win.”
“Love isn’t a winning game, you know.”
“Yeah it is! And I’m winning!”
“If it’s really going to be a game we need to keep a tally”
“Kei, please don’t antagonize him,” Tadashi says, smiling at his boyfriends.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tsukki says, returning his smile.
After another few minutes, Tobio comes into view. He quietly sits at the table and thanks Tadashi for the meal before digging into the last few slices of pizza on the table.
“Is everything alright, Tobio?” Tadashi asks quietly.
“Hmm?” Tobio says looking towards the kitchen where Kei is drying the dishes.
“Are you ok? Did something happen at practice today?”
Tobio whips his head around and looks at him. “Oh. No, not really.”
“What are you talking about, Bakayama! You were amazing today!“ Hinata prattles on about what happened at practice. Tobio chimes in every so often, but is still unusually quiet. Tadashi decidea to wait. Tobio would say something when it needs to be said.
After dinner is finished and the dishes are clean, they move to their couch, which was just big enough to fit the four of them.
Tadashi sets up the true crime series they are excited to binge this weekend. Tsukki sits next to Tadashi and grabs the hand not holding the remote. Tadashi turns to him and smiles briefly before returning to the television. Hinata vaults over the couch and Tsukishima pushes until he sits up properly.
Kageyama stops at the edge of the room. Tadashi notices just as he’s about to hit play and says, “Come sit, Tobio,” patting the seat on the other side of Tsukishima. Kageyama frowns further.
“Tobio?”
“I don’t fit.”
“What are you talking about? Shoyou finally sat up so there’s plenty of room on the couch-“
“I’m not talking about the couch.”
Silence falls over the room. Tobio’s tone is off. The three of them watch him intently, no one daring to make a sound.
“Then what are you talking about?” Tadashi finally says, somewhat dreading what’s about to happen. They fight, every relationship does, but it’s complicated when there’s four people. They always get through it, but it doesn’t make it fun.
“I don’t contribute to the relationship at all. I’m just…extra. K-Tsukishima doesn’t even like me and all I do is fight with Shoyou… and Tadashi…”
“What about me?” Tadashi says, practically holding his breath as his heart beats a mile a minute.
“I’m not good at communication and I know you like being affirmed about our feelings and I’m not good at it. I’m too awkward and uncomfortable.”
Tadashi stands up and closes the gap between him and Kageyama. He takes both his hands, which were previously gripped tightly at his side. “I love you. I know you love me too. Communication isn’t just words. The doodles you do on the menu in the kitchen? I love every single one of them. I know you do it because it makes me smile, even when you’re not around to see it. You kiss me every single day and hold my hand whenever you get the chance. I see and feel your love so it’s ok, right guys?” he says as he turns to the others.
Hinata jumps up, runs, and tackles Kageyama to the ground by slamming into his middle, causing a loud “ooph” to come out of his mouth.
“Bakeyama, why didn’t you say something? We bicker, but we always do! It’s like on the court. When you tell me something that’s wrong I know it’s because you care about me and want me to be better. I love that you challenge me to be the best I can be! Never worry about that,” Shoyou tucks his head into the crook of Kageyama’s neck. Kageyama turns a bright shade of red, but gently places his arms around Hinata.
Tadashi looks at Tsukishima. He’s biting his lips and not making eye contact with anyone. Uh-oh, Tadashi thinks. What if he really does want to break up with Tobio? What if they can’t live together anymore? What if-
“Shut up, Tadashi, I can hear you thinking from here,” Tsukki mutters.
“Kei-“
“It’s fine. It’s going to be ok, alright?”
“But-“
“Tobio!” Kei says, suddenly standing up and towering over both him and Hinata. Hinata squeaks and scrambles away into Tadashi’s arms where they stand in anticipation of whatever’s going to happen. Kageyama slowly sits up and looks up at Tsukki.
The tension is palpable. After a moment, Kei gets on his knees and softly kisses Kageyama.
“You haven’t called me by my last name since we got together. I said you could, so you should, alright?”
Tobio is frozen, tears gathering at his eyes. Kei sits back on his ankles, watching intently as Tobio wipes his eyes.
“I’m sorry for ever making you feel like I don’t love you. I’m usually the one who’s bad at communicating my feelings, so it’s hard for me to make more of an effort, which is probably why I resort to old habits from high school. I do love you, though. You’re… so goddamn pretty, you know that?”
Tadashi and Shoyou hum and sigh in agreement. Of all of them, Tobio was definitely the prettiest.
“I-I’m not-“ Tobio started.
“You are! No arguing.” Tobio shuts his mouth and a blush blooms across his cheeks and down his neck. Kei traces the path softly with his thumb. “See? You’re pretty. But you’re also really good at volleyball. It always irked me that you weren’t good in school because I always thought if you applied yourself, you’d be the best in the class. But, you love volleyball and I think it’s admirable that you’ve put all your energy into bettering your skills. But, you’re also a good boyfriend. I see the stuff you do with Shoyou and Tadashi. You’re trying and… I need to do so, too. Let’s go on a date together, just the two of us sometime soon, yeah? We can talk some more, but I want you to know that I do love you. And… if you really don’t think you fit or it you don’t want to fit anymore, then… I guess we’ll let you go. But we’ll fight to keep you for as long as we can.” Kei stops talking and moves his hands to grab Tobio’s.
Tobio stares Kei and then down at their hands. After a long pause, he looks back at Tsukishima and asks, “Can we go get milkshakes for our date, Kei?”
Everyone collectively lets out the breath they’ve all been holding.
“Yes,” Kei says, leaning his head on Tobio’s shoulder, “Anything you want, Tobio.”
Tobio nods and tentatively moves toward Kei before stopping. Kei leans in the rest of the way and kisses him deeply, pulling him onto his lap. Hinata leans on Tadashi as they both watch them for a moment.
“Thank God,” Tadashi sighs, leaning his forehead on Shoyou’s shoulder.
After a moment, they break apart, leaning their foreheads against each other for a moment before they both get up and face the others. Tobio bows and yells a sharp “Sorry for interruption!” Everyone laughs as they return to the couch to set up the documentary once more.
Tobio turns toward Tsukishima and sees Tadashi sitting on the other side of him. “I want to hold Tadashi’s hand, too.”
“Well that’s too bad since I’m holding both his hands right now,” Kei responds, proceeding to do just that.
“Haa?!” Tobio says, pushing at Kei’s face.
“Hey! I wanna hold Tadashi’s hand too!” Hinata yells, pulling at Kageyama’s sleeve. As Tsukki also pushes at Kageyama, Tadashi grabs his arm, trying to pull him away.
“Tsukiiii, please don’t fight!”
After a few moments of play-fighting, a compromise is found. Tadashi is laid across all their laps so that Shoyou could play with his hair, Tobio could hold his hand, and Kei could rub his ankles. Tadashi wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he was happy his partners are happy. Plus the physical attention did feel nice…
By the end of the second episode, everyone was yawning. They’d finish it tomorrow. Tomorrow. As they walked up to the bedroom, Tadashi remembered the conversation they’d be having tomorrow about Tsukki’s program and also setting up Tobio and Kei’s date. Kei must have noticed his worries, because he tapped his forehead. “You’ll get wrinkles if you keep doing that.”
“Tsukki-“
“It’s going to be fine, yeah? We always are.”
As Tadashi watched his boyfriends climb into bed and snuggle together, he smiled. No matter what, they’d be just fine. The lights go out. The apartment is dark, but no longer cold. The four of them whisper good nights and ‘I love you’s and as he slipped into unconsciousness, Tadashi couldn’t help but thank the universe for his chaotic, wonderful boyfriends.
