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tsukki likes to analyze.
whether it be volleyball to read his opponents next move or dinosaur bones he’s studying on the web, he’s always analyzing.
his favorite thing to analyze, is the freckles spread across his best friends face.
[and the rest of his body, but he would never admit to that]
sometimes yamaguchi catches tsukki staring. over time, tsukki has gotten worse at sneaking glances. he’s not even sure if he could call them “glances” anymore, they’ve turned into long gazes.
today, he’s had an especially difficult time hiding them.
tsukki and yamaguchi spent the day together; walking around the local shopping plaza, eating lunch together, people watching— that was tsukki’s favorite part of the day so far. tsukki was on a roll today with his jokes, which sent tadashi into countless giggle fits. tsukki watched the way his best friends eyes crinkled and how his freckles folded when the corners of his lips turned up. since yamaguchis eyes were closed from him laughing so hard, tsukki was able to sneak in lots of glances.
now they’re back at yamaguchis house. they’re sat on his bed watching a movie, bodies pressed tightly together. yamaguchi has a large bed so there’s room for each of them to have their own space, but neither boy moves.
tsukki definitely doesn’t mind the warmth of tadashi against him.
[neither does tadashi]
tsukki has a hard time focusing his eyes on the movie rather than on his friend sat right next to him, so when it finally finishes he’s grateful.
“hey, tsukki,” yamaguchi starts excitedly.
kei’s eyes dart up to meet yamaguchi’s. he notices that even in the dark, his freckles always stand out.
“the sky is supposed to be really clear tonight... would you wanna, maybe, look at the stars?” yamaguchi spits out.
kei had spent some time reading up on constellations one day when he had volleyball off and yamaguchi was sick in bed, he had nothing else to do so he figured, why not?
yamaguchi texted him that day apologizing that he couldn’t hang out, and explaining how he doesn’t even know how he got sick. tsukki told him that it was fine, and that he learned about some constellations, maybe he could point them out to him some time.
“yeah. sure,” tsukki says to him, almost immediately.
“i can show you some of the constellations too, if you want.”
yamaguchis eyes light up.
“that’s perfect, tsukki!”
yamaguchi grabs tsukki’s hand and pulls him out of the bed with him, dragging him downstairs and through the door.
yamaguchi lets go of him once they’re outside so they can sit on the grass.
part of tsukki wishes his hand was still holding his, but he pushes that thought back.
they sit in silence for a moment. tsukki glances over at yamaguchi (something he’s noticed himself doing much more often) and his eyes are bright, and he’s smiling wide. tsukki quickly has to look away when his friend looks over to him.
“do you know which one is the libra constellation,” yamaguchi started to ask him, still smiling wide.
“that’s your star sign right?”
tsukki looks up to the sky, analyzing it for a moment until he points to the constellation and circles his index finger around the pattern.
“it’s those ones, right above that tree.” tsukki says to him.
yamaguchi squints his eyes for a few moments, looking for the libra constellation, and then he finally finds it.
yamaguchi exhales loudly and smiles.
“it’s really pretty. just like you, tsukki! how fitting.”
kei feels his heart tighten and his cheeks flush, and yamaguchi turns back over to him.
“is that one your favorite?” tadashi asks him.
tsukki sits for a moment, thinking. he doesn’t think he has a favorite. there aren’t necessarily any constellations in the sky he thinks he could sit and stare at before getting bored. he looks back over to his friend, who’s head has turned away from him again.
it’s dark, but yamaguchi’s freckles still shine. kei studies them, and attempts to memorize the pattern on his face. they’re like stars, tsukki thinks to himself.
“this one is,” tsukki says before he can even stop himself, and yamaguchi is looking back at him.
he feels his hand reaching up to touch his friends cheeks, and places his thumb on his freckles.
tsukki rubs the pad of his finger against yamaguchi’s skin, and he feels his friends cheeks heat up.
“i could stare at this one for hours.” tsukki admits to him.
tsukki feels his friend lean into the palm of his hand, and tadashi moves a little closer.
“really?” yamaguchi asks him.
“really.” tsukki replies.
they sit there for a moment in the quiet, kei rubbing circles into the skin on yamaguchi’s cheek.
when tsukki finally looks up to yamaguchi’s eyes, he sees him staring back.
“my yamaguchi constellation. it shines light even on the darkest nights.” tsukki finds himself telling him.
before tsukki knows it, yamaguchi is inching his face closer, and tsukki does the same.
their lips crash and tsukki feels an explosion in his chest. he smiles against his friends mouth, still holding onto the stars on his face.
after a minute, tadashi pulls away.
“i was never really fond of that constellation. but i think with you around, maybe i can learn to like it.” yamaguchi tells tsukki, smiling at him.
tsukki would want nothing less.
they lay down on the grass, bodies pressed together again, and kei feels himself dozing off.
he dreams of the night sky, and the pattern of yamaguchi’s freckles lighting it up.