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The small woods behind his home feels like the expanse of a great jungle to the young Yamaguchi. His feet carry him across faint dirt paths—marked poorly by previous explorers—that wind and weave through the forest in an endless twist. If the previous explorers wanted a straight path, they did a horrible job of constructing it. Branches satisfyingly crunch under his shoes, and Yamaguchi avoids being caught in their pop up traps.
Ahead of him, Tsukishima has no trouble avoiding thick thorn brushes or climbing over small dirt mounds. He’s a man on a mission, a mission that even Yamaguchi had a hard time understanding.
“Kei-kun! Slow down!” Yamaguchi nervously calls out, trying to free himself from the small branch that’s currently holding him back. Tsukishima looks back, pausing in his steps. Yamaguchi manages to free himself and catch up with the older boy, who’s patiently waiting for him.
Tsukishima looks rather pleased with himself as he takes in his surroundings. “We’re almost there,” he announces to the weary traveler behind him. As they draw closer to their destination, Yamaguchi recognizes the fewer obstacles in their path and picks up the sound of rushing water. Soon enough, they come across a young river, hardly teeming with life and embroidered with stones of all sorts. Their reflections smirk back at them, and Tsukishima’s reflection looks so eager to begin.
Tsukishima’s bright, slightly miscalculated formula brought them to this bank. His goal was a simple task, but it was hardly easy to begin with.
“Let’s try finding our own fossils!” An excited Tsukishima presented to Yamaguchi one afternoon. Yamaguchi had tilted his head in confusion. Tsukishima quickly introduced his plan with little to no gaps, insisting he even had permission from his family to pursue the operation. Yamaguchi was swift to reject—an operation at that scale scared him—but Tsukishima managed to reassure him of the few risks. Yamaguchi could tell by the stars in the boy’s eyes that he was going to get roped into this, no matter what.
‘Be careful, stick close to Tadashi, and be sure to be home before dinner! Try not to get dirty!’ Tsukishima’s mother wished the boys off before they began their journey. The blond called back earnestly, promising to keep his word. Yamaguchi hoped that would be the case, doubt still lingering in his mind about his importance in the mission.
As Yamaguchi stands on the bank of the stream, watching it surge with a strength his body might not be able to surpass, a flood of doubt crosses his mind and asks once more if he should really be here. Instead of immediately voicing his worries and doubts, he looks over at Tsukishima, who’s beaming with a radiant excitement, and convinces himself that if it’s for him , it should be alright.
“So,” Tsukishima places a hand on his hip, “did I tell you how to search for fossils?” Yamaguchi shakes his head. “It shouldn’t be that hard,” Tsukishima shuffles to the edge of the river, careful to not tip his shoes into the running water. Yamaguchi follows after, squatting next to the boy who’s sorting through rocks.
“According to the show I watched,” he says matter-of-factly, “some of these rocks might be fossils. Animals that may have lived around here died and were buried under a ton of ‘sediment’,” he pronounces the word with precision, obviously copied from the show. “Eventually, they turned into hard stone.” Tsukishima stands up and pats the dust off his pants, twinkling with excitement. “There might be tons of fossils around here, and we just need to find them!”
“Where do you want to search, Yamaguchi? Personally, I want to search farther upstream,” Tsukishima looks to Yamaguchi, who merely shrugs.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” he timidly replies. “Wherever you want, I’ll help you.”
“How about this,” Tsukishima suggests, voice running thin with impatience, “I’ll start searching upstream, and then you can look around here. That way, we’ll cover more ground.” Yamaguchi slightly flinches at the thought, wondering if he should remind him of his mother’s words.
“Sure, let’s do that,” he decides to discard the suggestion. “I’ll start looking around here.”
“Thanks, Yamaguchi!” Tsukishima’s grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll see you in a bit, then!” in a few moments, the older boy is a mere speck of gold on the horizon, but Yamaguchi can still sense the thrill from here.
Yamaguchi exhales weakly, plopping down next to the riverbank to reluctantly rummage through rocks. He follows Tsukishima’s instructions, creating his own strategy of searching by tossing the bigger stones aside, instead thumbing over the smaller ones. The river keeps him company, chattering softly with its flow but roaring loud enough to drown out Yamaguchi’s own thoughts.
Eventually, Yamaguchi creates his own system, his own one-man assembly line that Yamaguchi deems as the fastest rock-sorting system known to mankind. With his system, he clears through a good majority of the rocks along the riverbed. A few rocks lay in a pile behind him, and because he’s no expert, he’ll save these for Tsukishima to look through later.
Speaking of Tsukishima, the boy wonders how he’s doing. The growing ache in his lower back is his only measure of time, which more or less tells him of how long they’ve been separated. In a sigh of exhaustion, Yamaguchi sits flat on his bottom, finding a cushion among the buried rocks. As he watches the river flow past in a never ending journey, the words Tsukishima previously told him come flooding back. An idea comes to him—a reckless yet efficient one.
While he promised his own mother that he wouldn’t soil his own clothes, he’s not sure just how far he can carry that promise. He keeps his shoes neatly sitting away from the bank, basking in rays of sunlight. Yamaguchi carefully wades through the river in his rolled up shorts, testing the water’s depth and strength. Thankfully, it’s not strong enough to physically carry Yamaguchi away, and it's shallow enough for him to breathe.
The method may be a little more taxing on his lower back, but his logic argues that this system may be more worthwhile. His arms sweep through stream water as he continues his method of sorting through rocks. After a bit of searching, he continues pacing downstream and follows its dip to the left. Yamaguchi finds a little delight in searching for a treasure that’ll surely please Tsukishima.
‘For Tsukki!’ his mind marches forward.
Tsukishima’s had little luck so far. Previously, when he decided on this spot, he was certain that there’d be something promising laying in wait here. Unfortunately, similar to other archaeologists he had seen on television, he came up empty, endlessly searching for the treasure of previous life buried away.
When his search ultimately fails, Tsukishima returns back to where he originally parted with Yamaguchi. Except, the freckled boy isn’t there to greet him. He squints downstream, following the course of the river while trying to catch a glimpse of him. Tsukishima can’t find him, and his mother’s words come back to echo in his conscience. Pessimistic thoughts are brewing, and he immediately takes off in the search for his friend.
“Yamaguchi, where are you? Answer me!” He’s crying out frantically, calling out to him over and over with no response. His legs carry him across flattened stones, nearly tripping and stumbling headfirst into the river at one point.
His worries drag his heart down to a very dark place, feeling the fear of being too late rest heavy on his shoulders. It all comes crashing down on him as Tsukishima stumbles over his long limbs and takes a hard tumble to the ground. Rocks on every side dig into his skin and he curses his abnormal growth for once. As he pushes himself up, he can feel a growing pain forging in his leg.
Ignoring the pain in his leg and the selfish want to slow down and rest, he carries himself further along the bank, praying once again that he isn’t too late.
Yamaguchi’s measure of time is now based on the position of the sun and his clammy hands. After several trials of wading through water and sand, he thinks he’s struck gold. One particular rock had a strange groove embedded along one side, and Yamaguchi can barely make out the outline of a creature. Even if he isn’t an expect, he’s sure this will be a treasure Tsukishima’s looking for. Smoothing over the stone and wiping away any excess sand on it, he beams proudly to himself.
He carefully begins to wade ashore, clutching the new specimen he discovered. Part of his mind imagines the reaction on Tsukishima’s face when he presents it to him, and his heart jumps for joy at the idea. Originally, Yamaguchi had been so dismayed to come out here, but now, he feels like a winner in his own rights. Once he shows this to Tsukishima, maybe he’ll fully clean it and then even display it in his room. Yamaguchi would look forward to seeing it every time he visited the boy.
Yamaguchi looks to the sky, noting the sun’s curved path towards the horizon. His eyes return to the river and its path, and he realizes he may have strayed quite far downstream. He makes haste, not wanting to worry Tsukishima for long. After putting his shoes on quickly and carefully tucking the stoned specimen into his pocket, he follows the trail back upstream.
“Yamaguchi!” A voice calls to him from beyond. He recognizes its owner and follows the sound to Tsukishima, who's flushed with sweat and covered in newly formed bruises and cuts.
“Tsukki! Are you okay?” Yamaguchi worriedly asks as he immediately recognizes the wounds in his skin.
Tsukishima ignores his concern, believing that he is undeserving of attention in that moment. He swiftly steps closer, wrapping the younger boy in his arms. “You’re okay,” he breathes out in a sigh of relief. “I was so worried.” Yamaguchi feels the boy’s voice tremble with every syllable.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he returns the gesture, keening into the boy’s touch.
Tsukishima breaks the silence once his heart is ready to continue. “Let’s go home now, since it’s getting late.”
Yamaguchi’s expression twists in confusion. “Didn’t you want to want to look for more fossils? Or did you already find one?”
Tsukishima looks at his friend in a way that confuses Yamaguchi once more. He looks away after a brief moment. “Nah, I didn't. Let’s call it a day,” he does his best to hide the dejection in his voice. He tries walking away with a limp that makes his injuries obvious.
“Wait, hold on,” Yamaguchi runs alongside him, grabbing the boy’s hand with his own. “You’re hurt, so lean on me for a bit.”
Warmth floods Tsukishima’s heart at the gesture. “Okay,” he agrees, lacing his fingers with the other’s, “hope I’m not too heavy for you.” Yamaguchi looks at him with a strong determination that makes him laugh a little.
Reaching home took a little longer due to Tsukishima’s limp. Yamaguchi took the time to guide his friend over every bump and ditch, refusing to let go of his hand. Fireflies greet them and pass by, lighting the way for them to return home. Silence fills the gaps with a heavier air, but Tsukishima refuses to let go of the hand so tightly grasping his own, sweaty or not.
Tsukishima does not keep his promise to his mother. While her expression remains fierce, she sets the table once more with a kind smile. Dinner still has some of the warmth from before, which both boys wolf down without a single complaint. While Yamaguchi bathes, Tsukishima receives a light scolding for his actions, but his wounds are taken care of soon after.
The wounds in his skin and heart still sting after his shower and continue to throb in agony as he lays in bed. Yamaguchi’s light touches against his wounds are his antidote, which he’ll never care to admit. That night, they occupy the same bed, with exclusive permission from multiple parties—his mother, Yamaguchi’s mother, and more importantly, Yamaguchi.
The stone discovered by Yamaguchi sits politely on his desk. The boy had showed it to him just before they went to bed, and Tsukishima’s excitement was overshadowed by his pure exhaustion. ‘We can look at in the morning,’ he says behind a yawn.
Now, in the darkness of his bedroom, Tsukishima's left with his thoughts and his friend. Even as his eyelids grow heavy, he does not let the memory of Yamaguchi slip from him.
“Hey, are you still awake?” he whispers.
“No,” Yamaguchi whispers back.
Tsukishima has to make this quick before his weariness consumes him whole. “Thanks for coming out with me today. I’m sorry I left you behind, I never wanted to make you afraid.”
Yamaguchi’s pupils glow in the dim room. “It’s okay. It was a lot of fun, actually, because Kei-kun was with me.” Tsukishima's glad that he can't see his blush.
‘I don’t deserve you,’ Tsukishima says to himself, drifting off to the thought of Yamaguchi. In any universe, he would still choose Yamaguchi. Fossil hunting can wait—they’ve been waiting for millions of years.
Tsukishima’s backpack sits neatly against the door. Yamaguchi’s backpack takes a seat next to it, albeit clumsily laying across the other’s. Two boys, in the silence of a room, enjoy their own activities. Tsukishima rests peacefully on his bed, headphones wrapped over his ears. Yamaguchi’s reviewing homework answers at the boy’s desk, filling in blank spaces messily. He scoots the desk chair back, causing an unpleasant noise that makes Tsukishima cock an ugly eye at him.
“Sorry,” Yamaguchi giggles in apology, earning a soft huff from his boyfriend. He diligently reviews each section until the words begin to blur under his eyes. He calls an official break for himself, closing his textbook shut. The chair tips back unceremoniously as Yamaguchi looks through items positioned on the shelf. A picture frame stands at one corner of the shelf, displaying a photo of the Tsukishima family. On the other end is the fossil they discovered as kids.
“Tsukki,” he calls out once, and his boyfriend looks up at him. “I can’t believe you still have this,” he breathes out, staring fondly at the fossil.
“Why wouldn’t I,” Tsukishima replies, slipping off his headphones. In the end, he never got around to cleaning it with Akiteru, deciding its current state was enough. “I can still remember the hell I went through that day because of you.”
Yamaguchi snickers at his boyfriend. “You acted like I was a goner,” the once scary memory eventually became something they laughed about together.
“Please don’t remind me,” Tsukishima mutters from the bed. “I was scared at that time, okay?”
“I understand,” Yamaguchi laughs once more before joining his boyfriend on the bed. “Next time we go to a slow current river, I’ll let you hold my hand.”
“I will never do such a thing,” Tsukishima drones out, ignoring the poking in his side.
Yamaguchi continues his administrations. “Aww, Tsukki, don’t be like that,” he leans over to peck a swift kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek. Tsukishima makes a grumbling noise. With one nimble movement, he grabs the boy’s sides to introduce a fit of tickles. Yamaguchi can’t stop giggling as he falls victim to his boyfriend’s deluge of tickling.
"Tsukki, I'm sorry! Cut it out!" they're both laughing now. Tsukishima stops to wrap his arms around his boyfriend, holding him close.
"You will always be important to me," he mumbles into the lining of his shirt.
"I know," Yamaguchi softly replies, fiddling with a strand of blond hair. "And you will always be important to me."
To Tsukishima, his greatest treasure is Yamaguchi, his own walking, talking sunshine. As long as he’s breathing, he knows Yamaguchi will never go extinct in this lifetime.