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01.
Communication happens to be their worst foe yet. Because ideas and assumptions roll off their tongues without actual confirmation, neither party is ready to handle the backlash that follows.
Cue Yamaguchi, standing outside Tsukishima’s door with two suitcases and three cardboard boxes, not knowing the apartment is only meant for one. This means one bathroom, one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen—but it’s okay, they can share.
Tsukishima opens the door and his mouth immediately gapes when he spots the suitcases and boxes huddled together. “You’re moving in?”
“You didn’t know?” Yamaguchi quizzically responds. “I thought we agreed on this.”
The blond pinches at his forehead, and a frustrated, strained noise falls from his lips. “I thought we weren’t living together this year. This apartment is only meant for one.”
Yamaguchi might’ve fled the apartment complex if a stubborn fool didn’t hold him in place. “Tsukki, I’m so sorry, I should’ve made sure with you that it was—”
“It’s my fault as well, so don’t blame yourself.” Tsukishima joins his boyfriend outside the door, hauling in two thirds of the cardboard boxes. “We’ll make this work, okay? It won’t be that bad.” he smiles back as an offering of consideration. His boyfriend’s readiness to adapt made Yamaguchi’s heart swell even more. He’ll be sure to give him extra kisses later.
Yamaguchi’s put in charge of sorting and organizing his belongings alongside Tsukishima’s while the blond takes another trip to purchase extra necessities for the two of them. The rest of the day is entirely productive, molding the lonely apartment for one into a pleasant home for two. Tsukishima does not complain whatsoever when Yamaguchi ties the apron strings around his waist and gets right to work, joking that he would’ve probably had takeout every night due to his lack of cooking skills.
The movie Tsukishima randomly put on after dinner fades to silence when Yamaguchi kisses his boyfriend sweetly and tenderly, holding him like he’s his whole world. The couch is too small to hold the two of them perfectly, and Yamaguchi nearly falls to the floor when Tsukishima tries deepening the kiss.
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Yamaguchi giggles against the kiss against his nape. Tsukishima whines and tucks his head against his boyfriend’s neck, silently pleading to be clingy for just a little longer.
After some prying, Yamaguchi manages to send his boyfriend to wash up for the night as he prepares their bed. At first glance, he imagined the bed might be a tight fit for the two of them, and the slight fear builds up in his throat when he looks at it again. He collapses amongst the sheets he had just flattened and tries to determine if there’ll be enough room for the two of them.
‘We’ll make this work,’ the blond’s words echo through his head once more. Yamaguchi closes his eyes and breathes. Yeah, it’ll work out just fine.
Yamaguchi doesn’t realize he was napping until he feels a towel strike his leg. His eyes fly open, and he’s met with Tsukishima, fresh out of the shower. He barely avoids the blond’s continued strikes as he flies to the bathroom, laughing loudly.
He joins his boyfriend in bed shortly after, who’s absentmindedly swiping through his phone. The room’s already dark, apart from the light given off by the phone screen. Once Yamaguchi’s under the covers, he moves his arms and legs around while laying on his back, testing the space between him. His arm knocks against Tsukishima’s bony arm, immediately throbbing with pain.
Tsukishima ignores the little pain left behind. “Yamaguchi, move over,” he gestures, jabbing a bony knee against the boy’s thigh.
Yamaguchi hisses in pain. “A little more, and I’ll be on the floor.” He’s not exaggerating, either, because his body lays right near the edge of the bed.
Tsukishima huffs and decides to consider another option. One arm slings over Yamaguchi’s chest and lays him on his side instead. Yamaguchi presses against his boyfriend’s own chest, tucked gently under his chin. Tsukishima is satisfied with his handiwork and smiles to himself. “Goodnight, Yamaguchi.”
“Goodnight, Tsukki,” he can feel a heartbeat join his as he appreciates his boyfriend’s cuddle. Yamaguchi is the first to fall asleep—lulled to dreamland by the steady beat of his lover’s heartbeat. Thankfully.
Yamaguchi wakes up with a stinging pain in his lower back. He realizes his position has shifted, now with his back to Tsukishima. He immediately understands the source of his pain, because he can still feel the bony knee pressed against his back. Yamaguchi also realizes the empty space around his head where his pillow should be, and he finds the supposed pillow wrapped between his arms.
It should be his paradise, but Yamaguchi wants to get out of bed the second when Tsukishima’s knee continuously jabs against his spine.
Yamaguchi does not let go of the blond’s strange habit when he reprimands the boy as they’re walking to class. “You owe me,” he grumbles as a fist beats against his back, trying to soothe the ache.
“Sure, sure,” he sarcastically replies with a smirk. “I can massage you when we get home.”
Hinata and Kageyama happen to witness the misleading conversation and share a confused look.
02.
After two more continuous nights of knee-jabbing Tsukishima, the chestnut readily seeks out a solution. First, he tries placing a pillow between the two of them, but it gets swept away into his arms during his slumber. The second alternative involves them laying back-to-back, which does happen to work out. While it’s less romantic, it’s more ideal and practical for Yamaguchi’s poor back.
Yamaguchi encounters his second problem when he’s left to study after the blond falls asleep. He spends a little longer with one section, and despite his boyfriend’s concern, he promises he’ll wrap up soon. Tsukishima takes to bed first, and it’s until the wee hours that Yamaguchi completes the section and prepares for bed.
When he first huddles under the covers, he hears a voice. It’s barely audible and he doesn’t pay much mind to it as he closes his eyes. Although, the voice doesn’t stop talking and even grows louder. By the second paragraph of its speech, Yamaguchi links the dinosaur-related discourse to none other than his sleep-talking boyfriend.
During their class the following morning, Hinata’s the first to question the dark circles dipping under his eyes. His voice sits below a whisper. “You look tired.”
Yamaguchi yawns at the mention. “You think so?”
Hinata tilts his head with intrigue. “Did something happen?”
“You could say that. Something kept me up last night, all night in fact,” he replies sleepily, hardly registering the weight of his words.
Hinata’s head whips back to stare at Tsukishima, whose eyes hint at a good rest. Confused Tsukishima narrows his gaze at him in a glare. Hinata would’ve prodded further, but his attempts were halted by the professor who called him out. The orange haired boy immediately snaps back to the class with rapt attention.
03.
Yamaguchi’s victory for the night is a bed entirely for himself. Tsukishima texted him earlier that evening, notifying him that he’d arrive home quite late. His immediate blame went to Kuroo and the rest of his rowdy gang. Yamaguchi giggled to himself when he texted his boyfriend back, telling him to have a fun night. The only message he got back was the middle finger emoji.
Yamaguchi takes his time before enjoying the luxurious bed for himself. When he claims the middle of the bed for himself, he sighs happily at the expanse of space. The bed is already small to begin with, and with two people cramping its space, it’s understandable to revel in the delight of having it all to oneself. Yamaguchi easily soars to dreamland, pillows comfortably tucked against his chest.
Tsukishima lumbers through the front door into the darkness of his apartment. He acknowledges the idea that Yamaguchi’s already fast asleep in bed and stumbles to the bathroom to wash up and tend to some physical needs.
“Let’s hope he didn’t take the whole bed for himself.” It’s rhetorical, muttered in a selfish wish. His hunch is confirmed when he spots his boyfriend sprawled across the entire bed.
“I leave for one night and you take up the whole damn bed.” Mumbling to himself in a drunken rant, he discards random items of clothing as he approaches the bed. “Move,” his arms clumsily try to overturn the sleeping boy. The bed’s inhabitant refuses to budge, and Tsukishima groans. “Please move,” he pathetically tries shoving the boy just a little more to the right, but he’s sunk like a rock.
With zero fucks to give, Tsukishima stumbles out of the bedroom to sleep on the couch. “Goodnight,” he tells himself.
In the morning, as Yamaguchi heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, he catches his boyfriend laying across the couch. The sight makes him laugh and he pulls out his phone to take a photo. Tsukishima’s long legs hang over one arm of the sofa, and a newspaper politely lays across his body as a blanket.
“Please delete this,” Tsukishima almost begs when the chestnut shows him the photo over breakfast.
“Never!” Yamaguchi laughs proudly and avoids the long arms that try to grab at the phone. He promises to add this moment to their book of memories.
Remnants of his hangover alter his decisions. Yamaguchi has already gone ahead of him, and Tsukishima’s left with few minutes on the clock to shower and change. He decides that his pants from the previous night aren’t too soiled to wear to class, and he slips into a different shirt that matches well.
Hinata whispers something to Kageyama when the blond shows up to class in the same pants as the day before. Kageyama bonks him on the head at the suggestion.
Yamaguchi has a laughing fit when he sees his boyfriend appear with slightly winkled pants. “Why would you wear those again?”
Tsukishima actually ponders the thought. “I don’t know. I was lazy.”
“Yet you changed your shirt!” Yamaguchi laughs again and narrowly avoids the pencil thrown at him.
04.
When Hinata confronts the couple of their recently strange actions and appearances that hint at certain things, they just share a look and laugh aloud.
“We should buy a bigger bed,” Yamaguchi says to Tsukishima with raised eyebrows.
“Or maybe a bigger apartment,” the blond chuckles under his breath.
Hinata is even more confused and decides he will never understand.