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Yamaguchi has been waking up in an empty and cold bed for the past couple days. No, it wasn’t because he kicked Tsukishima to the living room couch because once again, his boyfriend didn’t wash his dishes after using them. It was because his boyfriend was currently back in their hometown visiting family. Sure, Yamaguchi didn’t have to wake up in an empty bed if he went with him, but Yamaguchi had work, unfortunately, being an adult sucked.
Tsukishima visited family to relax. With the spread of the virus, he wanted to check in with his family (after getting tested of course) to make sure they were alright and safe. He was constantly on edge about it before he left. He could barely sleep and Yamaguchi woke up from his sleep a couple of times thinking an earthquake was happening, but it really was just Tsukishima’s foot moving anxiously.
His mood was also affected by the fact that he couldn’t go to work at the museum. He loved working there more than he’d like to admit. He was also saddened by the fact that practice is cancelled for a little while, but Yamaguchi knew he was relieved since he can finally take a break.
Yamaguchi: how is everyone?
Tsukishima: good, fortunately. is everything okay? if not then i’m omw
Yamaguchi rolled his eyes and smiled fondly.
Yamaguchi: yes yes everything’s fine. enjoy your stay don’t worry too much about me, i’m a big boy now
Tsukishima: ofc ofc and thank u. see u soon <3
Yamaguchi replied with a goodbye and an I love you. Tsukishima was coming back during sometime around the afternoon, or maybe later, so, he has the day to make Tsukishima’s favorite dessert: strawberry shortcake.
Tsukishima wasn’t the type of person to have a sweet tooth, and he didn’t, he liked savory things more, but he had a liking to strawberry shortcake. This fact became known to Yamaguchi during the year before their first year of high school.
Yamaguchi came over one weekend to have a study date with Tsukishima and upon entering his room, he saw his soon-to-be boyfriend happily eating a slice of strawberry shortcake as he looked down at his notes. Ever since then, they shared a slice, and always divided the strawberries within the cake equally. The amount of strawberries was never the same, so if there was an extra, they’d share.
Remembering that made Yamaguchi’s stomach flutter and his body burn.
Yamaguchi dug through the cabinets and fridge of their apartment’s nice, rather large kitchen (Thank you Tsukishima for playing professional volleyball). He set the ítems on the island and got out bowls and whisks to combine things.
He started to separate the egg yolk and the egg whites. A bit of shell ended up in the whites and Yamaguchi tried his hardest to fish them out but there were only tiny pieces left that he couldn’t remove. Tsukishima wouldn’t mind a little crunch in his cake, would he?
Other than the bits of eggshell in the whites, Yamaguchi thought everything was going rather well. His meringue formed stiff peaks, the mixture of the meringue and egg looked nice, and it was ready for baking to make the sponge.
The oven was beeping behind him, telling him it was preheated. He opened it and carefully set the two pans on the first rack in the oven carefully so he wouldn’t burn himself. And just like that, it was baking. He was hoping that it wouldn’t burn.
He then got started on making the whipped cream, which was significantly easier than making the spongey cake. His arm was tired by the end of it since he was too lazy to wash the electric mixer he used to make the meringue. Because of his violent mixing, spots of whipped cream ended on his face and shirt.
The phone in Yamaguchi’s pocket started to vibrate. An incoming FaceTime call from Tsukishima. Naturally, he answered.
“Hey, Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima’s wonderful voice came from the speakers of his phone.
”Hey, Tsukki. Why’d you call?”
”Can I not call my boyfriend?” Yamaguchi’s heart skipped a beat. Even after years of being Tsukishima’s boyfriend, his heart never failed to jump whenever Tsukishima called him his partner.
Yamaguchi laughed softly, “Yes, you can. Sorry.”
Tsukishima smiled. He looked so handsome with his smile and wavy damp hair that Yamaguchi wanted to hang up and catch the train to his hometown and be there with him to see that smile for real, not just behind millions of pixels.
“What are you up to?” asked Tsukishima. “There’s white stuff on your face. Wait, should I even ask?”
Yamaguchi spluttered, “What, no! You’re so dirty-minded Tsukki, wow. It isn’t what you’re thinking. I was just making something.”
Tsukishima laughed and it left Yamaguchi breathless. They continued to talk about everything that happened during the time they were separated and even reminisced on their high school days. They chatted until the oven beeped; the cakes were ready.
“Yama? What’s that noise?”
“Oh, I’m cooking something. It’s just a timer, don’t worry, it’s not a bomb.” That caused Tsukishima to snort.
“Well I got to go. I need to pack up. I’ll see you soon, Tadashi. I love you.”
Yamaguchi smiled at him. “I love you too, Kei. Can’t wait to see you again.” Then they hung up and Yamaguchi was left with the silence of their apartment.
He put on some music to feel less lonely.
He removed the cakes from the oven and began to assemble the actual cake itself by layering whipped cream and sponge and strawberries he carefully sliced. In the end, it looked pretty decent. He placed it in the fridge for it to chill for two hours.
In the meantime, he cleaned. He washed up the items he used, put away ingredients, and dusted all around the apartment and washed his clothes to make the place look presentable for Tsukishima’s arrival.
Yamaguchi danced with a broom in hand to the music playing from the speakers around the apartment and sang into it as if it was a microphone. He didn’t even notice the time pass by quickly until he was interrupted by someone singing along with him. Yamaguchi jumped, startled by the sudden singing and looked behind him to see Tsukishima smiling.
“Tsukki! You’re back!” Yamaguchi sighed happily and set the broom he was holding aside before jumping into Tsukishima’s opened arms. He wrapped his legs around his waist and the taller boy spun him around gently before setting him back on the ground and meeting his lips for a soft kiss.
“Don’t ever leave again, I missed you so much.” Yamaguchi mumbled against Tsukishima’s mouth.
“Not like I can, quarantine and stuff.” Tsukishima replied and kissed him again.
Yamaguchi lightly smacked his shoulder and rolled his eyes once they pulled away to breathe. “Oh! I made you something!”
Tsukishima raised his eyebrow as Yamaguchi led him to the kitchen. The shorter man opened the fridge and pulled out the strawberry shortcake he made.
“You made this?” Tsukishima asked, almost in disbelief. Almost. He knew Yamaguchi was capable of doing anything.
“Yeah! Of course! I mean bakeries are closed so I couldn’t buy one, so I made one. I haven’t tasted it so I’m not sure if it’s good-“
”Tadashi, I’m sure it’s amazing, thank you. You didn’t have to do this.” Tsukshima cut him off.
“Ah, well, I wanted to. You’ve had a rough week so I wanted to do something to lift your mood.” Yamaguchi played with his hands and smiled sheepishly.
Tsukishima kissed his head then took out a fork from a drawer. “Well, let’s try your beautiful creation.” He fed Yamaguchi a piece first before trying it himself.
Yamaguchi watched his eyes light up.
“Tadashi! This is amazing! I’m going to hire you as my personal baker now.” Tsukishima ate another bite. “Thank you, Tadashi, really.”
”Anything for you, Tsukki.”