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Soft light filtered through the window, letting blocks of light warm up the old floorboards. There wasn’t much traffic from coming up from the small street they lived on. A few straggling kids were making their way home after class, laughing with each other as they chattered.
Tsukishima hadn't arrived home yet, practice running late. It was just Yamaguchi who had just awoken from an impromptu nap on his homework. Though the apartment was almost empty, Yamaguchi the only one there, it felt far from it. Yamaguchi smiled softly as he chopped vegetables. A playlist put together by Tsukishima running through its songs in the background, phone set up in a yellowed dock that sat awkwardly where it was plugged in on the floor. Sighing quietly Yamaguchi looked up from the chopping board, looking over his apartment.
It was small, worn stools pressed against the kitchen counter to make up for the lack of a kitchen table. The low table he and Tsukishima had argued over, that far too small coffee table now with papers and their laptops scattered across its surface. Tsukishima always gave Yamaguchi a look when their pencils rolled off the edge.
Yamaguchi grinned as he caught sight of the volleyball under the coffee table. The blankets and pillows Tsukishima had sworn they didn't need spilling off their compact couch, obscuring the misplaced ball tucked underneath the table. It had been a while since the two of them played any volleyball together. Their busy schedules barely giving them time to eat and then pass out together.
Knick-knacks were lined up over a console table, plastic charms and larger figurines both gifts and collections of theirs. A thin layer of dust coated them. Yamaguchi swore Tsukishima said he'd dust them earlier. Behind the trinkets were a few photo frames hung up on the wall. Familiar young faces grinning back at him.
It was small, but it was his.
"I'm home."
Yamaguchi's face lit up as he heard Tsukishima's bored drawl from the front door.
"Welcome home dear!" Yamaguchi called back, quickly washing his hands before Tsukishima got to the living room.
"Dear?"
Yamaguchi turned to find Tsukishima with an eyebrow raised, standing at the mouth of their short hallway. Shirt dark with sweat, some of the fabric still sticking to his chest. He must have had a practice match today, faint red lines outlining his eyes betraying the use of his sports glasses.
"You've been talking with Kuroo too much."
"Aww, sweetheart, you don't like it?" Yamaguchi grinned as he leant forward against Tsukishima's chest, reaching up to hold his face.
Tsukishima's ears turned pink as he averted his eyes,
"I wouldn't say that."
Yamaguchi just smiled as he turned Tsukishima's face, waiting for him to slowly make eye contact again.
"So are you gonna tell me what you have in your hands?"
"It's my bag, what else would it be?" Tsukishima scoffed.
Yamaguchi looked down, peering over Tsukishima's shoulder at the bag in his hands, the seams barely holding the fabric together.
"Uh-huh. I know I was drowning in homework, but I don't think I was so lost I wouldn't realise you were trying to bring the whole kitchen sink with you."
Tsukishima huffed.
"Get off me, will you. I'm still sweaty from practice."
"Oh but I like that."
Tsukishima's head snapped towards Yamaguchi, scrunching his nose up in disgust, eliciting a soft giggle from Yamaguchi.
"Sorry, Tsukki. Go have a shower, I'll finish dinner."
~*~
By the time Tsukishima emerged from their bathroom their sink was already full of dishes. Yamaguchi was just finishing off the plates of food lined up on their kitchen counter, puttering about with a handful of chopped green onions and two sets of chopsticks. Tsukishima quietly padded over to where Yamaguchi was wiggling to the music still playing, Tsukishima bringing his hands up to rest on Yamaguchi's hips when he was close enough.
"Eek!" Yamaguchi jumped, dropping the chopsticks in his hands.
Tsukishima hid a laugh behind his hand as Yamaguchi spun around, frowning already.
"Don't scare me like that!"
Yamaguchi grumbled as Tsukishima dropped his hand to smirk at Yamaguchi.
"Fine then, to make it up to me, you can show me what you have in your bag."
Now it was Tsukishima's turn to grumble.
"I don't want to show you, it's just some rubbish."
"Then why would you bring it to our house?" Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest, standing firm.
Tsukishima swallowed thickly and he felt Yamaguchi change the whole atmosphere, memories of his third year at Karasuno coming back. Flustered, Tsukishima brought his fingers together in front of himself,
"It's something my teammates were teasing me about. It's embarrassing."
"Well all the more reason to look at it," Yamaguchi was already walking into their bedroom before Tsukishima could reach out to stop him.
"Wait! Tada-"
"Are these," Yamaguchi paused as he pulled out swaths of thick cream coloured fabric. "Lion onesies?" The hoodie of the onesie in Yamaguchi's hands flopped back, fuzzy orange fur sticking out haphazardly. Little ears peeking up from the mess of faux fur.
Tsukishima's face burned a bright red as he sighed, squeezing his fingers together tightly.
"Yeah, they uh. They gave them to me."
"Why?"
"Do you remember what you said to me, during our first training camp at Karasuno?"
Yamaguchi sat silently, frowning at the onesie in his hands. Then, with wide eyes, he turned to Tsukishima.
"Oh my god. How do they know that?" Yamaguchi turned back to the onesie, gripping it tight. "Ahh, that's so embarrassing. I still can't believe I said that to you.
Tsukishima huffed,
"What do you mean that's embarrassing. I'm the one who's supposed to be embarrassed here." Tsukishima dropped his fingers, bringing a hand up to squeeze the back of his neck. "They found out because of the one time I went out drinking with them. The idiots got me wasted and I didn't stop yammering about you. Kyotani even got the story on camera."
Yamaguchi snorted as he turned back to look at the onsite.
"I still can't believe you remember that, especially when you're drunk."
"Shut up Tadashi."
"I guess, we can always have our own pride now."
"You're such a dork."
~*~
The curtains on their small windows had been drawn. The papers scattered across the table collected into a haphazard pile, still threatening to fall off the edge. A laptop with a lone dinosaur sticker on the protective shell sat open in the cleared space, a documentary playing.
Yamaguchi sighed as he grabbed Tsukishima's empty plate, leaning over to stack it on top of his. The blankets wrapped tightly around him and Tsukishima acted as a sling as he leaned off the couch.
At some point, Yamaguchi had convinced Tsukishima to put the onesie on. With much grumbling and a few withering looks, which were met with more giggling and insincere apologies, Tsukishima did get his on. So with their new onesies donned and dinner finished, the two snuggled up on the couch.
Yamaguchi turned away from the screen, not bearing to look at the fate of the little albatross babies. With his face tucked into the crook of Tsukishima's neck, he hooked two fingers into the little space between a set of his buttons, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. His nails occasionally scratching lightly against Tsukishima's chest.
"Are you proud?"
"Hmm?" Tsukishima hummed, not looking away from the laptop.
"I said what more do you need than pride, back then," Yamaguchi paused, face flushed a little as he thought about that moment. "Are you proud now, with what you're doing? What we've done."
Yamaguchi felt Tsukishima's hands snake around his waist, legs shifting around him before he slipped forward into Tsukishima's chest a little more.
"Of course I am, what kind of question is that?"
"Sorry, Tsukki."
"Are you proud?"
"Uh," Yamaguchi floundered for words, gripping Tsukishima's onesie tight. Yamaguchi pulled back from Tsukishima's chest to look up at him. "Um, yeah."
Tsukishima smiled, small and warm.
"Oh! We should take a selfie to commemorate!" Yamaguchi gasped.
"Huh?" Tsukishima's smile slipped right off his face, frowning as he watched Yamaguchi dig around the mess of fabric around them to find a phone. But when Yamaguchi found a phone, Tsukishima only rolled his eyes and humoured him.
~*~
The apartment that Yamaguchi and Tsukishima shared was small. Their stuff spilling over the limited surface space. Not quite knowing whose stuff is whose with how often it ended up in the wrong spot. They still didn't have a place for the extra blankets when summer rolled around. A few volleyballs lay strewn across the living room, Tsukishima swearing he has no idea where most of them came from.
They still bickered over who got the stool that squeaked every night when sitting on the couch became unbearable in the summer heat.
The collection of trinkets on their console table only grew day by day. Little mascot keychains now joining the collection alongside a standing photo frame, courtesy of Yachi. Behind the trinkets hung a few photos, most of them with familiar young faces grinning back. And in the centre, a lopsided selfie with mushy smiles. Hair and faces obscured by blankets and frizzy faux fur.
It was small, but Yamaguchi was proud that it was his.