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He remembered.
He remembered all the ‘what if’s and the ‘I’ll never be good enough for her’s that plagued him from the very moment Yamaguchi got tired of his best friend’s hopelessness in the progress of his love life.
When the days are cold and the cards all fold
“He likes you.” Yamaguchi pointed blatantly at the blonde, all of his shyness having fled after the freckled teen went through three years of high school and was named the captain of the volleyball club. Yamaguchi Tadashi had become a fully-fledged crow, standing tall and proud in all his fresh-university-graduate glory. “Has liked you for a while now and is too much of an idiot to ask you out. Can you go out with him?”
And the saints we see are all made of gold
“Um.”
If he was given a palette with all the shades of red known to men, he would be able to pinpoint the exact colour your cheeks turned in the cold of the white backdrop Miyagi’s early winter provided.
“Yamaguchi, shut-”
“Sure.” You were fidgeting with the frilly strands of your scarf, your eyes shying away from his. “I’d love to go out with you, Tsukishima.”
Yamaguchi had to resist the urge to close Tsukishima’s gaping jaw as he stared at you in shock, taking a moment to recompose himself. “You do know you don’t have to, right?” The blonde eyed you carefully. “I’d be a terrible boyfriend. You know me. Heck, I’m a terrible friend.”
“O- Only you think that.” You mumbled, fiddling with a strand of your hand now. “You’re nicer than you think.”
He would be lying if he said that dating you wasn’t the best thing to ever happen to his life. You were always there, whether he was dealing with the unfamiliarities of his new museum job, or when Sendai Frogs had a match with EJP Raijin (And you were there when they lost, too).
When your dreams all fail and the ones we hail
“Hey.”
Looking up to see your eyes after just having his spike blocked by a smirking Suna Rintarou was comforting, to say the least. Pride shone in your eyes, despite the fact the thirty-minute deuce between Sendai Frogs and EJP Raijin was ended by Tsukishima’s shut-down spike.
“You did great out there.” Your voice flowed into his aching muscles like warm honey, soothing the soreness away and oxidising the lingering acid. “I didn’t dare to blink.”
“Then you would’ve seen that pathetic spike, huh.” He replied bitterly, looking down and backing away from your touch.
You gasped, sounding offended and exaggerating your movements. “How dare you say that about my boyfriend!” You scowled, jabbing a finger at his chest. “I won’t tolerate anyone talking shit about him. I’ll have you know he drags himself to practice even after he’s had a tiring day at his day job, and I’ll have you know that he trains very hard, thank you very much.”
Are the worst of all and the blood's run stale
You were there, when lightning flashed across the sky and you learned that Tsukishima Kei was scared of thunderstorms. You were there, when his mother fell sick and things weren’t looking particularly good. You were there, when cutting remarks shot out from his mouth like a barrage of arrows because the monster inside him was howling, scratching, and tearing from inside his rib cage.
But it wasn’t as if you didn’t have monsters of your own, either.
I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you
“Heads up!” You grinned, taking Tsukishima by surprise as you whacked him with a pillow, bursting into a fit of intoxicating giggles when he responded with a surprised Pikachu face.
“Oh, you’re going to regret that.” He wore a sly smirk, picking up his own pillow and setting down his phone on the bedside table. The bed sunk where he pushed himself up, curving downwards like a vortex. A predatorial grin decorated his lips as he crawled towards you, moving suddenly to raise the pillow.
You flinched visibly, panic flitting across your eyes, your hands extending in front of you in a defensive position until you realised what you had just done.
“K- Kei, it’s not what it looks like...” You shivered, seeing realisation dawn into his hazel-gold eyes.
But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide
“That bastard... Your ex... He hurt you, didn’t he?” The growl rumbled in his throat, anger flashing in his eyes until he saw the fear reflected in your eyes. “Shortcake, I’m so sorry...”
Shaking your head furiously, you reached forward the wipe the apologetic expression off his features. “It’s not your fault.” You said firmly, trying not to let your voice shake.
“I should’ve known.” He argued, setting down the pillow to diligently wrap his arms around your waist. “I shouldn’t have moved towards you like that.”
“There was no way you could’ve known.” You refuted quietly, bringing your fingers up to caress his face. “I didn’t... I didn’t want you to know this side of me.” You admitted guiltily.
No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed
He stared at you, befuddled. “Shortcake... I would never judge you for it. You know that.”
This is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come
“I know, I just...”
When you feel my heat, look into my eyes
“Look at me.” He gently cradled your face in his hands, fingers caressing your skin as if it were the most precious thing in the world. “I have my own demons, too, Y/N.”
“You don’t understand.” You cried softly. “He left scars, Kei.”
It was only then it dawned on him why the two of you never bathed together. If the two of you got home from work at the same time, you would always let him bath first. He had thought it was because he was the one who had volleyball practice and probably smelt worse- But now he realised it was because you didn’t want him to see what you deemed as the ‘ugly’ side of you.
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide
“Hold on,” He frowned, scrunching up his nose. “You’re telling me that this whole time, you’ve refused to let me see you naked- Is because of your scars? That’s stupid.”
You sniffled, feeling tears prick the edge of your eyes. “B- But it’s... It’s such an ugly side of me.”
Don't get too close, it's dark inside
“And?” Demanded Kei, his hazel-gold eyes piercing into your soul. “So what if you think it’s ugly? I couldn’t care less. If anything, I think it’s proof that you were brave enough to leave him.”
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide
“You... Think I’m brave?”
“I think you’re the bravest person ever.” He said firmly, pleased as your tears started drying and your smile reformed. “There we go.” His voice was soft, the two of you sitting in each other’s embrace for a moment longer, the pillow fight forgotten. “Do you want to move onto the bed? It’s much more comfortable for cuddling.”
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