Chapter Text
Tsukishima Kei was currently nursing the most excruciatingly painful ‘stress-headache’ known to mankind.
He sat, motionless, in his first period Ethics class, uncharacteristically quiet during a heated debate about how Virtue Ethics could be applied to moral dilemmas. Every raised voice caused a sharp pain in his head and he could feel the irritation bubbling up in his stomach, he gritted his teeth and laid his glasses down on the desk in front of him, bringing his fingers up pinch the bridge of his nose.
One more enthusiastic shout from his fellow classmates and he would sure enough cause a moral dilemma of their own, it was the final week of exam season and Tsukishima’s sanity was wearing thin.
If you asked any of his friends to describe Tsukishima, they would probably label him a ‘smug asshole’ or a ‘near-two-meter nuisance’. His ability to rile up his friends with snarky comments is something he unabashedly takes pride in and something they, in turn, appreciate him for nevertheless. However, exam season Tsukishima, was a completely different story.
It’s not that he was expecting to do badly, nor was he in the least bit unprepared, he just had a terrible habit of riling himself up, the immense pressure to do well wearing him down to the point of which he became ten times the asshole he usually was. In reality he had very little to actually worry about but he couldn’t help but let the anxiety-turned-short temperedness eat him up.
Kuroo had always told him that his “flare for dramatics was even larger than Bokuto’s”. And, well, he was right. Tsukishima had walked around for the past few weeks like he’d been wronged by the universe, wearing an expression that read ‘God has let me live another day and I am about to make it everybody’s problem’.
It was safe to say that his friends, save for two messy-haired individuals, gave him the space he needed during these trying times.
“Tsukki?”
A gentle voice from his side piped up, disrupting his internal monologue, “Lesson’s over!”
Tsukishima blinked, surveying the blurry figures of his classmates, who were busily getting ready to leave the classroom, before reaching for his glasses and turning to face his childhood friend, Yamaguchi. They’d be close since before Tsukishima could remember and throughout high school it was a rare sight to see either of them without the other, so, it was only natural that they’d end up at the same university.
“You’ve been sighing all lesson, What’s up?” Yamaguchi asked tentatively, knowing damn well what kind of reaction an interrogation would bring out of ‘Exam week Tsukishima’, glancing two and from his friend as he carefully packed his books away.
“Just tired” Tsukishima mumbled back, slowly beginning to pack up his own, unopened, books. He didn’t feel like talking much with the throbbing pain growing beneath his temples.
An unconvinced hum came from his side and Yamaguchi stood, rummaging in his backpack’s front pocket for something. “Here” he said, tossing a pack of painkillers into Tsukishima’s lap, “Go take a nap or something, you look like shit” he flashed him a grin and with that, he was gone, a faint “Sorry Tsukki!” left in his wake.
Fixing his collar and smoothening down his shirt, Tsukishima was left wondering if the stress really did show in his appearance, or if it was just Yamaguchi’s weird psychic abilities again.
Either way, it only made him feel worse.
The bustling corridors almost seemed too much for Tsukishima to handle right now, but he pulled his headphones over his ears nevertheless, ready to face the perilous voyage to the library ahead of him.
His headache was still very much present so he opted to just wearing his headphones to ward off potential conversation starters, instead of actually listening to music, silently praying to the God he’d previously been cursing for the painkillers to hurry up and kick in.
Not even a moment after he stepped out his classroom, a series of ‘pings’ rang through his ears, sending a wave of shock through his already scrambled brain. Quickly reaching for his phone in his pocket to turn off the offending noise, he sighed at the sight of a string of messages from the two loudest people he knew.
Bokuto: HEY HEY HEY! ( ๑>ᴗ<๑ )
Bokuto: TSUKKI!! ☆:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:☆
Bokuto: TSUKISHIMA o(*^▽^*)o
Tsukishima was going to make Kuroo regret showing Bokuto how to use text emojis.
Kuroo: dude answer ur phone IT’S URGENTTsukishima: What?
Bokuto: COME FIND US!!
Bokuto: We have important matters to discuss (⌐■_■)
Kuroo: in the library where u usually sit :)
Kuroo: be there OR BE SQUARE
Tsukishima rubbed his eyes, head throbbing, it was almost as if he could hear their voices through the screen and his headache was not happy about it.
‘There’s no avoiding it now’, he thought, they’d find him wherever he went. So, after sending a quick text, he continued on his way to the one place that was supposed to be free of his squawking roommates, the library.
Tsukishima: omw
He pushed his way through the double doors and into the almost silent library, he could hear the rustling of papers and occasional quiet chatter of fellow students, though muffled by his headphones. The quiet atmosphere soothed him a bit, maybe this wouldn’t be too bad, maybe he might be able to distract himself from his dwindling headache and get some extra studying in.
As if his thoughts had been read, the unmistakable wheeze of Kuroo’s laugh echoed through the library, coming from the direction of Tsukishima’s usual spot and just like that, his hopes of a quiet afternoon were shattered. He strode over to his spot in the corner behind the bookshelves, giving the librarian an apologetic smile on his way past, taking as much time as possible as he wasn’t sure if he had the mental stability for Bokuto and Kuroo’s antics right now.
Pulling his headphones from his ears, Tsukishima walked down the aisles of books, scanning the titles, like he had any intention of taking out a chemistry textbook, that was Kuroo’s area of expertise. He reached the last bookshelf and turned the corner. The sight he was met with honestly almost made him want to turn around and leave.
Kuroo was sat nonchalantly on Bokuto’s lap, wearing that obnoxious flame print shirt that Tsukishima just hated (and not because he somehow managed to pull it off, no, that was definitely not the case) a strong arm was curved around his waist and his head leant on Bokuto’s shoulder. The duo had their eyes glued to the phone in Bokuto’s hand, sniggering at whatever they were watching. Their cheeks were tinted pink and they were wearing matching grins. While this certainly wasn’t a rare sight, Tsukishima wasn’t too sure if he could handle the mixture of unidentifiable feelings that brewed in his stomach when he saw them attached to each other like that, in his current state.
“Do you two have to be constantly touching each other? It’s gross.”
Bokuto’s head whipped up, grin growing even wider “Tsukki!” he exclaimed excitedly “You came!”
“Hello to you too” smirked Kuroo, he shifted in Bokuto’s lap and stretched his arms letting out a low groan, at times like these Tsukishima could see why he’s often compared to a cat. “You’re just jealous I’m not sat on your lap” he said with a sigh.
Tsukishima shrugged his bag off his shoulder and plopped down on the seat opposite them, “I don’t want your bony ass anywhere near me thank you very much” he snapped back, pulling his books and pencil case from his bag. “And I’d really appreciate it if you both kept the noise to a minimum, my head hurts like a bitch” he said pointedly, sending a threatening glare in his friend’s direction.
“Okay, but what about our plan!” Bokuto responded in a whisper-shout, leaning closer over the table towards Tsukishima, “We need to tell you about our plan!”
“You’ll love it” Kuroo added mimicking Bokuto’s whisper-shout, a smirk formed on his face as if he didn’t quite believe what he was saying. Tsukishima rolled his eyes in response, flicking through the pages of his notebook looking for an empty space.
“Try me” he mumbled not looking up from his books, he chewed on the end of his pen as he searched for the right page in his text book, he was going to try his best to study, even though it felt as if the universe was doing everything in its favour to get Tsukishima to just go home and curl up in bed.
Bokuto sprang back upright out of his bent over position, jolting Kuroo with his sudden movements.
“OKAY SO” he cried, voice raising substantially from his whisper-shout, eliciting a pained hiss from Tsukishima and a harsh “shhhh!” from the librarian. He was practically vibrating in his seat out of excitement, grip on Kuroo’s waist tightening as if he was about to deliver some life changing statement. He leant back over, after sending a sheepish look in the librarian’s direction, and returned to his loud whispering,
“We’re going camping!”
Tsukishima’s pen came to a halt and he raised his head to send the duo a wary look, “who’s we?” he said, although he could guess the answer by the look on their faces.
“Me, you and Kuroo!” Bokuto replied, flashing him his signature grin.
“No.” Tsukishima reached for his headphones; he’d heard enough. “No fucking way am I going camping with either of you” he said, harsher than intended.
“C’mon Tsukki hear us out” pleaded Kuroo, poking Tsukishima’s arm from across the table. “Our break starts in a week and you clearly need a holiday” he said pointing to the aggressively chewed pen in Tsukishima’s hand.
“Absolutely not” and with that, Tsukishima pulled his headphones over his ears to block out his friends whining, focusing his whole attention on coping up his notes. If he was able to make it out of exam season without keeling over due to a stress-induced heart attack, then he was sure as hell not going to submit himself to a trip into the wilderness with the two most stress-inducing people he knew. Living with them wore his heart out enough.
Ten minutes passed and Tsukishima’s mind started to wander, he could tell Bokuto was sulking without even looking up, he could see his slouched figure in his peripheral vison, arms crossed with Kuroo still perched on his knee, poking his sides in an attempt to cheer him up. He couldn’t ignore the way his heart clenched a little at the sight.
He imagined himself and his friends huddled round a campfire, roasting marshmallows and telling stories. He imagined Bokuto’s bellowing laugh and Kuroo’s bent over, shaking figure as they stayed up to the early hours laughing and chatting. He imagined them huddled in a tent for warmth, a pile of tangled limbs and blankets, exhausted from their busy day. A smile tugged at his lips.
He scrunched up his nose and shook his head. He was getting distracted. Pushing his glasses back up with his finger, Tsukishima set about getting back to work. Just as he went to put his pen back to the paper, the whole table shook and there was a loud ‘bang!’, causing Tsukishima to jolt in surprise, as if someone had just hit their knee on the table underneath. He was sure he heard hushed exclamations of ‘cute!!!’. He glanced up towards his friends, pausing his music, and sure enough they were clinging onto each other looking at Tsukishima with those stupid grins.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, sending them an irritated glare, “What!” eyes flickering between them “What’s your problem?”
Kuroo cleared his throat and released his hold on Bokuto’s hoodie, “Oh nothing!” he said in his usual teasing manner, “Have you thought about it anymore?” he raised a dark eyebrow at his friend.
“No…” Tsukishima responded, tone clearly indicating otherwise causing that smug grin to bloom on Kuroo’s face. Bokuto leant over and grabbed Tsukishima’s hands,
“Please Tsukki! It’ll be so much fun, I promise!” wide shining eyes locked with Tsukishima’s, and just how could he say no to that face.
“I’ll have you know, I have excellent outdoor knowledge” Kuroo stated proudly, holding a hand to his chest, “You won’t even have to do a thing!” he flashed Tsukishima a reassuring grin “C’mon you’ve worked so hard, you deserve a relaxing trip”.
Tsukishima sighed, looking down at his lap. ‘Fuck it’.
Lifting his head, he gave the duo a small smile, headache long forgotten, “Just for the record, a holiday with you two would be the furthest thing from relaxing”. Bokuto’s grip on his hands tightened and he let out a quiet screech, “Is that a yes?!”
“I’ll think about it”.