Chapter Text
Although my lover lives in a place that I can’t live
I kind of find I like a life this lonely
Yamaguchi stepped out of the airport, his backpack over his shoulders and his duffle bag hanging from his hand. He made his way away from the front doors and found a secluded area where he could lean against the wall and take off his mask for a fresh breath of Osaka air.
He did feel bad about Osamu buying the ticket for him, but they hadn’t been able to see each other since the pandemic first hit and a short plane ride felt safer than six hours on a train.
Besides, he did own a restaurant with a newly successful Tokyo branch and had a pro-athlete as a roommate. He could afford it and thus insisted, leaving little room for argument.
After a minute Yamaguchi pulled his mask back up and grabbed his phone to check the status of his ride.
He didn’t have the chance to open up Hinata’s latest snapchat before he heard “Yamaguchi!” shouted at him from the pickup zone. He looked over and saw Hinata leaning out of the window as Atsumu pulled into a parking spot close to him. As soon as the car was stopped, Hinata threw open the door and bounded up to where Yamaguchi was. Though rather than charging in for a hug, he stopped a few feet away, his grin wide enough that Yamaguchi could imagine it even through his MSBY mask. “You made it in one piece!”
“Hey, Hinata!” he said, picking his duffle bag back off of the ground and looking over to the car where Atsumu had stepped out. He was leaning his elbow on the roof of the car and waving lazily. “Hey, Atsumu-san.”
Though Yamaguchi really appreciated them coming to get him, Atsumu wasn’t the twin Yamaguchi had travelled five hundred miles for. Though of course Osamu was stuck with an inspection to be sure the restaurant was following the pandemic take-out-only guidelines.
“Hiya, Tadashi-kun. Come toss your stuff in the back. We’ll getcha back home.”
Yamaguchi followed Hinata back to the car and let him open the door before sliding into the back and double checking his mask was on tight. Although he was going to be spending the weekend with them, they had practice right after this and he could wait to enter their bubble until after they saw the rest of the Jackals.
Minus Sakusa, of course. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he’d been following his own training regime, very separate from the rest of the team for the rest of the off-season. And since Hinata had decided to continue with practices, he’d been temporarily banned from their shared residence—something Atsumu clearly couldn’t have been happier about, as for the past few months, Hinata had been an honorary Miya.
When they reached the Miyas’ apartment, Atsumu pulled the keys from the ignition to try to remove the apartment key, but Hinata leaned over the center console and held out his hand. “Let me,” he said. Once Atsumu had handed him the keys, Hinata pried the keyring open with his nails to work the apartment key off of the ring, with the forethought that it was rough on the nails and Atsumu took such good care of his setter hands.
It was impossible for Yamaguchi not to catch Atsumu’s glance to Hinata—absolutely lovestruck—before Hinata turned around in the seat to hand the key to Yamaguchi.
“Let yourself in,” Atsumu told him once he’d torn his eyes off of Hinata. “‘Samu should be back soon, he said it wouldn’t take long.”
“Thank you both,” Yamaguchi said as he opened the door and threw his backpack strap back over his shoulder. “Good luck at practice.”
Once Yamaguchi had shut the door, the ignition turned over again and Atsumu pulled away from the apartment complex as Yamaguchi walked cautiously inside. There was no one in the elevator with him, which was a mild relief, but he still felt contaminated after an extended period of time in an airplane, unable to avoid the recycled air of the other passengers.
Once he made it inside the apartment, to rid himself of that feeling, he headed straight for Osamu’s room. Then he was stripping out of his clothes and removing his mask. He dropped everything (as well as the contents of Osamu’s hamper) into the washer and immediately made for the bathroom.
Over the past six months, Yamaguchi had accumulated much more than a drawer of belongings at the Miyas’ apartment. And, anticipating his arrival, Osamu had already put out Yamaguchi’s bodywash and shampoo. It was such a small act, but it always warmed his chest just a bit: knowing Osamu was looking forward to seeing him to the point of preparation.
He decided to save that warm feeling for when Osamu got back, and jumped immediately into the shower, spending longer than normal scrubbing his hair and face.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, he hardly had time to register that he wasn’t alone before he was swooped up into a hug. He leaned heavily onto his attacker, relishing in the feeling—the smell—the comfort of his companion.
“Okaeri, Tadashi-kun,” Osamu said into the fabric of his sweatshirt.
Yamaguchi gripped him back just as tight. “Tadaima.”
Their weekend passed as all their time together does. Too damn fast. Even though he wanted to enjoy their one full day together, he ended up spending all of Saturday dreading returning home Sunday. But that didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy themselves at all. Hinata had dragged them all to the park where they threw up a net between two trees for a two-on-two. Of course Yamaguchi and Osamu were obliterated, but that wasn’t important.
What was important was that, worn out from the beating they’d received, he got to fall asleep beside Osamu for the first time since the pandemic started; and Yamaguchi was really looking forward to sleeping in together on Sunday.
Which is why, when a knock came on the door early in the morning, Yamaguchi groaned and pulled his pillow down over his head.
Osamu reluctantly untangled his legs from Yamaguchi’s before stepping out of bed and answering the door with a tired, “What?” stepping into the hallway and shutting the door behind himself. Yamaguchi tried to doze back off, but it was unfairly cold without Osamu beside him so he pulled the pillow off of his head to check his phone when he heard Osamu’s voice rise enough that the groaned: “Shit” was audible through the door.
It was a few minutes later when the door opened again and Osamu stepped back into the room. Yamaguchi hadn’t put on his glasses yet, and he squinted across the room to try to make out Osamu’s expression, but couldn’t until Osamu came and sat down on the bed: by Yamaguchi’s legs rather than laying back down on his side of the bed. “What is it?” Yamaguchi asked, now able to make out the troubled look on Osamu’s face. When Osamu didn’t speak right away, Yamaguchi sat up, his mind already racing to the worst possibilities. “What happened?”
“I’m really sorry, Tadashi-kun,” Osamu said, raising a hand to push back his hair. Yamaguchi’s heart began to hammer with how serious he was being. “Inunaki tested positive. All of the team is isolatin’ for two weeks, and by extension…” he trailed off, looking terribly guilty, but Yamaguchi sighed with relief and collapsed backwards onto his pillow. When he saw how confused Osamu looked, he couldn’t help but laugh slightly.
“Sorry, no, I know this is serious; but you looked so distressed, I thought you were about to tell me someone died.”
“No, nothin’ like that,” Osamu said, but there was still a guilty ring to his voice and Yamaguchi sat back up. “I’m just sorry. I told you we were bein’ safe enough for you to visit, and this happens.”
“It’s okay, Osamu. I’ll call my boss and let him know the situation.”
“Will you callin’ out for two weeks be okay?”
“Yeah, a few people in my department have had scares too. I have my laptop, so can do some work remotely for now,” Yamaguchi said, then his eyes widened. “The restaurant—?”
Osamu shook his head. “Hinata and ‘Tsumu’s initial test was negative, so the restaurant can stay open. I’ll just need to let my head chef know I’m not coming in for a while.”
“Good. That’s good.” Yamaguchi reached up to comb his fingers through Osamu’s messy hair and smiled when Osamu leaned into his hand.
“You’re really okay with this?” he asked.
Yamaguchi shrugged. “I’m sure the panic will set in later, but we can’t do anything about it now.” Then he frowned and pulled his fingers from Osamu’s hair. “Are you okay with this? Me staying for two weeks?”
Osamu’s shoulders were still tense but he couldn’t help but smile. “You kiddin’ me? I’ve been tryin’ to trap you here for the last six months.”
Yamaguchi chuckled and leaned in to kiss him. Then he climbed out from under the sheets and bent over to grab a pair of jeans from his suitcase. When he straightened back up, he turned around to Osamu staring at him, before he realized he’d been caught and looked away. Yamaguchi huffed a soft laugh, knowing Osamu would have playfully smacked his ass if he weren’t in such a serious mood, and stepped into his pants. “Alright, so what’s the situation? When do Hinata and Atsumu get tested again?”
“Five days after exposure, I think. Since their last practice was Friday, they’re gonna get tested again Wednesday. Until then they’ll stay in ‘Tsumu’s room, and wear a mask when they gotta leave. We probably should too, to be safe.”
“Alright,” Yamaguchi said again. Once he’d shimmied into a shirt, he walked back over to the bed and leaned forward, setting one knee beside Osamu’s hip. Osamu smiled and slipped his fingers through one of Yamaguchi’s belt loops to tug him closer. “I guess I should call my boss.”
“Guess so,” Osamu said, but neither of them moved.
“And cancel my flight.”
“Guess so,” Osamu said, but neither of them moved. He rested his head against Yamaguchi’s chest and sighed into his shirt. “I’m real sorry, Tadashi-kun.”
“Don’t be. At least not yet. If I get sick, you can make it up to me with soup until I’m better.” Yamaguchi tilted Osamu’s head back to give him a careful kiss on the forehead.
Osamu’s shoulders finally relaxed. He freed his hands from Yamaguchi’s belt loops and gave him a little bit of a push. “Why don’tcha call your boss, then. And let me know whatcha need for the next couple weeks, I’m gonna order some stuff online.”
Yamaguchi nodded and pulled his laptop to cancel his flight as he dialed up his boss to explain the situation. His anxiety about the circumstances had begun to trickle in when his boss answered. But after a lone sigh from his boss, they quickly sorted out the plan for the next few weeks. He’d be handling the IT help line, working on software issues (rather than hardware, which was much his preference, but he supposed he wasn’t in the position to be picky about the tasks he could handle remotely).
After ending the call. Yamaguchi let out a deep breath and stood up from the bed. That was when he noticed Osamu’s eyes on him, looking vaguely concerned.
Yamaguchi realized his shoulders were tense so he forced them to relax. “All sorted there,” he tried to sound calm, but the ball of anxiety in his chest was beginning to unfurl, and he only knew one person capable of wrapping it back up. He cleared his throat and picked up his phone from the bed “I’m gonna step out to the balcony for a minute and call Tsukki.”
“Okay,” Osamu said, but didn’t take his eyes off of Yamaguchi as he put on his mask and cracked open the door to be sure Atsumu’s door was closed before heading for the balcony. After he’d shut the outside door behind himself, and stepped into the chilled morning air, he dialed up Tsukishima’s number.
“I haven’t forgotten,” Tsukishima said when he answered.
“Forgotten what?”
“Oh. I thought you were calling to remind me to pick you up from the airport. But I remembered. Is it something else?”
“Oh, actually go ahead and forget that,” Yamaguchi sighed. “It’s something else.”
“Damn,” Tsukishima said when Yamaguchi finished relaying the information. “Should I go get your plants?”
“Yeah, actually. If you don’t mind.”
“It’s no problem, I can grab them on my way home from work tomorrow.” His naturally calm voice had managed to stunt the growth of Yamaguchi’s worries already, as he practiced his deep breathing. “Are you alright?”
“I think so. Just stressed. This isn’t what I was expecting my weekend to look like.”
“I bet,” Tsukishima responded. “But with Sakusa as their teammate, I’m sure they’re all careful. There’s a good chance they didn’t get it from Inunaki, and if they did, I’m sure they’re not contagious yet. As long as you and Osamu keep away from them, you should be in the clear. And look on the bright side,” Tsukishima’s voice shifted from the logical recitation of helpful facts to his sharp teasing tone. “Two weeks in a bedroom with Miya Osamu? I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep busy.”
Yamaguchi laughed despite the situation and sat down on the balcony, legs dangling through the railing. “Alright asshole. What about you, how’ve you been keeping busy?”
As Tsukishima launched into a rant about Kogane and Kyoutani’s antics, Yamaguchi let himself relax.
Back inside, Osamu was trying to get an order placed, but even in isolation, he couldn’t be freed from his twin. His phone rang only a few minutes after Yamaguchi had stepped outside, and a long drawn out, “‘Samuuuuu” came through the speaker the moment he answered.
“What?” Osamu asked, only half paying attention as he added the ingredients for soup to his virtual cart.
“We’re hungry, can you bring us somethin’ to eat?”
“Starve,” he ordered before hanging up. But the phone rang again a second later and he answered with a sigh. “You’ve been in isolation for twenty minutes. Why didn’t you grab somethin’ earlier?” Osamu said, but he was already getting up. If it would keep Atsumu in his bedroom and away from Yamaguchi, he supposed he’d have to do this a lot the next few days. And possibly weeks, he thought bitterly. He didn’t listen to Atsumu’s response, but just hung up again.
He slipped on a mask before opening his door. At the sound of the door creaking open and his heavy footsteps in the hall, Hinata shouted out, “Thank you!” followed by Atsumu’s “Thenks mather.”
Osamu ignored them and stepped into the kitchen, immediately spotting Yamaguchi out on the balcony, his shoulders shaking slightly. Osamu’s heart plummeted as his guilt rose. He knew this had to be stressful for him, the idea of being away from home for so long along with the added pressure of the virus. He approached the sliding glass door but before he could open it, he heard Yamaguchi’s bright laugh, and realized he wasn’t crying.
“‘Samu!” Atsumu shouted again and Osamu rolled his eyes before walking back into the kitchen.
“Hold yer horses!” he shouted back before pulling a variety of food from the fridge, all the while watching as Yamaguchi visibly let go of his tension out on the balcony. He made the mental note to send Tsukishima food as well, the next time he sent Yamaguchi an Onigiri Miya special.
Yamaguchi sat down on Osamu’s bed with his back against the wall and entered the empty zoom call just as Osamu came back into the room, hair still dripping from the shower. Wearing nothing but the towel around his waist, Osamu’s muscular abdomen was fully exposed, and Yamaguchi exhaled softly. Osamu’s eyes softened when he looked over to Yamaguchi before whispering, “Are ya on the call?”
“Yeah,” Yamaguchi replied in his normal voice. “But no one has joined yet.”
Osamu, now knowing no one would see even if he was in range of the camera, approached the bed and leaned in to kiss Yamaguchi, his damp hair brushing against Yamaguchi’s forehead.
Yamaguchi reached up to brush it back from his forehead, but regretted it when the swooped-up look made him look a little too much like his brother, and he smoothed it back down. “I’m not going to bother you if I’m on the call for a while, will I?” he asked.
“You could never bother me,” Osamu said then pushed back off the bed and walked behind Yamaguchi’s laptop, out of sight of the camera before he dropped his towel and got dressed. “I’ll be listenin’ to music though, so you don’t gotta worry about me eavesdroppin’ or nothin’.”
Yamaguchi was about to assure Osamu that it was fine if he listened in, but then the zoom doorbell rang. Osamu recognized the sound and held up a finger to his lips to mime that he’d be quiet and Yamaguchi just smiled at him before looking back to his screen. “Hey Yachi,” Yamaguchi said as Osamu pulled on an unfairly snug t-shirt before putting on his headphones and moving over to his desk. “How’s it going?”
“Well, I’m fine,” she said, sounding much more tense than fine. “I’ve just been worried about you and Hinata since Sunday—has he shown any symptoms yet? Where’s he at?”
“He and Atsumu are isolating, so he should be joining from his own computer soon. No symptoms so far.”
Then the doorbell rang again, twice in quick succession as Kageyama and Tsukishima both joined, and once more a second later as Hinata joined the call.
“You know, if I’d placed a bet on who the first to get it would be, my money would’ve been on Kageyama,” Tsukishima said the moment he’d unmuted.
“We don’t know for sure if he has it,” Yamaguchi defended but neither Kageyama or Hinata really acknowledged the jab. Kageyama wasn’t even looking at the screen as he dug through his fridge but Hinata—
“Hinata, why are you so distracted?” Yachi asked.
Hinata just grinned before turning his camera around to Atsumu, who was using the pull-up bar—currently hanging from the closet door since they couldn’t open the door to the hall. He was shirtless with a light sheen of sweat on his muscular shoulders.
If Yamaguchi wasn’t treated to the same view (but with darker hair and a slightly smaller waist) every other day when the twins traded off who got to use the pullup bar, he might’ve stared too. Instead he looked at the other participants in the call to watch Yachi raise her eyebrows and Tsukishima hide a smile—Kageyama on the other hand was paying very little attention to the show and had his own camera at a very unattractive angle as he searched through the depths of his fridge for a yogurt drink.
Yachi cleared her throat after a moment when Hinata spun the camera back around to himself. “Alright, understandable.”
But Hinata’s attention had been drawn back to the conversation and he finally registered Tsukishima’s comment. “Rude! You have just as much contact with your teammates as we do. Inunaki just got unlucky.”
“Ushijima said Sakusa has been cursing you all out,” Kageyama added unhelpfully, having finally found his drink and shut the fridge to rejoin the conversation.
Hinata groaned. “I don’t know if I’m ever going back home at this point.”
“How’s it been being with the Miyas this whole time?” Tsukishima asked.
“I’ve never been better fed,” Hinata said.
“Seconded,” Yamaguchi added.
“Osamu, I take it?” Yachi asked, knowing full and well from Hinata that Atsumu couldn’t cook. “And where’s he at? Hinata showed us his twin, let’s see yours.”
“You just want to see my boyfriend’s sweaty back, don’t you.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation,” Yachi said solemnly, shaking her head.
Yamaguchi just smiled before turning his laptop around. “Osamu,” he raised his voice to be heard over Osamu’s music. Osamu wasn’t in the middle of pullups, instead working on his laptop, yet the sleeves of his t-shirt were stretched over his biceps anyways. When Osamu turned towards him, Yamaguchi pointed to his screen. “They say hi.”
Osamu flushed slightly and waved. “Hi back,” was all he said, shrugging after having been put on the spot. Yamaguchi turned his camera back to himself as Osamu put his headphones back on, though he didn’t look away from Yamaguchi right away, letting his eyes linger. Yamaguchi didn’t turn his full attention back to the zoom call either, staring right back as he watched Osamu take him in.
“Kageyama, is that a cat behind you?” Yachi asked, distantly.
“Did you get a cat and not tell anyone?” Tsukishima followed up.
“Yeah. It’s quarantine, I’m lonely,” Kageyama replied simply and everyone bust up laughing, but Yamaguchi hadn’t managed to look away from Osamu yet. That he’d gotten so lucky still didn’t compute with him fully. Once Osamu’s wandering gaze made it back to Yamaguchi’s eyes, they just smiled at each other softly before Osamu turned back to his laptop and Yamaguchi turned back into the call. “Her name is crow,” Kageyama said.
On Wednesday morning, the Jackals’ coach swung by. He hadn’t been at the last practice before Inunaki tested positive, and with a negative test, hadn’t been forced into isolation. Instead, he’d been running most errands for the players when they needed anything. He waited outside the apartment as Osamu walked the swabs to Atsumu’s room before returning the test tubes to Samson. “Thanks Osamu-kun,” he said. “Sorry you got caught up in this.”
“It’s nothin’, just some time off from work. So long as I don’t catch it.”
The coach smiled at him. “Well don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you need, and please let the boys know we’re putting a rush on it, so the results shouldn’t take too long.”
“Will do,” Osamu told him before waving and shutting the door. He passed the coach’s message through Atsumu’s door before walking back into his bedroom. He leaned against the door as he took off his mask, and watched from there for a moment. Yamaguchi’s posture was surprising good when he worked. The one thing he’d asked Osamu to order was an exercise ball, and he sat balanced atop of it, working at Osamu’s desk.
Osamu had to fight the urge to walk up and wrap his arms around Yamaguchi’s shoulders, since he knew he shouldn’t distract him while he was working. Instead he meandered back over to his bed and pulled out his own laptop to try to keep busy. He was so used to long hours at the restaurant, he hardly knew what to do with so much free time.
Though, much to Akaashi’s delight, he had managed to open a Tokyo location a few months before the pandemic hit, and he was considering extending a little further north. He looked up as Yamaguchi answered the phone. “Hi there,” he said in his syrupy customer service voice. “This is Yamaguchi. How can I help you?”
There was a pause as the customer spoke and he watched Yamaguchi lean back and stretch out his back and neck as he had a break from the screen. Then he hummed. “Have you tried turning it on and off again?” There was another pause and after a minute Yamaguchi just shook his head, “Of course, I’m glad I could help. Call again if you have any other issues.”
After he hung up, he rolled his eyes and looked over at Osamu. “At least a quarter of the time, that’s all it takes. I don’t know why they don’t at least try that first. It’s easier than making a phone call.”
“I’ll bet they call just to hear your lovely voice condescendin’ly tell ‘em to do a system restart. I know I would,” Osamu replied and Yamaguchi gaped.
“I don’t sound condescending, do I?!” he demanded.
Osamu shook his head. “Nah. You sound like a commercial voiceover in the best kind of way. Very fake, but nice anyways. Makes me wanna buy whatever you’re sellin’.”
Yamaguchi rolled his eyes again. “Not everyone can be on the same customer service level as Osaka’s small business of the year.” He turned back to his screen and put his headphones back in.
Osamu smiled lazily and began drafting an email to his restaurant’s financial advisor titled, “Expanding to Sendai?”
The response took quite a while, but he’d had time to put together a few excel spreadsheets to see the feasibility of it and came to the same conclusion before he’d even read what his financial advisor had to say.
Hi Miya-san,
I think that’s a good location, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to open now. Once the pandemic passes, it’s something we should look into. I can pull up some preliminary documentation if you want to start exploring options—
He didn’t have time to finish reading before Yamaguchi stood up from the exercise ball and shut his laptop with a loud groan. Osamu closed his as well and set it aside so it wouldn’t be crushed as Yamaguchi walked over to him and collapsed onto the bed beside him. “Hard work talkin’ for so long, isn’t it?” he asked, knowing Yamaguchi much preferred being left with someone’s device to work through the issue on his own than trying to talk them through it.
Yamaguchi frowned. “Am I too distracting? I could work in the living room so I don’t bother you so much.”
“Nah, you know I like listenin’ to you talk,” Osamu said, running a hand through Yamaguchi’s hair. He suspected now was about the time Yamaguchi would love some time to himself to recharge after a tasking shift, but they didn’t have a wealth of that anymore. So he tugged Yamaguchi closer, letting him rest his head on his chest so they could lay there in silence, Osamu gently rubbing his thumb over Yamaguchi’s shoulder.
Of course, the moment the tension finally left Yamaguchi’s shoulders was when they heard the scream. They both tensed up and Yamaguchi leaned his head backwards to look at Osamu questioningly before they sat up, ready to go check on the others. But they stopped when Osamu’s phone rang.
“What the hell was that?” he asked the moment he answered.
“Our tests are negative,” Atsumu shouted in his ear, loud enough that Yamaguchi could hear him too. They looked at each other immediately, and Osamu muted himself.
“It’s not a guarantee that they don’t have it, but I think the odds are pretty good. Are you alright with them comin’ out?”
“Yeah, I’m good with it,” he said with a smile and they both hopped off the bed.
“Come on out then,” Osamu said in the second between unmuting himself and ending the call. They stepped into the hallway at the same time as Atsumu and Hinata.
“Hey, you’ve been failing tests since middle school, it had to pay off eventually,” Yamaguchi said to Hinata as they moved in to high five. At the same time, Atsumu lunged forward and pulled Osamu into a headlock before Osamu could do the same, but Osamu reached up to grab Atsumu’s hair and pulled hard. Atsumu shrieked and Hinata and Yamaguchi stepped back before things could get too violent.
“That shouldn’t be attractive,” Hinata said, watching how Atsumu’s biceps had to flex to keep Osamu at bay as he shouted obscenities.
“Tell me about it,” Yamaguchi sighed, but offered no help to Osamu who was still struggling to free himself. Eventually he swiped Atsumu’s ankle with his own leg and threw him off balance, so Osamu freed himself. He quickly stepped back and fixed his ruffled hair as he pointed at his brother, “Ha. Quarantine has made you weak. You shoulda dodged that.”
“Dodge this!” Atsumu snapped and flipped Osamu off. Then they both started laughing and Osamu shoulder bumped him before turning around to face Yamaguchi and Hinata.
“Y’all hungry?” he asked.
Hinata and Atsumu responded with an immediate “Yes!” so Osamu shoved his brother once more before heading to the kitchen. Yamaguchi watched Hinata and Atsumu head to the living room they hadn’t been able to spend time in for days, where Hinata immediately climbed onto the stationary bike in the corner as Atsumu collapsed onto the couch, taking up as much space as he possibly could.
Yamaguchi shook his head, smiling fondly before walking into the kitchen to lean against the counter. “You’ve been feeding us this whole time, shouldn’t you make Atsumu cook now that he’s clear to be in the kitchen again?” he asked.
“‘Tsumu’s cookin’?” Osamu asked as he began to wash the rice. “I wouldn’t expose you to that, Tadashi-kun.”
Yamaguchi snickered before coming up beside Osamu and knocking their hips together to get Osamu to move away from the sink, letting Yamaguchi handle the easier aspects of meal prep. Osamu set his hand gently on Yamaguchi’s back and murmured, “Thank you,” close to Yamaguchi’s ear before he moved back to the fridge to get out the rest of the ingredients for dinner.