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To say Kei is dreading his meeting with Suga and Daichi would be an understatement.
He’s scared shitless.
After the team had returned from their disastrous game, they were all instructed to head straight home and not to attend morning practice the following day. Kageyama still hadn’t been very coherent by then- he remained fitfully sleeping in Daichi’s arms, completely unaware of the tense bus atmosphere. Kei had been jealous- at least Kageyama didn’t have to deal with a disappointed Sugawara as soon.
The atmosphere had yanked Kei from his headspace, that’s for sure. He’d been tense until he got home, where Tadashi had forced him to shower and sleep.
And now Kei is awake. And he really, really doesn’t want to be.
The sun shines through his open blinds, the orange and pink painting his room as it rises beyond the hills. Birds twitter from the trees, and he faintly hears the rooster from the farm several streets away croaking away like people aren’t trying to sleep around it.
“Stupid fucking birds,” he mutters petulantly, trying to wrestle his long legs out from where they’ve tangled in his sheets overnight. “Stupid, tiny little brains. The world doesn’t revolve around you. Jesus fuck.”
“This is the third time I’ve come to check on you this year only to hear you cursing out the poor little birds, Kei.”
Kei jumps, successfully untangling himself from his blankets to land in a heap of long, gangly limbs on the floor. Long black hair and steel grey eyes meet his gaze, and Kei rolls over to sit up in surprise.
“Tenma-san,” He greets. “You’re here?”
“Ah, yes.” Tenma smiles. “Aki and I had a bit of a rough day, he didn’t want to leave me by myself.”
“Oh,” Kei stands up. He begins methodically making his bed, body already beginning to run on autopilot. “Are you okay?”
Tenma hums, stepping into his room to fix the small bits Kei’s tired brain missed. “Yeah, I’m good now.” He answers. “Your brother is a great caregiver.”
“It runs in the family, I guess,” Kei answers. “Mom and Aki are really great caregivers, I hear. Their friends tell me about it all the time.”
“That’s good,” Tenma fluffs Kei’s sad lumpy pillows. “Hey, where did all of your pillows go?”
“Didn’t have space to sleep,” Kei lies. “A lot of them have been there for years. Don’t you think they were kind of old?”
“Maybe,” Tenma sighs. “You should get some new ones, then. It’s kind of sad in here.”
Kei shuffles to the bathroom connected to his bedroom. “It’s not,” he huffs. “I have Salad.”
“Ah, Salad,” Kei hears through his now closed door. Tenma’s voice is affectionate. “I’m sorry Kei took away all your pillows. I’ll convince Aki to sneak some in.”
“Don’t you dare!” Kei garbles out, spit and toothpaste dribbling out his mouth. Toothpaste sprays across his mirror. Disgusting.
“Hey, Kei,” Tenma calls, ignoring Kei’s not-so-threatening threat. “Your phone buzzed.”
Kei rinses out his mouth, and proceeds to do his business. He washes his hands, and cleans his mirror.
“Keeeiiiii-”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Kei huffs. He stalks out the bathroom, snatching Salad out of Tenma’s arms. “And give me that.”
“Him, Tsukki, him.”
“Him, then.” Kei carefully sets Salad on his spot of the day- his nightstand. Sometimes Salad will be set on his pillows. Sometimes he’ll be set on the kitchen counter. One time, Kei set him in front of Akiteru’s bedroom door, and relished in his girly shriek of terror.
What can he say? Salad is a free spirit.
Kei wiggles into his school uniform in record time, knowing he’ll be late if he continues to take his sweet time. He checks his gym bag to make sure he had placed his clothes in there after washing them the night before.
“Kei! You’re going to be late!” Akiteru calls from the kitchen. “Don’t miss breakfast today! You have after-school practice!”
“Gross,” Kei mumbles, shuffling out of his bedroom. Tenma follows behind him, far too chipper for such an unfairly early hour.
Upon making his way into the kitchen, Kei shoves a piece of toast in his mouth- he’s not really much of a breakfast person. Breakfast makes him feel sick instead of energized. Still, his brother won’t let him leave the house if he skipped out of eating. So, toast it is.
He chews on it as he slips into his shoes in the genkan. Something feels a little off. It’s been an uneventful morning- a good one at that. There’s no such thing as good mornings in the Tsukishima household. Bland mornings? Sure. Terrible mornings? Common enough.
Good mornings? Something was up. He has to be forgetting something.
It isn’t until he checks his phone for texts from Yamaguchi (already halfway to their meeting place) that he realizes he has forgotten something. A rather big something. Something that makes his heart skip a beat, despite the kindness of the words behind his screen.
Suga: Make sure you stay behind in the clubroom this afternoon!
Suga: You’re not in trouble and we won’t yell at you. We just want to check in okay?
Fuck.
Kei can’t believe he forgot about all that. How could he? The whole event was so stressful. There’s no way any sane person could forget about it. Not even Kageyama.
“Tsukki?”
Oh. Right.
Yamaguchi stands in front of him, a small concerned smile pulling at the corner of his lips. His eyebrows are furrowed, freckled nose scrunched up just slightly.
Kei wants to kiss the little wrinkles away.
Instead, he grunts and pockets his phone. “Nothing,” he says.
“I didn’t even say anything yet!” Yamaguchi whines.
“You didn’t need to. Your eyes are way too obvious.” Kei shrugs his shoulder a bit, adjusting the slipping strap of his bag. He brushes past his friend, flicking his nose on the way. “Stop staring at me. It’s creepy.”
“You’re creepy.” Yamaguchi rubs his nose, lip jutting out in a small pout.
“What was that?”
“A-Ah! Nothing! Sorry Tsukki!”
Kei spends his entire day feeling anxious.
He does his schoolwork anxiously. He eats his lunch anxiously. He washes his hands anxiously. Everything he does is done with anxiety, and though he doesn’t slack off in his schoolwork, he stops being able to restrain his leg bouncing as the school day draws closer and closer to its end.
He feels the strongest urge to pack his bag and head straight home as soon as he’s dismissed, but the thought of disappointing Daichi and Sugawara makes his stomach twist uncomfortably. Besides, he’d just have to face them later- avoiding them is out of the question.
Still, he hides for a little bit in the bathrooms before he even thinks of making his way to the club room. They can handle him being just a little bit late. It’s better than him ditching.
He’s in the middle of splashing his face with water when he hears the bathroom door creak open.
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t know you were here-”
“Shut up,” Kei scowls, blindly reaching for his glasses. “We’re in the same hall. You didn’t personally offend me.”
The blur in front of him transforms into Kageyama, blue eyes blinking owlishly at him. Despite everything, Kei feels a weight lift off his chest at seeing Kageyama unharmed.
“Looks like we both had the same idea,” Kageyama mumbles, eyebrows furrowed in frustration. His cheeks were looking redder by the second.
“We’re both cowards,” Kei agrees.
Kageyama drops his bag by the door and rolls up his sleeves. “Maybe.” He splashes water on his own face. Kei can see how badly his hands are shaking.
The two stand in mutual silence for a while, Kageyama still rapidly splashing his face with cool water and Kei chewing anxiously on his thumb, before Kei decides to break it.
“Suga said they weren’t mad,” Kei mutters. “There’s no reason to be as scared as we are.”
Kageyama shuts off the tap. He pats his face dry with a paper towel, before heaving a great sigh that Kei felt deep in his bones.
“Yeah. I know.” Kageyama glances down at his fingers, pale and trembling with anxiety. “Still…”
“It’s scary,” Kei finishes. “I know.”
Truth be told, Kei couldn’t give less of a shit about his reputation around Kageyama anymore. They are the only two littles in their team, and two out of a small handful in their sport in general. Besides- Kageyama literally dropped on him the day before. They’re far past the point of being dumb and prideful around each other anymore.
Still, Kageyama seems surprised with his admission.
Kei clicks his tongue. “Don’t look so surprised,” he huffs. He turns away, glaring stubbornly at the tiles on the wall. “When you dropped on us in the court yesterday, everything went to shit. You scared the fuck out of me.”
Kageyama’s jaw drops. “Scared?”
Kei nods. “Scared shitless. Some people… they close their eyes during a drop and they never wake up. You got lucky there, King.”
Kageyama twitches, but otherwise doesn’t comment on the nickname like he usually would.
“Sorry…” Kageyama mutters.
“Don’t be. Just don’t do it again, dumbass.” Kei scowls, cheeks burning. “Did you know?”
“Eh?” Kageyama cocks his head. “Know about what?”
Kei gestures. “About me.”
Kageyama shrugs, picking up his bag. “Sort of, yeah. Gut instinct. My suspicions solidified after yesterday though.”
“I see,” Kei sighs, hoisting his own bag over his shoulder. “How embarrassing.”
“Quit bitching and get moving, before Daichi gets too impatient and fries our asses.” Kageyama huffs.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Try me, bitch.”
“Run.”
They arrive at the clubroom panting and out of breath.
Daichi and Suga are standing there, their voices soft as they talk to one another. Neither seems angry, or even marginally upset- in fact, their postures are more relaxed than usual.
Daichi spots them first.
“Hey, come on in,” he gestures. “You guys can change if you’re up to playing today.”
“Why are you both here?” Kei asks suspiciously. “Who’s leading the team?”
“They’re not toddlers,” Suga snorts. “They can take care of themselves, you know… but Ennoshita is playing babysitter just in case.”
Kei rolls his eyes, but follows Kageyama to their lockers to change out into their volleyball clothes. Surprisingly enough, Daichi and Suga don’t try to start a conversation with them. They continue their conversation from before as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Their voices are a little comforting, now that Kei’s sure they aren’t angry.
He’s just finished getting dressed when a pointy elbow jabs into his side.
Kageyama points his finger roughly in the direction of the club door, ignoring Kei’s steely glare. “Look!”
“What?” Kei snaps. Kageyama grabs his chin with two rough fingers, and forces his gaze to where he’d been pointing before.
Oh.
Kei’s heart drops at the sight of the plain, black and orange themed bag hanging by a nail by the clubroom door. On it are a couple of stickers and patches of volleyball related paraphernalia. It looks a little old, like it’s not been used in a while, but it’s obviously well taken care of. There are two clean, unfilled baby bottles tucked into the side pockets- as well as a pamphlet poking out of a spare pocket on the front. The bag looks absolutely stuffed and heavy, black strap pulling at the nail it’s hanging on.
A little emergency bag. Specifically designed and filled for littles who play sports.
“Ah, so you found it.”
Kei nearly jumps out of his skin, Kageyama flinching slightly beside him. Sugawara stands behind them, hands tucked in his pockets. His grin is a little mischievous, but his eyes are fond.
“Don’t worry about it too much, okay? The personal miniature LEB I carried around before barely had enough material to help Kageyama through his drop. This way, we’re fully stocked and prepared for anything that might happen.”
Kageyama flushes at the reminder of his drop. Kei purses his lips to keep from laughing at the teens constipated face.
“Come sit,” Sugawara plops himself on the floor, criss-cross. Daichi follows suit, and pats at the area in front of them.
“We should start with letting you guys know we aren’t mad, or disappointed.” Suga begins once they’ve all taken their seats. “You guys obviously weren’t ready to let us know yet, and we respect that.”
Kei releases the tension he didn’t realize he was holding. He realizes belatedly that his fingers have been tugging at themselves from their spot in his lap. Kageyama swats at them, and Kei swats right back.
“Still,” Daichi clears his throat pointedly, making the two pause in their little battle. “This was really, really risky. We’re lucky that, even though Suga and I had no idea, at least Tsukishima had someone who knew about his status. Kageyama though..”
Beside him, Kageyama tenses. Kei watches him attentively, scooting a bit closer when he notices Kageyama’s eyes begin to shine with shame.
Sugawara reaches forward, clasping a hand on Kageyama’s knee. “Your drop was bad, Tobio. It was really, really bad. Had Tsukishima not gotten to you in time to force you into responsiveness, you would’ve slipped.”
Tears drip down Kageyama’s chin lightning fast. Kei reaches up and wipes them away, head fuzzing over just the smallest bit. He pats the tears away with the utmost care, eyes wide with concern.
“Oh, Tobio,” Daichi runs a gentle hand through Kageyama’s hair. “We aren’t disappointed. We promise.”
“We’re just so concerned, kiddo. We never ever want to see you like that ever again. We all care about you so much. It was so scary.”
Kageyama hiccups. “I-I’m so s-sorry-”
“Don’t be, love.” Sugawara joins Kei in drying Kageyama’s tears. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”
“We all talked when we realized you were going to be late,” Daichi murmurs, his voice low and comforting. “We aren’t going to treat either of you differently, we know it’s what you would want. But we are going to be taking necessary precautions, and if you ever feel little, don’t be afraid to tell me or Suga. We can play with the ball on the sidelines or send you home, okay?”
“He’s right,” Suga joins in. “You don’t have to hide when you’re little. You can come to us caregivers for help, okay?”
Kageyama nods with a sniffle. Daichi hands Kageyama a tissue, but wipes his nose himself after several failed attempts on Kageyama’s part.
Kei grabs a tissue himself, and pats at Kageyama’s tear streaked cheeks.
“You ‘kay?” Kei asks seriously, ignoring the smallness of his voice. “Water?”
“M’okay,” Kageyama sniffles. “Yes p’ease.”
Kei nods, and digs in his school bag for the unopened water bottle he had packed in the morning. He opens it (albeit kind of clumsily) and offers it to his friend.
“Drink,” he demands.
Daichi snorts, and Sugawara rushes to balance the water bottle before Kageyama could spill it all over himself.
“Let’s play ball,” Kei tells Kageyama, once the little has finished his water.
Kageyama nods, crushing the bottle in his fist. “Let’s play ball.”
“Hey, Tsukki?”
Kei grunts in response, protein bar firmly clamped between his teeth as he searches his bag for his phone.
Yamaguchi shifts from side to side, fiddling with the straps of his bag. Kei finds his phone, before ripping into his protein bar.
“What?” He asks when Yamaguchi doesn’t answer.
“It’s just…”
“Spit it out.” Kei rolls his eyes, offering Yamaguchi a piece of his bar. Yamaguchi pops the piece in his mouth, humming a little.
“Well, were Daichi and Suga mad at you guys?”
“What? No,” Kei frowns. “They weren’t mad. They just talked to us.”
Yamaguchi slumps, sighing in relief. “Ahh, that’s good.”
Kei snorts. “They aren’t the type to yell at us about something like that. They’re caregivers too, you know.”
“W-Well, yeah! But not all caregivers are good ones!” Yamaguchi sputters. “And I know that! But I just got anxious.”
“You and your anxiety. I’m fine, dumbass,” Kei huffs. His cheeks and belly feel a little warm at the sight of Yamaguchi’s concern- but, as usual, he ignores it. “Do you wanna come over?”
Yamaguchi perks up. “Yes! My parents are gone for a date, and I don’t feel like cooking and washing dishes tonight.”
Kei smacks his head. “You’re so lazy. C’mon then.”
“Am not!”
“Are too.”
“Am not!”
“Are too.”