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“Why are we doing this again?” Tsukishima asked from the passenger seat.
“Because it’s your birthday.” Kenma replied without looking away from the road.
“Andddd,” Yamaguchi added, sticking his head between the front seats, “We’re your boyfriends, so we get to spoil you today.”
Tsukishima only rolled his eyes, lifting his phone in front of his face to hide the slight upwards turn of his lips. “Whatever.”
The rest of the drive was spent with Tsukishima asking his boyfriends where they were going, only to be talked over by Yamaguchi asking Kenma about his recent streams, which he’d missed because he’d been studying for finals, and working part time at a local electronics store franchise. Tsukishima hadn’t seen his boyfriends much recently, since Kenma shared an apartment with Hinata, and Yamaguchi had been swamped with work. Tsukishima himself had been pretty busy, commuting between Tokyo and Sendai for try-outs. The Sendai Frogs scouting process had several parts to it, and between the travel and constant exercise he was exhausted. He was ecstatic to be joining the new team but was dreading relocating mid-way through his third year. He’d never tell them this – partly to stop them worrying unnecessarily, and partly out of some weird irrational pride – but he was terrified of leaving the two people he loved most in the world, and had no idea what’d happen when they’d be living away from each other permanently.
He turned to look out the window, and realised he recognised the scenery. He knew this route.
He knew this route!
His smile grew as he counted the turns in his head.
A left, two rights, second exit on the roundabout. Yes! One more turn and-
Tsukishima’s smile had never died so quickly. Or rather been killed. Because he was right about their destination: his favourite dessert parlour, an independent shop run by a sweet old lady from Hokkaido, on a quiet backroad in the outskirts of Tokyo. However, he was not anticipating the normally empty street to be full of parked cars. Worst yet, he recognised at least 3 of said cars. Meaning…
“No.”
They pulled up in an open spot at the end of the street, out of sight of the restaurant.
“Kei, you don’t even know what’s happening yet.” Kenma chastised playfully, his mouth quirking into a smile so small, only those who knew him well could perceive it.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I will not be celebrating my birthday with other people.”
“But they’re our friends.” Yamaguchi replied.
“Doesn’t matter.” Tsukishima was absolutely, under no circumstances, getting out of the car. He was not letting his boyfriends win this one.
“It does matter.” The shorter two responded in unison.
“I’m not going in.”
“You can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” Yamaguchi offered.
“Tadashi, there are no ways, because it’s not happening.”
“What Tadashi means,” Kenma continued, taking the key out of the engine, “is we can all go in together now,” he stepped out of the car, leaning down so that Tsukishima could see his amused expression, "Or me and Tadashi can go now, and send Kuroo and Bokuto out to get you.”
Tsukishima narrowed his eyes to slits.
“It must be hard for such a small body to hold so much evil.”
“Short insults don’t work on me, I’m not Shoyo,” he turned to his boyfriend in the backseat, “come on Tadashi.”
“Coming.” Yamaguchi replied, leaning forwards to kiss Tsukishima on the cheek.
“Traitor.” Tsukishima replied as his second boyfriend left the car, linking hands with Kenma as they set off towards the dessert parlour.
I’m not going to do it. I’m not getting out of the car. I’M NOT DOING IT. Fuck this shit. Ughhhhhhhhh.
Tsukishima sighed, as he opened the car door.
-
“Happy birthday to you,” everyone began, much to his horror, as he entered the little diner.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to-“ the next part caused a lot of confusion.
“Tsukki,” (Yamaguchi, Kuroo, Bokuto, Kogane)
“Kei,” (Kenma, Akiteru)
“Tsukishima,” (Hinata, Kageyama, Akaashi, Daichi, Suga, Kyoutani)
“Happy Birthday to youuuuu!”
Tsukishima’s first urge upon seeing the ragtag group of associates was to turn and walk away. In his mind he kept walking until he found an ocean, and walked straight into it. He did NOT want to be here.
However, the surprisingly sturdy arm of one Sugawara Koushi around his shoulder, prevented him from bringing his plan to fruition.
“Tsukishima!” He exclaimed, “Have you grown since I saw you in summer?”
“I don’t think so,” he relied to his (favourite) senpai.
“I’m sure you were shorter when you came home to Miyagi last month!” He pressed.
“Leave him alone love, it’s his birthday,” Daichi interrupted, pulling his fiancé away from the taller boy.
“But Daichi-‘ “Let’s go say hi to the other first years.” He turned back to Tsukishima and pointed to a table near the door, “Your present is on the pile.”
“They aren’t first years anymore Daichi," Suga chuckled, poking his partner as they walked towards Hinata and Kageyama, "what has old age done to you?”
“TSUKKI!” was all Tsukishima heard before being lifted off the ground in an unwanted bearhug.
“Put him down, Bokuto-san.”
“No, no, keep holding him like that, I need a photo of his face right now.”
When his feet finally hit the ground again, Tsukishima turned to the trio of voices.
He bowed slightly, at the youngest of the three, greeting him properly, “Akaashi-san”
“Tsukishima, nice to see you. I hope you’ll like your gift.” The dark-haired man replied, handing Tsukishima a small, neatly wrapped object.
“It’s from all three of us!” Bokuto added. Kuroo nodded.
“Me and my lovely boyfriends, wanted you to have something to document your last year of Tokyo life with!” Kuroo said.
“Friends.” Akaashi corrected.
“Friends with benefits.” Bokuto stage whispered, loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear.
Akaashi sighed, bowed again, muttered “Enjoy your birthday,” and walked off with Bokuto at his heels.
“We’ll be boyfriends soon,” Kuroo stated before following his lovers.
In his moment of peace, Tsukishima noticed, the restaurant was only filled with his friends, and the closed sign was up. His boyfriends must have booked the place. He’d have to do something to thank them for the privacy later.
“Kei, how are you?” Akiteru questioned, distracting his brother from his thoughts.
“Fine, how are you?” He replied.
“I’m good.”
“How’s Udai-san?”
“Tenma’s alright, he wanted to come but he had some last minute work to finish.”
“That’s a shame, you should bring him to visit, once I’ve moved.”
“I will, I will. How are you feeling about your move?”
Tsukishima shuffled on the spot, fiddling with his glasses anxiously. This doesn’t go unnoticed by his boyfriends, who are helping Ito-san set the long table a few metres away.
“Is something wrong?” Akiteru asked, frowning in concern.
“It’s just, I’m excited but… I don’t want to leave Kenma and Tadashi.”
“Oh. Oh. Well, I’ve seen your relationship grow over the past two years, and I can say for a fact that you guys can definitely survive a little distance.”
Tsukishima looked up at his brother hopefully, “You think so?”
Akiteru smiled, “I may have let you down a lot when we were younger, but now that I’m back in your life I’m quickly learning who’s there for you. Those two love you so much, you guys will make it, I’m sure of it Kei.”
Tsukishima smiled back at him.
“I’m going to help your boyfriends and Ito-san, I think the desserts are ready,” Akiteru excused himself.
Before he had a moment to breathe, Hinata, and Kageyama approached, with Kogane and Kyoutani following unsurely.
“Tsukki, Happy Birthday! The present was Yachi’s idea, but her and Kiyoko are on holiday right now, so she couldn’t come.” Hinata yelled, pushing a package into his hands. It was somehow both squishy and firm.
“Happy Birthday.” Kageyama mumbled.
Tsukishima felt a smirk tug at his lips, “Thank you Simpleton-kun, King-kun, I feel blessed.”
“Still a jerk I see,” Kageyama rolled his eyes.
“He’s actually not that bad most of the time,” Hinata updates his friend. “If you lived in Tokyo you’d see, he’s always super nice to Kenma and Yamaguchi.”
"Hmmm,” Kageyama replied sizing up Tsukishima before turning back to the shrimp, “let’s go check out the desserts.”
Hinata nodded excitedly before bouncing off in the direction of the table, Kageyama’s wrist in his hand.
Tsukishima turned to the two blondes left in front of him. One was a persistent email buddy, and the other an enemy from long ago. They bowed, and he found himself following.
“Hi.” He greeted them.
“Happy birthday Tsukki! I was gonna send you this present in the mail but then Sugawara-san suggested we all hang out in person, before we join the same team, so I thought I’d just bring it. Sugawara-san is the best! He even drove us both down, right Kyoutani-san?”
“I’ve told you, I don’t need any honorifics, it’s just Kyoutani.’ He replied with no heat in his voice, just mild weariness, of the energetic kouhai at his side. He turned to the birthday boy, “Tsukishima, Sugawara-san said you liked strawberries, so these are chocolate covered strawberries.” He pushed the present into his hand.
“Ooh, my present was several boxes of Strawberry Pocky, but yours is better,” Kogane fake pouted, “mine is on the pile. We’re both going to be in Tokyo for a few days, it’d be cool if we all did something. We could play Volleyball, or go to a zoo, or a museum, or something?”
“A museum sounds good.” Tsukki replied, smiling ever so slightly at his new teammates. He appreciated the effort they were making and couldn’t help taking a liking to the shorter men. “And thank you for the gifts, I do like strawberries.”
“I think we’re all sitting down now, but you have my email, so let me know when you want to hang out.” Kogane said before grabbing Kyoutani’s hand and walking off. Kyoutani’s face blushed red, but he didn’t pull his hand away.
That’s interesting. Something to investigate later?
Tsukishima followed the mismatched group of people he cared about to the table. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he initially thought.
-
The meal was a pleasant change of pace for Tsukishima. He sat at the head of the table next to his two boyfriends, fingers intertwined with Kenma’s, and Yamaguchi’s legs twisted with his under the table. He smiled around forkfuls of strawberry shortcake, as Suga ribbed fun at everyone around the table, cringed as Akiteru shared embarrassing stories from their shared childhood, and argued with his friends about who could call him ‘Tsukki’ – his verdict was Yamaguchi only, but apparently that was to be ignored.
His heart leapt, looking at his loved ones – the people he trusted and respected most in this world – all laughing and getting along together. By the time the night ended, he was sorry to see them go.
He smiled sadly to sentiments of “Keep in touch”, “Work hard on your new team”, and “We’ll come visit you soon in Sendai.”
The car ride back to his and Yamaguchi’s apartment was quiet, the pile of presents sitting next to him on the backseat a quiet reminder of the people he’d miss when he moved.
-
With Kenma in the armchair opposite, and Yamaguchi curled up next to him on their sofa, with his head in his lap, Tsukishima stared at the pile of presents in front of him. The silence drew out, and Yamaguchi popped open an eye to stare at him.
“Open them,” He mumbled, halfway to sleep already.
Tsukishima reached out to grab the gift at the top of the pile, only to have his hand slapped away by Kenma. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Open the ones you already know first. I’ve met Koganegawa, he can’t keep a secret.”
Tsukishima sighed, rolling his eyes as he picked up a present close to him. He unwrapped it and eyed the 4 boxes of pocky happily. That would save him a snack trip over the weekend. Next, he grabbed the surprisingly neatly wrapped box from Kyoutani, and inside – as promised – was a 25 pack box of chocolate covered strawberries, that immediately made his mouth water.
As he pulled the third present towards him, he noticed Yamaguchi opening the notes app on his phone.
“What are you doing?”
Yamaguchi blew a strand of escaped hair out of his face before answering, “I’m writing down who bought you what.”
“Why?”
“So you can thank them all. My mum used to make me do it when I was little.”
“We’re adults now Tadashi, you don’t have to do that anymore.” Kenma told him.
“I happen to like being polite, thank you very much.” He responded, making both blondes laugh.
After that, Tsukishima opened Daichi and Suga’s present – a large gift voucher for a furniture shop, to help him decorate his new apartment – as well as the card written by Suga, stating that Daichi’s gift is boring, and as the better senpai, he’d transferred some money to him, to treat himself. Akaashi and his soon-to-be boyfriends bought him a disposable camera to capture his last few weeks in Tokyo. Hinata, Kageyama and Yachi had gifted him several items of clothing (a beanie, an oversized t-shirt and some converse shoes) all donning the original dinosaur Logo Yachi had designed herself. He appreciated those. Akiteru and Udai (the fact that Tenma rhymed with Kenma completely deterred him from calling his brother’s partner by his given name, as he’d been invited to many, many times) bought him an annual rail pass, so he could visit both Tokyo and Miyagi, as many times as he wanted. Finally, he got to his boyfriends presents.
They were two tiny identical boxes, and they had their own names on them.
“Do you guys share braincells? You both labelled these wrong. You’re supposed to write the present receiver’s name on a gift, not the giver.”
“Oh wow, Kenma, how stupid of us!” Yamaguchi dramatically slapped a hand to his forehead, “Except… these are for us.”
Kenma leaned forwards to grab both boxes, throwing one to Yamaguchi as he sat back in his chair.
Tsukishima glanced curiously between his boyfriends as they opened their gifts. He didn’t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t a key each.
He hesitated, “Are… Are you two moving in here together after I leave?”
“Are we, Tadashi?”
“I don’t think we are, Kenma.”
He tried to keep a neutral face as he continued, “Are you both going to live with Hinata?”
“Are we, Kenma?”
“Not that either, Tadashi.”
Tsukishima’s voice cracked on his last guess.
“You’re buying a new apartment here, without me.”
He waited for the jokey rapport to start but was met with silence. He closed his eyes. He focused on the grounding sounds around him. A chair scraping. Footsteps. Then he concentrated on the small body standing between his legs. A hand touched his cheek making him open his eyes.
“Tsukki, you’re crying.” Yamaguchi said in awe (he hadn’t seen Tsukishima cry since they were in middle school), wiping his thumb across his boyfriend’s cheek to catch the falling tears. Kenma grabbed his hands and forced him to look up.
“Kei, we aren’t going anywhere without you.” He said firmly.
“It’s-“ he paused to get his voice in control, “It’s fine if you are. You guys don’t need to wait for me, you should move on and be happy together."
“Tsukishima.”
Kenma using his last name always shut him up.
“We aren’t going anywhere without you.” He repeated.
Yamaguchi spoke up then, “These are keys to your apartment. In Sendai.”
The natural blonde’s brow creased as he tried to make sense of the situation.
“I, I don’t understand,” He sniffed gently removing Yamaguchi’s hand to wipe away the rest of his tears, “Why would you- where did you- I don’t understand.”
“Wow,” Yamaguchi giggled quietly, fighting off a yawn, “the Tsukishima Kei, reduced to tears and incoherent mumbles.”
“Shut up, Tadashi.”
“Gomen Tsukki.” Yamaguchi replied sarcastically.
“These are the keys to your apartment. Well, our apartment," Kenma explained, sitting down on the other side of Tsukishima and leaning his head on his shoulder, "We have to finish our final year here in Tokyo but in spring we’re going to move in with you.”
“But-"
“We know it’s a two bedroom flat, but we can use Daichi’s furniture voucher to get a superking sized bed, and use the other room for guests and stuff.” Yamaguchi paused, not quick enough to stop the yawn this time, “We don’t want to leave you Tsukki. Not ever.”
“We love you.” Kenma added, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek.
“We really love you.” Yamaguchi reiterated, curling up tighter into a ball, as sleep overtook him.
Tsukishima could cry again, but he found the first time embarrassing enough, so he settled on kissing both men gently on the lips, before pulling them closer to his body.
“I love you too. Thank you.”