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Kei Tsukishima took one look at the tattoo parlor and immediately decided this was the biggest mistake of his life. He knew he shouldn’t have taken that bet with Hinata, but how was he supposed to know that he’d end up actually getting a decent grade on his midterm? People always told him that college was a time to branch out and try new things, but this was just ridiculous.
He felt like an absolute idiot walking into the building, his clean-cut appearance contrasting against the… well…. everything about this place. It was a stereotypical edgy tattoo parlor, the walls crammed with hundreds of designs, all of which were incredibly well-done, but so very out of Kei’s wheelhouse. The mildly satanic imagery coupled with the sheer number of skulls made him want to high-tail it straight out of there. He had no idea why Yachi of all people had even recommended this place, it didn’t seem like somewhere she’d ever consider. Yet here he was, at the exact address she’d specified.
He stood awkwardly in the entrance, not entirely sure what to do with himself. He held exactly 0 trust in the chairs in the corner, which looked like they’d been straight up pulled out of a junkyard (he later learned they had just been in a basement for way too long) so he resigned himself for wandering around, staring at the artwork and praying the artist didn’t decide to give him something as atrocious as the wolf in the corner, which he suspected he’d seen on a t-shirt before.
“Kei ‘Suckishima’?” A soft voice startled Kei, causing him to whip around so quickly he slammed his arm into the table. Embarrassed, he looked up at the person calling for him.
So that’s why she recommended this place.
Kei locked eyes with the tattoo artist, and his heart about dropped out of his chest. The guy standing before him by all accounts should have been intimidating, with his full sleeves of tattoos and countless piercings, yet Kei could only marvel at how... pretty he was. The artist’s long brown hair was half up, revealing at least four piercings on each ear, starkly contrasting his soft features. He looked a little bewildered as he awkwardly waved to Kei.
Right. Speaking. That’s good.
“It’s Tsukishima,” Kei said, his voice coming out way firmer than he’d intended.
“Oh my god I’m so sorry-” The artist tried to stammer out an apology.
Great start, Kei.
“Don’t worry about it.” Tsukishima waved him off and continued, “My friend made the appointment, I’m almost positive he typed it out wrong just to mess with me.”
The artist let out a tiny, somewhat forced, laugh and said, “Well alright Tsu kishima, I’m Yamaguchi, what were you looking for today?”
Wow, even his fake laugh is cute.
“I uh, I actually lost a bet, so it’s your choice,” Kei tried to be nonchalant about it, but he was floored with embarrassment and wished for nothing more than to just fade out of existence.
“Do you… have any requests at all? Your friends don’t need to know,” Yamaguchi said, a playful smirk brightening his features. Kei was pretty sure he’d die before he even sat down in the chair.
“Nah, I honestly don’t care too much about this,” Kei said, “though I would like it to be a little bigger than one of those baby tattoos you get when you just want to say you’ve gotten one.”
(Kei had actually come in fully intending to get one of those tattoos, but that felt like a waste now.)
Yamaguchi laughed again, this time more genuinely, “Alright then! Let’s get to it.”
At this point Kei didn’t even have an inner monologue, it was more just perpetual screaming. He followed Yamaguchi into the back area without having a single coherent thought as he tried desperately to keep his face neutral. The back was a lot more spacious than he’d expected and looked a whole lot less sketchy than the entrance had. Yamaguchi busied himself with gathering his supplies while Kei wondered how the hell someone could look that good in a t-shirt and an apron.
“You know,” Yamaguchi started, cocking his head as he looked at Kei, “You’re allowed to sit down, right?”
“Ah, right.” Cursing the world for making his legs so damn long, Kei sat down, his feet hitting the floor despite the fact the chair was raised all the way. He caught Yamaguchi grinning up at him from a sketchbook. Kei was pretty sure all semblance of intellectual thought had vacated the building permanently. He quickly averted his eyes, but not before noticing that Yamaguchi had a smiley piercing, prompting even more internal screaming.
“Alrighty, Tsukishima.” Yamaguchi tore a page out of his sketchbook and closed it with a snap. “I think you’ll like this one. Any preference to where I put it?”
“I’d prefer somewhere that didn’t hurt like a bitch, if you wouldn’t mind,” Kei said, attempting a smile.
“Duly noted,” Yamaguchi responded with a mock salute.
So this is what gay panic feels like, huh?
Yamaguchi slid over in a little rolly chair, grinning excitedly. Kei had never seen someone so thrilled to do their job, but Yamaguchi’s eyes almost glimmered with anticipation as he prepared his materials.
“Uh, Tsukishima, I need that.” Yamaguchi stared up at Kei, who’d been trying to hide his blush by pushing up his glasses… with the arm he was getting tattooed.
Smooth.
“Sorry,” Kei muttered, putting his arm back down, the sound of Yamaguchi’s stifled laughter acting as a soundtrack for his humiliation. They remained in silence for the next few minutes as Yamaguchi sterilized the underside of Kei’s arm, who couldn’t even bear to look at the tattoo artist for fear of humiliation.
“So,” Yamaguchi broke the silence, “I’m warning you now, this is going to hurt. Just let me know if you need a break, I’m in no rush to get this done.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” Kei said, trying to retain some semblance of dignity.
“If you say so.” Yamaguchi’s lips quirked up in a knowing smile.
Kei was not, in fact, fine. The needles felt like fire on his skin and he had to grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out in pain. He was pretty sure he had a high pain tolerance, but damn did this tattoo make him question it. He kept his eyes trained on the ceiling, trying to count the tiles as a distraction.
“You alright?” Kei could hear the smile in his voice.
“Just peachy,” Kei responded with gritted teeth. He regretted not just opting for the tiny design he’d come there for in the first place, but he doubted he would’ve seen Yamaguchi’s face light up the way it had when he’d chosen a design.
“So, what do you do to afford to lose bets?” The line was cliche, but Kei couldn’t help but laugh anyway.
“I’m a student, so right now I just work part-time at a museum, but hopefully once I graduate they’ll put me on full time.”
“Oh, so you’re smart,” Yamaguchi dragged out the last word.
“Not in the slightest,” Kei laughed, “I’m honestly just a nerd.”
What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I talking like this? Kei shut the fuck up.
Yamaguchi laughed and suddenly Kei didn’t regret his words at all.
“How long have you been a tattoo artist for?”
“Isn’t that a question you’re supposed to ask before I’m drawing all over your arm?” Yamaguchi said, looking up at Kei with a crooked smile.
“Eh, I’m a gambler.”
“Not a very good one.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to bully your clients, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima chuckled, feeling the pain ease away with every word exchanged. Who knew this guy would be so easy to talk to?
“Hey, I only do it to the ones I like. You should feel honored.”
Kei fell silent, unable to formulate a response that wasn’t “I do feel honored please go on a date with me.” He couldn’t even cover his face to hide his blush, as his free arm was occupied gripping the armrest for dear life. All he could do was turn his head and curse his pale skin.
“A-anyway,” Yamaguchi continued after a moment, “I’ve been doing tattoos officially since I was 18, so about 4 years.”
“What about unofficially?”
“Well, I did do some pretty awful stick and pokes on my friends in high school, thankfully we had half a mind to put them in places easy to cover up. I have a little Scorpio constellation on my right ankle. It’s by far the worst tattoo I’ve ever done.”
“Oh, you can’t just say something like that and not share with the class.”
“If you insist, but I would like you to know that I’ve gotten slightly better at tattooing since then.” Yamaguchi put down the pen and for a moment Kei wondered if he’d done this on purpose just to give Kei a break. And then he saw the tattoo.
“Oh my god.”
“Yeah.”
Kei was dumbstruck.
“Are… are you sure that’s a constellation? As a resident nerd, I can fully confirm that the Scorpio constellation looks a lot less… phallic than that.”
Yamaguchi stared at Kei in stunned silence, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to say something.
KEI. WHAT THE EVER-LOVING FUCK? YOU JUST MET THIS GUY.
Yamaguchi promptly burst out into loud, unapologetic laughter. Tears were almost instantly streaming down his face as he tried, and failed to catch his breath. Kei sat there for a moment, wondering if it was appropriate to laugh along with him. He then caught sight of the tattoo and all bets were off. He promptly doubled over with laughter, though he was in such hysterics that it kinda just sounded like he was choking. Every time they thought they were finally free of their fits, one look at the other sent them right back into it.
It took two whole minutes for the two of them to recover.
“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Yamaguchi breathed, the wind still knocked out of it.
“You don’t seem to mind,” Kei shot back.
“Well, I do have a thing for dickheads.”
This time it was Tsukishima’s turn to stare at Yamaguchi, mouth slightly agape.
Yamaguchi seemed a little stunned by his own words as he almost immediately said, “A-anyway, what are you majoring in?”
Kei reluctantly let the topic drop, “Archaeology.”
“Cool! So you were one of those dinosaur kids when you were younger, weren’t you?”
“No,” Kei said sheepishly, “I was very lowkey about it.”
“I can almost guarantee you owned dinosaur pajamas.”
“Asshole.”
“But was I right?” Yamaguchi smirked up at Kei, knowing damn well he was.
The hours of work passed easily, the two of them making idle chatter every time Kei made any indication he was in pain, which was regretfully quite often. Yamaguchi’s skill shone through in everything he did, from the way the needle glided across Kei’s skin to his attentive nature whenever Kei so much as gritted his teeth.
“Alrighty Dino Boy, I think I’m done.” For the first time since the appointment had begun, Yamaguchi looked at Kei without confidence, a wary look coloring his features. Kei honestly hadn’t looked at his arm in hours, opting to look at Yamaguchi whenever he got the chance.
Looking down at his arm, Kei gave a soft gasp. Yamaguchi had created a tiny, mystical forest on his arm. Kei spotted a small moon peeking through the trees, bathing the scenery in its soft light. Kei was speechless. He knew that Yamaguchi was talented, but he hadn’t expected this.
“Holy shit.”
“I need a little more input than that.” Though Tadashi’s words were confident, his expression betrayed genuine fear.
“Yamaguchi, this is incredible.” Kei wasn’t one for vague compliments, but he simply didn’t know how to convey what he was feeling.
He’s pretty and talented? That’s not even fair.
Yamaguchi’s face split into a wide grin which stayed glued to his face the entire time he wrapped the work. The pair sat in silence, both privately trying to come up with something intelligible to say. Even though they’d spent almost 4 hours talking almost non-stop, neither could come up with a damn thing to say.
“How much do I owe you?” Kei asked, finally breaking the charged silence.
“Does 50,000 yen work?” Yamaguchi responded hesitantly.
“Jeez Yamaguchi,” Kei sighed, “you really need to charge more. I’m telling you, you’re incredibly talented.”
“Thank you, I’m glad you like it. Still, I don’t think I’m experienced enough to be charging that much.” Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Really? Because that dick- I mean Scorpio- on your ankle says otherwise.”
Exchanging grins, Kei and Yamaguchi made their way back to the entrance, with Kei desperately trying to figure out how to ask the artist out. Every time he tried, he chickened out, his social skills completely maxed out for the day.
He resigned himself to being forever alone as he said goodbye to Yamaguchi and opened the door to leave.
“Tsukishima?”
Kei whipped around to find Yamaguchi standing only a few feet away, holding out a business card, “In case you want another tattoo.”
“Absolutely.” Kei snatched the card a little too quickly, “Thanks again, Yamaguchi.”
“Sure thing, Dino Boy.” Tadashi gave a tiny salute, “See ya later.”
“Right.”
Kei only noticed the note on the back after he’d already walked about a block away.
Call me? (xxx)-xxx-xxxx
He did.