Chapter Text
The sun had begun its descent marking the end of an afternoon. The town which was bustling a few minutes ago had come to a quiet hush. The only noises seemed to be coming from a small mechanic’s garage as the young owner dropped a large toolbox on the ground. The man could sense that the day was coming to an early end for his garage and began to clean his tools. Other than the sounds of water splashing over metal, a peaceful calm settled over the town once again until a gentle rumble began in the background. The rumble grew closer and the mechanic’s ears perked up at the sound.
2000 Yamaha…no older than that. Wait, that’s a Triumph.
The rumbling got much louder as the mechanic looked down to focus his ears on the noise.
An old Triumph…1999. Maybe 1998 Triumph.
Feeling satisfied the man looked up to see a motorcycle coming up at the end of the road and he squinted his eyes to make it clearer. In the matter of minutes the motorcycle had come to a stop within a few feet of the mechanic and he could properly see the bike. The man’s eyes were trained on the bike admiring the care that had gone into it, completely ignoring the rider as he got off and quietly walked over to the squatting man.
*ahem* “I need some help.” A voice stated as the mechanic brought his eyes up to the rider’s face. The man in front of him was wearing a white shirt that appeared loose but still showcased the well-built body underneath it. The mechanic did a once over before settling on the man’s face noticing warm brown eyes were returning his gaze and a small smile that immediately brought a slight heat over the mechanic’s face.
“Ohoho, and you are?” He crossed his arms and stared back waiting for the man to respond.
“Sawamura Daichi, can you help me with my bike?” The man reached a hand out to help him up and held on to shake the hand.
“Kuroo Tetsurou, what year is that, 1998?” Kuroo stood over the shorter man as they stepped over to the bike. He heard the man say it was a 1997 Triumph Thunderbird and after that he heard nothing. He could see the man seemed to be explaining something but for the first time Kuroo wasn’t focused on the bike but the man in front of him. He walked around the bike shifting his eyes from the bike to the man trying hard to pay attention to what was being said. The man walked over and bent down to show Kuroo the parts that were worrying him and Kuroo was appreciating the view when another noise shook him out of it.
“This would be a lot easier if you were looking at my bike and not checking me out.” The man looked at him with an eyebrow raised and Kuroo’s face went completely red. But luckily a smile from the other man eased a bit of the embarrassment as he properly examined the bike.
He ran his hands over the bike getting a feel for it and closely looked at the structure; he didn’t want to do anything to damage the bike seeing as how the care for such an old bike was much like caring for art.
“Sawamura-san I believe I have some of the parts you need but I’ll need to make some calls to get the others. Since it is an older bike it’ll take me time to find original parts in good condition, I’ll need to hold onto this until I’m done.” He stood up dusting himself off as he walked into the garage showing where the other man could park his bike.
He went behind his desk and grabbed the papers he needed and began to jot things down as the other man approached him. They talked over some more details and work needed until the paperwork was all done.
“You just need to sign right here.” Kuroo pointed out as he looked out to see the sun was setting casting bright reds across the sky. “It’s getting late, do you have a way to go home?” He asked looking down at the man who was looking out at the sky as well. His profile was framed in a soft light and just looking at him Kuroo could feel his heart skip a beat.
And here I thought the sky was beautiful.
“I’m fine my house is not far from here. Thank you for your help Kuroo-san.” The man turned around with a soft smile and reached his hand out for another handshake.
“Just Kuroo is fine, I’ll be in touch.” He watched the man walk out and just like that he was gone. Smiling to himself he looked down to notice a scrap piece of paper on top of his papers. His smile quickly turned into a grin as he read the scrawl of numbers pieced together to make a phone number.
“Ohoho” he chuckled pocketing the number as he began to close up the garage ending the day with the sun dipping below and the moon beginning to shine in the sky.
The sky had darkened and stars began to pepper the blackness as cars passed and the sound of light footsteps filled the night. Everyone was heading home anxious to end the day and finally relax, among those footsteps were those of Sawamura Daichi. The young man made his way up the steps leading to his flat noticing the sound of someone behind him. A glance to the side showed a shadow moving close to his causing Daichi to be on alert.
Stay calm Daichi, stay cautious.
He shifted his helmet trying to get a clear reflection of who was behind him but the warbled image was of no help. The footsteps began to sound louder and the shadow appeared to be getting closer.
Ok this is enough.
Daichi jumped to the left, pressed his back against the stairs, positioned the helmet to protect his side and swung a swift right hook. The man who had been coming up behind him dropped out of surprise and yelped causing Daichi to look down. The quivering man crouched below him looked up and Daichi recognized the face as his neighbor, quickly dropping his stance he reached out to help the man up.
“I’m so sorry Asahi-kun, you seemed to be creeping up behind me and I acted out on instinct.” He looked up at the man who seemed to be catching his breath.
“Daichi-kun I thought I was going to die. My life flashed before my eyes!” The other man exclaimed before standing at his full height and looked down at Daichi with a panicked expression. The other man towered over Daichi and with his long hair and piercings looked to be a tough man, but he was the complete opposite. A kind, shy, and easily frightened person, but his appearance had garnered him a reputation that kept some people away.
Making their way up the two easily slipped into conversation about their days. The comfortable atmosphere around them quickly blended in with the hushed noises of the apartment building and the houses around.
“By the way I didn’t see your bike out front but you have your helmet, did anything happen?” Asahi slowed his pace to let Daichi pass him in order to make appropriate space for the two in the cramped stairway.
Daichi looked down at his helmet and told the other man of the mechanic’s and the situation. His words came to a stop in the middle of the story to the sound of Asahi’s laughter. He looked back at the man to see he had stopped a few steps back and was covering his mouth to muffle the noise of his laughs. The other man tried to stop when he noticed Daichi looking in question.
“Did I say something funny?” Daichi asked as the other man caught up and shook his head in response.
“No no uh I got a funny……message… from a friend. Please continue what you were saying, sorry to interrupt!” Asahi began to stumble over his words as he waved his hands in front of his face to dismiss the issue.
Clearly lying…but none of my business.
Daichi skeptically looked on but continued until the two had reached their floor and were standing in front of their doors. As he began to unlock his door to finally call it a night he turned to see his neighbor had come to a stop halfway through his door and was looking at him.
“Keep your phone close Daichi-kun, you may be hearing from that mechanic soon.” And with a smile he was gone closing the door behind him leaving Daichi in the hallway.
Wait, what does that mean?
Daichi entered his own flat forgetting about the odd message when his stomach made loud noises.
Well the day isn’t over just yet.
Closing the door he made his way to the kitchen pushing the events of the day to the back of his mind.
“Asahi are you listening to me? Those aren’t the right parts at all” Kuroo ran his hand through his hair as he watched his friend rub his face in frustration. The two men had been sorting through paperwork and every contact in both of their books for what seemed to be the entire day. But no one seemed to carry the parts needed for the motorcycle sitting in the garage. Kuroo stood up and stretched and shuffled to the small coffee machine in the corner. With a quick puttering noise it soon began spilling out the hot nectar that had been keeping the two men up for the past few days.
“Kuroo we’ve been looking at contacts, documents, and parts for the past three days, all for one motorcycle. Have you even taken a shower?” The other man stood up stretching to his full height and looked over at his friend. “By the smell of it, I can say you haven’t.”
Kuroo whipped around ready to retort but saw his friend had grabbed another bunch of papers to sort through. He scratched his head and set the mug next to the other man. Azumane Asahi, otherwise known as the gentle giant, was Kuroo’s partner in the garage. Apprehensive at first Kuroo found that their polar personalities balanced each other perfectly, which is what led to their strong friendship. Patting him on the back Kuroo smiled down at the man.
“Thank you for all the help Asahi. I really do appreciate it.” He sat down next to his friend as the other man chuckled. Asahi started again about cleaning up the place and maybe taking breaks but Kuroo had tuned him out and reached for the papers around him. The shuffle of the papers soon became the only noise Kuroo’s mind focused on.
This isn’t an impossible task. I have a bike to fix.
The garage that was once lit up with the morning sun began to darken. The two men continued to work until the only desk lights in the back lit up the garage. Asahi stood and turned on the rest of the lights. As he turned something caught his eye on the desk.
“Kuroo hey I think I got something” Asahi shuffled through the pile until he pulled out a folder with client information scrawled across it. After years of it Asahi was an expert at reading Kuroo’s chicken scratch. “This is the folder for Tanaka-kun’s business right?” He triumphantly held the folder up as he turned around to see the confused look on the other man’s face.
“Yeah and what of it?” Kuroo stretched as he stood to walk over to Asahi. Grabbing the folder Kuroo opened it to sift through the contents.
“Remember when he last visited he was telling us about how he got a whole new shipment of parts. It’s a slim chance but maybe in that new shipment…” Before Asahi could even finish his sentence Kuroo ran over to the phone and was dialing in the number.
“Asahi pray this works. I need to see those parts.”
I need to see that guy.
After the phone call was done Kuroo was jumping all over the place. Not only did the shop have the parts they were looking for but could bring them over the next day. Kuroo picked up his friend and spun him around, which only made the other man fumble some more before he could yell out to be put down.
“Jeez maybe now you can actually reach out to the guy who owns the bike. That’s who really needs your attention.” Asahi softly spoke as he began to pick up his stuff ready to leave.
“WHAT? I-I I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kuroo stumbled on his feet as he looked at Asahi in shock.
“Don’t play coy with me, you haven’t stopped talking about him once since he came in. Plus you’ve had the both of us looking for that part like madmen for so many days. I know you’re dedicated to your work but Kuroo please.” Asahi laughed as he patted Kuroo on the back. “Do me a favor, call the guy already.”
Am I that obvious?
Kuroo managed to push Asahi home muttering random excuses before he was left alone in his garage. Spending the rest of the night cleaning up the papers scattered across the floor Kuroo thought about his friends words.
I should call him…he did give me his number.
As he walked over to his phone he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror set on the wall and looked himself over. He immediately turned around, packed up his stuff, and locked the garage up.
But first, I need to shower.
The roar of the bike cut through the silence of the night as the young man made his way through the streets.