Chapter Text
Karasuno’s volleyball practice had been good, but it had been long. Ukai was ready to go home, have a beer, and go to bed. Just as he was turning off the lights in the gym, he noticed a messenger bag lying near the door. Recognizing the bag as Takeda’s, he picked it up before locking the gym doors. ‘Takeda’s probably still here,’ Ukai thought as he looked at his phone and saw that it was already 7:00pm.
Ukai entered the main school building and headed toward the teachers’ offices. ‘This place sure is different at night.’ He continued down the halls until he came to Takeda’s room.
Ukai knocked on the door and entered the office room. “You work too hard, Takeda-sensei,” he said as he walked over and placed the bag on Takeda’s desk. Takeda looked up at him from his stack of, what were those? Writing portfolios, maybe? “You forgot this,” Ukai added.
Takeda stood from his chair and bowed his head to Ukai. “Thank you, Ukai-san.” Takeda started cramming as many portfolios into the bag as he could. “I need to take these home to grade, and I was about to have to carry them the whole walk. Thank you again.”
“It’s nothing,” Ukai said. “And don’t call me -san, okay? I’ve told you a hundred times.”
“It’s been at least two hundred by now,” Takeda said with a cheeky grin. He then pushed in his desk chair and put on his winter coat. “Thank you Ukai-not-san.”
“I said it’s nothing,” Ukai said, acting slightly irritated despite the fact that he didn’t mind hanging around if he got to talk to Takeda. “Do you need help with anything?”
“I just have to lock up, but then I’m finished,” Takeda answered with a smile, which quickly fell. “Until I get home anyway.” Takeda immediately went into what Ukai thought of as “Pleasant Teacher Mode,” which was when Takeda put on the biggest, fakest smile he could muster and sounded as cheery and happy as he could. “I don’t have much left though, so I’ll be okay,” Takeda continued.
Ukai was now following Takeda around as he straightened up tables, turned off lights, walked down halls, and locked doors. By the time the two of them reached the parking lot exit, it had--apparently--started to snow. Takeda initially seemed excited about the snow, but looked more and more concerned with every moment.
“I can drive you home,” Ukai offered quickly. “You mentioned earlier you were going to walk, but even though I’m not sure how far your house is, you probably shouldn’t walk that far anyway,” he added, blushing just a bit and hoping Takeda assumed it was from the cold.
“That is very kind of you, Ukai,” Takeda said. “But I don’t want you to go out of your way just for-”
“It’s not out of the way,” Ukai interrupted. “I mean, even if it is, it’s worth it. Keeping you from walking in this, I mean.” Shit, now he was definitely blushing. He was 26 years old and he was acting like one of the kids on the volleyball team that he coached , goddamnit!
“Well, if you insist,” Takeda responded. The two men walked over to Ukai’s bright yellow car, and Takeda placed his bag in the backseat before getting into the front with Ukai. “Take a right turn out of the parking lot,” Takeda instructed as Ukai started the engine. For the duration of the 15 minute drive--which Takeda claimed would have taken five if he could actually see where they were going through the snow--the little yellow car arrived in front of a nice apartment building. Takeda told him where to park, and the two of them walked up to his apartment (Ukai had insisted that he get him “all the way home”). “Thank you again, Ukai,” Takeda said after finding his keys. “Do you want to come in for a cup of hot chocolate?” he asked as he unlocked the door, and Ukai nodded and thanked him. His car’s heat was broken, and he felt like he would be frozen solid before he got back to his own apartment.
They entered Takeda’s apartment and took off their shoes by the door, and Takeda hung his keys and coat on hooks by the door and invited Ukai to do the same. Takeda told Ukai to make himself at home while he started the hot chocolate, so Ukai looked around. The apartment had an open floor plan, with the kitchen on the left and the living room on the right. There were two doors along the back wall, which presumably led to a bathroom and a bedroom. Ukai walked over to the living room area and sat on one of the cushions by the table before turning on Takeda’s TV.
“-Next four hours,” the weatherwoman boomed before Ukai turned the volume down, “which will then turn into a mix of snow and freezing rain.” The weatherwoman now whispered as she gestured to the large map behind her.
Ukai read the scrolling news at the bottom of the screen aloud for Takeda to hear, “Warning: Severe Winter Weather Advisory: At least one meter of snowfall predicted tonight and tomorrow morning. Late Evening and Early Morning mix of Snow, Freezing Rain, Black Ice. Do not drive if possible. Then it lists some business closings.”
Takeda walked over to the living room and sat next to Ukai, offering him a mug of hot chocolate. Just as Ukai was taking his first sip, Takeda said, “Well, you’re staying here tonight then!”
Ukai almost spit out his drink. He couldn’t stay. The only reason he didn’t make a fool out of himself when the two had shared rooms at away volleyball games and training camps was because Ukai was so engrossed in volleyball. But now? He was free to look like the biggest idiot he could. “What?” Ukai practically croaked.
“Sorry, did I make your hot chocolate too hot?” Takeda asked, looking extremely worried. Ukai shook his head ‘no.’ “Oh, about you staying. Normally I would ask you, but they said it’s unsafe to drive and I’m not letting you sleep in your car in the parking garage.”
Ukai was about to protest, but then he remembered what happened when he said no to Takeda all those months ago about coaching the team. When Takeda wanted what he wanted, he was going to get it, so it was easier to just accept early and save everyone time and energy.
“So do you want to take a shower tonight?” Takeda asked, interrupting the almost-silence that had settled while the newspeople mumbled reports about current events or something. “I have some spare clothes if you want, but I’m not sure if they’d fit you.” Ukai was beginning to blush. Being totally naked in Takeda’s apartment? Being totally naked in Takeda’s apartment while Takeda was in the apartment? Takeda continued on, “I was going to shower too, but I didn’t know if you wanted to go first. That is if you even want to shower, although I’d rather have a clean body in the bed than a dirty one.”
“You can shower first,” Ukai said, not totally processing everything Takeda was saying at this point. He heard Takeda say something and saw him get up from the table and go over to the kitchen. “I’m going out to smoke,” Ukai said simply as he got up, walked to the door, put on his shoes and jacket, and went outside.
It was so cold out that the air enough cleared his head, no nicotine required (which Ukai was actually grateful for, considering one of his resolutions for the year was to at least cut back on smoking, even if he couldn’t stop entirely). After a minute, Ukai mentally reviewed the situation and his plan one more time.
The situation: Ukai was a 26 year old single bisexual biromantic man who was stranded with an attractive, adorable 29 year old man of unknown sexuality, romantic orientation, or relationship status for an indeterminate amount of time. Ukai happened to be very attracted to Mr. Twenty-Nine, who was also significantly more intelligent and interesting than he was.
The plan: Try not to be too obvious about the fact that Ukai was very attracted to Smart Handsome Interesting Mr. Twenty-Nine, try not to think about the situation at all if he could manage it, and try to act as normal as possible.
After a quick pep-talk, Ukai went back into the apartment, just in time to see Takeda walking out of the bathroom, fresh out of the shower, in only a towel.
‘Well,’ Ukai thought, ‘this could be a problem.’