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i.
Hate is a strong word.
Hate is a strong word, but Kei is more than happy to admit that he hates a lot of things. He hates people that are too loud, or too nosy, or too perceptive, or frankly just annoying. He hates it when he expects to enjoy a nice slice of strawberry shortcake, yet finds that the strawberry on top is sour to taste. He hates when people try to squeeze onto the train during rush hours despite being perfectly clear that there's no more space.
Right this very moment though, Kei absolutely despises the fact that the King is so good at volleyball. Well, not exactly that, but more specifically, everything else that comes with it.
"One touch!" He hears Kageyama yell as he descends from his one-person block, immediately getting into place to receive the ball from Nishinoya. Things seem to move in slow motion when Kei catches the other’s blazing blue eyes for 0.1 second, just as his fingertips extend skillfully to set the ball up, sending it into a beautiful arc.
Kei grits his teeth. His jersey is so soakingly wet that he can smell his sweat, his thighs are trembling like jello, and his body is practically running on pure adrenaline. He’s sure he looks like a mess, and he’s sure other people can see he’s reaching his limit too, but that singular look that the King just gave him means that the setter is dead set on sending the ball to him. Maybe first-year Kei will scoff at his older self, “Just because the King wants you to spike doesn’t mean you have to jump. There’s other people on the team that he can rely on. Look at the shrimp, going for his minus-tempo freak quick already.”
Second-year Kei will disagree, because deep down, he knows he likes volleyball a bit too much to give up on a point like this, and though he may not admit to anyone, not even to himself, he knows that Kageyama respects him, trusts him even, to score the winning point. God, how he absolutely hates how much he’s come to value Kageyama’s opinion.
Why do I even care so much? His mind unhelpfully supplies, distractfully so, especially at the match point of the game. Kei manages to rein his mind back in before he spirals down the rabbit hole, and forces his legs to run towards the net, his legs almost buckling from overuse. Still, he manages to jump as high as he could, and as he lifts his arm to spike, he realises that the ball is set perfectly into his palm: perfect height, perfect velocity, perfect precision.
Ugh. He really hates how good the King is at volleyball.
He slams the ball down onto the other side of the court, before the other team belatedly realises that Hinata is the decoy instead. He lands back onto the ground with an ungraceful grunt, his palm burning red. He hears the whistle go off, signifying the end of the match, and the excited screams of his teammates. It’s only then that he turns his head to look at Kageyama, only to find that the setter is already looking at him, an oddly familiar glint in his eyes.
“Nice kill.” He says smoothly with a triumphant grin on his face, not choking on his words like he used to (Kei also hates that, because when did the King get so comfortable with complimenting him?), before the two of them get absolutely smothered with aggressive hugs and tackles by their teammates. Even in the chaos, Kei feels a set of eyes on him, and he wills himself not to give into the desire to stare back, hoping that his teammates will mistake his reddened cheeks for the rigorous match he just played.
ii.
Kei doesn’t want to give himself too much credit, but subjectively speaking, he thinks he’s pretty observant. Being more of a listener than a talker (except when it comes to sassing other people) growing up, he tends to notice the subtle things: the way Yamaguchi would rub the back of his head with a more-than-polite smile on his face when he’s feeling embarrassed, the way Akiteru would always dart his eyes before lying. He actually enjoys it; it makes him think that he can secretly read minds. This habit of his carries throughout high school, where he finds out that even as Hinata would be busy stuffing his face with however much meat buns he can eat, he would always keep one for his sister Natsu, and even into adulthood, when he realises that contrary to what people say about Akaashi-san being apathetic, his eyes actually sparkle when simply talking to Bokuto-san.
So yes, Kei likes observing people. Currently though, he sets his target as Kageyama Tobio. He notices that, during one of their (not really) forced study sessions, that Kageyama’s tongue would poke out just the tiniest bit when he’s concentrating. He notices that Kageyama would often cast looks of yearning when Hinata and Nishinoya don’t hesitate to chat up the first years. Just a few weeks ago, he notices that whenever Kageyama wants to get someone’s attention, he would tug on their sleeve or the hem of their shirt, but he doesn’t do it to everyone; only to people he is close enough to, Kei concludes.
Kageyama would tug on Hinata’s shirt when asking to practice their freak quick, he would tug on Yachi’s sleeve when offering to carry the club equipments for her, and he even tugs on Ennoshita-san’s shirt when he wants to share his opinion on the strategies for their upcoming match. It’s kind of cute, really, unless it’s being done to him, Tsukishima Kei, then it’s not cute at all. Kei absolutely hates it: hates how the King’s fingers will lightly brush against his skin when he does it, hates when his heart would seemingly lurch out of his chest; Kei just hates everything about this.
“Kei.”
Right. He almost forgot about this. This, as in Kageyama trying out a new thing where he calls his friends by their first name. Kei thinks it’s because he’s been talking to Kenma more these days. He still calls Hinata “Hinata boke” though, because he said it sounds better than “Shouyou boke”. Kei unfortunately still remembers the fight the dumbass duo had about this.
(“You could have said it without ‘boke’, y’know?” “It wouldn’t be you then, would it?”)
“Kei.”
Kei stuffs a tamagoyaki in his mouth. He feels a small, timid tug on the hem of his sleeve of his uniform, and he pretends to ignore it, feigning interest in the discussion about whether bats pee upside down that Hinata and Yamaguchi are both engaged in, with Yachi trying to pipe in every once in a while.
“Kei.” This time he feels a stronger tug, knuckles knocking against his arm.
“What?” He says sharply, finally looking at the setter seated next to him. Kageyama just blinks up to him with big blue bambi eyes. “Are you free after class today?”
Kei raises an eyebrow, and he’s trying not to think about the fingers that have yet to be removed from his shirt.
“I want to go buy new knee pads from the store later, do you want to come together?”
“Aw, is a peasant’s company finally deemed worthy by his Highness?” Kei mocks. Kageyama scowls, dropping his hand from Kei’s shirt. “Forget it. My fault for asking you.”
Kei suddenly misses the warmth radiated from his fingers. Still, his pride is a tad too high to back down. “It was pretty stupid of you to ask me. Why not one of them? You never ask me for these things.”
“They’re all busy after class today, and if I’ve never asked you before, can I not start asking now? Dumbass Kei.”
For once, Kei is speechless. He watches as Kageyama hotly digs into his lunch, stuffing his mouth so quickly someone might mistake him for a starving child. Kei sighs.
“Fine. Let’s go after school.”
Kageyama stops eating and glares at him, eyes softening, and he mumbles a soft “Cool” before going back to his food. Kei stares at the singular grain of rice and a few chicken karaage crumbs stuck to the other boy’s face. How disgusting.
As students swarm out of the school after class ends, Kei leans against the front gates, listening to a playlist that Kuroo-san recommended (that bastard has surprisingly good taste in music). The blond sees from the corner of his eyes that Kageyama is jogging towards him.
“Hey.” Kageyama greets as he skids to a stop next to Kei, not even slightly out of breath. Kei holds back a scoff; just how good is this guy’s stamina? Kei pushes himself off the wall and starts walking.
“What took you so long?” Kei grumbles, even though he barely waited for 5 minutes, because that’s his default mode.
“Got held back by the math teacher.”
“Math?” Kei questions, the surprise evident in his voice. “I thought you do pretty well in maths. My my, do I need to tutor you for that as well?”
Kageyama tuts at his response. “No! I just made a few careless mistakes.”
“King, you can’t afford careless mistakes. Any more careless than you are now and you’ll be sleeping on the streets.”
“Hey!” He replies indignantly, cheeks red-tinged. “Unlike you, my future career does not rely on school grades. Wait till you see, you, a university student burdened with excessive caffeine and student loans, will probably be the one knocking on my door, an Olympic gold medalist.”
Kei can only chuckle at that. “No doubt, King, no doubt.” They continue walking down the road to the bus stop, eventually falling into a comfortable silence. Kei doesn’t even bother putting away his wired headphones; he knows that Kageyama doesn’t mind it. Drowning in the music flooding his ears, he hears a loud irritating zoom way too late for him to properly react. Before he can do anything, he feels a full, fisty grab on the side of his button-up, and he feels himself being pulled forcefully to the side and crashing into his shorter companion’s shoulder, just in time for him to narrowly miss the motorcycle that is most probably speeding.
“You okay?” Kageyama asks, and Kei notices two things instantly. One, his face is too close to Kageyama’s face, and two, Kageyama’s arm is outstretched, no, wrapped around his waist to steady him. Kei is not fine, he is very not okay; he feels how fast his heart is beating right now, and he hates it.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He coughs out, removing himself from this close proximity. Kageyama lets him go with ease, still staring at him. “See, this is why we always tell you not to blast music when walking on the streets. You won’t even have time to react if someone kidnaps you.”
“This is Miyagi; no one is going to kidnap anyone.” Kei huffs childishly, because that’s how it always is with Kageyama. The other boy only hums in response, and they fall into comfortable silence again. It’s only when they get to the bus stop that Kei mutters a ‘thanks’. He doesn’t elaborate anymore, nor does Kageyama reply to him, but he knows that he heard it.
Later, they’re standing on the bus, pressed up closely against one another, because it's during peak hour, which Kei hates hates hates, from the bottom of his heart. The bus lurches to a stop and even though a few people get off, more people file in, pushing them impossibly close together.
God, Kageyama’s hair is tickling his nose. Kei forces himself to tilt his head upwards, and he absolutely presses himself to stop thinking about how fresh the setter’s shampoo smells (it smells like a baby, how disgustingly cute). In midst of all the toe stepping and aggressive pushing, a firm but shy hand comes up to grasp the hem of his sleeve, the one where his arm is stretched up to hold onto the bus handle.
“There aren’t any left. I can hold onto you, right?” Kagayama whispers, wide blue eyes staring up at him. Kei only nods numbly, and he feels the finger tighten around the fabric. The bus crowd doesn’t get any better until they finally reach their stop, but with the pleasant milky scent and the strong grip on his shirt that occasionally brushes against his arm, he finds this bus ride not as bad as he thought it would be. He does wish for his heart to stop lurching out of his chest though.
iii.
“Tsukki! Do you mind?” Yamaguchi asks, nudging his head towards the court. ‘Feign ignorance. Pretend you don’t know what he’s talking about.’ Kei’s mind helpfully supplies.
“Hmm?”
“I know you know what I’m talking about, Tsukki.”
Kei sighs in resignation; Yamaguchi is getting too bold and too smart for his own good. “Why me again?”
“Well, Hinata for once has to go home early. I can’t possibly ask our kouhais to do it; we’re senpais now! So that leaves you!”
“What about you and Yachi?”
“We have to go to the printing shop before it closes, for the club posters. I told you this earlier!”
“Ugh.”
His best friend smiles brightly at him.
“Don’t I have the right to refuse?”
“Nope! Captain’s orders! Plus, you’re the only one who can talk him out of it.” He says, a bit too happily. Kei realises he has no way out of this.
“You know, some people would call this abuse of power.”
“And I, as captain, would call this delegation of duties. Good luck, Tsukki! Lemme know how it goes.”
Yamaguchi gives him a pat on the arm, handing him the keys, and jogs off to where Yachi is waiting. The blonde girl sends Kei a small wave, which Kei returns, and slinks into the gym, resigning to his fate.
Smack.
Smack.
Smack.
Kei leans on the wall and watches as Kageyama practices serve after serve, each one more powerful and precise as the last, until the volleyballs in the cart are all used up. Kageyama pays him no attention, walking over to the other side of the court to pick up the balls. Kei sighs and pushes himself off the comfort of the wall, picking up a stray ball as he walks towards the other boy. Ugh, he hates this. He should have gone home earlier when he had the chance.
“King,” he starts, but is quickly interrupted by the other.
“5 more minutes.”
Kei sighs a big long sigh again; he does not want to do this at all. “King.” He says again, his voice more firm and intentional than the last. Placing the final ball into the cart, Kageyama finally looks him in the eye, the blues of his eyes looking more like a raging sea than it ever does. Kei pushes him gently to the side of the court, shoving a water bottle into his hand, and turns around to wheel the cart back to the store room. When he comes back, he finds Kageyama sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Kei slides down at the spot next to him, barely brushing their shoulders together.
“I wasn’t finished with practicing.” Kageyama finally says after a while, his voice lacking its usual vigour.
“Your serves are perfect.”
“Hardly. The spin is still off sometimes, and the precision is still far behind Oikawa-san’s.”
“You got the Best Server Award for Miyagi last year at Interhigh.”
“That’s only because Oikawa-san is out of the high school circuit. Plus, Atsumu-san still holds the title of ‘best server’ in high school volleyball in all of Japan, and –”
“King.” Kei repeats with a small huff, glancing at the boy next to him with a side eye. “You know I’m not here to talk about how monstrously good your serves are.”
Kageyama juts out his lower lip and dips his head low, raven bangs hanging over his downcast eyes. Kei doesn’t say anything more, silently aware that the setter is trying to construct his thoughts into words while fiddling with his fingers.
“I think I’m scared.” Kageyama says after a while, pulling his legs closer to his chest and resting his chin on his knee, voice so small Kei thinks he wouldn’t be able to hear if they’re not sitting side to side.
“Hmm. Why?”
“I think I can’t live up to people’s expectations. I don’t think I’ll be a good vice captain. Everyone looked up to me in my last year at Kitagawa, but that happened, and… Vice captains are supposed to support the captain and the team. Everyone keeps saying that I will be a good vice; Ukai-san did, Takeda-sensei did, Tadashi did too. Even Tanaka-san and Ennoshita-san and Suga-san said it, like it’s obvious, but it never made sense to me. Why… why did all of you…”
“Why did all of us agree you’d be our vice?” Kei scoffs; this is such a dumb conversation. “Because unlike you, we are all not blind and stupid. You’re more than good enough to lead this team. You have the talent, you strategize and come up with half our plays at this point, and although your people skills are still not the best, you’ve improved. A lot.”
Kageyama cranks his neck to the side, blinking almost cluelessly, and opens his mouth to protest. “But what if I haven’t changed? Sometimes I get that urge to yell at people again. What if I do that again? What if everyone–”
“Tobio.” Kei interrupts sharply, placing a cold hand on Kageyama’s warmer arm. “You have changed. I really hate that you can’t see it. Give yourself some credit; you’ve come such a long way. I see the way you work with the second years. You ask what they want, you listen to them; you actually care about building up your teammates instead of pressing them down with commands. Takahashi looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky. Even with shrimpy, I can see that you’re not shouting as much as before. And no one is leaving you, okay? We will always have your back. God forbids that shrimpy would ever let a chance to score go to waste. We chose you because we trust you.”
The air suddenly feels a lot warmer than a moment ago, and Kei forces himself to look away from the glistening blue eyes and rosy cheeks. “And if you really did spiral, all we have to do is pull you back in, right? I will personally lend you my unlimited service of free slaps right across the face if you ever dipped your toes across the line. Deal?”
Kei hears it before he sees it; a soft but heavenly chuckle accompanied by a wonderfully shy smile, a small subtle dimple (has it always been there?) popping up on his blushing right cheek. Kageyama holds up a finger. “Pinky promise?”
Kei locks their fingers in response, hoping that the other boy doesn’t notice his rapidly heating face. Kageyama doesn’t seem like he wants to let go though; Kei for once is actually scared that the other can feel how fast his pulse is from his finger, and he silently curses all the gods in the world for putting him in this situation.
“How did you even read my mind?” The younger boy mutters, curling his pinky even tighter around Kei’s.
“You’re not that hard to read, King.”
Neither let go until they decide it’s late enough for them to go home.
The next day, Kei strolls into the gym, not because Yamaguchi said “We’re third years now! Of course all of us have to be there!”, but definitely because he wants to see how Hinata and a pair of rowdy second years embarrass themselves in front of the new first years, and he himself wants to intimidate them just a tiny bit. (He absolutely does not think about the fact that Kageyama will be there giving a speech alongside Yamaguchi as the new captains of the team.)
Kei steps into the gym quietly and not making his presence known, arriving just in time to hear the end of Kageyama’s speech. It sounds a bit awkward and robotic, but the message is strong and clear, and it doesn’t stop the fact that all the first years are staring at him with starry eyes, excited to work with one of the best high school setters in Japan. Kageyama shuffles back awkwardly to allow Yamaguchi to continue talking, and manages to lock eyes with Kei. Kei presses his lips into a tight smile and nods; he can then visibly see Kageyama relax and try to hang a genuine smile on his face. It still looks a bit weird and forced, but he’s improved a lot, and Kei hates how he secretly thinks it’s an adorable smile.
Kageyama’s going to do fine as vice captain, Kei thinks.
iv.
Holding hands with Tobio has become natural to Kei after 2 months of dating. They’re not the flashy PDA type; clinging to each other 24/7, so maybe that’s why whenever they’re caught getting slightly touchy with each other, people around them always tease them, and Kei absolutely despises it.
Like the other day, when Yamaguchi was treating everyone to meat buns after practice, Kei purposely slowed down his footsteps to walk behind the team, knowing that Tobio would follow his pace. Kei bumped the back of his hand against Tobio’s, and they naturally interlocked, the latter’s soft left hand clasped in his own bony right hand. If Kei had to guess, love really blinds people, because they didn’t even realise that they got to the konbini.
“Hey, Kage-senpai, Tsukki-senpai! How many – Hey, look! Senpais are holding hands!” Takahashi paused in between his sentences, his loud statement of spotted PDA immediately attracted the attention of their other teammates.
“Takahashi, you little shit –” Letting go of Tobio’s hand, Kei began to growl at his underclassman, only to be interrupted by another rambunctious kouhai.
“Tsukishima-san, I’ve never seen you guys hold hands before! Do you guys only do it when we’re not looking? Is that why you guys walked behind the team just now?” Yamada exclaimed, firing questions like a machine gun.
“What we do is none of your business.”
“Oh, so you do do things other than holding hands. In the bedroom, I assume?”
Kei was absolutely speechless; he’s never hated his teammates more than that moment. His friends were of no help at all too; Yamaguchi was busy laughing at his misery, Hinata proceeded to launch a horribly exaggerated story about how Tobio confessed to him, and Yachi was trying her best to diffuse the situation but also failed at holding back a chuckle. The only person that looked absolutely unaffected was Kageyama Tobio himself, munching on a meat bun in the midst of all the chaos. Kei wished he could dig a hole and bury himself alive there.
The “meat bun incident”, as Kei has so eloquently put it, is just one of the many times that his teammates have teased them about their new relationship, and thus, over the course of a few weeks, Kei realises that maybe he needs new friends, especially in a situation like this.
[og baby crows]
Shou: omg tsukki just pouted
Shou: POUTED
Shou: like a full on frown and lower lip jutting
K: shut up
K: and don’t call me tsukki
Toka: reallyyy! is it cuz of that girl again!!
Dashi: how is it smth like this always happen when i’m not there
Dashi: @Shou did you take a pic
Shou: sure did cap!
Shou sent 6 photos
Shou: nooo apparently it’s another girl this time
Shou: idk why yamayama gets so many confessions when he’s so grumpy
Toka: ooo wait i think i know her, she’s that really pretty girl from class 3
K: wow good job spreading salt on my wound
Dashi: HAHAHAHAH TSUKKIII
Dashi: YOUR FACE
Dashi: wait is this still ongoing?? I’m literally speed walking back to see tsukki’s face in person
K: from the bottom of my heart, i hate you guys
Tobi: ???
Yes, his boyfriend is getting an excessive amount of confessions all of a sudden, and yes, jealousy is not a good look on Kei, but he doesn’t give a jack about it (he does, actually), because why are all these people professing their love to someone who’s taken?
He hates that other people don’t have boundaries, hates that they’re not minding their own goddamn business, hates that his control on emotions is not as good as he thinks, he hates that his so-called “best friends” are teasing him about it, and most importantly, he hates that Tobio is being so nonchalant while he’s losing his mind over it.
Tobio walks back to the spot where they are having lunch just as Yamaguchi is seen dashing to the table. “You’re gonna kill Tsukki one day, you know that right?” The green-haired boy asks casually, patting the setter’s back.
“No he’s not.” Kei snaps, glaring at his best friend. Tobio just sits down next to him. “Why?”
“Yamayama, you should’ve seen his face! He looks like a volcano waiting to blow up!” Hinata pipes in happily. “Wait, no you can! Look at the photos I sent in the groupchat!”
“What photo? What are you talking about?” Tobio asks cluelessly, having zero intention to even take out his phone and check. He tugs on the side of Kei’s shirt and silently points to a piece of sausage on his lunchbox, taking a piece as he nods and pushes the lunchbox closer to him. Kei doesn’t know whether he should laugh or cry at his boyfriend’s obliviousness or how ridiculous this whole situation is.
“Yamayama-kun, you never look at what we write on our group chat. What’s the point of having one?” Hinata accuses childishly, pointing his chopsticks at his best friend. Tobio just swats his hand away with practiced ease. “Look, to put it simply, your boyfriend is –”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Kei warns, glaring at the short ginger. Hinata laughs it off with blissful ignorance. “Your boyfriend is –”
“Jealous!”
A new voice appears behind them, and Kei drops his head into his hands dramatically. “Yachi, why?”
If looks could kill, Yachi, no scratch that, everyone on that table sans Tobio would have died already. Yachi the betrayer just grins at him as she sits down at an empty spot next to Yamaguchi.
“Jealous? You’re jealous?” Tobio questions quizzically, sapphire eyes filled with genuine concern.
“No, I’m not.” Kei mutters, not daring to look at the boy next to him.
“Bullshit.” Yamaguchi coughs suspiciously, completely unfazed as Kei once again glowers at him. Ugh. He can’t believe he’s about to have this conversation in front of his friends; he can’t believe he’s even having this conversation at all. Tobio’s not supposed to find out about the jealousy part. He’s supposed to suck it up, deal with it, and walk it off.
The school bell rings; Kei’s never been more relieved to hear the bell before.
“Are you really jealous?” Tobio asks again, as they’re walking back to their classrooms. Kei heaves a sigh, “No, I… We’ll talk about this later, okay? After class.”
The bell rings again at the end of the day, and while his classmates scramble to leave the classroom, Kei is taking his sweet time to pack his bag.
“Oi.”
He doesn’t have to see who it is to know who it is. His lips morph into a soft smile, “Coming.”
The short walk to Ukai-san’s shop is comfortable under the summer breeze, minus the nagging feeling in Kei’s heart. He silently hopes that his brick of a boyfriend continues to rant about a volleyball match he’s rewatched the previous night and forgets about the whole ordeal that happened earlier.
“So, Hitoka said you’re jealous.” He hears Tobio say next to him, munching on an onigiri. Kei sighs; the universe is not helping him today.
“I’m… not.” He mutters weakly, barely able to convince himself.
“Liar.”
“... Fine, I was jealous. But just a little bit.”
“Why?”
Kei tears his eyes away from the boy in front of him. He jerks slightly when he feels a soft touch on the corner of his lips, and looks back to find his boyfriend brushing off a crumb. “Kei?”
He sighs again. He’s been doing that a lot today. “It’s just that ever since we started dating, more girls have been confessing to you, and that makes me –”
“Wait, how do dating and girls confessing correlate? It doesn’t make sense that they only start confessing as we start dating.”
Tobio looks genuinely confused; Kei wants to smash his head into a wall. “No, you’re missing the point. The point is, you glowed the hell up when school started, which is coincidentally also when we got together. Hence, a lot of people started profusing their love for you when we’re already dating, and it’s not technically their fault since we didn’t announce that we’re together, so everyone still thinks you’re single, but Yamaguchi says anyone with a pair of eyes can see from miles away that we’re a thing, and so the problem is –”
“Are you saying we should tell everyone that we’re together?”
“No, Tobio. That is not what I’m saying.” Kei grits his teeth, his sanity hanging by a thread. “I’m just jealous, okay? All these girls who confessed, they’re all so kind and pretty. They looked like a much better fit for you than I could ever be. I guess I’m just scared that you’d suddenly find me lacking and leave me to be with one of those girls.”
“First of all, I’m gay.”
“Well, you also got a confession from the basketball captain.”
“Second of all,” Tobio glances up at him earnestly, ignoring Kei’s statement. “They’re not you. I chose to be with you. I confessed to you, didn’t I? You’re also kind and handsome and so much more than that, so why would I leave to find someone else?”
“Tobio…”
“If anything, you should be worried that I have no current plans to stop bothering you for study sessions and nagging you during volleyball practice.”
Kei lets out a short chuckle of relief, cheeks coloring. People have got to give Tobio a bit more credit for his emotional intelligence; there’s still room for improvement, but sometimes he will just drop a bomb and surprise you.
“Now, come on,” the raven-haired boy stands up abruptly, “you promised me that you would work on your spikes.”
“Ugh, today?’
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“... Fine.”
Heart feeling lighter, a small smile spreads on Kei’s face, contented to be led by his boyfriend.
v.
Kei wrinkles his nose in distaste. Ah, there’s people. Everywhere.
Everywhere he looks, he sees teachers and students and parents and siblings and–
“Kei!”
Right. He almost forgets that his own parents and brother also came. He wills himself not to walk away from the voice. Moments later, Akiteru comes up behind him and wraps him in a brotherly headlock, ruffling his hair.
“Nii-chan, stop!” He exclaims, struggling to get out of his brother’s hold. He finally manages to claw his way out, glasses askew as Akiteru repeats apologies in a wholly insincere manner. Huffing, Kei manages to plaster on a face of disdain (no one, especially Akiteru, can know that he secretly enjoys it when his brother knuckles him in the head like this).
“Happy graduation, Kei! How you feeling?”
The first thing that comes to mind is how much he dreaded this moment. The amount of people flooding the school, the amount of tearful goodbyes and wishful promises (ugly feelings really, because that means Kei also has to try extra hard to keep his feelings in check), the thought of entering adult society finally becoming a crippling reality.
… That’s it, actually. That’s all there is on his mind.
“I don’t like it.” He tells Akiteru exactly that. His brother just laughs.
“You always say that, Kei. Sometimes I’m starting to think you don’t really mean it.”
Before he can open his mouth to refute, Akiteru adds, “The ceremony’s starting! Don’t forget to look at us for a photo when you’re up on stage, yeah?”
The ceremony passes by in a blur. Kei can barely remember what the principal’s speech was about, or how he got on stage to receive his certificate, or singing the school anthem one last time.
Instead, he only remembers how his phone keeps buzzing nonstop due to messages from their idiotic groupchat (he reads one message from Hinata asking if they should send the vice principal’s wig flying off for old times sake and he promptly ignores all other messages). He remembers feeling an odd sense of pride as he watches Yamaguchi and Tobio go on stage as representatives of the Karasuno High Volleyball Club to receive an award for the amazing performance during Interhigh. He also remembers the way his parents and Akiteru’s eyes glistened with tears when he glanced at them for a picture (just like his brother told him to).
His parents insist on him taking a solo portrait in front of the school gate when his phone rings.
“Hello?” He answers, not bothering to check the caller ID.
“Kei! Haven’t you checked your phone? We’ve been texting you for ages!”
No, indeed he has not. He’s lived long enough to hear Tobio nag him for not checking his messages.
“Where are you? You didn’t leave, did you?”
“No, of course not. I’m still here.”
“We’re meeting up at the volleyball court later, in 10, 15 minutes maybe? But I wanna give you something before that. Should we meet at that tree first?”
That tree, as in the tree where he and his friends have spent most of their lunchtimes under, the tree where Tobio confessed to him. The tree where “Kageyama” has become “Tobio” in his mind.
“Sure.” Kei answers before Tobio thinks they’ve lost contact.
“Miwa-neesan wants to take a photo with me first before she goes, so I’ll be there soon, okay?”
“Okay. See you.”
“Kageyama-kun has gotten a lot better at talking, huh?” Akiteru’s leering voice startles him from behind.
Kei grits his teeth. “I told you not to eavesdrop on my phone calls, Nii-chan!”
Kei only has to wait for a short while under the tree when he sees Tobio jogging towards him. He notices Miwa-san standing afar with a small smile etched on her face, and he waves back, watching as she turns away. A hand wraps around his arm lightly. “Sorry Kei, have you been waiting for long?”
“Barely.”
This is the first time he’s looked at Tobio properly today. Shorter hair (probably not approved by Miwa since he went to a random barber), slightly ruffled shirt, glistening blue eyes, rose-tinged cheeks, complemented by the pink sakura petals showering down on him.
“Hi.” Kei breathes out. His boyfriend looks absolutely ethereal. Tobio lets a genuine smile stretch across his face. “Hi.”
“I wanted to give you something.” He says a beat later.
“Mhm. What is it?”
“Open your palm.” He instructs, digging his hand into his pocket. He lets his fisted palm linger over Kei’s open one before relaxing his fingers a little. Kei almost missed it, with how light it felt on his hand.
“Is that…” Kei trails off when he sees it; a dull black button sitting neatly on his palm. His eyes shoot up, only to see Tobio avoiding his gaze.
“Nee-san said it’s good practice, to give it to the person I like. So here you go.”
“Wow, way to make it unromantic.” Kei teases good-naturedly. Tobio’s signature pout grows deeper, as does the blush on his face. “S-Shut up! Ugh, shouldn’t have given it to you.”
The raven moves to snatch away the button, but Kei is faster, closing his fist tightly around the prized possession. “Who says I don’t want it?” Kei whispers in the shorter’s ear, lips feeling like a phantom on the helix. His hand traces Tobio’s hand, one that he’s held countless times, and bends down to press a soft feathery kiss on his open palm. “I got something for you too.”
He places his own identical button on Tobio’s hand, watching in amusement as a surprised expression settles on his face. “You… You’re giving me your button too?” His voice small and innocent, filled with wonder. Kei can’t help but chuckle. “Yes, love. Who else would I give it to?”
“Oh.”
This time, Kei does laugh, loud and genuine. “Never change, Tobio.”
He thinks, as Tobio returns with a tiny giggle and he feels his heart swell bigger than the cherry blossom petals have spread on the ground, that maybe he’s overused the word ‘hate’ a bit.
(He takes it back; he has in fact underused the word ‘hate’. He hates that their moment of peace is disturbed by another bout of incoming messages, no doubt from his idiot friends. His inner loathing grows substantially when he reads the texts.
[og baby crows]
Shou: where r the lovebirds!
Shou: @K @Tobi
Shou: helloooooooooo
Shou: you guys still alive?
Shou: i swear if you guys sneaked off to hook up
Shou: OOO I SEE YOU GUYSS
Shou: NOT HOOKING UP THANK GOD
Shou sent 3 photos
Shou: *voice message of him singing a lovesong, Yamaguchi and Yachi laughing in the background*
Kei stands corrected. He hates his friends.)
vi.
It isn’t very often that Kei is able to hang out with Akaashi. Kei works two jobs, one as a curator at the Sendai City Museum, and another one as a middle blocker for the Sendai Frogs. Akaashi on the other hand, is a hotshot editor working for the famous Udai Tenma in Tokyo. Their jobs, their lives, even the place they live in don’t really intertwine, so it’s no surprise that they don’t meet up often. Still, it doesn’t stop the minute delight in Kei when his old friend asks to get coffee.
Kei will be in Tokyo coincidentally “running an errand”, as he has told the other man, so Akaashi suggests going to a cozy cafe hiding in the quiet neighbourhood of Harajuku, claiming that their strawberry shortcake is delectable, and who was Kei to say no?
“Sorry I’m late. It’s… this.” Kei gestures to the damp weather as he settles into the chair, roughly patting down his coat in an attempt to get rid of the raindrops stuck to it. Akaashi just chuckles, “No worries. I thought you like the rain.”
“Only if I’m indoors laughing at the unfortunate people outside.”
“Fair enough.” The older man sips on his tea and pushes a plate of cake in front of him. “Here, I ordered this for you.”
“Thanks.” Kei murmurs, not wasting another second to taste the strawberry dessert. Sure enough, the rich creamy flavour paired with the fresh strawberries on the fluffy sponge cake immediately melts in his mouth; if he’s allowed to exaggerate, he has to bite back a moan at how good it is. “You weren’t lying about how good this is.”
“Yeah. Koutarou and I have been coming here ever since high school. The lady at the counter gives us a discount sometimes.”
“I can’t believe you’re only telling me about this shop now when you’ve known for years.”
The conversation flows naturally between them, from Akaashi talking about a new manga series he’s been working on (he even showed Kei some of the panels), and how Bokuto has been sulking lately because he watered the cactus too much and it died, to Kei mentioning his stupid teammates (specifically Koganegawa and Kyoutani) and how they drove him insane sometimes with their crazy antics. Kei relaxes into the chair after some time, no doubt from the warm coffee scent wafting through the shop and the gentle classical music playing from the speakers. Even the pouring rain becomes a peaceful background noise, as Kei immerses himself in the eventful tale of Kuroo losing a horribly placed bet between him and Bokuto that he had ended up dyeing his hair hot pink for a month (Kenma was not pleased, to say the least), slowly forgetting about the horrendous rain that had made him feel like a wet cat. This day has turned out to be better than he thought.
He thought wrong.
“So, Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi blows on his tea, “I heard that you were meeting up with the director of the Tokyo National Museum. That was this morning, right?”
Kei’s hand freezes, the strawberry on his fork dropping back onto the plate. “Uh…”
It isn’t a secret, per se. Kei has been considering moving to Tokyo to be closer to Tobio, and it makes sense since he doesn’t need to practice as much with Sendai Frogs as Tobio is required to with Schweiden Adlers. Coincidentally, a viable spot has opened up at the Tokyo National Museum, so he contacted the director for a short chat. He’s only told Yamaguchi, Yachi and Hinata about it, and only ever discussed it in-depth with Tobio, and maybe offhandedly mentioned it once to Akiteru, but other than that, no one else should know, unless…
“Sorry, was I not meant to know about it?” Akaashi’s blunt voice cut through his thoughts. At least he manages to sound slightly apologetic. “I only knew because Kageyama-kun told me about it.”
Ah. Right. Tobio.
His boyfriend has gotten close to the previous Fukurodani setter starting from their second year in high school, and their odd little friendship has only grown as they grow older. Odd in a way that their most common hangout activity is to dine at Onigiri Miya and review every new flavour. Kei would have thought that this is stupidly cute, if not for the fact that Tobio likes to bring up every single detail of his life to the older man (which means he essentially talks about Kei’s life too, because he’s still learning how to filter information and because “Your life means my life.”, as he stated matter-of-factly).
He loves the part where Tobio has friends that he can confide in (he’s very glad that his boyfriend has friends outside their little circle); he detests the part where Akaashi knows almost every single thing happening in his life. The last time they met, Akaashi asked about his sex life not-so-subtly (because Akaashi is always frank) due to Tobio raising the topic of lingeries and cosplaying during one of their onigiri tastetesting sessions. Kei nearly passed out from utter embarrassment.
Kei must have looked quite constipated sitting in that chair because when Akaashi decides to speak up again, it is considerably less blunt and more meek. “Ah, but that’s all I know though. Kageyama-kun realised his slip-up and didn’t explain much on the matter. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“No, it’s alright.” Kei shakes his head, showing a small smile on his face. “It’s not a big deal. I was just caught by surprise.”
He explains his considerations for the new potential job, lightly munching on the stranded strawberry on his plate. “I wasn’t even sure whether the plan would fall through, so I refrained from telling people about it.”
“I understand.” Akaashi nods.
“But the job looks good though, from what I observed today. Maybe the plan isn’t as far away as I thought.”
“That’s wonderful. Kageyama-kun would be delighted.” Akaashi chimes in, taking a bite from his own vanilla swiss roll. “You know, Kageyama-kun only does that because he loves you a lot.”
Kei feels his cheek coloring. “What?”
“Talking about you. He talks about volleyball a lot of course, and he mentions Hinata-kun sometimes. Once he introduced milk from different prefectures and gave a 10 minute lecture on why Hokkaido produces the best milk. These recent years, he’s been talking about you the most. Naturally, it means he loves you a whole lot.”
“I- Well, I suppose…” Kei splutters.
“I know you’re going to lecture him about his loose tongue later, but maybe be less harsh on him, yeah?”
Kei nods.
“And don’t worry, all your secrets are safe with me.”
“What secrets? Akaashi Keiji, you better not fuck with me. What other things did you hear about me!?”
(Turns out Akaashi also knows about him being a clingy piece of shit every morning, and that he has expensive taste in underwear, as well as the big ugly wart that’s growing on his back. “Kageyama-kun only asked me about it because he knows I have friends that work in the hospital,” Akaashi had said.
So, no, Kei has not changed his mind. Even though it means that Tobio loves him and likes to talk about him, Kei doesn’t like it. Not even one bit.)
vii.
“You look like crap.” is the first thing Kei hears when he opens the door.
“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.” Kei mutters dryly, stepping to the side so that Yamaguchi can come into the apartment. “What do you want?”
“Tsk tsk tsk. You really can’t survive by yourself, huh? Look at all the dirty laundry, and the trash!” Yamaguchi says, walking around the living room.
“Tadashi–”
“And have you been eating just takeout for the past few days? Told you you should learn how to cook something other than instant noodles and eggs. Where’s the cookbook I–”
“Tadashi!” Kei interrupts tersely, arms crossed. “What do you want? I’m not in the mood for this.”
The green-haired man gives him a pointed look, a look that he has perfected from being the captain of the volleyball team a couple years back. Kei sinks down onto the sofa, knowing no good will come from defying the look. “What did you do this time?”
“Why do you assume that I did something?”
“Tobio has been bawling his eyes out. I’ve seen him cry before, but not like this. You should’ve seen him, Kei, he was borderline hyperventilating when he called me.”
Kei feels like all the wind has been knocked out of his lungs. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Crying? What – Is he okay now? Is someone with him?” God, he hates this feeling. He’s only ever felt like this once before in his life, when he found out that Akiteru had been lying to him.
“Yeah, Shou’s been with him since yesterday. He’s calmed down slightly, but he hasn’t been talking much.”
“Wha – Why… What happened?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Kei purses his lips shut. Tobio has never been a big crier; he shuts down and isolates himself with tears welling up in his eyes. He’s only ever seen him actually cry a handful of times, let alone bawling; the way that Tadashi had described it makes it seem like the world is coming to an end.
“I don’t know.” Kei says after a while, tone grave. Tadashi sighs for the fifth time since he’s walked in. “You gotta give me something, buddy. Can’t help you if you don’t.”
“I… I really don’t know! I didn’t even…”
“What were you doing that day, before he ran out?”
“I was… I mean I was smoking, but – Ow!” The blond jerks his head up upon receiving a sharp slap on the arm by his best friend. “What the fuck was that for?”
“You’re still smoking? I thought you had quitted already!”
“Don’t chastise me. It’s been stressful lately.”
Yamaguchi looks at him with pure disdain. “And you wonder why Tobio reacted like that. You really are a piece of shit sometimes.”
“It couldn’t be the smoking though. It’s too big of a reaction if it is.”
“You poor dumb fuck.” Yamaguchi says, eyes steely. “You better go and make things right with him. You may be my best friend, but I wouldn’t forgive you if you hurt him even more.”
“Oh look who’s here?” Hinata says when he flings open the door. “I was starting to think that all that time you spent hanging out with us has actually made you lose your brain cells.”
“I’m losing brain cells just by breathing the same air as you.” Kei snips back tiredly, rubbing his temple. He blinks slowly, belatedly realising that he’s still standing outside Hinata’s apartment, the shorter guy making no attempt to move away from the doorway.
“... Are you going to let me in?”
“Not if you plan on making him cry again.”
Kei sighs; deep down he knows he can’t really blame Hinata. “I can’t promise anything, but -”
“Then I’m not letting you in.” Hinata interrupts, arms crossed defiantly.
“How am I supposed to talk to him if you won’t even let me in?”
“To be very honest, I didn’t want you to come at all. Yamaguchi and Yacchan were the ones insisting you guys talk. I don’t understand how you’ve been dating for so long, yet you still don’t know that this triggers him.”
Kei sighs again. Great, even the shrimp knows more than he does. He’s been here for more than 5 minutes, and all he’s done is hold a staring contest with Hinata at the door. He feels a headache coming, and he still hasn’t even seen Tobio yet, and —
“Shou.” A quiet, meek voice calls out from behind them. Kei immediately looks across Hinata’s head into the apartment; the ginger also turns back towards the source of sound. “Tobio!”
Kei almost hitches a breath. Tobio looks wrecked; eyes red and puffy, cheeks blotchy with tear streaks. He hates seeing Tobio like this, and he wants to kill himself for being the very reason for looking like this.
“Let him in.”
“But he’s gonna make you cry again!”
“It’s okay, Shou. I want to talk to him.”
Kei can almost hear the gears working in Hinata’s head, no doubt weighing the pros and cons. He huffs after a while and swings open the door the tiniest bit. “Fine, but I’m staying for the conversation.”
“Shou.”
“Fine! I’ll sit in the living room, but you better leave the door open. That way I can come in and punch him easier.”
Tobio sighs, a ghost of a smile lingering. “That’s fine.”
Kei is aware of the dirty look that his short friend shot him with when he walks past the couch, but he can’t really bring himself to care, not when Tobio trudges into the bedroom without even looking at him. The raven has already sunk himself into the pile of blankets on the bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. Kei sits down on the edge of the bed gingerly; all he wants to do is wrap him in a giant bear hug and comb his fingers through his hair the way he likes it, but the act feels foreign, despite that fact that it's only been a couple of days since they last saw each other.
He must have taken too long to decide what to do because Tobio speaks up first, surprising Kei.
“Do you know why?” He asks simply, voice small and quivering.
“I… I’m sorry.”
When Tobio doesn't say anything in response, Kei continues tentatively. He hopes the tension doesn't stretch out worse than it is now. “I shouldn't have smoked. I promised to quit and… I’m sorry.”
“Do you know why I was so upset?”
“... Because it smells?”
“No! I mean, yes it smells absolutely horrendous, but that's not the point.” Tobio ducks his head and sighs, fingers scratching on that loose piece of hangnail. It must hurt. Kei wants nothing more than to place his colder palm to steady his hand.
“My grandfather used to smoke, until one day he went to the hospital and never left.”
Kei sucks in a sharp breath; he has an inkling of feeling about where this is going. He can't stop that dreadful sinking feeling inside his stomach.
“He died of lung cancer.”
“Oh Tobs.” Kei shifts to wrap his boyfriend in a hug, his heart breaking into pieces hearing the heart wrenching sobs from the other man. Oh how he wants to punch himself in the face. He's never hated himself more than he does at this moment.
Hesitant hands come to grab the side of his shirt as he continues to pat Tobio’s head, not knowing what to do except whisper genuine apologies in his ear.
“I was scared. T-That you would die like he did. Then I-I’ll be all a-alone again.” Tobio chokes out between broken sobs. God, how big of a jerk can he be? He’ll gladly stand still and let Hinata throw punches at him. How could he have so carelessly hurt the one person he vowed to protect and love for the rest of his undeserving life?
“I’m sorry.” Kei mumbles, fingers coming down to play with the hair on the nape of his neck, Tobio’s whimpers reducing down to quiet sniffles. “I should have stopped the first time you told me you don't like it. I knew you were upset but all there was in my selfish mind was how to do it behind your back. I’m so sorry, Tobio. I don't deserve your forgiveness.”
Tobio pulls out of Kei’s embrace, and for the first time in 3 days, he can clearly see Tobio’s eyes: those stormy blue eyes he loves so so much, filled with a sea of emotions.
“It’s okay, I forgive you. I… overreacted as well. I wasn't having a great day, and coming home to you smoking… It just threw me over the edge.”
With a trembling hand, Kei reaches up to cup the other’s cheek, thumb wiping away a stray tear. Tobio leans into the touch; Kei releases a breath he didn't even know he was holding.
“I promise I won’t smoke, ever again. I know I've said it before, but I’m serious this time. I will throw away all the ashtrays I've hidden once we get home, and you can burn all my cigarettes- Wait no don't do that, our house will reek, all our plants will die and we'll all get lung cancer. How about–”
Tobio, diamond tears still glistening in his eyes, lets out a shy wet giggle, a wobbly grin appearing on his face.
“I’m sorry.” Kei repeats and presses a soft kiss on top of Tobio’s head, hoping his sincerity is conveyed.
“I know.”
“I won't do it again.”
“I believe you.”
viii.
“Achoo!”
Kei sneezes for the third time since he has woken up, this time with greenish snot flying out of his nose. He moves to yank a couple of tissue paper from his bedside table, rubbing his nose so furiously that he feels the reddening skin beginning to hurt. He rolls his eyes only to find that doing so not only hurts his eyeballs, but also the nerves behind them and the back of his brain. Ugh, disgusting.
“Kei?”
“Sorry love, did I wake you?”
Kei snorts air as hard as he could out his nostrils; if he doesn’t manage to clear his airways he would have to succumb to breathing through his mouth the entire day.
“Kei, are you sick?”
“No!” He protests, probably more forcefully than needed, but it doesn’t stop Tobio rolling out of the comforts of the blankets and dragging him to sit down on the bed. “It’s just allergies.”
He hears Tobio scoff. “As if.”
He closes his eyes, because that’s the only thing he can do without increasing the pain in his aching body and heavy limbs. Tobio comes back with a thermometer and Kei quietly complies by opening his mouth. He gets a moment of relief when Tobio plays with his hair, carding through his locks and drawing soft circles on his scalp.
“You have a fever.” Tobio frowns, pulling the thermometer out and pressing a cold palm on his forehead. Kei leans into the touch. “Go back to bed; I’ll bring you some meds.”
“I feel fine.” He lies weakly.
“Kei…” Tobio sighs, in that tone he always does when he’s calling out Kei’s bullshit.
“I think the thermometer’s broken.” He heaves a cough, which really isn’t helping his case, but he manages to plaster a grim-looking smile on his face, so there’s that. Tobio just looks at him with the flattest stare he’s ever seen. “You’re burning up.”
“Maybe your hand is just too cold?” Kei tries tentatively.
“Kei, just because you hate being sick doesn't mean you aren’t sick.” Tobio says patiently, as if he’s talking to a five-year-old. “Come on, let’s go back to bed, yeah?”
Kei just lets himself be tucked back to bed. He can’t even lift his arm to fight back. “Are you coming as well?”
“Yes, Kei. Who will look after you if I don’t?” Tobio chuckles fondly. Kei hums, heavy eyelids fluttering. He hears the sound of the curtain drawn, and heaves out a sigh of relief when he feels a wet towel placed on his forehead. Vaguely, he remembers a dip on the other side of the bed and a feathery kiss placed on his cheek before he is lulled into unconsciousness.
When Kei wakes up again, his head is pounding less, and his limbs feel less like a zombie’s, but his throat is extra dry. He coughs, and that burning sensation like someone is using a toothpick to stab him in the throat over and over again is back. Today is supposed to be their day-off, Kei winces. Theirs, because Tobio and him have almost never been able to match their day-offs. He has been looking forward to this day since the start of the month, and even planned something perfectly relaxing for the both of them.
He would take Tobio to the bagel place he likes for breakfast (for their famous blueberry cream cheese bagel, but also for the multiple cats in the cafe), then they would take a stroll in the park enjoying the breeze and watching the kids and dogs play. Kei plans for them to go to the aquarium, because Tobio has been wanting to see the garden eels and visit the newly opened area where they allow you to pet the stingrays. Kei even booked the nice Chinese restaurant down the street three days in advance for dinner, and their evening would have ended in slow, passionate sex.
Now, he can’t do any of that. Him being sick ruins his supposedly eventful day with his boyfriend. He groans inwardly; he really does hate being sick.
Kei trudges into the kitchen, where Tobio is cooking something hearty. He doesn’t seem to notice him though, too immersed in his pot of soup, so when Kei wraps his arms around the shorter’s waist and thumps his forehead on his shoulder, Tobio tenses up before relaxing in his hold. “Hey,” he murmurs, “Feeling better?”
“Barely.” He hears himself mutter, voice almost guttural, and plants a chaste kiss on Tobio’s neck, as if that will make him feel better. “Poor you.” Tobio rubs his arm sympathetically, “Wanna take a seat first? The soup’s almost ready. I have meds laid out for you on the table.”
Kei sneaks a glance over the dining table: various colored pills for his headache, stuffy nose, fever… Then he sees it; his enemy, in the form of a big ugly bottle of cough syrup. He chooses to ignore the flaming aura coming from the bottle, and chugs down a cup of water with his pills.
“All done?” Tobio asks as he comes to set the table. Kei nods, not looking at his boyfriend.
“Kei, did you take the cough syrup?”
“Uh huh.”
“Did you now?”
Kei looks up to find Tobio staring at him, unimpressed. “...Yes?”
“Kei.”
Kei pouts petulantly in retaliation. “I don’t need it.”
Tobio just stares. God, doesn’t he need to blink?
“It tastes really bad. I hate it.” Kei whines. God, he hates how he sounds and acts when he’s sick, but he’s sure cough syrups are made to torture people, and he’s not beyond acting like a child if that’s what will get him out of tasting the horrendous liquid. Unfortunately for him, his boyfriend absolutely does not melt under his antics.
“Kei, just eat a spoonful.”
“No.”
“I’ll give you a kiss if you do.”
Kei straightens up at that. He’ll never admit it in public, but he’s a sucker for Tobio’s kisses, and he almost never gets them when he’s sick. This is a rare offer.
“... Fine.”
He holds his breath and downs the brown monstrosity on the spoon, grimacing at the horrible taste that washes over his mouth. He forgets mostly about that though, when Tobio leans over and places a gentle kiss on the corner of his lips, making him tingle (in a good way).
Okay, maybe being sick is not all that bad, when he gets to taste the delicious chicken broth Tobio made (just for him!), and he gets to rest his head on Tobio’s thighs when he takes a nap on the couch, and he gets to be extra clingy with an actual excuse.
(He also gets pinned onto their bed while Tobio leaves phantom kisses and bright red bruises and bite marks on his neck all the way down to his pelvis, so maybe he shouldn’t hate being sick as much as he does.)
ix.
Kei grimaces as yet another couple shuffles in front of them to get to their seats. The rows of seats at the stadium are already narrow enough, yet people still insist to get in at the last minute possible to seats furthest inside the row, bumping knees and dropping food crumbs all over him. He flinches when the person behind him hollers, so sudden and shrill that he almost knocked his glasses down. Next to him, a giant sweaty guy jostles in his seat, elbow stretched over into Kei’s personal space and slammed into his chest.
It’s either Kei’s too skinny, or the guy’s too fat (or just too much of a jerk), because the man shows absolutely no remorse or knowledge for bruising his ribs. Kei feels his nostrils flare, steam rising on top of his head. He opens his mouth and recognises the familiar feeling of snarkiness rising to the roof of his mouth–
Yachi lays her cool clammy hand on Kei’s arm, effectively convincing him not to lose his cool and snap at the stranger. “You wanna switch seats, Kei-kun? You might feel better sitting between me and Tadashi.” She offers kindly.
She’s an angel, bless her heart, but no matter how much Kei hates people and noise and people, he can’t let sweet Yachi take the blunt of being squashed next to a man with elbows that are likely to impale her. So he refuses and takes out his phone, hoping it would distract him from the chaos.
[og baby crows]
Dashi: the vibe is great!!
Dashi: haven’t gone to a real match in years
Kei looks up and stares at his best friend texting into the group chat a seat away from him. Smart choice really, because they would have to scream at each other to hold a viable conversation.
[og baby crows]
Dashi: everybody say thank you tobio and shouyou for the tickets
Toka: thank you!!! <3
Dashi: thanks guys <3
Dashi: @K
K: no
Dashi: no what
Dashi: no to the tickets or
K: no the vibe is not great
K: my eardrums are bursting, my ribs hurt, and im pretty sure i have spit in my hair from the guy behind me
Shou: wow sounds like your just old and unlucky
K: you’re*
Toka: omg shou!
Dashi: wth how are you on your phone rn
Shou: iwa-san just finished the debriefs so we have like 5 mins before walking out
Toka: how are you feeling!
Toka: where’s tobio
Shou: i feel great actually! maybe cuz i took a shit earlier and all the nervousness came out as well
K: tmi bro
Shou sent a video
Shou: he’s been doing that for the past 10 mins
Shou: said he’s going to spike a ball into oikawa-san’s face
Shou: iwa-san even okayed it
Toka: his arms look like they’re about to fall off
Dashi: …he didn’t forget he’s a setter right
Shou: nooo it’s a new thing we practiced
Shou: you’ll see laterrr
Shou: also @K you still haven’t thank us yet meanie!!!
K: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVELY TICKETS MY LOVE
Shou: …
Shou: i take offense to the tone that i’m imagining
Shou: also WHAT ABOUT ME
Dashi: don’t worry he’s actually very excited to be here
Dashi sent 3 photos
Dashi: look at him smiling on the way here
Shou: MEEEEE
K: ugh if it will shut you up
K: thanks shou
Shou: <3
Shou: ok gtg SEE YOU IN THE STANDS
Dashi: good luck!! Go win this like a champ!
Toka: good luck! So proud of you guys
K: you’ll be great out there
Kei tucks away his phone as the commentator’s voice booms across the arena, introducing the match and the players. The audience claps politely for the Argentinian team, but nothing prepares Kei for the fresh level of hell in the form of erupted cheers for the Japanese team when they come out from the back. His eyes rake across the team: Ushijima in his usual stoic self looking more confident than ever, Bokuto with his million-watt grin and a sly glint behind his eyes, Miya Atsumu strolling out with ease and waving enthusiastically next to a bored-looking Sakusa.
Then his eyes land on what he’s been looking for. Hinata babbling God knows what next to Tobio, who looks extra constipated. Kei chuckles under his breath. He knows that face. It’s one that Tobio makes when he’s stuck on a math problem, or when he’s trying to figure out how to do his taxes, or when he’s trying to bake the strawberry cake that Kei loves so much; it’s a face of utter concentration.
He stares at them, amused, until he sees Yamaguchi waving with big exaggerated motions from the corner of his eyes, Hinata waving back excitedly. Earth-shattering screams arise among their section of audience, no doubt thinking that the Olympian Hinata Shouyou is greeting his fans. Kei watches as Hinata nudges Tobio, watches as Tobio glances up, watches as gleaming blue eyes finally spots him in the crowd.
Despite the overwhelming hoots around him, Kei feels as if someone put noise-cancelling blocks over him. He sees Tobio lift his hand in a small wave, a subtle blush creeping up onto his cheeks, as he shows a shy confident beam on his face. Kei can’t help but smile back of course; he’s never felt so proud his entire life before, not when he made the team on Sendai Frogs, not when he held his niece in his arms for the first time, not even when…
Okay, maybe he feels the same way when he got married to his idiot husband that’s standing on the court right this moment. He feels his heartbeat pulsing all around his body and his heart swelling tightly in his chest. His mouth starts to ache from how wide his grin is. He scowls a bit when the sweaty man next to him sneezes (in his direction no less!), but he can’t really bring himself to care when Tobio titters at his expression, slightly pleased that he’s the one bringing mirth to his husband at such an important moment. Tobio takes the chance to look over to Yachi and Yamaguchi, a grateful smile etched across his face. The commentator announcing the start of the match pops their little bubble of peace, but as Tobio stares back at Kei one last time before joining his teammates, his eyes are gleaming with conviction and ambition, Kei can’t help but return a ferocious grin.
Later, when Tobio scores with an insane setter dump, when he debuts an inhumanely quick with Hinata, when he really manages to spike a ball into Oikawa’s face, when he routinely kisses the ring hung low around his neck before he serves, Kei’s heart is brimming with overflowing joy and pride.
Hate is a strong word, and Kei will not apologise for hating so many things.
Though, one thing’s for sure: he loves Kageyama Tobio.