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Somewhere between his hand finding yours and the doorbell ringing, your courage completely evaporated.
He stood beside you, as unbothered as ever. As if this wasn’t the first time he’d brought someone home. As if your heart wasn’t currently stuck in your throat.
He had mentioned it so casually over dinner a few nights ago. He’d been slicing vegetables beside you while you reached for the plates.
“My mom and brother would like to meet you,” he said.
Just like that. The same tone he used to talk about work, or practice schedules. Your hands froze, then started to tremble, wobbling the plate.
“Meet… me?” you echoed. “Why?”
Tsukishima glanced at you, one brow lifting, faintly unimpressed. “Because you’re my girlfriend.”
It sounded strange coming from him. Girlfriend. Like you were back in school again. You’d been dating a few months now, still keeping your own apartments but spending most nights together unless work pulled you apart or he had a late match. You hadn’t thought about how serious this was. You didn’t mind: you were just enjoying it. Being able to trust someone. To be with a man who handled your heart with care and dignity. It was nice.
“Do you want me to meet them?” You asked carefully.
That pulled a smirk from him. “Why wouldn’t I?” His eyes flicked to yours. “Something you need to tell me?”
Heat rushed to your face. “No. Of course not. I just… I don’t know if I’m ‘meet the parents’ material. And we haven’t been dating that long.”
He set the knife down and turned to face you properly, expression softening just a fraction. “I’m not going to force you. If you don’t want to come, that’s absolutely fine.” A small pause. “But apparently I talk about you a lot. So my brother and mom want to meet the person who’s managed to keep my attention.”
Warmth spread through your chest before you could stop it, a smile tugging at your lips. “You talk about me, huh?” You nudged his side lightly.
This time, it was his turn to flush. “Shut up.”
And now, today was the fateful day.
It was just dinner. His mom had a rare weekend off from the hospital, and his brother was in town visiting. You could feel the panic starting to creep in, cold as it spread through your body.
“Kei… I—” you stuttered, stepping back slightly.
Before you could finish, the door swung open.
A blonde woman stood there, taller than you but still shorter than Kei. Her eyes landed on you, and her face lit up instantly.
“Hello dear,” she said warmly. “It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Miyoko Tsuskishima, Kei’s mother. Please, come in and make yourself at home.”
“You don’t have to be so nice, Mom,” Kei muttered beside you. “She’s dating me, remember.”
For a split second, you caught that same familiar, nonchalant smirk on Miyoko’s face, but her gaze had shifted to her son.
“And God knows why she chose you,” she replied lightly, a teasing edge to her voice. Then her attention softened as it returned to you. “Come on in.”
“Thank you,” you said, dipping your head politely.
You followed her inside, slipping off your shoes at the door. The house felt warm, lived-in but tidy. She led you down the hallway and into the kitchen, where Akiteru stood at the counter in an apron, spooning rice into bowls.
“Ah, there she is. Kei’s newest victim,” he grinned, gesturing at you with the rice spoon. “Nice to meet you!”
“Shut the hell up, Akiteru,” Kei snapped immediately.
You glanced over at him and caught the telltale red creeping up his ears. You couldn’t help the small giggle that slipped out.
“Victim, huh? So what number would that make me?” you asked, setting your bag down on the dining table as you pulled out the small box you’d brought.
Kei looked at you like you’d just betrayed him. You knew he hadn’t had any serious relationships since university, but the opportunity to tease him was too good to pass up.
“Don’t start,” he sighed, though the flush in his ears only deepened.
Still smiling, you turned to Miyoko Tsukishima, holding out the white box. “I brought these. It’s not much, but they’re from a little pastry shop near the museum I really love. I thought we could have them for dessert.”
Miyoko stepped closer and took the box from your hands. As she lifted the lid, her face immediately lit up.
“Wow, these are beautiful!” she exclaimed.
“Aren’t they?” you said, smiling. “They’re almost too pretty to eat.”
“Almost,” she winked. “These will be perfect. We’ll save them for later. Thank you, darling.”
You nodded, relief washing through you, subsiding your nerves slightly. Now that your hands were empty, you felt useless, and the awkward energy crept back in, curling under your skin. You balled your hands up into loose fists at your side and turned to Kei’s brother.
“Can I help with anything?”
Akiteru opened his mouth, but his mother cut in before he could say a word.
“Absolutely not. Come, sit with me. I want to hear all about you,” Miyoko said, already taking your arm and guiding you toward the dining table.
A little overwhelmed by her strength, you sat at the chair opposite her.
“So,” she said, settling into her chair with an easy smile, “tell me a bit about yourself.”
You glanced over your shoulder just in time to see Kei drift back into the kitchen, washing his hands before moving to help his brother. He looked completely at ease, like he’d stepped back into a version of the world that fit him perfectly.
“I’m the marketing manager at Sendai Museum,” you began, not really knowing what to say. “…I’m O-negative. And… I’m a Pisces.”
The last part slipped out before you could stop it, and you winced slightly at yourself.
Miyoko’s smile only softened. “Kei told me how you two met. Apparently, he wasn’t very pleased when you tried to move one of his exhibits.”
A small smirk tugged at your lips as the memory came back. As the new marketing manager, you’d been determined to impress the museum director by making every exhibit feel powerful, memorable, something that lingered in visitors’ minds. You’d stumbled across an undiscovered gem, one that with the right lighting and a bit of interactivity could easily go viral.
What you hadn’t realised was that the person responsible for that particular fossil was a stickler for keeping it with the rest of its timeline. When Kei caught you trying to move it, he was pissed. You’d essentially been creating a standalone exhibit without permission, and he didn’t take kindly to that kind of improvisation.
What made it worse, much worse, was that when he challenged you to deliver the idea to the museum director, you went for it… and won the argument. And then the exhibit went viral. Summer attendance skyrocketed, more than the museum had ever seen, leaving him even more annoyed. You couldn’t help the quiet laugh that escaped you. It had been a small victory, and you’d never let him forget it.
“Yeah, he hated me for months after that,” you said, shaking your head with a laugh.
“Oh, I don’t think he hated you, dear,” Miyoko said confidently. “I just don’t think he’d ever met his match intellectually before. You knew enough about that fossil to see its history was worth sharing, but you were confident enough to know it could stand alone. He hates not being the smartest person in the room.”
You fiddled nervously with your hands. “I wouldn’t say I’m that smart.”
“Modesty will get you nowhere,” Kei said, appearing at your shoulder with bowls of food in his hands. You glanced up, and he offered a small smile.
“Dinner is served,” Akiteru announced as he appeared with more dishes.
Several plates were now spread across the table. Everything looked incredible, and the aroma made your stomach growl before you could stop it. Kei placed a bowl of rice and a spare plate in front of you before sitting down beside you.
“This looks amazing,” you said. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem,” Akiteru said with a grin as he settled beside his mother. “It’s really good to finally meet you. Mom and I always wondered if Kei would ever settle down with someone. I was a little worried, to be honest, he’s not the easiest person to get along with.”
Kei said nothing, but his eyes darkened as he shot a look at his brother.
Akiteru smirked. “But you seem like a really good fit for him.”
“She is,” Kei said firmly.
You felt your cheeks heat up and couldn’t help but blush. You grabbed your chopsticks and started picking at your rice, hoping to hide it.
Dinner went smoothly. Akiteru and Miyoko were easy to talk to, effortlessly carrying the conversation. Miyoko spoke warmly about her work as a nurse, and Akiteru shared stories about his own career while proudly bragging about Kei’s achievements at the museum and on the volleyball court.
It was clear how much they both loved Kei. Being surrounded by that warmth, that golden, enveloping affection, made you feel vulnerable. You didn’t have family of your own, so there was an open wound in your chest. But this kind of love was dangerously close to stitching it back together.
After dinner, you moved to start washing up, but Akiteru grabbed your arm with a wide grin.
“I’m kidnapping your girlfriend for a moment,” he declared, guiding you back into the corridor and up the stairs.
You heard Kei mumble something and his mother laugh before you reached the top floor.
“Where are we going?” you asked.
Akiteru stopped in front of a door. A small sign decorated with an adorable dinosaur shape hung on it, with “Kei” written beneath. He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.
“There’s something in here I want you to see, but I don’t want Kei to kill me,” he said.
“I’m guessing you want me to keep it a secret?” you folded your arms.
He shrugged. “Kei and I haven’t had a proper fight in a while. Maybe it’s time.”
He opened the door and immediately went to Kei’s desk. His childhood bedroom was exactly what you’d expected: clean, simple, and neat. Shelves lined the walls with books on dinosaurs, interspersed with fossils and small statues. A volleyball rested in the corner, and a tiny dinosaur plush sat on the bed.
Akiteru rifled through a few drawers until he found what he was looking for and held it out to you. It looked like a journal, but when you flicked through the first few pages, you saw a mixture of school notes, volleyball positions, and some writings from a younger Kei.
“Is this his diary?” you raised an eyebrow.
“Not exactly,” Akiteru said, settling onto Kei’s bed. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward on his thighs. “Kei’s always been studious. He kept tons of notebooks, taking notes on everything. He struggled to put his thoughts into words, so Mom gave him a notebook to help him figure them out.”
His eyes drifted away, lost in his memories. “Has Kei told you that our dad left us when he was young?”
You nodded. You were the first person Kei had confided in about his father outside of his mother and brother, a testament to how much he trusted you.
Akiteru’s smile softened, as if he’d just realised that himself. “Our dad wasn’t a good man. He was abusive, spoke to us like shit, even raised his hand to us. There was one time he came home drunk and attacked Mom. Being the mouthy shit I was, I tried to stop him.” He gestured to a small scar on his chin. “That went about as well as you’d expect for a fourteen-year-old trying to take on a grown man.”
He laughed bitterly. “It was Kei who phoned the police. I’ll never forget it. That tiny little boy with glasses bigger than his face, holding the phone and asking them to come and arrest our dad. My dad went mental, trying to grab the phone, but the police arrived and took him away. We never saw him again.”
Akiteru’s gaze returned to the journal in your hands. “Turn to page 194.”
You glanced down, noticing the tiny page numbers at the bottom right. Of course there were. You flipped through until you reached it. The page looked ordinary: some science formulas, a few math equations, and a passage written in English.
“What about it?” you asked.
“Read the bottom,” he said.
“Have you read this?” you asked, suspicious.
“Please,” he smirked. “I’m his protective older brother. Of course I’ve read all of his notebooks.”
You rolled your eyes but did as he asked. At the bottom of the page, scrawled in messy, careful handwriting, was a passage.
We’re learning about Romeo and Juliet in English. Stupid play. Who falls in love at first sight?
You couldn’t help but snort: definitely something Kei would grumble about even now. You kept reading:
True love only exists in stories. Dad said he loved us, but he hit us. I never want that. I don’t want to fall in love, what if they hurt me like Dad did? I don’t ever want to be like him. I’d never hurt someone I cared about. I want to be the kind of guy someone could trust. But… she’d have to accept me for me. I liked Mei, but she said liking dinosaurs was stupid. And she hated my glasses.
Tears pricked at your eyes as you glanced up at Akiteru.
“It’s not exactly poetic, but you get the idea,” he said softly. “Kei has never trusted anyone with his heart. When he dated in university, he tried… but someone just threw it back in his face.”
He stood, taking the notebook gently from your hands. “That’s why Mom and I worried about him. We were scared his memories of that bastard would hold him back.”
Akiteru smiled at you, placing a hand on your shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “But it looks like we don’t need to worry anymore. He was just waiting for you.”
“Are you two reading my notebooks?”
Kei’s voice made you both jump apart. Akiteru fumbled, hiding the notebook behind his back, his face flushing bright red. You tried to distract yourself by staring at the shelves, but you were too obvious.
“Hey, little brother,” Akiteru laughed nervously. “I was just showing her all your embarrassing kid stuff.”
Kei strode over and swiped the notebook from his brother’s hands. You held your breath, expecting rage… But then he laughed. He gave Akiteru a playful shove.
“Thanks… for looking out for me, even though you’ve seriously broken my trust,” he said, still smiling. “I never needed a dad… not when I had you.”
Akiteru’s eyes glistened, and before you knew it, he leapt on Kei, wrapping him in a tight hug. Kei looked a little uncomfortable but patted his brother’s back. After an uncomfortably long moment, Akiteru finally let go and ruffled Kei’s hair.
“Alright, lovebirds, I’ll meet you downstairs for those pastries!” he called, lingering at the door.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t dooooo,” he sang playfully, laughing as he left the room.
Now it was just you and Kei. You fiddled nervously with the hem of your top.
“In my defence, I was just doing what your brother told me,” you said.
Kei smirked. “I know. I fully expected him to embarrass me somehow. That’s what brothers do.”
“He really loves you, Kei,” you said, tears pricking at your eyes again. “They both do.”
He nodded once. “Yeah, I know. I’m lucky.”
He stepped closer and gently tapped the notebook off your head. You winced.
“And I’m really lucky to have you,” he said, tossing the notebook onto the bed. He hesitated for a second, like he was deciding how much to say.
“That kid got a few things right,” he muttered. “Romeo and Juliet still sucks. And I meant it… I don’t want to end up like him. And I want to be someone people can trust.”
He lifted your chin with one hand, tilting your head up. “But he got something wrong. About love.” He paused. “I don’t hate the idea anymore… Not with you.”
“You’re—” he stopped, eyes softening. “You’re annoyingly close to what I would’ve wanted back then. Smart enough to argue with me. Kind enough not to be unbearable about it. And you’re beautiful. Annoyingly so…”
Your heart thumped, melting under his touch. You couldn’t decide whether to burst into tears or kiss him.
“That Mei sounds like a bitch,” you chuckled softly. “I like your glasses.”
He laughed. “She just had bad taste.”
Then he leaned down and kissed you, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you slightly off the floor. You giggled into him. When you pulled back slightly, he didn’t let you go far.
“I wasn’t finished,” he murmured, before kissing you again, softer this time.
When you finally broke apart, your head was spinning.
“… You’re it for me,” he said when you finally pulled away again. “You know that, right? I don’t want anyone else.”
You blinked at him. “What are you saying?”
As if sensing the panic in your eyes, he softened. “I’m not saying you have to decide anything right now,” he added quickly. “We can take it at your pace. But I’m just telling you… there’s no one else for me. I brought you here for a reason. You’re all I want. It’s just up to you whether you’ll have me.”
You cupped his face in your hands, pulling him down for another kiss. “I guess we’ll have to see. We could always put it to another argument… like with the museum director.”
He blinked, then laughed, shaking his head before surging forward, kissing you again and gently pushing you onto his childhood bed.