Work Text:
love
/lʌv/
noun
an intense feeling of deep affection.
The famous word that has been used to describe many things.
Love.
I love this.
I love that.
But most importantly;
I love you.
There are many, many personal meanings that differ from people to people. Some find it easily, like breathing. Others take a while. Some don’t find it at all.
But what was pissing Taichi off was that they could not see the chemistry through their arguments.
Arguing?
Normal.
On a daily basis?
Ok, that can still slide.
Dragging them out to keep yelling at each other?
Maybe they’re just really angry.
But getting unnecessarily close and in each other’s faces to talk the other down?
Complaining as an excuse to talk about them?
Only talking about them in general?
If you asked him, that was pretty damn gay.
So here Taichi was. Standing in the doorway of the gym Shiratorizawa’s boys volleyball club used. Way after practice time. Watching them bicker and all in the other’s face. (gay)
It was cute and all, with the use of proximity but it didn’t seem right. It looked like something that could actually end up in a physical fight, so Taichi, being the absolute saint he is, broke the tension.
“Uh, you know that practice ended like, an hour ago, right?”
His voice echoed through the room, getting the other two’s attention who promptly got out of each other’s faces like they just realised what personal space was because ‘noooooo, I don’t like this guyyyyy. He’s just inconveniently hot’.
“Right…”
Shirabu was extremely fast in walking out the door and dragging Taichi with him to the dorms, leaving poor Semi san alone in the gym. (lmao rejected)
—
When they were absolutely out of earshot, Shirabu broke out of the uncharacteristic quietness after an argument.
“Can you believe this absolute dickhead-”
Without thinking Taichi added;
“-or do you want to give his dick, head.” (he was joking I promise (mostly atleast))
“-he was saying- wait, wait, what the fuck?”
Shirabu completely stopped to look at his best friend.
Oh shit I said that.
Well, might as well roll with the punches.
“Uh. Am I wrong?”
Both teenagers stood there. In the middle of the pathway. Crickets were chirping. The wind moved past both of them yet they remained completely still.
Shirabu’s facial expression moved from mortification, to doubt, to questioning, to even more mortification.
“Why the actual fuck-”
“I dunno man, maybe because almost every single time we talk you complain about Semi-san and then the complaining moves to something that isn’t quite insulting but not enough to be considered a compliment because complimenting isn’t your style. You point out something he does and laugh but it’s laced with such unmistakable fondness. It’s like you want to keep talking about him with how much the topic changes to him oh so coincidentally.”
“... how did we get to this long ass speech…”
“STOP CHANGING THE TOPIC-”
“OK OK GEEZ”
After Shirabu’s careful consideration, he came to a conclusion.
“It’s not like he’s all looks… he’s an annoyingly good person when it counts, he’s athletic, he can tell when something feels off for someone, there are almost no flaws it pisses me off so bad that I can’t explain it… I think I hate him and I know he hates me too”
Hate? THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ‘HATE’?
“Sorry, what do you MEAN hate?”
“Am I speaking fucking Italian? I mean hate.”
The immediate walk off that left Taichi behind wasn’t the thing that offended him most. Hate? What scientific reasoning in his best friends’ brain would lead him to this decision??? He thought he hated Semi?
If it were anyone else, he would’ve believed them, but this? He saw the way Shirabu talked about him. The way they argued like they were the only ones in the room that mattered.
Second, he thought Semi hated him????
Taichi looked down at his phone to (unsurprisingly) see 13 unread messages from none other than the aforementioned man.
semisan (shirabus gay panic)
— unread —
is he ok
did i fuck up
taichi
DID I PUSH TOO HRD
HARD
TAICHI
OH MY GOD DOES HE HATE ME
or at least more than he does now
@taichi
@taichi
ANSRE
ok above all is he alright
pls i need to know i wasnt that much of an asshole
—
Taichi sighed. Which god did he fuck with in his past life that made him witness both sides of mutual pining?
—
From taichi
hes ok semi san
—
He pocketed his phone and walked alone the rest of the way to his dorm.
God help these two…
—
The next day he enters the bathroom to find his dear best friend Shirabu looking like he just witnessed 10 murders.
He opened his mouth to question, but Shirabu had always been quicker to open his mouth.
“No, I did not sleep well, yes I do feel dead, yes I was at least productive and studied, no I will not be disclosing what I was thinking about that kept me up.”
Right on.
“Wow. Really memorised my dialogue options huh?”
“You’re just predictable.”
Predictable? THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN PREDICTABLE? Is this why I keep getting blocked in games? Wait- that isn’t the point.
Taichi moved up beside him in front of the mirror before asking,
“...ok but seriously, what were you thinking of? You only sleep this terribly when something's on your mind.”
Shirabu makes a face and chews his cheek. So he’s thinking for once.
He made a decision fairly quickly, releasing the inside of his cheek from his teeth.
“I was wondering, the other day how you were surprised when I said I thought I hated Semi. Why was that surprising??”
Taichi had to pause for a good 10 ten seconds before turning very, very slowly to face Shirabu with the most serious face he could possibly put on.
“Because, and excuse me for being direct, you’re so down bad for this man it is becoming a problem for me, everyone in the team and most importantly, Semi the man himself.”
A beat.
“What?”
God, Taichi was so done with Shirabu Kenjiro and his stupid fucking pining that he didn’t even KNOW was pining. He was so done. So done.
“Shirabu, be SO fucking real right now, you talk about this man like hes the only topic you’re invested in, you look at him like he’s some kind of renaissance painting, WHY ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME.”
Tachi could practically see the other blue screen, run the diagnostics before deciding to look at the middle blocker like he was the insane one.
He slammed his hands on the counter to interrupt the thought in Shirabu’s head as it came.
“Do not fucking look at me like that I can see you questioning me.”
“Okay, okay but it literally cannot be possible-”
‘CAN’T BE POSSIBLE’ MY FUCKING ASS. I DEAL WITH IT EVERYDAY
“-like I get that Semi-san is pretty attractive, like he has a nice face and physique, a good… personality, always… helps people… and…”
Oh he was realising it now wasn’t he.
“And…?” Taichi prodded for more
Shirabu sunk to the floor at the weight of realisation.
“Oh my god…”
“Taichi.” The setter said, looking at him.
“Yes?”
“I’m an idiot.”
“I’m glad you realised.”
Shirabu used his low ground advantage and kicked his shins.
“What do I even do about this…? I’m so sure he hates me with how I’ve been acting, what the fuck do I do, Taichi, help me.”
There it is. The same word. ‘Hate’. How many times did he have to tell him he wasn’t a hopeless case?? It was too early in the morning for Taichi to deal with this gay shit, please come back during business hours. He promptly walked out.
“Hopeless. Hopeless I say.”
From behind him Shirabu could be heard saying “Ah yes, how helpful. Thank you for the life-changing advice.”
Taichi paused once without looking back.
“All I’m gonna say is, if I thought you didn’t have a chance I would’ve never mentioned how you truly feel about him.”
And with that he left the bathroom.
—
Apparently Shirabu finding out he had it bad for Semi fucking Eita was enough to derail him so hard he looked like an npc in class. Genuinely, what the fuck happened to him?
Shirabu face planted into the wooden desk in front of him as Taichi wandered over.
“I feel like shit.”
“You look like shit too.”
That got the setter to look up and try to glare a hole through his face.
“Shut the fuck up Taichi, you look like a rat made a home in your hair and that’s daily.”
Oh, so he still has energy to retort. How wonderful.
“Yeah yeah, insult me when you don’t sound like you’re constantly on the brink of death.”
“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh I blame this on you.”
“Not my fault you refuse to sleep properly. Now even your immune system is begging for it.”
Shirabu gaped like a fish, looking absolutely offended but then he coughed and refused to look back up at Taichi.
Alarm bells were ringing in his head. That was NOT a normal Shirabu reaction.
Some day it’ll be today I guess.
—
For obvious reasons, Taichi was right (he was never wrong, trust), as proven by how his dear friend was shot (hit in the head by a serve) and didn’t even flinch.
There was no side eye, no mumbled cursing, no nothing.
That was a reason to worry.
He watched Tendou slink over to Shirabu’s side and simply kick him out of practice for being sick and showing up anyways.
Taichi was about to sigh in relief now that Shirabu would be able to rest only to remember that he would have to put up with him again once he got back to their room. So he did sigh, but now out of exhaustion at the mere thought.
The last time he was sick he refused to stop doing everything until he was literally going to pass out. His face scrunched up at the memory, it was going to be a long fucking night.
—
“Taichi the headache got worse. I’m dying. I can feel it.” Shirabu complained in the dark room.
Taichi had walked into a pitch black void when he got back and the second he turned on the lights, he was met with screechings of, ‘IT BURNS. IT BURNS’ and ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MY FUCKING HEAD’. So obviously, to avoid looking like a psycho killer, he had to turn the light back off again.
Shirabu was not dying like he proclaimed, no, instead his fever had jumped to 39 (102 in fahrenheit).
“You’re not dying, you just have a cold. Or a fever. I dunno you’re the medical guy”
His best friend coughed several times before sniffing.
“A cold doesn’t explain how I can feel my life force fading.”
Taichi sighed deeply, very deeply.
“Why are you always so dramatic when you’re sick?? I need to be paid to deal with this shit…”
He felt his way around the room (more like walked into the same wall twice because HE COULD NOT FUCKING SEE-) to find the medicine he bought last year specifically for when Shirabu was sick that first time (and for the dozen of other times he was sick but that’s not important).
Once he finally found it, Taichi shook it once to the genuine feeling of dread that crushed his soul. It was fucking empty.
“Aaand we happen to be out of medicine.”
“Okay, got it. It was nice knowing you and everyone on the team-”
“Oh my god-”
Taichi was not having it. Dealing with Shirabu daily was already an experience and putting up with a sick Shirabu is not better. He demands compensation for putting up with the setter and his pining ass.
“Tell everyone they weren’t as sucky as I made them out to be and tell Semi-san I love him-”
Wait a goddamn second. Who said I was the one who had to take care of this?
In that same moment, Taichi Kawanishi had created a thought. A good thought.
He was a goddamn genius.
Whipping out his phone and scrolling his contacts, he mindlessly spoke;
“I’m… heading out to get stuff, try to not die while I’m gone.”
Before opening the door and closing it shut behind him.
—
semisan (shirabus gay panic)
From taichi 6:44 pm
hey
the little shit is sick
can you watch the thing
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 6:46 pm
arent you his roommate tho….??
–
Taichi was fully expecting Semi to just jump at the chance like a shoujo manga. Apparently not.
But this raised a new problem in Taichi’s perfect plan, he needed an excuse and fast. Semi was on the other end waiting for a reply. What the hell serves as a good excuse anyways?! Someone dying??
Wait another goddamn second…
Taichi struck gold yet again.
–
From taichi 6:47 pm
um
actually i have to attend my lobsters funeral
been with me all my life
basically raised me
–
Taichi had neither a lobster from childhood or a funeral to attend, but if that’s what it took to sell his idea then so be it.
–
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 6:47 pm
????
lobster??????
From taichi 6:48 pm
yes
very sad i know
i leave the ruler bangs in your care
byebye
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 6:48 pm
I DIDNT AGREE TO THIS??????
From taichi 6:48 pm
but you would right
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 6:48 pm
…
From taichi 6:49 pm
exactly
pick up some cough medicine too btw
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 6:49 pm
i hate you
From taichi 6:49 pm
youre welcome semi san
read 6:49pm
–
In his own head, Taichi’s idea would put Newton, Einstein and Shakespeare to shame. His intelligence basically ascended the heavens.
Ok, but what are you going to do now?
…
Taichi thought for a good minute, outside, on a random park bench.
If Semi crashes my place (unwillingly), then surely, surely I can crash at his right?
Surely…!
Tendou’s it was, he supposed.
—
“Tendou san-”
“You landed on my property Wakatoshi kun! Now pay me my goddamn 200 dollars.”
The aforementioned Tendou was currently sprawled over the floor in front of a monopoly board with his hand outstretched towards Wakatoshi Ushijima who was currently handing over his last 200 dollar bill. The red head gratefully took it and added it to his pile of unsorted cash with an assortment of random coloured bills before finally turning to Taichi who was still standing in the doorway.
"Taichi! Perfect timing, be my witness as I win.”
“The game isn’t over yet, Satori. We agreed on 40 minutes and there are still 20 minutes remaining. This is still an adequate amount of time for me to catch up.”
"Oh Wakatoshi, that’s assuming I’ll let you.”
Taichi had no clue as to what had possessed his senpai (or if he was just like that) to be this competitive in monopoly but he supposed that could be researched another time. The current problem was that he went to Semi and Tendou’s shared room to escape being a third wheel for Shirabu and Semi, only to find out that Tendou was with Ushijima and he would still be third wheeling.
I’m cursed, that’s the only reasonable explanation to all of this, he thought.
“Should I just… go? Am I interrupting?”
“Interrupting? The monopoly game isn’t something that can’t be on while conversing.”
Both third years were fully turned towards him now. Taichi felt like he was sinking into the floor.
“You can stay Taichi! You can be the banker for this round then we can play again.”
He looked outside, trying to gauge an idea of what he would do if he turned down the offer, then looked back inside the small room, Tendou pulling a 'draw me like one of your french girls, and Ushijima sitting on the bottom bunk, then looked back outside again.
He closed the door behind him and sighed.
“Alright. Sure.”
Taichi made his way to where the third years were seated and awkwardly sat down on the blue flooring.
“So uh… papaya?”
Tendou picked up the dice.
“Elite ball knowledge, Taichi, my protege.”
The dice clattered across the board before stopping.
“So, Taichi, were you the one who sent dear Eita on his conquest to Shirabu’s heart?”
The pieces clacked along the hardened cardboard punctuating his words.
“Yep. That’s me.”
“How’d you do it?”
“Told him I had to attend my lobster's funeral and he had to take care of Shirabu while sick. I don’t have a lobster but he bought it anyway.”
The piece stopped on go and Tendou grinned.
“I knew my legacy at Shiratorizawa was right to go to you, you genius.”
Ushijima rolled next, landed on a chance and was immediately sent to jail.
“Satori, you haven’t passed it down to him directly? He had come up with this on his own.”
“Ahhhh Wakatoshi kun it’s basically the same thing.”
“Not exactly.”
“Yes, you’re right, it’s not really the same but the premise is.”
Tendou’s silver piece passed the go tile.
“Also I don’t think Semi-semi actually bought your lobster story, he just wanted a good excuse to see Shirabu kun.”
Ha. What down bad losers. They're perfect for each other already.
“Tell me something new, Tendou san, aside from Semi san being gayer recently.”
“Fair point.”
Ushijima looked up from his unfortunate roll that did nothing for his situation in jail. The poor guy looked torn between going broke or just accepting he would have to try his luck on his next roll.
“I believe I’m missing context?”
“You know how Eita’s totally into Shirabu?”
“I recall you speaking about it, yes.”
“Well-” Tendou landed on his own property, “Shira-shira is currently out sick and Taichi here, implemented the strategic attack, forced proximity with the multiplier boost of caretaking which is enough to be a finisher move.”
Taichi had heard all the words and not a single one was in the bible. Ushijima on the other hand seemed to be accustomed to this dead language as he was nodding along as Tendou chanted his evil spell or something.
“In short, they’re going to be canon, thanks to you Taichi.”
“With all of their pining, I was surprised they hadn’t figured it out sooner.”
Tendou patted his back.
“Trust me kid, we all did.”
—
Semi ended up walking in on Tendou declaring, “I WILL BECOME THE GOD OF THE NEW WORLD.”, Taichi sprawled over on the ground in defeat with 24 uno cards in his right hand and Ushijima clapping at his boyfriends impression of Light Yagami.
“What the fuck… TAICHI YOU SAID YOU HAD A FUNERAL.”
Shit… um…
“I did… the um… memorial just ended-”
"So he came here because he didn't want to be around YOU and SHIRABU while you two MADE OUT.” Tendou finished for him.
“FUCK OFF SATORI.”
—
The next morning Taichi was lying on his bed, doomscrolling (chud), trying to forget the looming presence of Science Homework Due in Two Days, before his roommate looked at him behind the metal railing of the bunk bed.
“Hey asshole.”
Taichi tried to glare but the damned light was in his eyes.
“What.”
The fucker who was his dear best friend dropped a ramune bottle on his head and retreated just as quickly.
“Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Ah, he appreciates my efforts of setting him up with Semi san
He held the glass bottle i nfront of his face and mentally thanked whoever was up there for his stupid fucking idiot best friend
—
Practice had ended and Shirabu was complaining about his woes of love but what’s new right?
“He’s definitely avoiding me, I fucked something up for sure.”
Which didn’t make sense at all for Taichi. He had set up the perfect situation for them to sort themselves out, so what the fuck was happening here?
“I mean like… how sure are you…? I mean like, it could be a misunderstanding-”
“Taichi, I called out to him when I was right in front of me and he looked into the distance while walking past, is that a misunderstanding?”
He had a sharp intake of air.
“Maybe he really didn’t hear you…?”
Shirabu looked at him with a face that screamed HE. IS. FUCKING. AVOIDING. ME.
“I dunno, it just doesn’t make sense at all.”
“Why?”
“I mean… didn’t anything happen when you were sick and he was taking care of you?”
A silence that was 3 seconds too long.
“What?”
“What? What do you mean ‘what’? Things actually happened right?”
A few seconds ago, this was the man that wore a complexion of one who knew something was wrong. The same man now donned the expression of someone who completely forgot it was their wives birthday and only remembered now because they slapped him.
“Things happened…"
“WHAT KIND OF THINGS GODDAMIT, DO I LOOK LIKE I’M OK WITH JUST KNOWING ‘oh yeah they did something’??”
“I kinda… told him that he was hot and had a good personality…?”
WHAT.
“And he ignored you after that?! What the fuck-”
It didn’t seem like a Semi thing to just ignore someone after that, but if he was not going to throw hands-
“Except uh…”
EXCEPT WHAT.
“Shirabu Kenjiro, just fucking tell me already.”
“I didn’t know it was him taking care of me??”
…
Taichi is was so fucking flabberghasted, so genuinely appalled that for the longest 5 seconds of his life, he could not think about anything other than he thought I was Semi.
“You’re fucking with me right…? You didn’t seriously think that anyone else aside from third year setter Semi Eita was dealing with your sickness?”
He couldn’t believe this shit. It was a misunderstanding, surely Taichi misheard it (there was nothing wrong with his hearing), surely it was the wind (there was not a single breeze). Surely it wasn’t true then right?
“Right?”
“Oh my god, Shirabu, you’re kidding.”
“I literally just said I wasn’t.”
“Oh my god. I’M 9 CENTIMETERS TALLER THAN HIM HOW DO YOU FUCK THIS UP.”
Taichi grabbed Shirabu with the force to crush the fucking titanic. He was not messing around, this was a serious, serious issue.
“You, Shirabu Kenjiro, are going to up to Semi Eita, admit where you went wrong, apologise like your life depends on it because believe me, it does, you are going to say “I meant whatever shit I said when I was sick and delirious,” and you are going to make. Shit. Right.”
“Sir, yes sir.”
“Now fucking run dude so you can catch him.”
There were no other words to be said so the setter just started fucking sprinting in the other direction.
He decided to have mercy and give a small heads up
–
From taichi 5:38 pm
have mercy on the idiot
but mostly for my sake because i dont want him to explode our room
goodluck
semisan (shirabus gay panic) 5:38 pm
????
explain????
read 5:38 pm
–
Haha.
No.
He'd find out anyway
-
Back in the warmth and comfort of his shared dorm he watched the door swing open and close without fanfare.
Well, that was stupid, if there wasn’t fanfare, he’d make his own for this occasion.
Taichi slammed on the lights that were previously off, showing off the horrendous banner he made 10 minutes prior reading, ‘HAPPY CONFESSION I GUESS (YOU GAYASS)’, and threw a pack of store-bought onigiri down onto Shirabu’s head.
“When’s the wedding asshole and can I be your best man?”
“Oh shut up Taichi.”
“So I can be your best man?”
“Yes, yes whatever the fuck. Now get down here because I am not indulging in food alone at this hour.”
“Whatever you say married man.”