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inviting-nonsenseworld · 8 years

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Title: With you

Summary: The start of a new year was always special for Tadashi, and being able to spend the actual first day with Kei made it even better.

Word count: ~2.8K

Hi there! So, this is my story for @popypotato for the @tsukyamgiftexchange. I’m sorry this took long, but I came back from a trip recently and I still had a lot to edit in the fic. I actually had had many ideas of what to write, but I decided to go with a New Year temple visit and lots of fluff kind of thing. This starts with Tsukki and Yams as kids, then goes to them as teens.

May 2017 be a marvelous year for you! I hope you enjoy this :D

Now betaread by @shockandlock. Thanks <3

(Also found in AO3)

It was almost time for them to arrive, and Tadashi couldn’t be more excited.

His mother was still talking, but Tadashi had gotten distracted in the middle of her many warnings for him to be careful and not get lost as she put his scarf around his neck. He repeated “yes” a few times and nodded but as she kept going and as time passed, he became restless.

Tadashi looked out the window, then tried to see the time on his mother’s wristwatch, but there was no sign of anyone outside and it was hard to see the time while being discreet.

It must have been almost ten o'clock already. He wondered if Kei and his brother were going to be late.

“-and remember to behave yourself, Tadashi.”

Tadashi nodded quickly when he heard his name, catching his earmuffs when they almost fell off his head. His mother sighed, and he laughed, embarrassed.

“I hope you listened to at least some of what I said,” she said with a pointed look.

“I did!”

“Well, then.” His mother opened her arms with a soft smile. It was all Tadashi needed to know she wasn’t mad, so he jumped into the hug. “I hope you have fun. Don’t forget to call when you’re coming back, okay?”

“Okay.”

The doorbell rang not long after, and Tadashi answered the door with a big grin. There was a moment of greeting before Tadashi introduced Akiteru and his mother to each other. They started a conversation about the plans for the day, and Tadashi used the opportunity to sneak outside to Kei, who was standing by his brother quietly.

“Hi,” Tadashi said. He pulled his scarf closer around him as a chilling breeze swept by dragging some dry leaves on the ground. Kei nodded at him, seeming unfazed by the weather, and Tadashi asked in awe “Aren’t you cold?”

”Not really,” Kei answered. He looked down at his simple blue kimono then held the sleeve of the coat he wore over it, hands covered in gloves. “This is pretty thick, so I’m fine.” He grimaced slightly. “I don’t see the point, but my mom insisted me and my brother should wear these today.”

Tadashi turned back, and sure enough Akiteru was wearing a light green colored kimono underneath a thick coat. “I think they look super cool and comfortable.”

“Oh. Thanks” Kei looked at his clothes again, rubbing his nose. “They, uh, they are comfortable.”

Tadashi picked at the tips of his scarf, embarrassment crawling up his neck as the conversation fell into a lull. “So, h-how was your New Year's Eve?”

“It was okay. My parents made a special dinner and we played some games. Nothing new.” Kei shrugged. He glanced at his brother, and a small smile appeared on his face. “I got to play some volleyball with my brother, though. He taught me another way to serve.”

Tadashi gasped and let out an excited “Ooh! That’s awesome!”, then covered his mouth with his hands. He and Kei looked at Akiteru and Tadashi’s mother, but neither seemed to have heard anything, leaving both him and Kei sighing in relief then trying to hold giggles. Despite the fact that Kei always talked about his brother with pride, he made everything possible to prevent Akiteru from listening in, and Tadashi wasn’t about to risk breaking his efforts.

“What about you?” Kei asked.

Tadashi launched into a talk about all the different pastries he had helped his mother prepare for their family dinner, which led to to an avid conversation about cakes and types of flavors. It was only when Akiteru interrupted them saying they had to go that Tadashi noticed they were still at his doorstep.

He waved goodbye to his mother, and they started their walk to the temple at last. The trip was filled with chatter, and the best part was that it wasn’t forced to fill the silence. Kei didn’t like small talk and Tadashi was terrible at it, so even when they had nothing to talk about, the silence proved to be nice nonetheless.

Tadashi felt warm all over, and he knew he couldn’t stop smiling.

“What?” Kei asked when Tadashi looked at him again, but didn’t say anything.

They had just arrived at the first gate to the temple. They bowed, walked by the outside of the gate, and started climbing the stairs.

“Nothing. It’s just- this is so cool,” Tadashi said. He glanced around, taking in all the people nearby chattering in low tones - the noise somehow mixed in harmony with the typical calm of a temple surrounded by trees, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

“Have you never visited a shrine in the first days of the year?”

“I have, but it’s the first time I’m going with a friend.”

“Ah.”

A strange silence arose after that, the first one in a long time. Tadashi glanced at Kei, worried, wondering if he had crossed a line, then looked up at Akiteru, who smiled at him and winked, leaving Tadashi more lost than before.

They were about to cross the temple’s main gate and entrance when Kei murmured something.

“What?” Tadashi asked.

Kei glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, then shook his head. “Forget it,” he said before hurrying his step.

Tadashi watched in confusion as Kei’s back got farther ahead. Akiteru put a hand on his shoulder and urged him to keep walking as more people arrived behind them.

“Tadashi,” he said, matching his pace as they began to catch up with Kei. When Tadashi looked at him, he mouthed ‘me too’ and slightly moved his head in Kei’s direction.

Tadashi repeated the words in his head for a few seconds before it dawned on him. His eyes widened, and then the warmth from before consumed his chest as a wide grin broke out on his face. He nodded when Akiteru put his index finger to his lips, but it was impossible to hide his smile.

When they caught up with Kei, he was waiting at the line of the purification fountain to wash their hands and rinse their mouths. They remained in silence until they did so and were finally free to wander through the temple. It was more crowded than Tadashi expected, and they had to enter another line to make their wishes.

Tadashi had thought a lot about what he was going to wish: he wanted to get good grades, he wanted to get better at volleyball, he wanted the bullies to forget him, and he wanted to have lots of fun. However, there was one thing besides those that stood out in his mind.

He, Kei and Akiteru stopped in front of the offering box, each dropped a 5 yen coin inside it, bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed once more. Tadashi closed his eyes and wished strongly, hoping the gods would listen to him in the midst of so many people.

“What next?” he asked after they stepped back from their wishing.

“Paper fortunes?”

“Alright.”

“Hey, Kei, Tadashi.” Akiteru waved at them to stop. He had his phone out. “Mom and dad asked me to take a picture.”

“Does it have to be right now?” Kei frowned, something close to a pout on his face.

“Yes, or we’ll forget about it,” Akiteru said. “Ready? Smile!”

Tadashi smiled, leaning closer to Kei and putting two fingers up in a peace sign. Akiteru’s phone emitted a clicking noise twice before he gave them a thumbs up.

Kei grumbled something Tadashi didn’t quite understand, but Akiteru rolled his eyes and nudged his arm. “Don’t be grumpy, Kei. You’ll be thankful you have these pictures to look back to in the future. I can send them to you as well, if you want, Tadashi.”

“Ah, thanks,” Tadashi said, surprised. His mind remained stuck on the word “future”, and he looked at Kei as a reflex.

“Do you think we can come here next year?”

“Sure, why not?”

It wasn’t like it was a promise - many things could happen during a year, so there would be no point to that. Yet Tadashi’s smile came back at full force.

Maybe his wish for a lasting friendship with Kei would come true, after all.

“Hey, Tsukki?”

Tadashi was standing with a hand on the window, close enough that his breath fogged it. He watched as Kei looked up from his phone in question.

“What?”

“It’s snowing.”

Kei looked past him through the window and squinted his eyes. He hummed in thought. “My parent’s train will probably be delayed.”

“Which means we’ll have a few more hours after dawn together.” Tadashi grinned. “Damn, I feel terrible for thinking like that.”

Kei snorted. “You say that while smiling.”

“I’m happy, that’s all. I still feel bad for your parents.”

“It’s fine. They considered a possible delay, so they prepared for it.”

Kei pressed a button on the side of his phone, the screen locking, and patted seat on the couch beside him. Tadashi wasted no time in joining him and slouching with a yawn.

“How long until midnight?” He asked.

Kei picked his phone and turned it around, showing the bright 11:18 pm on the screen.

“Nice, we’re close,” Tadashi said. He yawned again before straightening his posture, but sleep was still clinging heavy on his eyelids. “What do we do now? Card game?”

Kei shrugged, frowning. “We did that already.”

“We can play again.”

“No.”

“You say that because you lost all the games.”

“Shut up, that’s not why.”

“Hm-mn.”

Tadashi chuckled when Kei huffed.

“Another suggestion?”

Tadashi looked around Kei’s living room, but his mind was working slow and nothing stirred his creativity. Maybe they should have gone out at night instead of during the whole day - they’d be less tired, and there’s be more things to do. On the other hand, there would be less private time for them, and Tadashi slid on the couch until his head fell on Kei’s shoulder. “Ah, what’s that?”

From his new position, he saw a book partially hidden underneath the center table.

“That’s an old photo album. My mom was looking at it the other day, it must’ve fallen,” Kei said, picking it up.

“Can I see it?”

Kei shrugged, but passed it to Tadashi nonetheless. Right on the first page, there were very familiar pictures from years ago when Kei and Tadashi visited a temple on the first day of the year, and Tadashi smiled when he saw them.

“You put those in an album?”

“My mom did, but yeah,” Kei said, looking at the pictures. There was a soft blush on his cheeks, but Tadashi remained silent, observing him in fondness. “This one was near the offering box,” Kei pointed to the one in the left, “and this one was after we picked our fortunes.”

“I got a neutral blessing,” Tadashi commented. “I wasn’t very happy with that.”

“I don’t remember what I got.”

“I think it was a high blessing. You were so lucky, Tsukki. Ah, which reminds me.” Tadashi pointed at the third picture on the page. Kei, Tadashi and Akiteru appeared in it, but while the brothers were simply standing straighter with smiles, Tadashi was on the tips of his toes, hands on his coat pockets and had stuffed his chest.

“What were you doing there, by the way?”

“I was trying to imitate you. You know-” Tadashi said, passing a hand through his hair, trying to straighten it, then pretending to dust off his long-sleeved shirt and posing like his young-self had tried to, “being all tall, serious and cool looking.”

“Cool looking?” Kei asked, amused.

“Yeah. I thought that if I seemed cool, like you, the gods might give me a better blessing, even if my paper was neutral.”

Kei rolled his eyes, and took his glasses out to clean then on his shirt. “That’s not how it works. And you still failed terribly at being tall. You were so tiny, getting on the tip of your toes made no difference.”

“Hey, I think I did a great job, okay? I almost reached your chin.”

Kei chuckled, and Tadashi grinned, heart skipping a beat. The skin near Kei’s eyes crinkled when he laughed, but it was only visible when he wasn’t wearing his glasses. It was endearing, and it never failed to fill Tadashi’s chest with warmth.

However, he felt a nagging of doubt. At times like this, when everything was going so well and he felt he could burst in happiness, he felt he was walking on a tightrope, so close to falling as he awaited the impending blow from a harsh wind to knock him down. He was lucky to have Kei by his side, but how long was it going to last?

“Stop it,” Kei said, startling Tadashi out of his thoughts.

“Stop what?”

“Doing that.”

“What?”

Kei put his glasses back and sighed in frustration. “Stop overthinking. You’re making that expression again.”

“I wasn’t-” Tadashi cut himself off when Kei gave him a deadpanned look. “Okay, maybe I was. It’s just, everything’s going so well...”

“And everything will continue to go well,” Kei said, voice firm, taking Tadashi’s face in his hands.

He didn’t say any other words, but the sheer intensity of Kei’s gaze was enough for Tadashi to understand what he meant. He swallowed thickly, feeling his heartbeat speed up, and barely managed to nod in confirmation.

“I can’t help it,” Tadashi said.

“Me neither - sometimes,” Kei admitted, and Tadashi knew it meant a lot for him to say it out-loud. “But I’m here to remind you not to.”

Words were a funny thing, in their relationship. When it came to affection and feelings, they were a necessity to avoid miscommunication, but there was no need for an excess of them when actions could demonstrate thoughts just as well. It was a struggle until they found their new middle ground when they started dating, but perseverance led them here, and it started flowing naturally.

Picking out the ‘I love you’ in Kei’s actions was effortless now, and Tadashi’s heart felt like it was going to combust when Kei pressed a soft kiss on his forehead then on the side of his mouth. Tadashi groaned and hid his face against Kei’s chest, cheeks burning. His mouth opened and closed twice, but no words seemed right, so he settled for sliding his arms behind Kei’s back, enveloping him in a tight hug.

The silence that settled between them was comforting, and soon enough Tadashi was close to dozing off. He shook his head quickly when he noticed, startling Kei.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Tadashi said, and pouted. “I almost fell asleep. We decided we’re going to wait midnight together, didn’t we? So don’t let me do that.”

“Alright, your majesty,” Kei said. He looked down at Tadashi in amusement, and rose his hands in surrender when Tadashi punched his shoulder lightly. “Okay, okay. Here.” He offered one of his earphones to Tadashi.

Tadashi turned around until he was leaning on the couch beside Kei, pushing the forgotten photo album to the side, and put in the earphone. Together, they remained like that - sometimes humming, then outright singing - until Kei’s phone marked midnight and they could hear noise from the streets. Fireworks cracked.

“Happy New Year,” they murmured to each other with smiles and a tight hug. None was certain who leaned in first, but then they were kissing, lips touching sweetly and tongues sliding together with softness that sent a pleasant shiver down Tadashi’s spine, and it didn’t matter anymore.

Tadashi felt entirely breathless, his stomach doing flips and his skin prickling where Kei had lifted his shirt and was pressing his hand against his side. They broke the kiss, but remained close, foreheads touching, just gazing into each other’s eyes.

“Hey, Tsukki.”

Kei made a questioning sound.

“I was thinking,” Tadashi continued. “What do you say about going to the temple tomorrow?”

“Not today?”

“Nah, it’s gonna be too crowded.”

“It’ll be just as crowded tomorrow.”

“Hmm, so maybe in a few more days? Like, in four days.”

“Sure, why not?”

Tadashi smiled. He felt warm all over, just like years ago when they went together to their New Year temple visit for the first time, but he knew it was for a different reason now.

Kei was right, he shouldn’t overthink too much. Their relationship was perfect in its imperfection, and that was all Tadashi could’ve asked for.

#tsukyamgiftexchange #yamaguchi tadashi #tsukishima kei #tsukkiyama #haikyuu #my writing

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