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Yamaguchi and Tsukishima have been best friends since elementary school. They were always together, an inseparable duo. It was impossible to miss the special bond the two had - so of course it didn't slip from the eyes of the rest of Karasuno's volleyball team.
For the first few months of the year, no one really said anything about it. Of course they did refer to the two as a team, but except for that time, about a month into the year, when the innocent, kinda tactless Hinata asked Tsukishima "Where's your boyfriend?" in the middle of practice. Everyone at the club stared at him as Tsukishima replied, "Yamaguchi isn't my boyfriend, but he went to the toilet, I think."
Since then the topic wasn't mentioned for a while, but every member of the club was sometimes looking at them together, wondering if the two did hide something about their relationship.
"They are DEFINITELY dating." Nishinoya insisted one evening, eating the pork buns Daichi got them after practice. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi went home by themselves, as usual, but the others stayed in Ukais shop, while he pretended to be busy with the cashbox.
"Have you SEEN how Yamaguchi looks at Tsukishima?" Tanaka agreed.
"Just like you are looking at Kiyoko" Laughed Enoshita. "I don't think they are dating, but they just need a little push in the right direction." Everyone looked at him.
"I wouldn't expect you to say that," Daichi said. "but you're right."
"Hey, it's not nice to gossip like that," Suga said, even though he sounded like he didn't really object to the conversation.
.
Yamaguchi couldn't tell why, but the next day, it seemed like people looked at him constantly. He wondered if anything was wrong with him, but he looked normal in the mirror - his hair was still dark and a little messy, his face was still thin and freckled, and he didn't piss his pants or anything. He noticed Tsukishima was getting the same looks. Is it because they didn't join the rest of the team for meat buns yesterday? But they did it often, and the looks weren't annoyed, they were more curious.
They had a practice match, six on six. Yamaguchi was in the team with Tsukishima, Suga, Daichi, Narita and Tanaka. Nothing completely unusual, except for the fact Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were the first ones to be chosen to be in the same team, when usually coach Ukai selected the teams in the order of their numbers in the game, so Yamaguchi was always last. Each group won one set, and the third one was tied until Hinata shot another powerful quick attack and Yamaguchi's team lost.
After practice, Suga called him to help tidy the storage room.
"How was the match?" Suga asked.
"it was fine, I guess. I did a couple of good serves, but nothing special. And I still can't spike at all, and missed a lot of serves"
"it's okay. You know, when you serve, you have a clear vision in mind. You know where the ball should hit - you feel it in your hands - but sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes you miss your goal a little bit, and end up not saying what you want to say. Umm, I mean, not hit high enough like you wanted to."
"what?" Yamaguchi was really confused.
"My point was, you should be more confident. You should have courage, and hit on... I mean, hit the ball, and face situations you're trying to avoid."
Yamaguchi still didn't fully understand what Suga meant. He clearly had another intention being his words. "Are you trying to hint at something?"
"Huh? No. Just wanted to give you a little motivation. Tsukishima did some amazing blocks, right? He managed to stop some of Hinata's quicks. But sometimes it feels like he also has a goal in mind he doesn't achieve"
"Suga, you are making zero sense. Tsukki was great, he was doing so well! But what does it have to do with the pep talk? And what goal does he have?"
"I don't know, maybe... He needs to talk about something... With a certain someone..." Yamaguchi was still very confused. Why did Suga bring up Tsukishima all of a sudden? They were talking very often, obviously, they were friends.
"So it's his business, maybe talk to him about it?" Yamaguchi got out of the tidy storage room. "But Tsukki is waiting for me, I should go home."
He waited for Tsukishima for a few minutes, because it seemed he was held up to a conversation by Daichi, and the two walked home.
.
The second Yamaguchi and Suga got out of the gym, Daichi appeared in front of Tsukishima.
"What's up?"
"I'm fine, nice game," Tsukishima said, packing his bag. He didn't really want a conversation, and Daichi clearly had some intention.
"you were more than fine! That block in the third set-"
"just did my role. Is there anything you want?"
"How are you feeling in the team? Like, socially"
"I'm fine. It's just a club, I don't want to get attached."
"But you have Yamaguchi,"
"Yup, I do"
"How long did you know each other?"
"Since we were 10? Something like that."
"that's a long time. And you have been best friends since then?"
"Yes, you can call it this way."
"Would you call it any other way?" Daichi asked, clearly expecting a specific response.
"Not really. I just never had any other close friend, so you can call him my best friend."
"I see. And just that?"
Tsukishima understood where Daichi was heading, and he really didn't want to get into that. Why should anyone care, honestly.
"Daichi, you might be my captain, but practice is over, you're not my father."
Daichi frowned, looking dissatisfied, like he did think of himself as Tsukishima's father.
"As a captain, I want to make sure everyone's doing alright, and I want to know about things that might affect the team dynamics. Just know that you can tell me anything. Count on me like you do during games."
Tsukishima was a bit annoyed, but nodded, just to get Daichi off his back. "I gotta go home. Goodbye Daichi." He said and headed out with Yamaguchi, walking back home.
.
In the following week, people kept looking at Yamaguchi and Tsukishima every time they were side by side. They were always chosen first to the same team in practice, even though Ukai covered it up by changing the order of selection, so Yamaguchi was first and Daichi was last. One afternoon Hinata met Yamaguchi on their way to practice, "Heyyy Yamaguchi! How are you doing?"
"I'm great! School wore me out a bit, but practice will get me up"
"And how are things going with Tsukishima?"
What was that with everyone mentioning Tsukishima to him lately? "I think he's doing okay. Everything's great."
"No but like, with you two... Together."
"Nothing?" Yamaguchi's answer didn't satisfy Hinata.
"There is NOTHING that changed recently in... The way you title your relationship?"
"Hinata, I am not dating Tsukishima, we have been friends for ages." Yamaguchi walked a little faster. This conversation was really awkward, and luckily Hinata gave up on the subject for the day, but Tsukishima was brought up almost every time they talked, surprisingly not by Yamaguchi.
.
After practice, Yamaguchi stayed with Nishinoya to practice serving and receiving. Tsukishima was packing up his bag, and found a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, Nishinoya calling "Nice serve!" in the background. It was a note, written in a clean handwriting.
"Dear Tsukki.
I think recently we were getting a lot closer. I really enjoy spending time with you. I was thinking maybe we could be something more than that. If you don't feel the same way, pretend that you never read that note, I don't want to ruin anything. If you do, talk to me.
Tadashi"
Tsukishima stared at the note, reading it again and again. It made something stir inside him. It made no sense, Yamaguchi wouldn't write him a note to say something that important, and he was mostly sure Yamaguchi had much messier handwriting. Did he try to make this note especially neat? He wasn't sure. This really wasn't Yamaguchi's style at all, if he didn't want to say something out loud, he would text him, and he would phrase things differently.
He didn't mention the note on their way home, but Yamaguchi didn't seem stressed as he would have been if he was waiting for Tsukishima to say something. It was probably just a stupid prank, but he wasn't sure who was mischievous enough to do this, yet had a clean enough handwriting.
.
"Do you think he fell for it?" Nishinoya asked as he rolled the net.
"Nah, he's too smart for this." Tanaka replied. "We shouldn't have asked Asahi to write it, his writing is too pretty"
"But if I did it, it would be completely unreadable."
"It's okay, we still have some ideas, and they will get together, you know it."
"Guys, do we even know if they have crushes on each other? I mean, how do you know they're not straight?" Asahi asked from the side of the gym.
"Have you seen how Yamaguchi looks at Tsukishima? How does he smile every time they talk? No doubt he's head over heels for him. Just like half the girls in their grade. For some reason they all want to date him, but he never said yes, so I've heard." Nishinoya explained, excited. Asahi shrugged, and got out of the gym.
.
Yamaguchi and Tsukishima found themselves getting a lot closer as time passed. It's not that they actively decided to hang out even more than they used to, it was just that every time they were walking somewhere or hanging out with their teammates, the others would just vanish at some point, throwing some excuse and leaving the two first-years by themselves. Yamaguchi didn't really mind, he enjoyed Tsukishima's company, but it still felt like something was going on. His somewhat childish mind's first association was there was some surprise birthday party being organized, but surely the rest of the team would consult in one of them if the other had a birthday, and neither of them had one in the next month.
Yamaguchi asked Daichi about it, but all he got in response was "I didn't notice anything like that. It's just you and Tsukishima are really close to each other, it's great if you want to become even closer." Yamaguchi didn't bother to explain that this wasn't the situation - Tsukishima and him were simply friends, the closest there could be - he tried to tell it to other teammates, but it didn't seem to be working. They weren't harassed, or bullied, they just had a very annoying, persistent team - but he still loved them.
.
The peak was on a Friday afternoon. They had some free time before practice, and Daichi and Nishinoya asked them to help with the storage room.
"Thank you two, now, Tsukishima, can you please bring that box to the gym? And Yamaguchi, get the net." Daichi said as he got out of the room with Nishinoya, and before either of the first years could follow, the door was closed and the door was locked.
"Daichi!" Yamaguchi shouted.
"are you sure it's a good idea?" he heard Daichis voice from the other side.
"of course it is, they just need their time." Nishinoya answered. "Thanks for helping us with the key". And then they left.
"What is this bullshit?" Tsukishima looked annoyed.
"Hey, it will be okay, I hope. They'll let us out for practice." Yamaguchi tried to stay calm himself, but he did panic a little.
They looked around the room for a while, and the solution was found not long before practice was going to start - there was a spare key hidden in one of the boxes, probably there in case someone got locked in accidentally.
Nishinoya and Daichi were surprised to see them as they entered the gym.
"Daichi, you asshole. You can't say you care about me and then lock me inside of the storage room. What the hell was that for?" Tsukishima sounded annoyed, but didn't raise his voice.
"It was for the best, you two just let the opportunity slide," Nishinoya interrupted. "and I don't see you brought the boxes.
"Shut up," Tsukishima said, as the rest of the team entered the gym, and they started practice.
.
On their way back home that evening, the subject was finally brought up.
"It seems like our team really wants us together. Like, as a couple." Yamaguchi said.
"Yup."
"And they're not going to give up on their goal, I've never seen a more determined group of people in my life. So what should we do? We can pretend we're dating, I think they'll fall for it if we will try, but that will give them the satisfaction of feeling like they succeeded. They'll remind us about this forever." Yamaguchi wondered out loud. There were a few silent seconds as they kept walking.
"We could actually do it," Tsukishima said.
"Do what?" Yamaguchi wasn't sure if he understood what Tsukishima meant, and he was even less sure what he thought about it, if he did mean it.
"You know, date. It doesn't have to be for a long time, just to shut them up. It doesn't seem so bad." So Tsukishima did mean what he thought he meant, and Yamaguchi's stomach felt like a volleyball spiked by Hinata.
It's not like the thought never crossed his mind, especially since his teammates started mentioning it. He never dated anyone before, and he had no idea what his sexuality was, but it didn't seem like such a bad idea. If he needed to choose someone to date, it would definitely be Tsukishima. He was tall and good looking, as well as smart and talented, and Yamaguchi knew him well enough.
He never thought Tsukishima would be the one to suggest it.
"What?" Tsukishima asked him, and Yamaguchi realized he stopped in his place the moment Tsukishima mentioned the word ‘date’.
"oh, sorry Tsukki. I think... Why not. But, you know, only if you really want it. Not just because we have some annoying teammates."
"I will be honest with you, I probably wouldn't have suggested that if they weren't bothering us so much. I hate to admit it, but they made me think about our friendship... Like that. About a week ago, I got a note supposedly from you, asking me out. It was obviously a fake one, I think Tanaka was responsible for that."
"Seriously? He did it?"
“Yup. It was dumb, but it made me think, and I realized I actually might want it."
"I do, too." Yamaguchi said. His stomach still hurt, from excitement and stress. He could believe the one and only Tsukishima Kei, Tsukki, his best friend since forever, asked him out. And he agreed. Just like that. "What is happening now, actually? I don't know how dating works."
"Me neither," Tsukishima admitted.
"Do you want to come over for dinner? Then we can sit in my room and talk things over."
"Sounds good"
Yamaguchi thought of the past few weeks, his conversations with Suga, Hinata and Daichi, the locked storage room. Maybe their team of idiots saw something that slipped from the eyes of Yamaguchi and Tsukishima themselves. He felt like an idiot, and Tsukishima probably did too. The team would neve stop mentioning it when they’ll tell them they actually started dating after more than a month of heavy hinting and some extreme actions. It was embarrassing to think about, but it could wait. First of all, they should take their time figuring out their feelings, then getting to actually dating, however that works.
At least now, when Hinata would call Tsukishima his boyfriend, he wouldn’t panic and start imagining and hoping for stuff he never thought had a chance to be real - because now they do. Hard to believe, but it was true.
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi kept walking in their usual, familiar route, back to Yamaguchi's house. Nothing was actually different - they walked side by side, in silence that was never awkward. After the subject was brought up, and they decided to start dating, Yamaguchi realized how much he wanted this, but didn't want to admit it, fearing it would ruin something or would be just one sided.
But he didn't have to fear or worry anymore.