#A Mother's Instinct | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gaoau · 1 year ago

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Stir & Tingle – It’s Been A While

A Mother's Instinct warnings — spoilers for...? the very last chapter of haikyuu? yeah. that one. word count — 4.0k

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The chime of the doorbell rang above the clatter of dishware and clinking of brimming glasses. Yamamoto eagerly darted towards the front door of Kenma's house, slinging it open to reveal more guests. He made sure not to spill any alcohol from the cup safe between his fingers.

Standing with cheeks flushed from the cold, [Name] and Inuoka halted their chatter to smile at him. Inuoka had retained his high-school energy and used it to grin widely at his upperclassman. [Name] chuckled at his enthusiasm, the simper on her lips peeking from underneath her scarf. She waved at the stupefied Yamamoto.

The cup almost slipped from his fingers at the sight before him. [Name] and Inuoka. Inuoka and [Name]. The cogs in his head squeaked as they struggled to turn.

"Tora? Is everything okay? Can we come in?"

Yamamoto blinked. Once. Twice. His brain finished processing the information. He staggered back while pointing an accusatory finger at the pair. "You! You two! What are you doing, [Name]-san?! Inuoka, you know she's a married woman!"

"I'm not? Am I?"

"How dare you betray all of us like this?!" he continued on, completely ignoring [Name]'s questioning frown. "What will Yaku-san say about this?! You'll kill him! How dare you do this to him?!"

[Name] shared a nervous glance with Inuoka. They sighed in unison as Yamamoto cried out about you're even in sync! Pushing past the man spilling his drink on the genkan, the duo excused themselves inside—still in unison so as to not make it any easier on him—and removed their shoes. The door slammed shut behind them.

They entered the room chuckling together at Yamamoto's frantic reaction. All eyes snapped towards them. Sharp and analytical and flabbergasted. Shibayama stopped breathing for a minute.

[Name] beamed at her old friends. Seven years change people so much but at the same time so little.

Kenma's hair remained untouched at the routes, fading into the blond tips she had helped him bleach. She convinced herself he couldn't bring himself to chop them off because they were her hard work. Shibayama and Teshiro kept their youthful appearance, yet grew into mature men with handsome features. Kai's smile had somehow become sweeter, his peaceful eyes even more welcoming. Boy, did she miss that man.

Some faces were missing. The troublesome, two-meter underclassman. The cunning and loveable captain. The king of comedy himself. And, of course, the confident man she loved with her whole heart.

[Name] held back her tears. She could save them for later, when she knew she wouldn't be able to stop the waterworks. "It's so good to see you guys again! I've missed you all so much!"

Shibayama was seconds away from passing out. Inuoka reminded him to breathe and he blinked back to life. His mind didn't want to believe the sight in front of him.

Kenma sighed when nobody answered to [Name]'s greeting. "Care to explain why you two are showing up together?" He didn't particularly care, but it didn't sit right with him either. There was no way he had sat through two years of his upperclassmen pining after each other just for this.

"Wait, what?" Inuoka found [Name]'s furrowed brows with his own. "We thought we'd come together since [Name]-san was already at my place."

[Name] nodded in agreement. Teshiro kept Shibayama from slamming his forehead onto the table. It was Taketora's yells of distress—I'm so sorry, Yaku-san, they have no shame!—that helped her understand everyone's disgusted grimaces.

She gasped, whipping back and forth between Inuoka and her friends. "Oh my God, no! No, no! You got it wrong! No, we are not dating. I would never do that to Mori—Nobuyuki, where's your trust?!"

"Sorry, [Name], it caught me off-guard, too." With [Name]'s glower switching over to him, his patient smile didn't waver. A collective sigh of relief resounded in the room.

[Name] couldn't help the cackles slipping from her mouth. Her body vibrated with glee as she crashed into Kai's arms before anyone else's. "I'm offended, but I'll overlook it because I missed you. Just this once, though!"

Kai chuckled, his laughter blended with hers. Almost as if time had never passed, as if they were still in high-school and enjoying the study sessions at Kuroo's home. For a second, she didn't want to let go.

But Kai pushed her off of him before she could start thinking too much and triggering her tears. He patted her shoulders, shaking his head at her glossy eyes, and prompted her to go greet everyone else properly.

First, the thankfully alive Shibayama, followed by the forever-stoic Teshiro, and then a stingy Kenma. She made sure to hug Yamamoto with all the strength she could muster as compensation for the earlier heart attack.

"Fukunaga's in the kitchen," Kenma mumbled from underneath his hoodie.

[Name]'s eyes glimmered. The king of comedy himself. She didn't know where the kitchen was. "Shouhei!" she hollered, "Hi! If you can hear me, clap once! If you can't, make it twice!"

Two claps reached her ears. She grinned to herself, bursting into giggles.

Kenma felt her attention return to him as he regretted his life decisions. He stared blankly at her with a cocked brow. Her laughter had stopped, but the beaming expression on her face brimmed with excitement. Oh. Yeah.

He sighed and rose to his feet. [Name] would combust any second. "How's my little baby boy doing?" she cooed as she followed him into his house. Her tone lilted with joy.

Kenma flicked the lights on. At the back of the room, ignoring the usually more interesting PC set-up, Gilbert waited patiently for her inside his terrarium.

[Name] squealed, "Darling! I'm back, sweetie!" delighted, and rushed to hold the reptile in her arms as she had done when he was only a child. Half of his life had gone by, but she was definitely spending the rest of it by his side.

Gilbert gladly slithered onto her arms and around her neck, posing as a cold-blooded scarf for the Fall. He hissed in what [Name] interpreted as a welcome home. Kenma was relieved people would stop asking to see the snake on camera.

It was a relief that nobody really minded snakes—not that they could after [Name] spent her days reciting the same powerpoint presentation, Why Snakes Aren't That Bad, You're Just Cowards. Nekoma had to accept Gilbert whether they liked it or not. And yet, she hadn't expected them to brighten up at the sight of the reptile.

Kai scratched Gilbert's head with this finger as [Name] settled down beside him. Teshiro handed her a drink to get her night started, patting the snake and nodding when she thanked him. "So," she began after a sip, "where's Morisuke?"

Her friends froze. "Shouldn't you know best?" Kenma stared at her.

"I've been busy." She used her head to motion towards Inuoka. He grinned.

"Don't worry about it." Kai placed his palm on her shoulder. "He's arriving today." He could feel her vibrating under his touch.

Yamamoto popped his head into the room, his hands busy with a tray of food. "Sure we don't need to go pick him up at the airport?" He left the food on the table and disappeared to the kitchen, calling, "Hey, Kenma! Get out here and help!"

"I'm already helping by providing the venue," Kenma grumbled in response. He sank lower into his seat, wrapping his body with his arms to make himself more comfortable.

[Name]'s grin remembered the times she had heard her friends bickering. All those instances she would join in, siding with Kenma to stick her tongue out at Yamamoto as he fumed. The things Fukunaga would blurt out with the straightest face and how she would burst into high-pitched cackles while falling to her knees. She had missed them so much.

Kai chuckled softly and tugged her out of memory lane before her tears ran her over like a car. "Don't worry, he said he wanted to stop by Shibuya first before coming here."

Yamamoto returned with even more snacks. For an athlete, he sure threw salt around like it was holy water. "Why Shibuya?" He cocked a brow as he settled down. He didn't need an answer anymore when he exclaimed, "Oh! That, huh!"

"Yes, indeed. That."

"Russia, huh…" Inuoka sighed dreamily, "I wanna go there someday." He pumped his fist, filled with goals and ambitions. He pulled out of his daydream with a smile, turning towards [Name]. "But [Name]-san, shouldn't you be picking him up?"

[Name] blinked in surprise at the unexpected question. "Uh. Why me?" Her cup almost slipped from her sweaty fingers.

"Aren't you guys dating?"

Oh. Of course. With the Inuoka incident cleared up, it was pretty obvious that [Name] and Yaku had been together ever since their first kiss at the airport. It was a given.

She laughed and avoided Teshiro's steely eyes awaiting confirmation. "Well, no… We never established anything. It's not like we could do long distance, anyway."

"But you're still best friends, right? I'd want to see my best friend first thing." Shibayama's bubbly voice spoke only reasonable truths. So much so that everyone present agreed with him.

[Name] set her cup down with a knock. She trained her sheepish gaze on the snake around her shoulders, scratching his head for a sense of comfort. "He, uh… I didn't—He doesn't know I'm here…" Her words died into a hesitant mumble.

The room quieted down instantly. [Name] shrank in on herself, feeling thousands of cat eyes stabbing into her even if there were only six people staring at her in disbelief. Her lips pursed, embarrassed.

"[Name]… What…?"

"I told him I couldn't make it, that I was working in Hyougo for an agricultural project…" It was practically impossible to hear her. Gilbert's faint hisses were so much louder than her voice.

Kenma cradled his head in his hands "…Why would you do that?"

She cleared her throat. "I panicked? I—I don't know, okay? We haven't—we haven't seen each other face to face in years." Now audible, she trembled and tripped. Her eyes glazed over with anxious tears.

"And you thought meeting at Kenma's house was the best idea?" Tora cackled at her expense. He set off a ticking time-bomb with just one raspy chortle.

[Name] straightened her back in one sharp movement, startling Gilbert and making him run off towards Kenma beside her. A glowing blush spread over her cheeks, and it was certainly not the alcohol. "Better than getting whiplash from looking him in the eye without any moral support! Have you guys seen him?! What happened to his hair?! Who gave him the right?! I can't handle that all on my own, I'll crash the car!"

"How… How long have you been in love with him?" Very bold of Inuoka to even speak up after such an outburst.

Kai chuckled into his hand at the question. The man knew, the poor soul had been watching through every second of it.

"Um… Half-way into our first year at Nekoma." Her flush still shone brightly as she fanned herself with her hands.

"Her cowardice is justified!" echoed Fukunaga's voice from the kitchen.

[Name] slumped down on the desk in an attempt to cool her face with the cold wood. "Thank you, Shouhei…" she muttered with her cheek pressed firmly onto the surface.

She wasn't a coward—or maybe she was. She couldn't decide. It was Yaku Morisuke, for crying out loud. They had become the best of friends in such a short amount of time, and she didn't even hesitate to give him her first kiss.

The stirring of her stomach didn't mean cowardice. After so many years of seeing his face through a screen and hearing his voice through a speaker, she couldn't handle having the real thing at the tip of her fingers.

How exciting.

Excitement dissolved into sheer panic when the chime of the doorbell swam through the room. Shrimp dropped from her mouth as she froze in place. Reality showered over her like a bucket of ice water to the face. A shimmering layer of tears coated her trembling irises.

[Name] turned slowly to the side to meet Kai's eyes with her own wide ones. "Is…" Her friends stared at her with raised brows. "Is my make-up okay?!" She squeaked when her voice broke, hiding herself behind her cup of alcohol.

Her vocal cords tangled and became a tight knot to form a lump in her throat, choking her with anticipation. The world around her began to shift without her and she swayed side to side and maybe she should start adding more iron to her diet? Yaku would destroy her if he found out she got light-headed randomly.

"[Name], why are you so emotional?" Kenma judged her with his narrowed eyes, completely unimpressed. He held Gilbert wrapped around him for the snake's safety.

She found the courage to meet his gaze. Tears threatened to pour, cheeks burned a glowing red. "He's my best friend, we've only seen each other through a screen for the past six years, and I'm in love with him. How could I not be so emotional?"

Kenma refused to reply while she gripped her cup tightly. He only sweatdropped, leaning back into his seat as Gilbert returned to his owner for a sense of comfort. The footsteps entering the room made her flinch with every echo.

Yaku didn't get to greet his friends as his sights zeroed in on his high-school illiterate dumbass ankle instinctively. The toothy grin breaking out on his lips overflowed with adoration. [Name] in the flesh. It knocked the air out of his lungs.

"I knew my stomach hurting was way too random to be the airplane food."

[Name] allowed the tears to trail down her cheeks along with a chuckle. She pushed herself off the floor and bolted towards the strong arms of her best friend. He really hadn't gotten much taller, but she couldn't care less. His short height always made him endearing and she loved him so much either way.

Her face buried into his shoulders and his palms didn't hesitate to land on her lower back to catch her. The stirring in his stomach, the way she hid away from him, the faint sniffles reverberating against his skin. He had missed holding onto her and the inviting scent of her perfume.

After those seven years since the airport, Yaku knew better than to let his chances slip from his hands again. He pulled away from her, gingerly grabbing onto her chin with his fingers.

He used an eager kiss to say you're here as he nipped at her lower lip with a bit more force than he had expected. The salt of her tears mixed with the sweet taste of her glimmering lipgloss. Sweet and salty, just like [Name] was, just like he remembered her.

Yaku grazed his tongue against her lip one last time before moving back to take a breath. [Name] sighed heavily with flushed cheeks and crashed her forehead into his shoulder again. He felt the droplets seeping through his clothes while some formed in his own eyes.

A hand on her back pressed her closer to him, the other one stroked her hair. "Stop crying, will you? My stomach hurts."

"Oh, shut up," she grumbled into his neck, "my fingers feel funny. You're about to cry, too." Her bright irises met with his. Yaku laughed, trying to blink his tears away.

"Before you start arguing, you guys have some time to catch up before Kuroo gets here."

Yaku glanced behind [Name] to find Kai smiling warmly at him. The man, the legend, the wingman, the reason he had met [Name] in the first place. He would make sure to thank him properly.

He nodded in gratitude while interlacing his fingers with [Name]'s. "We'll be outside, then."

Yaku guided her to the door, his hand keeping a tight grip on her so as to never let her go again. He helped her wrap her scarf around her neck, mindful of the snake hissing affectionately at him. They settled down pressed flush against each other's side, thumbs playing with one another.

Gilbert slithered between them to soak in their warmth made of love and adoration. Yaku scratched the reptile's head; he had missed that thing more than he cared to admit. [Name] couldn't help the silky simper tugging at her lips.

The sky stretching out of reach from them sparkled vibrantly with billions of stars, dead and alive, drowning under the glow of the waning moon. Almost as if time hadn't passed at all; as if all those long years of being separated by seven and then three hours had been but a blink of the eyes.

They were eighteen years old again while [Name] sat with her phone by her side as the midnight rain washed over her and Yaku snored through the speaker. Now they could gaze at the world together, hand in hand, heartbeats in sync.

They were wrapped in warm, comforting blankets again, legs a tangled mess underneath the sheets. Pirated Barbie movies played one after the other on the screen and the blue light burned their eyes when they realized the sun was up. Quiet chortles—so as to not wake her parents—bounced around the room only for them to hear.

They were at home again; they found their places in one another; they belonged and fit together like two puzzle pieces. Even if he had already settled in Russia, and even if she had returned to Japan for little over a year. Sitting side by side meant everything in the world was right.

They were together again after more than half a decade, yet they hadn't been separated for a single second. When she said goodbye and wait for me in the same endless but brief peck, and he said finally, you're here as he bit her lip a bit too harshly.

[Name]'s head landed softly on his shoulder. His cologne smelled like her childhood, although they hadn't met at the time yet. She remembered him talking about it over videochat.

Yaku planted an affectionate kiss on the crown of her head, his nails trailing down Gilbert's body. "Were you actually in Hyougo?" She had missed hearing his voice right beside her ear.

"No, not really," she chuckled. "That project isn't until Summer."

"You've really been moving around since coming back, [Surname]-sensei." Her hair was rough and unsalvageable after suffering the wrath of her scissors and cheap bleach. She had settled for her natural color, and Yaku was more than glad she had found what she liked. Anything looked perfect on her, anyway.

[Name] laughed. Her giggles sounded so much sweeter in person. "You're one to talk, Yaku-senshu." Amusement coursed through his body in the form of goosebumps. "I landed a job at the Shinjuku Gyoen, and I'm working on a project for Sou's childcare."

"How's that going?"

"I'm so excited. Things are going well." She shifted her head to admire Yaku. The glowing of the moon trapped in his eyes, the shadows cast from the sky only to accentuate his jawline, the charming simper on his kissable lips.

[Name] sighed.

Yaku met her gaze. The moonlight draped over her shoulders like a veil. "What's with that sigh?"

"Things are well, but… I'm not sure."

"About?"

"About what I want." She buried herself in his chest. "Shinjuku's nice, but I don't think I want to stay there. I know I have time, I just want to make the most of it."

Yaku pressed his cheek to her head. "How would you like Russia?" His words tangled themselves in her hair.

"Man, I don't know." [Name] squeezed his hand. He was here now, but soon he'd leave again, and yet her fingers clicked seamlessly with his. "I mean, the Netherlands were beautiful and I'd love to go back there someday and meet up with some friends, and I love it here so much with all the memories I made."

Yaku hummed. "You can always come visit."

"Surely. Then again, the Shinjuku Gyoen is such a welcoming place."

"Russia has some really pretty botanical gardens, you know?" His grip tightened around her hand. [Name] wasn't his illiterate dumbass ankle for nothing.

"Really?" She blinked at him with specs of excitement glimmering inside her irises. "It'd be nice to check them out someday."

Yaku sighed heavily. "[Name]."

"Yeah?"

"Are you thick?"

The excitement dissipated and morphed into puzzlement. She stared into Yaku like a gawking fish, gasping for water. "I—What?"

"Come with me to Russia."

Her eyes flew wide open. She had missed that confident grin of his, of course, but she couldn't process it with the words he spilled.

Yaku unhooked his hand from hers and slid his arm around her waist, killing any negligible amount of space between them. Closer wasn't close enough. "Whenever you want to, whenever you feel like, I'm waiting for you." His voice rang harmoniously in the hush of the night. A proposal that disappeared high in the clouds.

Blood rose to [Name]'s face to warm her skin and kickstart a migraine. "Mo—Fuck—Morisuke, you can't just spring this up on me!"

"Let's go." His intense gaze lit up the sky more than the moon could ever try. "I've been away from you for years and now that I have the chance, I'm not letting it go. Make it tonight or in a year. Come with me, [Name]." He brought his hand up to cradle her heating face. She leaned into his palm, eyes fluttering close.

An unwelcome rumble in his stomach made him roll his eyes.

He chuckled, "Don't cry now, dumbass."

Tears she didn't know she still had saved leaked from her lids and rolled down to her chin. "Sorry, I'm just—I'm happy. I just love you so much." A hiccup interrupted her declaration. Yaku had heard it all before as he wiped the droplets from her skin.

He placed his lips upon hers, wondering if they would ever share a kiss without any tears third-wheeling. Not that it mattered. Crying was a part of [Name] and a connection to her that he would never trade for anything.

While she bit him as payback, Yaku could see it. A future in which his stomach would stir itself up after an important match, solely because [Name] was so happy she burst into tears. A future where her fingers would tingle as he watched her walk down the aisle. A future with her.

He pulled back to gaze into her glazed-over eyes. He promised to himself to dry her tears before they fell, now and forever. "Let's be together, [Name]."

She tripped over her words. Her head nodded almost frantically as she disappeared into his neck. Yaku held onto her tightly for the rest of the night and until the last tear she ever cried.

—あごす (agosu) • 2020

#A Mother's Instinct #Haikyuu #Yaku Morisuke #Yaku Morisuke x Reader #Yaku x Reader #Haikyuu x Reader

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