#volleyball friendships are forever

[savetooru]

slideshow memory theater

last weekend i went to see a movie with some friends from high school and one of them pulled me aside to be like: "do you remember one of the first times we spoke? it was in the wing where they always made us line up for assembly and you were asking me if the art for this series got better over time." i didn't. this must have been close to eight years ago. another friend, who first introduced me to haikyuu!!, quickly chimed in with a "no, she asked me the exact same thing in history club. right before we watched magic mike xxl." that last bit could have been a joke, though it probably isn't. regardless, i didn't really remember it either. sophomore year was surprisingly busy for me, so i imagine i must have spent the rest of that period catching up on sleep. days later and thinking about this has made me feel all gooey on the inside. like the frame of an old sliding door. like the inside of a freshly-baked cookie or the box you kicked under your bed the summer of 2009 and never opened again. how many of my memories do other people keep? i've talked a bit about how i'm quick to pick myself up; a large part of this can be attributed to the fact that the more present i am in a moment the easier it is to let that moment go. whether it be painful, embarrassing, transformative, or just plain good, my brain is usually satisfied to forget once it decides i've wrung as much out of it as i can. for this reason, in-betweens are more vivid to me than anything else. in a way, i'm still living them. but what are in-betweens, anyway? a convenient means for me to explain why i come across so reserved, mostly. you know, because nothing i retain ever feels like that big of a deal. i realize how ridiculous and unnecessarily self-deprecating this sounds. still, old habits die hard — which is why we pursue new ones like taking pictures, or blogging, or screaming some of our clearest recollections into the void: (i.) do you remember coming back from saitama? it was six degrees out and we were debating yakiniku for dinner because we'd talked about going for it before the show. we must have gotten stopped by every single stoplight in shinjuku but i couldn't feel the cold at all. the only thing nipping at my fingers was adrenaline, bright and fizzy. the beef bowl place we settled on was further than expected, tucked in an alley a few minutes from our hotel. when you started walking faster to avoid the drunken crowd it set something off in my gut; knocking our shoulders together was my only means of keeping up. i was still high off the stadium lights and indoor disinfectant and the lone five hundred yen coin burning a hole in my pocket. can you blame me for laughing? everyone giggling and stumbling out on the street looked just like me. (ii.) do you remember the dance floor? i know i'm over you and all but i can't seem to shut up about it. we never danced. we weren't the dancing type then— at least, not me. not in public. not with you. but the dance floor they pulled out and taped to the tiles was so stupid. i almost tripped over it that night when you looked at me because i could tell. we'd always been ferrymen at parties, and a crisis of emotion happening close to the bar was par for the course. needless to say, it wasn't ours. i was exhausted. debut season felt like heels today and tomorrow and the day after that. keepers to call, friends to watch over, servers to apologize to for their monopoly of bathroom stalls. when you flagged me down to say you'd hold down the lobby, the air around your drink had condensed into tiny beads of water. i'd assumed you were leaving. i hated being around you; i was so relieved you were staying. i never asked you to dance and thank god for that. i could tell if i had, we'd have laughed ourselves silly. upturned every rule made golden. made a mess of the epoxy. and then what. and then what?

(iii.) do you remember the parties you'd throw me in the cafeteria? if there weren't balloons taped to the back of my seat before homeroom, i'd find one of you hiding an air pump beneath your desk. i'd come down for lunch with half of you suspiciously missing from our usual table and the rest talking animatedly about something clearly made up. twenty minutes later you’d turn up with a monstrosity christened cake made of ice cream sandwiches, cheap confectionery, and as many wafer sticks as the structure could take.

by the grace of the gregorian calendar, we always had school on my birthday. i used to hate getting fussed over, but like this was okay. whenever i mentioned disliking candy somebody would say something along the lines of well, we knew that, but i was craving gummy worms today. more than anything else, it was the open ease with which you could be cheeky that was worth celebrating. to friends in close places: if you see yourselves in any of these little splurbs or have made an educated guess as to who they concern, congrats. feel free to talk, so long as you never bring 'em up in my presence lest i dissolve into a thousand particles of unspoken sentimentalities.

[caifanes]

the version of hq!! i’m watching has a far better quality of translation than the one i saw in 2015 so i have a better handle of the game logistics but as far as interpersonal dialogue, it’s much more committed to translating the emotion of the vocal performance rather than just the words, but it’s still not overly westernized that it’s scraping to equate certain cultural signals

[teamatsumu]

do you? i do. (akaashi keiji x reader)

summary: you lose a bet, so now you have to confess to your crush. for my valentine’s day event - theme: confessions.

word count: 1461

tags: @nishayuro @kitas-tapioca @kakashineedstotouchgrass @amisuh @avis-writeshq @samanthaa-leanne @akaashi-todorki @sp1ng @kur0obaby @bleach-your-panties @pinkiipeachiikeen @keiva1000 @msbyomimi @sleepyxxhead @kindnessspreads

event masterlist

Turns out, promising to do ‘anything you want’ wasn’t something Konoha Akinori took lightly. Especially not when you add Bokuto Koutaro to the mix. Konoha was a sly opportunist, while Bokuto wasn’t embarrassed by anything, so it was a deadly combination.

You didn’t know why you let yourself be talked into making a stupid, silly bet with the two boys. Konoha had a talent to goad, and he managed to successfully goad you. So when you lost the bet (really, why did you think having a physical competition with two volleyball players was a good idea), it was like Konoha had his winning prize ready. The request fell from his lips like he had been practicing it for days.

Which he probably had. The menace.

So here you were, hands shaking violently as you put away water bottles and towels, cleaning up the club room and taking all the time in the world to change back into your uniform. The other managers had offered to wait for you so you could walk home together, but you encouraged them to go on, saying you had some stuff to organize before you left so it would take time. You didn’t need them to stick around to see you horrifically embarrass yourself when you confessed your silly crush and got rejected. Already Konoha was making all the boys stay behind to witness the moment. You couldn’t bear to have your closest friends see it too.

You locked the club room behind yourself before slowly and painfully making your way to the gym. You could hear the thuds of volleyballs and squeaks of shoes as the boys noisily cleaned up. They were talking and laughing amongst themselves, and you felt your nerves tighten even more. This was the worst possible place and time to confess. The chances of public humiliation were sky high. But Konoha had made his demands clear. And you weren’t one to go back on your word, no matter how dire the consequences.

You smoothed your skirt when you reached the gym doors, standing in the doorway and watching the scene before you. Despite the net slowly being lowered, Bokuto was still bounding towards it.

“Akaashi, go again!”

The boy in question was already in position, setting the ball high towards Bokuto, who spiked it hard over the half-up net. Washio was yelling at them to stop and it was enough for the day.

You watched Akaashi wipe the sweat off his forehead and kneel to tie his shoe, breathing slightly labored from the exertion. Your feet remained frozen, eyeing him silently and dreading how your relationship with him was about to change forever. While Akaashi wasn’t someone who harbored ill feelings, you weren’t sure how he was going to react to a love confession and subsequent rejection. What guarantee did you have that this wouldn’t affect your friendship going forward?

“Oi, look who’s here!” Konoha’s voice was filled with glee, and all eyes turned to look at you when he pointed at the door. You fought the urge to roll your eyes and deck him across the face. Violence was not the answer.

“Do you have something to say?”

Okay, maybe violence was the answer.

You gave him a large, fake grin, before nodding jerkily. You could feel the edge of your face and your ears turn burning hot, hands already going clammy as you tried to clench and unclench them.

“Akaashi-san, may I talk to you in private?”

Akaashi seemed surprised, blinking twice before nodding and standing up to walk towards you. No one else was caught off guard, of course, grinning faces looking between you two, knowing what was about to happen. You wished the ground would open up and swallow you whole so you wouldn’t have to do this in front of the entire volleyball team. But a bet was a bet. You had brought this upon yourself.

Whenever you had lain in bed and fantasized about confessing to Akaashi, you had pictured just you and him. Either outside the gym, or in the school grounds, nice cool air blowing through your clothes and hair. You had imagined how he would smile and return your feelings, which was a long shot but anything was possible in your imagination.

Akaashi was…. dignified. Organized. He was crazy smart, perceptive to a fault. It was almost impossible to not like him. Two years since you had started managing the Fukurodani team, and your crush on him had only grown. The more you learned about him, the more you liked him. And he was leagues above you in every sense.

That was the reason you had always believed Akaashi couldn’t return your feelings.

He stepped out behind you, following you only a few steps away from the gym doors. Konoha had explicitly said that you had to stay within earshot. A childish, immature request but part of the bet reward, so you couldn’t exactly refuse. You turned back to the boy, unable to meet his eyes and instead staring at your own hands as you fiddled with your fingers. You had rehearsed in your head over and over how you would take Akaashi’s rejection, what you would say, how would you tell him it wasn’t a big deal and you didn’t expect him to return your feelings. That you hoped you could still be friends. But now, standing before him, you realized you hadn’t really thought about the actual confession. You were completely blank.

“Is everything okay?” Akaashi’s voice was laced with concern, and he tilted his head a bit to catch your eye. You stared at him for a good minute before blinking and vigorously nodding.

“Yes! Completely fine. I’m fine.”

Embarrassment was already beginning to crawl up on you. There was a bout of silence. Behind Akaashi, you caught sight of multiple heads peeking through the window. You felt annoyance build up in you.

“Screw this,” you mumbled. “Akaashi-san, I like you. A lot. Not as a friend. And I was never going to tell you, but I lost a bet to Konoha and he thought this would be the perfect way to humiliate me. By making me confess. So….. here I am. I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

Akaashi watched you unblinkingly for a few moments. You glanced at Konoha who was scowling, probably because you name dropped him. But that wasn’t one of his conditions, so you didn’t care. You felt a twinge of satisfaction at having bested him even in your current circumstance. Good. He deserved to feel even a fraction of the anxiety and embarrassment you were feeling right now.

“Why would that humiliate you?” Akaashi finally spoke.

Your eyes met his dark ones, and you felt yourself freeze. Of all the questions you thought he would ask, this was not one you were prepared for.

“Uh-” You tried to come up with an answer that didn’t sound equally as embarrassing as the confession. Because you will reject me and they will all witness it?

Akaashi sighed and toed at the ground a bit, mouth pursed in thought. You stared at him wide eyed, waiting for him to speak. To say something. Follow up on his unusual question.

“This isn’t exactly how I imagined this moment to go.” He muttered, and you wouldn’t have caught it if you weren’t already looking at him. Your breath hitched, eyes so wide you were sure they would pop out of your skull. You tried to process the sentence, tried to think of any reason he would say that without getting your hopes up.

Akaashi peered around, as if searching for something, looking left and right before he finally caught the floating heads behind him. There was a yelp as they disappeared from the window suddenly, followed by thudding and a curse. You bit back your laughter. Akaashi rolled his eyes.

“I would like to talk about this more. Where others can’t see us.” His voice was as calm and quiet as ever. You felt your heart race. Your limbs felt jittery. Did this mean….?

“Akaashi-san, do you-”

A smile that made your heart leap. “I do.”

You felt a smile stretch over your face, feeling giddy at the thought of something you had considered so impossible materializing in front of your very eyes. You could still hear faint bickering from the gym, and you were sure Konoha had not seen this coming. Somehow, he was the least of your concerns now, in the face of Akaashi’s quiet smile and the way he was leaning towards you. You leaned forward too, realizing you had never been this close to him before. You basked in the moment.

In ten million years you could not have wished for a better outcome.

[hollisxwrites]

heyy

i was wondering if u could write a percy jackson x reader ??

flowers in your hair

(percy jackson x child of apollo reader)

thank you for the request today guys! please keep requesting, i'll keep writing (lol)! thank you for all the love on "as long as i'm with you, hero"! again, please keep requesting, i'm loving doing these! see my introduction and who i write for here!

tv! percy jackson x child of apollo! reader (I think the reader remains gender neutral throughout the fic)!

i do not own this gif or the song!

word count: 2.7k

warnings: mr. d is kinda an asshole, kinda a mention of violence, a few swear words, some slight angst and jealousy, percy is a sweetheart, a few mentions of the l word 🤯 (love), making out, possible innuendos, idk how to write warnings.

summary: based on the lumineers song flowers in your hair. percy and the reader fall in love over time spent together in camp halfblood, but they refuse to admit it in order to keep their precious friendship, until one day the reader finally cracks. this is on the longer side! sorry!

I was twelve years old when I first came to Camp Halfblood. I was scared, cold, and completely alone, running from a horrific monster that was something out of my worst nightmares. The cold pellets of rain showered over me as I ran, until suddenly, the monster wasn’t chasing me anymore, the rain stopped, and I was in the middle of a clearing, staring directly up at a house, a big, sky-blue house. It was beautiful, to say the least. Close to the house was what looked like a... volleyball court? Down the path a little, I could make out the shape of smaller houses built with Greek architecture. I was intrigued, but also frightened. Had I come across some cult? My hair was drenched and I’m sure my shirt was see-through due to the peltering rain, but when I thought about it, the rain had stopped when I got within feet of the house. Curious (and desperate for someone's help), I walked up to the door of the big blue house and knocked on it. Minutes seemed to tick by until suddenly, the door burst open and a man, about middle age, holding a set of poker cards, came to the doorway.  

“What the hell do you want kid? Can’t you see I’m busy? You know Campers aren’t allowed out past nine P.M. Now I would suggest you get back to your cabin before I kick your...” 

Suddenly, the scary man was pushed aside by an even scarier man, a man with a horse bottom-half and a man-top half. I blinked once, twice, three times, and the man was still a horse. “Mr. D! This is not one of our campers! I told you to be kind.” The horse-man said to who I guess was Mr. D. “Come on in, young one. It looks like you may be a new camper.” 

Mr. D took me into the house and gave me a change of clothes, black pants and an almost nauseating orange colored shirt that said ‘Camp Halfblood’ on it. I was still interested in finding out what this was all about, but I was even more worried about my safety. These random scary men were taking me into their house in the middle of the woods after being chased by a scary monster.  What else could go wrong? I was gestured to sit by the fireplace, and the horse-man explained everything to me. I was in disbelief. The gods of the Greek myths are real? I was only able to access this camp because I was one and I was in danger? My mother slept with a Greek god? My life, at this very moment, was altered forever. It finally made sense why my mother hated me. I was, not only, the result of her ‘dumb teenager decisions’, but I also was the result of her being with a god?  

The horse-man, who I found out was named Chiron, after explaining everything to me, took me to one of the cabins I had noticed earlier, and he told me it was Herme’s cabin, which is where I would stay until my godly parent claimed me.  

When I entered the cabin, most of the kids were asleep, because it was gods know what time of night, except two boys, one with dark curly hair and a scar running down is face who I assumed to be at least sixteen, and one with the prettiest blonde curls and green eyes that I have ever seen who seemed to be about my age. The boys were sitting on a window seat looking out to another large, Greek looking structure, discussing something that seemed to trouble the younger boy. Chiron called the two boys over, and they came to meet me. Chiron introduced the older boy as Luke Castellan, Herme’s cabin counselor, and the younger as Percy Jackson, another new camper who has only been here for a day. Percy and Luke shook my hand, and Chiron left them to help me navigate the cabin and find somewhere to sleep.  

“Nice to meet you, {reader}. It’s not every day we get a new camper, but when we do, I am always excited to meet them!” Luke Castellan said. He scared me a little, with his scar, and his height. His overall demeanor was slightly frightening, but I liked him all the same. He seemed to be welcoming and kind enough.  

I smiled at him, trying not to catch the eye of Percy, who seemed to be looking at me a lot. “Nice to meet you too.” I said in a monotone voice. I didn’t realize how tired I was until this moment. “I’m sorry, I’m so tired, getting chased down by a monster and finding out I’m some god hybrid thing that sends demons out to get me all within two hours. Where am I supposed to sleep?” 

Percy giggled. “I know how you feel. I watched my mom get killed by the minotaur last night, and here I am, not able to sleep cause of the nightmares. I should get some sleep too.” 

Luke glanced around the cabin. “I’m not sure where you’re going to sleep. All the cots are occupied, unless you want to sleep on the beanbag chairs over there.” He pointed to the pile of frumpy beanbag chairs in the corner of the cabin.  

“No, no. They can take my bed. I doubt I’m going to sleep anyways, y’know, nightmares and all.” Percy chimed in, probably noticing my disparity to sleeping on an uncomfortable looking beanbag chair.  

I shook my head. “No way. You were here before me. It’s okay, I can take the beanbags, you take your space. I hope my dad claims me before too long, so I can take a couple nights.”  

“I’m not letting you; you look too tired.” Percy said, in a voice that sounded almost threatening. “We can switch out if we’re both here for a while. I mean...if you want to.”  

I smiled at the boy. He seemed kinder than anyone else I knew, even though that wasn’t saying much. I didn’t know many people. I did take Percy’s bed that night, and that developed our friendship that would eventually become the most invaluable thing in my life. I sat with Percy at every meal, he showed me around the camp to the best of his ability, and we decided to train together, as we were both new outcasts to the camp. Even after he was chosen to go to the Poseidon cabin through the game capture the flag, and I was chosen by father to go to the Apollo cabin, our bond only grew closer, and we still managed to find time in our busy schedules to spend time with each other. 

One day, several months later, in these rare moments we were both free, I was lying on the ground in the strawberry fields that became my favorite part of the camp with Percy. We had a long day of training and decided to bask in the warmth of the camp, savoring the warm late summer days. I was picking dandelions out of the strawberries and weaving them together the way I used to do with my older sister. I was slowly making a crown out the buds, and it was turning out quite beautiful. It kept my easily distracted mind focused on what Percy was saying. He was going off on some tangent about Grover and his disloyalty to the camp and to Mr. D, something that Percy found alarming, as he was worried about his best friend’s safety.  

“I’m just glad I have you, {reader}. You really have been a good...friend all these months at camp.” Percy said, grinning at me through the strawberry bushes.  

My eyes twinkled when mine met his, and I placed the now completed dandelion crown in his blond curls that drew me to him the moment we met. “I’m glad I have you too, Perc. You made me feel a little less crazy.” 

He smiled at me, the dandelion crown slipping down his face. “You’ll always be in my heart.” He blushed a little, as we are not usually this compassionate for each other. 

“So will you!” I said, moving to put the flower crown back on the crown of his head. My fingers tingled under the small touch to his face, but I didn’t realize that it was love, at the time, at least I didn’t realize it was romantic love. That’s something I know too well now.  

... 

Five years later, Percy and I have not grown farther apart with age, we’ve grown closer. He saved the world, and I was always by his side through everything. He only grew more beautiful with age, too, his hair growing a little longer, eyes getting a little darker, scars from battles littered his arms, legs, and chest. He was always attractive to me, but now, it was even more so. He had also grown more physically affectionate towards me, brushing my hands with his, leaning on my shoulder during campfires, and even going as far to giving me kisses on the cheek when I saw him first thing in the morning and late at night when we left for the day. Sometimes, he snuck into my cabin or I into his if we had nightmares just so we could be with each other. His smell of sea salt and something else I couldn’t quite name (probably the blue candy that he ate daily), and it always comforted me during hard nights.  

All of this to say, though, we were just BFFs. Best platonic bros. Nothing more, nothing less. I loved him, I had realized over the years, loved him a little too much it was unbearable sometimes, but he was rumored to be with other people all the time, even though I knew he wasn’t. He would tell me, right? Right? He spent pretty much every waking minute with me and every minute asleep most of the time, too, so I would know. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t jealous of every person he came across. I loved him, and he was my sea boy, and I was his sunshine.  

That’s why, when we found ourselves in a very similar predicament to what we did all those years ago, during our first couple months at camp, I made a very risky move. 

I was sitting, face angled up to the sunlight, weaving a dandelion crown in my trembling hands. Percy had grown, so the flower crowns I made him now were twice the size of the ones I made him all those years ago. I delicately made a pattern with the dandelions again, and I looked up at Percy from time to time to nod or make a comment on whatever he had to say, but it was mostly silent, him humming and picking at the ground below us, and me, weaving my crown. 

Percy paused his picking at the ground and looked at me. I could feel his gaze on my face, and it made my cheeks heat up. I prayed to the gods that he thought it was just from the sun. “Do you remember when we did this, what, five years ago now? I would say we’ve grown a little, and we know more than we did then.”  

“What do you know now that you didn’t then?” I said, eyes not leaving the project in my hands.  

I assumed he shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I know more about the gods, about the world, about you.” 

Laughing, I finally tore my eyes away from the completed crown and I moved to place it on Percy’s head, settling it gently in his curls, careful not to mess up my handiwork. I let my fingers linger longer on his face than I did last time. “You know more about me, sea boy?” I asked him teasingly, finally meeting his eye that hasn’t left my face this entire time. 

“I guess I do, I mean, I feel like I do. I feel like I’ve barely spent a minute away from you since that day.” He leaned into my hand that was placing feather-like touches on his face. “I mean, I know that your favorite color is yellow, you love the same music I do, and you hate when I call you sunshine.” 

“You do know me, don’t you, Perc?” My hands dropped away from his face, and he pouted at the loss of contact even though our legs were centimeters from touching. I could feel electricity buzzing on my skin where our limbs were about to meet. That was something I always felt when I was close to him.  I always assumed, back then, that his love language was physical touch, and so he was just being a good friend by how affectionate he was to me. How delusional I was. 

“I sure do.” He flipped his body so that he was no longer facing me, instead he laid himself down on my lap. My hands instinctively went to his pretty hair, making sure to be mindful of his crown. “Y’know, I think I love you, {reader}.” 

My heart, in this moment skipped a beat, but then shattered at the same time. He loved me, but in a friendly way. “You don’t mean that, Perc. At least, you don’t mean that the way I want you to.” 

His head shot up from my lap, nearly slinging his flower crown from his head, and he turned back to face me at an alarmingly quick rate. “What do you mean, the way you want me to?” His hands met mine that were laying in my lap. He interlaced our fingers, and my entire body felt alive. 

I blushed and looked back up to the boy I have loved since we were pre-teens. “I love you, Perc, but I love you, like in a romantic way. I hope it’s not too late, cause you’re so damn attractive. You have always been to me, always will be. I think I’ve just been scared. I value you so much as a friend that I didn’t want to lose you.” I refused to look up from our intertwined hands, embarrassed and saddened by my confession. I was half expecting Percy to scoff and walk away, kicking pebbles up at me.  

Instead, he unclasped our hands and pulled my face up to look at him, his eyes shining in a way that I’ve never seen them shine before, his face glowing with a humongous grin. “I never thought you’d say that. You know that I have loved you all this time, too?”  

My heart skipped several beats this time. I’m not kidding; I was about to go into cardiac arrest. “Are you kidding? You’re pranking me right now.” I hid my burning face on his shoulder.  

His laugh vibrated underneath me, making me giggle, too. “I guess we’re both idiots.” 

I hesitantly pulled my face off his shoulder and asked him the scariest question I have ever asked someone. “Can I kiss you?” 

Our faces were inches apart when he whispered, “I thought you’d never ask.” The kiss was everything I could have ever asked for. At first it was gentle and loving, our noses bumping into each other, until eventually my hands found his hair and his found my waist. It was warm, and passionate, and everything I could’ve dreamt of. 

He slowly pulled away from me, both of us panting, foreheads touching. “That was...perfect.” 

I smiled. “Just like you, sea boy.” 

His face met my neck now, and he pressed warm kisses to my exposed skin, his hair tickling my jawline. I squirmed under him, trying to suppress a groan. He lifted his head up, his eyes met mine. I thought he never had looked better. The flower crown I made him was lopsided now, diagonal across his head, his lips were red and bitten, his face was perfectly flushed, and his pupils were blown out. “How did I get so lucky?” He said to me. 

“I am asking myself the same damn thing.” I smiled, keeping eye contact with him. He connected our lips once again, and that’s when I knew I was a goner. I had been all those years ago, but we have grown a lot since then. Percy being in my eyes and in my heart all the time harbored the feeling that I have been carrying, and now I get to express. 

Years from now, I hope he still gets to be in my heart, and I in his. 

[heathsuii]

Senior Year

「 Suna Rintaro x Reader 」

₊˚ෆ synopsis. you reflect on how quickly autumn had arrived, mirroring the swift changes in your own life as you enter senior year of high school.

cw. fem reader, fluff, slight angst, highschool!au, seatmate!suna, best friends to lovers, mutual pining, reader is emotional, not proofread !

words. 975

a/n. happy belated four years to this blog! the urge to write caught up to me. i'm thinking of actually making a masterlist for this. let me know your thoughts and i hope y'all have a great day <333

autumn air and hues of orange leaves work alongside to guide the new season. fall had snuck in like a shadow at sundown, and while you hadn't noticed it until now, everything seemed to have change over night.

yesterday, the trees were still holding on to their green, hesitant to let go. today, there were amber streaks, and the wind carried a definite feel that you hadn't felt in months. it seemed to be moving too quickly.

it felt like it was just yesterday when he made the decision to sit next to you. becoming one of many interactions you'll share. you let out a quiet sigh, thinking back to those days that felt like they would last forever. alas, life never seemed to work that way. now, here you are—senior year. the last one. the year you had been waiting for, yet now that it was here, you weren't sure where the time had gone.

you're sitting on a bench outside the inarizaki school gymnasium. waiting for a certain someone to finish volleyball practice. this was your routine for who knows how long almost three years.

what started out as a punishment for losing to a game of rock, paper, scissors gradually turned into a habit of waiting just to walk home together. life was silly that way.

"our streak is not streaking anymore."

a familiar voice entered your mind. you then remembered hearing his voice for the first time, back in freshman year, where everything felt new and exciting, with years ahead of you. presently, there was a bittersweet edge to it. each golden leaf that fell to the ground seemed to whisper that things were changing, and not just the seasons. college applications, farewells, the uncertainty of what would come next. it all hung in the cool autumn air.

"is this subtle foreshadowing? don't tell me.. you streak with someone else..."

your heart ached. not from what he said, but because this would be the last year you'd spend together like this, walking the same halls, sharing late-night study sessions, the same jokes. after graduation, your paths would diverge. it's inevitable, really.

suna brushed away a strand of hair stuck on your forehead. successfully snapping you out of your thoughts. successfully making the butterflies in your stomach flutter.

he took out a 500 yen coin from his pocket, and held it infront of you. "a penny for your thoughts?"

wanting to rid of the worry, you sighed. "it's nothing, i just started dwelling over the fact that we'll be graduating."

"if you're scared of graduating you could be a repeater." suna answers, trying to lighten the mood.

you gently hit his arm before proceeding to knock on the wooden bench. "that is so not a funny thing to say, rin!"

"alright, alright. jokes aside, there's nothing for you to be afraid of. you don't have to be alone, you know? i'm here for you." he proclaims while simultaneously soothing your back in a circular motion.

"how can you be so sure?" you mumbled, your forehead crinkling in the process.

"i know so," suna replies. giving you an assuring smile, pressing his thumb on your forehead. "trust me."

a smile spread across his face, and for a moment, everything else faded away. feeling a warmth spread through you, like the sun breaking through the clouds. you felt the warmth on your face.

it was in those smiles you saw the promise of what could be, the warmth of a friendship that felt so much deeper than just friendship.

"you're my best friend, what choice do i have?" you winced internally at your choice of words.

"what if i want more than that?"

your breathe hitched. words seemed to be stuck inside your throat. were you hearing him correctly? was this another faux flirtation? maybe this was your mind playing yet again its awful tricks on you—

"i really really like you. i like you a lot... for the longest time." suna adds, cradling your face ever so gently.

or maybe not. maybe it was never casual. maybe he does likes you.

"i like you too." you exclaim, your mouth had a mind of its own. then again, you were never one to hesitate when you're with him.

suna rintaro gave you a boyish grin. a grin that spread across his face like a ray of sunshine piercing through the gray clouds of your thoughts.

in that moment, it felt as if the world had stopped; everything faded into the background, and it was just him, glowing with pride and happiness. it was infectious, drawing you in, and you found yourself unable to resist smiling back.

he always had that effect on you, even on days when you felt heavy with unspoken fears. that grin had the power to chase away the clouds that hovered over you, if only for a moment.

each time he smiled or grinned at you, it was as if he were speaking a language only you could understand. a soft whisper of reassurance that told you everything would be okay, even when you felt like your world was crumbling.

in those fleeting moments, the weight of everything—college applications, impending goodbyes, and the uncertainty of your futures—seemed to lift. it was as if his smile casted a spell that made everything else go away.

a soft breeze rustled the leaves above you both, showering you with a sprinkle of gold.

the future is uncertain. yet, you chose to brace the unknown.

you laughed, caught off guard by the sudden flurry. “it’s like nature agrees!” you exclaimed, your heart dancing in tune with the fluttering leaves.

you made the decision to stop thinking of the uncertainties ahead. it comes soon enough.

“nature definitely approves of us,” suna said with a lovesick grin, shifting closer to you. your hands intertwined, fingers lacing perfectly together.

[htpssgavi]

pleaseee bestfriends to lovers with gavi🙏🙏🙏

hiii!!! Sorry it took me that much to write it😭😭

Best Friends to Lovers

Gavi and y/n had been best friends for as long as he could remember. Growing up in the same vibrant neighborhood in Barcelona, they shared everything from childhood secrets to teenage dreams. Now at nineteen, Gavi was making a name for himself as a talented footballer at FC Barcelona, while y/n, eighteen, was finishing high school and making waves as a rising star in volleyball.

Their bond was unbreakable, a blend of deep friendship and mutual respect. They were always there for each other, through the highs and lows, laughter and tears. But lately, something had shifted. Gavi couldn't deny the way his heart raced when y/n was around, the way his eyes lingered on her a bit longer than before, the way her touch sent shivers down his spine.

One breezy spring evening, after a particularly exhausting match, Gavi decided to unwind with y/n. They agreed to visit their favorite spot—a quiet beach just outside Barcelona. It was their haven, a place where they could escape the world and just be themselves.

As they walked along the sandy shore, the setting sun casting a golden glow over the waves, Gavi couldn't help but steal glances at y/n. She looked more beautiful than ever, her eyes reflecting the warm hues of the sunset, her smile radiant. His heart swelled with a mixture of affection and longing he could no longer ignore.

"Do you remember when we first came here?" y/n asked, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"Of course," Gavi replied with a smile. "We were just kids, and we thought this beach was a hidden treasure. We even made a pact to keep it our secret spot."

Y/n laughed, the sound like music to Gavi's ears. "And we've kept that promise all these years. This place still feels magical."

They found a spot near the water and sat down, the serene atmosphere enveloping them. For a while, they watched the waves gently lapping at the shore, the scene as peaceful as their friendship had always been. But tonight, Gavi felt a sense of urgency, a need to say what he'd been holding back for too long.

"Y/n, there's something I need to tell you," he began, his voice tinged with nervousness.

She turned to him, her eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of concern. "What is it, Gavi?"

He took a deep breath, his heart pounding. "We've been best friends for so long, and you've always been there for me. But recently, I've realized something… something more. I can't keep it to myself any longer."

Y/n's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening. "What do you mean?"

Gavi reached for her hand, his touch gentle but firm. "I love you, y/n. Not just as a friend, but as someone I want to share my life with. I've been afraid to tell you because I didn't want to risk our friendship, but I can't hide it anymore."

Tears filled y/n's eyes as she listened, her heart pounding in her chest. "Gavi, I… I love you too. I've felt this way for a while but was too scared to say anything."

Relief and joy washed over Gavi as he pulled her into his arms. They stayed like that for a while, holding each other as the sun dipped below the horizon, their hearts beating in sync.

From that moment on, their relationship changed. They were no longer just best friends; they were partners, lovers, soulmates. Gavi's career continued to soar, and y/n's volleyball skills flourished, each of them supporting and inspiring the other. They traveled together, explored new places, and built a life filled with love, laughter, and countless shared moments.

Their bond, once a simple friendship, had grown into something beautiful and profound. Through every challenge and triumph, they stood by each other's side, their love growing stronger with each passing day.

And so, beneath the ever-present Catalonian sky, Gavi and y/n wrote the chapters of their love story, forever intertwined, forever in love. Their journey together was a testament to the power of love and the beauty of finding a soulmate in the most unexpected places.

[heartsoji]

truth or dare?

summary: kuroo has a very special dare for you...

kenma x reader

"y/n! truth or dare?" kuroo yelled, pointing his finger at you.

you didn't hesitate for a moment. "dare."

the circled ooooo-ed as kuroo thought really hard about what he wanted your dare to be.

after around a minute had passed, he looked up at you with a devious smirk that sent shivers down your spine.

"i dare you..." he started, "to kiss your crush on the cheek."

the nekoma volleyball team gasped and began to murmur among themselves.

"y/n's crush?"

"lucky bastard!"

"i bet it's me."

"no, it's not."

whilst the team was trying to figure out who the mystery guy could possibly be, you were just sitting there, sending a nasty death glare to kuroo while he just grinned at you like a cheshire cat.

"what if my crush isn't here?" you challenged.

"he is."

louder oooo's filled the room as they tried to guess who it could be, not bothering trying to be quiet about it now.

"it's probably kai, the lucky bastard!"

"no, no, it's definitely me!"

"lev, shut up."

"who the hell is it?! i'll fight him!"

"yamamoto."

"yep, yaku-san."

"hey kenma," yamamoto called out to the fake blonde sitting outside the circle on his game boy, "who do you think it is?"

he blinked. "think what is?"

"you little- haven't you been listening? y/n's crush. he's in the room." he tsked, putting extra enunciation on the words "y/n's crush."

your cheeks turned mad red and you instantly tried to defend yourself. "he might not be!"

"he is."

"kuroo, you little-!" *SMACK*

"ow! that huuuurt y/n-chan!"

kenma turned his attention back to his game as you held your breath. "dunno. it doesn't really affect me."

your heart sank.

yamamoto sighed. "how kenma of you. this is a big deal!"

but it would affect him. because if you went on with the dare, his cheek would be the one meeting your lips. but if he didn't care, that definitely meant that he didn't reciprocate. then again, kenma remained indifferent about a majority of topics, even ones he was interested in, so just maybe? but it was unlikely, and you really didn't want to ruin your friendship with him when it only started a year ago.

"moving on," kuroo interrupted, wanting to get on with it, "our precious manager-chan here has to complete the dare."

"i'd kick you in the balls if i wasn't so nice." you snarled.

he just grinned in response.

you sighed, knowing that there really wasn't away out of this.

"ok, everyone has to close their eyes."

"what?"

"why?"

"man.."

"everyone has to close their eyes for my pride and privacy. close your eyes, guys. if you open them, you'll be betraying my trust and i would hate you."

everyone gasped. no one wanted that. so, they all complied with your wishes, including kenma, even though he wasn't really playing.

when all the eyes were closed, you tiptoed over to kuroo to whisper a "i really hate you for this. i trusted you with that info, man. now, thanks to you, my friendship with him might be ruined forever. i'm seriously mad at you, kuroo."

you meant it. you were actually really scared for what might happen with kenma. you confided in kuroo so that he could find out what kenma thought of you for you with the condition that he not tell a soul, but he refused to tell you anything when you asked about what kenma said about you, so it ended up being a worthless exchange.

you then tiptoed around the circle, stomping your feet, stopping, and making kissy noises occasionally to try to ensure that they didn't know who it was.

finally, you made a loud smooch in the air right above kenma, and then, heart pounding out of your chest, you leaned down and gave him a gentle peck to the cheek.

you took a second to analyze his reaction, and you noticed an immediate change in the color of his ears. he quickly pulled his hood over them to cover it up, and slowly, his pretty eyes fluttered open. he gave you a small, shy smile before averting his gaze, a flustered look on his face.

that reaction was...good, right?

you walked around the circle once more for good measure, standing extra long in certain spots to ensure that the team wouldn't know.

finally, you returned to your spot in the circle.

"open your eyes."

the team's eyes shot open and they quickly started trying to figure out who the lucky boy was.

"kai, be honest. was it you?"

"no, it wasn't."

"don't lie!"

"i can't believe it wasn't me..."

"lev, the only certainty we had about who it was was that it wasn't you."

while everyone was trying to figure it out, you looked up at kenma, who was already staring at you. you quickly averted your gaze before returning back to him.

he gave you a smile that released a whole butterfly farm in your stomach and gently formed a phone signal with his hand before mouthing, "call me."

i guess you wouldn't be too mad at kuroo.

[nariism]

my brother's best friend

pair. miya osamu x gn!reader

content: fluff, attempts at humour, miya atsumu is a little shit, first loves, mutual pining

synopsis. miya osamu takes pride in the fact that he’s the smarter of the twins. he, in fact, is not (especially when it comes to you).

wc. 3.1k

a/n: om nom nom nom nom brother's best friend trope nom nom nom... ok i have to come clean about this fic i literally wrote the first draft for this in 2021 on WATTPAD and it's been sitting dormant forever up until recently. enjoy 🫶

‎oh my god, how did i end up here?

it’s the only thought repeating over and over again in osamu’s head as he sits there staring at you. you’re too preoccupied with the menu in your hands to notice his unwavering gaze, scanning through it and muttering to yourself indecisively about what to order.

of course, the question of how he ended up here on a date with you could be summarized in one simple sentence:

miya atsumu is the world’s biggest idiot.

if kita or aran were here they would surely be poking fun at him right now, lecturing him about how his dna is a perfect carbon copy of atsumu’s. and while they would be right, osamu is convinced his brother has at least 70% less brain cell capacity.

the thought makes him feel a little smug. (he’s in the class under atsumu.)

you were friends. at least as far as how often you saw each other, he considered you good friends. maybe. not that he knew all that much about you other than the fact that you were constantly... around. if he didn’t know that atsumu was the biggest knucklehead on planet earth, he would have assumed you were dating. but he knew his brother was too invested in volleyball to be seeing anyone seriously, and you didn’t didn’t seem like the type to mess around with guys like him anyways.

you were way too level-headed for that despite the raunchy, head-turning jokes you liked to tell, which honestly might be the reason why atsumu keeps you around.

whenever you came to their house, you would stick to lounging in atsumu’s room or the living room. you typically avoided disturbing osamu and the rest of their family — not like they minded having you around. no, in fact, their mother had a strange soft spot for you. you were quiet and well mannered, until it was just the three of you and suddenly an onslaught of fierce attacks on poor atsumu would commence.

for the majority of your friendship, you have stayed out of his way and he stays out of yours. you only talk to each other when deemed necessary, like when walking home from school or when you shyly greet him at the door because atsumu is on the toilet. he does, however, rejoice in the fact that there is another person on the atsumu hate train, and appreciates that you’re at least colourful with your insults. it’s impressive, really.

(he would never admit it. never. never ever. but it warms his heart a little that there’s someone out there just like him, expressing their love for miya atsumu in less conventional ways.)

you were quick witted and funny. a free source of entertainment when he would grow bored of his brother’s shenanigans. and it was a two way street, because when you needed a break from atsumu, osamu was always right there. 

you were noticeably gentler with the younger of the miya twins: asking him how school was, and if he needed help with his chemistry homework, and what he had for lunch. menial little things, but sometimes he found himself thinking that it was the highlight of his day.

otherwise, your presence in his life is, as osamu considers it, indifferent.

sure, he likes to look at you. and sometimes, maybe, he wishes you and atsumu would invite him around more often. it also doesn’t help his heart when you’re so nice to him, like when you’re all having dinner together and you pretend you don’t want the last dumpling on your plate and shovel it onto his. he likes that. or when you invite yourself into their freezer for ice cream, you always make sure to grab an extra one for him. there have been multiple occasions in which you’ve wordlessly slid him your notes to copy, too.

you were good at that; knowing what others wanted and being more selfless than the average person. you’re a people pleaser, and though he and atsumu used to make fun of your type when they were kids, your charm is undeniable.

unfortunately, actually making any sort of move on you is out of the question. not only would it potentially complicate things between you and him, it would also risk putting a strain on your friendship with atsumu. making his brother’s life a living hell is what miya osamu was born into this world to do, but for some reason his stomach turns at the thought of ruining your friendship.

you were just atsumu’s cute best friend. nothing less, nothing more. and he would very much like to beat the “i fell in love with my brother’s best friend” allegations, thank you.

he realizes he’s still looking at you intently with his arms crossed over his chest. he watches as your nose scrunches a little in thought, trying to decide between their two best sellers. he sighs in relief when you get up to order for yourself, tucking a stray hair under his cap before going back to sulking with his thoughts.

atsumu had a lot of bad ideas. so many that if they sat down and listed them all out they might be there for a couple days. but this? this is his worst one yet. and how osamu managed to get roped (bribed) into this, he will never know. but here he is, and here you are, and here atsumu is not.

he really should get better at saying no to atsumu.

(“c’mon, ‘samu! please? for me?!”

“what the hell? no. that’s a shitty thing to do. just tell them ya can’t go.”

“but it’s their birthday! they were lookin’ forward to this. they’ll hate me forever if i bailed!”

“and? why would i help you? ‘specially with somethin’ so stupid. it’s your fault you didn’t plan better.”

“don’t be like that, y’know it was a last minute thing!”

a beat of silence.

“pretty please? it’s their birthday… you guys are friends too, right?”

osamu can’t believe he’s entertaining this stupid idea for even a second. you’re not an idiot. you’d know it’s him with a single glance.

“this is an all time low, even for you. they’ll notice it’s me right away. are ya crazy, ‘tsumu? hit your head or somethin’?”

“it’s just this one time! i’ll never ask ya for anythin’ ever again. never ever ever ever, i swear it.”

“...’tsumu…”

“don’t sound so tired with me! do this for your big brother. have i mentioned it’s their birthday?”

big brother? osamu scoffs loudly.

“you actually mentioned it three times. and yer only a couple minutes older than me. but... fine.”

“don’t be such a jacka- wait, what?”

“i said fine. but you owe me lunch for the next two weeks.”

“deal!”

“... are ya sure they won’t know it’s me? i mean, i really think you should reconsider-”

“oh shut up, ‘samu, we’re identical!”

“just know that i won’t hesitate to throw ya under the bus if shit hits the fan.”)

what a terrible plan. pretending to be atsumu was proving to be harder than he initially anticipated. he would have thought that spending every agonizing, waking, living hour with his brother would have trained him well enough, but atsumu is so no-chill that it’s somehow making this already horrible idea even worse with every passing second.

surprisingly, you haven’t said anything. you haven’t acknowledged the massive elephant in the room. this could only mean one of three things:

1. you’ve noticed, but you’re desperately trying to spare atsumu’s feelings and osamu’s embarrassment by not bringing it up.

2. you’re dumber than he thought. dumber than a rock, actually, if you didn’t take one look at osamu and know it was him.

3. you are a cruel, wicked, evil, deranged human being who finds osamu’s situation entirely hilarious and wants this to go on for as long as possible.

judging by your casual banter, he’s willing to bet it’s either option one or two. you’re twirling a lanyard around your finger when you finally return with your drink of choice in tow. next destination: the local aquarium. atsumu put a surprising amount of effort into planning the day.

it’s a shame he hadn’t accounted for planning himself into it.

‎he shouldn’t have agreed to come here.

spending time alone with you like this was bound to stir up feelings he’d long ago buried in the hollows of his heart. of the miya twins, osamu was always better at keeping his emotions under wraps. there were rare occasions in which he lost his cool, in which he was actually somehow worse than atsumu, but in general he was as level-headed as you were.

you’re ruining him and his plans to never acknowledge his feelings for you.

it’s unfair, really, how his heart seemingly gets lodged in his throat when you cling to his arm so tightly, laughing and pointing out all the funny-looking fish. and when you point at something called a vampire squid, raving about how long it took you to find one in animal crossing, he nearly crumbles to his knees and puts his head in his hands.

(in other words, he’s totally whipped. he’s not beating those allegations.)

osamu thought he could get used to looking at anyone’s face. he always found people boring — he grew up being the other half of his brother, after all. the miya twins are many things, but boring is not one of them, and to entertain them you have to be someone with a special brand of humour.

but now, as he looks at you with the soft blue glow from the tank shining against your face, he can’t help the thought that crosses his mind:

i could never get tired of this.

“... hailing from the depths of tropical and subtropical waters, the vampire squid feeds on marine snow.”

he blinks back into reality, eyes drifting from you to the sea creature you’re admiring, then back to you. “marine snow? sounds gross.”

“it’s the debris that falls to the lower levels of the ocean. lots of deep sea creatures feed that way since it saves them the energy of needing to go hunt.”

osamu seems skeptical. “they really just eat anythin’ like that?”

your head turns to look at him. there’s a little smile playing on your face, like you seem amused by what he just said. “sounds like someone i know.”

he makes a strange expression in response. were you talking about him? did you often bring him up when you were alone with atsumu? the soft and fond look in your eyes doesn’t help his racing heart. the idea that you and atsumu talk about him in private so sweetly makes his face burn slightly in embarrassment.

he shakes his head to get the thought out of his brain before stuffing his hands into his pockets.

your arm finds his again, locking together. it’s an oddly intimate action, even if you think he really is atsumu. he doesn’t know you to be the most touchy person on earth, though he supposes he can’t see what you’re like behind the closed doors of his brother’s bedroom. his blood boils for some reason.

you stop at the next tank, the one situated in the centre of the room filled high with kelp and schools of tiny fish. you’re looking at them with wide eyes, light shimmering in them. he could cry right now. you look like an angel bathed in the shadows of dancing fish as your gaze carefully follows a school circling around the top of the aquarium.

there’s a feeling swimming inside of him, unfamiliar and oh so dreadful. he can feel it in raging in every part of him — in his heart, in the fiery pits of his stomach, in his throat — and he knows exactly which word comes to mind.

miya osamu may be in the lowest class in his year, and he might share a single brain cell with his brother, but he’s read enough books to describe this feeling. he’s listened to enough love songs to know this ache in him.

if you asked him ten years from now, he’d tell you exactly the same thing as he would right now; that your first love is always petrifying.

“pretty, aren’t they?”

“yeah. real pretty.”

but he hasn’t looked at them even once. how could he when there’s a living, breathing angel standing next to him?

‎osamu delivers you to your doorstep that night.

it feels like a dream, the whole day and having the privilege of holding your hand and feeling your body against his.

maybe it was just the greedy monster in him speaking. the laws of the universe dictate that if it’s you and osamu, atsumu needs to be there, too. the miya twins have always come in a package. a duo. there is no just atsumu or just osamu, at least there wasn’t until you came along.

suddenly it was you and atsumu. it was atsumu and osamu, and you. but there was never just you and osamu. it didn’t work that way.

well, screw the universe and its laws. osamu never believed in that astrology shit anyways.

he’s fully prepared to keep this day an untarnished memory — something to cherish when life goes back to normal and he’s unable to stand shoulder to shoulder like this with you again.

when you lean in to kiss him, there is only one thought repeating in his mind like a mantra:

it’s just once. just one day. one last perfect memory.

you’re so close that he can feel your breath filling his lungs. his heart hammers where it rests in his chest, so loud that he can hear it thundering in his ears. it’s then that he realizes this is wrong. all of it is wrong.

he recoils back with lightning speed, and his heart aches at the sight of your disappointed and puzzled expression. but it’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to atsumu either.

he cares about both of you too much to be selfish right now.

how could he possibly risk hurting two of the people he cared most about in the world? he couldn’t be that self-centred, to be able to steal a kiss from you just to keep his memories of this day perfect.

perfect doesn’t exist if none of it is real.

“i’m not… i’m not who you think i am.”

he slides the hat off his head with shame burning in his cheeks, avoiding your eyes like a child who got caught with his hand in a cookie jar. it was time for him to be honest, both with you and himself.

“look, yer really cool. and i– crap, it’s complicated, ‘kay? i might like you. like– like you, like you. i wasn’t thinkin’ straight. 'm really sorry, i know it was wrong to string you along, i was just havin’ so much fun today that–”

his mouth suddenly comes to a halt as you reach forward and capture his cheeks between your fingers, squishing them together so he’ll stop rambling.

you look at him with a confused but amused smile. “um, ‘samu? i like you, too.”

“what?” he sputters out as much as he can with his face still held in place. his brows furrow, but all rational thoughts have stopped flowing in his mind. he’s staring at you like a flabbergasted idiot, so you continue.

“why else would i agree to go on a date with you on my birthday?”

“but– i– huh?”

your head tilts. “this was a date, wasn’t it?”

it dawns on him then. it had never occurred to osamu that there was another explanation for your strange lack of acknowledgment that he is painfully easy to see through:

4. you like him and simply thought this was a date. you like him as much as he likes you, which is a stupid amount. after all, he likes you enough to go through with an infinite number of atsumu’s terrible ideas just to make you happy.

of course you weren’t that dense. of course he was found out the second you laid eyes on him. of course he had misread the entire situation because he was blinded by his brother’s boisterous claims that they were indistinguishable.

“this is ridiculous. i can’t believe you–… atsumu somehow always pulls through even when he doesn’t mean to.”

“what do you mean?”

“whadd’ya mean, what do i mean?”

“about atsumu?”

“oh, he was freakin’ out about missin’ today and wanted me to go through this whole thing pretendin' i’m him so ya wouldn’t be mad at him.”

“but he already told me he couldn’t make it today? you really didn’t have to do… all this,” you gesture to his whole body with a flick of your wrist.

at your words osamu finally crumbles to his knees in pure agony. he looks up to the sky, to whatever god has forsaken him by making atsumu his other half, and sighs with the weight of the world on his shoulders. he can just imagine the shit-eating grin his brother has right now.

“i’m…” he pauses, carefully selecting his next words, “going to smother him with a pillow.”

you blink at him for a moment before all the pieces fall into place.

all the times you’d gushed to atsumu about your massive crush on his twin and the way he’d complain to no end about neither of you making a move, forcing him to watch on with mild disgust as his best friend and brother made goo goo eyes at each other. all the times he would “forget” his shoes at the gym and need to run back to grab them, pushing you into small talk with osamu. all the times he would suffer through your teasing just to see the two of you walking side-by-side sharing proud little smiles.

atsumu’s resume looks something like this: world’s biggest idiot, volleyball player, third-wheel, and tired wingman.

you’ll have to thank him later.

“no wonder you’ve been acting so weird all day! i thought you were just one of those guys who gets nervous on first dates!” accompanied by this statement is a laugh that makes osamu weak.

he grumbles. “what’s so funny?”

“say what you want, but you’re as dumb as ‘tsumu.”

“no… please… don’t compare me to that nitwit… i might have a heart attack at this rate.”

you snicker quietly as you help osamu back onto his feet, eyes shimmering with joy as you let his confession sink in.

“you’re right, he is an idiot.”

“dumbass.”

“moron.”

“he’s gonna hate us even more from now on,” osamu smiles uncontrollably, inching closer to you again.

“yeah?” your lips brush against his daringly, “i can live with that.”

EXTRA:

© ALABOADOA 2023 — please do not translate or post my works to other platforms.

🏷️ @hyomagiri (im dead like actually dead)

[hiraethwa]

one summer day

09 disconnect. where an unbridgeable distance stretches between you and ushijima

<< 08 to be human. | >> 10 epiphany.

pairing: ushijima wakatoshi x reader a/n: a short one now, the next one is like 5k words hehe - ave word count: 1.8k warnings: angst! miscommunication tags: @lemurzsquad @daisy-room @integers -- (inbox me if you want to be added to the tag list)

you surprised yourself with the creativity of your own excuses to avoid wakatoshi. group study? you can’t, you need to practice for orchestra. lunch? chika from orchestra wanted to go over some pieces with you. walking you home from school? eita’s got it, you have homework to go over together anyway.

as oblivious as ushijima is at times, you are quite sure he is onto you avoiding him. 

you can’t go on like this forever, you had decided back then. it’s one thing when the person you are in love with doesn’t see you that way — you expected nothing from him in that way, but it's another thing completely when he didn’t tell you that they lost in nationals.

he can’t go on expecting you to open up to him when he won’t do the same. when he won’t treat you as a close friend like you do with him. he knows your secrets but what do you know of his? 

it’s a purely give and take friendship, and you realize how ironic it is, being the one to cut it off, considering he is the one who only gives and you are the one who only takes from him. how can you give if he does not want to take?

you have accepted that it was a one-sided pining, but you thought you were friends. and selfishly, you wanted to be the person he turns to when life knocks him down. you wanted to mean something to him, even if that meant just friends. what does he think of you if you weren’t worth his honesty? what is your worth in his eyes then? you didn’t want to know.

how am i supposed to live knowing the answer to that when i started living because of you?

and so like a coward, you ran. 

at times like this, you are grateful for the fact that you are not in the same class as ushijima. 

semi became your shield, the wall between the two of you. the morning after you stayed over at ushijima’s dorm, you had run into tendo and semi while leaving. 

“this never happened,” you told them before heading home. and semi, having guessed for a while of your feelings towards ushijima, hurried to catch up with you. he had noticed the anguish carved into the lines of your face. 

you kept your silence, but he pestered you until you broke. you cried, squeezing your eyes shut at a feeble attempt to keep your tears in. your silent sobs wracking your frame that felt so small in his arms. and all he could do was hold onto you tightly, rubbing your back to comfort you.

your voice came out in a broken whisper, “semi, it hurts.”

that kicked his protectiveness over you into overdrive. “what did that bastard do?” 

you only shook your head quietly, tears soaking his jacket as you held onto him like your life depended on it.

at the slightest discomfort you show in ushijima’s presence, semi would usher you away, or stop him from approaching you. after three weeks of tension and hostility between the two, or more like hostility on semi’s part and confusion from ushijima, you relented. 

you didn’t want to be the cause for a fight in the volleyball team, and with semi’s hotheadedness, it was more than likely to occur in your absence. 

“it’s not his fault, semi.” you started, hugging your knees. that day, you found yourself sitting on the little concrete ledge outside the classroom with him to hide from ushijima. 

“he used you and you’re saying it’s not his fault?”

“what– no! it wasn’t anything like that!” you had fumbled with words at his misunderstanding. 

“i just don’t think he care about–” you shook your head. “he doesn’t treat me as a friend. not in the same way i do. and i don’t understand why. why he bothered being there for me if he doesn’t see me as a friend.” why he put my heart back together just to be the one to shatter it. you blinked rapidly, willing your tear ducts to listen to you. 

“oh, y/n. well he’s a shithead for that.” he nudged you with his shoulder. “say the word and i will punch him for you.”

“as if you would win that fight,” you sniffled, letting out a small laugh at his attempt to cheer you up. 

“oi, how could you say that? i am on your side here.” he squatted in front of you pouting. “c’mon we need to get back to class”

he offered you a hand as he rose. “thanks eita” you grabbed his outreached hand and dusted yourself off. 

back to the trenches you went. life goes on. you had once thought that you would rather have all of him as he is right now platonically than romantically, but life has a strange sense of humor. it hurt and hurt and hurt. and oh gods, will it ever stop?

“do you want to talk to him?” semi had asked you only once, a few days after he found out what happened between the two of you. you had only shaken your head and muttered something about “not wanting to find out”. he dropped the topic after that, respecting your decision, but still running interference whenever ushijima comes up. 

for your sake, he didn’t try to push you to do anything you were uncomfortable with, even if the situation was slowly deteriorating and quickly spinning out of control. what he didn’t tell you was ushijima’s growing irritability showing through at practice to the point that coach washijo told him to get his shit together. 

the curt and polite captain had descended to snapping at the younger players a handful of times when his patience ran thin. with the compounding factor of you avoiding him like a plague, his controlled composure is slowly reaching its limit. 

ushijima did not understand what he could have done to have you keep your distance from him. he was frustrated that he could not even try to talk to you with semi stopping him at every opportunity. what had he done so wrong that you are refusing to speak to him?

unable to figure out the problem on his own, he had spoken to tendo to get his opinion on the matter. tendo had suggested that perhaps it is the fact that you had stayed over in the same bed as him, which is something only two people in a relationship do, despite being only friends, and that he had tarnished your honor. 

then one day at practice, tendo announced that he had a good idea to get you alone with ushijima to talk things through, and so the plan was hatched. 

as tendo knocked on the door and pushed it open, he sees you for the first time in a few weeks, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. tendo had managed to squirrel the location of the classroom where the orchestra practice was held out of semi, and is now requesting the president for permission to speak with you privately. 

the short haired girl hesitates, but ushijima steps forward, “please, it is important.” at his words, she appears stricken, and torn between agreeing to their request and respecting yours. she knows that you have been avoiding him. hell, the whole year knows. 

she relents under pressure. ushijima is cognizant of his good looks, and his effect on girls in general. he knows of the fans he has garnered through his time in shiratorizawa, and strongly dislikes that most of them come to support him at games because of his looks, and not his skills. he has heard the whispers and the stares and his fair share of oh, he’s so hot’s and the i wish he’s my boyfriend’s throughout the years. but sometimes, it comes in handy, like right now.

his eyes stay on you, noting the resignedness on your face as you gently put the violin down on your seat that was right in front of the conductor. the glare you throw towards the short haired girl from earlier makes him chuckle under his breath. 

you march out towards a secluded archway, not bothering to check if he is following, but of course he is. he follows you closely, eyes taking in your moving form with detail. from the extra inch that your hair had grown in the last month and the specific ash brown of your hair that he had missed finding strands of on his clothes to your head moving side to side, looking at everything but him. 

“what did you want to talk about?” you waste no time in getting straight to the point.

he has to admit that it hurts for you to treat him like some stranger you had to deal with and go back to whatever you were doing, but if tendo is right, he deserves it. 

“i wanted to apologize.” he says, watching the fire in your eyes flicker before you looked away, feigning nonchalance.

“what for?” you shove your trembling hands deep into your pockets, far, far away from his watchful eyes. you hate it. you hate the way he sees through you so easily. 

ushijima hesitates then, hoping to the gods who are listening that tendo is right, “for having you stay over and share the bed with me even though we are not a couple.”

“i’m sorry, what?” you let out a laugh of disbelief. all the different directions you had thought this conversation would go, all of them ending in either tears or shouting, you did not see this one coming. “you thought i what?”

you lick your parched lips, “you thought i was avoiding you for something as insignificant as that?” all your overthinking and sleepless nights for him to come to this conclusion?

his eyebrows furrow at your words. “that is not the reason you–”

“absolutely not.” you cut him short, teeth gritted at your own foolishness, of secretly hoping he would come to the realization on his own, and maybe, maybe you can go back to how things were. 

noticing your kouhai poking her head out from the classroom back down the hallway, you take that as your cue to leave. “now if you will excuse me, i need to get back to practice.”

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[haikyu-mp4]

I just woke up in a sweat with the idea of a fake dating fic with Korai where he and the reader are “pretending” a little too well INCLUDING when there’s no one around

Then I saw they your requests were open and the speed at which I typed this is almost embarrassing lol

the way I saw this first thing in the morning and skipped breakfast to start drafting, I am forever thankful for how this request had me daydreaming. I'm sorry it still took me so long<3

Faking it

word count; 1116 – f!reader

Hoshiumi had gained quite the reputation as a volleyball player who can be both too prideful and too unfiltered, especially in his interviews. The Schweiden Adlers’ PR managers were pulling their hair out trying to media train him, and he was way too good of a player to let go of for something like that. Not that he was absolutely terrible with the media, but he could get a bit loud, especially when compared to his teammates, which he often was.

So when he takes you, one of his best friends since high school, out for ice cream on a particularly hot day, the paparazzi were snapping photos like crazy, and he made headlines the next day along the lines of Has the Adlers’ hothead found someone to keep him cool?

To say his managers were ecstatic would be an understatement, so when he asked them to handle this scandal so you don’t have to get involved in anything, he was met with hesitance.

“We were going to suggest, as most of the news articles seem rather positive, that the two of you should keep this up for a while. Pretending to date. Smooth out your reputation until it would be natural to find you wanted to stay friends or something.”

Hoshiumi’s heartbeat quickened, and even though his mind tried to tell him it was anger at the suggestion of involving you, his heart recognised it as the song it sang every time his eyes met yours. A distinct kind of nervousness. His fists were clenching and unclenching, trying to decide what he felt. “It’ll be up to her, but I can ask.”

The managers at hand did a little childish cheer, making Hoshiumi huff with a smile before asking if there was anything else and leaving when they confirmed no, not until he had a clear answer to their proposition.

His hands were cold. How do you ask your best friend to fake date you?

You’re in the Schweiden Adlers gym, practising spikes as Kageyama had to attend some birthday tonight instead of extra practice. In high school, you had played as the setter, and you got used enough to setting for Korai throughout your friendship. You also had a nasty float serve he liked to practice receiving, so he didn’t mind practising alone with you at all.

Not usually at least, when he didn’t have such a heavy question resting on his mind.

“You’re not dating anyone, right?” Hoshiumi asked before throwing the ball for you.

You puffed out a laugh, setting the ball and accidentally making it a bit too short. No matter, he jumped for it anyway and you heard the satisfying smack of it hitting the floor on the other side of the net. “You know I’m not,” you said, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Is this about those headlines?”

He laughed a bit awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. “Kind of, I wanted to ask you something.”

You gestured for him to throw another ball, so he followed your lead and jumped for it, noticing that this spike might have landed outside the line.

“Let’s do serve receives instead?” he suggested first, hoping to put some space between the two of you. You were the only person who could make him nervous like this.

“Sure, I don’t mind.” You shrugged, gesturing for him to move across the court so you didn’t have to move the ball basket. As he readied himself to receive, he finally felt like he was catching his breath.

He took a deep breath in as you threw the ball in the air, and he knew it would be a floater so he stepped forward. “We should date!”

“Huh?” you yelled, practically spiking the ball instead from the surprise and sending it flying right into his head because he too, had been surprised by his own words.

But as you held the ice pack to his head and the two of you laughed, he managed to explain the actual plan, and you agreed.

The only right way to start this fake partnership was movie night with any movie containing the trope of fake dating. You sat beside each other on your couch, laughing at the silly parts and pointing out things you would like to do together as a joke, of course.

Which inspired your first outings to the public. You went for another round of ice cream, and this time emphasised your laughter. You even poked his nose with your ice cream before wiping it off and kissing that spot after. The cameras were clicking and you made several smaller headlines.

As you read a sports gossip magazine one evening, Hoshiumi rested his head on your shoulder to read with you and nosed at your cheek without thinking about it. As you giggled at his reenactment of the best dramatic lines, you turned your face to his. He turned to you in response and made the mistake of glancing at your lips. Your breath hit his chin and he breathed out shakily before quickly pulling away.

‘It’s fake dating, Korai’ he scolded himself a few minutes later, angrily brushing his teeth before rolling out the futon beside your bed and going to sleep.

It mostly went well for the next week, but Hoshiumi couldn’t stop noticing that you kept faking behind closed doors. If it was natural for you to act that way, and it was natural for him to return that energy, is it still faking?

Hoshiumi’s knee bounced as he sat beside you on the park bench where his managers had arranged for paparazzi to find him with you for the ‘last stunt’ that would seal the deal and make the gossips leave him alone. You were humming under your breath and Hoshiumi clutched your hand in his as you pointed out where you theorised each passing person was going next.

You suddenly stopped talking and turned to Korai again, tilting your head. “Korai?” you asked softly. “Are you okay?” Your free hand lifted to the side of his face, affectionately adjusting some of his hair even if it was so short. He supposed the wind was doing him dirty, but all he could think about at the moment was if you were faking or not.

“I’m not faking,” he said, almost too loudly. You straightened up in surprise but clutched his hand tighter.

“What?”

“Whether I hold your hand outside, or lean on your shoulder when we’re at your place, I’m not faking,” he declared with that familiar determination.

You giggled, finally leaning back in. “Kiss me like you mean it then,” you whispered. “Because I’m not faking either.”

masterlist

[choppyama]

My fav kghn dj was that one where Hinata’s competition as Kageyama’s love interest was volleyball. Tobio thought that he had to choose between love and the sport only for him to realize that both vb and hinata are intertwined in a way that he can’t have one without also having the other.

Kageyama’s entire world revolves around vb and hinata is at the center of that life

‘Kgym isn’t interested in anyone he only cares abt vb’ YOU GET IT ALL WRONG 😭 Kazuyo lovingly nurtured Tobio, introduced him to vb, a special interest he relies on to have fun. As a kid who struggled to express himself and couldn’t easily make friends bc they didn’t share his interests, vb became his outlet, it became a safe space.

Vb was introduced to Kageyama with love, vb is all he knows and that’s how he shows others he cares for them too. He loves vb, he loves hinata, he loves his teammates, his friends… that goes hand in hand. (vb, love and friendship it’s all mutually inclusive)

I was discussing Demi Kageyama with my friend the other day and I think ‘situational homosexuality’ describes him perfectly lmao

I have to say you don’t have to ship him with anyone but you can’t expect him to care abt ‘romance’ in a conventional way when he doesn’t show his love for others in the most typical way in the first place

He may refuse to go the shrine with hinata that one time but he’d invite shoyo to go along with him on a double date to play vb with kindaichi and kunimi. He may not say ‘I love you’ out loud but he’d remind shoyo to take care of himself, to eat properly, to rest, to cut his hair. He’d ask him to keep this thing they have between them going forever, to keep playing vb. He’d ask shoyo to stand by his side at the top until the end of times showing just how much he cares and values their relationship.

Much More detailed thoughts https://x.com/userlovestobio/status/1556982243037421569?s=46

I understand how this may not be ideal for some people hence why they might ignorantly says things like ‘kagehina aren’t friends / they don’t hang outside of vb / they have a co worker relationship blah blah blah’ but to me the way Kageyama Tobio loves is so SO beautifully unique.

when you understand that hanging ‘outside of vb’ doesn’t exist with kghn bc vb is their entire world. Then you’d finally understand that it was a love story all along

[fornshinoyaz]

HOW TO: LOSE FEELINGS FOR AN IDIOT

03. HOW TO: BREATHE WHEN HE'S AROUND

series masterlist | previous | next chapter

wc: 4.5k

how to lose feelings for a CERTIFIED, government approved idiot. it should be easy right? wrong. you are absolutely, positively, done for. you have no idea why you’re writing the guide book when you can’t even get past the first step! first step, the only important step really: don’t have your best friend be kei tsukishima. then maybe, just maybe, you’d have a chance.

Something changed between you and Kei Tsukishima. You knew life wasn't static. Change was apart of life. The same way grief, pain, and happiness were too. You were constantly growing and becoming a better version of yourself. Growth was normal for you, but not really for him.

He was a rock. Forever steady, there when you needed him. You were lucky enough to see his past beliefs shake and twist, but Tsukishima himself never changed. Even during your first fight. It was so stupid. You both were stubborn middle school students (the same today, but don't tell). That fight should've broken your friendship.

But it didn't.

Your bond was unbreakable.

Things changed when you left high school. He joined university level volleyball. He had less time for things, you included. Things became absolutely fucked when he got a girlfriend who he (spoilers) also didn't have time for.

Change was normal, but not like this.

You didn't hate it. It wasn’t something you needed to fix; it wasn’t a problem. But you weren’t sure what to do about it. Ignore it? Let it happen? But you couldn't help but sit in your bed and wonder why you weren't rushing to do go after the man who had stolen your heart years ago. Was this not what you longed for years ago?

It was. It is.

But maybe you didn't want to change either.

You don't know what possess you. A demon, a ghost, a space-demon-ghost. You have work tomorrow, and you plan on taking pictures for your photography page. By any metric, you should be asleep right now. It's past midnight. How often was he up past midnight? You tap your fingers together, an anxious habit.

Fuck it.

You call him.

This is silly. This is your best friend of how many years now? Why are you nervous, and sweaty, and oh my god - why is that you can't breathe? Do they make How-To Guides on breathing? Of course they don't. Why would they? You begged your brain to just shut the fuck up.

You fully expect the ring to go on and on, until inevitability you hear his voicemail; "Go away, I don't want to talk to you." and then click. He picks up after the second ring. You blink at your phone and re-check the screen. Maybe you were hallucinating -

"Hello?" His voice is scratchy and deep.

You shiver. "Tsukki?"

"Hm?"

Silence.

"Did you call me to just sit in silence?"

Silence.

"I'm hanging up-"

You jolt upwards in your bed. "Wait, dickhead. I just - didn't know you would pick up."

Now it's his turn to be silent. But you know Tsukki, embarrassment didn't exist to him. He's thinking. You imagine what he looks like. Laying in his bed, or maybe sitting at his desk reading a book. If he's laying down, his glasses are off, maybe his hair is a little messy. You've seen it once or twice, the fluff he wakes up to.

It made you dream of waking up next to him.

"Cool. I picked up. What do you want?"

You swallow. You have no excuse, no reason. You just want to hear him talk.

"Read me a bedtime story?"

"How fucking old are you? Seriously, Y/N. How old."

"You didn't say no."

He sighs on the other line, then shuffles. "I hate you."

He tells you a story. Then another, and then one after that. Your bright screen says two hours the next you look at it. He hates long phone calls.

Yet, he stays.

The bed time stories end, and you might be delirious. It's past two a.m., maybe almost three. What comes out your mouth is no longer your own words, but whatever demons are awake right now.

"Do you believe in the universe?" You ask, voice quiet. A small yawn follows you.

He scoffs, “No, I don’t believe in the fucking universe. Are you high?”

You sigh, and manage to turn in your bed to look up at your ceiling. The low sounds of the city laid outside your windows, but the tall buildings never made seeing the stars easy. So, instead, you put the stars where you could always see them. The stars are there, and in the corner of your eye - the moonlight.

“I think I do. I think that…some things are just, made for you, y’know?”

“No.”

You shake your head, “you don’t believe in anything.”

“No,” he denied swiftly, “I believe in what’s real. Like you and me.”

Your breath stops. You hope he can’t hear that.

“Yeah, me and you."

It sounds too good to be true.

Something else real? You love breaking your own heart.

You fake a yawn this time, "Wow, it's getting late. I think I gotta cut this short. My fish probably needs a walk or something. It’s suffocating in its tiny bowl, I swear.”

A chuckle crackles through the line, a sound you’d come to recognize well. “You’re such a loser."

“You're a bigger one. Bye Tsukki.” you say, and you move back over to your side. Your eyes trace over his contact photo.

“Bye, Y/N.”

The phone clicks. You call him the next day, and he answers.

"Is this gonna be a habit?"

You're in your living room (sort of? also your bedroom, studio apartment things), flickering through the pictures you had taken today. Only thing left was to edit them and post them to your site.

"You don't wanna hear about my day?" you ask.

"Not particularly."

"Bye then-"

He cuts you off.

"Okay, okay. Tell me."

You smile. You grab onto your phone and bring it closer.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Things were definitely changing. It was more than a phone call or two. At first, it was subtle. A gaze held longer than it needed to be, a touch that he should’ve pulled away from.

The next Saturday night found you in Tsukki’s living room, surrounded by your friends in a life-or-death situation. Monopoly. Everyone in the room knew you were the very best at board games. Especially one involving stealing money from idiots.

The room fills with annoyed laughter and groans. Whoever put you and Tsukki together were begging to lose. You smirk. Oh, the taste of victory. You could taste it. You two were unstoppable (why wouldn’t you be?). Kageyama, the sore loser, mutters something about leaving after you bankrupted him. Hinata tells him to shut up, and per usual they end up yelling at each other. It's up to you to call for order.

It didn't last long. You make the winning move. All their property was yours, and so was the game. The room explodes, game pieces and money go flying. Tsukki's coffee table is almost overturned. Monopoly was serious, even for someone like Tsukki. You both jump up. A hard-fought victory deserved a hug.

You go to wrap your arms around him, but he did it first. He hugs you so tight, that you swear you can't breathe (a fatal symptom when being around Kei Tsukishima), and spins. You laugh so hard it reaches your eyes. Then, he releases, and you think it's over.

But then, he holds onto your face, and kisses your forehead—gently, purposeful, like a tall giant. A shock wave goes through you, but he doesn’t even whisper a lick of an apology.

He locks eyes with you. “You’re amazing.”

Oh. Your breath quickens.

"Thanks, I know.” You do what you do best. Deflect. But your mind can't stop hearing him. His words echo through every corner of your brain.

He was driving you mad, and you weren’t the only one noticing it.

The clock struck twelve. You should be finishing your paper. Twelve out of sixteen was your current total. It would be the right thing to sit down, lock in, and focus.

But who decides what's right and wrong?

Not you.

Your paper could have been completed, had it not been for Hinata. But he would not stop calling until you answered. If your professor asks, it's all on him.

It started like this; your sitting at your desk, playing around with your ballpoint pen, when (admittedly) you should be looking over your notes. Turns out, Kageyama and Hinata too, had a paper they should be working on, but decided the night was young and they needed to be out!

You at first, say no, like the considerate future-orientated person you pretend you are. That is, until Tsukishima (who happens to be sitting right next to you on your bed) says two magic words. Let’s go.

Now, you walk through the streets of Tokyo with your favorite people. Your eyes are set on the nearest convenience store. It’s a local beauty, dingy with front lights barely work and weird men who try to sell you things they shouldn't. The greatest place on Earth.

The front sign flickers on and off for a moment, before buzzing in a way that could definitely start a whole store-fire. You and Tsukishima are in matching plaid pajama pants, and you even have a Karasuno volleyball hoodie on. You were not on the team. Hinata smirks when he notices, and whispers (badly) to Kageyama about it.

“She was cold.” is Tsukishima’s excuse. Yeah, right. You owned millions of hoodies—couldn’t you have worn your own?

“Mine are better. Hers are ugly.” he continues.

You scoff. He didn't have to go that far. The cold excuse is enough!

“My hoodies are not ugly. You quite literally have no fashion sense.”

“You’re in denial.” he says.

“You’re lecturing me about denial? Mr. ‘It’s just a club’?” it's a burn that makes Hinata double over in laughter.

“Enough arguing,” Kageyama pushes you forward, a step ahead of the two of them with Hinata who giggles. He quickly shifts you away from the side of the cars.

You grumble, and step over your own two feet before picking up your feet. Tsukishima mumbles something about you having two left feet, and it takes everything in you not to spin around and give him a piece of your mind. He smirks, loving the way your shoulders fall and rise in anger.

He loves the way he gets to you.

“So, Kaggy,” he makes a noise of disgust at the nickname you made up on the spot, “you still texting that one girl?” Hinata’s ears perk up, and Tsukishima looks at him, trying to feign indifference. But you knew him, he wnats to hear the tea just as much you guys did.

“Ha! Kageyama? With a woman!” Hinata barks out, a howl coming out of his lips next makes it even more obnoxious. Kageyama’s face scrunches up, and his laughter is just so infectious that Tsukki can’t help but chuckle. You let out a giggle or two.

“Hinata, last time I checked, your name was NOT Kageyama," you say through a giggle.

“What! I’m not wrong!” Hinata pouted, “I’m not entirely convinced this ‘woman’ exists. I’ve never seen Kageyama talk to a woman before. And I see a lot of Kags, more than I'd like."

Your eyebrow raises. Despite his last comment, he wasn’t that far off. Kageyama was a lost cause when it came to women. He always had been. But, things always change. You saw it in real life, and was sitll shocked. Someone came up to him. She offered him her number, and he freaked out over how to message her.

'Do I just say hey? Is hey weird? Do I say hi instead? Y/N STOP LAUGHING AND HELP ME!'

It was cute, until it had been four whole days and he hadn’t even BEGUN to type a letter. At that point, you stole his phone and did the magic for him. As they texted, it got lighter and easier. Occasionally, at friend hangouts you would see him open his phone and smile, or break away for a moment to send a response back. It was cute, you liked it for him.

“We’re just friends, alright? Nothing more.” Kageyama answers finally, breaking his silence. He kicks a stray rock on the ground, anything to distract from the blood flushing to his cheeks.

“So she does exist!” Hinata’s eyes sparkle like lights on Christmas Day.

“Obviously, idiot.”

You four approach the convenience store and step through the sliding doors. Bells jingled above your head. A tired cashier lifts his eyes momentarily, but seeing you all, becomes uninterested and goes back to looking at his phone. The hum of the fridges calls out to you, ice cream. You need to stop, at this point it was an addiction.

It is as if Tsukki can read your thoughts, and looks down at you with a shake of his head.

“Don’t do it.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” you hiss back.

“Fine, don’t blame me when your shitting all night.”

“I’ll shit in your mouth.”

“Guys, we’re in public,” Kageyama has to remind, but neither of you care much, and the cashier just frowns as he scrolls through his social media.

You mingle around the shelves, going from packaged ramen, to udon, to spicy and sweet chip bags, to candy filled bags. Hinata and Kageyama whisper around about something, but your eyes search for your favorite candy.

Why the hell isn’t it here?

You frown, and circle the aisle once and then twice. You do it a third time, just to make sure you haven't lost your mind. You almost give up, but then you see one package left—but of course, it's at the very top of the shelf, all the way on the back of the shelf. Great. You can't ask for help. You just can't.

But at the same exact moment, Tsukki rounds the corner and sees you in your struggle. Tsukki is made of legs, but he will not get it—not without you begging him for it, and you will not.

You hold your nose up at him and then cross your arms. “Yup, nothing I want here.”

You were a terrible liar.

“Ask me. Nicely. Then I’ll do it.” he says, that stupid smirk.

“I’m fine. I’ll starve.”

"Beg."

"No."

He sighs, "Your annoying,” he leans forward, grabs the package, and slaps it into your hand. You lurch forward and grab it before it can fall to the ground.

“If you grew more in fifth grade, you would be able to get it.” Tsukki comments before walking away.

You follow after him with a grumble, “Shut up.”

The four of you reconvene at the center of store. The fluorescent lights flicker above your heads, a cool chill flushes from the vents and you dig deeper inside Tsukki’s hoodie.

Tsukishima has a couple of things in his hands—coffee with a strong bitter smell, his favorite chips (salty like him), banana milk, and a small pack of worm shaped sour gummies. Kageyama and Hinata’s piles looked mostly the same—except that Hinata decides sugar was a great idea at this time of night, and no one can really argue. They all had a paper to finish. Except for Tsukki that is. He finished his two weeks ago.

You hated him.

“Name one girl you’ve spoken to that’s not your mother,” Tsukki says to Kageyama.

You, at the same time, approach the counter. The cashier mumbles a quiet ‘finally’ and begins scanning your items. You bend down at the counter, engrossed by a magazine’s cover. A journalist, one of the best who was an alumni of Karasuno University. You pick it up, and add it to your heap of snacks.

“Your mom.” Kageyama says back to him with a shrug. You and Hinata don’t even try to hide your laughter. The cashier glances to you four in annoyance.

“My mom hates you.” Tsukki mumbles.

You reach into your hoodie pocket, and salvage the coins you had thrown inside. Your fingers flip over the different kinds, before reaching the correct amount. The ritual happens quickly—the cashier takes your change, it’s exact like you hoped, and you tell him to keep the receipt.

“Not as much as she hates you.” Kageyama nips back.

You open your package of candy and plop a couple in your mouth. The cashier seems to lose more and more of his faith in humanity as the insults go on and on. He just wants to go home. He lets out a sigh of relief when the doors hiss close and you four are back in the midnight cool.

“Seriously, Kageyama. What does she look like? Is she pretty?” Hinata asks, as soon as they're back outside. He never lets go, and it makes you laugh. Once Hinata was curious, there was no way of shutting him down. Eventually you would have to tell him the truth, and the whole one at that.

“He’s not gonna tell you.” Tsukki says. This time, he’s walking beside you, and steals a small candy from your bag.

“Why not?!” Hinata whines.

“You talk too much, I tell you and then suddenly the whole team will know.” Kageyama answers.

You hum, been there done that. “True. Like Tsukki’s ex.”

The words come out quicker than you can realize. Shit. That was a mistake. The four of you go dead quiet, and your eyes quickly flash to the boy next to you. You expect him to shut down, maybe do that sad Tsukki thing with his eyes.

But nope. He just reaches into your bag again, another candy. He’s completely unmoving. It has been almost a whole year, but you know breakups were a touchy subject. You and Tsukki talk about it rarely, but it was in the background of everything. You saw her influence in many things he did.

How he rejects the advances of girls at your school, how his face shifts when he sees Daichi and his girlfriend after practice. It’s a sting from a wasp that just never died. But maybe, just maybe, the pain had become tolerable? You are not often wrong.

“Hinata’s a loud mouth. Always will be.” A classic Tsukki response. You grin. Tolerable. That was better than nothing.

You interject, rejoining the conversation with a playful grin. “Come on, Kageyama, give them a little hint..”

Kageyama crosses his arms defensively. “Weren’t you suppose to be on my side, Y/N?”

Tsukishima shakes his head. “Y/N’s on the side that pays her.”

“Right,” you nod.

Kageyama eyes you both dangerously. You know something slick is going to come out of his mouth. He can't help himself. “Tsukki, you pay her?”

You rub the back of your neck. Ah. Tsukki rolls his eyes.

“Please shut up."

The walk back to your apartment is quiet, a calm against Kageyama and Hinata constant push-and-pull. They leave first, they live on the opposite side of you, closer to campus. You make sure to steal one of Hinata's pretzels before he goes.

It's always you and him. Walking together, past midnight.

Your heart is pulling you towards him; your shoulders brush once, and then twice, and he says nothing. On the third time, he bumps your shoulder back. You smile. You shut your mouth, because it’s late, and you’re tired, and this isn’t the time to be saying anything you'll regret.

The paper is done. 1/2 of your project. The other half? A presentation. You hate this shit. You push through. You didn't even stutter once. You can see how proud Tsukki is. But now, it's time for closing remarks.

Your eyes dart around the room. From the clock, to your laptop, to your best friend. Tsukki wore a slight smirk on his face. You knew what that meant. But he wouldn't, the presentation is almost over, you are almost in the clear.

As your group mate say their closing remarks, you hear the dreaded phrase. You stiffen when his hand slowly rises. He sucks. You almost want to bark to your groupmate, don’t, but you imagine your teachers angry deducting points from your final grade.

“Yes, Tsukishima?” You have to force out. Suck it up. You can hear a couple of stifles of laughter in the classroom. They knew he was about to waste your time. Your fingers impatiently tap on your skin, something he notices with only a quick glance.

“Uh, yes. I think I’m still a little confused. Can you give a more in-depth example of how you would use aerodynamics in this situation, Ms. Y/N? Sorry, it’s just what you were talking way too fast, I didn't catch it all.”

He was such an ass.

You bare your teeth, and force a nod. “Of course. So, aerodynamics…”

The presentation goes on for a record seven minutes after. You want to ignore him so bad, and at first you do this successfully. You could breathe now, easily.

As class dismisses, you walk straight past his desk, and he follows you down the steps of the building, and onto the main campus. He's like a bed bug that never leaves, even if you set the whole damn building on fire.

But this is Tsukki, he's done way worse, but he knows you were hungry and needed to be in the dining hall as soon as the clock struck 10. Yet, he still chose to be the normal dickhead he is.

“You know you can’t stay mad at me forever,” he says as you round the corner to your dining hall. You turn around to meet his eye and frown, to make it known that you CAN, but then...his stupid smile. You almost crack. A strong almost.

“You wanna bet on that?” you settle for, and quickly turn around before you can change your mind.

Tsukishima sighs. He jumps into your peripheral vision and drops his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer. His smell, woody and fresh, meshes well with the scent of old rain and coffee from the university students around you.

You look up at him. His jaw, his slight smile. This is too comfortable, being like this with him. You would’ve thought just from looking at you two, that you were a couple. The thought makes you want to die. In another universe maybe, or two.

For now, you didn't think about what universe you guys could've gotten together in. Instead, you enjoy the moment.

Your campus is as quiet as it gets. The large buildings, and their large glass panes should suck you both in, but you're in your own world. Several people whisper as you pass, ‘isn’t that Kei?’ they ask. It’s like they are tearing apart every part of you; the way you dress, the way you walk, the way you look. You forget sometimes that he’s ‘popular’ on campus. All of the volleyball guys were. All the eyes on you make you lean closer to him, and Tsukishima’s grip tightens.

He didn't pay any of the eyes on him any mind, he just focuses on you.

“Y/N,” he says in that annoyingly childish way that’s reserved for you. He knew how to tick you off—and if it were legal, you would’ve killed him right there, “Look, I’m sorry, but how could I resist?” he smiles and that ticks you off more, even if he's beautiful.

“I hate you, more than I hate aerodynamics.”

“Stop saying you hate me. You don’t.”

You really do hate him and you would never stop saying it; it's because of how nonchalant he is as you walk through your dining hall. How he ignores every women’s eye; every question that’s flung in his direction. You feel this way because through every bicker, every walk home, every moment he fills your life with so much happiness you know it would never amount to anything. Nothing you could see. Nothing that was real.

You and him? That wasn't real. Not in the way it was for Tsukishima. To him, you are the little girl he met at the sandbox. He would never be yours.

At the end of the night, all you can do is dream. You dream of a world where Tsukki knows, and he loves you as something more than his stupid childhood best friend.

You think about being more than his secret-holder and his unmoving rock. You want to finally know what it means to kiss the soft lips of Tsukki, to have his fingers dance around your waist and squeeze you so tight you couldn’t breathe, to wake up next to him and hug more than your own shoulders.

Fuck Kei Tsukishima.

Your lungs ache.

Monday morning is spent without him, and so is Tuesday. Then the day after that, and the day after that one. It isn’t something new, this routine. This is how you two were. But not recently. Being around him..was nice. But did you really think it was going to last forever?

The calls go from everyday, to him hearing the sound of your voicemail.

You take a sip of your latte, and try to focus on Yamaguchi’s words that are becoming harder and harder to listen to. For whatever reason, the universe, or whatever was out there likes torturing you. You can't get the guy once, and now you can't get him twice. It was like someone took the fork inside of Yamaguchi’s muffin and stabbed you right in the heart. He’s so blonde, and so stupid, and is sitting on a bench next to a water fountain with someone who looks nothing like you.

That was his type. It burns, much more than the hot coffee flowing down your throat. You down a scary amount of coffee that makes Yamaguchi stop in his tracks.

“You two make me sick. You have to tell him.” he says, and you finally look away from the scene.

“No, I don’t, actually. Can we focus on studying, please?”

You’re a hypocrite. He scoffs. You know it. Like you weren’t just staring down both of them for a solid ten minutes.

“He’s not dating her. You know? Says he doesn’t believe in love anymore.”

It hurts. You pretend it didn't.

“So, why would you tell me to tell him?”

Yamaguchi looks at you. He’s serious. Possibly the most serious you’ve ever seen him.

“You’re different. You can pretend you aren’t, but I know it and you know it. Ever since the sandbox.”

The butterflies in your chest flutter painfully.

“Focus, yeah?”

Yamaguchi sighs. “Yeah. One day, you’ll get sick of this shitty game.”

Then, that one day happens. It’s friday night. A long time ago, you guys made a tradition to spend friday nights together.

But not today, you made up some sort of excuse. Project tomorrow!

He didn’t question you the first three times, but the fourth he didn’t allow. You’re freshly out of a shower. You wipe the steam off the mirror in your bathroom, and double check your phone. A text? No, scratch that. Multiple text messages. At least twenty. Most of them are threats. Your eyes staple on the most important ones.

tsuk tsuk (lol): stop fucking ignoring me

tsuk tsuk (lol): i asked yamaguchi he said u had no project due

tsuk tsuk (lol): be straight up w/me if i did something to offend ur sensitive ass

tsuk tsuk (lol): y/n?

tsuk tsuk (lol): ur always on ur phone so ik ur reading this

tsuk tsuk (lol): did u get u a bf? is that y ur ignoring me?

tsuk tsuk (lol): nvm i don’t care. he can die too.

tsuk tsuk (lol): i’m coming over. unlock the door idiot

What the actual fuck. You’re in shock, and in his hoodie, when he appears at your front door. He’s not amused.

a/n: a bit of a cliffhanger hehehehehehhe i'm sorry i couldn't help myself :))) i enjoyed writing this even if it took the longest omg. lmk your thoughts on the chapter !!!! also yes the pic change was purposeful, colorful ver now hehe

taglist !!! @kei-tsuki21 @marga-j @xxizuchanxx @horr0rvacu1 @lavenderhotcoco @sami-stable @awkwardaardvarkforever @rorygilmoreclown @rachlubsuu @sixxze @lonelyladyghost @kurenix @nemisimp @doofusthebozo @scarred-keys @yenqa @zenilili @dani-shitting-around @carolineesnell @annonymoose

© fornshinoyaz 2023. please do not steal my work.

[liillyliilly]

It Doesn't Have To Be Goodbye

sawamura daichi x reader words; 1416 synopsis; it's not how the words sound, it's what the words mean.

“I’ve known you since we were like seven.” Daichi reads aloud the words written on the paper you had given to him. You told him to read it when he was all alone. So, he was reading it now. Reading the lyrics to your love song. It wasn’t exactly a love song, it was a letter, but it pulled at his heartstrings like a love song.

“You’ve seen me at my worst, my best, and my numb. And you stayed with me.” Daichi voice is cracking now, the words strained and struggling to leave his lips. It was as if when he spoke them, then they would float away and he wouldn’t be able to hold onto them.

The collar of his shirt is too tight, the starchiness of his clothing now itches at him. He has no idea how this letter is going to go, if it’ll be some fairy tale ending or if it’ll be like the moral at the end of a Grimm’s story.

What are you saying? He knows what the words mean, but he doesn’t know what you are trying to tell him.

You handed him the crumpled envelope right after volleyball practice. Your uniform prim and proper as usual. But you kept tugging at your tie, like it was trying to choke you. Daichi wanted to take the tie off of your neck to help you breath better. To allow you to be comforted in the way air flowed through your lungs and blossomed into life.

“It might sound silly, but Daichi, I miss you the most. I miss you the most when you’re gone. Of anyone in the world- my heart chooses to be hurt over your absence.” In an instant Daichi was stuck in a maze, lost and left confused. Do you love him back? Is that why you said something about your heart? Or is it just because you are his closest confidant? Why did you miss him? He's right there. Standing tall and with open arms just for you.

Your hands were clammy when you shoved the letter into his hands, he dropped his volleyball at the sudden jerk of your hands. Your hands were never clammy, only when you were sick or when you were nervous about something. Daichi chose to ignore it. He chose to disregard the signs you had been displaying. He should have asked you why you had written the letter and then immediately rushed away to get back home. But you can’t ‘I should’ve’ on yourself, that’s what his mom always told him anyway.

“And I will always wonder if my absence causes you the same pain it causes me.” It does. He feels so alone when you’re gone. When you smile at him and give him a small wave before going away for a trip, going away for your separate classes, just going away from him in general. He never wanted to lose you. Are you pushing him away? Is that what this letter is for?

A letter to say goodbye to your decade of friendship? A letter to tell him to leave you alone for forever? Words piled onto each other, crawling on top of the mountain of memories to declare themselves the king. Daichi slammed the letter down on his desk, loudly. His little sister that stood by his door flinched at his action.

“Sorry.” Daichi softened his fists, opening his hands and moving away from the desk. His little sister forced the corners of her mouth to shape upwards, before walking into his room and tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.

“Did she tell you yet? Or is that what that paper is doing?” She pointed at the crème colored sheet, the bright blue color of your school pen standing out and making the presence of inked meanings known.

“Tell me what?”

“Oh, so you don’t know yet.” Then she left, Daichi called out for her to explain. But she shut his door gently. The lock clicking into place once the door met the frame.

He wanted to finish reading the letter, he really did. But with a clenched jaw and glassy eyes he made his way down the familiar backway path to your house. The colored stones that you and him had painted during childhood seemed faded, the paint streaky and less vibrant then it normally had.

He wished he hadn’t made his way over to your house.

The ‘For Sale’ sign screamed at him. The way the cloudy grey sky mimicked him in an antagonizing manner. The worst part was that you were sitting on the porch covering your face as your whole body moved in a shivering manner. It heaved with every silent shaky inhale and exhale. The normally pastel pink of your sweater sleeves was turned a dark shade from the dampness.

He must have made an audible sound because you shot your head up and sniffled before wiping your face and standing up. You tried to walk back into the safety of your house, but Daichi wanted you to be in the safety of his hands. He wanted to hold his entire world in his hands, so he cupped your face with both of his warm hands.

“I love you.” It came out fast and rushed, Daichi had let the words bubble up too much. He let the words stay hidden on his tongue for too long. It was just like boiling water, at first it seemed manageable, but then it continued to heat up until the bubbling flowed over the pot and burnt the stovetop with a vengeance.

“It’s not really the time for that, don’t you think Daichi? Hell, I can’t have you confessing to me when I’m supposed to be moving across the world next week.” You harshly but lovingly removed his hands from your face, but he gripped your hands in his, keeping you close to him. Keeping your presence with him.

“It’s always the right time to be honest.”

You just shook your head, slowly at first then it became a rapid shake of ‘no’ as you moved your head from side to side. You stopped after a moment, then letting out a cynical chuckle. “Honesty is overrated.”

“No, it isn’t. Stop. What are you doing? You’re being cruel, I just told you that I love you and you’re being mean to me.” His bottom lip quivered before he bit down on it. You felt guilty, you were being mean. You should have told him about your family’s plans to move as soon as you got the news. But there was something in keeping it to yourself that appealed to you.

Daichi swallowed thickly, letting go of your hands and then shoving his own into his pockets. The pair of you stood there for a while. Just standing and staring at the ground while Daichi bit on his lip and you fidgeted with your fingers. Wrapping your hands around each other and brushing your fingers over your knuckles.

“Well, do you love me back-”

“Daichi, I love you too-”

The collision of your sentences caused Daichi to smile. You tried to push the grin on your face down, but it over took your features and you gave him a blinding expression. His favorite type of smile to receive from you.

It was silent, except for the rushing wind that swirled around and made miniature tornadoes composed of crunchy red, orange, and yellow leaves. It was silent, except for the squeaking of the chains from the swing set Daichi was pushing you on. The sun dimmed down, letting a golden time where the sky was painted in brilliant purples and fading tangerine shades make itself known and observed.

If you were going to leave soon, then at the very least Daichi could do was spend time with you, pushing you on the childhood swing set that had caused multiple broken arms and plenty of knee scrapes. Leaving didn’t have to be goodbye after all, leaving could simply be a ‘see you again’.

Even if the ‘see you again’ meant multiple years. Even if the ‘see you again’ meant that you would grow and change without each other. Even if the ‘see you again’ means that Daichi would have to be in pain for a while, be hurt and filled with sorrow from just thinking about amount of time you would be gone. Even if it was a ‘see you again’, it doesn’t have to be a goodbye.

[posarmeklen]

Don’t you hate when you turn your back for a minute at your dead-end copy job (sorry, dead-end desktop publishing job), and all of a sudden, one half of your sister’s cool teen quartet along with your horndog conspiracist friend are holding paper products (er, helping with a big job) and flapping their lips about the latter’s fairly new unplanned pregnancy?

It was just a coincidence that Goat swung by to visit Alex at Repro Man’s shortly after Fruity and Matt came in, and even though they had heard through Chaka (who, naturally, knew because of Alex) that the older man was in a “delicate” condition, it was their first time bumping into him in person since.

Hearing Fruity’s compliments, Matt turned around from the poster in his hands. “Oh, hey, Goat,” he greeted him.

“Hey, Matt, what’s up?”  

“Probably nothing compared to what’s up with you, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Goat coughed.

“Yeah, you know, my cousin just had a baby a couple months ago,” Matt offered up. “I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy for her, but she said it was totally worth it. You know, yin and yang and all that.”

“Hey, I don’t think this situation calls for the poetry.” Fruity made a disapproving smacking sound with his lips.  “Man, can’t you just leave this beautiful thing be?” Goat smirked.

“Chill out, alright?” said Matt, gingerly transferring a large stack of paper from Fruity’s hands to his own and placing it by the copier. “I was just going to ask how he’s taking it.”

“Well,” Goat said emphatically. “Do you want the miracle-of-life Demi Moore Vanity Fair edition, or the cold unabridged truth?” His words conjured an image of himself, au naturel and assuming the pose of the actress, which subsequently splintered and fell away like a broken pane of glass.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less than the second one from you.” Matt smiled.

“Oh, it’s fuckin’ brutal,” he asserted. “Imagine the most head-splitting zombifying hangover, with none of the fun from the night before.”

Fruity raised his eyebrows. “None?”

“Oooh, rough…” Matt mumbled sympathetically.

“My back hurts all time. Everything’s sweaty. Plus, on top of that, I can’t really see my junk. It makes for a challenge when women’s volleyball is on and I wanna –”

“Alright, alright…” Matt’s laugh cut the description of his plight short. “I think we get the picture.”

“Hey, we’re all guys here!” grinned Fruity, giving an open-palmed shrug.

“I will say, it’s not a total loss,” Goat went on. “I seem to have unlocked a brand-new level of savoring life’s pleasures.”

“Oh, because you had trouble with that before, right?” teased Matt.

“Eh, I don’t know, but this baby must love Ring-Dings and Bud Light.”

“Hey, and at least the ladies eat up this stuff,” Fruity said. “You know, feeling the baby kick and comparing its size to a dill pickle and crap. They must be all over you.”

“Uh, yeah, yeah, right on.” Goat looked past him, letting out a sigh. “Is there a bathroom in this place? I gotta take a leak.”

“Yeah, right over by the back wall,” said Matt.

“I won’t keep you,” Fruity added, motioning in the general direction of the door.

So anyway, when it comes to Fruity’s comment re: the “fairer sex” and pregnancy, I would be remiss not to mention the kindred spirit Goat hit it off with, the child’s second parent (seen in my Downtown posts of yesteryear. However, I did change her name for some reason. Friendship ended with “Jackie”, “Kasey” is my best friend now). *clears my throat and shuffles flashcards* There came a point of awareness that despite their similarities, they were at really different life stages (Goat had been doing his own thing for years, but Kasey, a trans woman who was Goat’s age, had been living as herself for a fraction of that and was relishing her freedom) and while Goat initially hadn’t changed his lifestyle a bit to accommodate the pregnancy, she didn’t want to live like him forever and begrudged his seeming lack of trying. Words were exchanged, and the pair went their separate ways. Not to worry – they would soon rekindle, and both put forth effort to be healthier (in Goat’s case, he was mostly propelled by the knowledge of his physical condition; in Kasey’s, she was inspired to show a sort of solidarity with him, plus she would soon be a parent as well, despite not physically being pregnant).  But given their respective issues, neither swayed the other in a positive direction, and they soon reached the disappointing yet amicable conclusion that they were perhaps too alike to remain close. And in the midst of that, they just knew neither of them were cut out to raise children (what were we thinking?) – so wish granted for a lucky adoptive parent(s). But I digress… I wonder if some of this diverted him from regaling Fruity and Matt with salacious tales when given the opportunity.

Also, by the way? Even though Fruity was being facetious in my picture and Goat wouldn’t name his offspring after himself, he and the aforementioned second parent did discover at an ultrasound (the first and only; Goat completely forgot about an appointment scheduled earlier in the pregnancy 😑) that the fetus was male. Goat after he and Kasey exchanged an overwhelmed glance and muttered fragmented agreeable noises upon being asked if they were interested in finding out the baby’s sex today: “Rock on! Built-in apprentice and wingman, here I come…” *medical technician politely chuckling intensifies*

[chihomichannel]

firefly.fromm

| pairing: oikawa toruu x gender neutral!reader | summary: in which you love him enough to let him go | genre: angst | warnings: slight manga spoiler | word count: 980 | a/n: hiii, it's clem. it has been years since i last posted and since i even finished any story. i have been in college (still am) and it has been really tough. i have been meaning to write but couldn't find the time to do so since i've been so busy. i just finished summer classes and only have two weeks of break before the new semester starts (killme) i hope i can write again since i miss it a lot. i also feel like i have been lacking in writing skills since i haven't been able to write as much anymore. anyways, that's why ive been gone and i hope you enjoy this short fic!

➥play! "firefly" by FROMM

Did you have to fall in love? Looking back to all you went through, before he was yours, during he was and after he wasn’t anymore, was everything leading up to this moment worth every pain, every flutter of your heart, every moment you shared with him? He was there in the first of your everything, as you were in the firsts of his.

And now, as the night descends upon your heads in hues of violet and pink, the reality sinks in that you’re nothing but just a faint light existing within his radiant dream. Outshined over by everything, you were just an obstruction hindering him to get closer to his dream.

It wasn’t that you weren't important. It was just that compared to volleyball, you were just second best to his heart. Always the second priority but you can’t even find it within yourself to hate him for it. Because you love Oikawa Tooru. And you understand him more than anyone. You understand his dream and you want nothing else but for him to achieve it.

And you know he loves you just as much enough to tell you he won’t go. And your heart, as much as it was happy that he chose you, you felt a pang because you knew, this wasn’t the right thing to do.

You hold him, taking his hands and bringing them up to your lips, giving them a gentle kiss. You hid your pouring heart, halting the tears for later as you stared at the whirlpool of his light brown eyes. Memories you shared with him flashed in your eyes, a smile painting your face as you gazed at him fondly.

You think back to the playdates your families arranged. You realize, Oikawa has always been a part of your life. He had been there for as long as you remember. A default in your life, a constant presence akin to a family. You’ve always thought that he will always be a part of your life as he had always been since you were kids. In your mind, he was forever.

You don’t remember when you fell in love with him. It was just that one day you woke up and knew he was the one for you. You always denied it though. Because he is your best friend. And most of all, as you like to argue, he is the Oikawa Tooru. As much as he is a great friend, you’ve seen him with girls. And you’ve concluded that he wasn’t your type. Especially with that arrogance and pride of his. And so when you found yourself in love with him, you wanted to cave and bury yourself 6 feet underground.

You blamed the constant taunts from others regarding your friendship with him. Being childhood friends and all, almost every person you’ve encountered has teased you with him. Friends, family, teachers, classmates, etc. You thought it was just peer pressure. Fleeting like every guy you’ve liked. But that one night, school was over and you stayed with him in the gym when he refused to leave, determined and focused on his game. You realized you’ve judged him out of spite of your new found feelings. You wanted to push them away but as you watched him, you accepted your feelings with a quiver of your lips.

Nothing changed, or so you thought. You never acted on your feelings but instead chose to silently love him in secret. It wasn’t a risk you wanted to take in fear of destroying the relationship you’ve built with him over the years. And maybe, you will never ever make a move if he hadn’t done it himself.

It was during the cultural festival of your second year of high school when Oikawa Tooru went out of his way to confess his love for you. It had been unexpected, but the grandeur of it wasn’t. Everything just spoke volumes of Oikawa as a person. And who were you to refuse him when you are also completely in love with him.

And so at seventeen, you and Oikawa spent the remaining years of highschool making the best memories that are to be treasured for as long as you remain on this earth. But even then towards the end of everything, you knew at some point, it would have to end.

Because if it didn’t, Oikawa would never move forward. And the thought alone that he loves you this much was enough comfort for you to do what you had to do.

And as you stand there under the moonlight at six o’clock in the evening of a summer night, the wind a subtle presence as your foreheads touched one last time, taking in the moment to bask in each other, you gave a kiss on Oikawa’s lips. A declaration of your love and a silent goodbye as you let him go towards his ultimate love.

The moment was gone as fast as it happened, you hadn’t even realized the next morning that while you were asleep, Oikawa had gone towards Argentina. You had accepted it, you knew you had. But the pain that he was no longer yours and you couldn’t even see him was excruciatingly impossible to heal. But all you could do was silently support him. To go on with your life just as he had. Because in the end, even though you both still loved each other and possibly for as long as you live, this was for the best. For him to achieve his dream and for you to move forwards towards your own. 

Even if it hurts now, eventually it won’t. Eventually, everything would be okay again and both you and Oikawa would finally be happy towards your own paths. Because even if you love each other, yourself will always have to come first. And so everything will be okay.

Hopefully

also posted in my AO3 acc

[writingmyownhappyending]

Certainty and Tsukishima

I've been thinking about Tsukishima today, about his personality traits that aren't necessarily obvious: first, that he's stubborn as fuck, and second, that he's a deeply passionate person.

He's not hinata, he doesn't get excited easily, but when he gets invested in something? It's like….permanent. His love for volleyball was like that - he just didn't give up. Despite what happened with his brother, despite not really getting along with the other first-years, despite not having the skill and stamina of others on his team, he just…kept going.

We see that persistance against the guy on his brother's team; we see it in every game, with his patient and persistant blocking. We see it in his friendships even - not just with Yamaguchi, but with Hinata and Kageyama and Yachi too - he holds onto those relationships, maintains them in adulthood.

All this is to say, I think he's the kind of guy who could fall in love once, at age 16, and have that be it.

He's not an "I have to try everything" guy, he doesn't care about that. I don't think he worries about missed opportunities. I think he knows what he wants, and goes after it, and I think when he starts dating Kuroo, he's like "fuck, this is the the one." And then…..he holds on.

Not always with elegance and grace, sometimes it's sheer tenacity, it's tears over the phone and awkward sexting and far too many trains to Tokyo. But he never stops, because he KNOWS.

There's a core of certainty there - just like Tsukki knows he loves volleyball, and knows that Akiteru loves him, and knows that Yamaguchi is a friend for life - he KNOWS that Kuroo is right for him. He knows they're good together; even when it's difficult, they're good together. And yeah - he's rational enough that if things ever got toxic, if Kuroo ever wanted out, Tsukishima would let him go. But that doesn't happen.

Instead, ten years later they walk down the aisle. Kuroo is giddy, still in disbelief, starry-eyed and amazed. When Kuroo says "my husband," it dazzles him. He says it over and over, "my husband. my husband! My HUSBAND!" Like he can't believe his luck.

But Tsukishima is calm and steady and sure. He's grounded, certain in the knowledge that he's walking a road he started walking long ago, leading strong and sure from his past to his future. A road he chose at every possible turning.

And when Tsukki says "my husband," it sounds like they've been married forever. Like it's something that's always been true.

Which in a way, it is.

(moving this here from twitter because, you know, no one trusts twitter anymore)