Chapter Text
Tired didn't even come close to describing how bone-deep EXHAUSTED Tsukishima was. The train rumbling around him didn't help either. From volleyball practice obscenely early that morning, then barely an hour and a half before he had to start his shift at the museum, and even that break was spent having lunch with the team and traveling to and from his own apartment. The day was far too busy for his liking.
A thick book sat open on his lap, his gaze glued to the page, though he was unable to actually focus on any of the words through blurred vision. His eyes fell unbearably heavy, muscles achy as he silently willed the train to go faster and wishing, for the thousandth time today, that he had just taken his car this afternoon instead of the train.
Tsukishima had just started dozing when the train came to a screeching halt, another herd of people boarding. Amber eyes hesitantly cracked open to the sound of clacking footsteps came to a stop in front of him. Through squinted eyes, he glanced around the train car and noticed that every seat was filled with adults leaving work and students leaving late study sessions, presumably. He also noted the the clacking footsteps had belonged to a smooth pair of legs leading to two sleek black pumps. For a moment he considered giving his seat up for the woman, it was only polite, but was sure that if he even attempted to stand for the rest of his trip he would surely fall out at some point. It wasn't that much longer to his stop, she could wait, or someone else could surrender their seat. It just wasn't gonna be him, not today.
He focused his attention back down to his book, growing more annoyed at the crowded state of the train when it lurched forward, causing the woman to stumble a bit, hand shooting out and grabbing his knee for balance. His eyebrow twitched in irritation, 'Who the fuck really just reaches out and grabs people like that?' The thought burns in his mind as he grips his book tighter and attempts to keep his temper in check. Today was really not a good day for this.
"I am so sorry!" Her hand retracted just as quickly as it had appeared. He gave a noncommittal hum and shifted his legs over, trying to put more space between him and the woman.
The ride continued on in relative silence with Tsukishima flipping through his book, trying to find the last thing he actually remembered reading. That is until he swore he heard the whisper of his nickname, Tsukii. It was so soft that he figured his tired brain had simply imagined it and kept concentrating on his book. Then, "Tsukishima?" Smooth black hair and shockingly blue eyes greeted him as the mention of his name snatched his attention from the book in his hands and meeting the gaze of the woman in front of him. "Tsukishima Kei! Holy shit, it is you!"
He squinted at the woman, hard, trying to place her in his memory. There was something incredibly familiar about her, he just couldn't place it. She wasn't someone he worked with, neither volleyball nor the museum, he'd remember someone so regular. She sounded surprised, so she didn't expect to see him. But she also had trouble recognizing him until he looked her in the face, so probably someone who wasn't familiar with seeing him this close. He grimaced at the thought that she might be a Sendai Frogs fan. He was really not in the mood to deal with that. His brain, moving about as fast as an old dial up computer, continued to struggle. Then, the right side of her lips quirked just a little higher than the left when she smiled and a small dimple deepened in that cheek, suddenly, all the pieces came together and he was hit with a wave of memories.
Bright blue eyes looking up at him through thick lashes, soft pink lips parting to whisper his name, short black hair spilling over his pillow, a sharp tongue and powerful mind challenging him in all the best ways.
"Nanase?"