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His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
Dance clubs are not what Tsukishima Kei would consider a good place to spend a Saturday night. There’s too many people and not enough space to move. He can’t hear his own thoughts let alone his friends (where ever they might be, he lost them thirty minutes into arriving) over the pounding beat of the music. He’s been pushed around and jostled for at least two hours leaving his body slightly bruised in places.
After someone spills their drink on him Tsukki figures that’s about it for the night. He sends a text to his friends claiming to have gone home early and pushes his way out of the stuffy club. Once outside the cool air is a huge relief to him. He feels calmer as he takes deep breathes of the fresh air.
“Done for the night?” A voice comments humorously from Tsukki’s right. He looks down to see a guy with gelled hair wearing interesting street clothes. He’s really short but just one glance at his face tells Tsukki the guy is older than him.
“Yeah… not my thing to begin with.” Tsukki answers slowly. The guy lets out a bark of laughter and grins at him. His eyes dance with amusement and understanding.
Tsukki could get lost in them.
“No kidding! You look ready to drop dead.” The guy pats Tsukki roughly on the back and nods his head over to a late night café. “Here why don’t we get some coffee in you before you kneel over?”
Tsukki shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly as he shoves his hands into his pockets. “Can’t be worse than what I’ve been doing.”
“Awesome! Name’s Nishinoya Yuu.”
“Tsukishima.”
--
His voice is hoarse and his body aches but Tsukki has never felt more alive.
One night of coffee turned into two which quickly dissolved into ten. After the fifteenth coffee outing numbers were exchanged. Soon enough they started hanging out in different places. Book stores, shopping centers, movie theaters you name it they visited it.
Noya was… interesting to say the least. Earnest to the point of endearing, bold to the point of inspiring, and just all around odd. He’s excitable over simple things but has this serious edge that lets Tsukki know he’s no fool. Everything about him is something Tsukki thought he hated but has come to look forward to.
It’s because of Noya that Tsukki has tried more things in the past two months than he thought he’d do in a year. Currently that thing is surfing. He’s not a great swimmer and beaches were never really a go to spot of fun for Tsukki. Noya looked so happy to share this activity with him though that Tsukki couldn’t say no even if he wanted to.
So he gave surfing a try despite not knowing jack shit about it. The boards were rented and Noya is apparently a regular there. Tsukki awkwardly hangs in the back as Noya jokes and talks shit with the sharp toothed guy with shaved hair running the renting shack. He’s constantly surprised by how utterly different their worlds are.
Once they have their boards Tsukki gets a crash course lesson in surfing from Noya. It’s a haphazard explanation really that was filled with more “Guawh” ‘s and other odd sound effects than any actual useful information. So instead Tsukki just asks Noya to give a him demonstration.
And what a demonstration it was.
Surfing brought out that serious side of Noya like no other. He’s all taunt muscle, bright focused eyes, and confidence as he takes his board out to sea. He paddles out a good distance already ready for the next wave. Tsukki watches in awe as Noya rides the length of the wave watching it carefully to judge his next movement. The wave pulls his board up so Noya stands in one fluid motion.
It’s downright beautiful.
Tsukki shakes himself out of his daze as Noya purposefully crashes so he can get back to shore. Once back on land Noya drags Tsukki into the water with him and together they try to catch some waves. Of course Tsukki wipes out more than anything but it’s fun. He gets sea water in his mouth and screams more than he’d like to admit but whatever.
He’s just starting to get a little bit better when a particularly large waves drags him under further than he’s gone before. There’s this moment of panic where he’s sure this is how he dies but at that moment a hand grabs onto his wrist. Tsukki allows himself to be dragged back to the surface gasping for air when they are above the water.
“Holy shit are you okay?” Noya shouts worried. Hands gently pat and run over Tsukki’s skin checking for any injuries. Tsukki is still trying to catch his breath when Noya pulls him into a tight hug. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“I did?” Tsukki asks dumbly still trying to get his bearings down.
The hug is so warm.
Noya nods and sighs deeply. “Dude you were under for like a good two minutes or so!”
“It didn’t even feel like that.”
Noya pulls Tsukki in again but this time he gives Tsukki a kiss on the lips. It’s chaste and ridiculously sweet. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Noya scolds.
Tsukki can only blink and nod.
--
His voice is hoarse and his body aches still as he gratefully falls onto his soft bed. Noya chuckles and kisses Tsukki’s cheek as he takes his spot right next to his boyfriend.
It’s their two-year anniversary and they have just returned from a night out to an amusement park. Tsukki insisted on it since those were more his speed in entertainment terms. It had just been a while since he was ever at one.
Who knew they upped the intensities of the rides in the past few years? Certainly not Tsukki who has been tossed about by so many rides he’s surprised his body is still in once piece. Noya was much too energetic for his own good. Buying them fast passes so there was little time to rest between rides.
He’s screamed so much Tsukki is sure he’s lost a part of his voice. When Tsukki finds the creator of at least half of those rides he’s swinging on site. No questions asked.
“How are you feeling?” Noya asks teasingly. He had enjoyed getting Tsukki to drop his cool demeanor and show a little emotion for once. Pretending to not care must be tiring. Tsukki glares at his boyfriend before flipping over away from him.
Noya whines at the cold shoulder treatment and drapes himself on top of Tsukki. He peppers kisses on every patch of skin he can get to. Whenever Noya wants attention from his incredibly stubborn boyfriend, all he has to do is kiss it out of him. Of course Tsukki relents after five minutes and returns the kisses eagerly.
He still can’t talk properly but that’s okay. Noya has learned to communicate with Tsukki just fine without words.
--
His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
They’ve been screaming over scary movies and laying together uncomfortably for the past five hours. It’s a nice lazy movie night despite the pain in their backs the next morning.
/
His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
Dog walking is not fun when you’re shouting at ten dogs and being dragged to the ground. Noya makes sure to kiss all the pain away at the end of the day.
/
His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
He’s trying mountain climbing now but forgot his water bottle so his throat hurts by the end of the climb. Outdoor sports just aren’t his thing. The next day Noya buys him a strawberry shortcake.
/
His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
Noya finds a way to always make the pain go away.
/
His voice is hoarse and his body aches.
Wrong.
It’s his heart that aches.
Tsukki stands silently staring down at his boyfriend who refuses to look at him. There’s a pain in his heart and on his face where Noya slapped him. He has no energy left to scream like they have been doing for the past few hours.
Even if he did his voice is practically gone at this point.
There’s upturned furniture and broken items littered all about their home. The day had started so wonderful like many others before. Now there’s nothing but harsh breathing and even harsher words lingering in the air between them.
‘I hate you’
Noya is the first to move. He starts gathering what’s left of his things not broken from their fight and starts packing them up. Tsukki watches him not bothering to do more than that. He doesn’t touch anything Tsukki gave him.
‘I regret everything’
If either wanted to fix this neither would try. Stubborn pride refusing to let them be the first to say “I’m sorry”. Could a “Let’s talk this out” even fix what’s broken between them? They seriously doubt it.
‘I never want to see you again’
Tsukki follows Noya to the front door. Hovering a good distance away since it’s already got this far. He doesn’t want some cheap sappy rom-com “grabbing your arm at the last moment” scene between them. They are too grown for that bullshit. Noya opens it and doesn’t even bother looking back before walking out.
‘Goodbye.’
The door slams shut and that’s it.
The End.
No more.
It’s over.
His voice is hoarse and his heart aches but Tsukki is used to the pain.