Chapter Text
Spite and Dogma
Chapter 1: Certainty
Of past infatuations and future plans
December 18th
Kuroo
It was a beautiful ring. It was sleek, but simple white gold with a small inner array of minuscule sapphires at the center — it was classic, understated, and fitting.
But Tetsurou had to make sure it was perfect.
Kuroo Tetsurou tilted and turned the shining band in his hands, examining the ring with furrowed brows. One of his closest friends Bokuto stood aside, biting his thumbnail as he looked back and forth from Tetsurou to the metal in his hands.
If anyone had decided to walk into the men's bathroom at the moment, they might have misunderstood and thought that they had walked in on the worst proposal in history. Bokuto’s foot started to tap impatiently as he waited for Kuroo to give him his most honest opinion. Tetsurou hoped he wouldn’t find any imperfection that might embarrass Bokuto when he finally decided to pop the question to his longtime boyfriend. Finding none, Tetsurou looked over to his long time friend, a crooked smile breaking across his face as he placed the ring back in its velvet box and into Bokuto's hand.
"It's perfect," Tetsurou said, his smile growing as Boktuo yelped out a loud stream of hoots. His burly, hyperactive friend bounced on the balls of his feet.
“I know how to pick ‘em, huh?” The pepper-haired man squealed.
Tetsurou agreed, watching his friend stare at the ring again and coo. Bokuto Koutarou was not only a prime starter of the Japanese National Volleyball Team, but he was also a stone-cold romantic. Tetsurou was positive Bokuto’s been dreaming about marrying his younger counterpart since meeting the setter back in high school. Tetsurou was happy for him — for them both — but his excitement felt underwhelming.
“Bro, he’s going to love it.”
“You really think so?” Bokuto asked, looking up with wet eyes and a quivering smile.
“Man, if you were so worried about it, why didn’t you ask me to go with you to buy it?” Tetsurou gestured towards himself, finding it odd that Bokuto actually found a ring by himself.
"Well, honestly, I wasn't even planning on getting a ring at all.”
A long pause followed, Tetsurou's deadpanned expression obviously making Bokuto anxious.
“Okay, I’mma gonna need you to explain.”
“Uh,” Bokuto started, “Well, I was just getting some takeout after practice and then when I got to the restaurant there was a couple celebrating their anniversary," Bokuto stared off to the side, a gross, dreamy-look expression on his face, “Apparently they had their first date there. And I thought," he paused, smiling down at the box in his hand, "I really wanted that."
“So, you spontaneously bought a ring?” Tetsurou raised a brow.
“Well yeah ! What else are you supposed to do when the universe gives you a sign? Ignore it?"
“The universe?”
"Duh — what else would it be!? Plus, there was a jeweler right across the street of the restaurant. So yeah, the universe." Tesurou shook his head, not at all surprised by Bokuto’s carefree approach.
“I was just wondering, is all. I-I’m so happy for you, bro. For both of you.” Tetsurou spread his arms wide open, waiting for impact. Bokuto hugged him fiercely, picking him up with his larger build. When Bokuto finally put him down, he straightened his tie and patted his side pocket, making sure the velvet box hadn’t disappeared.
“Well, you better be, best man!” Bokuto exclaimed. Tetsurou raised his brow again, almost questioning if he heard him right. Bokuto’s expressive smile grew as he nodded his head towards him.
“Best man?”
“Best man,” Bokuto nodded, a mischievous look crossing his face.
“Oho,” Tetsurou matched his own expression, knowing they’d definitely be getting up to no good together, “I think I like the sound of that.”
“That's what I’m talking about, bro!” Bokuto started bouncing again, shaking Tetsurou’s shoulders with each jump. “I’m about to be engaged! I’m about to—” he paused, ceasing all bouncing, “Akaashi...is going to be my husband .”
Oh Kami , Tetsurou thought, too bright! He almost had to look away from Bokuto who just radiated with joy. Instead, Tetsurou clasped his hands onto his friend’s shoulders and silently wondered if this kind of bliss was contagious.
"Well, the best man says that you should probably get back to your future husband's side before they send a search party for the two of us, yeah?"
“Good idea.” Bokuto shook his limbs off any jitters and started walking to the door before he turned back to Kuroo. “You really think he’ll like it?” he asked, his nervousness sneaking back to the surface. “You think he’d want to marry me?”
Exasperated, Tetsurou pushed him out of the bathroom.
They walked back to the main dining room of the restaurant before dodging servers and patrons as they made their way to a smaller private room to the side. Even from the main room, the pair could clearly hear the ruckus coming from the party being thrown for Akaashi and Kageyama's joint birthday celebration. Around the room, men and women laughed and cursed at high volume as others talked within small groups, every one acquainted with everyone else throughout the years. They watched on as their friends moved from one conversation to another; all from different careers and once different teams.
Tetsurou navigated them to one end of the room where Akaashi Keiji was teasing a shit-faced Kageyama Tobio. Akaashi turned in their direction, a soft blush giving away how tipsy he probably was as well. Bokuto smiled back as Kuroo watched the exchange, completely grossed out.
Remembering Bokuto's earlier question, Tetsurou shook his head, "Honestly, I think that it was only a matter of time," Kuroo gave him a gentle push in Akaashi's direction, "Now go. Mustn't keep the birthday boy waiting."
Bokuto slowly made his way towards his boyfriend, dodging and maneuvering past others stumbling through his path. Tetsurou walked in the opposite direction, going toward the other end of the large communal table to where his childhood friend currently sat.
Kozume Kenma was currently on his phone, reading an article about some new game that was about to launch when Kuroo took his seat to his left. To his right, his boyfriend Hinata Shouyou was having a debate with Lev about predictions for this year’s upcoming line-up for the Asain Cup. Kenma didn’t even look up at Tetsurou, he just threw him a quizzical brow and nodded his head as if asking what he wanted. Tetsurou smiled at him, pushing the phone away from his face.
“Play with me, I’m bored.”
Kenma sighed and faced him with glassy eyes and red cheeks. Tetsurou snorted, musing how a drunk Kenma was a temperamental Kenma, one you didn't want to piss off. Tetsurou tried to hide his dread as he remembered the League Tournament Incident. Tetsurou gave a defeated groan and shook his head, muttering a soft “nevermind” and let Kenma go back to his phone.
Tetsurou looked around the room again, wondering when he had made so many friends. Most of the people here tonight were important to him, they were people who’ve impacted him in a short span of a few years. He could name at least eighty percent of the room — the rest were people Akaashi worked with or were on Bokuto’s team. Tetsurou looked around and couldn’t help but notice that he was flying solo amongst a room of couples.
Tetsurou tried not to dwell on it — it couldn’t be helped. The weird pit in his stomach was in a strange mood, twisting and tangling inside with envy. He figured it probably had to do with the fact that two of his closest friends were about to be engaged while he was still going from one casual fling to another at an impressive rate.
Tetsurou looked around to the cute couples that littered the room; Sawamura and Sugawara were talking with Konoha and his girlfriend; Yaku sat a few seats down with Lev's hand intertwined in his, no doubt trying his best to ignore his boyfriend's blabbering with Hinata; Matsukawa and Hanamaki were laughing at Oikawa; and Ushijima calmly talking with Nishinoya, who was holding his liquor better than his partner Asahi.
There were a few more that Tetsurou didn't know too well, but he also took account of some fellow singles amongst the room. Tanaka and Yamamoto were drinking together as they wallowed in their bachelor lives; Shimizu who seemed amused by whatever Shirofuku was talking about. And near the other end of the table sat a blushing Yachi sitting beside Yamaguchi, her longtime boyfriend, as they talked pleasantly to the calm and collected — and very single — Tsukishima Kei.
Tsukishima Kei was by all accounts looking like he was having a decent time. For someone who didn’t like crowds or excessive group outings, Kei seemed to be enjoying himself amongst the splendor as he talked to his friends. Tetsurou sipped his water as he watched Kei cover his mouth, chuckling at some joke his cute blonde friend had said.
It’s been so long since Tetsurou heard him laugh.
Recognizing the slight haziness in Kei’s eyes and the easy smile he was sporting, Tetsurou was confident the tall blond was well drunk.
Tetsurou remembered the many times he'd seen the same look from Kei throughout the years; sometimes in public and at parties like this one, and other times in private — when they would end up at Kuroo's college apartment and pull out old trivia while arguing until morning or stay late for individual practice and meet up to study. They used to be close, attending the same college and being on the same volleyball team. But that was back when he called him Tsukki, teased him with witty banter countered by snarky comments, followed by soft touches and—
Tetsurou was quick to glance away as Kei turned to their side of the room, everyone staring as Hinata started to yell loud enough for the entire room to hear him clearly. Kenma quickly yanked his boyfriend closer and told him to simmer down as Hinata looked sheepish and terrified. Tetsurou shook his head, looking up to see everyone going back to their own conversations, except for a certain blond looking right at him — his glasses sat low on his nose as Kei gave Tetsurou a pointed smirk and a raised brow on his astute features (probably questioning Kuroo for the company he kept).
Tetsurou returned with a grin, a swarm of flutters humming in his chest.
Their exchange broke too soon when Kei turned to Yachi when she exclaimed something that made her eyes go wide as Yamaguchi put his arm around her.
Tetsurou watched on, focusing in as Kei readjusted his glasses with nimble fingers, his golden hair had grown passed the point that he was in dire need of a haircut. Tetsurou watched as Kei tilted his head closer to Yachi so she could whisper in his ear, exposing his long smooth neck to Kuroo’s gaze. Kei twisted back, the tiniest peek of his collarbone showing where his collar had stretched on his jumper. And then, Kei gave her another easy smile, teeth bright as his whole face lit up.
How long had it been since Tetsurou had seen him smile like that?
Kenma elbowed Tetsurou, harder than necessary, causing him to flinch and turn back to his friend's disturbed face.
"Do you really have nothing better to do than ogle at him?" Kenma asked bluntly. "You never struck me as someone who would gawk, let alone get caught."
Tetsurou reminded himself to choose his words carefully, knowing his best friend would show him no mercy. Kenma was Tetsurou's oldest friend, growing up in the same neighborhood since childhood and being on the same volleyball team during most of their school years. If there was one person that could read his mind, smart money would be on the quiet blond to his side (some people would be thrown off from realizing how disturbingly perceptive Kenma could be). Kenma has always been right when it came to Kuroo.
"I thought we agreed that matter was put to bed?” Kenma probed.
Tetsurou sighed, unsure of what he could say. Usually, Tetsurou was always submissive to Kenma, but he didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
“C’mon Ken, it’s me. Does that even sound like me?”
Kenma looked at him only for another moment before looking back to his phone, muttering ‘whatever’ under his breath.
Not wanting to raise more alarms to his best friend, Kuroo decided to look at his phone and check if he's gotten a new email or two. Tetsurou thought about looking at some old albums he still had saved in his photos; most consisting of him and a certain dinosaur aficionado he shouldn't be tempted to catch a glimpse of at the other end of the table. Tetsurou felt a bit dismal, never thinking that he’d be one to keep old sentimental pictures.
It was a hard thing to not dwell in the past, especially when it came to Kei. However, it was indeed in the past, and it was all Tetsurou's fault that it didn't transcend into the present.
They had a history from a few years back, but it wasn't anything serious...to Kei. They fooled around, no strings attached — mainly due to Tetsurou's insistence that he didn't want a relationship whatsoever in the beginning. That was, again, in the past.
He and Kei were still friendly — even if they weren't as close or hardly spent time alone — there was no malice, no hard feelings. Kei still gave him snarky remarks and Kuroo returned with witty banter... when they’re in a group setting. It was still nice, still organic between them. Except now Kuroo would sometimes sneak into old emails they shared, and look at his old albums of a sleeping Kei and stolen kisses between them. Tetsurou was shamefully always looking backward, not really knowing why.
Tetsurou supposed that’s just how it always goes. It wasn’t like he was unhappy...he just figured he could be happier — more content. As far as anyone knew, Tetsurou was quite a playboy; going from one conquest to another, never going beyond a casual relationship. Everyone he hooked up with knew exactly what they were getting into. Kei knew as well, sticking to said agreement since his third year in high school and Tetsurou's second year in college. Tetsurou thought it was for the best, so no one would think it was anything more than sex, to keep from either one of them growing too attached.
He couldn’t remember when he began yearning for something more significant.
Well, actually he could. Tetsurou usually chose to pretend that nothing had changed. He continued his charade as a casanova, even though he hasn’t been with anyone in months, and continued to be perceived as a charming flirt. Tetsurou carried on with his life, denying any feelings he had felt for Tsukishima Kei.
Tetsurou didn't understand how he ended up being the one who kept looking at the blond full of bitter regret and keeping photos of their old flame. Tetsurou figured it was because he seemed to be the only one between them who was disappointed that they ended; upset over being the one who had broken his own rules and fallen for Kei.
But then Tetsurou left the country and ruined everything.
And time moved on and they grew apart, sitting at other ends of a table four years later. Tetsurou told himself that he’s moved on too, more than certain that all he felt now was nostalgia. He was positive that he held no past feelings, that he couldn’t still be infatuated with someone so difficult and stoic — so smart and so suitable. Tetsurou couldn't even humor the idea of love.
Bokuto
Koutarou loved seeing Keiji smile.
There was no greater sight than Keiji being genuinely happy — especially when the usually calm raven beauty was raving on about his amazing boyfriend ( that’s me! ) surprising him with an amazing birthday party. Keiji even humored him by wearing the birthday hat and glittery sash Koutarou bought for him. He knows that his boyfriend is not the best when it comes to holding his liquor, but Keiji wasn’t too far gone off the rails. If anything, alcohol seemed to loosen Keiji up, enough to enthusiastically hold Koutarou’s hand — slowly intertwining their fingers as the soft glow on his skin surged and Koutarou’s heart leaped.
Keiji tells Bokuto that he needs to make the rounds with the fellow birthday boy, telling him that some may be leaving soon. Kageyama held onto Keiji’s sash as they made their way through the room. Koutarou was left standing there, staring after the man he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
Koutarou never really thought about marriage. It had only crossed his mind a few times before; the last time was during Sawamura and Sugawara’s wedding.
They had been slow dancing and Keiji was feeling the aftermath of the open bar. It was slow and nice until Keiji whispered that he couldn't wait for their first dance together too. Koutarou never mentioned it to him, unsure if they were words of delirious drinking or he imagined the whole thing. That was probably the moment Koutarou knew, in his heart of hearts, that his person was always meant to be Keiji. Keiji was his future — and he needed to step up.
Koutarou didn't want to rush anything, figuring that he'd eventually get around to finding a ring, but then it just wasn't a priority.
Keiji never brought it up either, so he let it go. Marriage was also not that easy for the two of them, let alone a wedding. But now, Koutarou wanted it all — he wanted the experience and figured that they'd deal with the legality of it all in strides. Koutarou didn't care whether they had a legit marriage license or wrote their own in crayons. Koutarou wanted the tuxedos, overly expensive flowers, intoxicated great-uncles, his face getting slapped by wedding cake, and his favorite people celebrating with him. The more he kept thinking about it, the more surreal it felt, and the more anxious he felt about proposing.
He did feel a little better knowing he wouldn’t be doing it all alone. As best man, Kuroo would handle everything with ease, and he knew just how to keep Bokuto in line. The real question would be who he would set his bro up with at his wedding. Koutarou tried not to overstep or meddle with Kuroo’s love life, but he worried. Keiji has often mentioned how his nagging might be the reason Kuroo doesn’t open much about his dating life. He knew Kuroo could be stubborn, but he was also aware of how guarded he was — or became.
Koutarou glanced at his friend who was preoccupied with his phone on the other end of the table, scrolling at a slow pace. Koutarou loved the feline man like a brother — he was part of his chosen family. But he didn’t understand Kuroo sometimes. Koutarou recalled a time when Kuroo wanted more.
He remembered being at a bar together, getting wasted and having fun. Kuroo had told him that he finally understood the appeal of being exclusive with someone. Bokuto had begged Kuroo to tell him what magic spell was cast on him, and more importantly by whom. By the end of the night, Koutarou was finally able to see his friend with his guard down.
Kuroo never told him who his mystery person was — even though it was obvious. But Koutarou had learned some tact and didn’t pry. He figured it wasn't too big of a deal, as long as his friend was happy. Kuroo was over the fucking moon.
Then one day, Kuroo left for America, broken-hearted. He came back with thicker walls and less caution. Koutarou was all for having a good time, but he didn’t understand the excessiveness. He didn’t want Kuroo to be lonely, but he also wanted him to be happy. Maybe if Kuroo was Bokuto’s best man, he can help his friend see the light and find hope. That was his plan anyway.
He looked around again, searching for where Keiji wandered off to when his heart stopped as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see who would scare him half to death when he noticed Tsukishima standing next to him with a bemused expression.
“Huh?” Bokuto articulated
“Should we bring the cake out now?”
“Oh, yeah, the cake! Thanks, Tsukki!”
“Please don’t call me that,” he groaned, no actual heat behind his words. Koutarou just grinned as the blond walked out towards the entrance.
Koutarou was glad he asked Tsukki and Kenma to set up the party; especially after his not-so-amazing birthday surprise party for Akaashi last year. He’s glad Hinata convinced him that they would be the two most likely not to mess it all up. Plus they knew the birthday boys well — Kenma being Hinata's boyfriend who happened to be Kageyama's best friend and Tsukki who recently began to hang out with Akaashi again now that they worked near each other for the past year. Koutarou also knew they could be strong picks for groomsmen!
That was only if Keiji actually wanted to marry him, of course.
Koutarou hoped he wasn’t being foolish in thinking that their future plans weren’t one-sided. He wouldn’t want to risk losing Keiji over a ring.
Akaashi
"The sash and hat are a bit excessive, though, huh?" Sugawara asked Keiji, doing his best to hide his wicked teasing while Kageyama spoke with Sawamura. Keiji tried not to let it show that he agreed, but he couldn’t help the warmth that brewed in his chest knowing how much thought Koutarou put into today.
“Yes, but it’s much better than the surprise camping trip last year,” Keiji did a horrible job hiding his dismay, remembering how miserable he felt at the time, “I thought I was going to freeze to death.”
"I'm sure," he said gently, “But knowing Bokuot-san, it was probably one of his tamer ideas.”
Before he could respond, something shiny distracted him. His eyes wandered over to the small wedding band around Sugawara's ring finger, brilliantly smooth and shinier than Keiji could remember. Sugawara caught him staring and laughed, and before he could slur anything stupid or apologize, Sugawara put a hand on his shoulder.
“You know, I was actually starting to get nervous after a few years that a certain someone,” Sugawara — super subtly — nodded towards Sawamura, “would never ask. I thought he didn’t want to, you know, get married.” He sighed, looking embarrassed as Keiji gave him his full attention. “I had brought it up one time, and we never talked about it again; like he didn’t want to talk about it. It started getting to me.”
“What did you do?” Keiji asked, surprising even himself, figuring he should hold back on the wine next time.
“Well, we kinda got into a fight.”
“A fight?”
“Yeah, I got offered a job back in Sendai. I told him that I loved him, but I didn’t know if I should go back,” Sugawara shrugged, looking off into the distance, “I told him that I needed to know if he still loved me too, that he wanted a future with me or I couldn’t stay in Tokyo with him.” Sugawara smiled, his kind eyes looking down at his ring.
“That seems,” Keiji paused, trying to form the right words, “direct.”
“Well, yes,” Sugawara agreed, understanding what Akaashi really meant, “but I had felt like I had no other choice at the time.”
“Then what happened?”
“And then he left the room. I thought he was going to leave me right then and there...but he came back into the room with a ring in his hand. Apparently he had planned his proposal for a whole month. I felt bad for ruining it, honestly.”
Keiji smiled.
“I’m not saying you should give Bokuto-san an ultimatum,” Sugawara clarified, worried he might have given Akaashi the wrong impression, “It’s just that sometimes you can’t wait. You got to let people know what you want and take things into your own hands.”
Keiji wasn’t sure about that. He remembered saying something at Sugawara’s wedding and then he and Koutarou never talked about it again. And that was years ago. Sometimes he wondered if Koutarou wanted a future with him too. Every once in awhile, Keiji thought about whether they’ll ever move towards the next step of their relationship or stay stagnant. Sure, they basically acted like a married couple and he couldn’t picture his life without Koutarou, But Keiji still felt uncertain.
Which sounded ridiculous, given all that Koutarou has had to sacrifice to be with him.
"Oh, look, cake!" Sawamura exclaimed. They turned to the direction he pointed towards and saw Tsukishima walking in with an excessively large cake in his hands. Koutarou ran up beside him, motioning people to make room on the table.
"We should probably head over," Keiji said as everyone was starting to crowd around the head of the table with their plates and camera phones. The lights overhead dimmed as Kuroo started lighting the candles, doing his best not to burn himself.
The cake was absolutely absurd. It was the image of a setting sun designed like a volleyball on a horizon, both Kageyama and his face horrible drawn with colourful pipework. There was also blue piping along the orange-tinted sky part that read, ‘ Happy Birthdays to our SETTERS! ’ (even though he hasn’t played volleyball since college) and two large candles sticking up from both sides of the cake. Everyone was taking a picture of the monstrosity. Keiji looked over to Tsukishima, who just pointed over to Koutarou, making sure he was in no way accused of having anything to do with the design choices.
It was… not his taste, but really sweet. It was perfectly Koutarou’s style. He looked at his boyfriend, who was taking pictures of the cake from all sorts of extreme angles as Kuroo started singing ‘happy birthday' to them, everyone else joining in.
Keiji made sure to share a devilish grin that promised cruel and unusual punishment if anyone even thought about putting their hands on him before he blew out his candle with Kageyama — whose face was immediately shoved into his side of the cake. There was applause and boisterous congrats and Kageyama didn’t immediately throw the entire cake at Hinata and Oikawa, only a handful.
It was a great birthday. One of his most favorites by far.
Things died down quickly after that, people started making their way home and bidding them farewell. In the lobby, where everyone had started to flock to before exiting the restaurant, Keiji ran into Kenma. He thanked him for helping with the party, even though Kenma confessed that Tsukishima ended up doing all of the work. Regardless, Keiji hoped he enjoyed himself, even if he did look like he needed sleep for the rest of the week.
"Shouyou's talking to Kageyama still, and it's not like I can drive right now, so I have to wait for Kuro, too." Kenma slurred. Keiji could sympathize, feeling like he was finally sobering up himself. "At least this was better than camping. There was zero reception in those woods," the bottle-blond mentioned, making both boys shiver at the memory.
"Koutarou tries to be spontaneous. Sometimes it works out, other times…" Keiji trailed on, "but it's his way of showing his affection, I suppose."
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Kenma agreed. Keiji and Kenma had a lot in common, particularly in taste in men. If there was anyone who knew about the hardships and privilege of being with someone who was high strung, it was Kenma.
“How are you and Hinata, by the way?”
Kenma looked at him with glazed eyes, taken aback by the question as a blush on the top of his ears began to form. He quickly composed himself, but Keiji noticed something in his face seemed forced.
“We’re good, he’s just been away a lot for work.”
“It’s hard to find the time for each other,” Keiji remembered a time when he felt the same; when he and Koutarou had just moved in together and were still trying to figure out the schedules between matches and tour dates and classes. But living under the same roof really did help them grow and put things into perspective for them. Each of their individual schedules, and items, and nicknacks became both of theirs — it became home.
"Maybe you should think about getting a place together," Keiji suggested... then immediately regretted it. Kenma's wide eyes dilated, all signs of his blush disappeared as he paled.
Oops.
"I'm sorry," Akaashi started, "I didn't mean to impose."
Kenma still seemed tense, but he eased up a bit, probably realizing that Akaashi had meant no offense.
"It's fine...I've thought about it, to be honest."
Keiji raised a brow, surprised at Kenma’s frankness. He wondered if an open bar was a wise choice before he recalled his earlier conversation with Sugawara and smiled at the shorter man.
“You know, maybe you should take things into your own hands. Sometimes you can’t wait for someone else to take the first step. It’s okay to be bold.”
Keiji hoped Kenma knew he was being sincere. There was a short pause before Kenma nodded, acknowledging his words just as Hinata walked towards them from his peripheral. Both Kenma and Hinata gave Keiji their goodbyes and final birthday congrats as they left. Akaashi watched them walk to the end of the parking lot, where Kuroo was waiting for them.
Yes, he and Kenma had plenty in common, but they had one big difference. Even though there were times he felt unsure about things, Keiji never questioned how he felt about Koutarou. It was time to stop having doubts and start being daring.
He waited for Tsukishima to finish his conversation with Kageyama before he offered to walk with him to the station across the street, much to Tsukishima’s surprise. He accepted nonetheless.
"Thank you, by the way. I figured you were responsible for the party not being over the top." Keiji smiled, and Tsukishima returned one as well. He and the tall blond had become close again over the past year or so. They had been good friends since they had met and became even closer in college. Then after a while, Tsukishima had distanced himself from Bokuto and himself, still hanging out with them occasionally, but much more reserved.
Keiji knew why Tsukihima grew distant but figured it wasn't his place to pry. Over the years, Keiji missed him, realizing that he had needed someone else with an easy temperament to balance out Bokuto and his partner in crime, Kuroo.
Then, Tsukishima showed up to a local ramen stand that Keiji frequented, apparently starting a new job not too far from Keji’s office. Their daily lunches began shortly after, along with occasional drinks, and the next thing they knew, they had become good friends once more. One of the closest Keiji had.
"Of course. Besides, God knows what would have happened if Bokuto was in charge," Tsukishima teased. They had finally reached the station, stopping a few meters away from the turnstiles when Tsukishima pulled out an envelope, handing it to Akaashi.
“Happy birthday.”
The gesture was polite, but Akaashi had grown close enough to the blond to know that he cared — in his own way.
“Thank you,” Keiji accepted the card with a small smile. Tsukishima nodded and was about to say his farewells, but Keiji stepped closer, making the younger man stop. He cleared his throat, “Would you be able to do me a favor?”
"What sort of favor?" Tsukishima raised a brow.
"Well, I was wondering...if you had plans for this upcoming weekend?"
“Nothing important. What did you have in mind?”
If Keiji wanted something, he’d have to take things into his own hands. He needed to be fearless — he needed to have courage. And when it came to what he wanted with his life — his life with Koutarou — he was certain.
“I need help looking for an engagement ring.”
Next Chapter: Caution
Kenma, Oikawa, Kuroo, Tsukishima