Goodnight, Tadashi

Chapter 2

To Tsukishima’s humiliation, Kuroo wasn’t the only one in the apartment when he got home from the store. He poked his head in the front door - purchases held safely out of sight in the hall - to see Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akaashi piled up on the couch together, watching a movie. He grimaced.

“Oi, Tsukki!” Bokuto called, the first to notice the opening of the door. “The movie just started! You gonna watch it with us?”

Tsukishima ignored him, turning with a glare to lock eyes with Kuroo. “You.” Kuroo tilted his head curiously, a half-smile already on his face. “I don’t want to hear a single word from you.”

Kuroo’s half-smile spread to a full-fledged grin. “What did you do?”

“Shut it,” Tsukishima insisted again, before entering the apartment fully and kicking the door closed behind him. As soon as his new pillow was through the doorway, Kuroo was roaring with laughter.

“What did I say?” Tsukishima snapped, but Kuroo didn’t appear to even hear him. He was pointing at Tsukishima’s purchase, doubling over to the point of nearly falling off the couch.

“To be fair, he’s not saying words,” Akaashi chimed in. Tsukishima turned his glare on the traitor. Kuroo clapped a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder to show his appreciation.

“Is that a body pillow?” Bokuto asked, perking up in his seat. “I have one of those! For when Akaashi’s not around!” This earned Bokuto an elbow to the ribs from Akaashi, and Tsukishima felt just a little bit better. Kuroo took deep breaths, trying to settle his laughter.

“I’m going to bed,” Tsukishima announced, and started down the hallway to his bedroom.

“The movie!” Bokuto protested, arms gesturing toward the unpaused feature on the television screen.

“It’s barely even dark out,” Akaashi added.

Kuroo got his breath back just in time to pipe in, “It’s okay guys, Tsukki has to break in his new friend.”

Tsukishima slammed his door to the sound of Kuroo’s laughter giving an encore performance, featuring special guest Bokuto.

Tsukishima tossed the pillow onto his bed, frowning at it, hoping it wouldn’t prove to be a mistake.

When his pajamas were on and the lights were off, Tsukishima climbed into bed. He threw his blankets over the pillow. He pulled the pillow close, snuggling right up to it. He closed his eyes.

...He felt silly.

He opened his eyes, glaring into the blurry darkness of his room. It wasn’t like anyone could see him, and he knew it was a silly idea from the get-go. He sighed, closed his eyes again, and settled back into the pillow. Bokuto’s words from earlier rang in his mind. “I have one of those! For when Akaashi’s not around!”

Tsukishima had already acknowledged that his sleeplessness started when he left Miyagi. He had already admitted to himself that it was most likely due to loneliness. It wasn’t too big of a jump for him to envision the person he was missing the most: Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima felt his ears heat, embarrassed even in the confines of his own mind. It wasn’t like he and Yamaguchi had ever cuddled before - slept in close proximity, sure, all the time, but never cuddled - but it was more soothing than he had expected it would be to imagine it was Yamaguchi’s head tucked under his chin rather than the edge of the pillow, Yamaguchi’s waist his arms were wound around.

Tsukishima took a deep breath, and let himself indulge in the fantasy.

He was asleep in minutes.