𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒, tsukishima kei

01

     [name] hated airports more than anything in the world. they were crowded, and loud, and he always ended up having to ignore the painful sounds of a screaming baby. [name] would absolutely dread to be in the parents place.

     "good morning passengers. we are currently boarding for our flight to miyagi prefecture. if you are in group one please make an orderly line starting at the doors over there." the woman over the intercom spoke in a monotone. [name] always wondered if they enjoyed their job. people at the airport could be such assholes that he could guess what the answer to his question was.

his thoughts drifted to a certain blond boy as he waited to board the plane.

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[name] couldn't even say a simple hello before his mother trapped him in a crushing embrace. the way she wrapped her arms around him caused a look of discomfort to fall across his features. he loved his mother, and her hugs, but she always managed to squeeze just a little too tight.

after pressing a kiss on her son's forehead, ms. yamaguchi pulled away and went back to stirring the pot of simmering liquid resting on the stovetop. the excitement on her face was very apparent. "tadashi's at volleyball practice. he usually walks home with kei, but i'm sure he wouldn't mind if you dropped by to walk him home. he missed you a lot" the short, freckled woman held her chin between two fingers as she spoke, pursing her lips as if she were thinking. [name] knew that look very well. she was going to start prying. "have you contacted kei at all since you left?"

"i haven't," his eyes averted away from his mother's as he grabbed his coat. "why would i? he's tadashi's friend, not mine." he cleared his throat, a bit bothered by the question.

that was a lie. both [name] and his mother knew that.

ms. yamaguchi shrugged, a quiet hum falling from her lips. "only tadashi's friend? he seems to be very fond of you. he stayed for dinner almost every night the first time you said you were going to come home."

[name] was glad his mother was too busy cooking to notice the heat that had risen to his face. he sucked in a breath as he slipped on his coat and walked out the door.

[name] made it to karasuno's volleyball club room faster than anticipated. he'd only been there once due to an old classmate of his, who attempted to get him to join the club.

that was over a year ago.

although he was just there for tadashi, seeing kei was inevitable. he could never understand why both of them were so passionate about volleyball. [name] didn't find it to be the most interesting sport in the world.

after taking a deep breath, [name] pushed open the clubroom door. nearly every head in the room turned in his direction. he stood there awkwardly until tadashi came running up to him, embracing him in the second excruciatingly right hug he's received today. [name] reciprocate with an equal amount of force.

tadashi buried his face in his older brother's shoulder. it has been six and a half months since he last saw him. he didn't ever want to let go.

[name] saw kei standing in the corner of the room. his headphones still sat around his neck like they always have. his felt his heartbeat quicken. although his face was hard to see from so far away, [name] couldn't stop himself from staring.

kei was taller than he remembered. he was probably taller than [name] now.

"practice ends in a few minutes." tadashi's quiet voice broke the silence. "are you alright with waiting for me?"

[name] nodded, watching his younger brother hurriedly return to practice. he sat on one of the benches, far enough away from the coach that he didn't have to worry about being talked too. talking to strangers was not his forte. his thoughts wandered for a few minutes, waiting for tadashi's practice to finish. [name] hadn't been in a volleyball clubroom in over a year. the new space was uncomfortable to him.

[name]'s gaze fixated on kei. he had changed a lot in the past six months. he was still as lanky as the last time they saw each other, but he could see that muscle was beginning to form on his arms and legs. his blond hair was freshly cut, and he had gotten new glasses. they framed his face much better than his old ones. kei had had a growth spurt as well; now being a couple inches taller than [name].

he pushed back the thought that kei had grown to become very handsome. before [name] moved to america, kei was just the cute boy that his brother was friends with. [name] had never found him this attractive before, but then again he had never seen the other panting and dripping with sweat from practice. he couldn't help but stare.

     "did you zone out?" [name]'s thoughts were interrupted by his little brother's voice. he quickly shifted his eyes away from kei and up at tadashi who was standing in front of him. he stood from the bench, ready to leave, before tadashi paused. "tsukishima always walks home with me so we have to wait." he could sense his brother's nervous when he said kei's name. he was fidgeting with his hands as if [name] was in some sort of time crunch and they had to leave right that second.

     the brother's waited for kei to finish packing his bag. tadashi was still picking at his fingers, whereas [name] was looking at the texts he had received while he had been watching his brother practice. his american friends were surely asleep by now so it was only a message from his mother; asking when he would be home by.

     within the time it took to text his mother back, tsukishima kei was now looming over the yamaguchi brothers. when [name] stood he noticed how much taller kei had gotten. he was shorter than [name] less than six months ago, but now he was nearly two inches taller.

"you got taller."

kei hummed in response, not even sparing a glance at [name] as he lifted his headphones onto his head. the two boys followed suit when tadashi walked out the door. they continued the follow the freckled boy the way home, listening to him talk about the intricacies of his day.

[name] and kei didn't speak a single word with each other the entire walk home.