Chapter Text
Tsukishima:
Unpacking the last of his boxes Tsuki breathed out a sigh of relief. Moving was such a pain. Especially in the dead of summer with the heat working to turn you into a puddle of sweat. Tsuki took a long, hard look around his new apartment. This was the first time he’s ever lived by himself. The first time in his life that he has been completely on his own. He went from living at home with his family, to university with a roommate, to his first apartment in Tokyo with Yamaguchi to moving in with his boyfriend Akio. Unfortunately that hadn’t ended so well for him.
It isn’t that Akio was horrible to him, Tsuki was never abused or anything, just that Tsuki started to feel he was being taken advantage of. He made good money and Akio could barely hold down the most menial jobs for more than a few months. When Tsuki would bring up his feelings with Akio, the man would always talk in circles until he had flipped things around until Tsuki felt like the bad guy. After a few years of this Tsuki had finally had enough of it and left Akio. It was definitely a messy breakup. Complete with a full blown screaming match and ending with Tsuki nursing a black eye. Needless to say that was the bitter end of a genuinely shitty chapter in his life. His things were packed and out of their shared apartment before the sun had set the following day. Mostly thanks to Yamaguchi and Hinata. His new apartment had practically fallen into his lap and now he was living in the heart of Tokyo and ready to get a move on with whatever happened next.
Unfortunately for Tsuki, what came next was not much better than what he had left behind. Work got significantly more busy, forcing him to take on heaps of extra work and overtime. Thankfully his ex n0 longer knew where he lived but that didn’t stop the man from calling daily. Both of these factors were the cause of Tsuki’s frequent stops at the bar near his home for a drink - or seven - on his way home from work or whenever he found himself with nothing to do. This often led to mornings laced with hangovers and regret, or worse. Worse being waking up in the bed of a stranger or a stranger in his bed.
This toxic cycle repeated on a loop for months. Tsuki could feel himself slipping further and further away from his friends and family. Calls were missed or ignored, text messages were read (sometimes) then immediately forgotten about. He even forgot Hinata’s birthday. He could feel all this happening and yet the pleasant numbness he felt at the bottom of each bottle or in the arms of each stranger felt more important somehow.
On a Friday night that the train lines were down for maintenance Tsuki had to take an alternate route home. It was already getting late and he didn’t feel like going out of his way to go to his usual bar. Tsuki had resigned himself to a night alone on the couch with his own liquor and began his trek back home. It had been quite a while since he had been in this area and to his immense delight there was actually a new bar right there on his walk home. ‘The Night Owl’ the sign read. The bar had enough neon signs lit up to look like a Christmas tree, maybe a little tacky but the idea of getting lost in a bottle of vodka was simply too tempting for him to resist.
Tsuki walked into the bar and looked around. Noticing first and foremost that the place was very… much. Signage and sports paraphernalia hung over every inch of wall space. The bar was on the smaller side but somehow they had managed to fit eight TV’s around the space, each playing a different sport or game. The bar was fairly crowded. The bar itself was an ‘L’ shape and took up most of a back wall aside from a small hallway and it ran half the length of the side wall, with plenty of room for tables and even a small dance floor.
Locating an empty bar stool near the end of the bar, Tsuki took a seat and waited for the bartender to take his order. The man that came to get his drink looked vaguely familiar but Tsuki couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He ordered himself a drink and a shot and gave the man his card to start a tab. Once he had downed his shot and half a drink, Tsuki finally looked up to get a read of the kinds of people the bar held. The bar had gotten slightly more busy since he’d gotten there but the majority of people looked to be at around his age. Mid 20’s to 30’s ish. Lots of people hanging out in groups. Some that looked like him, still in their work clothes, others dressed up for a night out. His eyes dance among the patrons as he finishes his drink and orders another round from the slightly familiar bartender. He makes casual conversation with the few people sitting around him while he polishes off his round.
A pleasant buzz had settled in by now and it was nearing 11:30 pm. Tsukishima had noticed a man eyeing him for quite a while now and trying to catch his eye. With the extra liquid courage in his veins Tsuki finally let his eyes linger on the other man. He appeared a few years older than Tsuki. Closer to 30, maybe? He had dark blue eyes and dark blonde hair that was tied back in a bun. The hair kind of reminded him of Asahi from back in high school. The pair made eye contact a few more times before the man sauntered over to Tsukishima. Yes, sauntered. His body language cool and aloof. Here we go thought Tsuki.
“Hello Handsome. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” The man winked and it took all of his will power not to snort. Who the hell is this guy?
“Does an intro like that ever actually work for you? I’ve heard better lines from a laffy taffy wrapper.” Tsuki sassed the man and took another sip of his drink.
“Eh, honestly it’s 50/50 but nobody has ever called me out on it so boldly.” The man flashes a megawatt smile. “I’m Yuichi by the way. Whats your name? Or should I keep calling you Handsome?” Another wink. Ugh.
“Tsukishima. Please stop calling me handsome.” Tsuki told Yuichi with all sincerity.
“Well Tsukishima, how about you let me buy you a drink and we can chat for a while?” Tsuki eyed the man once more. He was good looking but he knew it, which made him seem pompous and arrogant. Still, Stukishima isn't exactly known for being picky about his bed mates.
“Yeah. I guess one drink won’t hurt.” Tsuki replied to him with a half assed smile.
The man, Yuichi, ordered them both another drink and they chatted for a while. Superficial small talk at best. But Tsuki was fine with it. Not like you needed to have an intelligent conversation with someone to decide if they’re worthy of a one night stand. Although honestly, the longer they talked the less appealing he became. Tsuki may not be picky about these sorts of things but he did have some standards. Yuichi was very much falling below those standards.
“I’m going to run to the washroom. I’ll be back.” Tsuki told Yuichi before walking toward the back hall and the restroom. He did his business and while he was washing his hands the room began to spin a little bit and he suddenly felt very clammy and sleepy. He mentally counted his drinks but he hadn’t had nearly enough drinks to be feeling as fuzzy as he felt right now. Maybe it’s time to go home. Alone.
He left the restroom and stumbled hard to the right. He threw his hand out to the wall to stop himself from falling but instead of a firm wall he accidentally threw himself into a door which gave way under his weight. He managed to right himself before he went face first into the wooden floor.
Embarrassed, Tsuki mumbles a “Sorry” not looking up from the floor before continuing his way back to his seat at the bar. He thought he heard someone call his name from the direction of the hall, but that’s impossible, nobody here knows him.
Once he reaches his seat Yuichi starts speaking again. Things continue to get more fuzzy and he feels sleepier by the moment. Someone is talking to him and it takes him several minutes for realization to set in. “A… Ak?” is that really him? It can’t be. It’s been years since he’s seen him. “Akaashi?” Akaashi is speaking to him again but he couldn’t really make out what was being said to him. Things seemed to be fading in and out then he was pointing toward the bar and when Tsuki looked over he saw another face he hasn’t seen since high school. He is still talking but it took a few seconds for the words to come out. “Bokuto. Hi…” Things fade again for a minute but next thing he knows he is being pulled from his chair and nearly falls to the ground and he is being dragged toward the door. He looks behind him to try to find a way away from Yuichi as fear grips him. Things seem to be moving both too quick and extremely slow. The next thing he feels is a warm arm around his shoulders and a friendly voice in his ear before he is sat somewhere comfy and everything fades to black.