Archive of Our Own

It was probably one of the hottest summer days of the year. The windows were thrown open in the hopes a slight breeze might blow through, and Asahi had set his only fan so that it blew the hot air directly over them. It was the kind of muggy day that sapped the energy from your body, to the point where even though they were both gross and sweaty, Asahi couldn’t quite find it in himself to shove at Noya, who lay across his chest and looked far too comfortable for the heat.

If they weren’t in some strange sort of exhausted-yet-comfortable stupor, they would probably be out doing something right now. They didn’t have as much free time to spend with each other as they used to, not with Asahi’s coaching and volunteering, and definitely not with Noya being called into the station at the drop of a hat when they were short staffed. After all, summer was when the fires kicked up more often. And even though it’d be nice to go out and do something together on their rare days off, Asahi couldn’t make himself regret just lazing around on the floor with Noya on top of him. Although he did start to contemplate whining at his boyfriend to “gerroff me, you’re sweltering.”

Noya shifted slightly, his body pulling Asahi’s tank top tight against his chest, the damp fabric that had been underneath Noya’s body showing up darker, soaked through with sweat. Asahi settled his head back on his outstretched arms and closed his eyes, resigning himself to the sticky and somewhat uncomfortable lounging position.

Noya made a quiet noise in the back of his throat, poking at Asahi’s chest and drawing what felt like shapes. When Asahi brought forth the effort to open his eyes and look up, he saw a sweat-drawn smiley-face on his chest, one that matched easily with the grin on his boyfriend’s face. Laughing breathlessly, he let his head fall back onto his arms, staring at the ceiling. “Noya, you weirdo,” he breathed, not mentioning that he was weird as well for finding it not only gross but also a little cute.

Noya only nudged against his side with a grunt, before settling back down and admiring his handiwork.

Asahi wasn’t sure how long they had been laying there, relaxing in the easy silence, in a sort of waking daze induced by the heat, when Noya tapped his collarbone lightly to get his attention. “Mmn?” He grunted, not looking up nor opening his eyes until he felt Noya wiggling around on top of him, his chin digging into Asahi’s ribs.

“Wha?” Asahi asked, propping his head up slightly by overlapping his forearms behind his head, sleepily watching the familiar face peering up at him.

Noya stayed silent, just watching, and Asahi had begun to doubt he was going to respond when he finally spoke up, quietly.

“We should get married.”

It wasn’t a question, it wasn’t a proposal, just a simple statement. Noya said it as easily as if he were stating it was 102F outside and no living creature should have to endure that. Asahi blinked up at him, meeting Noya’s unwavering gaze, silent as he let what Noya had just said sink in.

“Yeah…” He mumbled, slowly, thoughtfully, squinting his eyes slightly at the prospect. “Yeah.” He nodded, his voice gaining confidence and stability. “Yeah, alright.” And for a minute there they just look at each other in the heat, grinning like doofuses.

As Asahi leaned back, returning to being half-asleep, half-awake, he couldn’t help but remember that this floor was the same one on which he and Noya had had sleepovers in high school, where they’d shared their hopes and dreams, their fears and worries, late into the night…

...

Back when they were in high school, Noya would come spend the night on weekends. Usually when they did a sleepover, it was at Asahi’s house – since it was only him and his dad, it was quiet, and they always got plenty of space and free reign over what they did or when they went to bed. (Noya always tried to convince Asahi to stay up all night long – inevitably they were both asleep before two in the morning rolled around.) It was always noisy and crowded at Noya’s house – Asahi still wasn’t sure how many siblings Noya had, exactly, but it seemed like every few months there was another youngster running around and causing mayhem.

Though they were very close friends, they weren’t together in high school – in fact, they didn’t become a couple until a few years after they had both graduated.

They remained close friends after Asahi graduated, and between cheering at games and simply hanging out, it was never too long before Asahi would see Noya again. Noya was Asahi’s best friend, the first to know about changes or worries in his life: when he decided to stay with his dad after graduating, since he was getting on in years; when he was uncertain what kind of job he would get to help pay the bills; when Takeda-sensei told him about his nephew’s elementary school volleyball team’s dire need for a temporary coach and PE teacher; and when, after he took Takeda up on the offer, that position shifted from temporary to long term. Noya was his confidant in all those things and more, reassuring and pushing him into action as needed.

It took Asahi another two years before he realized that he loved his best friend as more than just a friend. Noya graduated high school and worked at various short-term jobs as a temp before he got into firefighter-training school. “You don’t have to have a degree,” he’d explained when Asahi asked why a firefighter, “and it’s so cool.” It took him another year to finish all of his required schooling and pass the tests, and he would come to Asahi when he was frazzled or worried. Asahi would tell Noya about how his elementary schoolers were doing, and how he’d grown adept at calming down crying children, and help Noya with his flashcards. Those months were the most intense Asahi had seen Noya be about studying since he had to pass his exams to go to the Tokyo training camp back in his second year.

It was when Noya called and said he had to cancel their study night for the week because of unexpected plans, and Asahi felt like his day was coming crashing around him in disappointment, that he realized how very much he had been looking forward to a few hours with a stressed out Noya and flashcards with things he didn’t even understand written on them. He was in a foul mood that entire weekend.

After Noya landed a job in the local firefighter department, they’d gone out together for drinks, along with anyone else from the team who was one, old enough, and two, still around. Asahi didn’t remember much of that night, but they had stayed out long and late, and when he woke in the morning it was to a pounding headache and a sound asleep Noya using him as a pillow. Not sure why he woke up, Asahi had found himself contemplating the happy face in front of him fondly… until Noya started drooling on him and ruined the moment. The chill feeling suddenly reminded Asahi’s bladder that it was yelling at him for having drunk so much, and he got up carefully, trying not to jostle his friend awake.

A week later, Asahi had been wrapping up the last of his duties in the teacher’s lounge, gathering the loose papers into his bag, when he glanced at the TV. It was a small, old set, and kind of staticky sometimes, but generally served them well. At the time, it had been on the local news channel, covering a large fire that seemed to have started at an old, decrepit school, growing large enough to warrant calling for the surrounding fire departments as well as their own. Asahi hadn’t even realized that he’d been holding still, staring intently at the television, until through the static the words “A wall collapsed, trapping one of the firefighters within,” caused him to drop his papers in shock, his heart dropping to his feet like a rock.

Asahi didn’t even hear one of the teachers asking him “Are you alright?” as he blew past them, leaving all of his things scattered across the table and floor, already digging into his pocket for his keys and chanting to himself the address of the old school. It had looked a bit familiar… perhaps it was the same one people used to think he hung out at, where all the young gangs and delinquents used to spend their time.

He sped along the roads, taking the countryside winds as quickly as he safely could, thinking of nothing but what he would do if it was Nishinoya caught in that fire, what if Noya was the one who got hurt, what if Yuu’s first fire was also his last…?

Everything was a blur as he reached the scene, the fire loud and hot, the surrounding area filled with people, vehicles, medical personal and reporters, confusion everywhere.

Asahi slammed his car into park, turning the keys with a fury, hardly letting the car turn off before he was out the door, out of the car, rushing towards the firetruck with a one track mind, pushing and weaving between others with reckless abandon.

As he got closer to the firetruck, closer to the building, he ducked under the barriers and kept rushing forward, ready to plunge directly into the burning building if that was what he had to do.

Before he could get any closer, however, a broad body obscured his path, knocking the breath out of him with an arm wrapped firmly around his middle, a muffled voice coming from the fogged up oxygen mask.

“Sir, sir you can’t go in there, sir you need to stay back here, it’s not safe-“

A loud blast, a window blowing out from the building in front of them, distracting the firefighter for a bare moment. “Yuu!” Asahi cried out, his eyes frantically searching amongst the sea of bodies, seeing nothing but dull yellow suits, oxygen masks and soot. “YUU!”

A barked order, and the first firefighter switched out with another, telling him the same thing, but Asahi wasn’t listening, too focused on what he was seeing in front of him, the building burning down with a ferocity he had never seen before, water spraying at it from seemingly all directions.

“Sir, sir I need you to step back, calm down si-“ The firefighter in front of him cut off as Asahi began to sag, emotionally drained and unable to do anything, and he finally looked down for the barest moment to catch the gaze of the man who was herding him back into the mob of people around them.

“Yuu…”

“Asahi-san?” Asahi perked up slightly at the muffled sound of his own name, looking down at the broad body forcing him to shuffle backwards, confused and out of focus.

The firefighter in front of him ripped off his mask, and Asahi was met with the furrowed brow of Tanaka Ryuunosuke. “Look, Asahi-san, it’s not safe and I need you behind the line. I’ll find you after and fill you in, but right now I need you behind. The. Line.”

The words were spoken with a ferocity that Asahi had never heard before from his old kouhai’s mouth, and he found himself nodding dumbly, automatically obeying and stepping behind the barriers, forcing himself to stay still and wait, as impossible as it seemed. Tanaka shoved his mask back over his head, shouting something to the crowd around him, before turning around and running back towards the firefighters manning the hose, helping to aim the powerful blast of water towards the worst parts of the fire.

Asahi stood, frantic and terrified, unable to do anything but wait: wait and watch and hope. It seemed like forever until the fire was under control, everyone was out of the building, before Asahi saw Tanaka’s face again. He was talking to someone next to him, pulling his mask down to sit around his neck, revealing a soot-stained face. Asahi caught snippets of Tanaka’s words, but none of it made sense, he felt so drained and empty.

“…think he was looking for you… heard him shouting your name,” Tanaka was saying, nodding towards Asahi and returning to his duties as the second, shorter firefighter began to lope towards him.

Thinking back on it, Asahi realizes he should have been able to tell Noya apart from the rest easily, with most of the firefighters being at least a head taller than Noya. But Asahi hadn’t exactly been in his right mind, and it was only when he heard his own name being called out that he looked up and recognized the bright, beaming face of Nishinoya Yuu running towards him, his mask dangling from one hand while he used his other to wave cheerily.

“Asahi! What are you doing here? Are you al-“ Noya cut himself off, his brows furrowing in worry as he grew closer. “What’s wrong? You’re pale as a sheet,” Noya said, immediately reaching forward and grabbing Asahi’s hand, feeling for his pulse and counting the rapid beats in his head.

“I… news… caught in building… Yuu…” Asahi was mumbling, his eyes focused solely on the small body in front of him, flitting everywhere as if to check for damage, his hands reaching up to cup Noya’s face, making sure he was real. “Alive.”

“Yes, of course I’m alive,” Noya chuckled awkwardly, pressing his hands against Asahi’s hands and wrists, feeling a pale skin with a slight sheen of cold sweat. “Are you alright? Come on, let’s sit down over here,” he gently led Asahi to a curb, helping him to sit down and watching as his limbs shook and nearly collapsed beneath him. “There, there, it’s alright, everyone’s alright,” Noya soothed, rubbing Asahi’s hands and forearms in an attempt to warm him up.

Once the shaking had seemed to still, and Asahi began to return to himself, Noya returned his attention to Asahi himself. “Now, why are you all the way out here?” he questioned, meeting Asahi’s gaze firmly.

“Thank god you’re alive,” were the only words that spilled out of Asahi’s mouth, all in a rush, as if in an exhale, and he leaned heavily on his friend, immediately enveloping him in an overwhelming embrace.

Now that the words had started, it seemed as if he couldn’t stop them from escaping, all of his worries condensed into one quick ramble. “I saw the news, at work, there was a fire, a wall collapsed in the building, a firefighter was stuck and it could have been you, Yuu, it could have been you and you could have been hurt, or worse, and then what would I do, how would I go on without having ever told you, I don’t know if I could handle-“

“Shhh,” Noya reached a hand forward, gently placing it on top of Asahi’s face and effectively shutting him up. “Calm down, now. It’s alright, nobody’s dead, everyone is A-OK, even the teenage punks who were in the damn place.” He waited until Asahi’s breathing had returned to normal before continuing. “I wasn’t the one who got stuck, a coworker was, while trying to rescue one of the punks, and besides,” he added, “even if it had been me, we’re trained to handle these things, Asahi. It’s nothing we aren’t prepared for.”

“I know, I know, I just… I just,” Asahi stumbled over his words, burying his face against Noya’s neck and shoulders, trying to contain the slight tremors still running through him at the mere idea that it had been Noya who had been caught…

“Yes, yes, it’s alright, I know,” Noya comforted, rubbing gently circles into his back and calming him down. He’d learned how to deal with people in acute shock, and even more he knew how Asahi could get all wound up. The fact that he had been shouting his first name, rather than his nickname, clued Noya into how extremely worried Asahi had been.

“That’s just it, you don’t!” Asahi shouted, sitting up, but immediately burying his face in his hands, mumbling something that Noya couldn’t quite catch.

“What’s that?” He asked, trying to pry Asahi’s hands away from his face. “I can’t quite hear you.”

“I said I think I love you,” Asahi mumbled, still stubbornly holding his hands to his face, his ears steadily turning bright, embarrassing red.

“You think you- oh. Oh.” Noya stilled in his effort to reveal Asahi’s face, his hands gently hovering over Asahi’s. After a mere beat of silence, Noya spoke again. “Well. I do know, then. Because I think I might love you, too.”

“You- what?” Asahi finally drew his hands away from his face, looking over only to see Noya stubbornly refusing to look his direction, staring at the ground and trying to compose himself.

A small grin began to cross his face, and when Noya looked up at Asahi, the grin had blossomed into a full on, face-splitting smile. He tried to contain it for a moment, tried not to laugh, as he mock-scolded Asahi. “But even if you l-love me, Asahi, you can’t come running whenever I’m working at a fire. It’s dangerous! … and we really are specially trained to deal with it, you know,” he mumbled, nudging Asahi’s side gently, reassuringly.

It wasn’t a day later before they were officially dating.

…

“Hey.” Noya interrupted Asahi’s reminiscing by heavily dropping his chin on his boyfriend’s sternum. “What are you thinking about that’s making you smile so stupidly?”

Asahi looked up at Noya’s face, looming right over his, and leaned forward for a quick peck on the lips. “You,” he whispered, grinning.

Noya snorted in response, rolling his eyes. “Glad to know I can still make you look like a lovesick puppy,” he quipped, booping Asahi’s nose before rolling off of him to the side without any warning. The sudden movement allowed his sweat-soaked clothes access to the open air, and Asahi suppressed a delighted shiver at the sudden, if momentary, chill. Asahi pulled his arm out from underneath Noya’s body, and was about to lay it across his stomach when Noya’s hand gripped his wrist, and pulled the wayward arm underneath his neck. Forever a pillow to the tiny libero. It would likely end up on his gravestone: Here lies Asahi Azumane, Nishinoya Yuu’s body pillow. And husband. Soon.

“Hey,” Asahi said, turning his head to the side so he could meet Noya’s gaze once more. “Remember the first time you told me you were going to marry me?”

“Hah!” Noya laughed, snorting. “How could I forget? Your confused and startled face was priceless.”

“Hey, I had just been looking for some booty, I wasn’t expecting a declaration of marriage – and at some future, undetermined time, no less!” Asahi defended, screwing his face up in retaliation.

“Well, it’s determined now,” Noya countered, sticking his tongue out before shrugging and returning to looking at the ceiling. “Roughly. Sometime in the even-nearer future, anyways,” he said, waving a hand about vaguely.

“Yeah…” Asahi smiled, content.

…

They had only been dating for a few months, and everything seemed to be going along smoothly. It was mostly the same as when they had been only best friends – with a little more handholding and some extra kissing in between. Asahi still told Noya all about how his elementary schoolers were doing, and Noya still came to his games and cheered the little team on. At first, Noya chafed slightly when the students ran up to say hi to him, because two of them were taller than him, and they were only in elementary school – but he grew to love when the young ones ran up to him, excited to say hi to their most loyal fan. Noya still fought fires regularly, although now he always called Asahi or sent him a text on his way home from a shift, to let him know he was safe.

It was early evening when Noya had gotten off from a two-day shift at the station, and he sent his regular text to Asahi. Just got home from work, it went well. How were your kids?

Not bothering to wait for a response, Noya began stripping layers as he walked into the small apartment he was currently sharing with Tanaka. Since they were both firefighters, they both had strange schedules, and didn’t run into each other often enough to bug the bejeebus out of each other yet, so it worked out well (even if the place was never properly clean).

Noya shoved some week-old laundry off of the chair at the end of his bed, making a mental note that he could probably survive another week before he had to run to the laundromats. Dropping the heavy uniform to the ground, he nearly missed the buzzing of his phone receiving a message. Stripping down until he was only in his boxers, Noya grabbed his phone and a towel, and headed into the bathroom.

Asahi: It was awful. Take-chan’s nephew, Onoda-kun, nearly burst out in tears today. Up for hangouts?

Humming, Noya tossed his towel on top of the (for once, closed) toilet seat, reading Asahi’s message. He didn’t have any plans that night, and he was pretty sure Tanaka had a date or something later, so he wasn’t exactly needed at home. He turned on the water and shot a quick message back, dropping his phone on the counter before dropping trou and climbing into the welcoming heat of the water.

Noya: Sure, and you can tell me all about your day. I’m hopping in the shower now, so I’ll see you in an hour twenty.

…

When Asahi got Noya’s text, he only smiled and shook his head, showing up at the train station about two hours later. Noya was rarely a good estimate at time, and nearly every time he took a shower he missed the 6-o’clock train back to Karasuno. He’d been waiting about ten minutes when, right on time, the 7-o’clock train rolled in, and Noya bounded off of it. Asahi smiled and welcomed Noya in for a hug, holding him tightly until his boyfriend leaned back and asked,

“So, why were you makin’ kids cry today?”

“I wasn’t trying to make Onoda-kun cry, he just gets overwhelmed sometimes!” Asahi defended, quickly releasing Noya with a frown.

“Alright, why’d he get overwhelmed then?” Noya asked, not skipping a beat, falling into step with his much larger boyfriend and reaching over to entwine their hands together.

“I’m not really sure, but I think it was because he was having a hard time hitting the ball over the net…?” Asahi trailed off thoughtfully, smiling slightly as he gripped Noya’s hand in his. “But when I tried to lift him up so he could hit one over the net, the ball nearly knocked his glasses off. It wasn’t two seconds later before that darned wobbly lip came back into play.”

Noya laughed in response, purposely leaning to the side and bumping against Asahi with every few steps. “Bet you calmed him down pretty quickly after that, though. Because my boyfriend’s a softie~”

Asahi blushed a little at Noya’s tone, bumping back into him gently. “Nothing wrong with that,” he mumbled, searching around for something to change the topic from his not-so-great day.

“So, what did you have in mind for tonight?” Noya asked, beating Asahi to the punch and swinging their hands between them with ease. “Anything in particular?”

“Well, my dad’s out of town for the week, so I thought we could go home and I could… maybe… cook something for us?” The further into his sentence he got, the more Asahi’s voice weakened and he buried his face into his coat up to the nose.

Naturally, this didn’t stop Noya from exclaiming happily in response. “Alright!” He shouted, “gonna eat Asahi’s delicious cooking tonight, mmm!” He kicked his feet up and jumped a bit, already getting hyper.

…

They ended up kissing in Asahi’s room upstairs, hands roaming, feet stumbling. Lips met, broke apart, slid down along jawlines, all while soft pants were heard throughout the quiet room. They’d been dating for a month, but it felt like so much longer than that, since they had been close friends for so many years.

“You know,” Asahi mumbled, breathing lightly between kisses, “my dad won’t be home until Monday… you could spend the night…”

“Mm, that sounds nice,” Noya hummed against his skin, causing Asahi to feel the goosebumps rise where his hot breath ghosted over. “What did you have in mind?”

Asahi let his hands slowly, sloooowly creep down Noya’s back, settling at his waist just above the curve of his ass. “Well, this is nice,” he said, just barely avoiding stumbling over his words, blushing and trying to be bold. He was pretty sure he was reading the signs right – Noya was close to him, wasn’t pulling away, had initiated the makeouts, seemed to be up for whatever might happen… but Asahi being Asahi, he had to ask anyways. Even if he asked in a sort of roundabout way, unable to make himself say it as bluntly as his boyfriend might. “Maybe… a little more?” He asked, letting his hands drift just slightly lower onto Noya’s backside, hoping he wouldn’t have to spell it out in exactness. He wasn’t even really sure what, exactly, he was asking for, but it didn’t stop him from wanting it.

Noya drew back easily, dropping his hands to pull Asahi’s from his backside into his own palms. “Nah,” he said, shaking his head slightly.

“N-nah?” Asahi asked, flustered, moving to pull his hands back as if burned, but Noya held on tight.

“Gonna save it,” he stated, entwining his fingers with Asahi’s with ease, soothing the shaking appendages.

“Save it? Save it for what? When? … what??” Asahi’s brows knit together, confused, not following what in the world Noya was trying to say. All that really came through was that, for some reason, even though he thought that’s what Noya wanted… he didn’t. He felt like his heart had jumped into his throat and he attempted to swallow it down, making unwanted advances on his younger, smaller boyfriend, he was terrible…

“Gonna save that for after I marry your sorry ass.”

Asahi looked back up in shock, the meaning slowly filtering through to his mind as if his ears were filled with cotton, and his wide eyes sought out Noya’s. Noya was simply grinning at him, and he couldn’t help but ask for clarification. “Did you just... say…?”

Noya turned red under Asahi’s gaze as he slowly realized what that might have sounded like. “Th-that wasn’t a proposal, though!” He blurted, holding his hands out in front of him as he shook his head. “I-I mean, yeah. I want to marry you. But… not right now. We’ve only been dating for like a month, that’d move way too fast, and… but. Endgame. Y-yeah. Playin’ for keeps.”

Asahi didn’t want to push, he didn’t mean to push, and he nodded vigorously, his lips pressed tight together as he grunted out an affirmative noise. Yeah. Yeah he was cool with that. He was fine with waiting. His mind raced through the implications, and his feelings were all jumbled. He felt somewhat relieved, because even he wasn’t sure what he had really been aiming for with that move, but he was also flustered and flattered because did Noya really just say that the endgame was marriage here? And a little overwhelmed and he could feel his heartrate picking up and he might have started to hyperventilate because he couldn’t figure out if he felt good or bad because he felt rejected but also accepted and there was no way they were ready for marriage and-

Noya watched his boyfriend for a few moments, practically seeing the steam bursting out of his ears as he overloaded, and gently smacked their foreheads together. “Oi. Stop thinking so loudly, we won’t be able to breathe through the smoke coming out of your ears.”

The knock to his head grounded Asahi, and he nodded jerkily, exhaling and taking in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and focus on the man in front of him.

“I said later. Not now. So chill. I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” Noya assured, gently rubbing his thumbs over the sides of Asahi’s neck, his hands resting against his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Alright?”

“Y-yeah,” Asahi said shakily, nodding, wrapping his arms around Noya’s back and embracing him tightly. “Yeah.”

…

About a year later, that same topic was revisited.

Asahi and Noya were at Noya’s apartment that night, and Tanaka was spending the evening with his girlfriend. Hands were roaming over bodies and laughter could be heard as they fell over onto Noya’s bed.

“Mmm, Yuu, I want you,” Asahi half growled, half murmured, amongst his kisses along Noya’s collarbone, the gentle words punctuated by little breathy sighs.

“Ahh-Asa-hiiiiiiiii,” Noya keened, tightening his hands where they lay entangled in Asahi’s disheveled hair, pulling back slightly. “I want to,” he panted, “I really do, but no.”

Asahi immediately pulled his lips off of Noya’s skin, revealing a pout and resting his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. “Why nooooot?” He whined, stroking his fingertips up one side of Noya’s ribcage and delighting in the little shudders that resulted.

“Because,” Noya said emphatically, “I want our first time to be special.” He leaned forward and donned a quick kiss onto the tip of Asahi’s nose before rolling over, off of him, onto the side of the bed.

Asahi shuffled against the wall of the bed to give Noya some more space to sprawl about in, and propped his head up on an arm. “It is special, though! It’s our one year anniversary, we just had a romantic dinner, there’s no one around to interrupt us… it’s not like this is my first rodeo, you know,” he half-joked, poking Noya’s open stomach and smiling a bit at the automatic, visceral response. With so many siblings, you’d think Noya wouldn’t be ticklish, but he was.

“Well yeah, it’s not like it’s mine either,” Noya scoffed after swatting Asahi’s hand away, crinkling his nose and sticking his tongue out in a childish manner entirely unbefitting their conversation.

Asahi frowned slightly, his forehead wrinkling up in confusion as it often did with his boyfriend around. Tilting his head, he asked, “Then why…?”

“Want it to be special for our first time together.” Noya rolled his eyes, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world, and Asahi felt his heart melt a little in response. “’Sides, told you I’m savin’ dat booty for marriage.”

“You really were serious about that, huh…?” Asahi felt love blossoming from the top of his head and flowing down to the tips of his toes as he saw Noya’s face visibly soften.

“Of course I was,” he began softly, “and besides, if I don’t take care of you, who would? Your poor little glass heart would shatter.”

Asahi snorted at the thing that shattered was the intimate mood, and gently shoved at his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Nishinoya Yuu, you are ridiculous.”

“Yup, and you love me,” Noya responded without missing a beat, beaming brightly at him.

“Ugh, yes I do.”

…

“You know, I kind of forgot we weren’t actually married.”

Noya’s voice brought Asahi’s mind back to the world of the living, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess we’ll be needing rings or something then, huh?” He mused, stretching out his tired muscles with a yawn.

Noya was silent at first, simply sitting up and twisting to crack his back, before he turned to look at Asahi with a gleam in his eye. Groaning a bit at the mischievous face, Asahi sat up. “What.”

“Instead of rings, we should get necklaces. They’d be so cool! And you’d never have to worry about bending it out of shape when coaching, and I could keep mine safely under the fire suit!” Noya beamed at his brilliant plan, nodding to himself.

“You’re a big dweeb, you know that?” Asahi said, shaking his head with a smile on his face. “Sure, we can do necklaces. We’d probably be less likely to lose them, too.”  

“Yup! And you’re going to be my huge, wimpy husband,” Noya declared, leaning over and kissing him brightly. “And now I’m going to go steal your shower because it is so hooooot. Ugh, I swear I’ve sweat a gallon today!”

Asahi simply chuckled as he got up, watching as Noya walked towards the bathroom before making his own way into the kitchen for a cool glass of water. “Huh. We’re actually gonna do it… get married.” He smiled easily to himself, standing at the kitchen counter and downing the entire glass in one go.

…

Noya and Tanaka were in the midst of their annual cleaning frenzy, where they actually attempted to make the apartment a slightly hospitable-to-life environment, when Noya called out.

“Hey, Ryuu,” he began, grabbing a half-empty bag of chips by the wrong end and grimacing when its remains were scattered across their carpet. “You got anythin’ planned for May 15^th? It’s a, uh…. Friday, I think.”

“Haah?” Tanaka shouted from around the corner, wrestling with the vacuum cleaner in the closet. “What was that, Yuu?”

“May 15^th,” he repeated patiently, tossing more garbage into his sack and trying not to grind the chip remains into the carpet even more. “Think you could get the day off?”

“Well yeah, sure,” Tanaka replied, finally getting the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and shutting the door with a resounding bang. “It’s pretty easy to get a day off when it’s so far in advance. What’s up?”

Noya grinned, knowing that there was no real excuse as to why Tanaka would be busy when the wedding was still about six months out. “Well,” he trailed off dramatically, “I need you on that day. Preferably in a suit, probably. Do you own a suit?”

“Do you?” Tanaka responded with raised eyebrows, moving to plug in the vacuum. Noya had been teasing, but his face scrunched up when he realized that yeah, that was another thing to add to the to-do list. “Why do I need a suit, anyways? Somebody’s funeral comin’ up? Old man Ukai hasn’t kicked the bucket, right?”

“Nawh man, I just need my best man to look real sharp, can’t have you showin’ up in tank tops and ratty jeans,” Noya countered, raising his voice halfway through as the vacuum sputtered to life and began kicking up a ruckus.

Tanaka slammed the off button with his foot, muttering something about forgetting to turn the thing off rather than just pulling the plug whenever they were done with it, before turning back to Noya. “What’d ya say, Yuu? Missed it.”

“Be my best man, yeah?”

The statement was simple, but it took a moment before the meaning sunk in. Tanaka’s smile turned into a full out grin, and he jumped forward to embrace Noya in excitement.

“Hell YEEEEEEEEAH! Mah boy Yuu is gonna get MARRIED!”

Noya smirked back and enjoyed how Tanaka swung him about recklessly before his flying ankle smacked the edge of his bedframe. Grunting in surprise, mostly, Noya fell back onto the bed when Tanaka put him back down.

“It is Asahi, right?” Tanaka questioned, as if having suddenly realized that there was the slightest possibility that, in some strange world, Noya might have been marrying someone else.

“Of course it’s Asahi, dumbass,” Noya snorted, headbutting into Tanaka’s chest. “Who else would it be, if not my boyfriend of like six years?” He rolled his eyes, jumping back up from the bed.

“C’mon now, you’ve mushed the chips into the carpet, let’s vacuum this shit up before ol’ sputterbot there decides to croak on us,” Noya kicked at the vacuum cleaner as he walked past it, carrying the trash bags to take them out to the garbage bins.

Well, he could mark one thing off of his to-do list for the wedding now: Tanaka Ryuunosuke, best man. Check.

…

The next week was Asahi’s first practice game as a professional coach. He was a little wary about acting as coach for Hinata and Kageyama, but he was also glad he wasn’t walking into it blind (he knew what to do if the two got out of hand). He had still been anxious about it all week though, and Noya wanted to make sure that he felt supported. When he’d approached Suga about getting the old team together to cheer their alumni on, Suga thought it was a wonderful idea and organized all of the invitations and reminders for the others.

And that’s how, roughly six months before the wedding and immediately after the practice match, the entire Karasuno team was together again at the same restaurant they used to eat at after the inter- and spring-high. It was probably the first time they’d all been together since Daichi and Suga’s open house a few years ago, and it was clear they were enjoying each other’s company.

They were seated at a pair of rectangular tables pushed together to accommodate all of them, with food steaming and plenty of raucous laughter to be heard. Daichi sat at the head of the table, with Asahi on one side and Suga on the other; Noya sat next to Asahi, with Ennoshita and Tanaka across the table from them. Hinata and Kageyama were fighting over a piece of meat next to Tanaka, and Yamaguchi and Tsukki were across from them, with Tsukki rolling his eyes at their antics. Narita and Kinoshita rounded them out at the foot of the table, smiling and laughing at the scene laid out in front of them.

Yachi and Kiyoko walked in late, Yachi smiling widely at seeing the team together while Kiyoko frowned at the rather full tables.

“Just a sec, Kiyoko,” Suga said, before elbowing Daichi, “go ask for a pair of chairs for the ladies.”

“On it,” Daichi nodded, getting up in search of the extra chairs, while Suga quickly herded the boys so that there was space for the ladies near the head of the table. Conversations and hellos were called out, and before too long, everyone was settled back down and enjoying themselves again.

“Yo, Hinata, don’t forget about the bachelor’s party, though,” Tanaka was shouting, “our Yuu is becoming a man!”

“Whaaaaat?!” Hinata’s mouth fell open, revealing a mess of half-chewed food. “Nishinoya-senpai’s getting married?”

“Oi, chew with your mouth closed, dumbass!” Kageyama scolded, smacking Hinata’s chin from below. “I told you about it a few days ago, remember?”

While murmurs ran around the table, Kiyoko and Yachi just exchanged a quiet look of smiles. Yachi glanced up at Asahi from behind her glass and caught his eye for a moment, watching him redden noticeably. She had thought it might come out tonight, the happy news.

“Oooh, what’s thiiiiis?” Ennoshita crowed, leaning across the table towards Noya. “You know, we’re not in kindergarten anymore Yuu, did you propose with a worm?” He teased, smirking at his friend.

“No!” Noya shouted back indignantly, “We’re doing necklaces because that’s so much cooler than rings, right Ryuu?”

At the declaration, Tanaka leaned across the table, slapping Noya’s outstretched hand with a resounding high five. “Damn right it is!”

As Daichi shouted at the others to calm down already, Suga spoke up in a normal tone. “It’s actually real though, Asahi asked me to be his best man a few days ago.”

A resounding chorus of understanding rose from around the table, and Noya barely had time to complain that “why is Suga’s word so much more reliable than mine, I’m the one who did the proposing!” before congratulations were sounding around the table.

“I’m happy for you,” Kiyoko said gently with a small smile, and Yachi beamed up at the couple, glad they made the announcement. She was awful at keeping secrets.

“Ooh, so it’s finally happening then,” Tsukki commented blandly from the end of the table. “About time.”

“Congratulations, you two!” Yamaguchi cried out with a smile, raising his glass.

“To the happy couple!” Hinata shouted, sloshing the water about in his glass as he raised it too quickly in excitement.

“Don’t make a mess, idiot,” Kageyama growled, glancing up the table at Noya and Asahi and quietly congratulating them.

The rest of the night went by smoothly, and it was probably about eleven at night when they all finally dispersed.

“Well, not quite how I thought it’d come out to most of the team, but I’d say it went over smoothly,” Noya shrugged, walking with Asahi back to catch the last train of the night to head home.

Asahi nodded, humming. “They would’ve found out in a few days anyways. You mailed the invitations yesterday, right, Noya?”

“Yup, sent ‘em all out,” Noya confirmed, watching as his train slid smoothly into the station. “Goodnight, my giant ace – good job on the practice game today, too,” Noya whispered, pulling Asahi down for a quick kiss before dancing away onto his train.

“Goodnight, Noya.”

…

Earlier that day, Suga had reminded everyone to meet at his and Daichi’s apartment at 5-o’clock sharp, so they could get their final preparations ready for the bachelors’ parties that evening. It was about six before everyone had shown up and was gathered around and crammed into their kitchen/dining room combination. Suga stood at the counter, pointing to people as he called out their names and making sure everyone knew what was going on.

“Alright, so here’s the game plan: Daichi, Kiyoko and I are all going to take Asahi out for a nice dinner, like the mature adults we are,” Suga began, pointing at the others in his party as he spoke, “and Tanaka, Ennoshita, Narita, Kinoshita, Hinata, and Kageyama are going to take Noya out… wherever you’re going,” he finished vaguely, waving his hand about.

“The club!” Tanaka chimed in, perking up, “where we’re gonna get Yuu to dance all night long. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are going to meet us there,” he added as an afterthought, and Suga nodded in response.

“Alright, Kiyoko, Ennoshita, you two are in charge of keeping in contact with each other and making sure that nothing gets too out of hand,” Suga continued, picking up his phone and gesturing with it. Turning to Tanaka, he became serious. “You’re to get him home before two, and nothing illegal, or I’ll sic Daichi on you, got it?”

“Fiiiiiiiiine,” Tanaka huffed, “promise not to get us into too much trouble, I suppose.”

“Good. Have fun, break no bones, and try not to regret tonight when morning rolls around. Alright everybody, break!” Daichi shook his head as Suga called out the cheesy line, as if they were a football team rather than volleyball, and Ennoshita snorted.

Tanaka rounded up his group and began to lead them out the doorway and down the garden path, speaking in a loud stage whisper about “Operation Steal the Booty” (Daichi had made it very clear he wouldn’t have Tanaka running around their neighborhood using words like “kidnapping” or “abduction”).

Before Ennoshita could escape the kitchen completely, however, Suga grabbed his arm to hold him back for a moment. “Ennoshita, I’m counting on you to tell Kiyoko if any of them get into trouble. And Kiyoko,” he continued, looking up at her, “I’m counting on you to tell us if they actually get into trouble. Tell me first though, so I can bail them out, because Daichi can scold them whenever.”

Daichi smirked in amusement at his boyfriend’s none-too-subtle antics, having moved to sit on the kitchen counter when the majority of the people filtered out of their dining room.

“Sure thing, Suga,” Ennoshita grinned back, waving his phone. “Fully charged – and I’ll be sure to let you know the funny bits, too,” he added, winking.

“ENNOSHITA, WHERE YA AT, YOU GOT THE SACK WE CAN’T PULL OFF OPERATION STEAL THE BOOTY PROPERLY WITHOUT A GOOD SACK!” Tanaka’s loud roar could be heard from outside, and Ennoshita dashed off with a joking salute.

“One day, I really am going to murder that boy,” Daichi said in a flat monotone, breathing deeply through his nose. Even with the approved (just barely) code name, he was sure their neighbors would think they were insane.

Chuckling, Suga shook his head. “Oh it’s not big deal Daichi, if anyone asks we’ll just tell them that we have a wedding coming up, they’ll be fiiiine. Now, Kiyoko, you had said earlier that you wanted to do something nice at the restaurant…?”

…

Two hours later found Asahi, Daichi, Suga, and Kiyoko seated at a TGI Friday’s and contemplating the menus in front of them.

“Thanks for coming again, Kiyoko,” Asahi said, smiling at the single female in their group, “I know traditionally bachelor’s parties are… well, all men? I guess? But then again this also isn’t generally how bachelor’s parties go, I suppose…” Asahi trailed off into a mumble, rambling on about how they were traditional but not, about how gender roles mattered but shouldn’t constrict, and possibly could have gone on all night if their server hadn’t arrived.

“Hello and welcome to TGI Friday’s, my name is Monica and I’ll be your server for the evening. Are you ready to order?” Their server was a perky young woman, with dark brown hair that fell just below her shoulders. She smiled an empty smile at them and looked around to see who would speak first.

Looking up from the menu, Daichi took on the strange and unspoken role of table-spokesperson. Narrowing his eyes at Monica, he questioned intently, “Are these appetizers actually endless?”

“Yup! But you have to pick one from the list of qualifying items, which are…” And she proceeded to rattle off a list of options, ticking them off on her fingers as she went, Daichi listening with a sparkle in his eye all the while. There was something about his face that Suga worried meant both “challenge accepted” and that he was going to go home with a greasy, gassy boyfriend before the night was over.

“Ooh, mozzarella sticks sound good,” Kiyoko piped up from where she sat next to Suga on one side of the booth. “What do you think, Asahi?”

Smiling gently, and glad that his rambles had been cut off by the arrival of their server, Asahi agreed they sounded delicious, and they proceeded to call out their drinks and meals they each wanted.

Once their orders had been placed and the menus cleared away, Asahi tried to start a conversation again. Though he used to be very intimidated by Daichi years ago, and was still a generally timid person, here he was amongst friends and felt fairly at ease. “Say, where did Tanaka end up taking Noya for his bachelor party, anyways?” He asked, tearing open the paper casing of his straw and sticking it into his glass.

“He didn’t really say, exactly…” Suga began.

“But from what it sounded like, some kind of club,” Daichi finished for him, as Asahi started to take a drink. “But don’t worry Asahi, I doubt even Tanaka would dare take Noya to a strip club.”

Asahi sputtered on his drink, nearly spitting it out on the table and coughing. “A, wha- why would he-“

Before he could collect himself, Monica returned to their table with her empty, fake cheery smile. “One plate of mozzarella sticks, nice and hot! As well as some loaded potato skins and crispy green bean fries,” she laid each of the items on the table, refilling their waters and making sure they were all set to go before wandering off again.

“The size of that thing is unholy,” Suga said in awe, peering down at the plate of oversized breaded cheese. Asahi lifted one up to his face, eyes bugging out at its size. “That’s got to be nearly the size of half of your hand, Asahi!”

Kiyoko pulled out her phone and took a picture of Asahi’s shocked face, smiling to herself as she typed quickly on the screen. “That is going right to Ryuu…” she mumbled.

They had eaten about half of the potato skins – “Wow, these are really good!” – and had munched away on some of the majestic cheese when Kiyoko tilted her phone towards Suga under the table, and he absolutely failed to keep subtle as he cracked up laughing.

“What? What is it?” Daichi asked, peering over at their faces, while Asahi cocked his head curiously.

“Ahahaha, sorry Daichi, it was a snapchat, it’s lost to the void now,” Suga laughed, wiping his hands off on his napkin so he could grab reach up and wipe away a tear from laughing so hard.

“It’s alright, I screencapped it,” Kiyoko reassured even as Daichi was groaning in disappointment. “I sent them Suga’s comment about the mozzarella sticks.”

Asahi and Daichi leaned over to see the picture on the phone, a badly lit shot of Noya peeking from underneath a blindfold with the caption “close size to sth else Asahi’s got” on its side so as to accommodate the extra letters.

“I- he doesn’t even kn- we haven’t-“ Asahi sputtered, the blood coloring his face near immediately, turning him steadily redder and redder, until he looked like he was about to explode from embarrassment. “We’re waiting til after the wedding!” He finally managed to get out, sounding strangled.

“Well, you know what they say about tall guys…,” Daichi trailed off suggestively, cracking a grin at Suga, who waggled his brows back.

“THAT THEY’RE TALL,” Asahi half-shouted, squirming and flipping the phone onto its face to hide the offending image of Noya’s lecherous grin.

“Alright, alright, stop teasing before you give our big bad groom an aneurism,” Kiyoko chided gently, pulling her phone back across the table, glancing around the restaurant to see a few curious customers whip their heads back to their food. She was about to slip it back into her pocket when it buzzed gently, signaling an incoming snapchat from Tanaka.

“Oh, Asahi, look – no, really, Asahi,” she said, pulling one hand away and holding the phone out so he could see. “You’ve got nothing to worry about – the club Ryuu’s been talking about for weeks is a children’s play zone.”

Asahi was still flushed, but let his hands fall from his face as he watched the picture below timeout and fade away, calming down a little at the thought that his fiancé was, in fact, at Discovery Zone and looking like his dream came true. At least someone was having a good time at his bachelor party.

The rest of the evening went considerably easier, with Daichi insisting he could eat an entire plate of mozzarella sticks by himself and Suga warning him that if he did he was not sleeping in the same room that night because no one should have to tolerate the horror that was Daichi’s bad cheese gas. They continued to receive snapchats and texts throughout the night, laughing as they ate steak and received updates on the great pizza eating contest between Kageyama and Hinata. (“Honestly, must everything be a competition with those two?”)

They were just wrapping up the bill, Asahi telling them about a pair of twins at the sports camp he volunteered at, when Kiyoko’s phone rang.

“Hello? Mm… yes… yes. Alright, we’ll be there soon.” The others watched her curiously as she conducted her phone call, and on the way out of the restaurant she declared, “I guess we need to go pay Discovery Zone a visit. The boys got into trouble again.”

“What?”

“What’d they do this time?”

“Is everyone okay?”

Suga, Daichi, and Asahi all spoke at the same time, Asahi with worry clear over his face, teeth worrying at his lip.

“Yes, everyone’s alright,” Kiyoko assured first and foremost, “but it sounds like Ryuu and Noya got a bit too excited when they cleaned the tickets out of a ski ball machine…”

“Oh no,” Suga frowned, and Daichi’s face hardened in his universal I’m-going-to-kill-them face.

“Sounds like, in their excitement, Ryuu tried to lift Noya up like they used to back in high school, and they knocked a light out.”

“I’m going to kill them. I told them not to do anything too bad, and they had to go and- I am going to kill them,” Daichi lead the way to the car, muttering to himself and shaking his head, as Asahi trailed behind nervously.

“Please don’t kill my fiancé; I’d kind of like to marry him next week!”

…

When the day of the wedding finally rolled around, it seemed like there was a job for just about everyone. They had rented the school’s gym, for memories as well as a large-yet-not-ridiculously-expensive space. It was spring, so the flowerbeds around the school were blossoming and the trees were full with greenery – certainly helped out on decorating. Tanaka and Noya darted about, putting up signs and following Ennoshita’s clear-cut directions.

“I still say you should have gone for fire-truck red,” Tanaka argued, wrestling with the uneven easel as Noya trotted up behind him with the banner they were about to put up.

“I don’t know, I think mauve rather suits me – besides, it matches the wedding colors and those weird belt things Asahi wanted us to get,” Noya mused, pulling the edge of his bangs down to peer at the just-visible pinkish-red color that had replaced his blond. They had decided to go with spring colors, light purple, orange, yellow, baby blues, and, of course, the gentle mauve that Noya was sporting. Most of the colors were contained in the linens and decorations – the oranges and yellows in particular. Asahi and Noya both had matching light purple ties to wear in their suits for the ceremony, and the party had mauve cummerbunds.

“How much more time before you need to go get dressed, again?” Tanaka asked, straightening up in pride as he finally managed to get the easel to cooperate and Noya secured the banner on it.

“Hmm… you think that’s straight?” He questioned, stepping back and squinting at the sign that was so similar to their wedding invitations. A big black arrow indicated which direction the gym was (although with those who were invited to the wedding, it was perhaps only their coworkers who wouldn’t already know the way), and was surrounded with photos of him and Asahi hugging and laughing, with some trees in the background. Azumane & Nishinoya Wedding, it proclaimed in large letters.

Tanaka nodded his agreement, and Noya glanced at his phone, checking the time. “Hmm… How long is the groom normally dressed before the ceremony? I could probably get dressed in like twenty minutes or less, it shouldn’t take a full hour…”

“Ahh, Noya, if Ennoshita has to come looking for you, it’ll be my head,” Tanaka fussed, wagging his finger at his friend. “Let’s finish setting up what’s left of that front table and then get you back there, eh?”

“Fiiiiine, but only because I prefer you with your head attached,” Noya laughed lightly, leading the way to the entryway of the gym, where a table was set out with bright orange and yellow coverings, a guestbook already laying open.

“Who took these photos, by the way?” Tanaka asked as he took the framed photos out of a box under the table and began to set them up, “They look really nice, professionally done?”

“Yachi, actually!” Noya beamed, opening a package of pens and dumping them into a small basket next to the guestbook. “She really has an eye for things, doesn’t she?”

“Ahh, no wonder they’re so good then, if Yachi did them!” Tanaka crowed, finishing with the pictures and picking up the empty box to put away in a side room until the event was over.

Noya smiled as he remembered the shoot they had done about two weeks back, taking photos for the invitations. “Did I tell you, when we took those photos? At one point I laughed so hard, I accidentally stuck my finger in Asahi’s nose – you should’ve seen his face!” He grinned, laughing as he remembered Asahi’s look of shock and the stern frown that had crossed his features. “He was so affronted, it looked like I had offended him in the worst way possible – and Yachi managed to get a photo of it!”

“What? No way! Pics or it didn’t happen.” Tanka shook his head, “I don’t even think Asahi can make a stern face!”

“You’d be surprised,” Noya chuckled, “you should’ve seen his face when he realized I managed to sneak a miniature of that photo onto the invitations.” Turning thoughtful for a moment, he added, “though that might have been more mortification than stern… hmm…”

“Ni-shi-noy-ya Yuu, why aren’t you dressed yet?”

Ennoshita’s voice carried out from where he’d poked his head around the corner of the open doorway into the gym, the scolding tone jerking both Tanaka and Noya to attention.

“’Cause it’s still too early to get dressed!” Noya called back, much louder than necessary, cupping his hands around his mouth for dramatic effect.

“You were supposed to be dressed twenty minutes ago!” Ennoshita yelled back. “Don’t make me come over there and make you two get dressed when I still have chairs to place,” he warned, glaring at Tanaka, who was the designated best man and Noya-wrangler.

“I think we’d better get into our monkey suits before Ennoshita really decides to make good on that,” Tanaka mumbled, grabbing Noya’s arm and taking them both to the old club room, yelling at Ennoshita that they were just headed that direction.

“Yeah, I think becoming captain after Daichi left a mark on him,” Noya muttered back, shooting a grin at Ennoshita and making a show of quickly moving to their makeshift changing rooms.

A makeshift divider had been put up halfway down the room, so as to separate one groom’s side from the other – with Asahi as nervous and skittish as a horse already, Suga wasn’t taking any chances and indulged all the old superstitions about wedding day karma.

“Hey, almost-husband, you on that side?” Noya called out, hearing rustling and bumps from the other side of the sheet, a quick hissing following not long after. Daichi poked his head out on the side of the sheet and frowned.

“Apparently I’m the guard for this side of the room, and you’re not allowed to see – or talk to him, I guess? I don’t know the superstition rules, that’s Suga. And please don’t startle Suga, he almost burnt himself while helping Kiyoko do his hair,” he added, frowning even more when he looked Tanaka and Noya up and down. “Aren’t you two supposed to be dressed already? You look like you just spent an hour digging around in the dirt.”

“Hey!” Noya complained, right at the same time Tanaka shouted “I take offense to that!”

“I’m the groom, aren’t you supposed to be nice to me on my wedding day?” Noya whined, grabbing his suit from where it hung on the edge of a locker and setting it on the bench, careful not to wrinkle it. Stripping out of his dirty shirt and pants, he listened in on the conversation on the other side of the sheet.

“Oh you look fine, Asahi-san, and you’re almost done, too.” That was Kiyoko, “and be careful with the iron, it’s still hot.”

“Ah! Asahi, don’t forget your flower!” The shadows behind the sheet shifted some as someone tried to get up but was pulled back down. “You’re too tall for me to get this sunflower in there if you stand up first.” That had to be Suga, Noya nodded to himself as he grabbed a can out of the locker.

“Ryuu, spray me?” He asked, lifting up the can of hairspray to his best man.

“Yup,” Tanaka responded, waiting for Noya to lean forward so his head hung upside down. Noya combed his fingers through his hair, pulling it up, and held it in place while Tanaka quickly coated the hair with enough hairspray to last it two days.

A bit of shifting so all angles are covered, and about two minutes later Noya and Tanaka stood back up, coughing. As Noya inspected himself in the mirror, Tanaka rushed to wave the door to the room open and closed, airing it out somewhat. When everyone was able to breathe easily again, Noya tossed his best man a thumbs up. “Looks perfect, thanks bro.”

“You two look waaaaay too familiar with each other doin’ that,” Daichi commented from where he had stood at the sheet, watching the exchange silently with an eyebrow raised and his lips quirked in a smirk.

“We lived together for like four years, Daichi, of course we’re familiar with it,” Tanaka drawled, rolling his eyes and tossing the spray can back onto the shelf.

“Besides, I can’t get the back as well as Ryuu can,” Noya added, grabbing his suit pants and sliding them on.

“And… there! Perfect,” Suga was heard from the other side of the sheet, followed quickly by an agreeing hum from Kiyoko. Daichi shrugged and poked his head back around the edge of the makeshift barrier and grinned, giving Asahi a quick thumbs up.

“Lookin’ good, ya big lug,” he complimented, turning and listening as Suga asked him something.

Noya pulled on his shirt, buttoning it up quickly enough, and looked back at Tanaka. “You think I get to see him now?” He asked, vibrating a little with the excitement that had begun to spread throughout his limbs.

“Probably not,” Tanaka shook his head, “but you’ll see him soon enough, it starts soon enough. How do you put this thing on again…?” Tanaka held the cummerbund by one end in front of him, letting it dangle between two fingers and scrutinizing it with squinted eyes, as if it could reveal the secrets of the universe.

It was at that moment that Narita knocked briefly, poking his head into the room and asking, “Hey, you guys almost ready? People are arriving and Ennoshita’s mumbling about how this whole thing starts in like ten minutes. They’re already playing the people-walking-in music and everything.”

“Yeah, just a minute! Almost done,” Noya called, grabbing his coat and pulling it on quickly, running his hands gently over the edges of his hair to make sure none of it was too far out of place. Daichi had come over and helped Tanaka get into his cummerbund, and now was shooing them both out.

“C’mon, out, out, you two first, get up there and get in your spots and whatnot, Asahi will join you soon enough.”

…

Noya found himself waiting at the top of the aisle fidgeting in excitement as the prelude music continued to play. The ceremony was due to start any minute now. He distracted himself by looking out at everyone sitting in the seats in front of him.

The wedding party wasn’t all that large, most of it consisting of high school friends and their immediate family members, but right now Noya was glad the crowd wasn’t huge. The gym was decked out with streamers along the wall of their wedding colors, and about a third of the floor was currently taken up by two columns of seats that their family and friends were sitting in.

Forcing himself not to track the lines of the volleyball court underneath them, Noya scanned across those sitting in the seats, quietly chatting amongst themselves. The front rows were completely occupied by his family – his mom, dad, and all seven of his little siblings, spilling from one side of the aisle to the other. Since most of their friends were the same, Asahi and Noya didn’t worry about having “sides” of the wedding party – especially since Noya’s side would’ve been filled with little siblings, and Asahi’s would have had. His dad. They were pretty much all the same family already anyway. Noya’s siblings weren’t even that little anymore, he thought as he scanned down the line. His oldest little brother was 23 already, which still boggled Noya’s mind, but at least the baby of the family was still only ten.

His mom caught his eye and smiled brightly, to which Noya blushed and looked away quickly. He made the mistake of glancing at his baby brother. Ki-kun stuck his tongue out at his oldest brother, reaching up to pull an eyelid down. Noya had to duck his head to hide a snort and the automatic reaction to make a face back.

Behind his family sat the mish-mash that was their friends – and friends close enough they felt like family. Nearly the entire team was sitting directly behind the Nishinoyas, with Saeko and old coach Ukai along the end. When Saeko saw Noya looking their direction, she waggled her brows while giving him a thumbs up. Noya grinned back.

A lot of the Fukurodani and Nekoma members had been able to come to the wedding as well, and Noya could just spot Kuroo and Bokuto’s ridiculous hair sticking up at the back. They probably got there late.

Just as Noya was wondering where his coworkers from the station were sitting, the music changed.

As the wedding march began to play, Noya snapped his head up to search for Asahi, the room quieting down.

He had to hold back a snicker as he spotted a small group of well-built young men sidling from the door to the back of the aisle, forming a human wall. Well, that answered the question of where his fellow firefighters had been. Noya chanced a quick glance behind him to where Tanaka stood, spotting a wide grin on his face. Of course Tanaka would convince them to do something like that. Doofus.

When the wall of people split to reveal Asahi with his dad, Noya couldn’t hold back the huge grin that broke across his face at the sight.

Asahi stood confident and tall in his perfectly tailored white suit, the cummerbund and tie bright pops of color. The top half of his hair had been carefully braided back into a ponytail, the rest laying in perfect waves along the sides of his neck. Even from straight on, Noya could see the tips of the giant sunflower sitting on the back of Asahi’s head, and he found himself fingering the small yellow dandelion that sat behind his ear. Asahi had thought that picking each other’s hair flowers for the wedding would be romantic – Noya rightfully found it hilarious.

“He’s gorgeous,” Noya breathed out, his eyes narrowing in on Asahi’s face, searching out the familiar little awkward smile and hunched shoulders that always seemed so characteristic of his boyfriend. He was so intent that he didn’t even hear the snicker from behind him, nor the quiet smack as Suga hit Tanaka for being rude.

Asahi bit his lip as he looked out at the front of the aisle, Noya standing with all of his body weight leaning slightly forward, as if he wanted to rush forward and embrace him in the middle of the aisle. One of his hands was stilled at the flower behind his ear, as if he’d forgotten to pull it back when he caught Asahi’s eye. Asahi felt his smile widen, impossibly happy to be able to look up and see Noya standing there, waiting for him.

He clutched tightly to the bouquet in his hands, feeling his arms tremble slightly at the pent up excitement, trying to focus so he didn’t trip over his own feet in the aisle. His dad gently patted his arm, hidden from view from where their arms were linked, reminding Asahi that he wasn’t walking by himself.

“I won’t let you fall,” he whispered, reassuring.

Asahi nodded, just barely tilting his head, his gaze still locked on Noya, to show his thanks. The aisle felt like it was taking forever to walk down – was it because the wedding march was so slow?

Just as Asahi was sure he was about to explode from the quiet multitude of eyes on him, his dad was dropping his arm and pushing him forward, moving to sit in his seat as Noya pulled him into place, together in front of Takeda, who was officiating.

For a moment, both of them just stared at each other. Stared at each other, and smiled brightly. Asahi felt like every bone in his body was radiating with the feeling that this was the best decision in his life, and Noya couldn’t seem to quite hold still, just barely rocking back and forth in excitement.

Noya just knew that before the night was over, his face was going to ache from all the smiling he was doing.

Takeda cleared his throat lightly, glanced down at the book in front of him, and began.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

…

“Alright, I’m Tanaka Saeko and I’ll be your emcee for the night!” Saeko roared over the sound system. “And we’re going to start with the bouquet toss so all you not married people get up there, Ryuu that means you too.”

Noya snickered into his fist, leaning against Asahi’s side while his husband – he could call him husband now! – worried over the noise that giving Saeko a microphone was a bad idea.

“Of course not, it was brilliant to have her as our emcee,” Noya laughed, bumping his side against Asahi and snickering at all of their single friends crowding around in a circle. “I’ll give you five bucks if you aim for Tsukishima,” he whispered, leaning up to be heard over the noise.

“Is he even dating anyone?” Asahi asked, genuinely uncertain. “Besides, we share money now, goof.”

“I dunno, I just think it’d be hilarious.” Noya shrugged, grinning up at Asahi and pulling him down by the tie for a kiss.

“They’re at it again!” Kuroo called, signaling to Bokuto and both of them bursting into a bout of ridiculous hoots and hollers. They had been doing it all night long, every time either one of them saw the couple kiss. Normally it’d just get annoying, but tonight it was a bit endearing and funny… though still mostly just annoying.

“You wish you had some!” Noya jokingly called back, sticking his tongue out at their friends and laughing harder when they responded.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re gonna catch the bouquet!” Bokuto shouted back, grinning.

Noya laughed, nudging Asahi. “Guess you better get that thing in the air. Throw it far Asahi. As far as you can.”

“That wouldn’t be nice, Noya, what if your grandma caught it or something?!” Asahi paled slightly at the thought, shaking his head. “No, I’ll just throw it gently.”

Asahi tossed up the bouquet from behind, his eyes tightly closed so as to be impartial, so he didn’t see when Noya smacked the edge of the stems as hard as he could to help it get extra air.

Immediately a loud commotion began behind them, and Asahi turned around quickly to watch the ridiculous squabble for the flowers.

“I got it, I got it, it’s mine, I got i-“ Bokuto shouted as he jumped from the side, reaching his arms over the heads of everyone else, stretching and missing the bouquet by inches as Hinata bounced up from his spot in the front (being short had its advantages sometimes) and snatched it out from under him. “I don’t got it,” Bokuto pouted as he landed back on the gym floor.

“I did it!” Hinata beamed widely, turning around to show his catch off to Kageyama, his automatic reaction.

“Drop it, asshole,” Kageyama scowled, slapping the bouquet from Hinata’s hands and tossing it blindly behind him with far too much force.

Eagerly following the path of the bouquet, Noya clambered up onto Asahi’s back so he could watch where it landed, peering out across the crowd.

“This whole tradition is so sil-!” Daichi had been saying to Suga, where they stood at the back of the crowd because “it’s tradition, Daichi!” He flinched when the flowers bounced off his head, and landed in Suga’s unexpecting hands, looking considerably battered and worse for wear.

“Wha-,” Suga yelped, looking down at the once gorgeous bouquet and adjusting his hold so he wasn’t crushing the flowers any more.

“Guess you two lovebirds are next!” Saeko called over the sound system, bumping up the volume so she could be heard over the hoots and hollers that rebounded around the room. “And now, some kickin’ tunes to get your dance on!”

…

“Hmm, these seem like nice sheets,” Asahi mumbled, picking up a set of dark navy fitted sheets, flipping the package over to glance at the thread count, even though he didn’t really know what that meant. “Hey, Noya, what do you think of thes-“

“ASAHI LOOK I FOUND DINOSAUR SHEETS!” Noya came bounding around the corner with a brightly colored package in his hands, smiling widely. “We can sleep on dinosaurs I don’t know why they have king size dinosaur sheets but I’m excited.”

Asahi stared at his husband in shock, wondering how, just how did Noya manage to find things like king sized dinosaur sheets in a perfectly normal IKEA. Though the group gift from the old team had been designated honeymoon funds (even in his mind, Asahi couldn’t think of “Operation Get ‘Em Laid” without blushing, although when Noya saw the title on the card he just cackled and high-fived Tanaka because of course it was Tanaka’s idea), they needed things like dishes and linens and furniture for their new house. They had been slowly picking up all the basic amenities over the past three months since the wedding. The small storage space they’d rented until the house deal closed was starting to get a bit overly full.

“Noya, we’re not getting dinosaur sheets- how did you even find these in a king?” Asahi as incredulously, looking at the back of the package and confirming they were the right size.

“Awww, c’mon, we got those boring drapes you liked,” Noya whined, leaning over the shopping cart and picking up the tasteful striped curtains. “That means I get to pick out the sheets, right?” He grinned, enjoying Asahi’s gentle shaking of his head at his antics.

“Yes, but dinosaurs? We can’t even have, oh, I don’t know – clouds, or moose, or something?” Asahi cast about for another print for sheets, and couldn’t find a good substitute, frowning slightly at the thought of moose sheets. Where had that thought come from?

“Clouds and moose are booooooooring, Asahi,” Noya chanted, plucking both the navy blue and dinosaur sheet sets from Asahi’s hands, dropping them in the cart with a clang. “Besides, we’ll probably need like four or five sheet sets anyways, right?”

“Wha- why would we need so many??” Asahi squawked, following Noya as he pushed the cart down the aisle and around the corner with exuberance.

“Well, obviously we can’t just use our own sheets from home,” Noya began, slipping his feet up on the back of the cart and pushing off to ride it down half the aisle. “They’re old, and they’re not even the right size for our new bed.”

“Noya-!” Asahi chased after his husband, grabbing the back of his shirt and just barely keeping him from careening into the shelves.

“And besides, we’d have to change the sheets regularly, and anytime they get dirty,” Noya looked back behind his shoulder at Asahi, relishing in the red blush that spread from ear to ear in record time. “Oh, I found volleyballs, Aashi! Score!”

Asahi was left sputtering next to the cart as Noya ducked underneath his arm, darting across the aisle to grab a set of baby blue sheets with white volleyballs flying across the fabric. “Aww, they’re not the right size.”

“That’s because we’re in the children’s section, Noya,” Asahi mumbled, shooting apologetic looks to a few mothers wandering nearby. “Come on, we’ve got enough sheets for now, let’s go look at kitchenware. You can pick out the plates, ok?”

“Alright!”

…

“Hey, Yuu, when do you guys get the house, anyways?” Tanaka asked from where he lay face up on his bed, holding a bunch of real estate ads.

“We go for our last check-in of the house tomorrow – if all goes well, we get to move in next week, I think,” Noya called from down the hall.

“Hmm,” Tanaka moved to shuffle the papers, cursing as they began to slip.

The sound of a toilet flushing and water running for a moment drowned out the flailing noises Tanaka made as the real estate ads cascaded down onto him and he attempted not to get a papercut on his face.

“Why, you worried you can’t survive without me?” Noya asked, grinning as he walked into their main room, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“I’ll be fine,” Tanaka retorted, sitting up amidst his small sea of apartment listings. With Noya moving out, he was looking at new places. He’d saved up some over the years, and could afford a nicer apartment – and it wouldn’t be the same without Noya there, either.

Noya raised an eyebrow at Tanaka’s antics, frowning sarcastically. “You sure about that?”

“Of course,” he scoffed in return, gathering up the papers and shoving them haphazardly on top of his desk. Face softening, he shrugged, “I mean, it won’t be the same without you, of course. But I’ll be alright.”

He stood up and bumped shoulders with Noya as he walked into the kitchen, mumbling something about making mac’n’cheese for them both for dinner. As Tanaka leaned down to get out a pot, Noya hopped up on their small counter and made himself comfortable. Turning back from filling it with water, Tanaka raised his eyebrows at Noya, “What about you? I bet Asahi’s gonna want to, like, keep the place actually clean and stuff.”

Noya crinkled his nose a bit at his friend, watching him light the stove and setting the pot down on top of the burner. Grabbing a box of mac-n-cheese from their small pantry, he deliberately chucked it at Tanaka’s head. “I suppose there’s some things I’ll have to get used to. But it’ll be nice, too, just being able to be around him every day.” Noya smiled wistfully, imagining things like having breakfast and dinner with his husband every day. He’d really be living the dream.

“Hey now, don’t get all sappy on me, Yuu,” Tanaka laughed, catching the box of noodles before it slammed into his face and setting it next to the sink, digging around their drawers for a wooden spoon.

“What? We’ve been married for almost two months, Ryuu, forgive me if I want to live with my husband,” Noya stuck his tongue out at his best friend, kicking his feet against the cupboard idly.

“Yeah, remind me why you guys couldn’t just move in earlier again? I know you wanted to wait, but you’re already married, what’s been holding you up?” Tanaka ripped the top of the box off with his teeth, dumping the contents upside down into the pot.

“Ah, not the cheese packet, Ryuu!” Noya exclaimed, burning his fingertips as he reached in to grab the white package that threatened to drop in with the noodles. Hissing and sucking on his fingertips, Noya spoke around his hand. “B’sides, you know why. There were complications with the escrow deal, since it was a foreclosure from the bank.” Noya ripped open the top of the cheese packet, checking to make sure their powdered seasoning wasn’t ruined. Satisfied with the contents, he set it down between his legs, propping it open-side-up. “Buying a house isn’t the same as renting an apartment, you know.”

“It’s still cool that you guys can go straight to a house like that,” Tanaka commented, picking out a hot noodle and crunching it to check if they were done. Snapping off the fire, he lifted the pot to the sink and carefully drained the water out. “And if all goes well tomorrow, you get to move in in a week, yeah?”

“Yup! And we’re only able to do it because we’ve been saving for a while. It wasn’t exactly a split-second decision.” Noya watched as Tanaka grabbed the milk from the fridge, splashing a generous amount onto the hot noodles, along with a fat slab of butter.

“Well, all the best of luck to ya, sooner I can get you outta the apartment and have hot lady parties whenever I want,” Tanaka joked, mixing the noodles together in the pot with the wooden spoon as Noya dumped the cheese powder in on top.

“Ooh, is Ryuu finally gonna get some?” Noya teased, hopping off the counter and throwing out the trash under the sink.

“Screw you, I’ve been ‘getting some’ for years!” Tanaka laughed, sticking his foot out in retaliation and tripping Noya up as he moved to return the milk to the fridge. “Grab some bowls, will ya?”

“Yeah,” Noya nodded, grabbing two bowls and forks and plopping into his seat at the table. “I’ve come home early enough more than a few times in the past to know that for a fact.”

“Damn right,” Tanaka nodded, plopping the pot onto the table on their ratty old potholder.

“Thanks for the meal!”

…

“…and that’s it. Just sign these papers, and it’s done.”

Asahi and Noya were sitting at a small café with their real estate agent, in their last meeting before they could move into the house.

“That’s it? We sign these and then it’s ours?” Asahi asked, not quite sure he could believe it.

“That’s it, just sign these papers and it’s yours. You could move in tomorrow if you wanted to,” she smiled, spreading the paperwork on the table in front of them, careful not to get jam from Asahi’s toast or crumbs from Noya’s muffin on the papers.

“Awesome!” Noya smiled widely, putting his cup back down. “Where do we sign?” He asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together and picking up the pen that lay harmlessly next to his plate.

Their agent smiled gently, glad to finally have gotten the two into the house they had wanted and been working so hard to get for months. “Right here for each of you, and then also initials here, and here,” she said, pointing out the pertinent lines which had been helpfully highlighted.

Noya wasted no time in scribbling out his signature, handing the pen over to Asahi to add his John Hancock on the line. Leaning back in his seat, satisfied, he tossed the rest of his muffin into his mouth in one go.

“Thanks so much,” Asahi was saying, capping the pen as he finished signing and initialing. “We really can’t tell you how grateful we are to have had you as our agent.”

“No problem, not at all,” she smiled, waving off Asahi’s thanks as she gathered the papers together. “I’m just glad to have been able to help you two get your first home. I’ll file these with the office today,” she continued, snapping the papers into her briefcase, “and it should be done processing by this Friday. Here are your keys,” she smiled, pressing the simple keys to their home into Asahi’s grateful hand and shaking it firmly. “Congratulations, homeowners.”

After thanks and goodbyes were exchanged, Asahi and Noya finished their meal at the table in a state of quiet unbelief that the process was finally finished.

“Asahi.”

“Yeah?” Asahi looked at Noya curiously.

“Let’s go. Right now,” he responded, eyes gleaming.

“Go? Where?” Asahi’s brow furrowed as he finished setting their tip on the table, slipping the housekeys into his pocket and feeling their slight weight pull on the fabric, just barely.

“To our house!”

“What? Noya, we should at least wait until the paperwork is done processing, and we probably can’t get the guys to help us move in until Saturday…,” Asahi trailed off, startled.

“No, no, we’re not gonna do anything, I just wanna go. Pleeeeease?” Noya asked, turning his head up and pouting at his husband in his best puppy-dog impression.

Sighing, Asahi shook his head. He felt like he shook his head a lot around his little husband. “Alright. But just a quick visit, ok? We could use the walk, anyways.”

It wasn’t a far walk from that café to the neighborhood their new house was in, and they arrived at the place not thirty minutes later. Noya was nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he urged Asahi to unlocked the door.

“Stop!”

Asahi jumped, freezing in the process of opening the door at Noya’s sudden outburst, hand still holding onto the doorknob. “What?”

“Just hold still. And let go of the door, ok?” Noya asked, watching Asahi with an inscrutable face until he nodded and let his arm drop to his side.

Without any warning, Noya jumped forward and hoisted Asahi up by the waist, glad he had to keep in very good shape as a firefighter. Bridal style wasn’t exactly the usual rescue carry, but at least Asahi’s height and weight didn’t stop him.

“Noya, what are yo-“ Asahi blustered about, trying not to flail too much for fear Noya would drop him.

“Just hold on,” Noya said, accidentally bumping Asahi’s head on the door in his attempts to open it the rest of the way. “Ah, sorry,” he apologized quickly.

Asahi winced as Noya next bumped his ankles against the door jamb while getting the rest of the way in, and was absolutely certain that they were both going to fall to the floor when Noya raised a foot behind him to kick the door shut.

“Shh,” Noya shushed, blowing a quick puff of air at Asahi’s face to quiet him down and get his attention. Smiling gently, he ducked his head down to whisper against his husband’s lips, “Welcome home, Asahi,” before pressing a gentle kiss and withdrawing with an added, “I love you.”

Asahi melted, tearing up slightly from something more than just the faint throb in his ankles as he kissed Noya back. “I love you too.”

“Good,” Noya proclaimed, before abruptly setting Asahi roughly back on his own feet. “Really, I do love you, but you are just too big to keep that up for long,” he complained.

Asahi laughed in response, rubbing Noya’s arms to ensure proper bloodflow before leaning down to catch his lips once more. “Thank you.”

…

It ended up being an extra week before they were able to box all of their things up and get everyone together to help them move in, with the incentive of “pizza for those who help us move, soda for those who show up at 8 with a truck.”

The morning of the move in started early. Far too early.

6:00a

Beep beep beep beep

“Noooo nghhh,” a sluggish hand reached out from underneath the warm cocoon of blankets and swatted around for the alarm clock, slapping a few things off the desk before finding the source of the noise and smashing the snooze button. “Not yeeeeet.”

6:34a

“…n be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug, you can be the outcas…”

“Whyyyy…” Noya moaned from underneath his covers, pulling his quilt up around his head and burrowing into the warmth.

“I just wanna see you, I just wanna see you be, I just wanna see you be brave”

“Yuu, answer your phone before I die from sappiness,” Tanaka growled out from underneath his own blankets across the room, rustling as he shifted.

Noya peeked out from underneath his quilt, peering around blearily for the offending cellphone. Spotting it on the floor, he groaned as he realized he must have knocked it off when he was trying to quiet the alarm. “But it’s cooooold,” he whined, drawing his blankets and sheets around him tighter, attempting to keep the morning chill blocked off at his face.

“I don’t have to get up until seven, and you still have to take a shower – answer your husband’s damn call.”

Noya grimaced as he began to release himself from the warm confines of his bed, grabbing one of his pillows and chucking it at Tanaka for good measure. Noya hissed as the cold air rushed in against his skin, gingerly putting a foot out to pull the phone closer by his toes and managing to answer the call right before it went to voicemail. Good thing that song was long.

“Mmn?”

“Good morning, Yuu.”

“Good is relative,” Noya grumbled, smiling slightly despite himself at the use of his first name. He was so weak to Asahi using his first name. He picked through his sheets for the socks he’d kicked off at some point in the night, listening to the phone and ignoring the whining complaints of Tanaka across the room. He was not moving to the cold tile in the bathroom without some protection for his poor feet, and Tanaka could deal with some noise, he had to get up soon anyways.

Noya kept talking to Asahi as he moved around the room slowly, gathering clothes and making his way to the bathroom. He had a vague idea that Asahi was telling him about how his morning had gone, because of course Asahi woke up when he was supposed to and had already showered and eaten.

When Noya leaned into the shower and twisted the handle to turn on the water, he hummed into the gentle lull in conversation.

“Are you awake enough now to shower and not slip and die?”

“Mm, yeah, I’m much more awake now, thanks.” Noya yawned widely, dropping his clothes onto the seat of the toilet and closing the bathroom door. Leaning against the counter, he watched the mirror slowly fog up. “Love you, Asahi.”

“I love you too, Noya. Now go take a shower before you’re running behind any later.”

“Mm, yeah yeah, see you in an hour,” Noya smacked back, ending the call to Asahi’s murmurs back and setting it on the countertop, quickly stripping and hopping into the hot water for a quick scrub.

8:15a

Tanaka and Noya were shoveling cereal into their faces when the loud knocking sounded at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Tanaka said, waving Noya back to his bowl and getting up to get the door. When he opened it up, there was a chipper Suga bundled in a scarf on the other side.

“What’s with the scarf?” Tanaka asked, cocking an eyebrow at Suga as he let their friend into the (probably the cleanest it’s ever been since they moved in) apartment.

“The entire world is freezing at eight in the morning, do not question my fashion choices,” Suga rebuffed, adjusting the accessory and surveying the apartment. Tanaka returned to his bowl of cereal, quickly slurping up the rest of it, and Suga rolled his eyes. “Besides, you can’t talk, you two are eating cereal for breakfast and haven’t even finished.”

“Eight in the morning is too early to be functioning,” Noya complained, tossing his bowl into their sink with a clang.

“It’s eight twenty, doofus, and we’ve already cleared out the stuff from Asahi’s place. Mush, mush!” Daichi called from the doorway, walking in without knocking and surveying the expanse of boxes sitting on Noya’s side of the room. “Think this’ll all fit in the truck? Might have to make two trips…”

“Alright, alright, we’re moving, we’re moving,” Noya rolled his eyes, pulling his socks up his feet while he walked towards the boxes.

“I thought you were waiting in the truck?” Suga asked, accepting Daichi’s peck on the cheek easily.

“I was, but you guys were taking too long,” Daichi scolded, joining Noya at the pile of boxes. “Alright, which ones are going, and does anything have to go on top?”

“Uhhh, well, mostly I think it should be ok? I haven’t boxed up my blankets yet, though…”

8:45a

“Good morning, husbando,” Noya greeted as he pulled Asahi down for a quick kiss, grinning at Asahi’s pleased little smile at the affectionate nickname. “Ready to move a buncha shit and probably break our backs?”

“Yup, sounds about right,” Asahi nodded, bumping his arm against Noya’s shoulder gently and pulling his car keys out. “Daichi warned me that not everything would fit in his truck, so I brought my car too – the fewer trips we have to make from your apartment to the house, the better. You’re farthest out.”

“Yeah, we’re down to the last few boxes to load up. Should be the last of it.”

9:20a

“What took you guys so long? Where’s everybody else?” Hinata crowded them as they all piled out of the two vehicles, Kageyama slowly getting up from the grass in the front yard and dusting off his butt.

“Tanaka and Noya were running a bit, aha, behind this morning,” Suga said, climbing out of the car and stifling a laugh.

“And I think Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are with Kinoshita and Narita, getting the larger furniture items from the storage unit,” Asahi added, helping Daichi to wrestle open his finicky truck’s tailgate. (“It sticks sometimes, is all.”)

“Alright, everything should be pretty clearly labeled on the top and sides of the boxes, but if you have a question about where something goes, just ask me or Asahi,” Noya called out as Daichi and Asahi grunted and cheered as the tailgate groaned, but finally opened all the way. Daichi should probably oil that thing or something. “Besides that… work ‘til it’s done.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kageyama grunted, moving forward to grab a box and check what room it had marked in fat, black sharpie on top. “Which room is which though?”

“Oh! And stack along the walls, if you please, so there’s room for the furniture when it comes in,” Asahi added as an afterthought, pulling out the house keys and darting forward to unlock the house. After he got it open, he propped the door up with a wad of ripped cardboard shoved firmly underneath its edge.

“Follow me for a tour of the house!” Noya shouted, darting forward to run past Asahi into the house and lead the way through the rooms. “Alright so you walk into the front room, through that door is the kitchen, to its side is the living room – there’s a sliding glass door into the backyard, please keep hands off and use the actual handle,” Noya pointed rooms out as he walked around, looking specifically at Hinata when he warned about the door before continuing on the tour. “Back this way is the living room, followed by the office, bedroom, and in this back corner here is the laundry room on the right and bathroom on the left. Got it?” When he received nods in response, he grinned. “Break!”

10:32a

Ennoshita walked through the kitchen on his way to the bedrooms, carrying a box full of what he could only guess were clothes (if the sleeve hanging out the edge was anything to go by).

“We’re under fire!” Hinata shouted, ducking behind a set of boxes filled with dishes that had been piled on the counter, laughing as a nerf dart bounced off of the window behind him.

“You’re supposed to be helping!” Ennoshita complained, turning around to see where the dart had come from. Spotting Tanaka peeking out from one of the doorways, he gave his friend an incredulous look. “Where did you even get that??”

“ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR!” Tanaka shouted, squeezing past Ennoshita down the hallway to sneak attack the squealing Hinata.

“Where’s Kageyama when you need him,” Ennoshita mumbled, setting the box down in the master bedroom and walking back through the kitchen, only slightly amused at his friends’ antics.

“Someone say my name?” Kageyama asked, his head popping up from behind a bunch of boxes he’d carefully placed around the sink, only to immediately get a nerf dart firmly stuck to his forehead.

“BULLSEYE!” Tanaka cackled, fist pumping at his successful shot.

Ennoshita stood still in the commotion in disbelief as Kageyama darted out from the kitchen after Tanaka, Hinata following not far behind and crying out “Reveeeeeeenge!”

Ennoshita broke down into laughter, his shoulders shaking as he snorted at the “adults” running around him. Shaking his head, he simply walked back out the front door to grab another box.

10:42a

“Tsukishima, you are like an IKEA god.”

Tsukki looked up from where he sat on the master bedroom floor, having just finished putting together the king sized bed. Yamaguchi gathered the remaining parts together and swept them into a gallon sized baggie, along with the instructions.

“It’s not really… the instructions are very clear…” He frowned slightly at the praise, but Noya didn’t let him stop that.

“No, seriously, you got it put together right on the first time. I’m telling you. IKEA god.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Tsukki responded, shaking his head, as Yamaguchi crawled out from underneath the bedframe.

“The instructions and extras are taped to the underside, if you ever need them,” he chirped, dusting off his hands against his pants.

“Thanks guys, you’re the best,” Noya grinned, giving them both a thumbs up as he went back to taking his smaller box into the bathroom.

Yamaguchi ducked his head into the living room where Narita and Kinoshita had just finished hauling in the couch. “The bed’s ready for its mattress now!”

“Alright, we’ll get it in a minute,” Kinoshita called back, slapping the couch cushions into shape before smacking Narita’s leg lightly. “C’mon, no rest for the wicked.”

“Awww, but I just sat doooown!”

11:30a

Asahi returned with the pizza and found a bunch of their friends scattered about in the living room, the room that had the least boxes lined against the walls. Kageyama and Hinata were laying on top of each other on the couch, along with Tanaka, who seemed to have wrestled one full cushion’s worth of space from them. Narita and Kinoshita were laying on the carpet, both face up, arms thrown over their eyes and quite likely dozing; Ennoshita and Suga were picking up nerf darts from the kitchen, and it sounded like Daichi was running the vacuum down the hall.

Noya poked his head into the house from the sliding door that led into the backyard, and smiled widely at the boxes Asahi was setting down at the kitchen table. “Sweet.”

He pulled his head back out, talking to someone in the yard, “Hey guys, Asahi’s back with the food.”

“Ooh!” Yamaguchi perked up, getting up and offering a hand to help Tsukki from where he’d been leaning against the side of the house with his headphones on. When Tsukki lifted a headphone and looked at Yamaguchi curiously, Yamaguchi smiled, “food’s here.”

“Good,” he grunted, taking the offered hand and following Yamaguchi back into the house, where calls could be heard to “get it while there’s still food!” to the others in the living room.

…

10:12p

Asahi had put off going to bed as long as he could. Normally just past ten wouldn’t be all that late on a weekend, but they had spent the entire day first moving their things from their old homes into their new house, and then organizing and putting away what they could. Noya had already bounded off into the bedroom to put away their clothes, while Asahi had opted to stay out in the kitchen and put dishes away.

He stood back and scanned the kitchen, looking for something, anything, out of place that needed to be done. Plates, bowls, cups and mugs all on the cupboard shelves; pots and pans underneath the counter, silverware and other utensils in the drawers… and not a speck of moving dust anywhere on the thoroughly cleaned counters. Heaving a deep breath, Asahi tried to push back all his worried thoughts of “what if he doesn’t like my body” and “what is going to happen when I walk in there.” It was going to be ok. They’ve been in a relationship for years, and had been married for months now; even though up until this point it had been, first through choice and then through circumstance, purely romantic, didn’t mean that Noya would love him any less. Steeling himself for what was to come, Asahi forced his legs to move forward and make his way down the hallway to their bedroom, turning off lights as he went.

And immediately coming to the realization that he didn’t really have much of anything to worry about.

“Asahi I put sheets on our bed. Look. They’re DINOSAURS ASAHI.”

Upon walking through the doorway and seeing Noya sprawled out across the bed, grinning wildly up at him and rolling across their dinosaur sheets, Asahi could feel the tension physically drain out of him. His shoulders relaxed down from their tight position and he sighed, at ease. Whatever happens, Noya will always be Noya, and he’ll always be Asahi and everything will be ok.

“So, what side should I climb in on, huh?”

“Uhhh, whichever? Either way I’ll wind up wound around you like an octopus before too long, so doesn’t really matter to me.”

…

In the end, they didn’t even do anything that night; they were both too exhausted after all of the moving, and when Asahi asked about it, Noya had said there was no rush; they should only do it once they were comfortable.

When they were comfortable didn’t end up being much later, as it turned out. Asahi quickly recalled why he had tried to have sex with Noya multiple times when they were only dating: Nishinoya Yuu was a tease.

The very next night, Asahi approached Noya about it. Noya lay back on their bed, and Asahi walked up to the edge of it, standing there awkwardly.

“I… think… I wanna try,” he said, not looking at Noya at all and feeling his ears turning redder and redder. “But. Uhm. Maybe with the lights off?”

“Mm… we can do that… but can we see each other, first?” Noya asked, scooting to the edge of the bed and draping his legs over the edge to either side of Asahi’s. “We can turn the lights out if you feel uncomfortable. I just want to see you, my beautiful husbando.” Noya scrunched his nose up and wiggled his face back and forth up at Asahi, watching as he broke into a smile at Noya’s silliness.

“Yeah… yeah, I’d like that,” Asahi smiled down at him, letting his hands easily rest against Noya’s shoulders.

“Watch, I’ll start,” Noya smiled, pulling his shirt off and tossing it on the floor. “And I’ll help you, too!” He grinned, standing up on the edge of the bed and pulling Asahi’s shirt with him, both of them laughing as the shirt tangled in his arms and got caught on his bun, his headband sliding down over his eyes.

After wrestling the shirt off and tossing it to the ground to join his own, Noya pulled Asahi’s hair tie out gently, watching as the simple movement unleashed Ashai’s long brown locks to fall against his back and across his shoulders, some slipping forward to rest on his chest. “Yeah,” Noya whispered reverently, slipping the headband and hair tie loosely on his wrist before leaning in for a kiss, “just like that.”

For a while they just kissed, feeling each other’s bodies and enjoying the strangeness of Noya being taller than Asahi for once. That is, until one of Noya’s feet slipped off the edge of the quilt and his full weight slammed into Asahi’s chest. Asahi grabbed at his husband, startled, and ended up stumbling back into the low nightstand they hand set next to the bed, groaning as his calves hit the hard edge.

“Ok, maybe not the best idea to stand on the edge of the bed,” Noya admitted, detangling himself from his husband carefully and stepping back on the carpet, rubbing his toes into it absently.

“Yeah, probably not,” Asahi chuckled, stepping away from the nightstand and glancing back at his legs, as if he would see something through his rumpled jeans.

“Pants off?” Noya suggested, waiting for Asahi’s nod before he clarified, “you have to take your own off, though. Those things look huge.”

“They’re just long,” Asahi quipped back, rolling his eyes as he pulled his pants off and Noya dropped his on the floor, jumping up onto the bed.

“Yeah, what else is long, huh Asahi? Do telllll- or would you prefer to show?” Noya waggled his eyebrows from where he lay sprawled out on their bed, watching as Asahi sputtered.

“Embarrassing, Noyaaaa,” he whined, picking up their pants and shirts and tossing them on a chair at the end of the room.

“Mm, maybe we should turn off the light now then, because I’m only going to get even mooore embarrassing,” Noya teased, flicking his tongue out at Asahi and winking.

Asahi squawked in response, but walked over and flipped the switch next to the door anyways, plunging the room into darkness. Attempting to get back to the bed, there were multiple grunts, accidental slamming into furniture, and whines of pain.

“Mm, sexy,” Noya managed to say between giggles, “come on, follow my voiiiiiice. Come get your prize, big guy, make it to the bed. I will guiiiiiiide youuuuu.”

When Asahi finally reached the edge of the bed, he felt around for his husband, snorting at all the “guiding” calls Noya was making. “Yuu, you are ridiculous,” he laughed, feeling around and finding a leg. “Where even are you, I can’t see a thing…”

“Whooaaa-oh, hey!” Noya yelped in a higher tone as Asahi’s hand dipped inside of his boxer shorts and landed on the top inside of his thigh, “A little eager, are we?” He laughed lightly, awkwardly, as Asahi shifted his hand to the bed and endeavored to not crush Noya while he climbed on, acutely aware that all they were wearing was their underwear. Not that the two of them in underwear in bed was strange… that was how they had slept together many times, even before they were together, particularly on hot days. But the intent… well, that was quite different.

Asahi stumbled across the bed, falling over awkwardly and ending up with a face full of Noya’s chest, while Noya had a mouthful of his hair. Lifting his head up to peer at the two bright spots that were Noya’s eyes, he laughed breathily. “Hi.”

Snickering back, Noya reached the arm that wasn’t pinned under his large partner to pull said partner’s hair out of his mouth and nose. “Hi there. I love you.”

Asahi reached up and pressed a kiss to Noya’s chin, smiling widely. “I love you too. Do you know where the edge of the bed is?”

“No clue.”

“Oh dear.”

“Not letting it stop meeeee!” Noya cried out, descending upon Asahi with no remorse.

Noya slipped his hands underneath the back of Asahi’s underwear, feeling him up and giggling at the squawk his slightly chilly hands elicited.

“Noya! Cold!”

“Well, perhaps we should get you accustomed to the chill, then,” Noya laughed, grabbing the edge of his husband’s boxers and pausing. “You good?”

“Y-yeah, I’m good,” Asahi nodded, burying his face in the bed as Noya rolled up onto his knees so he could pull the boxers off.

“It’s like unwrapping a present in the dark, all sorts of surprises,” Noya laughed when his fingers brushed against the top of Asahi’s thigh and Asahi shivered in response, a muffled moan sounding out from the sheets. “Ooh, what was that?”

“I said you too,” Asahi mumbled, reaching blindly for where he approximated Noya’s hips to be, hand smacking against his chest instead. “Where are you? Come here. My turn.”

“Asahi’s turn for presents!” Noya chimed out, giggling when Asahi’s hands bumped against ticklish spots and reaching down to help guide him to the edge of his boxers. “Here ya go – have at it.”

“Noya you are so embarrassing,” Asahi whined, exasperated, but pulling down anyways, frowning as Noya’s knees, kneeling into their bedspread, stopped his progress. “They’re stuck.”

“Hold on a sec,” Noya hummed, leaning forward and putting his weight on Asahi, laying down atop his chest and pulling his knees up and forward, reaching back to wrestle the boxers off. When he finally managed to get his ankles free, he threw them off to where he guessed the rest of their clothes had landed, and let his legs fall back down on either side of Asahi. “There we go.”

“Noya… you… your… touching…” Even with the lights off, unable to see hardly anything, Asahi felt like he was blushing hard enough to radiate light simply because they were touching each other so intimately. Sure, before he had been the one to initiate, or attempt to start, intimacy, but that was mostly because he was horny and he had a very attractive boyfriend at the time. Now… it was because he wanted to know Noya, in all sorts of ways.

“You know, we can stop if you want to,” Noya said gently, his voice sounding warm and lips pressing in for a quick kiss against Asahi’s shoulder. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“No, I- I want,” Asahi managed to say, coughing to clear his throat and breathing deeply to calm himself down, clearing his mind. He let his hands reach out and feel his husband, letting his hands drift lower and explore freely. “I definitely want.”

“Mm, alrighty then,” Noya hummed in appreciation, pushing back lightly into the hands cupping his ass. “Shall we?”

“Yeah.”

Before the end of the night, they had managed to fall off the bed not once, but twice. Each time started with a slightly horrified gasp (Asahi’s) and a stifled laugh-turned-yelp (Noya), followed by one of them having the breath knocked out of them, and the other either laughing (Noya) or making sure they were both okay, then laughing (Asahi).

The second time they fell off the bed, in the split second of silence that followed the tumultuous crash, a loud rumble sounded from Noya’s stomach. Asahi snickered, shaking his head. “Hungry already, Noya?”

“Hey, we ate hours ago! And this burns calories, Asahi,” Noya defended, first finding where Asahi’s shoulder had landed and then lightly smacking it in retaliation.

“Uh-huh, suuuure,” Asahi laughed back, reaching over to find Noya in the dark and pull his body over and on top of his own. “And I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too, ya big lug.”

After having messed around for the better part of two or three hours, Noya collapsed back into the bed and panted. “Ok, I don’t know about you, but I am tired out.”

Asahi rolled over onto his back, resting his head on an arm. “I really wasn’t expecting to get tired before orgasm, but I guess that happens sometimes?”

“I will give you all the orgasms in the morning if we can just go to sleep right now,” Noya offered, completely serious.

Asahi barked out a laugh in response. “Deal,” he joked, feeling Noya happily slide up next to him and curl up to latch around his arm and leg, pressed against his side.

“You’re a huge dumb and I love you,” he mumbled through a yawn, already falling asleep.

“I love you, too, doofus.”

…

The morning rolled around with bright sunlight streaming in through their windows, because neither of them had thought to close the blinds the night before.

“Agghhh, Asahi, make it stooooop,” Noya whined, rolling over to bury his face in their duvet.

“Sun, off,” Asahi commanded, flopping one arm over his eyes and the other off to the side, promptly smacking Noya across the face.

“Not helping,” Noya said, muffled, before darting his tongue out to lick at Asahi’s wrist.

“AGh!” Asahi jerked his arm back, scandalized. “You licked me!”

“Heh, did a whole lot more than that to you last night,” Noya grinned back, sitting up and waggling his eyebrows.

“You’re incorrigible,” Asahi laughed, swatting him with the first loose pillow he spotted.

“Whatever, you liked it,” Noya winked back, wiggling his toes and stretching his arms up above his head with a yawn. “Should probably get up anyways.”

Asahi snorted and stretched his legs across the bed beneath him, his arms reaching up to brush against the headboard.

“Hey Asahi, did I get a bruise on my back?” Noya asked, stretching up on his tiptoes and feeling a twinge on his lower back.

Grimacing as he spotted the splatter of purple, Asahi nodded. “Yup, looks like it.”

“How does that even get there?” Noya pondered, craning his neck around to try to peek at his own back.

“Well, you did back up into the dresser at one point last night,” Asahi commented thoughtfully, rolling off the bed and onto his feet with the grace of an elephant, which is to say not graceful at all and only kind of with a loud uhmph at the end. Joining Noya in their attached bathroom, he watched as his husband peered at his own body in the mirror.

“Man, I haven’t had this many bruises since I was a libero in high school,” Noya said, stretching this way and that to see the different angles and various blue and purple splashes across his skin. “Why did we decide doing it with the lights off for the first time was a good idea?”

“Because it’s too embarrassing otherwiiiiiiise, Noya,” Asahi whined back.

“Hmm… I’ll have to fix that.”

Asahi grew very quiet, looking deep in thought, and Noya looked at him curiously, letting him think his thoughts through without pushing him to say anything. As Asahi began to crouch down, his arms out to each side for balance, Noya raised an eyebrow.

When Asahi sidled awkwardly towards him until their hips lightly touched, before backing away and standing up, nodding firmly to himself, Noya couldn’t help but look at his husband with incredulity.

“Uh… what was that, Asahi?” He asked, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“Bumped your hip,” Asahi mumbled, humming lightly to himself. Turning around, he started making his way towards their bathroom, but Noya called out to stop him.

“Hey, Asahi, wait a sec- no, don’t turn around. Just stand there, yeah?”

Asahi seemed too half-asleep to really be wary of what Noya might be about to do, but he wasn’t very sleepy moments later when Noya jumped up and bumped their bare butts together.

“Now that’s how you do a butt touch.”

“Ohmygod Noya!” Asahi yelped, straightening up and looking back at him, affronted.

“In case you didn’t get enough booty last night,” Noya said, sticking his tongue out and winking.

“I’m going to the bathroom!” Asahi sputtered, flustered, rushing into the smaller room only to have Noya calling out to him through the door.

“It’s the morning special, Asahi! Half off booty, today only! Get your discount butt!”

“Noya, I am trying to urinate, oH MY GOD.”

…

Asahi proved to be surprisingly adept in the kitchen, so he ended up doing most of the cooking, and Noya easily picked up the dishes. They had been living in the house for a few months now, and moved around each other easily. It really was beginning to feel like a home.

“Asahi, think fast!” Noya shouted, flinging a particularly large bunch of bubbles at his husband, laughing as he managed to dodge so it wouldn’t hit his face, and the foam splattered instead across his shirt.

“Noya, I just put this on,” Asahi groaned, “I was about to go out grocery shopping, too. Now I’ve got to change.”

Noya rinsed off the last few plates and set them on a drying rack, reaching into the sink to search for the drain plug. “If you give me a few seconds, I’ll go with you – I’ve been practicing finding things in things in the ads,” Noya offered, beaming.

Chuckling slightly, Asahi rolled his eyes. “Alright, but we’re not getting sweets – we both know what kind of sugar crashes you get.” He stepped forward to give Noya a quick kiss, pecking his husband’s nose as he pushed it out with a happily scrunched up face. “I’m going to go get changed, be sure to dry off the floor before we leave!”

“Aww, you’re no fun!” Noya jokingly called back, hopping off the stool they kept in the kitchen and whipping a towel from where it hung on the oven door.

“It’s your own fault the kitchen needs to be perpetually mopped, what with throwing bubbles everywhere!” Asahi called from down the hallway, pulling off his shirt as he walked by memory into their bedroom, easily tossing it into the hamper in the corner.

“Bubbles are fun though,” Noya mumbled to himself, wiping up the spilled water and drying off the edges of the cabinets before sliding the towel to hang back on the oven door handle. “Although he does have a point,” he shrugged, wiggling his bare feet with a slight shudder as they stuck lightly to the tile floor. Kicking the stool back underneath their table, he yelled down the hallway. “Hey, bring me some socks, yeah? I think my shoes are somewhere around here…”

…

“I know he put those cookies somewhere around here…” Noya mused to himself, standing on his tip-toes on the seat of one of their wooden kitchen chairs, hand patting around blindly across their top pantry shelf. He had seen the cookies come in when he brought the groceries in from the car, and he was almost 67% sure that Asahi had stashed them on one of the high shelves, probably with the idea that Noya wouldn’t discover them. He was just weighing the pros and cons of putting one foot up on the back of the chair and risking losing his balance and likely breaking their furniture, when he felt something.

“Aha!” His face lit up as he heard the tell-tale crinkle of plastic, stretching to his utmost to hook a finger around the corner of the package and pull the sweets out to where he could reach them.

“Ohno!” He yelped as the package tipped over the edge of the shelf, just barely managing to catch it before it fell to the floor, and not toppling off of the chair himself.

“What are you-“ Asahi asked as he walked into the kitchen, cutting himself off as he saw Noya sitting cross-legged on one of their chairs pulled backwards up against the pantry. He sat there munching cookies with a self-satisfied grin on his face. “You’re worse than a little kid,” he scolded, plucking the package from his husband’s hands easily and pushing them further back into the cupboard. “You could at least wait ‘til after dinner.”

Noya only chuckled in response and grinned up at Asahi unapologetically. “Cookie?” He offered, holding out half of chocolate-covered wafer.

“Alright, but just the one – and go wash up for dinner, you’ve got chocolate all over your hands,” Asahi snorted, bending down to snatch up the half-cookie with a quick bite. If one of them was going to ruin their dinner, why not both? In for a penny, in for a pound.

As Noya hopped up and moved the chair back to its spot at the table, Asahi moved around the kitchen, pulling out vegetables and washing them off in the sink. “Honestly, he’s so ridiculous, why do I like him,” he mumbled to himself.

“You don’t just like me, you love me,” Noya sing-songed, easily walking around Asahi at the sink, bumping their hips together and waggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah well you’re stuck with me for life, so I hope you know what you signed up for,” Asahi teased right back, wiggling his ring hand at Noya and making a face at him over his shoulder.

“Hmm… Husband making dinner for me? Might be lacking a bit in the backside, but I’d say I’m pretty happy with my transaction,” Noya made fake kissy-kissy faces at Asahi when his husband looked at him, affronted.

“Hey! I have more of a butt than you!”

“Well we all know that’s a lie,” Noya laughed.

“Oh, just go wash up, you big dumb,” Asahi smiled, shaking his head and sending Noya off while he went about bringing a pot of water up to boil to make some stew.

…

A few weeks later, Asahi was searching through their cupboards for where he’d put the extra crackers when he came across an open, half-eaten bag of cookies that had gone ridiculously stale. When he went to break one in half, he only twisted his finger when it finally broke. The things were hard as a rock. “Well, no more hidden sweets that go stale that easily then, I suppose...”

…

Asahi frowned slightly as he ripped the grocery list off the fridge. Scribbling a few items off of the list, he shook his head. Pulling out the large pad of post-it notes they kept by the phone, he scrawled down a quick note.

No matter how many times you put it on the list, Noya, I am not getting cherries and whipped cream and chocolate syrup. We can have strawberries and ice cream.

“Honestly, this is the third time,” he mumbled to himself, shoving the grocery list into his pocket and slapping the note on the door of the fridge. “He should know better than to even try by now.”

When Asahi got back from grocery shopping, the note was gone and replaced with a new one. Humming, Asahi put the fruits into the crisper drawer in the fridge before checking the cramped print that was his husband’s writing.

Big giant husband. I await u in our room. I have a thing for u. kISSIES I <3 u

Asahi snorted lightly, smiling at the crudely drawn kissy-face and hearts surrounding the final “u.” Even in written notes, Noya used shorthand, saying it “took less time,” even though almost every note Asahi would find around the house would also have a small army of complex doodles. He was a dork, but he was Asahi’s dork.

Upon walking down the hallway and finding their bedroom door closed, he knocked lightly, calling out. “Noya?”

Hearing a grunt and taking it as an affirmative to come in, he opened the door and walked in, only to find himself frozen on the threshold, eyes widening at the site in front of him.

Noya laid back on the bed, nothing but a pair of boxers on, grinning up at his shocked partner. Laid out on the nightstand were the items continually put on the shopping list that were never picked up: cherries, whipped cream, chocolate syrup… along with a few more familiar items they kept around, taken out of the drawer underneath, like condoms and lubricant.

“N-…. Yuu?” Asahi managed to croak, taking in the items before him and the wickedly grinning Noya on their bed.

“Now, I know you said we couldn’t get any, but I had the sliiiiiiightest inclination that you didn’t quite understand what I wanted to use them for,” Noya drawled, letting a hand reach over to pat the empty space of the bedspread next to him.

Asahi reached up to scratch at his ear, as if that would somehow jump-start his mental faculties. “Uh.”

“Sit with me and let’s talk? I was thinking it’d be fun to mess around. C’mon.” Noya sat up, pulling his feet underneath his legs to sit cross-legged, patting the space next to him. “I at least want to snuggle you.”

“Ah- that.” Asahi sputtered, feeling as if his mind were whirring back to life. “Yes. That, I can do.” He closed the door behind him, slipping off his uncomfortable jeans and crawling onto the bed next to Noya, nuzzling against his bare shoulder as he came closer.

“Hi there, I love you,” Noya chuckled, pressing a kiss to Asahi’s forehead.

“Welcome home, sneaky husband,” Asahi greeted, stretching his legs out and easily looping an arm around Noya’s shoulder, pulling gently until he tumbled into his lap. “Now, what was this about… uh… playing?”

“Oh!” Noya yelped in surprise, brightening as Asahi reached a hand out to intertwine with his own. “Well, I was thinking maybe we could…”

…

Asahi makes breakfast every morning. Noya yawned as he looked over at the stove where Asahi stood, peeking to see what was there.

“Eggs again?”

“Yup.”

“It’s always eggs, huh?”

“Ayup.”

“You make them so perfectly it’s gotta be illegal.” Noya wrapped his arms around Asahi’s waist, leaning against his side as Asahi flipped the eggs over, not breaking a single yolk.

“Why thank you,” he hummed back, listening to the quiet sizzle in the pan.

“I shall take toast responsibility!” Noya declared, peeling away from his husband dramatically and pulling two pieces of bread out of the bag, plunking them into the toaster with a flourish. “Tadah.”

“Amazing, what would I ever do without you?” Asahi joked, a small smile threatening to break across his face.

“Starve, probably,” Noya teased, pulling out the peanut butter and two plates, setting the table.

“Of course, of course.” The toast popped, and Asahi pulled it out, putting an over-easy egg on top of each piece and bringing them to the table. “Bon appetite.”

“Thank you for the foooooooood,” Noya called out before digging in, feeling the yolk pop and splurge up on his cheek when he took a bite, humming happily. “Have I told you I loved you yet?”

“Not this morning, no.”

“Well. I love you. Mostly because this is delicious Asahi how do you even do it?”

Chuckling, Asahi shook his head, taking a bite of his own food. “I love you too, Yuu.”