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“Why can’t you just go by yourself? I love you, Tsukki, but I don’t need to be there for your date.”
Yamaguchi Tadashi was laying on his best friend’s bed, trying to convince him that a date is usually just two people.
“I told you, Tadashi, it isn’t a date,” Tsukki said, a little annoyed.
“Hm, yeah okay. That’s why Akaashi asked you if you wanted to go. Because it’s not a date. You know, when someone’s boyfriend asks them if they want to go out to a movie with him and a few other couples, it’s usually some kind of date.”
“Well, I don’t want to go without you, and I already told Keiji that you would be there.”
“Ooo, using first names now are we,” Tadashi said, wiggling his eyebrows. Tsukki rolled his eyes and continued talking, ignoring Tadashi’s teasing.
“Plus, Kozume will be there, so it’s not like it’s just ‘other couples’.”
That got Tadashi’s attention. He didn’t know Kozume all that well, only bits and pieces that Akaashi had told him on the rare occasion Tadashi saw him. The short blonde was an interesting person. He constantly had his face in a game, and was very soft spoken. But nevertheless, Tadashi wanted to get to know him better. It could be nice, since Tsukki is always spending time with Akaashi.
Not that he minded that. He was happy for his friend, elated in fact. He felt awkward when he would hang out with Tsukki and Akaashi, like some third wheel. So maybe he and Kozume could third wheel together.
I guess that wouldn’t really be a third wheel, Tadashi thought, it's more like a third and fourth wheel. But that would just be a four wheeled vehicle.
“-dashi? Yamaguchi Tadashi! Anyone home?”
Tadashi looked up in surprise at Tsukki, who was giving him an annoyed look.
“Oh, sorry, Tsukki! I was lost in thought.”
Tsukki raised one eyebrow. It annoyed Tadashi when he did that, because he could never figure out how Tsukki did it.
“What were you thinking about?”
“Hm? Oh, wheels.”
Tsukki stared at him for what seemed like a long time. Finally he turned around and grabbed something off his dresser.
“Anyway, I wanted your opinion on something,” he turned back around to face Tadashi. “Which book?”
“Huh? What does a book have to do with your date with Akaashi?” Tadashi asked, confused.
Tsukki sighed. “You weren’t listening to me, were you?” He didn’t look the least bit surprised when Tadashi shook his head. “The book is for a report. I was saying how I don’t want to read a whole new book, so I’ll just do it over one I’ve already read.”
Tadashi gasped in fake shock. “Tsukishima Kei! That’s cheating. You scallywag.”
Tsukki snorted. “Scallywag? What the hell, Tadashi?”
Tadashi laughed along with his friend. “Anyway, I think you should do the one in your left hand, the cover is more interesting to me.”
Tsukki nodded as he went back to his desk. “Also, we are leaving in an hour to meet Keiji. So if you don’t want to go in your Sanrio pajama pants, then I suggest you change.”
“Well, I think I look very nice in these pants, so I might just wear them.” Tadashi said, falling back onto Tsukki’s pillows. For some reason, Tsukki’s bed was 100 times more comfortable than his own. Tadashi wanted to say it was some kind of black magic.
Of course he was going to change. As much he loved his Sanrio pj’s, he didn’t want to get them dirty wearing them out and about. But if they were leaving in an hour, then Tadashi had enough time to lay here for a little bit before he got changed.
He didn’t plan to fall asleep. And of course, Tsukki didn’t wake him up until right before he said they were going to leave. Tadashi hurriedly put on a more suitable outfit, but in the rush he realized he forgot his scarf. He didn’t want to face the Wrath of Tsukki, so he decided to just suck it up and suffer. Luckily, he remembered to put his gloves in his coat pocket, so his hands were fine.
The walk across campus to where Akaashi was dorming with Kenma was a chilly one, but they got there on time. Unfortunately (more so for Tadashi’s poor neck than for Tsukki), Akaashi was already outside with Kozume. Tadashi was really looking forward to walking into the warm dorm lobby to thaw out a little before he had to go outside.
The group of boys exchanged pleasantries, before they were once again on their way to pick up Akaashi from his dorm. Tsukki and Akaashi were walking hand in hand a few feet in front of Tadashi, with Bokuto right in front of them. Kozume was walking next to Tadashi, and he was filled with uncertainty. Tadashi knew that Kozume was someone who didn’t really like small talk, but he felt like the silence between them was awkward, and he was anxious to start a conversation up.
Luckily, Kenma beat him to it.
“You look cold.” Tadashi almost didn’t hear him.
“Oh, yeah, I accidentally fell asleep before we left, and I barely had time to change out of my Sanrio pants before we left, because Tsukki didn’t wake me up, the bastard. So I was rushing around and I-” Tadashi realized he was rambling, which he tended to do when he was nervous. “I, uh, forgot my… scarf.” He finished lamely.
He expected for Kozume to have zoned out during his unnecessarily long explanation. But he actually looked a little interested.
“You can borrow mine, if you want?” he offered.
Tadashi waved his hands in front of his face. “No! Er, I mean, it’s fine, I’ll be fine, it’s just the cold. I was born in the cold months, so… Uh, that actually has nothing to do with this.”
Kozume was looking at him with an amused expression on his face. Then he took off his red scarf and wrapped it around Tadashi’s neck.
“There you go, now you’re warm.”
Tadashi felt his face warm up, and it had everything to do with the smaller boy walking next to him. He mumbled out a “thanks, Kozume-san” and wrapped the scarf around his neck. It somehow smelt like apple pie, plus it was really soft.
“You can call me Kenma, you know,” he said, and Tadashi thought he saw a trace of a blush on his cheeks.
The rest of the walk was uneventful, every once in a while, Tadashi would point out something to Kenma, which would lead to another conversation between them. Tadashi would bask in happiness when he could get Kenma to laugh, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that Kenma was also quite funny himself.
Finally, they made it to the movie theater, and they all piled inside the warm building. Tadashi didn’t pay any attention to the film the rest of them picked, as he was too busy staring at Kenma. He was really pretty, so it technically wasn’t Tadashi’s fault. So it came as a rude awakening, when the movie started, he saw someone get eaten by a horrifying monster.
He immediately looked at his ticket, and saw that they were in the theater for some really popular horror movie that had recently come out. But again, he just decided to suck it up and suffer.
The movie seemed to drag on and on, Tadashi keeping his eyes closed most of the time. Somehow during the movie, he had gripped onto Kenma’s hand, which he didn’t realize until after the movie was done.
He let go as fast as he could and stuttered out an apology, which made Kenma laugh.
“It’s fine, Tadashi. I’m guessing you aren’t much of a horror fan?”
Tadashi blushed, a mix of embarrassment at his behavior, and happiness in hearing his first name come from Kenma’s mouth.
The walk back to the dorms was even chillier because of how dark it had gotten over the course of the movie. Tadashi offered several times to give the scarf back to Kenma, which he refused, saying he wasn’t that cold.
When they got back to Akaashi’s dorm, he and Kenma walked a little bit away from Akaashi and Tsukki to give them some space. Plus, neither of them wanted to see them be romantic with each other.
“Um, well, here’s your scarf back,” Tadashi said as he began unwrapping it from around his neck. “Thanks again for letting me wear it.”
Kenma placed his hands on top of Tadashi’s. “You can wear it back to your dorm. Besides, it gives me an excuse to see you again.”
Tadashi froze at Kenma’s words, as the latter turned and began walking back into the dorm building. He turned around and gave one last wave, and walked through the door.
Tadashi stood there, still in shock. He turned to see Akaashi giving him a knowingly stare.
“I’ve never seen him talk to anyone as much as he did you. Plus he never shares clothes. Consider yourself lucky, Yamaguchi-san.”
“Come on, Yamaguchi, let’s go back to our dorm, I’m freezing and I don’t want to stand outside any longer than I have too.” Tsukki beckoned him to follow, which he did without a second thought. He was too busy thinking of a certain pudding-headed boy.
******
“Tadashi, give me your phone,” Tsukki demanded a few days after the movies.
Tadashi didn’t even think twice before handing it over to him. “Just don’t buy drugs or anything with my info.”
Tsukki hummed in agreement, before he tapped a few times on the screen, then threw the phone back into Tadashi’s lap.
“There, I gave you Kozume’s number, text him.”
That got Tadashi’s attention. He sat up in his bed, and looked at Tsukki.
“Huh? Wait, what? I- He- You-” he sputtered out.
“Tadashi, if you aren’t going to say anything intelligent, then don’t bother talking at all. I know you liked him, plus Keiji knows he liked you. Just trust me.”
“Wait wait wait, how does Akaashi know he liked me? We only really talked once. Plus, I acted like a whole baby in front of him!” Tadashi exclaimed. He didn’t know why he was protesting this hard, he did indeed like Kenma. A lot. As in, he was all Tadashi could think about for the last few days.
“A whole baby? As opposed to a half baby?”
Tadashi glared at Tsukki. “Now is not the time, Kei! I’m having some issues-”
Tsukki scoffed. “Obviously.”
“-and the last thing I need is for you to be your sarcastic self.”
Tsukki just shook his head. “Listen, Tadashi, you do what you want, but I really think it would be stupid of you to pass up on this opprotunity. Not only would it benefit you, but then now I don’t have to listen to you gripe about how single you are. So Text. Him.” Tsukki then went back to whatever homework he was doing before.
Tadashi thought about Tsukki’s words. He did remember Kenma’s last words to him before he went back into his dorm room. So Tadashi made the executive decision to text Kenma. So before he could chicken out of it, he picked up his phone, and clicked on Kenma’s number.
To: Kenma
Hey, this is Tadashi, I got your number from Tsukki. Idk where he got it tho, I swear I’m not a creep. Anywho, would you maybe want to meet up sometime? You could get your scarf back :)
Tadashi waited anxiously for a reply. He tried to go back to the book he was reading, but he couldn’t concentrate on the words. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he heard his phone ping.
To: Yamaguchi
Sure
Tadashi has never been so happy to hear just one word before. He practically squeaked with joy, which caused Tsukki to look over at him in confusion. He just waved him off, with a promise to tell him later.
To: Kenma
Awesome :) If you are free tomorrow, we can meet at the library cafe around 10? The coffee there is some of the best ive ever had.
To: Yamaguchi
Yeah, sounds good.
Tadashi was a little anxious about Kenma’s reply. He didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the meet up, but it could just be Tadashi overthinking. Tsukki did say that Kenma was interested, but Tadashi himself didn’t hear that, so maybe Akaashi was wrong, and Kenma actually hated Tadashi and never wanted to see him again.
“So, care to tell me what has you this excited?” Tsukki asked Tadashi, a few minutes after Kenma’s reply.
“Hm? Oh yeah! Kenma said he wanted to meet up, but he didn’t seem very excited about it,” Tadashi admitted.
Tsukki held out his hand, and Tadashi placed his phone in it. Tsukki read through their short conversation, and then looked back up at Tadashi.
“Please, this is the most excited I’ve ever seen him be over text,” Tsukki responded, pushing up his glasses.
“Tsukki, are we reading the same texts?”
“Kozume-san is very quick and to the point over text, he hardly ever uses full words, and never types out more than 2 words at a time. Just the fact that he responded so quickly, and used the full word, lets me know that he more than likes you.”
“Really? But his text…”
Tsukki sighed, and threw his phone back over to Tadashi. “Trust me, Tadashi. Also if he didn’t like you, he most definitely would’ve let you know by now.”
Tadashi nodded. Of course he trusted Tsukki, and he knew Tsukki would never lie to him. Intentionally.
Well, Tadashi, the only thing you can do is meet up with him and see for yourself.
*******
Tadashi showed up an hour early. He told himself he wasn’t going to do that, since he didn’t want to scare Kenma off, but he was so anxious he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He spent the next hour freaking out and trying to study.
Finally, he heard someone set their stuff down at the table he was sitting at. He looked up, mouth open to say the seat was taken, just to see golden eyes staring back at him. He jumped a little and then broke into a wide smile.
“Hi, Kenma! I got here a little early, so I decided to save a table,” he said with a nervous chuckle. Kenma just nodded and slid into his seat. They were silent for a little bit, Tadashi feeling a little awkward, until Tadashi remembered the whole purpose of the meet.
“Oh! Did you want to order some coffee? I was waiting for you to come before I ordered mine. Oh, and your scarf.” He reached into his bag and pulled out Kenma’s soft, red scarf. He passed it over the table, and Kenma gently took it.
“Did you remember yours this time?” Kenma asked with a ghost of a smile on his lips.
Tadashi laughed, feeling his face heat up, and nodded. “I was on time today.”
Kenma let out a soft laugh, before getting up with Tadashi to get some coffee. With some of the tension gone, Tadashi fell into an easy conversation with Kenma. Well, conversation was putting it lightly. More like Tadashi was rambling and Kenma was listening. But he was a good listener, Tadashi decided. He looked genuinely interested in what Tadashi was saying, and would nod, or say something every once in a while. Overall, Tadashi didn’t get much studying in, as he was too busy talking to Kenma. But that was alright to him, Tadashi didn’t really want to study much anyway.
After their coffee was gone, they got up and walked together back to Kenma’s dorm, since it was closest to the library. When the two boys got there, Tadashi was reluctant to leave, and he was surprised to see that Kenma looked the same.
“Um… would you maybe want to come up to my room? Akaashi is with Tsukishima-san right now, and I got a new game, if you were interested in playing with me?” Kenma asked softly.
Tadashi nodded, maybe a little too enthusiastically. Kenma smiled, and led them up to his room, where they settled on Kenma’s bed to play games. Kenma’s dorm was much nicer than his own, which made Tadashi jealous. They had two bedrooms and a living area, with a TV and Kenma’s gaming console. They even had a kitchen! Kenma must’ve caught Tadashi’s awe-struck look, as he explained that he and Akaashi were both here on an Academic scholarship, which let them be able to stay in the nicer dorms.
Damn, maybe I should’ve focused more on school in high school, Tadashi thought reluctantly.
He sat on the couch, making himself comfortable, while Kenma got everything set up. Then he went over to the couch, plopping himself right next to Tadashi. They were so close that their shoulders and knees kept bumping into each other. Tadashi could feel his heart rate speed up, as well as his palms get sweaty. If Kenma was affected, he showed no sign of it. So Tadashi tried his best to act normal as Kenma passed a controller over to him.
The two of them played games the rest of the day. After a little bit, Tadashi got worn out and was tired of losing to the expert gamer sitting next to him (and so closely to him), so he settled with just watching. And Kenma was really good. It sort of surprised Tadashi that he was so good at them.
“Oh yeah, I stream this game sometimes,” Kenma said, like it was no big deal, when Tadashi asked him about it. “I get maybe, upwards of 100,000 viewers.”
Tadashi felt his jaw drop. “What? How did I not know that?! That’s like, famous!”
Kenma shrugged and went back to playing. But Tadashi couldn’t shake it off. His friend (they are friends, right?) was a famous video game streamer? And he didn’t know? No wonder he couldn’t win, he was basically doomed from the start.
They stayed together for a few more hours, until Akaashi came back with his date with Tsukki. And coincidentally, Tsukki came back up with him. They heard the door open, and both Kenma and Tadashi looked over to see Tadashi’s best friend pinning Akaashi against the wall.
Tadashi couldn’t say anything, not wanting to make his friend embarrassed, but Kenma didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, hey Akaashi.”
The two men jumped apart, looking in shock at Kenma. Tsukki’s face was the reddest that Tadashi had ever seen. Akaashi wasn’t any better.
“Oh, Kozume-san, I didn’t know… uh that you’d be here. I thought you were with Yamaguchi-san,” Akaashi said, straightening his glasses.
Tadashi leaned over Kenma and waved sheepishly at them.
“Oh, Yamaguchi-san is here. Okay, well, we will be in my room, sorry to bother.” Akaashi hurriedly ushered Tsukki past the two on the couch, and into Akaashi’s dorm. When the door closed, Tadashi started laughing.
“Oh my gosh ! I will never let Tsukki live that down,” Tadashi said in between giggles. Kenma was laughing next to him, which Tadashi really enjoyed. He felt like he could listen to Kenma laugh all day.
“Well, I should probably head out now, Kenma,” Tadashi told him, after calming down a little bit. “Thanks for hanging out all day, it was really fun. Let’s do it again!” Kenma nodded, and saw him out the door.
A few hours later, when Tsukki came back into their dorm, Tadashi threw him a wide grin.
“Have fun, Tsukki?”
“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukki said, face turning red.
“Sorry, Tsukki,” he laughed out.
*****
Over the next few weeks, Kenma and Tadashi hung out as much as they could. On the days they couldn’t hang out, they texted. They became really good friends, much to Tadashi’s enjoyment, but he couldn’t help but want more. He could barely contain his blush when Kenma did something cute, and he did his best to refrain from calling him pretty when he would laugh. All in all, Tadashi was whipped.
When finals were done, Tsukki was invited to a party at Bokuto Koutarou’s house. Which was big, as Bokuto was one of the most popular people on campus, being the volleyball team’s captain. Apparently, him and Akaashi were pretty good friends. So naturally, Tsukki invited Tadashi too.
“What? No way! I hate parties, and if I remember correctly, you do too,” Tadashi said, in an accusatory voice.
Tsukki shrugged. “Keiji invited me. Plus Kozume will be there.”
Tadashi thought about it. He got anxious around large crowds, but if Kenma was going to be there, then it might be worth it. It was like Tsukki could read his mind, because he said “I’ll make sure that you and Kozume can be alone if you go with me.”
Tadashi sighed. “Fine, but only because you’re my bestest friend.” He blinked up at him sweetly.
Tsukki threw a pillow at his face, which made Tadashi laugh.
“You better make a move tonight, if I’m going to put all this effort into it.”
Tadashi scoffed. “What exactly will happen if I don’t?”
“I’ll punch you in the mouth.”
“I’ll have you know,” Tadashi retorted, “that my mother paid perfectly good money for these teeth.”
Tsukki snorted. “I know, your braces would whistle when you slept, waking me up when you came over. And I had to listen to you whine when they were tightened.”
“Woe is you,” Tadashi said, throwing his hand over his head dramatically. “You didn’t have to deal with wires and brackets cutting open your mouth all the time.”
Tsukki just rolled his eyes, and told him to be ready in two hours.
Which of course didn’t happen. Tadashi really should get better at time management before the second semester starts. Oh well, that was a problem for future Tadashi.
Once again, he was rushed getting ready, and was pulled into the hallway by Tsukki without grabbing the proper garments for the cold weather.
“Tsukkkiii, I’m freeeezinggg!” Tadashi said through his chattering teeth.
“Should’ve been ready when I told you to, then you wouldn't be cold. Anyway, we are almost at Bokuto’s house, so you’ll be fine.”
Tadashi pouted, but continued walking anyway, because Tsukki was right, they were almost there.
Bokuto’s house was already wild when the friends got there, with lights and music shaking the house. The party was spilling into the front yard, with some people hanging out on the porch, which confused Tadashi. It was so cold, how could the handle it?
They squeezed their way past the people on the front porch and made it inside, where they were immediately met by the host himself.
“TSUKKI! You made it! Akaashi is waiting for you in the game room with Kenma!” Then he was off. Tadashi felt a little jealous of him using his nickname, but pushed that aside, since he was getting nervous to see Kenma.
It wasn’t like this was the first time seeing him in person, they hung out all the time. So why was Tadashi nervous all of a sudden? Tsukki seemed to tell that Tadashi was feeling nervous, and offered to get them both drinks. He followed Tsukki to the kitchen and got themselves drinks, and made their way back to the gameroom. Luckily, Kenma and Akaashi were easy to find. They were the only ones on the couch. A bunch of people were sitting around the TV watching Kenma play a game. They were cheering him on, and offering him advice every now and then. Tadashi and Tsukki made their way to the couch, where Tsukki basically sat on top of Akaashi, and Kenma looked up momentarily to make eye contact with Tadashi.
He paused the game really quickly, much to the distress of the people watching, and scooted over to let Tadashi sit next to him. Of course Tadashi could feel himself blush, but he sat down nonetheless.
People can and went, including Akaashi and Tsukki (which Tadashi did not want to think about) until Kenma paused and passed the game controller off to someone else. He then took Tadashi’s hand and pulled him up and through the crowd. Finally, he stopped when the two of them found a spot on the back porch where it was just the two of them.
Tadashi was a little upset that they were outside, as he started shivering again. Next thing he knows, he feels a soft fabric on his neck. He looked down to see Kenma’s face right next to his, as he wrapped the red scarf around him.
“You should remember to bring warm clothes,” Kenma said simply. Tadashi felt embarrassed, but it left as Kenma said his next words.
“You know, your freckles are really pretty, Tadashi.”
He short circuited. Kenma just called his freckles pretty. That just happened. Tadashi’s face was on fire at this point.
“Thank you, Kenma,” he whispered. Kenma’s face was so so close to his own, and he couldn’t help his eyes flickering down to Kenma’s lips. He noticed that Kenma’s eyes did the same.
“Hey, Kenma?”
“Hm?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Instead of answering, Kenma crashed his lips against Tadashi’s. They were just as soft as Tadashi thought they would be.
The two pulled away, and before Tadashi could think, they were kissing again. Tadashi wrapped his arms around Kenma’s waist, pulling him closer. He has no idea how long they were out there, but it wasn’t long enough. Even though the rest of Tadashi’s face was numb from the cold, his lips were nice and warm.
“Finally! I thought you guys would never figure this out.” Tadashi jumped away from Kenma (sadly) and whipped his head to the door, just to see Tsukki and Akaashi looking at them with matching grins on their faces. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave you two alone for now, but we are heading back to Akaashi’s dorm. Just letting you guys know.” They then turned and walked back through the house, hand in hand.
“Guess we’ll go back to your place,” Kenma said.
Tadashi nodded. “Let’s go.”
******
1 year later
“Seriously, Tadashi, you always forget your scarf,” Kenma said, a little exasperated.
“Well, why do I need to bring mine, when you always have an extra?” Tadashi pointed out.
Kenma smiled, as he pulled the red scarf out of his bag. “Here, you can just keep it. You wear it more than I do anyway.”
Tadashi smiled as Kenma wrapped it around his neck, giving him a soft kiss on his nose. “Thanks, Kenma.” He snuggled his chin into the scarf, as Kenma grabbed his hand.
He will forever be grateful for the soft, red scarf currently wrapped around his neck.