#agorace

[pridewon]

@agorace​ // tsukki (plotted)

It shouldn’t really be happening anymore. That pull in his chest. It’s subtle, barely noticeable, really; merely a flutter that stings a little bit. But it’s there, even when he knows it shouldn’t be.

It is a thorn between his ribs, pushing just enough to make him squirm, not enough to make him scream - uncomfortable but not painful enough that he feels justified in complaining about it.  ‘I have something to show you. Can you come by the museum after you finish work?’ - Tsukki had texted him, much to his surprise and relief (if he looked at this electrical circuit one moment longer, his head would implode). In the seven years they have been together, this much hasn’t changed: whenever Tsukki calls, Tadashi follows, loyal and compliant to a fault, always happy to share in whatever it is his boyfriend deems worthy of their combined interest. 

After all this time, Tadashi should know the place he occupies in his partner’s life and heart. So why is there this antsy feeling in his chest, as he walks into the museum’s paleontology wing, and catches sight of Kei and who appears to be a visitor?

He stops in his tracks, by the mammoth exhibit under the high glass ceiling, unwilling to interrupt what is, no doubt, a professional and cordial exchange. But Tadashi is not a fool; at the age of sixteen, he might have been oblivious to those things, but now, he has learnt the telltale signs. She is pretty, she smiles; she leans in just a tad closer, like they are the only two people in the world. Inside Tadashi’s chest, something seizes up. He has no reason to be worried, he knows. He just can’t help the voice in his head ordering her to go away.

At long last the woman leaves, and he waits until she is out of sight to come out of his hiding spot and trot towards Tsukki, a smile he hopes happy and carefree etched at both corners of his mouth. “Kei!” He chimes up; rising on his toes to meet his lips; long blond curls brushing against his forehead as he does. Already the weight on his chest feels lighter - hopefully it will have vanished entirely before Kei notices anything. 

“Phew, I thought today would never end. Thanks for giving me an excuse to get out of that office. I’d much rather be here!” With him, of course - always - ; but Yamaguchi genuinely does treasure this museum he has grown to know so well, and that Tsukki loves so much. “So, what did you want to show me? It’s nothing bad, right? Is everything okay?” 

[littlewarricr]

     @agorace​ said, “ 20. Carrying while half asleep ( from Hirugami! sometimes study sessions get tiring and you need a tol to carry you to bed ; ; ) ”           from: platonic touch

     makiko tries her hardest to stay awake -- really, she does! when her eyelids first start to droop, she grabs a snack for her and hirugami to share ( and a treat just for adzuki, of course! ), and the simple action of chewing helps. when her eyelids start to droop again, she slaps her cheeks, forces herself to ask hirugami questions, even if she already knows the answer. maybe if she can stay engaged, she can get through the exhaustion. she doesn’t want to fall asleep on hirugami, doesn’t want him to think she doesn’t value the time he gives her.

     she really does try to stay awake, but eventually there’s a lapse of silence that lasts just a moment too long. her eyes slide shut, and makiko slips into blissful unconsciousness.

     she can’t be sure how long she’s asleep before hirugami notices, though it feels like a mere second before she feels his sturdy arms lifting her into the air and cradling her against his chest. it’s more comfortable than makiko would imagine it to be. it’s warm, and it feels safe; she’s always hated being picked up for fear of being dropped, but she feels light as a feather now. hirugami won’t drop her.

     her mind drifts to hirugami’s tendency to go out of his way for other people, the things he’s done for her. it’s a flickering thought, distracted by the gentle rocking of her friend’s steps and the soft thump thump of his heart. it’s enough to put her to sleep again, if not for hirugami shifting makiko around to open her bedroom door, and the maneuvering he has to go through to pull her blankets back before finally laying her down. by the time he has her nestled in bed, she’s just awake enough to peer up at hirugami through half-lidded eyes and whine at him before he can leave ( because who can form coherent words when they’re barely awake? ) .

     he pauses in the doorway, and while her mind still feels fuzzy with sleep, there’s the distinct, pleasant feeling of being cared for and the desire to make sure hirugami knows she appreciates him. softly, sincerely, makiko murmurs, “ thanks, hiru.” it’s the most she can manage in the moment.

     tomorrow, she’ll thank him properly. 

[pridewon]

@agorace​ / osamu (plotted starter)

Anyone on Inarizaki’s boys volleyball team will tell you the same thing. Miya Atsumu is the personnification of perfectionism. Setting impossibly high standards for others, even more impossible standards for himself, the team’s setter knows he didn’t become one of the best in the nation by sheer talent and sitting idly on a bench. His overzealous attitude towards the sport comes as a surprise to no one, more habitual than not. It takes a dedicated eye, to spot the minute differences between Atsumu’s usual borderline excessive training routine, and those nigh invisible moments when training becomes an excuse for deliberate self-sabotage. Even after all this time, he is only aware of two people who are able to see the telltale signs. The first is Kita Shinsuke, their captain, the one person who, Atsumu is fairly certain of it, sees everything, no matter how small or insignificant.

The other is his own twin brother. Yep. The one and only. For better or worse.

It only stands to reason, for sure. They have been together since for fuckin’ ever, literally. They used to be one and the same entity, once upon a time. Still, Osamu’s astute sense of observation, his sixth sense, his twin sense, as Alan calls it, is both a blessing and a curse. All throughout training, their first since they returned from Tokyo, Atsumu has felt it, his brother’s gaze drilling into him, peeling off the armour he’d clad himself into, unbothered by the spikes he decorated it with. Leave me alone, he seemed to bark with ever slightly too aggressive spike. Leave me alone, he seemed to beg, with every too forceful serve landing out of bounds. 

It had taken Kita’s intervention to put a stop to the shitshow and force him to a halt. Still, coming close to breaking his own hand felt slightly better than grazing his knuckles against the shards of his own broken, bleeding heart. Something cuts deep within his chest every time he takes a step, takes a breath. He walks around, livid, sickened, furious, screams dying in his burning throat. And he knows it is only a matter of time until his better half will try to step in and catch him before he spirals off too deep into his self-destructive cascade.

The bell tolls the moment he hears the door to their room clic open. Sat down on the lower bunk,  Atsumu keeps his eyes fixed onto the wall. Red, burning, too dry, tired. He doesn’t blink when Osamu’s footsteps - for he knows it is his brother - draw close to the bunk bed. Doesn’t flinch when he hears him coming to a halt. 

The only thing as shattered as the beating lump of flesh in his chest is his voice, when, finally, he deigns using it. There is no use not telling him. The world has finally imploded, and it’s about damn time someone else took notice.

“We broke up.” The admission drops between them like a ton of lead. Without looking at his brother, Atsumu picks at his own hands - a nervous tic, a bad habit, one that, at its worse, draws blood. Better to bleed from there than to bleed inside, he figures. “I broke up.” There is nothing Osamu can do now to rectify his brother’s shortcomings. All Atsumu has to offer is the ugly reality of the aftermath of disaster.

[pridewon]

@agorace​ said:  "You know, you actually have 18 more presents," Koushi murmured, snuggling up underneath Daichi's chin, comfortably curled up on his lap. birthdays were quiet in their household, private affairs with homemade shoyu ramen and cake. he leaned, scooping up a silver gift bag to prop up between them. waiting for Daichi to open the first little gift box was almost impossible, but — a paper crane, obviously folded by tiny hands, sat neatly in Daichi's palm. "Unfold it!" Sugawara could hardly hold in his excitement as the pink paper was carefully undone. Hapy Birthday Mr. Sugarmura's husband! Please keep saving kitys from trees. the note was signed, neatly, by Mina. "They're still figuring out my name change — can't blame them, they'd just learned how to spell Sugawara, and now they have to learn how to spell Mr. Sawamura?" he sighed theatrically, nuzzling their noses together, a warm smile palpable in the short distance between their lips. "I guess I can blame you, birthday boy."

“Me? I seem to recall getting married was just as much your idea as it was mine.” The chuckle in his throat is as warm as Suga’s smile, as the sunny winter sunset that had graced the end of the day before night had blanketed over Miyagi. Shoyu ramen, cake, a phone call to his mothers and siblings, and his husband nestled against him as they patiently work their way through the myriad of small presents Koushi’s students had apparently made for him (who snitched out about his birthday, hm, he wonders?). Daichi fails to picture a more ideal scenario; never one to party, always one to prefer the comfort of his home to grand outings, and especially, the comfort of the home he’d chosen and built with the man he loves.

Daichi wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes; sometimes startled by a nightmare, sometimes by the sudden and irrepressible need to do some kind of reality check, he supposes. His hand would reach to brush against the man at his side’s, or his halted breathing would settle upon the familiar warmth in his arms. And everything would be alright again. This routine that has been theirs since they were eighteen and barely out of highschool, their little nest, the warm, mischevious smile under a crown of silvery hair; how could he wish to be anywhere else on this particular day? 

Chuckle melts into a smile, and Daichi barely needs to lean to steal a kiss from Koushi’s lips, the little note resting on the coffee table, soon to be joined by eighteen others. “We should open the rest before midnight. It’s also the new year, after all.” Perhaps Koushi would take him more seriously, if he didn’t take the opportunity to take a detour, lips pressing kisses to his jaw in a barely concealed attempt to draw a laugh or a ‘staaaahp we’re not finished!’ out of his dear husband. Fiiine - one last to his neck, and Daichi settles back in his spot, reaching out for the next little box. “To Mr Sugar-hoorah’s husband... that’s a new one, but creative.” Poor children and those dumb old men’s name changes. And Daichi has no doubt there will be more by the time he is done with the whole pile - part of him can’t wait to see what creative variations the kids will come up with when, indeed, they will learn to spell Sawamura-sensei... 

[kunekos]

"Thought you'd like something simpler this year," Kei mumbled past the lip of his glass, sitting under the moonlit sky on the roof of their apartment building. small, warm, golden christmas lights had been strung up in this little corner. lastly, he'd set up a big fluffy blanket and a basket of food he'd made under Fukunaga's far too pun filled instruction when Kuroo was at work. "So — happy birthday to the brand new Tsukishima Tetsurō."

          Tetsurō laughs, wholeheartedly, at his husband's initial statement. whilst on the hectic trip home from work —   Tetsurō never even began to imagine that Kei would welcome him with a surprise quite like the one that stands before him. then again ...   what he says sounds about right, also. golden, feline - like eyes, attentively as ever, study the glowing, colourful lights that encircle a small area of the rooftop, allowing the taller man to relinquish in the tranquil surroundings that Kei prepared for the night. it's not exactly a secret that rather frankly, Tetsurō often favours running the extra mile & concentrate on fancy dinners. Kei, on the other hand, wouldn't. such distinction has become considerably striking between them across the years :   & yet, Tetsurō wouldn't exchange what they have for anything in the world.

          at the present moment, however : there, standing at the above area of their shared apartment, & begetting the possibility to eat to his heart's content in the company of his, now, lawfully wedded husband ...   fancy dinners, be damned !

          ❛   Ahhh ... !   Lucky me ... !   Isn't my husband just the sweetest of 'em all ? !   Watch out, love ...   my kindness seems t'a be startin' t'a rub off on ya.   ❜     he reckons with a chuckle, slender digits promptly moving to unbutton the front of his overcoat ;   thus, Tetsurō takes his rightful seat at the top of the blanket, one arm, enveloping the blonde's waist. a grin's bound across his semblance when his eyes meet Kei's.     (   & whatever he's done to be worthy of a moment like this ...   he can't be positive. but dear God was he ever meriting of it ? !   )     the heart beating on his chest skips a beat. the grin hovering his semblance converts into one that is gentle & loving, losing its mischief entirely. Tetsurō leans closer,     —   as if that's even attainable   —,     & whispers :

          ❛   Thanks for the surprise, Tsukishima Kei.   ❜

𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐲 ,  //     accepting !     ☆

[pridewon]

@agorace​ // inunaki asked for a starter!

At last, he hears it - the soft rustling of the waves rolling and crashing on black sand beach, melting into the soft breeze that cools them down after an impossibly hot morning. Hawaii is deceptively tranquil, but the scorching sun, the intense heat and the light beating down on them all day long as he and Shion ventured into mountains and luxurious forests, sometimes remins him of the merciless summers of Catalonia. Tomas looks up from the barely trodden path, and lets a smile bloom across easy, youthful features. “Woah.” Woah indeed. The view is breathtaking; and he’s not just talking about his boyfriend watching over their final destination with a triumphant look on his face. 

“This is amazing!” Ever the enthusiast for all things new, Adriah watches with child-like wonder in his eyes, as he leaves deep footprints into charcoal-coloured sand - volcanic remains, from what he read on the plane. With a huff, he lets his bag hit the sand and arches his back, stretching impossibly long limbs skywards, before he lays out a beach towel before him and sits down - how long have they been walking, again? Hard to say - time flies, when you’re having fun! A relieved sigh passes the threshold of his lips; and as Shion comes to stand beside him, the Black Jackals’ middle blocker cannot resist the temptation of leaving a featherlite kiss on the leg that’s within reach. 

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. We need to take a picture of the volleyball on the black sand for Shoyo! He’s going to go nuts!” The Jackals’ gentle giant chuckles; but, they’ve got all the time in the world for pictures. And for everything else, really. He hums to himself and unties his shoes, frees his left ankle from the taping he always uses to secure his tendon during intense exercise and gently stretches it: “You grew up in a beautiful place, Shion. Do you ever miss it, when you’re in Japan?” Of course wonder triggers curiosity - and though a few years of long distance had made them experts at talking, it seems there is always more to talk about. When it comes to Shion Inunaki, Adriah’s curiosity, at least, is boundless.

[sekaikun]

Sakusa and Yotasuke are the best thing to ever happen to me actually like we haven’t even had an official thread yet but the fact @agorace and I have completely tracked their entire life together is insane.

[sekaikun]

100% PERCENT SURE ... he has never been absolutely, positively, completely sure of anything in his life, until now. he had maybe gotten up earlier than him to prepare for the day. and he had maybe ventured out of the hotel room a few times to get whatever it is they might have needed for the day. even this early the place was packed full of people. it did give him a fright, and he did get anxious, and everyone was exceedingly threatening being... athletes and all. but none of that mattered now! Yotasuke, since the beginning, since their first meeting and far into their relationship thought this must be a fluke. he wasn’t sure back then, if Sakusa had any intention with him beyond novelty. if he was interacting with him out of pity or something he couldn’t fully comprehend. some cruel joke? that mindset only lasted a few weeks since their initial conversation, and dissipated quickly afterwards. then he wasn’t sure why Sakusa ever spoke to him at all. if not for an ulterior motive then why? it baffled him. Yotasuke would spend nights contemplating the possibilities. nothing ever seemed solid. there was no reason to like him, especially like him as much as Sakusa did. again, those trepidations days passed by and left the two of them hand in hand. it left Yotasuke was a certainty beyond any other assurance he’s felt before. and that extended to today.

the weather was hot. summer Olympics or not it was still excruciatingly hot. and freezing in all the buildings. the stark contrast in temperature was only one of the hurdles Yotasuke would have to deal with. Among the screaming and roaring crowds of people everywhere, and the cacophony of several languages, and the most social interaction he would ever have to deal with, he would persevere. every day he was up early and in bed late. forcing himself into situations he would have sworn off as fantasy only a few years prior. yes, it was hard and miserable sometimes. he did have to scurry off to the bathroom every now and again and sit in a stall to calm down. but Sakusa was working so much harder.

there is something surreal about the bated breath. the sudden instance of incredible deafening silence before incredible deafening applause. something like heaven, like you died and the biggest weight had been lifted off your shoulders, like everything you had done and worked for cumulated to this very moment and it went off without a hitch. the strangeness in the feeling of success. the feeling of relief and disbelief. you knew it would happen though. you were 100% sure. and the emotions were still overwhelming.  he wasn’t fond of loud noises, no, but that otherworldly atmosphere of watching him win, with everyone else, was going to be irreplaceable in his heart. before he knew it he was on his feat with the same amount of vigor and uproar as everyone surrounding him. before he knew it tears were streaming down his face as he screamed, watching that man bow his head on the court towards him made his heart explode. yatora who sat next to him had to practically subdue him, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt so he wouldn’t run off in the masses of people, knowing that it wouldn’t end well.

so proud. so proud, ecstatic, elated, exhausted, enthralled, everything he felt- overwhelming. eventually Yotasuke was able to make it onto the gymnasium floor, waiting outside the bathrooms or locker-rooms or whatever they were. he’s had to memorize the maps of all of these places and at this point yatora had been lost in the crowd and maybe yotasuke was getting antsy over that too. he wasn’t big, mind you, especially compared to volleyball players, so he was awash in a sea of gods among men. for the moment he wasn’t thinking about Sakusa he was now thinking about the horrible knot in his stomach, the sweat begining the accumulate on his palms and brow. world looking fuzzy, feeling faint, but forcing himself to stay alert for when Japan’s national team came flooding out. Squeezing through a few more people with a small apology he spotted him. he couldn’t yell anymore, so a gasping little squeak came out of him instead.

“ ah- Kiyoomi - ! ”

@agorace​ / i said i’d write you a starter