Café Tsukishima
a/n: omg i'm sorry this took so long, but I'm so happy i got to be a part of this exchange. this is for @tsukkismoonlight, i'm your secret santa! i hope you like it.
also thank you @momochimo for hosting this event. i liked expanding my comfort zone
warnings: two curse words, indigestion mentions, mentions of food technically
word count: 3.2k
reader's pronouns are not specified
you miss the days when you could take a second to admire the snow piling outside; watch it glisten in the sun and relax, nothing on your mind but the cup of coffee in your hand and the next tv show on your watchlist.
these days, however, you look at the snow piling on the streets with a scowl, refreshing your work groupchats to see if either of your jobs will have mercy on your withering strength this snowy morning.
your roommate, bless his soul, seems to reappear over your shoulder every few minutes, patiently waiting with you.
working two jobs was no easy feat, he knew, and he wanted nothing more than to see you relax for one day out of the year.
“‘Dashi, you’re making me more stressed breathing on my neck like that.”
with a light chuckle, Yamaguchi steps back, making his way to the kitchen to prepare you a cup of coffee he knows you’ll need.
“I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but it’s looking like you’re working a doub-”
“nope! no! don’t bring your negativity into this home,” you cut him off abruptly, “I refuse to leave. I can’t even see the road outside! how would I drive on it?”
As you groan into your hands, Yamaguchi chuckles at your theatrics. He’s offered many times to drive you to work, or even cover rent for the both of you, but you always respond with a grumble along the lines of,
“too nice for your own good ‘Dashi...” and “’m an adult! I can do adult things!”
so, while he hates seeing you throw your sanity on the line with your two jobs, he’s decided there’s nothing he can really do to stop you.
he hands you your coffee and silently watches you lose your mind hoping for a day off.
and a few minutes later, by some astounding miracle, two pings sound from your phone, and you and Yamaguchi both rush to see the long-awaited messages from both of your employers.
“you should come with me to the Frogs game tonight, you could finally meet Tsukki!” Yamaguchi exclaimed after a short celebration of your newfound freedom.
at the mention of his best friend’s name, you winced. you never told him that you have met the infamous Tsukishima, and since said meeting, you’ve been actively avoiding the middle blocker.
it wasn’t his fault Yamaguchi left him in your apartment without your knowledge, and it certainly wasn’t his fault that he overheard you asking your roommate to purchase indigestion medication for you. however, him laughing in your face after the call was 100% his fault.
it was embarrassing enough to run into him in your living room that afternoon, so to “officially” meet him was asking a lot of yourself. but out of love for Yamaguchi, and a lack of excuses, you reluctantly agreed.
after a quick exchange of game details and goodbyes, he left your shared apartment in a rush to get to campus, leaving you to your own devices for a few hours.
to say the Sendai Frogs were amazing was an understatement.
while Yamaguchi was incessantly cheering his friends on, you sat in awe as you watched the volleyball fly faster than your eyes could track. you were even more shocked by how pliant Tsukishima made his body as he continued to block and defend for his team.
you were certainly not a professional in the sport, but you knew enough to understand how strong this team was.
after nearly losing your voice from cheering at the Frogs’ win, Yamaguchi drags you out of the bleachers and onto the court. he hugs a few members, as well as Tsukishima (who gives him a heartfelt pat on the back), before pushing you in front of him.
“everyone, this is y/n!”
you wave a bit stiffly towards the team before Koganegawa reaches out to excitedly shake your hand.
“we’ve heard a lot about you!”
“a bit too much, really” Tsukishima counters. Your face heats up under his scrutinizing glare.
“well Tadashi does get a little loose-lipped when he’s stressed, and i'm sure i’ve stressed him out more than enough.”
you don’t miss the small chuckle that manages to escape Tsukishima’s lips. Yamaguchi doesn’t miss the slight boost in your mood after it.
after letting them change and shower in the locker room, Koganegawa invites you to their team dinner, to which you impulsively agree to attend.
their dynamic was...strange to say the least. Koganegawa cracking jokes with other players, repeatedly nudging Kyoutani, who released a grunt every once in a while, but otherwise seemed detached for the night. Tsukishima also seemed quiet, although you always pegged him as someone who doesn’t thrive in groups, only responding to Yamaguchi’s consistent praise and excitement with variations of “calm down”.
you focused on your food while occasionally cracking jokes that made the team laugh, embracing the environment. you enjoyed their company more than you expected to. as you and Yamaguchi started heading back to your apartment, you told the team you would definitely attend their next few games, and said your goodbyes.
maybe your one day of freedom made you forget that your life doesn’t allow free time, much less time to go see every Sendai Frogs game (and they certainly had a lot). Regrettably, you had turned down Yamaguchi’s offers to join him every week, and that dinner was the last time you had seen anyone on the team.
it’s not your fault you’re busy, but you can’t help the guilt as you see your roommate head out to watch another game.
the next morning you found yourself waking up much earlier than usual, giving you some time before you had to tend to your responsibilities. deciding to stretch your legs and admire the colder weather for the first time this year, you go for a short walk to the café close to your apartment complex.
the warmth of the café washed over your goosebumps as you step into the shop. there was nothing like the ambience of coffee on a cold winter morning; the warmth of a cup in the grasp of your slightly shaking hands; the familiar head of blonde hair turning in your direction.
the brown eyes of Tsukishima Kei staring at you from his own table.
your feet were rooted to their spot, fight-or-flight response completely overridden by the awkwardness consuming your body. do you say hi? should you pretend you never saw him and just order something to go?
choosing to be mature, you decide to order a drink and exchange niceties with the man before scurrying back to your apartment to mull over your conversational skills.
taking a deep breath, you approach his table with your drink in hand.
“you’re Tadashi’s roommate.” you wish it were the frost outside reigniting your goosebumps rather than the chill in his voice.
“Tadashi’s friend,” you correct, “but yes, nice to see you again Tsukishima.”
he resumes reading whatever was holding his interest before you approached him. after a beat of silence and you fiddling with your drink, you make your way to leave when he clears his throat,
“are you just going to stand there?”
a bit startled by his invitation (?) to sit with him, you reluctantly place your drink on his table before pulling a chair across from him. his eyes stay rooted to the content on his laptop that has garnered his attention, as you fiddle with the coffee sleeve on your cup.
“did I-we scare you away or something?” he suddenly speaks up.
when you go to look at him, his eyes are still latched to his screen, although you can see through his glasses that he’s not looking at anything in particular. he’s just looking to avoid your eye contact.
“...scare me?” you question, confused. how would they scare you?
“it’s been seven games.” is all he says in response. you stare at him, trying to meet his eyes as they persistently avoid your gaze. what the hell was he on about? this was your longest conversation with the man and yet it was the most cryptic. why was he speaking in code?
when he finally locked eyes with you, he noticed your confusion. with a slightly agitated sigh he pulled out his phone, tapping around before he eventually passed it to you. even more confused, you took his phone into your hands, a bit shocked to see an empty contact form waiting to be filled in. you looked at him for confirmation, only to see his gaze had turned back to his laptop, and his ears sported a light pink tint.
still startled, you quickly put in your number, and put your contact name under Tadashi’s friend before handing his phone back to him.
he holds a subtle smile at your contact, before his alarm rings and shakes him out of his mild stupor.
“practice.” he barely explains before packing up his things and leaving you with a bow. you’re left at his table questioning the reality of the past fifteen minutes. a few minutes after his departure, your phone dings, telling you you’ve received a message. an unknown number, who you assume is Tsukishima, has sent you a schedule of the Sendai Frogs games for the rest of the season.
oh you think, he wanted me to come.
after your odd run-in with Tsukishima, Yamaguchi started pushing you a little more to attend the games, and you found yourself going out of your way to make time to go. it was always an experience seeing the force of Kyoutani’s hits, and the speed and agility of Tsukishima’s blocks.
it was nice, embracing the cheers of the team when they saw you for the first time since the past game from months ago. you were warming up to them, and it was always comforting making new friends.
but of course, life happened.
when the holidays rolled around, however, you felt yourself slipping into a pit. this year, you had no friends to hang out with, and no job to distract you. Yamaguchi made numerous attempts to get you out of your room before leaving to see family, but was painfully unsuccessful.
this holiday season, you had no one.
except for Tsukishima Kei apparently, who was standing outside your apartment door according to his recent text message to you. after attending a few more of the Frogs games, you and Tsukishima had grown a little closer than before, but you wouldn’t necessarily call him a friend.
you groaned as another message notification rang through your empty apartment.
Tsukishima: wake up
Tsukishima: I'm outside
Tsukishima: I know you’re seeing these
you wait a few minutes, hoping he’ll take the hint and just leave you in your pool of self-pity, but history has proved that Tsukishima doesn’t understand cues of when to leave. you hear a resounding knock on your door, and decide to just let him in for whatever he needs.
when you open your door, the sight of Tsukishima shakes you a little bit. his hair is covered by an adorable frog beanie, and a pink tint covers his nose and cheeks beautifully. his hands are shoved into the pockets of his coat, and on his arm lays another jacket, which he shoves into your arms after giving you a quick once-over.
before you can ask him what he’s doing here, or make yourself look more presentable, he gently wraps an arm around your wrist, dragging you across the street before stopping in front of your neighborhood café.
he shoots you a quick look, trying to read your silent consent before he walks in with you in tow. as if on cue, the barista calls his name and places two drinks out on the serving table. it isn’t until he reaches for the drinks that you realize he was still holding your wrist.
as you sit across from him at one of the café's tables, he passes you your cup. you suspiciously take a sip, until you find your eyebrows shooting up at the taste of your favorite drink.
“did Yamaguchi send you a y/n to-do list or something?” you lightly joked. he took a sip of his drink before meeting your eyes.
“is it so hard to believe that I know things about you by now?”
not knowing what to say, you decided to just focus on the drink in your hand. the silence soon shifted from peaceful to awkward, neither of you really knowing what to say, and you not really understanding why you’re sitting in the middle of a café across from him right now.
when you look at him, he looks away from you, and when he looks at you, it’s when you’ve looked away. you sigh to yourself, not understanding this random game of cat and mouse.
“how’s your indigestion?” he questions, breaking the silence in the worst possible way.
your head shoots up at this. his expression seems entirely serious. you tilt your head in confusion.
“are you poking fun at me?”
“no, I'm genuinely curious” he sighed.
“you sound sarcastic.” you muttered, reaching for your drink once again.
he takes off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose in slight frustration. you questioned if there was something irritating about your presence, but kept it to yourself. another beat of silence passed before Tsukishima attempted to continue the conversation.
“I wasn’t being sarcastic. it was just an innocent question.”
“then why’d you laugh at me?”
the confused expression on his face makes you want to slap him, but it also makes you want to reach across the table and smooth out his eyebrows.
“because it was funny at the time, so let’s just move on.”
caught off-guard by his abruptness, you decide to drop the topic. this time, it doesn’t take much energy to continue conversing with him. you both talk about your hobbies and classes, and he tells you about his family. it was more comfortable than you had expected, and you certainly never thought you would be calling Tsukishima Kei a friend by nighttime.
over the span of holiday break, Tsukishima has knocked on your door every day and dragged you to the neighborhood café. it became a sort-of unspoken daily ritual, and neither of you seemed to be complaining. you thought you’d grow sick of the taste of coffee, but something about Tsukishima’s presence always made it tastier. the more you saw of him, the more you grew to appreciate the little things about him, like his attention to detail, or his tendency to wipe the right lens of his glasses before the left lens. it was clear to you that you had started to harbor some feelings for the middle blocker, and you had no idea what to do with them.
while your relationship friendship with him was growing, Tsukishima was slowly becoming more comfortable with you too. he liked the way you still tried to talk to him, to get to know him, even when he says asshole-ish things. he admired the shine in your eyes whenever you opened the door to see him, the jacket he lent you already draped over your body.
the dragging you by your wrist soon became pulling you along gently, which soon became walking side-by-side, which developed into brushing your fingers against each other’s, before you both evolved into holding hands.
“I lied to you a few weeks ago,” he says over his cup of tea as he retracts his hand from yours. he figured it would be better to try a less-caffeinated drink, and less physical contact with you to remain composed for the things he means to say today.
“I laughed at you because I was nervous. Yamaguchi spent months telling me I had to meet his attractive roommate who was ‘just my type’, and the first time he left me alone in your apartment, I had to run into you. I laughed because he was right, and it made me nervous. I didn’t give a fuck about your indigestion. who cares? and I guess I lied because I don’t know how to talk to you, everything I say comes out wrong, and it’s frustrating because I don’t want to seem like an asshole but I just do.”
he panted quietly after finishing his rambling. if the confession wasn’t such a serious topic, you would’ve dropped your jaw the way you so desperately wanted to. he found you...attractive. while your feelings for him were still fresh and developing, you knew that this was an opportunity you couldn’t miss to get closer to him.
you’re unsuccessful in hiding your smile, opting to make light of the situation instead.
“maybe if you buy me enough coffee, I’ll kiss you.” you tease. you don’t miss the way his face flares up, and his grip on his tea tightens slightly. oh?
eager to change the topic, he starts talking about a new book he started reading. you tune out more than once, more focused on analyzing his confession and admiring his features than listening about fossils.
Tsukki: open your door
the text tone from your phone wakes you up from your slumber, squinting your eyes to see a message from your crush close friend.
Y/N: you have a spare key Tsukki just open the door? you woke me up btw </3
Tsukki: that ruins the flair of it all
refusing to argue with him, you push yourself out of bed with a groan, and sleepily stumble to unlock your door, where you see Tsukishima holding two very large cups of coffee. he gives you a gentle smile before kicking off his shoes and setting himself onto your couch.
“is this enough?” he questions.
“enough for what? heart palpitations?” you joke.
“enough for a kiss.”
if someone had told you in the beginning of winter that by the end of December you would be cuddled up to Tsukishima Kei, sharing a kiss with him on your old couch, you’d laugh in their face and ask them what fanfiction they read. but as you lay in his arms for the first time, you realize that, despite the journey to get here, you were exactly where you were supposed to be. he was an unexpected force in your life, and he helped you through one of your weakest times. maybe it was too early to tell, but you felt cared for, and you cared for him more than you realized.
in Tsukishima’s arms, you found yourself admiring the snow outside once again, nothing on your mind but the cup of coffee in your hand, the next tv show on your watchlist, and your significant other’s warm embrace.
if someone told you that a year from now, you and Tsukishima would be cuddled up in the early morning, sharing coffee and kisses in your own shared apartment; that he would still know your favorite coffee order, and he’d be telling you how in love with you he is, you would dreamily smile, and tell them,
“I hope so.”