Tsukishima works at the tech place at the Uni and when Tendou comes in for the fourth time that week with a speaker with it's cone replaced with a plate somehow, he frowns. Tendou rubs his neck and laughs it off. "My friend's idea of a prank, how do I get it back to normal?" While Tsukishima is examining the speaker, he doesn't notice how Tendou gazes at him and totally misses his coworker Yamaguchi is losing it in the back.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
@yamakage-week I decided to actually hunker down and knock this story out, cause I really wanted to write a soulmate prompt forever now. So here it is, Day 2 Soulmates/College. Cute dorks falling in love
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Wordcount: 3.9k
Rating: T (for swears)
Others: Tendou/Tsukishima, college & roommates au, Tsukishima Suffers, cuddling
Summary: Tsukishima generally considers himself to be, overall, not an awful person. He's pretty sure his karma so far is mostly neutral.
So he really, really hopes there's something good in store for him next when, after his guide has given him a quick tour of the apartment and left him alone, he opens the door to his dorm room to find Tendou fucking Satori, all pointy limbs and long red hair, standing in front of him.
-
for @tobioslilgiant HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER
READ ON AO3 | READ ON TUMBLR (below)
Tsukishima generally considers himself to be, overall, not an awful person. He's not the warmest guy, as has been pointed out to him multiple times, but he doesn't go out of his way to make people's day worse either. And he has friends - and as obnoxious and annoying as they may be, like Kageyama, they're mostly good people, and terrible people do not have good people as friends, in his experience. All that to say, he's pretty sure his karma so far is mostly neutral.
So Tsukishima really, really hopes there's something good in store for him next when, after his guide has given him a quick tour of the apartment and left him alone, he opens the door to his dorm room to find Tendou fucking Satori, all pointy limbs and long red hair, standing in front of him.
"Oh ho," Tendou says as he looks up, his lips stretching into a smile that shouldn't feel so familiar to Tsukishima two years after. "I know you. Take- Tsuka-"
"Tsukishima Kei," Tukishima interrupts him.
"Yes! Karasuno's annoying middle blocker," Tendou nods without breaking eye contact. "What a coincidence. I take it you're my new roommate?"
"To my greatest displeasure," Tsukishima replies sourly.
He finally drags his suitcase inside and shuts the door. The room is barely big enough to fit the double sets of beds, desks and wardrobes, but it's redeemed by a large window through which sunlight streams in the room. Everything looks mostly clean, at least, though of course it could be just a one-time thing.
"Aw, don't say that," Tendou says as he steps aside a little to give Tsukishima enough space to advance. "I'm sure we'll be best friends soon."
"Unless your personality got better, I doubt it," Tsukishima retorts.
Tendou goes to sit on his bed, on the right side of the room, and proceeds to tie his hair up. "I'm not the one being hostile here," he points out with a grin. "And you're not an angel either."
Tsukishima turns away with a sigh and inspects his side of the room. He finds his keys on his desk, but none of them labelled.
"The big one is for the suite," Tendou tells him, his voice just next to Tsukishima's ear.
Tsukishima jumps and almost elbows Tendou in the gut - on accident, but still, he'd have been a little more happy if it had connected. Tendou doesn't pay attention to his glare and takes the keys, holding them up between them. He's so close Tsukishima can see the pale freckles on his cheeks.
"That one's for the room, this one for your closet, this one for the garbage," Tendou announces, holding the corresponding key for a second before letting it fall again. "And this one is the key to my heart," he adds, making finger guns at Tsukishima with an impish smile.
Tsukishima is silent for a handful of seconds, mouth slightly open. "What?"
Tendou snorts and throws him the keys; Tsukishima fumbles to catch them. "Kidding, it's for the basement. The guys from the other room are never there, I don't even know their names," he continues, still standing only inches away. "You don't have to worry about them. And just find the empty spaces in the cupboards and refrigerator, they're yours."
It takes a few seconds for Tsukishima to find his words. "Thanks."
"See, I've been a good senpai, now you can't say I'm awful," Tendou croons, bouncing back to his bed and grabbing a jacket that had been lying there. "I'm going out!"
Tsukishima watches him leave without a words, clutching the keys so hard that there are marks on his skin when he finally opens his hand. He shakes his head and opens his suitcase, then begins to put away his clothes, and absolutely does not think that Tendou smelled really nice.
Tendou isn't awful, thought it pains Tsukishima to admit it. He is obnoxious. He listens to music all the time, so loud Tsukishima can hear it coming from Tendou's earbuds, and his taste leaves a lot to be desired. He doesn't do the dishes very often, and it sometimes takes days before the pile of plates and bowls and glasses that grows in one part of the sink disappears. He likes the room - and entire apartment - to be pretty cold, which forces Tsukishima to wrap himself in three layers most nights, even though they're halfway through May. Tendou's side of the room is also extremely messy, and Tsukishima is pretty sure their respective spaces can be delimited following the amount of clothes on a square feet of ground.
But Tendou also always asks Tsukishima if he needs something from the corner store, and despite keeping the worst hours Tsukishima has ever seen, he rarely makes enough noise in the middle of the night to wake Tsukishima up. He does spend a lot of time trying to talk, or just coming to sit on Tsukishima's bed and poke him, but when Tsukishima stops humoring him and asks him to let him work, he usually complies, leaving him with a smile.
And it seems like the first day's cleanliness wasn't a fluke, which Tsukishima greatly appreciates.
"I lived in a dorm before," Tendou tells him when he remarks on it, on one of the rare occasions they eat together. "They'd kick our ass if we didn't keep the rooms clean."
His mouth is half-full and Tsukishima backs away an inch or two, just in case he spits too far. "There's nobody to kick your ass now, though."
"It became a habit," Tendou shrugs, wolfing down what's left of his rice. "What about you? Are you just naturally a clean freak?"
"Such a charming way to put things," Tsukishima observes, peeling his apple. "I just don't like living surrounded by garbage."
"A li'le bi' o' ga'ba' neve' hu' anyone," Tendou replies with his mouth full, pointing his chopsticks at Tsukishima.
Tendou swallows and grins at him, and Tsukishima, not for the first time, wonders if he's fucking with him or being serious. It's Tendou .
Faced with no significant reaction beyond a vaguely disgusted face, Tendou shrugs and gets up, dropping his bowl on the newly growing stack of dishes.
"We should eat together more often, it's fun," he declares, stealing half of Tsukishima's apple in passing.
Tsukishima has grown used to it. Tendou will always come steal some of his food if he sees him eating, and Tsukishima has accepted that he can't legally stab Tendou with a knife or a spoon just for that, so he lets it go with a sigh and takes the other half.
"Do your dishes!" he yells after Tendou, receiving only a grin and a wriggle of fingers in return before Tendou saunters out of the apartment.
Suddenly, he's alone again, silence his only company. Tendou had been right about their other flatmates; Tsukishima has seen one of them once, briefly, when the guy was going out as he was coming home. It's nice, to have to share the space only with Tendou, even though of course if would be nicer if he didn't have to share at all.
Mostly, it means that if Tendou is being too loud or is distracting him too much, Tsukishima can requisition the (very small) living room for himself, if he wants to be alone. Surprisingly, he doesn't get the urge that often. Sure, Tendou is obnoxious and noisy and always there , but Tsukishima - got used to it. He's gotten plenty of practice, after all, dealing with Hinata all these years, although Tendou's presence is completely different.
Tsukishima shakes his head and forces himself to stop his musings about Tendou. He's got other things to do than think about his roommate.
"I'm sick, not dying," Tsukishima insists, a week later, holding up the phone closer as he pulls the covers tighter around him.
"You're still not coming with us tonight," Yamaguchi replies on the other end. "You have to rest!"
Tsukishima rolls his eyes. "I know how to take care of myself."
"Then do that," Yamaguchi retorts . "Sleep or take a bath. Or better yet, try to spend some time with your roommate. Don't you have a thing for him?"
Tsukishima makes a choked noise, and Yamaguchi laughs at him. "Fuck off." So what if he's been talking about Tendou a lot. The guy lives with him, and is weirdly attractive, and he has a right to vent about how hard it is not to stare when Tendou changes sometimes.
"Fine, be miserable then, but be miserable in bed."
"Are you going to come here and make me soup too?"
"I trust that you'll manage that yourself."
"I'm touched by your confidence in me," Tsukishima deadpans.
Yamaguchi's laugh comes a little distorted. "I'm sure you are. Just take care of yourself, Tsukki."
Tsukishima knows a losing battle when he sees one. He sighs and looks up to the ceiling, giving himself a few seconds to accept his capitulation in the face of Yamaguchi's relentless protectiveness.
"Fine. Have fun with the hellspawns," he finally says.
"They're your friends too, remember?"
"Lies and slander. Tell them I say hi."
"I'll call you tomorrow," Yamaguchi promises before he hangs up.
Tsukishima watches his screen go dark, then sets his phone down on his nightstand, lies down more comfortably, and closes his eyes, but rather than quiet, it's Yamaguchi's words that come to him.
A thing. For Tendou. Well , like he said, Tendou is attractive, in his strange, skinny, probably-secretly-a-goblin kind of way. Tsukishima is mature enough to admit it. And Yamaguchi seriously does not get to make fun of him for his taste, because Tsukishima distinctly remembers having to suffer through his ''Kageyama may be sort of hot' phase during their second year of high school.
He kind of wants to get up and go out anyway, just to defend his taste to Yamaguchi. Maybe he should have argued with him more when he'd told him to stay home - though he rarely wins that kind of argument with Yamaguchi. And to be perfectly honest, he does feels a lot better staying in bed than he certainly would if he had to get up, and get dressed, and go out, and…
He's woken up by Tendou coming in. Tsukishima's neck hurts from his position, and his glasses are askew on his face, digging in his left cheek. The room is darker, but not by much. Tendou is humming to himself, moving in time with his little song, and Tsukishima instinctively adjusts his glasses and stares at him, transfixed.
It's not that Tendou is tense in his presence, but he's often either focused on something - most often that week's Shonen Jump - or draping himself very distractingly all over Tsukishima until he gets bored of trying to annoy him. Tsukishima has rarely had the luxury of seeing Tendou just be , like this. It feels like he's intruding, but there's also a part of him that wants to keep watching. There's something about seeing Tendou dance in such a carefree way, and Tsukishima-
Tsukishima opts for clearing his throat, possibly not the most subtle way to announce his presence, but better than feeling like a voyeur. Tendou jumps and almost falls over his chair, looking like a deer caught in headlights for a second before he spots Tsukishima.
"Oh ho," he grins, wide and vaguely unsettling. "Were you waiting for me? I'm touched."
"I'm sick," Tsukishima retorts, sliding a little further under his blanket as Tendou comes closer.
Tendou bends down as if to examine him, and Tsukishima stays still, staring back, even when their noses are only a finger apart. "Yeah, you look like death," comes the final verdict.
"Thank you, it's my new foundation," Tsukishima says, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. "Any other pertinent observations?"
Tendou's brow furrows slightly in something that looks strangely like worry. "I'm serious, man," Tendou replies, for once not snapping back. "Do you need something?"
Tsukishima sighs. It's kind of hard to keep up the snark when Tendou doesn't seem interested in replying in kind. "Just quiet."
Tendou nods and lifts his hand, almost as if to touch Tsukishima, but stops halfway and let his arm fall back to his side. He takes a step back and straightens up, or as much as it can be called straightening up with Tendou's usual slouch.
"I'll let you sleep," he says, still in a voice that sounds too normal and not enough like Tendou for Tsukishima's comfort.
Tsukishima says silent as Tendou gathers whatever he needs, and by the time Tendou has reached the door, Tsukishima has taken off his glasses and is fast asleep again.
The next time he wakes up, he's horribly thirsty. The room is completely dark, and after a few fumbling attempts before getting his hand on his phone, he realizes it's already ten. He mutters a few swears; he hadn't intended to sleep that long.
He'd also forgotten to bring water. He closes his eyes and gathers his strength, then rolls on his side until he's sitting on the edge of the bed. Even doing that is exhausting, and only the need to drink gives him enough motivation to leave his toasty warm bed and walk out of the bedroom.
The hallway looks strange, with shadows dancing on the walls in a green-tinged light, and Tsukishima understands why when he reaches the living room. Tendou is curled up on the couch, his laptop on the small table in front of him, and watching something that looks like an alien movie.
He must hear Tsukishima come in somehow, because he pauses and turns around, giving Tsukishima a slow once-over. Tsukishima shivers slightly, and he's not sure he can blame it entirely on the temperature. Tendou's eyes come back up and meet his, and Tsukishima wants to blame the strange warmth spreading in his body on being sick, but that doesn't seem fair either.
Eventually, Tsukishima manages to turn away and drag himself to the sink. Tendou still hasn't done his dishes, and Tsukishima vaguely wonders about the law of gravity and the miracles of balance when he looks at the pile of dirty plates and bowls.
He grabs a glass from his part of the cupboards and fills it, then takes small gulps, unnervingly aware that Tendou is still watching him. Now that he thinks about it, actually, Tendou watches him a lot. Tsukishima wonders what he's thinking. Back when he'd met him, in high school, for the time of a match, it had been all about guessing where to block. Is he still guessing now? What is there even to guess right now? Tsukishima is sick and tired, there isn't much more to see.
He drinks the whole glass and pours another one, which he empties faster this time. He rinses it, and it feels heavier than normal in his hands. By the time he puts it to dry on the rack, Tsukishima feels light-headed, and he takes a deep breath to try to regain some balance before going back to the bedroom, but his bed feels so far away .
"There's ramen," comes Tendou's voice, nonchalant. "I left some for you on the table."
Tsukishima frowns, but by the time he's turned his head, Tendou has gone back to his movie. The sound is low enough that it doesn't bother Tsukishima, though.
He looks at the kitchen table, and sure enough, there's a bowl covered with a plate, filled with ramen when Tsukishima takes a look. It's still hot, and when the smell reaches him he realizes he's actually quite hungry.
He takes it and goes to sit down next to Tendou. Judging from the way Tendou's eyes widen, he hadn't expected it, but he doesn't protest when Tsukishima takes the other side of the couch.
"I don't think ramen is particularly good for sick people," Tsukishima starts.
Tendou huffs and waves his hand without looking at Tsukishima. "If you don't like it, you can throw it away. You're gonna have to pay me back anyway, though," he adds with a little self-satisfied smile. "I'm giving you some of my food, here. I'm being super generous."
His eyes don't stray from the screen, and Tsukishima shrugs, not bothering to point out the concept of generosity doesn't usually involve repayment. He figures he's not really in a position to complain anyway, unless Tendou poisoned the ramen, and even then, considering he's feeling like death already, he's not sure he would see the difference.
Tendou's movie ends and he puts on another right away. Tsukishima hasn't paid enough attention to know if it's a sequel to the first one or a different kind entirely, too focused on eating. He finishes the ramen about fifteen minutes in the second movie, but his limbs feel way too heavy to get up again. He opts for setting down the bowl on the table, next to Tendou's laptop, then curling up at his end of the couch, hugging his knees as he squints to try to watch Tendou's movie.
"I don't bite, you know," Tendou declares after a minute.
Tsukishima glances at him. He's not looking at the screen anymore; he's looking at Tsukishima again, his eyes almost too wide and shining in the dark.
For once, when Tsukishima stares back, there's no challenge to be found.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he mumbles, rubbing his eyes.
Tendou sighs with his whole body, shoulders sagging and legs flopping down. "It means you can be miserable in your corner or you can come closer," he says, spreading his arms in invitation.
Tsukishima frowns as he tries to makes out Tendou's expression, but without glasses and in the dark, he's impossible to read. "You do realize I might be contagious?"
"Duh," Tendou replies with unexpected glee. "Why do you think I'm offering? I'm desperate for a reason to skip, dude."
"Like you need a reason," Tsukishima retorts, unfolding his legs and arms to move closer to Tendou.
He goes slowly, and Tendou loses patience after five seconds, taking his shoulders and tugging him closer, until Tsukishima is basically lying against Tendou's chest and between his legs. It's more comfortable than he'd have expected, and it's warm, and Tendou smells like his strange fruity soap. Tsukishima settles, too tired to care that he's basically cuddling with Tendou with only minimal complaint. It's something to be examined by future him, who will be awake and in full possession of his faculties, and not distracted by Tendou's arm around him.
Okay, fuck. He might have more than a thing for Tendou.
He's asleep before he can care.
Tsukishima wakes up to the sound of something falling and breaking and Tendou cursing loudly. It takes him a moment to understand why he's not in his bed, and another more to remember the night before.
He rolls around and sits up, sore from spending the night on the couch, only to find that he's covered by Tendou's oversized hoodie. He glances at Tendou over the couch to check, and sure enough, Tendou is only wearing a thin T-shirt. He's taking apart his pile of dishes, which is probably what made the noise that woke Tsukishima up.
Tsukishima has to resist the urge to lie back down and pretend to sleep for a few hours more, but if anything, volleyball has taught him that running away doesn't work out. He stretches, grimacing at the dull pain in his muscles, then shrugs on Tendou's hoodie, because it's always ungodly cold in the flat - at this point, Tsukishima suspects witchcraft. Plus, he figures that after caving in and admitting that he has a thing for Tendou, he gets to indulge a little.
He gets up and thinks a little bit too late that maybe he should have tried to brush his hair a little. Tendou turns his head and, after half a second of strange hesitation when he spots his hoodie on Tsukishima, flashes him a smile before going back to scrubbing a bowl.
"Finally! Thought you'd turned into Sleeping Beauty and you'd never wake up."
Tsukishima figures words can wait until after coffee.
Tendou chatters happily about the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty, then about movies he's seen. Tsukishima nods here and there, relieved that Tendou doesn't expect more from him as he waits for his coffee to be ready. None of their conversations have ever happened before Tsukishima has gotten his first dose of energy for the day.
Tsukishima sits down with his mug at the kitchen table and busies himself with watching Tendou. It's strange, to do that after having admitted to himself that he seriously wants to touch him more. And possibly - definitely kiss him, too.
"Any plans for today, or are you just gonna lie in bed all day again?" Tendou asks. "Because I'd rather know beforehand this time."
Tsukishima shrugs. "Taking a shower, then we'll see."
"If you have as much energy as yesterday, good luck with that," Tendou snorts. "I didn't even think you were gonna be able to walk, when you came out last night. I was ready to call 119."
Tsukishima taps against the rim of his mug once, twice, then replies. "If you're so worried, you can always come in the shower with me."
"Oh ho, are you flirting with me?" Tendou asks, twisting his waist just so he can waggle his eyebrows at Tsukishima.
It's not the first time he's asked, and every other time, Tsukishima has shut him down, and they went on with their conversation. But, well. Every other time, Tsukishima wasn't flirting.
"Yeah, I am. Why, aren't you?" he says, taking a sip of his coffee without breaking eye contact.
Tendou's eyebrows climb up his forehead, and he almost lets the last plate he'd been washing fall down. He gapes for a handful of seconds before finding his words.
"Yeah. Have been for the past two months," he admits. "Thanks for noticing."
And - okay, in retrospect, maybe Tsukishima could have seen this coming since day one.
"Good," he replies, because he doesn't anything else to say.
Tendou dries his hand and leans against the counter, smiling mockingly. "'Good'? That's all? I'd have expected more of a reaction."
"I'm sick and still drinking my coffee," Tsukishima points out sourly. "I'm not giving you a grand declaration."
"Aw, I'm disappointed, Tsukki. I can call you Tsukki without you threatening to hit me now, right?"
"Wouldn't you miss it if I stopped telling you to shut up?"
"So romantic," Tendou whispers, joining his hands in a show of awe. "I'm swooning."
"See, why should I put in more effort?" Tsukishima deadpans, feeling the corner of his mouth tug up.
"Cause I can make your life a living hell if you don't treat me well," Tendou reminds him, gesturing proudly at himself.
"Oh, and that's romantic?"
"Depends if you want it to be," Tendou retorts.
He crosses his arms and tilts his head to the side, in a gesture that Tsukishima has seen him do countless times now, and is code for are you sure you wanna play like this?
Tsukishima lets his lips stretch into a smirk. Feelings, he's not good with, but this? This is familiar territory.
"I do."
Tendou whistles appreciatively and smiles back. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."
