Chapter Text
Graduation is the start of a new era of your life. The closing of one door, and the opening of another. People were hugging as they realised that this was the last time they would see each other. Unless they bothered to reach out.
In a way, high school graduation was the happiest, saddest day of people’s lives. The majority of students were sprinting through the gates, happy that their independence could start. Moving away from home, getting a job, meeting new people, experiencing the world. For the parents, all they could think about was how their little ones were finally leaving the nest.
For Tsukishima it was bittersweet as he watched his two friends, all dressed up, go to the stage and collect their diplomas. Kuroo and Bokuto hugged each other and laughed as the two joked around.
“Never thought I would see you graduate. Can’t believe you were almost held back twice. They only let you go since you got scouted and you had two geniuses help you out.” Kuroo cackled and patted Bokuto’s back who wasn’t laughing along with him.
“Excuse me! I worked pretty hard and I managed to pass my exams. Who was the one crying on my bed about their dissertation for English? I believe I heard you say ‘why do we even speak? Can’t we talk in grunts and tongue clicks?’ That wasn’t your best moment.”
“I would much rather forget about my rants on your bed.” He shivered thinking about the countless times the day had ended with him shouting or crying. “Well, in my defence I hadn’t slept in a good while and I was living on easy meals and coffee.”
“And your little café dates with Tsukki.”
“And my little… They weren’t dates! They were study breaks!”
“Keep telling yourself that. Look, here they come.” Bokuto left Kuroo’s side and ran over to the two men walking over to them. “Kaashi! Tsukki! I graduated!” He shouted and held up his diploma.
The two men smiled and nodded to him. “Yup you did it. Never thought I would see the day.” Akaashi started to slow clap and Bokuto started to pout a little.
“You could at least be a little more happy rather than sarcastic, Kaashi…”
“I’m messing with you,” His expression softened up and he placed his hands on Bokuto's shoulders. “You worked really hard and I’m not surprised at all.”
The two looked at each other for a moment and it looked as if something was finally going to happen. Tsukishima waited with bated breath and both of them glanced down at the other. He almost shouted at them but knew if he said anything, it would completely ruin the moment.
Right as Akaashi moved for Bokuto’s hand. They broke away from each other to look at a guy who was shouting at them all. It was about some after party that they all could go to.
The four looked at each other and shrugged before walking with the crowd of people going to the party. They didn't know many of them, but that wasn't the point.
The four knew it would be one of the last times they could all be together. Since Kuroo was moving to Fukushima and Bokuto was going to Osaka. One last night at a party together, letting loose would be good for them all. Something away from volleyball or school.
Tsukishima was a little hesitant about going to the party but the other three reassured him and said that if he wanted to leave, they’d go with him. Feeling more relaxed, he happily went along with the other 3.
The party was nothing major, your typical party with underage drinking and Tsukishima could swear someone snorted something but he didn’t do anything. Whatever they shoved into their bodies was their problem and not his.
After thinking about it for a little, he only ended up having one drink while Akaashi stayed pretty sober. True to his word, he stayed by Tsukishima’s side and only stepped away to talk to some more graduates he recognised. The other two were more than happy getting drunk, talking to people and dancing.
Since he only had one drink, Tsukishima was by no means drunk but he was relaxed and having a better time than he thought he would. His eyes were drawn to Bokuto and Kuroo basically grinding on each other and getting a little handsy.
Just as it was no secret that Bokuto and Akaashi had something together, Tsukishima had a hopeless crush on Kuroo.
He never did much about it, Kuroo didn’t seem interested in him either. They had a simple senpai-kohai relationship and Tsukishima didn’t want to jeopardise that. It started with them being rivals with Tsukishima moving up to the high school. Here comes another tall, middle blocker, who could take his place but didn’t seem interested in the sport.
That's what Kuroo's initial impression was of him and later on, he wasn't afraid to tell Tsukishima that.
Tsukishima's first thoughts of them all weren't very pleasant either. Bokuto was far too loud and energetic for him, even if it did remind him of a certain ginger. All that stuck out with Kuroo was his terrible personality and flirty nature. Akaashi was a conundrum to Tsukishima as he was reserved and seemed more mature than any of the others.
Akaashi thought very different to Tsukishima. He admired Bokuto's determination and even Kuroo's less than favourable attitude, but at least he had the talent to back it up. Akaashi was curious about Tsukishima as well since he gave off an impression of mystery.
Bokuto was excited at the try outs for the team. They had a promising bunch of first years. He didn't miss the looks Kuroo gave the tall blond and knew his friend was hooked. He didn't miss Akaashi's glances over to him either and one toss from him confirmed it. These first years were going to make life interesting.
They all wanted to know more.
Bokuto tried hard to know more about him, but in the only way he knew how. By bothering him to stay on further, or approaching him at lunches to chat. This had the opposite affect on Tsukishima and turned him off from interacting with Bokuto. From interacting with them all.
He put up a wall of a standoffish attitude, thinking he knew better and was above them all. But this was only a defence mechanism from him.
None of them were too sure if he even had any friends either, since he was wearing headphones or on his phone. Some of the teachers thought he didn't speak Japanese because of his look and that he spoke French on the phone.
Akaashi was the first one to break through, since he was in the same class as the other man. Akaashi had found out that he had moved from Miyagi to Tokyo for his parents' work, and his friends were all there. The reason he was speaking French is because he's half French and talking to his dad who was away.
But, it had been Kuroo who had found out why he had such a difficult relationship with volleyball. One day he prodded too far and Tsukishima had finally confessed. Kuroo had never felt worse.
Tsukishima didn't go to practise for the rest of the week after that argument. Let's say Akaashi was very pissed off when he found out what had happened between the two.
Bokuto was the one who brought Tsukishima back to the gym and made him stay. Bokuto made Kuroo apologise to Tsukishima (who was planning on doing it anyway) and gave them space to talk it out. No one would’ve guessed that Tsukishima could keep up with Bokuto’s insane energy and motivation but he did.
Akaashi may have been the one who could bring him back from a slump, but Tsukishima helped him see reality and stopped the slumps from happening at all.
Kuroo felt like an outlier. After their fight, he had left Tsukishima to his own devices and tried not to interact with him much.
At least that changed and Kuroo ended up being one of his biggest supporters. The two of them weren’t ever far apart from each other. It wasn’t hard for Tsukishima to fall for the raven haired man but he never bothered confessing or even making it obvious that he liked the other man.
He thought he was fine spending time alone with Kuroo, after practice. The two worked hard to become the wall that their team needed. He could put up with it. That wasn’t a hard thing to do. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been through worse before.
But seeing him grinding up against another guy, even if it was Bokuto, hurt. But he had no one to blame but himself for not confessing. Even with his heart clenching, he was fine since Kuroo was leaving and few relationships in high school last.
It wasn’t always bad to observe from afar.
They had been at this party for a while and Tsukishima was starting to get a little tired. He hadn’t meant to stay long anyway, he was sure no one would mind him heading back home. Akaashi wasn’t too far away so he made his way through the crowd to let him know he was leaving. Tsukishima had one more drink in the last few hours, only sipping on it which meant he was still sober. Two more drinks than he was expecting to have.
Akaashi was talking to someone when he felt someone come up behind him and touch his shoulder. He turned around to see Tsukishima smiling down at him.
“I wanted to let you know that I was planning on heading out. I’m fine to go alone if you want to stay a little longer.”
Akaashi thought a little, looked at his phone and saw that it was reaching midnight. “I don’t mind. It’s getting a little late and I think people are moving on to other places.” Akaashi wrapped up his conversation, grabbed his jacket and did his best to look for the other two men. It looked as if they had completely disappeared.
Tsukishima looked as well and frowned a little to himself. Akaashi pulled out his phone and texted the two of them to let them know Tsukishima and him were leaving.
“I’ve texted them to say we’re leaving but I doubt they’ll respond. Let’s head out and we can come around to check for them tomorrow. Let them have some fun, it looked like they were earlier.”
Tsukishima nodded and chuckled to himself as he remembered seeing the two dancing on each other. “Yeah… they really were.” He looked down and the two walked out the front door before starting to walk along the street. “They were having a lot of fun.”
They walked in silence for a while. It was a nice night and even with the annoying chirping of the cicadas breaking their silence, it brought the whole day together. Neither wanted to break the silence but they knew they had a lot to talk about.
“It’ll… it’ll be pretty weird without the two of them.” Tsukishima chuckled and as he admitted it, there was a lump in the back of his throat. “They rounded our little group out, didn’t they…” he cleared his throat a little and that’s when Akaashi noticed he was upset.
“This doesn’t mean it’s the end. We can still hang out with them and it’s not impossible. It’s only impossible if you make it that way.” Akaashi said with a soft voice that was shaking lightly as well.
Tsukishima didn’t respond and sniffled while continuing to clear his throat. Akaashi didn’t point it out since he knew what Tsukishima was like. Sure, this wasn’t the first time that he had seen Tsukishima cry, but this felt more intimate, more real.
He took a little to calm down fully before nodding. “I know that but… it’s like they say. It’s the end of an era.” Tsukishima nodded to himself as he came to a realisation. “God that was stupid… I can’t believe I’m crying over a graduation.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s a loss even if you don’t realise it. We’ll see them tomorrow so I can make sure they’re both alive.”
Tsukishima laughed and started walking with a little more purpose. “Yeah… it’s just been a long night, I’ve had a little to drink. I think I need to sleep.”
“I think we all need to.”
It wasn’t long before they got to Tsukishima’s house and the two parted ways.
They still had a whole year together, after all.
He settled into bed and that pain in his chest wouldn’t leave him alone. It started when he saw Kuroo dancing up against Bokuto and then the two disappeared together.
No matter what he did the pain wouldn’t fully go away.