Clash
A Haikyuu! oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the prompt "hurt" for Haikyuu Rare Pair Weekend on tumblr. Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
Day 1: Tsukishima Kei waits for his friend, Yamaguchi's, orchestra practice to end. Yamaguchi moves slowly, so Tsukishima figures he could return to the empty classroom he'd been using, set up his keyboard and tablet, rip out a new track, modify it, save it, break everything down, mosey back here, and Yamaguchi would finally be out. Instead, Tsukishima can't find the energy in him to move from where he's standing, listening to his MP3 player, and so the music hall empties like a receding wave. Some of the orchestra kids point at Tsukishima, a few snicker, but Tsukishima's used to it. The only thing he's not used to is the one guy who actually manages to trip over his feet, as Tsukishima has his legs crossed at the ankles while he leans against the wall. Tsukishima stares down at the baldy, but Yamaguchi appears, and they leave before Tsukishima can muster up any comment (not "sorry," because it wasn't his fault, of course not).
Day 2: Tsukishima is made to wait again. He thinks it's ridiculous. This is after the first of two concerts their music school puts on each year, so Yamaguchi shouldn't still be this occupied. He stays later than Tsukishima, who's in the electronic division, and it's just absurd. Worse yet, the baldy comes back and demands an apology, to wit Tsukishima dryly retorts that he can't help having long legs. The baldy immediately backs down and brushes it off with a "Don't worry about it" and a smile. Tsukishima wishes to go home.
Day 4: Yamaguchi tells him that it'll be like this for a while. The maestro wants to work them to the bone after a mishap with their go-to pianist from the first concert. Apparently that guy froze up, so they're working on their stage fright. Yamaguchi says it's fine for Tsukishima to go home without him and that Yamaguchi promises always to catch the last train. But the baldy, along with his short friend with the blond tuft of hair whom Tsukishima had missed completely before (Tsukishima tends to miss shorties), overhears that and says no, that Tsukishima should come to practice and get cultured, since Tsukishima is new school and "old school is where it's at." The remark conjures a distasteful look on Tsukishima's face, but a part of him hears the challenge in the baldy's words. The baldy identifies himself as Tanaka Ryuunosuke, and he says he can prove that Tsukishima should wait hand and foot on Yamaguchi as Yamaguchi is obviously Tsukishima's superior for playing classical and, therefore, Tanaka and Nishinoya (the shorty) are also his superiors.
Day 5: Tsukishima waits for Yamaguchi, but he also waits for Tanaka to show up just so he can give him his best sneer and literally look down his nose at him (Tanaka, according to Yamaguchi, is a second year, but he's also half a head shorter than Tsukishima), all the while saying with only a satisfying look, "Who's the superior one?"
Day 6: Tanaka tries to intimidate him with a yakuza glare. Please.
Day 7: Yakuza glare again. Tsukishima rolls his eyes.
Day 9: The yakuza glare makes Tsukishima snicker. Tanaka's offended. Nishinoya sees it as a challenge. Yamaguchi is dumbfounded.
Day 12: The yakuza glare doesn't last long anymore. Somehow, Tanaka can't hold it when he sees Tsukishima because he just turns it into laughter a moment later. In a way, Tsukishima supposes it's not so bad, no longer earning Tanaka's ire.
Day 13: Yamaguchi lugs his cello to the stairs and waits with Tsukishima, who keeps reminding him it'd be better just to take the elevator. Yamaguchi, who has heard this for several months on end since they started at this high school, uses a bit of attitude and tells Tsukishima just to come to practice with him—if so, they'll take the elevator. Tsukishima plans on sneaking away when Yamaguchi's not looking anyway, so they take the elevator. But the glasses-wearing hothead mellows out and sits in the back of the practice hall. He nods off.
Day 16: Yamaguchi doesn't appreciate Tsukishima napping in the back, but Tsukishima doesn't snore, so the cellist can't really complain. The only problem is Tanaka and Nishinoya finding out and threatening to sneak up on him and write on his face at some point. Tsukishima threatens them back, but he's already lost his power over them—honestly, the threat is a laugh to them, especially to Tanaka.
Day 17: Tsukishima stays awake during orchestra. He's not into classical music, but he kind of likes hearing the instruments during warm-up.
Day 18: Tanaka hits a drum. Go figure. Nishinoya plays a tiny flute-thing…go figure. Yamaguchi, at least, seems at home up onstage with the others.
Day 19: Shit. Tsukishima fell asleep during practice. He uses his phone's camera to see if there's anything on his face and breathes a sigh of relief to find no trace of indelible marker on him.
Day 19: No. Wait.
Day 19: Dammit.
Day 19: There's a number on his hand. It seems random, for a second, but he quickly counts the digits…it's a phone number, for fuck's sake.
Day 20: He washes his hands enough times to make even a germaphobe skeptical, and doing so almost makes the number disappear. Well, at least it's written on the side of his hand, half on his wrist, half on his palm, so it's not conspicuous. He reads the numbers several dozen times. On a whim, he puts them into his phone.
Day 21: Screw it. He texts the person.
Day 21: After two hours of playing "Guess who I am!" Tsukishima, fed up, decides it's Tanaka. He's got a fifty–fifty chance.
Day 21: It's Tanaka.
Day 22: Tsukishima decides it's not all that bad, having Tanaka's number. At least he's got someone who'll text him during class (Yamaguchi's too much of a goody-two-shoes sometimes and won't indulge him when he's bored).
Day 24: Hell. So there is someone else who's snarky at this school. Tsukishima appreciates that. Not that he'd ever tell Tanaka that, but still, the thought is nice.
Day 25: Texting with Tanaka is nice, but not when he's mixing. He turns his phone off during mixing sessions, otherwise the vibrations mess up his rhythms.
Day 27: Yamaguchi is sick and so stays home. Tsukishima goes to school and the day passes like usual. The time comes for orchestra, and Tsukishima is on his way out…but he stops by the practice hall, 'cause it's on his way out, and he likes to hear the warm-up.
Day 28: Yamaguchi's still sick. Yachi from the voice department approaches Tsukishima about collaborating for the end-of-term project the electronic division students have to do. They have some regular subjects together and they get on well enough, so he agrees. And again he ends his day by listening to the orchestra warm up.
Day 29: Yamaguchi's still out. Tsukishima mixes a couple of suggestions and gives them to Yachi—it's on her to provide both vocals and lyrics. He falls asleep in the back of the hall at the end of the day. He wakes up to drawings of dicks and drums on both his hands. Goddammit, Tanaka.
Day 30: Tsukishima comes up with a passable dick emoji and spams Tanaka's inbox with it.
Day 30: Tsukishima regretfully acknowledges that even he can be childish.
Day 31: Tanaka texts that he wants to hang out. What the hell?
Day 32: Tanaka spams Tsukishima's inbox with requests. Guy needs to chill. But Tsukishima still has no one to keep him entertained as Yamaguchi is almost but not yet better. He sends "sure" and then Tanaka calls him for the first time.
Day 33: A day on the weekend, and Tanaka can come up with nothing better than to hit the record store. Genius, really. Still…Tsukishima supposes it's not all that bad. They people-watch and share their remarks with each other and Tsukishima laughs…er, snickers. It's kind of fun, because Tanaka's an okay guy, but he'll play the tough guy when the time calls for it and he's also just plain honest. Besides, despite all his "old school's number 1!" BS, he has a surprising soft side for classic rock which Tsukishima shares. All-in-all, the day isn't too shabby. Not shabby at all.
Day 35: Yamaguchi's fine again. They fall back into their usual routine. Yachi's almost done with her lyrics, but she makes some requests for Tsukishima to change with the synth. The pranks happen now even when Tsukishima's awake, just when he's distracted. For instance, Tanaka misspells "yakuza" as "yahcuza" in horrible Roman letters on Tsukishima's right hand. But, instead of getting angry, Tsukishima's just remotely annoyed, and he takes the permanent marker from Tanaka's hands and corrects it himself. Apparently, that's one way to stun Tanaka into silence.
Day 38: Orchestra's over and Yamaguchi just wants to go home after a particularly bad day (yelled at by the maestro twice, he says, though another senior, Ennoshita, keeps encouraging him, saying that's nothing). Tanaka and Nishinoya catch up with them, and the four leave together. Nishinoya doesn't stay long, citing plans with an "Asahi-san," but Tanaka, like Tsukishima, doesn't seem ready to head home just yet. Yamaguchi looks between the two of them, sighs, and heads home without his best friend. Tsukishima and Tanaka grab a bite to eat and talk about random things (planning on going people-watching again, why Tanaka should not grow his hair out from his buzz cut, that having pet dinosaurs would be cool, that maybe they should try fusion and see how Tsukishima would do pitting his keyboard and computer against Tanaka's timpani). They go to the station after, Tsukishima gets on the train, and he doesn't see Tanaka wave at him. Twenty-two seconds later, he gets a "bye" text from Tanaka. Tsukishima snorts.
Day 45: Things carry on. Sometimes the day is like usual. Sometimes Tsukishima and Tanaka go out to eat. Sometimes Tsukishima goes to warm-up and then leaves for the recording booth with Yachi because the end of the semester is pulling up fast on them. Their song's coming together, but it's still not done. Tanaka asks about it. Tsukishima tells him. Tanaka oh-so-subtly asks if they're working together because Yachi's his girlfriend. Tsukishima says he doesn't date jumpy people.
Day 49: Tsukishima is meant to go home on his own. Yamaguchi has graciously accepted Ennoshita's and the maestro's offer of extra practice, so Tsukishima slips his headphones on and heads out to the station. Nishinoya's not around today, so Tanaka's on his own, too. He falls into step with Tsukishima. They don't chat. Occasionally Tsukishima hums along with his MP3 player. Tanaka glances up at him every now and then as if he seems to know the songs, too.
Day 50: It happens again, but this time Tsukishima takes off his headphones and just asks Tanaka if he wants to hang out at his house. He makes Tanaka promise not to break anything.
Day 54: Tanaka won't stop cracking dinosaur jokes. Tsukishima regrets showing Tanaka his room.
Day 55: Tanaka goes over to his house again. Hell's bells.
Day 58: He can't get rid of Tanaka.
Day 60: He can't get rid of Tanaka.
Day 61: He stops trying to get rid of Tanaka.
Day 63: Tanaka drops by the recording booth after Yachi leaves. He teases Tsukishima that timpani would sound better than steel drums in that mix. Tsukishima kicks him out of the booth.
Day 64: Tanaka's clingy and won't stop until Tsukishima caves and says they can try recording something together.
Day 65: Never mind. Even having given in, Tanaka's still clingy.
Day 66: The Tanaka household is, unsurprisingly, noisy. Tanaka has an older sister, Saeko, who plays in a rock band. No wonder Tanaka has rock roots. Now Tsukishima doesn't let him forget all his "old school" comments because there's no doubt Tanaka is not one-hundred percent old school.
Day 68: Tsukishima withdraws his anti-timpani affiliations. (It's actually pretty cool.)
Day 69: (Tanaka's actually pretty cool, too.)
Day 70: A week from the end of the term. Tsukishima just needs Yachi to re-record one hook, and they'll be all set. Tanaka now does the waiting, and Yachi doesn't mind him in the recording studio with them.
Day 71: Orchestra lets out early, Yachi's running late to the recording, and Tsukishima and Tanaka have nothing better to do. Tanaka asks Tsukishima out. Tsukishima doesn't believe him.
Day 72: One more time, Tanaka is pissed. His yakuza glare is back, and he means it this time. Tsukishima rolls his eyes whenever he sees Tanaka at school. Yachi asks Tsukishima if Tanaka's not feeling well. Tsukishima lies that she's all set and they're done, because he doesn't want to keep talking about Tanaka.
Day 73: Yamaguchi, who usually goes along with Tsukishima's whims, asks Tsukishima to make up with Tanaka, who's been crap at rehearsal recently. Tanaka's been scaring everyone, too, except for Nishinoya, who's immune to all that. Tsukishima snorts and rolls his eyes at his friend.
Day 74: Tsukishima cleans up the files on his external hard drive. He grimaces when he eyes the "completed" song done with Yachi. He glances at the song with no name—no name yet as it really is just recorded noise done with a timpani beat. He moves it to the recycle bin.
Day 75: He heads home on his own and finds Tanaka going the same way. It's annoying, and the quiet between them is not as friendly as it once had been. Eventually Tanaka bursts and yells at him for giving him the cold shoulder and for not believing him and this and that and Tsukishima just turns up the volume on his MP3 player. Tanaka says he wants to call Tsukishima a little shit, but he also refuses to do that because he's a respectable senpai and because he doesn't really believe that—it's just that that's how Tsukishima's been acting. Tsukishima says his argument is circuitous, since technically he called Tsukishima one anyway via his explanation, but Tsukishima doesn't have the upper hand for long. Tanaka points out that Tsukishima's talking to him again and he laughs victoriously, pumping his fist into the air until Tsukishima, annoyed beyond belief, grabs the older boy by his collar and kisses him to shut him up. The rest of the walk to the train station is quiet after that.
Day 76: Tsukishima removes the timpani fusion song from the recycle bin. He emails Yachi that he wasn't happy with their song and that they should redo that hook. She's kind enough not to assign blame or ask for an apology, and they plan to meet early the next morning to fix things. Tsukishima smiles, just a bit, to himself. His phone vibrates. It's a text from Tanaka. It's the fucking dick emoji. Goddammit, Tanaka.
Day 77: Yachi's vocals are spot on, and Tsukishima says he wouldn't mind working again with her in the future. Her smile is bright and contagious, and Tsukishima has to remind himself that he's not fond of smiling much in public (but he concedes to a covert high-five with her). Tanaka waves when he sees them leaving the studio. Later in the day, after they turn in their project, Tsukishima gets a text that Tanaka expects to see him at orchestra.
Day 78: Tsukishima doesn't enter the music hall. He waits outside, as he used to do for Yamaguchi, but Yamaguchi sees him and goes ahead. Yamaguchi is a good friend…not that Tsukishima might ever admit to his face. Tanaka and Nishinoya emerge and make a show of avoiding tripping over Tsukishima's long legs. They have a laugh, which grows into a guffaw when Tsukishima settles them with a glare. Nishinoya leaves them to it, though, and Tanaka awkwardly slings an arm around Tsukishima's shoulders as they head out, despite the height difference. Tanaka chatters nervously about his day's activities and about how glad he is that today's the final day of the semester before break and what Tsukishima's plans are for the break and so on and so forth. Tsukishima merely rolls his eyes and removes Tanaka's arm from his shoulders. Before Tanaka can protest, apologize, or gripe, Tsukishima holds on to his hand instead. He reminds Tanaka that he doesn't date jumpy people.
Day 80: Two days into break, and Tsukishima knows he's screwed. He's never made out with anyone before, let alone a guy. But Tanaka's rough voice is rather reassuring, even if his hands are just as clumsy as Tsukishima's. He tosses the blond a "Don't worry about it" and that smile (fuck, how had he not noticed that before? Fuck) and Tsukishima's stomach does a pleasant flip…and then Tsukishima's older brother, Akiteru, enters his room without knocking and everything is chaos after that. At least break's going to be lively and adventurous, Tsukishima thinks.
- ^-^3
*loool* Honestly, I've kinda wanted to write something in this style for a while, and I'm happy with how this turned out. XD Tsukki can be such an ass at times, but I think, while he'd get frustrated with it at times, Tanaka could handle it with just a roll of his eyes or a glare idk. Also, Tsukki seemed the type to make electronic music… And I like the idea of Yams with that huge-ass cello. XD Anywho. Yeah. The pianist who froze up is a reference to "A lonely company," also set in this AU (try it—you might like it).
Thanks so much for reading, and please review! Check out my other fics, too, if you liked this (and feel free to message me about Tanatsukki because TANATSUKKI)!
-mew-tsubaki :D