Tsukki needed to get Yamaguchi a Christmas present.
It was only two days ago that he'd told Yamaguchi, "Let's not exchange presents. Too much work and it's useless." Looking rather disappointed, Yamaguchi had nodded his head.
So why was Tsukki in this shop, staring at rows of interesting gadgets and toys?
He didn't know.
What would Yamaguchi LIKE? wondered Tsukki. It wasn't as though he didn't know his friend, but Yamaguchi wasn't a huge fan of materialistic objects. The only gifts Tsukki could think of were 1. Attention and hard work people 2. To be able to play in every Karasuno match, and Tsukki himself. But that was out of the question.
Something caught Kei's eye then, and Tsukki walked closer to it, puzzled. He picked the thing up and-
"Oh ho! Those are on sale! Brand new pair of headphones, yessir, but they wouldn't sell! But we're having a holiday sale, only 6000 yen for these beauties!"
Tsukishima looked up at the salesman, trying to muster a smile. "What do these...do?"
Pathetic, he knew. He was probably the only kid in the universe who didn't know what headphones were. After all, he'd spent most of his life just playing volleyball with his older brother, Akiteru.
The salesman frowned. "Excuseeeee me?"
"I think you heard me," said Tsukki, his smile now very stiff indeed.
"You can listen to music on them," said the man standing up. "Have a great day!"
Sure, whatever, thought Tsukki, examining the headphones. These might be cool, he decided. Yamaguchi would like them. He picked them up, being careful not to drop them and walked over to the cashier.
He paid.
So you need to connect these to some sort of device, he figured out later. Then...then you held them to your ears...you put on music, and whoa, that sounded...nice, actually. Loud. Yamaguchi would love them, he thought again. That's cool.
"Kei," called Akiteru. "Come out and play volleyball with me..."
Tsukki took off the headphones.
"Oy, Kei, turn that off..."
"Kei, what's UP with these headphones?"
"Kei, can you HEAR ME?"
"Hey," said Tsukki, around a week later. It was Christmas time and time to give the present to Yamaguchi. /He's gonna love them,/ thought Tsukki once again as he listened to his favorite song on Yamaguchi's present. He picked up a bag and a bottle of water; he and Yamaguchi planned to meet later at a volleyball field to practice.
Wonder if he got me anything...
Tsukki quickly shook the thought away. After all, it had been HIS idea to not exchange presents. He couldn't hope that Yamaguchi was generous enough to ignore the promise.
But Yamaguchi IS generous enough, thought Tsukki. That's who he IS.
Still.
He turned off his music, and stuffed the headphones in his bag.
"Here, Tsukki!" called Yamaguchi, waving him over. The boy had been practicing serving by himself before Tsukki arrived, but it wasn't as though he was improving.
"Hey, Yamaguchi," said, Tsukki, coming over to the other boy. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," said Yamaguchi. "Hey, Tsukki, wanna practice tosses?"
"Whatever, Yamaguchi," said Tsukki, looking back at his bag.
"Or let's try passing," decided Yamaguchi. "It'll be fun."
"Yeah, okay," said Tsukki.
Okay, why the HELL was he so nervous?
He shouldn't be nervous about giving a Christmas present to his best friend. That was just stupid.
He was scared, though, but why? he thought as Yamaguchi tossed the ball to him. Was it because...
He'd grown ATTACHED to the headphones, huh?
That's not all though, he thought, passing the ball back. I'm scared that Yamaguchi won't like them, but...
Tsukki knew that was stupid. Yamaguchi would probably love whatever he got from Tsukki but that didn't make Tsukki any less nervous. What if he pretended to like them? What if he didn't like music and found no use for the headphones? What if he got mad at Tsukki for breaking the deal?
Passing the ball back once again, Tsukki wondered once again if Yamaguchi had got him anything.
"That's enough," said Tsukki, a while later. He took a long drink of water.
"Yeah," agreed Yamaguchi. "Hey, Tsukki. I got you a present."
"Huh?" Tsukki almost spit out his water.
"I know we promised not to, but..." Yamaguchi shrugged. "It's small. And I needed to get you something, Tsukki. You're my best friend, remember?" He flashed a grin at the other boy.
"Yeah," said Tsukki, lightheaded. "I remember." He picked up the card, along with the present; a volleyball. Just a volleyball for practicing, but that card...Yamaguchi really was the best friend ever, huh?
"I got you something too," admitted Tsukki. "But because I'm really selfish and also an ass, I decided to keep it. Sorry," he said sincerely.
"It's okay, Tsukki," said Yamaguchi loyally.
"But..." he looked at Yamaguchi. "Can I try something?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Tsu-"
Tsukki leaned over, and kissed Yamaguchi.
"Huh?" The world spinned. Was it just Yamaguchi's imagination or was it suddenly really, really hot? He kept his eyes wide open, not daring to move a muscle in case Tsukki backed away at any response. His body trembled slightly, and his hands shook as he sat in the same position, watching as Tsukki kissed him.
It didn't feel bad at all. Tsukki was a good kisser, and Yamaguchi always had liked him, maybe as a friend, maybe as something more. But he let his eyes close, and he let Tsukki kiss him, because Tsukki was a good kisser, and this was a pretty damn good Christmas present.