Outside was white, cold. It had started snowing a couple days ago. Looking out a window someone could see white fluff covering the ground, almost like wool or cotton. Unfortunately the weather was going to get increasingly worse. This was supposed to be the biggest storm in the last decade. Most people were preparing; stocking up on food, heating up their houses, calling their friends, family and buying what most websites recommended for when a snowstorm was on its way. But there was one person not doing any of that.
Yamaguchi was sitting on the couch with his german shepherd on his lap. The dog was very heavy, squashing him and wagging his tail in Yamaguchi's face, but he didn't mind. Yamaguchi flipped through the channels on his television and sighed. His lights were out and the house seems to be heated to its max on the thermometer. There was some old food on the table and dirty dishes in the sink. There was a trash can by the door and it was overflowing with pictures, papers and garbage. Yamaguchi was usually very clean. His house would always be tidy; it would be the opposite of what it is at the moment.
Recently Yamaguchi got into a big fight with Yachi, his girlfriend of three years. They had moved in together, bought a dog and made everlasting memories. Now Yamaguchi has the house, the dog and the memories, but no Yachi. They had had fights before but this one seemed to have gotten out of hand. She packed her bags and said she was going to leave for a little while. She said she needed to "think". He was upset, unmotivated and lonely. He kept thinking about the fight; what had gone wrong and what he could do to fix it. It's like the yelling between the two was playing on replay in his mind. He sulked and stared at his television while petting his dog.
"I don't understand it. It's as if everything is falling apart, and just as my life was getting good."
He whispered this to his dog, not wanting to speak louder than his show.
"Hitoka was all I could ever ask for, how could she leave me?-"
As he said this he was not only interrupted by a doorbell but his dog jumped up and ran towards the door, barking. He kept barking, panting and running around until Yamaguchi came to open the door. And to his surprise, Kuroo and Tsukishima were covered in snow and wiping their feet on his welcome mat.
Tsukishima wore a long black coat with a light blue scarf and a matching hat. Kuroo had on a big winter jacket with red: gloves, hat and scarf.
"Tadashi!" Kuroo called out, even though he was right next to him.
"We invited ourselves, but we do have hot chocolate." Tsukishima said.
Yamaguchi felt not only underdressed but embarrassed. He was in his pyjamas from the night before while both of the men at his door were in suits from their jobs. He put his head down and closed the door behind them. He flicked the light switch to turn on the lights, and grabbed the hot chocolate, to put it in the kitchen. Once the lights were on the place looked worse. You could properly see how much of a mess it was. Kuroo and Tsukishima looked at one another and exchanged a disappointed and confused look.
"Tadashi, what happened? Has Yachi not come back yet?" Kuroo asked.
"I never liked her, you're too good for her." Tsukishima said, crossing his arms. "And I would expect you to at least take care of yourself. Look at you! What's gotten into you. You can't just sit here and look depressed all day."
Yamaguchi kept his head down he couldn't look at Tsukishima, not right now. He could hear the disappointment in his voice. He grabbed a mug, a tall glass and a short glass. He placed all three on his kitchen counter and started to make the hot chocolate.
"Jesus Tadashi, you don't even have three clean mugs." Tsukishima hung up his coat and accessories and stormed into the kitchen. He opened Yamaguchi's dishwasher and started to load his dirty dishes. Kuroo smiled and started to help as well by picking up the trash on the ground.
Three men were cleaning up the house, making look even better than when Yamaguchi was in a good mood. Yamaguchi was grateful for his friends, he hadn't seen them in a while and it was perfect that they arrived at a time like this, he needed the company of other people. These three men have been friends since high school, which is pretty impressive. But Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were friends ever since elementary, so they are much closer. All three of them started becoming super close when Tsukishima and Kuroo started dating. Yamaguchi was usually third wheeling, but he didn't mind because for once, Tsukishima seemed to be happy. He would smile from time to time and he actually liked to socialize with others. He grew out of his salty attitude and became a genuine "nice guy", with the occasional sarcastic joke. That was why Yamaguchi put up with Kuroo. It was all to see his best friend smile.
After a little over an hour the house looked better than ever. It surprising how well and how fast these guys can clean. Finally the three could sit down and have a nice conversation while drinking their hot chocolate, in three clean mugs. Tsukishima and Kuroo sat next to each other on the couch and snuggled. Yamaguchi was sitting on a couch chair with his dog next to him. He tapped his glass and watched the two giggle and whisper to one another. He assumed their company would make him feel better, but it made him feel a little lonelier than before. He third wheeled for these two all the time but it never seemed to bother him until now. These two came, uninvited, cleaned his house and are now showing P.D.A in his living room. He sighed and placed his drink on the table.
"Tadashi, are we making you uncomfortable? Should we stop?" Kuroo asked.
/pYamaguchi shook his head and turned to face the television, at least he wouldn't have to look at the lovebirds on his couch. The channel had been switched to the news and it announced that a big storm was heading their way. "Everyone should stay inside, off the streets, be sure to save power and have at least two other people in their home incase of an emergency." Luckily Yamaguchi had two other people in his house, but he wasn't so sure how much he liked their company at the moment./p
"This is going to be a bad one. At least you have us, right Tadashi?" Tsukishima said.
Yamaguchi nodded and picked up his drink once again. He stared at the brown foamy drink. He swirled it around by slightly moving his cup. Yamaguchi was never big on talking and he hasn't grown out of that, it's just who he is. He's managed to create many relationships without needing to speak, so Kuroo and Tsukishima didn't think he was upset. Though they had a hunch after seeing how messy Yamaguchi and the place were.
The snow started falling a little harder than before. All three of them got a little startled though none would admit it. Yamaguchi's dog started to whimper and paw the backyard door. Yamaguchi got up and opened the door. He thought, 'I'll let him use the bathroom now so that he won't have to when the storm gets worse'. Once the door was open Yamaguchi's dog ran out and gust of wind flew towards Yamaguchi's face. The whole area became cold and Yamaguchi shivered. Snow was blowing inside and quickly. It was hard to see the outside when snowflakes were getting in his eyes. Yamaguchi squinted trying to see where his dog had gone, but there was too much snow. He rubbed his eyes and took a step outside. His slippers filled with snow and his feet quickly became frozen. By now, Kuroo and Tsukishima had run to the backyard door. They tried to pull Yamaguchi back inside but he refused. He went out some more. The snow had come up to his calves. The bottom of his pants were wet and his skin started to burn from the cold sensations. He struggled to move, but he kept looking.
"Where did he go?!" Yamaguchi called out.
Kuroo told Tsukishima to stay inside while he went out to get Yamaguchi. He followed the footsteps that were already there and put his hand on Yamaguchi's shoulder. Yamaguchi was yelling his dogs name, looking for his tan fur, but he couldn't see anything. How did he lose him. The backyard isn't that large.
"Maybe he ran off. But he'll be back." Kuroo said, squeezing the shoulder his hand was on.
Yamaguchi pulled him off and walked out even more. The snow was now up to a little over his knees. He kept calling his dogs name. It's impossible that he couldn't see him, unless-.
The snow around his backward fence was pretty high. And he owned a pretty big dog. Yamaguchi assumed his dog ran up the mountain of snow and jumped the fence.
Yamaguchi ran towards the fence, dragging his feet through the snow so he could get there as fast as possible. Kuroo ran out further and this time grabbed Yamaguchi's arm, a little more aggressive than how he grabbed him before.
"The snow is coming into your house, you need to go inside, you can't be out!" Kuroo said.
Yamaguchi tried to pull Kuroo off but Kuroo was much stronger. Yamaguchi ended up getting pulled back inside. The door was slammed shut and locked.