Hinata was very proud to call Tsukishima Kei his boyfriend. He knew that the tall blond was a good catch, not only because he was physically attractive but also because he was intelligent, so he did not mind when other people admired his Tsukki. It actually turned him on a bit when he noticed that someone was checking the gorgeous blond out. When someone else was looking at his Tsukki, he too could look at his lover from another person's perspective, which heightened his pleasure to look at him with his own eyes, knowing that he was his and his alone. So he did not mind Kuroo-san stealing glances at Tsukki, especially as Tsukki seemed to not notice.
"The bar Kuroo-san is working at was quite nice" Hinata said the next morning during breakfast. It was Saturday and already ten o'clock as they had slept in on their day off.
Tsukki shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't bad."
"Let's go there again. It's quite convenient, if you ask me."
"Sure."
"Okay, so are you free next Saturday?"
Tsukki creased his fore head. "You want to go there again so soon?"
"Yeah, why not?" Hinata tilted his head in question.
"If you insist." The blond sighed. "Don't waste too much on drinks."
"Aw, come one, we have to have some fun sometimes. Or did you not enjoy your time at the bar?"
Again, Tsukki shrugged. "Kuroo-san is a good bartender, very skilled in conversation and such, but it wasn't in any way greater than other places we've been to."
"Well, then it's settled, we'll go next week." Hinata smiled and gave Tsukki a kiss.
The week dragged on and Tsukishima was very glad when the weekend finally came around. He wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting Kuroo-san again, but if it made Hinata happy, he did not mind going anywhere. He had even gone to Disneyland with him for his birthday because the small orange haired man had been begging him to come with him for about a year. And going to a bar was definitely less embarrassing than wearing mouse-ears for a whole day…
Tsukishima had a shift at his part time job that Saturday morning and then he headed to the library after that to write his report before returning home shortly around seven to have dinner with Hinata, who had spent the day at school preparing for a contest of sorts.
"You look exhausted" Tsukishima remarked during dinner. "Are you sure you want to go out drinking, rather than spending the evening at home relaxing?"
"Oh come on, we seldom go out!" Hinata protested, smiling from ear to ear to show Tsukishima that he was not as exhausted as he might have looked. "I'm fine! And I can sleep in tomorrow, so no problem. I'll go to school in the afternoon for the preparation though, but we got a lot done today, so tomorrow half a day should suffice."
"Okay, but don't drink too much." Tsukishima warned him. "You know that you're not the type to work well when hung over."
"Nobody's the type to do that…" The orange haired man pouted.
Tsukishima smiled one of his very few genuine smiles. "I work decently enough, thank you very much."
Hinata kissed him. They did the dishes and got ready to leave for the bar at around nine o'clock.
"What do you think?", Hinata asked when they lay in their bed that night after they came home from the bar. "Why did Kuroo-san come up here?"
Tsukishima wanted to shrug but was too lazy. It would anyway have been uncomfortable, as his shoulder was being used as a pillow by Hinata. So he murmured: "Isn't it like Kuroo-san said? At his age becoming a bartender and manager at once isn't possible in a place like Tokyo where there are so many people available."
"Don't you think that was some sort of lie?"
"Why would I care?" Tsukishima kissed Hinata's forehead. "It's none of my business why he came here for work and didn't stay in Tokyo." He caressed Hinata's cheek. "Yes, it's nice to have a familiar face in a bar, so going for a drink isn't that awkward, but it could be Sugawara-san or Oikawa-san for all that I care." His hand wandered from Hinata's cheek to his hair and then to the back of his head, so that he could turn Hinata's head into a position where he could reach the smaller man's lips to plant a passionate kiss on them.
The orange haired man giggled. "So you would go to a bar where Oikawa-san is standing behind the counter?" He asked in between kisses.
"No." Tsukishima grinned and rolled on top of Hinata. "And now let's drop the topic of other men, I'd much rather think about you, who is right here in front of me." He helped Hinata take off his pyjama shirt and the pants, while kissing his cheeks, neck, collarbone and torso, slowly making his way down to his penis.
Hinata enjoyed it when Tsukki went down on him. He liked the warm and wet sensation of the inside of Tsukkis mouth and god was the blond skilled with his tongue… Or had become skilled over the years. He had been a bit clumsy when they had started going out – but Hinata had been the same. It had been their first relationship, their first time having sex after all… It was in no way surprising that they had acquired some skills over time.
Hinata moaned in pleasure when Tsukki touched and licked him in all the right places, making him feel very relaxed. The next morning he felt quite refreshed despite not having slept all that much that night.
Tsukishima was careful to touch all the good spots of his boyfriend. He wanted to serve him selflessly for once, knowing that Hinata needed some relief from the stress that had accumulated due to the upcoming competition. Tsukishima himself had almost finished his report and had kept on top of his studies, so he did not feel much pressure or stress which was why he did not place much importance on the satisfaction his own sexual desires. However, Hinata did not let him be the selfless lover as he made him stop giving him head midway by begging him to enter him and pound him so hard that he would forget everything.
The blond did not say no to such a request, however, he did try to not do it too hard, knowing that Hinata had to get out of bed the next day.
Hinata's contest took place on Thursday that week and it was open to the public, so Tsukishima ditched classes for once and went to his boyfriend's school to support him, knowing that it would mean the world to him if he came to watch.
It was a little awkward to be sitting next to Hinata's mother, who had been the only one from the family who had had the time to come and watch as well, but as he had met the woman before it was not that hard to make friendly conversation.
Hinata took the second place in the contest that day and they went to have food with his mother and Natsu that evening as a form of celebration.
"So, what would you like as a present?" Tsukishima whispered into the orange haired man's ear when they walked from Hinata's mother's car towards the restaurant.
Hinata blushed a bit from the way Tsukishima's voice had sounded sexy and shook his head. "Nothing, really. It's okay. Second place isn't worth a present."
"Don't be so modest" the blond whispered even lower to make Hinata blush more. "I'll give you something that's less than thousand yen, if you insist on it not being too big."
"How about five hundred?"
He chuckled. "Okay, five hundred. So, what shall it be?"
Hinata thought about it for a moment and then said: "That Spanish tapas thing at Kuroo-san's bar."
"Is that your new favourite place?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe?" Hinata grinned.
Tsukishima did not say anything any more. Maybe it was better, because he himself had not disliked the second time they had gone there that much. Kuroo-san had flirted less with Hinata, seemingly understanding that he was off limits and their drinks weren't half bad.
They went to Kuroo-san's bar on Sunday right after it opened at seven thirty in the evening and Tsukishima paid for several plates of tapas for Hinata, despite the orange haired man's insistence that he was only supposed to pay for one plate and the rest should be split.
Kuroo-san chuckled when he heard the argument of the two lovers with Tsukishima telling Hinata that he was a fool for wanting to pay for his own food. Hinata puffed his cheeks and retorted that he did not like it when Tsukki was spending too much money on him. They both had a tight budget, so his boyfriend should spend his money for things he needed rather than pampering him.
"That is failed logic", Kuroo-san said and smiled at the smaller man. "Tsukki here probably gets something from having you happy, so he is investing his money wisely by buying things for you – even if it is only food."
"It's not 'only' food!" Hinata protested. "This is uber-delicious!"
"Well, thank you very much for the compliment." Kuroo-san grinned. "Do you like it too Tsukki?"
"Yes, it is delicious." The blond might have sounded a bit mechanical in his answer, but he did not like praising the black haired bartender when he looked at him with his crooked grin with sly humour sparkling in his eyes.
"Oh my, Tsukki! Are you in a bad mood?" Kuroo-san hit him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Come on, try and smile while saying that it's delicious – like Hinata here did!"
Tsukishima did not do what the bartender wanted from him. They left the bar soon after that, having had enough to eat and drink. They had to get up early the next morning, so it was in no way advisable to get wasted.
Tsukishima wondered why he had gotten out of the bus a station too early and was looking at the door of the bar in which Kuroo-san worked. It was only four in the afternoon on a weekday, the place was nowhere near open and he had no intention of having a drink, but still he was there and stared at the door unsure of what he was supposed to do.
It had not even been a week since the last time he had been there. Somehow, they had ended up going there almost every week since Daichi-san had taken them there for the first time, which had been almost three months back.
Tsukishima shook his head and started walking past the building in the direction of his home. He thought about how Hinata's attitude towards the place had started to change recently. Maybe it was because his graduation examinations where coming up and he was more stressed than before or maybe it was because he did not exactly like the type of person Kuroo-san was. Hinata did get along with him fairly well, but he was better suited to hang out with people like Kenma rather than Kuroo-san. Tsukishima on the other hand had started to get used to being around Kuroo-san again. He did not mind him and he also did not mind the occasional glance that Kuroo-san stole at him. The tall black haired man wasn't bad to look at either, so as long as he kept it discreet and innocent everything was fine.
Upon entering the flat, Tsukishima noticed that Hinata wasn't back yet, which was weird as it was Thursday, that had been the only day recently when the orange haired man would have been home early despite his stressful life. As a compensation for going to school for preparations on Sundays he usually took off Thursday afternoon as Tsukishima too came home early that day.
He put his bag in the living room before going to the kitchen to see what was left in the fridge so that he could decide on what to make for dinner. As he was earlier than Hinata it was only fair that he should make dinner. There were some vegetable's left and some milk as well as minced meat. Hamburger steak with white sauce, Tsukishima thought and checked if there was enough rice left. Suddenly his phone started to vibrate in his back pocket. He took it out and slid over the screen to unlock. "Moshi, moshi?"
"Moshi, moshi? Tsukki?" He heard Hinata's voice.
"Hinata. Where are you?"
"Sorry, I had to go home to my family. My grandpa was involved in a small accident" Tsukishima inhaled sharply, "don't freak out!", Hinata almost shouted into the phone, "It wasn't anything major", his voice was back to a normal volume, "but he has to stay at the hospital and Mom went to our hometown to look after him, so she needed someone to take care of Natsu while she's away, so I went home."
"Okay." Tsukishima frowned. "When will you come back?"
"Probably next week."
"Will you be okay?" Tsukishima sounded concerned.
"Yeah, sure. No problem at all here. Natsu's a good teenager, way better than I was, but you know that."
Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant. I know that you're stressed, so I just want you to not take on too much, okay?"
"You're sweet." Hinata made the sound like he would kiss him. "I'll be okay. I'll text you when I know when I'll come back." He hung up.
Tsukishima sighed. No hamburger steak then, he didn't like making big meals if it was just him. So he decided on making a simple don-buri with fried minced meat, some vegetables and an egg on top. He made so much that the next day he did not need to cook anything for dinner but could just heat it up and eat it in front of the TV. It had been a while since he had been alone in the apartment. It felt sort of lonely, especially the second day around…
He ate his food and switched through the channels. After having proven to himself that there was nothing, really nothing, that he was even remotely interested in watching, he got up, washed the dishes and dressed to go out. It could not hurt to go to Kuroo-san's, at least he would have someone to entertain him there. Half way to the bar he thought of how uncharacteristic that was of him. Had he not liked being alone for a long time? When had it changed, he wondered. When had he started to feel like he needed someone to be around him? Was it Hinata that he missed? It had to be…
The bar was full except for one last seat at the counter. Tsukishima sat down and ordered a light drink to start with. A young part timer was serving him as Kuroo-san was currently engaged in a heated conversation with some other regulars at one of the tables. However, it did not take long for the black haired man to notice that Tsukishima had entered the bar – alone and so he came back to his usual working place.
"Tsukki!" he said enthusiastically. "So, you're alone today?" His voice was low and pleasing like velvet.
"Hinata has to watch Natsu." Tsukishima shrugged.
"Oh well." Kuroo-san sighed. "So, how was your week?"
"Not bad. I suppose yours was okay as well?" They chatted for a while, though their conversation was interrupted every now and then because Kuroo-san had to tend to other customers. However, Tsukishima did not miss the way Kuroo-san looked at him, he did not miss how he smiled at him and raised his eyebrow when saying things that could have a hidden meaning and Tsukishima did not miss how he himself relaxed in the situation. It did also not escape his notice that he himself smiled at the guy once and how he did not shy away from a few dirty and compromising topics. He was happy that Hinata would not learn about this. However, Tsukishima did feel that it would be prudent to inform Hinata, when he met him next, that he had exchanged numbers with Kuroo-san that evening.
